A tribute to the oil burners that once were …

by Harvey Xiao

Old diesels are loud, dirty, slow, and smelly. We all know that. Problem is, people say this is why diesels became unpopular in the U.S. after the 80’s, and that’s simply not true!

In the 80’s, US streets must’ve sounded like Europe. It seemed like every car manufacturer and their mother-in-law had diesel options for grabs. Fords, Chevys, Volvos, Peugeots, Toyotas, VWs, BMWs, and of course Mercedes-Benzs (so awesome!). But diesels were loud, dirty, slow, and smelly from the very beginning, and it’s not like you can sweet talk your customers into overseeing these qualities at the dealership. In fact, people seemed enamored with them. Over 50% of Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold in the 80’s were oil burners, despite having a rather hefty price premium over their petrol powered siblings. People loved diesel!

So why did diesel die? Two words: General Motors. Some smart ass at GM decided to jump on the oil-burning bandwagon by designing a series of big, inefficient diesel motors based not-so-loosely on existing gasoline power plants. They, quite literally, blew up. Let’s think about this for a second. Diesels require higher compression… which means more pressure and heat. What happens when you double the pressure and heat in a motor that can barely take the pressure and heat it was originally designed for? C’mon guys, what’d you think was gonna happen?

The combination of the reliability horror stories and the class action law suits sealed the deal for diesel cars. By the late 80’s everybody pulled out of the diesel market - even VW and Mercedes-Benz pulled all models but one or two.

It’s a real shame. I adore diesel cars from the 80’s. They pull with the authority of a truck (while sounding like one, actually). Between me and Nick, we’ve owned a few Mercedes diesels and have driven countless others. Slow, yes, but well-built, and full of character. These 80’s diesels will never win you any races, but will somehow manage to make you smile. More importantly, non-GM diesels have that quality that so effortless eluded Detriot engineers: reliability.

Nowadays, the Germans seem to be pushing diesel once again in the US. It’s their solution to the hybrid (I guess if Germany and Japan joined forces, we could get a Golf TDI Hybrid Synergy Drive? Fascinating). I’m not really in love with any of the diesel options here now, but it’s really nice to have more to choose from than the VW Jetta and the Mercedes E-class. Looks like loud, dirty, slow, and smelly is back, baby! 

You know what I’d like to see on our turf? A Japanese diesel. Honda, Toyota, you reading this?

photo copyright middle class motoring

80s Cutlass -Probably the only tribute to Olds I’ll ever write 

by Sicheng Su

This car has been, without a doubt, one of the most entertaining and amusing cars any of my friends has ever owned. 23 years old, classic American, sluggish acceleration, steering so light you could drive it with a broken pinkie. Less than 90,000 miles on her, cracked windshield, central power locks that worked if you pushed the button fast enough, power windows, power seats (!!), digital speedometer (had no idea these existed pre-2000). Plush velvety interior with seating for 6 on two rows of cushy sofa benches, A/C that still worked, good turning radius, and best of all, a dashboard that lit up with a strange neon bluish-green grid pattern all over. Not that it had much to tell you… GM just decided it’d nice if the whole dashboard lit up like a spaceship.

We called her Oldsie, the Tent/Tabernacle (because the roof liner was coming out and would rest on your head), Eggplant (that was her color), the Time Machine and, occasionally, the Boat. The suspension really did behave like a small boat. It’d lurch when you accelerated or braked just a tad, and it leaned so much in the corners you’d swear you were doing 40 when you were doing 15. It sure made city driving exciting, especially with all those “random” traffic stops by cops. Apparently this is the car of choice for modern day drug dealers and kidnappers.

Despite all her shortcomings, I realized this about her: she did exactly what you needed her to do. No more, no less. Getting onto the freeway was a simple affair: you floored the gas and waited to hit 70. The brakes… worked well enough. Her steering was completely dead in feel, which made coming back from the beach on a curvy mountain road a rather novel experience, but the magic was that if you ever needed to suddenly turn right, you’d just give a light tug on the wheel and she’d comply faster than your Chrome browser will load Google. It’s amazing how much this leisurely car with lousy handling inspired boldness in her drivers. Boldness? Actually, more like ambivalence. “Think she’ll make it round that corner? Meh. We’ll see.”

