This is a really great thread ;)
I'm not sure about speed -- but one of my favorite car designs in an affordable car has to be the last Mazda RX-7 -- from a design perspective it's really a beautiful car... especially the black ones ;)
I just drove my GTI across the USA (Florida to Cali) again w/ everything I own in the back -- zero problems -- I've lost count of how many times I've driven it between Cali and Florida ;)
One thing about sports cars -- you hardly ever see people driving them on long trips... really you see mostly pickup trucks all the way from Florida to Arizona... I'm always expecting a Viper or something fast to fly past me down the I-10 but I've made the trip at least 8 times and not once have I ever seen a sports car hauling ass past me...
Ok now I'm just rambling -- but what's the deal w/ everyone thinking LA is such a cool place to drive down the beach? -- give me a break -- first of all you can't even drive your fucking car on the beach anywhere near LA (anywhere in Cali?) -- second of all -- you can't even drive your fucking car NEAR the beach in LA... shit you can't even see girls from the road in your car in LA unless maybe you have a telescope and x-ray vision or unless you pull off the road onto a dead-end road... LA and PCH is worked up to be soo cool but it's one of the worst roads you would ever want to drive on... most of PCH isn't anywhere near the beach -- it's mostly just stoplights through a lot of crappy neighborhoods -- I was really disappointed when I first got to LA to drive all the way down PCH... If you want to take your roadster out and you want to see some fucking hotties in thongs, etc... shit drive down A1A -- 1000x better than PCH... you can actually SEE the ocean -- you can SEE the sand -- shit you can even see girls... and VERY FEW stoplights... TONS of beaches and parks to stop at all the way from Delray all the way down to Miami... and shit if you see a beach you like you can just pull right up to the edge of the sand -- maybe pop in some quarters if it's not free (usually it's free to park in Florida) -- you can be in the water in seconds... and you won't freeze your ass off in the water either. LA beaches suck ass. Haha... too bad I live here now ;)
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