So where are we going?
Mazda of Lakewood.
What for?
An oil change ........
What? An oil change? On your birthday? Are you high?
I'm not high. I'm sitting in JD's living room, watching him spend way too much time tying his left shoe. I think he may have done a couple bong hits before I got there. Strangely, and despite an apparently altered state of consciousness, he's still holding down his end of the conversation.
Seriously, dude. You take off time from work to get an oil change. You get your wife to take the car in for an oil change. You do NOT get an oil change on your birthday. I think there's laws ......
He's right, of course. Getting an oil change is not something a Birthday Boy should be doing. Fortunately, that's not all that's on the agenda.
That's not all we're doing.
Oh. What else then? Go home and mow the lawn?
JD's being uncharacteristically clever. He can't be high. He also ended a sentence with a preposition. I thought only Minnesotans did that.
We're gonna test drive a car while they're changing the oil.
Really? What?
A car I can't afford.
Huh?
He's not getting it.
We're gonna test drive a car that I can't afford. Actually, I'm the one test driving the car. You're along for the ride.
Kewl! Where we going?
I sense he forgot the present indicative, "are".
He may not have been high, but he was totally lost. JD isn't a motorhead. He is perpetually along for the ride. Some drive, and then there are those who let others do the driving. JD is one of those. So, he doesn't care if it's a Ferrari or a beat up, POS, AMC Matador. All the same.
And that's ok.
 |
| Artist's rendition of JD on the test drive |
So what's the car we're test driving?
I'm test driving.
You're test driving.
I explain that we're going out in a 2014 Miata Club. It's the latest version of the car we're in. It's a little bigger, wider, and heavier. It's got a bigger, more powerful engine. We'll see about the rest.
I do it every year on my birthday. I go out and test drive a car I can't afford ......
Every year?
Yep, pretty much.
AWESOME!! How much is it?
I dunno. 27 - 28k. Something like that.
You can't afford that?
JD can be a bit direct.
No. Not right now.
So we get to the dealership and drop off the the '99 with the service guys. Dan does the usual photocopy of my license and insurance card, has me sign away my firstborn if I total the car, gives me the keys and we're off.
View 2014 Birthday Test Drive in a larger map
I think to myself that a faraway land where people don't end sentences in prepositions or forget to use their present indicatives would be nice, but ......
Over to Lookout Mountain, up and around to I70 and back to the dealership.
How far ?
35, maybe 40 miles.
Ah...
He drifts off into the ride.
It's going to be a great drive. It'll be a good road to try out this new Miata. It has some city streets, lots of elevation change, lots of twisties and some freeway.
The streets are a lot more pleasant than I expected. The Club has what some folks say is the best suspension ever offered in a Miata. I don't know about best, but it's damned good. It's firm, and and doesn't roll all that much, but what surprises is how compliant it can be when the road gets rough. Denver is notorious for really shitty streets. They're rough and chuck-holed - not the best streets for stiff suspensions and sidewalls. With my '99 you feel every single imperfection, sometimes with jarring results. As we wound our way west towards Lookout Mountain I was pleasantly surprised how the Club's suspension soaked it all up and could still corner like it was glued to the road.
The tunes are excellent. The system is a Bose unit and sounds great with the top down - at least in an environment where good sound is hard to come by. Sound systems always sound a little thin in a convertible. The Club is definitely thinner with the top down, but not as thin as other convertibles I've been in. I like.
HOLY SHIT!!!
JD is suddenly back in the drive. We're exiting a hairpin turn on Lookout and accelerating. There's a couple bicycles ahead of us and they're a bit far out on the road. We have to cross the centerline to get around them. It's a common enough occurrence. We have to share the road with our 2-wheeled brethren and they love these mountain and canyon roads as much we do. You have to give cyclists at least 3 feet of space when you pass them. That means you sometimes cross the centerline So, encountering one on a road like this can be a little unsettling if you're not used to it, or not paying attention. JD is definitely unsettled. He's not paying attention. He knows the road well, but as a cyclist. Things are moving a little faster than he's used to.
When was the last time you rode this?