Of course, anyone approaching this car to see what it was capable of would be a fool. No – you drove this car precisely to see what she couldn’t do. Like an old-school phonograph or your parent’s first computer from 1975, you’d fire it up and watch in amazement as she took you back to a yesteryear driving experience so strange and foreign that GM’s bankruptcy suddenly makes much more sense. Unlike an old antique, though, she’d get done whatever you needed, taking you from Point A to B (usually), while at the same time having you marveling at what a piece of work she is still surviving in a world of nimble Accords and overpowered Impalas.

Best of all, she’ll leave you calling her a ‘her’ instead of an ‘it.’

photo copyright middle class motoring

Volkswagen Corrado: Germany’s Prelude

by John Shen

This car is significant to me for two reasons: One, it was a hot VW coupe (eventually equipped with a V6, which is way way overkill). Unlike the Scirocco* that it replaced, the Corrado was upmarket in performance and pricing. Unfortunately, this did not succeed for Volkswagen, and sales of the corrado never took off. Thus, it’s a bit of a secret amongst gearheads. Secondly, one of my friends owned one in highschool, and I spent quite a bit of time with this car and can personally attest to its awesomeness.

However, the Corrado is also important to me because it’s a significant milestone in the progression of the Volkswagen sports car from the groundbreaking yet technically so-so MkI GTI and ends with the R32 and my car. The Corrado is a pivotal point: it was really the first properly quick VW sports car.

However it was a bit ahead of it’s time. Keep in mind that this was a car coming from the same decade and the same country as the agonizingly slow 240D. More importantly, it was coming from a manufacturer not know for producing cars other than bland family transport. The Scirocco didn’t sell, and as a result, VW stayed away from properly hot, properly good hatches until the introduction of the MkV GTI (although one could count the MKVI R32, even though MKVI Golfs are a bit schlect), where they learned from the mistakes of this car and both priced the cars reasonably and brought the perception of the brand up to match.

(Funnily enough, VW would repeat the exact same mistake of selling a car that’s too good for it’s brand image 15 years later with the Phaeton).

*As a side note, I would sell my kidney to have a new Scirocco in the US. I mean just look at it!!

photo courtesy of wikipedia

Mercedes Benz 560SEL- If only the Towncar looked and felt like this. 

by Harvey Xiao

Then again, this one costs 3.5x the price, so we’ll let Ford slide.

See, Mercedes really thought ahead with this one. They somehow KNEW Cash for Clunkers would come around, and made a car that would more than qualify for it at 12MPG. In the heads of Mercedes executives, the 560SEL lifecycle must have gone something like this: First 3 years of life - meticulously maintained at Mercedes dealership, driven by chauffeur, and owned by head of Italian mob. Years 3-6 - passed on to Vinny (Mob’s son) and maintained loosely by the dealer as well as Alfredo - the old man down the street. Years 6-9 - given as first car to Vinny’s 16 year old daughter who proceeds to hit a few things, not the least of which is a tree, never once changed the oil, and then donates it Salvation Army during her high school’s “Green week charity drive.” Finally, a nice middle-class man buys the car from charity auction for $650 and gets $4000 off a Prius in Cash for Clunkers. Sweet.

That, my friends, is a well thought out design.

To be fair, Mercedes did respond to the whole fuel crisis phase, by making their cars lighter, and thus, more fuel efficient. The 560SEL had such features such as plastic guides for the metal timing belt. This environmentally friendly feature likes to snap, causing the timing belt to go off track, the pistons to collide with the valves, and 5.6 liter bowl of German metal soup.

—

I can go on all day talking about how ridiculous the 560SEL is to maintain, and how impractical it is as a daily driver. But the fact of the matter is, this is the flagship car from my favorite car manufacturer (back in the day) during my favorite era. I love it. The 560SEL was pure 80’s Mercedes: clean, handsome body, arrogant styling, complicated and comfortable seats, clean and ergonomic dashboard. It had the classic black and yellow gauges with bright orange needles.

