RideLust

There’s been some changes in my garage lately, thanks in part to the economy but thanks also to changing vehicle needs. I sold the bike a few months back, and just last week I got rid of my 2006 Acura TSX and my 2006 Mazda MX-5. Of the two, it was much harder to see the MX-5 go. The car was, hands down, the best handling ride I’ve ever owned. As a weekend toy, it was second to none, and it never failed to put a smile on my face each and every time I got behind the wheel. It had its limitations, too, like doing track days without adding an expensive, heavy and less-than-elegant supplemental roll bar. If money were no object, I’d still have the MX-5 in my garage. Sadly, money is very much an object these days, and downsizing from three cars to two was as much about economic survival as it was about anything else. Read More…

Controversial styling and "CamCord" bloat lead to lower sales?

A short while ago, there was a rumor that Mazda may kill off the Mazda6 due to low volume sales.  I can’t say I was surprised but the news definitely left me sad.  Actually, my first thought was literally “But what about the Shinari concept??!”  As many of you know, Mazda reps have since dispelled the rumor via several outlets and made it clear the 6 is here to stay.  *Whew* Those of us who are fans of “the driver’s alternative to Camry and Accord” felt like we dodged a bullet.  For me though, my love for the model wasn’t always so profound.  In fact, I downright loathed it.  So what happened?
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Not my exact car, but close. Needs more rice.

[Kurt's note: This article marks the official debut of Jen Stadler on RideLust. You've already read her stuff in the "Learning To Fly" article, and I think you'll agree that she's got a RideLust sense of humor. She's another misfit with 5w30 in her veins, so please welcome her to the RideLust family.]

My retinas are still smoking, but my appetite finally came back from reading Mr Angry’s list of 30 Custom Cars from around the world. Unfortunately for me, I saw more than a few similarities between those chariots of fire and my own first set of wheels. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say many of those in my age group made dubious “modifications” to our cars in the name of coolness, so at least I wasn’t alone. The difference between, say, my parents’ generation and mine is that their Mustangs, GTOs, and Roadrunners still look awesome and fetch big money at Mecum; our Civics and Focuses? Not so much. Read on, to see what I mean. Read More…

Over the past year both Kurt and myself have done our best to bring you guys the best that the automotive world has to offer. We’ve attended shows, reviewed loads of cars and have even managed to have a little fun along the way. The best part about what we do though are the emails, comments and feedback that we receive from our readers. For instance, if for some reason we stumble, we know damn well that you guys are going to nail us to the wall for it. Same goes if we have strong opinions about certain subject matters or if we throw some humor your way. Our goal is to make Ridelust.com a place where you guys can come, hangout and enjoy everything that the mechanized world has to offer and for 2011 I promise that it’s only going to get better. Below is quick listing of 5 of my favorite highlights from 2010… enjoy.
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We’ve all been there before: as a kid, you get a new toy only to realize that it’s nowhere near as cool as it looked in the commercial, or maybe it doesn’t even survive from Christmas to New Years without breaking. Later in life, maybe you realize that the hot blonde exchange student you’ve been trying to close the deal with has personal hygiene issues, or breath that smells like rotting fish and ass. Maybe you work hard to join a country club, only to realize that every other member is a complete tool, and you’ve got nothing in common with any of them. No matter what the details, one thing is for sure: life will disappoint you.

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Yep, that's a manual in a minivan.

My family is extremely fortunate—this year we were able to afford a new car. We went with Mazda. Here’s why: Mazda has consistently shown that it cares about driving. You see, a lot of car manufacturers just focus on getting you from Point A to Point B. Mazda focuses on the drive.

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My family and I recently left the snowless San Francisco Bay Area for the high desert of Central Oregon. We now reside in a winter wonderland where snow swirls down out of the sky and temperatures regularly drop below freezing. That means snow tires. In Oregon, we can legally run ice-shredding studded tires. But I picked up a set of studless Bridgestone Blizzaks. Why studless? They’re quiet, they don’t tear up the roads, and from what I discovered from my extensive research as a professional journalist, they grip almost as well as the studded beasts. I also have a front-wheel-drive car (Mazda Protege 5) that does well in inclement weather even when shod in summer rubber. What do you think? Studded or studless?

Ever had a car that you were totally embarrassed to own? I know I have and truth be told it’s not a wonderful experience. All of us out there in grown-up land have had our ups and downs in life. Sometimes they’re emotional, sometimes they’re financial, but for me… it was always auto related. My first job out of college was working for a print company in New York City. I had no money, lived in a rodent infested apartment in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and had no real car to speak of. At that time however my sister had this old busted up 1989 Toyota Tercel. It leaked oil, had rot holes in it the size of softballs and a blown exhaust that made it sound like a Messerschmitt 109 coming out of the clouds. It did however run and since it was free I had no choice but to take my rightful place behind the wheel. I actually remember taking it to a club once where the valet actually told me they wouldn’t put it in their lot and to park it on the street… yeah, it was that bad.
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If you live down under and are in the market for a reliable and capable off-roader, I’ve got some good news for you: Toyota will import the FJ Cruiser into Australia beginning in the first quarter of 2011. I’ve owned one since 2008, and it’s probably the only vehicle I’ve ever purchased that has far exceeded my expectations.

FJ Cruisers come with Toyota’s 259 horsepower, 4.0 liter V6 motor, which gives plenty of go for a truck that weighs in at just over two tons. Zero to sixty comes up in under eight seconds, it’ll tow 5,000 pounds and it’ll give you about 18 mpg city and 22 mpg highway. Of course it won’t do all three at the same time, but it’s a lot more capable than most people think it is, especially if equipped with proper off-road tires.

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Are you a car guy or gal? Do you live, breath and wrench on all things automotive? Does the smell of race gas in the morning give you that tingling feeling in your funky bits? If you are and if you have kids then ladies and gentlemen I’ve got some fun things for you. We all know that little kids have minds that soak up information like a sponge. They retain anything and everything that you can throw at them and because of this they can be programmed from an early age. Granted kids will develop their own loves and hobbies, but that doesn’t mean that while they’re still young that you can’t have some fun with them. Below are a few pictures of some of the coolest strollers and toddler wagons that I’ve been able to dig up on the net. Not only do the kids look cool, but these little buggies like these simply appeal to the hot rodder in all of us, no matter what our age.
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