In reply to MrChaos :
I have a 94 miata and hardtop.
In reply to MrChaos :
I have a 94 miata and hardtop.
Met with our tax guy today (major props to him for talking with me for free given we did our own taxes this year, though he knows with the cabin we’ll definitely have him do them next year...) to discuss some of the tax implications of one of our options to pay off the cabin- cashing out my non-work Roth IRA to pay it off outright and not have a mortgage. Unfortunately though I learned a good bit from him I came away even more confused about the best approach to take.
If we use the IRA we take a solid hit from the early withdrawal penalty, but don’t have to worry about a mortgage on the cabin and making payments on it and paying at least twice what we lose from cashing out the IRA in loan interest (best case- could be up to 4x). But if we get the mortgage, the IRA will still be growing and compounding interest and if the market does what’s good for our investments we could end up making more from it than the mortgage cost us in interest.
Worse, the Dancer and I are both leaning opposite ways at the moment...
Also I am going to basically have to impulse buy a rallycross car or I wil never make a decision on it.
Ashyukun (Robert) said:Met with our tax guy today (major props to him for talking with me for free given we did our own taxes this year, though he knows with the cabin we’ll definitely have him do them next year...) to discuss some of the tax implications of one of our options to pay off the cabin- cashing out my non-work Roth IRA to pay it off outright and not have a mortgage. Unfortunately though I learned a good bit from him I came away even more confused about the best approach to take.
If we use the IRA we take a solid hit from the early withdrawal penalty, but don’t have to worry about a mortgage on the cabin and making payments on it and paying at least twice what we lose from cashing out the IRA in loan interest (best case- could be up to 4x). But if we get the mortgage, the IRA will still be growing and compounding interest and if the market does what’s good for our investments we could end up making more from it than the mortgage cost us in interest.
Worse, the Dancer and I are both leaning opposite ways at the moment...
If you take just the contributions from the Roth IRA, there is no tax hit or early withdrawal penalty.
The inside of the edge of the new wheels on the Miata have evidence of just barely kissing the springs on the coilovers. So I ordered some 3mm spacers and had them priority mailed so I could throw them on before Sunday's autocross. Either the website wasn't clear or I didn't read thoroughly enough because I only got one spacer
I hard a discussion with a buddy today. He doesn't like GTRs (R32-34) The Chevy Cobalt (2009?) went around the Nurburg Ring quick than a 1990 GTR. My argument was that there is 30 years difference in cars and tires, I'm not suprised.
People are asking $30,000 for Skylines, and a cheap Chevy beats it.
So?
People are asking 30, not nessearily getting it. You can import it yourself much cheaper if you are willing to do the work. To me, that car, or any car, is more than numbers, it's how it makes you feel when you drive it. He just didn't get it.
I've driven an R34. I don't get it either.
I've driven a blown Cobalt, and I don't get them either.
One is way slower than fanbois would have you believe, and the other feels like it won't get you all the way home.
And I shouldn't like my FR-S because only 200hp. Numbers don't always equal out. To each his own is my point.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
"Never meet your heroes".
I think I documented here the time I got to drive a Stage III Belvedere (yes, with the crossram 426 Wedge), and much later a four speed '70 Road Runner. From this I gleaned two things:
Fast in 1963 is not fast today.
Four-speeds plus big-block equals suxx0r.
It should be noted that I have never driven, or even rode in, an Evo X or a FoRS, yet I still think that I want one of those. I did drive an STi once, very gingerly for 25 miles, while running-in the engine and getting a datalog. (I liked the blue interior, the seats, and the steering very much) That doesn't count.
Later, I rode in that car on a 40F-and-raining day, and in 3rd gear and 35mph and only 17psi boost (which was, IIRC, 360ish at the wheels, peak) it calmly and smoothly felt like when the Enterprise jumped to warp. It was also lifting the head gaskets at 17psi because the shall-not-be-named engine builder kinda sucked. So that was a simultaneous "I gotta GET me one of these" moment and a "When I buy a car that rocks when stock, I'm going to LEAVE it stock" moment. (Teh R, which is kind of a Swedish R33 with nicer interior, is stock on purpose)
In reply to mtn :
True..... but unfortunately it seems nobody (including, to my great annoyance, the bank the IRA is through...) can tell me exactly what is principal (contributions) and what is not, and it’s not like I’ve kept track myself for the last 20 years- so we don’t know (or can’t prove if audited) exactly how much we can withdraw without penalty.
Regardless- we couldn’t withdraw enough to cover the construction loan without clearly having to pull more than principal (it’s not legally possible to have contributed that much over the time I’ve had the account...).
In reply to Appleseed :
My RX-8 has a junkyard engine, maybe 150 to 180 ponies? At some point I will build a better engine but even then it will be only 240 hp or so.
But when I drive it I can't keep the goofy grin off my face.
I get what you're saying.
I finally got the interior of the van back in after scrubbing the holy bejeebus out of it to clean the roach infestation out. It smells mucho better.
