Due to my recent move, I have tripled my commute to work from eight miles to twentyfour. It is all done after the main afterwork rush is over, at around 2000 hours and except for about four of the miles, they’re all freeway.
My truck, a full sized, late model F150 gets decent mileage, approximately 18-20 MPG, but I want to keep the miles off my truck since the guys at the dealership always HAVE to double-check the odometer when I take it in for its free oil changes every 3K, and especially since my account with FMC has now been paid in full.
So I am casting about for a good little highway roller with decent mileage. My problem is that I know exactly what I want but the wife keeps telling me, in no uncertain terms, “No”.
Her reason for the negative answers are quite one dimensional and not unfounded and they are as follows: Part of the reasons the move was such a chore was that we both collect a lot of stuff. Her stuff categories into religious artifacts and movie memerobilia and mine is firearms, music and car parts.
Now the firearms and music are quite know around these parts, but I have been keeping the automotive stuff under wraps as I don’t want to get too wrapped up in them until I have time to devote to them. They are marked, catalogued and mostly well cared for.
They are also all Toyota performance pieces. And that it is the rub: both of the cars I have in mind are Toyotas and she knows that I have a plethora of go-fast gear for either of them.
I am not even supposed to go quick anymore (there is a difference between ‘fast’ and ‘quick’. Trust me on this). It is some sort of motherly protection that I should have recognized when I saw the smile on her face when I brought the truck home that evening from the dealership.
This instinct has been bearable for the last couple of years because I didn’t really get to put my usual amount of yearly hours behind the wheel, making the addiction to velocity easier to bear. I also haven’t had a lot of cash to go spending on cars what with my other addiction to custom firearms coupled with my truck payment (I’m not like Mr. Kirk who very recently took delivery of his new beastie).
But this new, longer commute has given me the worst case of ghost-clutch I’ve had in years. I pity the truck’s left-side kick panel and it is a damn good thing they don’t put the hi-lo beam switch down there anymore.
I know guys, I should have hidden the parts better and never spoken of them to her, but when she asked what is in those boxes, I couldn’t lie to her. She is the knower of all truths (or so she says, anyway).
It’ll be a couple months before I can work up the cash for either of the potential daily runners and I think that, in time, she’ll warm to the idea of at least one of them, most likely the Series 2 Celica
And most likely because it looks tamer than the Series 3 Corolla GTS
Even though it’s (potentially) not
But she had better be careful to specify which Celica I can get or I might just come home with one of these bad boys, you know, for safety reasons, because it rains alot around here. Yeah, that’s the ticket!
A Celica All-Trac. The car that was the Subaru WRX 10 years before the Sub-standards had the balls to put a turbocharged, all-wheel drive machine on the street (and that can still walk most WRX’s, on or off road).
But the All-Tracs are a rare beast and a bit on the pricey side. Plus, I need to swap the driver-sdie seat out before I can comfortably fit in one. Which isn’t too much of a problem, seeing as how I have a Recaro, a couple Sparco’s and even a very comfy Corbeau folder available.
But knowing me, I’ll probably end up with the Series 2 Celica Supra.
Then I’ll just have to fight the urge to plop in the 7MGTE that I…may…just…have sitting somewhere on an engine stand unbeknownst to the wife.
OK. I’ve got to get some rack time. I could, quite literally, and have, talked about Toys for days on end. Maybe more in the future.
Think about a decnet used Samurai. Yeah, they tip over if you drive like a retard, but with a stick they get close to thirty mpg, and you sit upright.
Hmm. Kill two birds with one stone. Sell the Ford and the parts, and get a nice used Toyota Tacoma with the performance offroad package. Acceleration with the V6 is all I could want (and you probably know how to boost that with the right chip, etc.) And it’s a gas breaking the rear end loose from time to time. I seem to recall Rivrdog mentioning that the performance trannies are too much for the average driver to handle, and he’s right — but they sure are fun.
When I was in Saudi Arabia in the early ’90s, I had a friend who had a Supra. It was scarey fast and had room for four people without crowding.
Hummm… I vote for either the Supra (which will get nixed on the name alone) or the old Celica (just tell her the hood scoop was an add on) all-trac…
By the way my new toy was the first jap mobile I have owned other than a honda…
I like it a lot… Especially since it is RWD. I like it even more when I turn off the no fun light (vehicle stability control)…
Heya Og. Sadly, it is full-on MadMax roadway combat here. And I do drive like a retard, usually in a straight line, but in just the past couple weeks I’ve had to make multiple evasive maneuvers, two of which would have tipped a Samurai.
The MPG don’t bother me as much as the ability to play to my strengths of using speed and agility to outwit those who would do me in. As long as I can get 18-20 out of it, I’ll be happy.
That is also a thumbs down on the Tacoma. Not selling the Ford and really don’t want to sell the parts unless necessary. I’m sure I could get the V6 to a point where it could smoke all four tires, but then the agility is gone.
Scary Fast? What’s that? There’s slow and then there is fun and they usually separate when the 0 to 100 to 0 times are under 20 seconds (the newest Viper does it in 13).
Well congrats, Kirk. Those Z’s are pretty sweet and I’m sure that you have a hard time pulling that thing into the driveway at night. I know most folks won’t understand the jargon, but you should really post on your plans for the thing, including SCCA classes you plan on running it in, local tracks, etc.
And yes, the “Mom-Switch” is a waste of electrons, isn’t it.
Scarey-fast is running down the road to Al-Khobar at ~190kph and being passed by 1987 Chevy Caprices that have all the windows covered except for the front windshield…
I drive a 4500# 4X4 SUV that gets 20mpg on a good day at 65mph. But while driving it overseas, I got rear-ended by a ten-ton rock-truck and my two passengers and myself got out to cuss the other driver. (But I’d own a Supra in a heartbeat if I could find a good one).
I’m going to try to turn your quick-jones into something more important.
How about looking for something to tinker into life that gets your 18-20 mpg, will survive the inevitable crunch with the tweaker Sound drivers, and can haul all your gear outa Dodge when the S.H.T.F.?
What we are talking about here is some sort of diesel truck, to get us into the right category. No, you won’t blow ANYBODY’S doors off (unless you want to buy Gale Banks another yacht and drive the truck down to La-La Land and tell him not to give it back until the oil-spritzer churns out at least 400 hp and 700 ft/lbs of torque, in which case you might just get a truck that runs quarters in the 9’s).
It would preferably be a 4X4, but if you wanted to eliminate the (mostly) useless extra traction capability, you would gain much savings AND ease of service. Ford builds (or did until recently) a 3/4 or one-ton version of it’s long van with the Navistar diesel V-8. If you get an earlier diesel, you avoid the DEC nonsense (which is there to go wrong at the least opportune time). If you’re running turbo with intercooler, your stack emissions should be in the ballpark anyway, making Diesel Electronic Control a waste of time.
Aftermarket stuff runs from the sublime to the ridiculous. The big news nowadays is either Gale Banks Engineering or BullyDog, either of which can sell you bolt-on gear that will get you the above-targeted specs of power.
The final argument for turning your jones around would be the wife-unit, who will see your investment in things truckly much more manly than things that burn rice (at least until you hand her all the greasy, oily colothing to wash).
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