Everything about this car from the 5.6L V8 to the self-leveling rear suspension, to the power rear seats screams “you don’t need this, and this is going to bankrupt your family to keep running, but you really really want this.”

The best part - a pristine example can be found nowadays for around $10k. And if you find it in pristine, well-maintained shape, it won’t ALL fall apart at the same time. It will only gradually bankrupt you over time. Find a good mechanic, build a trust fund for it, and you’ll be fine. 

Thanks for buying one of these, Nick - we all get to enjoy it. Sorry you have to maintain it ;)

photo copyright middle class motoring

1980’s Lincoln Towncar - I get 19 MPG, B*tch!

by Harvey Xiao

Yes! This is perfect. I’ve been struggling to think about what would be the quintessential piece of crap from the 1980’s. Obviously, it’d be American. I thought of the Pinto, but there aren’t many of those left - they all rusted out or exploded. I thought about other shits like the Mustang and the Cimarron, but these were so bad, not many made it onto the road in the first place. The Towncar is great! Grandmothers nationwide still sail around in these. In an era when Japanese and European manufactures pulled out all stops to make innovative, exciting vehicles that defined the golden era of over engineered, overbuilt cars, the Towncar was an embarrassing example of what NOT to do. Holy crap.. it’s perfect.. it wins.

One of my fondest memories of this car came only a few months ago. I was watching local news during the whole Cash for Clunkers fiasco. Some old lady wanted to trade in her 80’s Towncar (original owner!) to purchase a new Prius. Unfortunately, it didn’t meet the 18 mpg or lower MPG rating. Know what it was rated at? 19! You can’t make this stuff up! That’s AMAZING. Not only did that piece of crap NEVER achieve 19MPG in its entire 25 year lifespan, it saved one last kick in the rear for its owner for the very end. As if the owner didn’t suffer enough from owning the damn car. “Think you can get $4000 for me? Try $400.”

Great. 

Anyway, this week, we’re dedicating the site to talking about some of our favorite 80’s cars. This is my absolute favorite era, symbolizing well-engineered, well-built, mechanical, reliable, interesting, long-lasting vehicles. Just think about how many Japanese / European cars from this era are still common sights on the street today. 

Just had to get this crap out of the way first ;)

photo courtesy of wikipedia

After a week of putting our patience to the limit, the three of us have miraculously all independently come to more or less the same conclusion:

Harvey:

I can see how hypermiling CAN be interesting - drafting, seamless acceleration, top gear at 35 mph …  it’s a game of maximizing compromise.

But for me, I’ll stick to these hypermiling principles: corner hard, maintain momentum, and engine brake. I’ll leave the rest for other folks to find interesting.

Sicheng:

Since I had the least improvement in mileage, I thought I’d at least give my excuses for being in last place. First, I don’t have a pleasantly schizophrenic turbo that drinks more than a Russian frat boy on a cold Saturday when I drive hard, and then sips like an anorexic on sugar water when I don’t. Second, I drive a mid-sized station wagon – not a car that inspires me to Need-For-Speed-like acceleration. Third, I’m usually quite paranoid about spending money on gas anyway. And Fourth, I hardly go on the freeway, so none of that drafting-a-big-truck’s-slip-stream business (also known as tailgating a guy who can flatten your car in an instant) for me. Most useful thing I can ‘draft’ is a USPS mail van.

John:

You know, at some point during the week, I realized how ridiculous i looked in a 2 door sport coupe with alloy 17” wheels, low profile tires, even a german flag in the rear window… drafting a UPS truck. That’s all I’m gonna say…

by Harvey Xiao

It’s my driving we’re talking about here. Who’d you think was gonna win? ;)

This is how I did it. Start by being the most aggressive driver of the group, and then simply put in a week of normal driving. Easy.

I’m kidding.

I won because my car and my commute joined forces to create a perfect storm against my competition. The Prelude’s high-revving motor had the most to gain from easing up a bit on the freeway. My 185 mile commute to the client also gave me room to play around with all sorts of (really stupid) hypermiling techniques. I broke it up into 2 parts: my drive up to the client on Tuesday, and my drive back from the client on Friday. Here goes.

