Can Cars Hug Trees?

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: I am by no means an environmentalist. I don't really think too much about mileage or emissions when I'm consider what I want out of a car. I can't really say that I hate the environment, but I will admit that I have had my moments.


...And see your bad spelling as well, I see...

Jokes aside though, while I don't lose much sleep over it, I truly am all for cars being more environmentally savvy. However, I just don't want them to take my fun away. There are a few auto makers who have heard this cry, and have answered.



 

Hello...



...Beautiful



 Above are the Tesla Roadster (full electric) and the Porsche 918 Spyder (hybrid). Both are examples of fun yet environmentally aware cars. Both are also incredibly expensive. Well, technically the Spyder hasn't been released yet, but I can't imagine it's going to be a thrifty car, to be honest.

The "solution" to this has been the more practical methods, informally known as being boring. The aforementioned Prius makes a good posterchild for this set of cars, seeing as how it has almost turned into a fashion accessory with how popular it is in many circles. A painfully dull fashion accessory.



Hey Look! A City!!!

Solution is a bit of a stretch, though. If you take the economical side of it, there are plenty of smaller, more interesting cars that get just as good mileage. If you want the practicality, there are plenty of diesel sedans that can almost match (if not exceed) it in size and mileage. 

 

"No, I want the environmental saving benefits of the Prius!" the fanboys say. Okay, that's fair enough. Yes, the Prius is cleaner than both of the cars, and hats off to the designers for doing a great job. This will bring us back to cost, though. The most basic is that right now, if something goes wrong with one of the bits that makes the Prius special, it's going to be a pretty penny to get fixed. The real problem though, with both the Prius, and most alternatively fueled cars, is the big picture.

 

 



The Big Picture: And you thought I was just being metaphorical



If one were to be honest with themselves, they would realize that the big picture is what drives the environmentalist movement in the first place. How our entire ecosystem fits together as one connected unit. Well how do these "green" cars fit into that picture? Not so well just yet, if I'm honest.

 

The Prius has components from all over the world, and shipping methods aren't exactly green yet. Alternative fueled cars aren't ready yet either. Ethanol, the corn fuel, cannot be shipped through pipelines because it expires too fast, and therefore must be shipped by trucks.



Not Shown: A Green Vehicle



Not even fully electric cars are a benefit to the big picture. On top of being incredibly impractical because of their current lack of range and lengthy recharge times, in the big picture, they don't entirely help the environment either. The number one polluter in this world is not automotive exhaust fumes. That is the second. Number one, as shown further up the page, is the pollution that comes from electrical production. Getting an electrically powered car will take away your piece of the puzzle from the second largest pollution source, but it simply adds to how much you draw from the biggest pollution center out there.

 

Once again, do not get me wrong. I am not saying that I think Green cars shouldn't exist. I am not even saying that any of the cars that I've mentioned are worthless. They are all steps in the right direction. We need to cut back on the pollution issue eventually. However, until we can effectively redesign our entire energy infrastructure, no tree hugger can truly be at peace with the car they own. And if and when we get to that point, you can be sure there will be another step and a half before a gearhead will fully embrace the movement as well.  

Gearhead's Godfather

The Mazda Miata. One of the greatest yet simplest joys that has ever been accessible to the common car lover. Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to spend numerous hours on the roads of America in this car. I had never had the chance to drive one before, but due to the reports I have heard about it over the years, such as this post by Flappy Paddle Heads, I was anxious to get the opportunity to take one out for a spin. The chance arrived when a friend of mine invited me to fly to Miami to pick up his aunt's 1990 Miata and drive it back up to Michigan with him.



The car in question, outside of one of our hotel rooms

We arrived in Miami on a Friday morning and made our way to the car's residence in a parking garage a few miles from the airport. It had been sitting there for a full year, so the tires had gone low and the 1.6L 4 cylinder engine wouldn't even turn over, let alone give any thought of starting. We ended up having to get a new battery for it before we could even get it out of the garage to fill the tires and change the oil, a task that included walking a three mile round trip to an auto parts store through the muggy and rainy streets of Miami. I carried the nearly 40 lb battery the entire way back. Scratch off one workout.

