The Forever Car

Since selling my ND Miata I've naturally been having some thoughts about what to get next - a few years down the line. Whatever the selection, I think it will have to be what car enthusiasts call a 'forever car': the one to keep until death (or at this point until manned vehicles are no longer a thing). A 'forever car' is one I wouldn't sell under any circumstances, for any price. It's one that will live with me even if I do decide to buy another car. 

Obviously, it's got to be super special. A car that in the old Top Gear show would belong on the 'Cool Wall' in the Sub-Zero section. 

Though that doesn't necessarily mean expensive. I honestly thought my 2013 Subaru WRX STI - the first car I bought with my own money - was going to be a forever car (I even spent overboard for protection film and ceramic coating on the paint), but the notoriously fragile EJ257 engine ultimately derailed that plan. It's great shame because the rest of the drivetrain is famously bulletproof and a mechanical joy, but I simply can't be constantly worried about engine failure in a 'forever car'. 

The ND Miata was never a candidate chiefly due to the lack of power, and the spec I bought did not have the limited-slip differential. Yes it's got enough motivation to be fun and nimble for its size but personally in a 'forever car' I need something much more substantial. These days a poverty-spec Mustang GT can be had for mid 30 thousands and it's got 460 horsepower, so 155 in the ND was never going to suffice. 

So the search is on, and these days I've got my eyes towards Germany. 

A new desktop ornament has arrived. 

The Civic Type R has 20-inch wheels!?

One my biggest pet-peeves when it comes to modern automobiles is the needlessly enormous wheels that comes standard in cars, performance-oriented or otherwise. Why in the world does the new Honda Civic Type-R require 20-inch wheels? The car’s 235/30R/20 tires are practically rubber-bands, and surely the wheels themselves would explode at the first moment it passes over a modern city pothole.  

I’m old enough to remember 18-inch wheels were the gold-standard in performance cars, whilst any wheel sized 20 and above where the domain of automobiles frequently purveyed by rap stars and sports figures. I understand completely that having a thin-sidewall tires mean less flex and sharper turn-in, but automaker’s have got to balance that with the realities of contemporary road conditions, otherwise the car’s ride would be horrendous. A Ferrari road-car that seldom sees the road? Sure, give it the biggest wheel with the skinniest tire as you please, but not in a mass-produced hot-hatch like the aforementioned Civic Type R. 

If my ND Miata can offer the most sports-car purity this side of the wallet to a Porsche Cayman, all the while running on positively tiny 16-inch wheels shod in 195/50R16 spec tires, then there’s simple no excuse for other brands. 

Except there is, and I found it when I saw a base Jaguar F-Pace SUV running on base-model 18-inch wheels: it looked horrendously tiny. The reason automakers put unnecessarily large wheels on cars is the design dictates it! Engineering probably had no choice but to comply with design dictum even though deep down I’m sure engineers know how absurd it is. Colin Chapman would. 

I eagerly await someone to put some aftermarket RAYS wheels in 18-inch sizing on the Civic Type R. My guess it’d save many kilograms of weight (stock wheels are nearly 30 pounds each), but from a visual standpoint, likely lopsided and top-heavy. Blame the designers.