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Ren
ParticipantThere’s a reason ER staff call riders “donors”.
My wife’s ex-bf hit a tree doing all of 20mph, now a bitter paraplegic. Lucky for her, his other girlfriend showed up at his hospital bed at the same time she did, sparing her a lifetime of caring for the moron. She is now militant anti-bike, and I tend to agree.
Full leathers are important, and will help you immensely if you lay it down with no other vehicles around, but the chances of wrecking on an empty road are slim, and the chances of every vehicle around you having a fully alert driver are even worse.
Participant[quote=Bubblesitter]Some of the electric car sports cars like Tesla are ferrari beating…[/quote]
Not quite, and they only come close for about 20 minutes until your charge is gone. Driving at 9/10ths in those things won’t get you far. BUT, it’s a great start.
I like the attitude of the high-end manufacturers, who think of “green” as adding power, not replacing fossil fuel.
Participant[quote=AN]WRT to traction, is it because your car is a FWD? If it’s RWD, traction can easily be solved by wider and stickier tires.
A baby Boxter would be freakin’ sweet. 2500lb and a 2.5L I-4 turbo would be my ideal weekend/track car. Now, if only BMW can slim down the M3 to be around 3000lb with a I-6 turbo from the 335i and I’d be a happy man.[/quote]
2011 Mazdaspeed 3, wrong wheel drive. This is the kit as priced by the manfacturer:
http://www.atpturbo.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ATP-MS3-005&Category_Code=MS3
You can get it for several hundred cheaper elsewhere. I don’t have immediate plans to take it that far – the goal is to have a separate daily driver and project car in 5 years, so I don’t want to bother putting a bunch of money into this one. I’ve thought about buying an ’88 or ’89 944 turbo and gutting it. A very old, very modified 911 recently won a hill climb competition somewhere, which surprised me, and I do love the slant noses. The new Miata sounds intriguing, if it looks less “cute” than the previous versions.
Speaking of gas mileage, with the right tune and somewhat careful driving, it’s common to get 30mpg combined city/hwy in the MS3 (I average 25). The record is something like 40mpg hwy, but you’re slower than a Prius at that point.
ParticipantIt’s a good day in radio.
At first I was ambivalent toward Mikey, but then he did a bong hit on the air way back in his 105.3 days, and was forced to apologize. The apology was obviously written for him – he mispronounced several easy words, and for some reason that bugged me enough that I’ve been avoiding him ever since. I’m okay with people making significantly more money than me if they’re smarter and/or funnier than I am, otherwise, not.
DSC are consumed with their own lives and think we are too, so they’re no fun anymore. Something happens when you surpass a certain salary in the morning show world, and you start to believe that people are interested in you as a person, when really they just want to laugh.
That leaves Bill Handel, who would endorse Hitler himself for a roll of pennies, and his sidekick Rich Marotta, who is the single most ignorant person I’ve ever heard on the radio (blissfully unaware that over 200,000 people died in a tsunami in 2004, for one small example). If they’d just hand the show over to Gary and Todd, then they’d have something.
What’s a commuter to do?
Participant[quote=AN][quote=Ren]If my turbo goes before I trade, I’ll just use that as an excuse to get a bigger one.[/quote]
Do you really need an excuse? 🙂I can’t wait till more car maker jump on the turbo wagon. Next miata will have 1.3l turbo and weigh 2200lb. Sounds exciting to me.[/quote]
Oh I’ve thought about it! I think there’s a complete kit for my car at around $1,700. The problem is, guys with big turbos on this platform have serious traction issues (as in standing on it in 5th at normal freeway speeds will just smoke the tires), and running bolt-ons/ethanol with the appropriate tune will make you nearly as fast anyway.
Nothing like a factory turbo. I’m bummed the “baby Boxster” was pushed out. A 2.5 liter turbo flat-4 (behind the seats, of course) in a 2,500-2,700lb car would have been legendary the moment it was released.
ParticipantIf my turbo goes before I trade, I’ll just use that as an excuse to get a bigger one.
ParticipantInteresting – I would think the Prius death rate would be higher, due to the anger focused on them.
ParticipantParamount, I believe you bought just before what would have been the peak of a normal cycle, and so would have been in a similar situation whether the bubble happened or not. Prices and rents in TV these days are not abnormally low – they’re appropriate for an area with almost no white collar employment. I also believe you’ve taken the smartest road available to you, and in 10 years you’ll be glad you did. You may even view today’s bitterness as a waste of time.
ParticipantI considered this in my younger days. A couple of rental properties in the states would easily fund a bum lifestyle on many a foreign beach. There are a lot of concerns that go along with that – local laws, crime, human rights, medical care, etc.
Participant[quote=as]What do you think about the rent price there? How much can a 1500sqt condo or SFH rent for?[/quote]
Somewhere around $1,400-$1,500, maybe $1,600 for a small house. Check Craigslist for the going rates. My 2,100sf 4-bedroom house will go for around $1,800 or a little more (backs to private park, which sold us, and will sell prospective tenants).
Tenant problems can be kept to a minimum by getting the best quality tenants, who can be picky, which means your property has to be the best deal/most appealing in the area.
Participant[quote=as]Sorry to hear your bad rental experience, paramount. I am worrying about that part, too.
[/quote]His situation is very different from yours. Maintenance issues would seem like a nightmare to a landlord who is barely breaking even. With significant cash flow (which you would likely have), it wouldn’t be so stressful, and you can choose a newer property that won’t have immediate big expenses like heating/AC/roof/flooring/fencing/etc.
ParticipantWe’re over the apex of a bounce. Prices are higher than they were in 2008/09, but lower than 2010 (mine is down 5% from 2010). It’s hard to tell what prices are doing now – I’ve seen some great buys and some oddly high prices.
I bought at the 2010 mini-peak, but my place would still have $600/mo positive cash flow.
Still a good place to invest, IMO.
As for quality tenants, the bubble created a ton of them – maybe not the sharpest tools in the shed for buying at the peak or pulling money out, but that doesn’t matter as long as they’re stable. For example, the renters next door to us are very nice, non-redneck, employed strategic defaulters with a couple of their own rental properties out of state.
ParticipantCAR, any chance of 2 to 4-year-old toddlers for neighbors?
ParticipantThanks, sdr.
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