Several hours later we finally got her on the road, though slightly ashamed of the "I love champagne" bumper sticker that the current owner had left on the car. The Miata isn't known for being the most manly looking car on the road, so that didn't realy help our cause. We knew what other people would see would be two guys, riding in blue miata...loving that champagne...yes indeed!
Knowing full well what image we would be facing for the next thousand miles, we set off, driven by the knowledge that the Miata is a car that brings joy for the driver, though not always the viewer.

The car did not let us down. The first thing I noticed was how comfortable the seats were. Those small seats offered a level of both comfort and support that I did not expect at all. They matched the "just right" driving position the car had, though I did note the last time I was in a car this low it was on my summer camp's go-kart track. I would realize later how accurate a comparison that would turn out to be. 

Once in transit, the light clutch and short shifts allowed us to zip our way in and then out of Miami traffic and out onto the highway with ease. It was at that point that we realized something that we probably should have registered right away: the Miata is a very small car. Obviously we did know this, but this is one bit of information you don't truly realize until you are on the freeway going 65 mph and a speeding semi barrels past you. Suddenly these meandering behemoths of transit that you have known all your life become the most terrifying thing that you have ever encountered.
The fact that it was raining didn't help, which made us realize that the air conditioner wasn't working when we put the top up, further realizing that the soft top created a greenhouse effect inside the cabin.

When the rain finally gave way later in the night, we enjoyed yet another benefit of the car: being a convertible, it kept us awake and alert despite our fatigue as we made our way to Savannah, Georgia to crash in our hotel. That was the last leg of the first part of our trip, and we slept like babies, waking to a gorgeous summer day. However, the four hours up to our next stop in Charlotte, North Carolina provided my friend with a terrible case of sunburn. We did learn about the ability to unzip the rear window of the soft top though, allowing us to garner at least some level of shelter from the sun without fully cooking ourselves in that greenhouse.

The next leg of the trip was a ten hour sprint home to Michigan, which ended up being much more pleasant than one would think a trip that long could be. Driving through West Virginia on I-77 ended up being our favorite part of the trip. The roads wound through the mountains in tight curves. The Miata, however, showed us fully why my go-kart thought from earlier in the trip was such a good one. As other cars on the road slowed for the tight, steep curves on the mountain roads, we kept the throttle on, feeling balanced and sure-footed. Even on a fully stock suspension and tires, it would not let go.

I-77 through West Virginia

That trip took place almost a month ago, and I just got back from another road trip with the car and my friend this past weekend. Our thoughts on the car stay the same. It is a glorious little thing. Far from being a fast car, it makes up for it in truckloads by how it makes you feel. The Miata truly is the "essence of driving." Not to mention how that feeling of being so low to the road in such a light car that handles so well almost brings tears to your eyes.

We might want to take the "I love champagne" bumper sticker off before we let that happen though. Yeah, probably a good idea.

Reign In the Road Trips

Several months have gone by since the last post on this blog. It's been crazy for me, and many things have been left to neglect, this page being a member of that list. However, it has come time to crack down and actually make something out of this. 

Part of what has made the time since I last posted crazy is the number of road trips I have been on. In April, there was a ten hour trip from my home in southwest Michigan to New York City for the New York auto show. Next came a spontaneous road trip from home to St. Louis, leaving at 9:00 pm on a Friday and arriving at about 2:30 in the morning. The next week, first weekend in June, I flew down to Miami with a friend and drove a 1990 Miata back up to Michigan. Fast-forward a couple of weeks and there was a day trip up to Mackinaw Island, five hours there and back in one day. Finally (so far), I just got back last night from another road trip out to New England, once again in that Miata. 

A lot of great stories came out of these trips. As far as car related experiences go though, the Miata has been a highlight. Tales of the trips are to come, as well as my full opinion of the Miata from my time with it.