What options are a must and what are a wast of time.

In reply to Knurled: Cruise control helps my insurance rates affordable. I set it at about 10mph or a little more over the posted limits on a freeway and in most states I travel, the cops don't even notice me. Of course Ohio is an exception, I usually avoid Ohio if at all possible! However I still use my mirrors and speed up as needed to get out of others' way.

The other thing I like about cruise control is when those who text phone while driving use it. Yes they will wander all over the road and risk everyone's lives at a constant speed. But they're doing that anyway, they just don't notice their speed!

What I hate is when they get so involved with their phone or fax that they don't notice they're running 15-25 under the limit on two lane roads. Then when one person passes them, they come out of their trance and drive the limit for a minute to two. Soon they're back to reading, eating, sending texts, sending and receiving faxes, and all the other stupid stuff they do while driving and we're stuck behind them till the next passing open passing zone! Then the process repeats itself.

Speaking of which, have you noticed cops are often so busy with their open laptops and phones they usually run red lights, don't give turn signals, etc. Who was the dumb ass that invented the seat mounts for open laptops and fax machines? Yes we're in a pretty heavily industrial area with lots of vendors on the move & I see people using fax machines while driving pretty often.

It would be interesting to here from someone that has a max optioned Miata and a minimum optioned Miata of the same generation and here about that.

Funny you should mention that. Despite driving plenty of them (na/nb/MSM) I've never really gotten into Miatas because i thought they made pretty crappy non-racing cars. I've had other convertibles and tons of cars that turned hard enough to entertain me on the street. I always just assumed that the only way a miata actually made sense was if you were driving the E36 M3 out of it around corners all the time, so i never bought one because that doesn't really match up with what i actually do in the real world (which is tragically ~85% not turns).

A while back i spotted a running miata for $500 that was partially stripped: no top, no carpet, no hvac, no stereo, no power steering, etc. Still has dash and door panels and stock seats. I bought it on the thinking that i would figure out whether i was missing something because i wasn't willing to go 10/10ths in customer cars, or whether i was just right and it was too compromised a design to make a good street car in my own view.

I drive it around on the street and abuse it and drive it hard through turns etc, and plan to autoX it. A lot of people ask me about putting a top on it and putting carpet/stereo/ac etc back in it, and i tell them that i have NO desire to do that, because they wouldn't make the car any better to me. A stock miata isn't 'nice' anyway. If it's not convertible/no-ac weather, i dont want to drive THIS car out of all my options anyway! All that stuff would just make it better at something that it's bad at, but still end up blah.

So for my Miata, i have SUPER low expectations about trim and features. The only thing it's good at is turning, that's the only use i really care to put it to, and anything else you could put on the car just seems superfluous to me. On the other hand, if you put any number of other cars i own to this same level of trim, they would be totally ruined!

I suspect that i would think an NC or ND are decent actual all-around vehicles, but at those price points the potential awesomeness to be bought is so vast that they would NEVER actually make it to the top of my to-buy list.

After 30 years of driving, I never knew just how much of a PITA is was to dig the key outta my pocket and find the ig switch in the dark until I got the keyless entry/keyless go thing. I think I like that bit more than AC. The pneumatics in the seats though... Yah OK I kinda like the heated and ventilated seats, but the low back massage.. yeah I reallly like that, specially on long trips.

I don't know Woody, I like my BRZ fob. Walk uo touch the door handle it unlocks, press the button and car starts.

Oh and the V1 that's hidden in the rearview mirror; that's nice too.

I drove many long trips when cruise wasn't even known. Texas to NYS and back a number of times. I guess my foot and leg were conditioned for it. I do like the cruise on my present car.

Flight Service wrote: Me: suspension package, upgraded engine, cruise, stereo Wife: Heated seats, sunroof, upgraded stereo, cruise, AC Car we buy: Heated seats, sunroof, upgraded stereo, cruise, AC

Solution, his & hers so you don't have to deal with the extra garbage.

I was surprised when I found how indispensable having a heated steering wheel has become for me. A few days at -15 borrowing the wife's car reminded me.

On the same line, the dd has climate control, which is NBD, but also smartphone capability to turn on the climate control, heated seats and wheel remotely, which is AMAZING.

Keyless entry and start is also awesome. Keep the keys in your pocket - perfect. Same with Bluetooth stereo. Keep the phone in your pocket and play tunes wirelessly.