Trip up - Playing it cool.

I didn’t want anyone to know I was hypermiling - too cool for that nonsense. Sierra Club sticker? No thanks. At least that’s what it looked like from the outside. Inside, I was busy shifting exactly at 3k RPM (that’s actually just adequate to keep up with day to day traffic), keeping the highway speed rock solid at 75 (instead of 80), and keeping my distance from other folks to minimize necessary braking (by giving me ample room to get my ass out of the way without brakes). 

Off the freeway, I predicted the lights. I eased off the gas when I saw stale green in the distance, and accelerated when I thought I had a chance to minimize a static idle. I used engine braking down the hills, and avoided all acceleration on the inclines. I pulled into parking lots fast and coasted into an open spot if I could. Pretty slick.

Verdict: Definitely doable. Not all the rules, all the time, but more of a default driving mode that’s interjected with brief moments of adrenaline rushing stupidity. I can work some of this in.

Trip down - Losing all dignity.

I gave up on all attempts at public perception. I shifted religiously through the gears at 2k RPM and looked down when grandmothers in Buick Roadmasters passed me with a dirty face. 

On the freeway, I gradually (and I emphasis gradually) made it to 60 mph in the slow lane where I patiently waited for the perfect semi to pass. 15 miles later, I got my wish. A white 53’ Kohler truck cruising at 72. I swerved in behind him and nestled into drafting mode. When he changed lanes, I changed lanes. When he sped up to pass, I sped up to pass. Up the hills at 65, down the hills at 75, flat land at 72. To the onlooker, it seemed like the Kohler truck gave birth to a black Honda. 

We were practically married for 75 miles. Then, as we were inching past a brown Prius, the Toyota driver swerved to cut me off. That asshole stole my spot! I watched helplessly as it looked like the truck conceived the ugly duckling instead. As the new couple left me behind, I tried to make myself feel better- maybe the Prius couldn’t stop.

Back driving solo I tended to lose momentum going up the hills. Going up one such bump, I saw something yellow in the mirror. It got bigger..  is it..? yes.. crap… oh god.. a school bus. Yup, it’s passing me… oh, look the kids are waving… ok.. wave back.. “hi kids!” ..”work hard..go to college, and you can learn to drive like this..”

Thankfully, a Pepsi truck took me on as a drafting buddy 10 miles later, and I hitched on the remainder of the way to Boston.

Verdict: Oh HELL NO. I don’t care if that drive churned out 100 MPG. The humiliation of sitting in the slow lane coasting along at 60 waiting for that perfect truck to pass me by … no thanks. I’ll go plant a tree or something instead.

So to sum up:

• Drive it like it’s a Civic HX, it’ll perform like a Civic HX.
• Prius drivers are jerks.

Results:

• Starting MPG: 24.7
• Trip up MPG: 33.1
• Trip down MPG: 38.1

Undisputed. Champ. 

photo copyright middle class motoring

by John Shen

So, normally, I tend to be a fairly aggressive driver. So I approached this both as a way to save a little bit of gas (I am quite serious about the whole save the environment bit), but also as a way to relax my road rage and de-stress my (pretty long) commute.

So like Sicheng, I’ll list out the things I did:

1)   Shift at around 2000rpm.

The great thing about this is that my engine there is sufficient torque at the low end (I think because they try to compensate for turbo lag). It’s not a fast car by any means at these speeds, but it’s possible to shift at down to 1000rpm without the engine shuddering for a lack of torque). I spent a week shifting as fast as I can into 6^th gear and hitting the cruise control button once I got there. City MPG crept up from a nominal 18MPG or so to about 25. Fun factor plummeted much more drastically, however.

Verdict: definitely not doing this, especially since I bought the car because it’s fast..

2) Drive at 60-65mph on the freeway.

This made a HUGE difference for me. In the GTI, 70mph in 6^th gear is at about 3000rpm, and 60mph is just a hair over 2000. This means that even though I’m going just a little slower, the engine isn’t spinning fast enough for the turbocharger to kick in, and my instantaneous fuel economy while cruising on a flat piece of road jumps up to an eye-opening 38-42MPG. I thought this would make me the slowest car on the highway, as it turns out, people in California really suck at driving. More on this later.

