Overheating and an Old Friend

Last week whilst sitting in rush hour traffic (and by rush hour I mean the traffic jam that seems to engulf this city at all hours of the day and night) I had had enough and decided that no matter what, I was getting away camping. As it turned out the Miata had had enough too, and it overheated; the gauge went past the H mark and the idle was all out of sort. As quickly as I could (getting anywhere in Vancouver even to the side of the road takes longer than it should) I pulled to the side of the road and waited for the car to calm down. Overheating in a sports car is kind of a right of passage. Usually this right is reserved for Italian supercars so having the Miata do it kind of raised it's cachet. For the rest of the trip home the Miata would start to get hot anytime it would stop in traffic forcing me to try and keep it moving at all cost (I didn't even slow down for the jumper on Second Narrows), which is quite a challenge in Gridlockouver. The Miata was saying "drive me, stop fooling around with the rest of the drones in the city, get out on the open road". I heeded it's call and headed out camping the next day. But not in the Miata; not if it's overheating. I took my other car: The 1994 Infiniti G20. Now I know this is a Miata blog but since I'm planning to sell the Infiniti soon I thought I would use this post to give it a proper send off. This could be a long post where I gush about a different car from the Miata, so if you only care about the Miata you might want to stop reading here.
"Born in Japan, educated in Europe" is all I kept thinking while driving the G20 on the Sea to Sky, well not actually driving as the road was closed for hours because it got covered by a rock slide due to the construction but this isn't the Fuck You Olympics Construction Blog so... "Born in Japan, educated in Europe" this was the ad slogan for the Infiniti way back when it came out in America. And I think it sums the car up very well. Like a Japanese car it is reliable, economical, well thought out with great ergonomics and good visibility, and like a European sports sedan it has great handling, a great engine and transmission, and a chassis that really engages the driver in the act of driving. Having been distracted by the newness of the Miata I forgot how great this car is. I didn't really mind being stuck in horrendous traffic because the Infiniti is quiet, the seats are really comfortable for long periods, the sound system is excellent, the cabin is bright and airy, and the A/C blows cold (kind of too cold; I have to turn the heat on sometimes). It's a really nice place to be. Then when traffic starts moving and you hit the curves it's a fantastic drive; with the windows and sunroof open the engine and exhaust make great car noises as you row through the effortless precise shifter and steer through corners with the nice thick leather steering wheel that provides plenty of feedback about what the very capable chassis is doing. Red line is at eight thousand RPM, that's race car territory not a sedan and it's a great aural and motoring experience. When the road straightens out and turns into freeway the engine pulls hard making passing a breeze, and with the windows closed the cabin is dead quiet; no wind noise, no tire noise, just the pleasant drone of the engine and that great sound system.
Cross continental development has given this car multiple personalities. Unlike the Miata which is just sports car; loud, brash, crashing over potholes, everything vibrates, overheating, you can't take your eyes off the road for a second because the steering is so sensitive you might steer right into oncoming traffic, a tiny trunk, no leg room, you can't see out of the damn thing because the windshield is so low I'm constantly running red lights, the Infiniti is; comfortable luxury freeway cruiser, reliable commuter car, and fun to drive curvy back roads sports car. It even handled logging roads (albeit a tire did get torn open) which there's no way the Miata would ever go near, and all our camping gear easily fit into it, which would have been impossible with the Miata, so it could even be called a light SUV thought that's stretching it.So why get rid of it if it's so great? One: it has rust. I hate rust and in the last year little spots here and there have popped up. Even though everything works fine on the car, the rust makes it look like a junker and I hate walking up to it and seeing the rust. It breaks my heart. Two: Out of all its personalities the one I love the most is the sports car one. I love rowing through the shifter and revving the engine to the red line with the windows open and hearing that exhaust roar and slight backfires as the revs drop and O2 is sucked into the tail pipe. I love throwing it into corners and coaxing the rear end out a bit. And the problem is, the car's other personalities get in the way of enjoying the sports car within; it is after all a front wheel drive sedan and not a proper rear wheel drive sports car no matter how much it pretends to be. So the answer is: get a proper sports car - enter the Miata. You see the compromises in the Miata (no trunk room, poor visibility, loud, harsh) aren't really compromises when seen from the point of view of wanting a sports car, because that's what a sports car is. It's the Infiniti that compromises it's sports carness by having four doors, being large and heavy, being quiet, etc.

Anyway for now I'm holding on to both since I dread driving the Miata in snow and salt. I don't want it to get rusty now too. Having two cars is expensive though; I should have a pay pal link for donating to repairs. I need new tires and brakes for both cars and oil changes. And I've got to fix that Miata overheating problem. Plus the Infiniti's windshield wipers suck, I need new pivots....