cellini's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Car Last night I bought the ZX2. I'm quite pleased with it. It's really nice to be driving a manual transmission again. I'd been eyeing this model for the last 4 years or so. Following through and actually owning it is a satisfying thing. Going from a high-end luxury car like a loaded BMW 530 to a Ford subcompact entry level sport thingie is a bit abrupt. I'd come to take all of those little things for granted. Power everything, sun roof, perfect ergonomics and so on. However, driving the ZX2 is actually more engaging and entertaining than the BMW was. The Bimmer was an automatic. Snore. This ZX2 with it's sport package has half the engine that the BMW did but it's also probably less than half the weight so it would keep up pretty well under many conditions. It lags about a full second behind the BMW going zero to 60. This is ok because it's still more fun getting up to speed on account of working the stick. The BMW was always happiest when I had it cruising along on a deserted country road at 100 miles an hour and it had a top speed of 160 MPH. The ZX2 can't do these things. Well, I did take it up to 90 mph briefly last night but there is no way that it could keep up with the BMW 530 in a real race on open road. However, I hardly ever have an opportunity to do that anyhow so I haven't lost much. In the range of speed and road conditions that I typically encounter, the ZX2 is a ball to drive. Years ago, I owned an earlier incarnation of this car in the form of a 1993 Escort. I always like the snappy steering and transmission but the thing rattled and shook too much. The suspension sucked and the engine lacked the power that you really want for a high-speed merge. All of this was corrected in the ZX2. It's a fast little coupe that handles neatly on the twisty country roads that I favor and has the juice for high-speed merges and highway driving as well. It's got a premium sound system with a 6 disc CD changed and tape deck, which is an improvement over the crappy old single disc Alpine in the BMW that couldn't handle CDRs and occasionally flat-out refused to play other CDs out of sheer spite. It's pretty small but I can still fit both baby seats in the back without trouble. Small is what I wanted. Really good gas mileage and tight handling. There's not any room in this thing for clutter. In the Bimmer, I could have all kinds of stuff on hand for whatever. But it won't take much to make this car feel cluttered so I'll have to be vigilant. The only thing I really don't like is the lack of storage up front. Tiny map pockets and a glove box that leaves no room for most handguns on top of the manual. When I'm driving I have no problem just sticking my .38 in a cup holder (another thing that the BMW lacked) but sometimes I don't want to or can't carry my handgun on my person when I go into a store or run an errand. It's just irresponsible to leave a gun in a car where anyone can see it and break a window to steal it. So having room for it in the glove box is important. Anyway, whee! New car. I love those first few weeks of a new car and I'm going to enjoy it as much as possible. I'm enjoying not only the car it's self but also the sense of psychic wellness that comes from making a snap decision to change something significant in one's life and then immediately following through with it. Like dumping an abusive boyfriend, I would imagine. Dumping him and then immediately hooking up with someone you'd been kinda into for years but the 2 of you had never both been single at the same time. That BMW 530 is a great car to have had. When I am sitting around with my male friends and drunkenly discussing interesting cars that we have owned, it will be a good story. I couldn't keep up with those repair bills forever but I do believe that it is a very fine thing for a year or so to give reason the finger and put yourself in the most indulgent rocket of a car that you can obtain. In between long waits in repair shops and moments of discovering that just when you thought you were completely broke you have gone even more broke, you will have one hell of a lot of fun on the road. One cannot keep this up indefinitely but it was one hell of a ride while it lasted. So long, BMW 530. New chapter. 11:31 a.m. - 2007-10-17 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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