Verdict: Will get me into work just a few minutes later, but with a huge fuel economy boost and less stress—would have just spent the first few minutes at work looking at pictures of cats on the internet anyway.

3) Predicting lights

Dropping down a few gears and engine braking for the last 100-200 feet before a light has always confused me: does this actually save gas? Does the little blip of gas you put in to downshift gets counteracted by the fact that the fuel injectors can remain off while you engine brake? The value proposition here is unclear to me. However, slowing down at greens and coasting up to reds have done lots to reduce my blood pressure.

Verdict: Very de-stressing, I might keep doing this, despite it’s unclear fuel saving advantage. 

4) Drafting behind trucks:

Yeah I tried to do this, but I have neither the patience or the willpower to put up with it. From what I know about fluid dynamics you have to be pretty close to the truck to take advantage of the low pressure vortex field generated behind it. I don’t like tempting fate that much.

Verdict: Screw. That. 

So how’d I like hypermiling? For the most part my drive would start with me pulling onto the highway, accelerating from 40 to 60 over half a minute and pissing the hell out of everyone else in the slow lane. I’d eventually go find a truck to draft behind, but then only to realize that trucks don’t have cruise control, and I do, and get frustrated by constantly having to adjust my speed manually, so I’ll try and go around him slowly, only to run into a Camry in the left lane going 60. ugh! california! wtf!!. So then I try and pass on the right at 60 (slowest passing maneuver ever!), only to have to brake suddenly because the mid 90s corolla in front of me decided that 65 was too fast for him and needs to slam on his brakes to get to a more comfortable 45. What the #$%#@????  Freaking middle aged Asian drivers!!!

Okay, so I’d move back into the the middle lane, and of course by this point the truck I was trying to pass has already gone way ahead of me. So I decide whatever, I’ll just chill in the middle lane for a bit. wait, listen to music.. wait… look up and see a Prius angrily tailgating me???!!? WTF?!?!?!??! Sigh, it’s back to the right lane for me, where I promptly get tailgated by a Volvo station wagon, or an Altima hybrid. Whatever. I’m in the far right lane! Learn to pass douchebags!. Eventually I’ll finally exit the highway, engine brake off the onramp, and pull into work after a few lights.

Wait.. what did I say about de-stressing? No.. driving in California is jawdroppingly frustrating.

Well, at least my fuel economy improved: my average mileage at the end of the week? 35.4MPG. That’s pushing mild hybrid territory, from a 200hp sport coupe. Boo-yah.

photo copyright middle class motoring

by Sicheng Su

Ok. I started with 22 MPG. After a week of shifting before 2000rpm and not speeding on the freeway (yeah it was hard), I churned out a 24.3 MPG. (That’s decent, but wait till you hear what the other guys did tomorrow and Thursday.)

My trusty regular commuter is a heavy mid-size station wagon with a gas-wasting permanent All-Wheel-Drive system… and stop signs. Lots of stop signs. So instead of setting out to get the most ridiculously-high MPG possible, a cause that I figured was lost from the beginning, I decided I’d try to keep my MPG up in as sustainable a way as possible. And by sustainable, I don’t mean that save-the-earth-or-you’ll-burn-in-hell stuff. I mean changes in my driving style that I could feasibly live with everyday, without going crazy. Here’s what I did:

1. Shift by 2000rpm (okay, sometimes I went to 2100)

This was surprisingly doable! 80-90% of the time I didn’t even lag behind traffic, and the remaining 10-20% were uphill. And my car didn’t shake like a wet dog every time I left the lights too. I did learn, though, that shifting at 2000 revs makes me want to shift really fast like a racing driver – quite an oxymoron really, until I realized that there’s as much oomph below 1500rpm as a banana slug. When you only have 500 revs to play with, every split second of non-acceleration is painful. 