Now the damn A/C won't turn on. The blower speed works but the temp selector, position selector, A/C and recirc button no longer function. The compressor does not turn on and the A/C button does not light up. I dunno if I accidentally unplugged something while tearing the lower dash off to get the carpet out. There was an aftermarket GPS antenna/tracker thingy powered by Add-A-Fuses connected to the fuse box under the glovebox that I ripped out. I verified the fuses and moved one to a spot that had one of the Add-A-Fuses in it. I checked all the A/C fuses and relays in the engine compartment fuse box. They were all good. It still won't engage the A/C. I know it worked before because I made sure to test it before I bought the van. Its almost like the HVAC module isn't getting CANBUS messages from the BCM. Or power. Or something.
I also noticed the passenger side strut was not replaced like the seller promised it would be before he delivered the van. Awesome 
. That's something else I'll have to deal with.
So, lets look at the running tally, shall we?
1. He never titled the van in his name like he said he would.
2. He never replaced the leaking strut like he said he would.
3. He didn't re-install the roof rack like he said he would.
4. He stated that it had brand new Yokohama tires in the ad. Yeah, it has 3 newer Yokohamas and one Kelley that has a slow leak. I should of paid closer attention when I looked at the van. That one is on me.
5. The spare tire was bungied to the steel divider in the van when I bought it. Not a big deal but upon closer inspection, the steel wheel has about a 6" section that looks like it got very intimate with a curb. It still holds air but its pretty messed up. I guess it will work as a spare.
I'm quickly losing my enthusiasm for this thing. Which sucks because I had some cool plans and I already bought wheels (3 of the 4), which is another issue in of itself.
I just want to get it on the road so I can sell the Kia, so I stop getting bent over on insurance (because Florida).
Appleseed said:And I shouldn't like my FR-S because only 200hp. Numbers don't always equal out. To each his own is my point.
My zx2 has 130hp, but its entertaining to drive too. Its faster than most would think but isnt so fast that i get into troouble with it and if driven gingerly i can get 40mpg out of it.
Its pretty much the perfect commuter car for me.
Appleseed said:And I shouldn't like my FR-S because only 200hp. Numbers don't always equal out. To each his own is my point.
There are some cars that look impressive on a spec sheet and make perfect bench racers. Other cars you have to actually drive to get what they're about.
Furious_E said:Appleseed said:And I shouldn't like my FR-S because only 200hp. Numbers don't always equal out. To each his own is my point.
There are some cars that look impressive on a spec sheet and make perfect bench racers. Other cars you have to actually drive to get what they're about.
This is very, very true.
Furious_E said:Appleseed said:And I shouldn't like my FR-S because only 200hp. Numbers don't always equal out. To each his own is my point.
There are some cars that look impressive on a spec sheet and make perfect bench racers. Other cars you have to actually drive to get what they're about.
I think the Solstice GXP/Sky Red Line are perfect examples of this. On paper a 260hp, 2900lb RWD roadster with suspension developed on the Nurburgring should be a dream car to drive. In reality they kind of suck.
The second Firefox armag-addon has given me a massive browser downgrade across all of my devices, only one of which will take the quick fix. Will they give the mainline release the option of disabling addon signature checking now?
NickD said:Furious_E said:Appleseed said:And I shouldn't like my FR-S because only 200hp. Numbers don't always equal out. To each his own is my point.
There are some cars that look impressive on a spec sheet and make perfect bench racers. Other cars you have to actually drive to get what they're about.
I think the Solstice GXP/Sky Red Line are perfect examples of this. On paper a 260hp, 2900lb RWD roadster with suspension developed on the Nurburgring should be a dream car to drive. In reality they kind of suck.
Thats disappointing to hear, ive been intrigued by them but they rarely pop up in my area
In reply to Antihero :
Drive one. You might have a different reaction.
In reply to Appleseed :
Indeed...
How do you lose the tip out of a berkeleying rivet gun. There are places in the berkeleying handle to store the damn things. It's so simple a retarded cave man could do it. Take it out, screw it in the handle. Done.
I swear, I'm going to ban everyone from my berkeleying shop and change the locks.
Antihero said:NickD said:Furious_E said:Appleseed said:And I shouldn't like my FR-S because only 200hp. Numbers don't always equal out. To each his own is my point.
There are some cars that look impressive on a spec sheet and make perfect bench racers. Other cars you have to actually drive to get what they're about.
I think the Solstice GXP/Sky Red Line are perfect examples of this. On paper a 260hp, 2900lb RWD roadster with suspension developed on the Nurburgring should be a dream car to drive. In reality they kind of suck.
Thats disappointing to hear, ive been intrigued by them but they rarely pop up in my area
I just don't find the drivetrain to be that exciting, it really doesn't thrill me that much, and the shifter is decidedly meh. I hear they make silly power with minor tweaking. I also find the interior to be pretty low rent and it somehow has less room than a Miata despite the car itself being larger. Same with the trunk. And the top is kind of fiddly. They also got some E36 M3 autocross classing.
"The neighbor said my tire is flat when I got home, can you look at it?"
Sure. Is the light on on the dash?
"Yeah, it's been on for a while."
SWMBO'S Sante Fe s broken. Again. Won't start.
berkeley that car.
Appleseed said:In reply to Antihero :
Drive one. You might have a different reaction.
Id love to actually but they are somehow never for sale here
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