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Re: Why no MGs?

To: "Dean T. Lake" <dtlake@erols.com>
Subject: Re: Why no MGs?
From: Paul Root <proot@iaces.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:26:43 -0500
Right, I don't out accellerate cars, I out accellerate, out antisipate
drivers.

Paul.


Dean T. Lake wrote:

>  
> 
> Well put Paul!  I have had arguments with other auto enthusiasts about 
> what constitutes a sports car.  These can be otherwise intelligent and 
> informed motorheads, yet they have in their minds the concept of "sports 
> car" with "super car" completely confused.  There is not enough 
> discussion about handling FEEL  that is, the total driving experience.  
> Theres lots of rambling about how one hp curve compares to the next.  A 
> sports car used to almost be defined as much by what wasn't there as 
> much as what was there.  These days, by that criterion, there are no 
> sports cars.  What defines "sports car" has evolved to include power 
> windows, cruise control, and ac.  Thats OK by me, but it is part of the 
> allure of older, less cushy cars like our MGs.  Just one correction, 
> Paul, though one that in no way contradicts your essential point:  with 
> 110 hp you can not out accelerate most other cars, you just choose to 
> use what you have when they dont, probably because you are actually 
> enjoying yourself as opposed to just thinking about getting home to 
> watch reality TV ;-).
> 
>  
> 
> Dean
> 
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Root [mailto:proot@iaces.com]
> Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 10:45 AM
> To: Dean T. Lake
> Cc: 'Paul M.'; mgs@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Why no MGs?
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Dean T. Lake wrote:
> 
>  
> 
>>  Paul, you mention the 318ti - it was coincidentally the car that I was
> 
>>  pondering to complement my B roadster when I decided to simply combine
> 
>>  the two concepts and get a GT.  The ti is such a practical, yet neat
> 
>>  little car.  The big strike against it from my perspective (besides BMW
> 
>>  pricing) was that it needed the straight six (which they could get in
> 
>>  Europe) to go with the some 2800 pounds. 
> 
>  
> 
> The big problem, apart from the excessive weight of the 318ti is/was
> 
> that American drivers are too lazy to drive a car. The expect instant
> 
> gratification and are completely unwilling to take any responsibility.
> 
>  
> 
> Drivers need to get back to driving their cars instead of being a
> 
> passenger that happens to have a steering wheel in front of them.
> 
>  
> 
> Auto journalists can be partly blamed with things like, "wow, this
> 
> is a great car, except, with only 600HP it's not as snappy as it could
> 
> be. We need the 800HP engine in it." Ok, maybe no one wrote that, but
> 
> words to that effect. Peter Egan was the only writer I saw that said
> 
> that the 1.8l in the Z3 was a good choice, if  you actually drove the
> 
> car.
> 
>  
> 
> Though one magazine did say that the best balance in the new Mazda6 was
> 
> the 4 cylinder with the 5 speed. That's an exception.
> 
>  
> 
> I can out accellerate most drivers on the road with my 626 with 110HP or
> 
> so, and something wrong in the dizzy/coil that loads up at 4000. And of
> 
> course, in my B. Because I plan ahead.
> 
>  
> 
> And no, I'm not a great driver. I'm an average driver. As was shown in
> 
> the Mazda Rev-it-up series over the summer. I guess I get a bit better
> 
> as I get more time in a car
> 
>  
> 
> We don't need bigger engines, we need brains that are actually on while
> 
> driving.
> 
>  
> 
> Paul.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 

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