Verdict: Surprisingly sustainable and efficient… but no fun

2. “Rolling stops” at as high a speed as I figured I could get away with whenever I came up on a stop sign, and starting on 2^nd gear after

I usually do this anyway, and my paranoia of getting a ticket by running a stop sign prevented me from ‘rolling’ too fast, so I didn’t gain much mileage. I did get more irritated as a result of watching my MPG though. Stop signs were not designed for the sanity of hypermilers. 

Verdict: Avoid stop signs. In fact, if no one’s around, get out and push. You’re gonna stop in another 60ft anyway.

3. Trying to anticipate red lights in the distance and coasting to them as early as possible

Again, somewhat unsuccessful given the number of times I found myself slamming my brakes when a light turned yellow. Personal discipline fail. I’m happy to report, however, that no one honked me when I didn’t forget, so this is pretty doable.

Verdict: Sustainable, if I REALLY paid attention. But judging from the number of Prius and Corollas out there, few drivers actually do…

4. The few times I did get on the freeway, I did not speed.

That’s right. 65mph from me. Sometimes 60. Why? Because wind resistance increases by the square of your speed (I think… John? edit: yes… yes it does) so the slower you go, the less the breath of God holds you back. Let me be clear: THIS SUCKED. I was the slowest car on the road by far heading to pick a friend up from the airport, including being tailgated and then overtaken by a tow truck. It’s a good thing I was early. 

Verdict: Useful, but only sustainable if you have great time planning… and very healthy self-esteem. 

My epic conclusion? Hypermiling isn’t worth the effort. Seriously. If you want to be proud of your MPG, get roller blades. I will say, however, that shifting early might now become my default city-driving mode given how easy it was to keep up with traffic. It’ll just make those moments at 3500 rpm that much sweeter. :-)

Our first McM staff challenge

We’ve covered some green cars lately. It got us thinking, why not see how green our own cars can be?

This week, we entered in a McM friendly competition. Each of us were allowed to use any hypermiling techniques we wished to increase our MPG. Our only requirement was that we still used our cars for our normal commutes - nothing more, nothing less.

Let’s meet the contenders:

Harvey - 1997 Honda Prelude 5-speed manual 

Starting MPG 24.7

Driving conditions: 180 miles of highway followed by 4 days of city followed by 180 miles of highway.

The Prelude starts with a rather low MPG for a 4-cylinder Honda that travels mainly highway, but keep in mind, this car does 4k rpm @ 80 mph. Also, shifting below 3k rpm on this car is a completely gutless experience. 

John - 2009 Volkswagen GTI 6-speed manual

Starting MPG 28.1

Driving conditions: Mostly highway - small section of local streets followed by a 20 mile cruise down the 280.

The GTI has turned out to be the epitome of compromise car. It gets combined 28.1 MPG with John flooring it fairly regularly. However, with a high starting MPG, is there much room to improve?

Sicheng - 2001 Subaru Outback Wagon 5-speed manual

Starting MPG 22.0

Driving conditions: Mixed city and highway - stop and go and emergency braking for idiotic bikers on the Stanford campus mixed with highway trips to local fast food establishments.

The heaviest of the bunch by far and a prelude like 5th gear landed Sicheng’s outback the lowest starting MPG. Driving around a college campus all day didn’t help. However, the Outback is the torquest motor of the 3 at low revs. Let’s see how low Sicheng can go …

Tomorrow, we’ll post the Bronze medal McM hypermiler 

photos copyright middle class motoring

Happy Friday!

It’s this week’s podcast! This time we tackle “Olympic Cars”, because we all really miss the olympic games now that they’re gone.

So, in this episode, you’ll find out why Sweden represents Norway, Japan represents Canada, why Mazda has gone fishing, and why we should give up our Mustangs in lieu of diesel hatchbacks. Enjoy.

On another note - we have decided on a podcast schedule! Look out for a new Middle Class Motor cast every other Friday.

Cheers,
McM Editors

Podcast Episode 11: Olympic Cars?

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First Place: USA - Ford Mustang GT

by Harvey Xiao

Yes, we are fully aware of how great the new V6 is blah blah blah efficient blah blah hp / liter blah blah blah new design blah blah all aluminum blah…NO, get the V8.