On my bike? Last fall.
How'd you do?
This is a "King Of The Mountain" mentality you find among road cyclists. Status in the culture is often determined by climbing prowess.
Couple hours maybe.
Last Time I rode this, it took an hour.
Good for him.
Ben King does this in something like 18 minutes doesn't he?
Ben King is a pro racer out of Boulder. Did well in this year's Tour De France. He is The Balls. I mention King to get in a little dig. Fucking Ben King. King rides all of JD's favorite rides a lot faster than he does. Without exception. JD posts a new route and time on a site like Strava and it's not long before King comes along and kicks the KOM to the curb in a truly dramatic fashion. King doesn't have it in for JD. They've never met. They just happen ride in the same area, and it's inevitable that King will top JD's KOM. He takes it a little personally.
Fucking Ben King.
Despite the bikes and Ben King, Lookout Mountain is a great drive. Over approximately 4.5 miles of road, the elevation changes about 1300 feet. As the crow flies, it's more like two miles. You go up in a hurry. The road switches back and forth up the mountain, with very little straight road. When you're not turning, you're getting ready for one. It's one of the best, and most challenging roads along the Front Range.
I've driven this road many times, with a number of cars. It's always right. Awesome. The Club is equal to that. It's got enough horsepower and torque to pull hard all the way up. The suspension is delightful. My '99 corners well, but not without some roll to the outside. The Club is corners flatter, and combined with the Bridgestone tires, is very sure-footed. The brakes are strong, slowing the car quickly with minimal effort, and modulate well - a real asset alongside the car's excellent manners. Confident. Easy.
I'm falling in love.
HOLY SHIT!!! DID YOU SEE THAT??
JD was all settled in and enjoying his ride when a group of skateboarders zip past us, headed down. We're doing under 30, but no idea how fast they're going. Our closing speed gives the illusion that they're going insanely fast. Maybe worse than insane. Longboarders have added themselves to the list of folks that use these roads. They've got a right, I guess. I don't know if it's against the law for them to be out there or not. The thing is, they're so small. So unprotected. So FAST. It's hard not to get a little shook when one tears past you at what looks like 60mph. They go by you so fast, it's takes a couple seconds to register what just happened.
Crazy!
Yeah. Crazy.
The summit comes in less than 15 minutes. That's too soon.
After the summit the road takes a different character - rolling, back and forth, and seductive. The posted speed limit through here is 35mph, but the road begs for more. It's a residential area, so the county takes that speed limit seriously. Getting a ticket sucks. We don't mess with the speed limit. Just the same it's still a fun stretch. One of the cool things about a car like the Miata are you don't have to be going over the speed limit to have fun driving it. On this stretch of road it would be nice to be going faster, but the car is still awesome to drive here.
Wow, that's nice!
JD is impressed.
So am I.
The Club crossed three lanes of traffic without complaint. The '99 does this well, but the Club has a more settled, maybe sedate, character at speed. That's not a Bad Thing, but I'm not sure I like it. The '99 has a raw, untamed quality. It wants you to pay attention and drive. The Club feels a bit more forgiving, relaxed. Because of that quality, I suspect that the Club may better when you have to spend hours driving. Another thing I notice is that the wind noise with the top down is much lower than the '99. That's a big plus.
I can hear JD mumbling something about wanting to go to some Pho' joint for lunch.
Whatever.
So we got back to the dealership. One last thing I notice is that, unlike the '99, I don't have to get out of the car to put the top back up. The top folds down differently than the '99, making the top very easy to work with from the driver's seat. Very nice.
The service guys just got the car off the rack and wanted me to know that the brakes could use some work. Fine. The inspection sheet indicated another month of life at least, so not today.
Pho' is starting to sound really good.
Dan wants to know how I liked the Club. I tell him about the drive. He does not fail to pitch a sale or lease. I expect no less. He's a sales guy and a damned good one. He doesn't sell if he doesn't close. I just can't afford the car right now, but if I could .....
I'd own a Club. It's a nice car. It does everything I love in my '99, and in some ways, better. There's nothing to dislike in this car.
Pho' still sounds good.