I could care less about fog lights, sunroofs, climate control, LEDs, mood lighting, or wheels over 17" diameter (16 if I'm being honest).

bastomatic wrote: I was surprised when I found how indispensable having a heated steering wheel has become for me. A few days at -15 borrowing the wife's car reminded me. On the same line, the dd has climate control, which is NBD, but also smartphone capability to turn on the climate control, heated seats and wheel remotely, which is AMAZING.

A parking space in a garage that doesn't go below 50 > all those things

Knurled wrote:

Duke wrote: I see a lot of people with cruise control listed as a must-have. I certainly don't mind cruise control, but if it didn't exist I'd never miss it. Anywhere I've driven in the last 25 years, you're lucky to get 2 consecutive minutes on cruise without having to adjust it or step out of it to deal with traffic.

Cruise control is for passing traffic at .5mph speed difference, and/or just parking in the center lane and turning your brain off. Apparently it is illegal in Belgium.

I live out west. I've driven my XC90 500 km and never taken it off cruise, except for speed zones through small towns, or to stop for gas. In fact, the cruise buttons are on the steering wheel, and I can slow for a town without ever touching a pedal. Fabulous. And no, I've never ignored the traffic around me because of it. I have been berkeleyed over by others, though.

My Silverado doesn't have cruise, and I will sometimes find myself rolling along at 140-150kph because the 4.8 doesn't have a ton of torque- step on the pedal to climb a hill, don't back off when I'm done climbing...especially with the trailer and Neon behind.

iceracer wrote: I drove many long trips when cruise wasn't even known. Texas to NYS and back a number of times. I guess my foot and leg were conditioned for it. I do like the cruise on my present car.

Yeah I did it years ago too in my old E30, 900 mile roundtrip in 20 hours including swapping an interior out of one car into mine.

Yeah, we can all do it, doesn't mean it doesn't suck.

Duke wrote: I see a lot of people with cruise control listed as a must-have. I certainly don't mind cruise control, but if it didn't exist I'd never miss it. Anywhere I've driven in the last 25 years, you're lucky to get 2 consecutive minutes on cruise without having to adjust it or step out of it to deal with traffic. If I lived out west I could definitely see the advantage of cruise control, but anywhere east of the Mississippi it's just not worth dealing with 98% of the time.

I commute to work at 04:00am. I've always had worn out cars so by the time I hit 75mph I had a rattle or shimmy to warn me I was going fast enough. Then I bought nice smooth brand new car. After the first few days of catching myself at well beyond 75 I started using cruise control. I'd hate to think of what a ticket for 108 in a 55 would do to me.

ProDarwin wrote:

bastomatic wrote: I was surprised when I found how indispensable having a heated steering wheel has become for me. A few days at -15 borrowing the wife's car reminded me. On the same line, the dd has climate control, which is NBD, but also smartphone capability to turn on the climate control, heated seats and wheel remotely, which is AMAZING.

A parking space in a garage that doesn't go below 50 > all those things

Heh, only if you work from home and do all your shopping online.

Nothing beats a car you can tell to heat or cool itself remotely.

Nothing beats a car you can tell to heat or cool itself remotely.

I think from my brief Leaf experience that that's the feature i'm most envious of. My life in the summer would be immensely better if i NEVER had to get into a 130-140f interior. EVER.

I think I could do without any HVAC other than an openable vent if I could electrically clear the windows and heat the wheel and seat. Waiting for the engine to heat up just makes the most dangerous part of a drive more dangerous.

I'd love low beams good for 70 MPH on dark highways, high beams that make the night seem like day, and a special "get out of the left lane now" aimable green laser pointer to shine directly at rearview mirrors.

I wish one of the OEMs would offer a radar/laser electronic countermeasures pack. Built-in laser zapper and radar detector, low radar signature, "blur" mount for the license plates.

After driving the CRX for a few weeks - I wish I had cruise control and axles that weren't shot - other than that I'm fine.

Worst part? My job is to package all of the luxury equipment for new cars. I like doing the engineering on it but feel sorry for the poor SOB who has to put up with it.

chaparral wrote: I think I could do without any HVAC other than an openable vent if I could electrically clear the windows and heat the wheel and seat.

except for the steering wheel.. my disco can electrically defrost front and rear windows and heat the seats. The wires in the windshield are almost invisible, but they are there. However, once you notice them, they are hard to unsee