The Mustang GT epitomizes America as well as the CSX does Canada. It is 100% American culture - in a way that most of the world will never get. It is, hands-down, our top pick to represent the Olympic champs (that’s us).

My fondest memory of the Mustang GT came in the passenger seat of an Acura RSX. Our driver shifted down to 3rd on the freeway, throwing the micro engineered, super high revving, beautiful vtech sounding motor right into its 200 hp, 7800 rpm sweet spot … only to see (and hear) a white Mustang GT convertible roar past us on the left - fit & finish gaps, uneven top, shaking exhaust and all. USA + 1

The mustang is a rolling stereotype of people’s perception of the US. It sports an archaic live axle, a small block V8, a 5-speed gearbox when the standard is 6, and has been given the fit and finish appropriate of a U-Haul truck. It has a skimpy options list too, which can pretty much be summarized with “would you like a top with that?”

Also, the Mustang is not as arrogant as it once was. It’s not as coarse, bold, scary in the bends as before. It’s mustered up a bit of respect for the Hondas, Nissans, and VWs of the world… I mean, that IS what this whole Obama hopey changey thing is shooting for, right? Somewhere along the way, the Mustang morphed from a car that annoyed me to a car that I’m proud of. 

That recent Mustang commercial was actually pretty accurate - when someone fires up a Mustang GT next to me… I tend to get goosebumps. When I “fire-up” my Prelude, I tend to want to make a smoothie. 

photo copyright middle class motoring - yes we know that’s not a GT pictured.. get over it.

#2: Germany: Porsche 911

by John Shen

Germany has the advantage of being one of the few countries with more interesting cars than you can count. But above all others, one car sticks out as so seenstial, so fundamental to the German Psyche, that I have a hard time thinking of anything more overwhelming deutsche.

The Porsche 911: an iconic classic that has fundamentally unchanged since it was initially designed as a more or less “hot” Beetle. It still exists and is a testament to attention to detail. It’s an excessively over-engineered solution to a fundamentally flawed problem: the engine is in the wrong place. However, everything about the car has been engineered to compensate for the fundamental error in design.

Sure, there are lots of other cars that are distinctly German. The Golf, the E-class, the 5 series. But nothing else has been constant and consistent halo of design throughout the history of post-war Germany as the 911. Germany has exported the 911 to the world in the same design and the same guise ever since Germany has existed in it’s current state: it’s Deutschland’s gift to the world: this is the hallmark of German engineering. 

Most importantly this car can trace it’s vintage directly all the way back to Ferdinand Porsche and the original Beetle. It’s like if the Mustang GT can be directly traced back to the Model T (Top Gear famously refers to this car as an “arse-engined hitlermobile”). People complain that German cars typically lack soul, but over the past 60 years, Porsche has precisely and methodically engineered a soul into the 911.

And how German is that?

photo copyright middle class motoring

#3: Canada - Honda Civic S…err.. Acura CSX Type S

by Harvey Xiao

Meet the $30k Honda Civic. Nope, this isn’t a joke. 

Before you dismiss our pick for Canadian Ambassador as a petty attempt at revenge for beating us in hockey (overtime, nonetheless), hear us out. We don’t give a rat’s rear end about hockey.

I’m about to make a very bold statement. If Honda sold the Acura CSX type S in the US (at US prices), I would buy one. The CSX the better looking, more mature, more tasteful, and less obnoxious twin to our Honda Civic SI. It is everything I love about the SI, and less of what we don’t care for too much. It’s the easiest way to drive a slick shifting, free-revving, fun-to-drive Honda without looking like a spikey-haired Asian rice racer.

More importantly, it epitomizes the subtle differences between US and Canada. The CSX is less arrogant, more subdued, and somehow, has a politer personality. Think about it, would you be as pissed if a CSX cut you off in traffic instead of a Civic SI? It allows you to drive it like a Civic SI without looking like you’re driving a Civic SI. That is pretty freaking awesome.

Also, Canada is pretty poor, so … 

sorry,  we didn’t find a CSX to take a picture of. Thanks, Wikipedia