The Dream Car List

Okay so I failed a little bit and haven't posted my car list like I said I would. I was having a bit of a crisis making a decision on what it was I really wanted! HAHA! I know right, I am a bit nuts.

When I was 17 my list was WAY different than it is now. I used to really want (in this order) 1) a VW GTI (early 2000 generation), 2) 2004 Subaru WRX STI, 3) Infiniti G35 Coupe, and 4) Porsche Cayman. Boy has that changed...and it will probably change again...So here goes.

I've gone and gotten European taste...

1) BMW 1M...YUM...priced as I like it (new) $50k (EEPS!)


1) Audi S5 priced as I want it (new) $55k...the sexiness is totally worth it...now I have said that I will never buy another car until I can afford this one...but I may have to get that little 1M with the boy so really my 1 and 2 on my list are tied...


3) BMW x6M priced at $91k new....now this one I just want because its sexy...BUT I don't know it the $91k price tag is all that worth it? I might as well just save up for a while and get my final car on the list...


4) YUM...I want an Aston Martin haha! yes! I have a Virage posted up but really I just like the way they look so I would totally just get the one I could afford. AND when I do get one I want to be able to custom order it in my fave color :) Yeah I do have lofty dreams, but hey you have to have some kind of motivation in life right?


Now this is just my current list. It is more than likely going to change in the next couple years but this is where I am at right now. I definitely have a lot to work toward because I have insanely expensive taste :p

Memorial Day Test Drive Fest!!

So today was Memorial day and was the 3rd day that Brian and I have had off together since February. This can only mean 1 thing! We spent the whole day test driving cars together! Brian has had his Mini for 2.5 years and is itching to try something new so he has made a list. His list is fairly diverse, the budget is $17,000-21,000ish and includes a VW R32, Audi A3, Ford Mustang GT (must be manual), and early 2000 M model BMWs. So here is a peek at our day!

We first hit Boulder, CO. Our goal was to try drive a Mazdaspeed 3 and a Audi A3 S-line. Sadly the Mazda had been sold last week and was not taken offline :( BUT the Audi was available at a dealership down the street.

Now this little car was one of the easiest manuals I have ever driven. Its clutch was like butter, the gear box was like a cloud and it accelerated with the lightest touch. It was an amazing drive. I just wish they brought the S3 here in America :( because then it wouldn't just be an A3. I like that my car doesn't look like a plain old Caliber... The good thing about this Audi is that if the S5 manual drives anything like that A3 I am as good as sold!

Next we drove up to Fort Collins, CO and got to drive a 2008 VW R32 which let me just say...its more of a little monster than a car.

It didn't idle so much as growled! And man did that little guy FLY! We had a good time driving around Horsetooth reservoir. Only problem with this little guy is that its a bit overpriced...we felt like we could get more car for that price so right now that one is lower on the list.

Lastly we checked out the new Minis because Brian was curious what the automatic would be like and he wanted to drive one with a turbo (his has the older engine with the supercharger). Man did we have fun...I also saw a little guy in my fave color scheme...

We ended up driving 2 Clubmans. They were both S models but one was an automatic and one was a manual. I have driven a John Cooper Works Clubman before so I didn't beg Brian to let me give them a go. We loved the little guys though. They had all the character of his Mini but like 3x better. Better size, refined interior, and over all it was much better put together than his older model one. He wasn't considering getting another Mini unless he could find a reasonably priced John Cooper Works but after those drives he has now added a newer Clubman to his list.

I had a lot of fun spending the day with my Boy doing what we love and talking about our motivation in life, Cars. We hit a few bumps in the road along the way because of the Bolder Boulder race going on, some severe weather up north in Colorado, and the Holiday in general but overall it was a successful day and we got to see what we wanted. I am excited for Brian to get a new car soon. As for me, I am still in love with my little silver bullet but today got me thinking. I haven't updated my "list" in a few years and it DEFINITELY needs an update. SO next week I will be showing my new and improved car wish list! Until next time, vroom vroom everyone!

<3 Shyla

Theres just something wrong...

About a Prius owner who is also an avid smoker...

Now I personally don't agree with Prius' in general because they are really one of the dirtiest cars you can buy. I mean the materials for their batteries come from Canada, get shipped to asia to be processed, car is made (or partially made) then shipped back to North America...DIRTY PROCESS...so heres what makes it worse...

The people who buy them often buy them as a status...take for instance this fool I saw today...I was driving behind a guy from Nebraska (plates) who was driving his Prius...SMOKING...yeah...then throws his cigarette butt out the window...REALLY? I mean REALLY??? OH I care about the environment and being green but here let me contribute to the tons of pollution on our roads made by dumping my cigarette butt out into nature. OOH maybe if some animal eats it and dies I get bonus points! -.-

People are really stupid...

5 things I don't get about Automatics...

Okay so the other morning I had to drive to an interview that was about 40 minutes away. Now I was planning on taking my car of course but then we got this ridiculous cold spell that left an INSANE amount of ice all over my windshield. The night before the interview I tried to get the ice off so that I could drive the next morning. Unfortunately, a combination of negative temperatures and my ignorance of the ice claws on the scraper thingy caused that whole endeavor to be a FAIL...

SO...I had to drive the 97 Ford Explorer...AUTOMATIC...who had been cleaned off (we gave it some exercise to the store earlier the previous day)...at least it was the v8 version...nah still boring

That 40 minute drive in the automatic gave me a HUGE influx of blogging topics so THANKS 97 EXPLORER!

Which brings me to my point...The 5 things I don't get about Automatic vehicles...

1. HOW do you crazy automatic transmission drivers maintain speed? Maybe newer automatics are better at this (judging from the way you drive though I highly doubt this...going 75-80-60-65-80-60 over and over again IS REALLY IRRITATING). All I gotta say is THANK GOD FOR CRUISE CONTROL! NOW USE IT ON THE HIGHWAY PLEASE!

2. Either everyones speedometer is off by 3-5 mph or the Explorer's magically fixed itself in the month it sat stationary in front of the house. I am thinking that this might have just been the fact that it was 9am and you guys all didn't want to get to work so you were dragging your feet. But I have tested the theory that the Explorer is 3 mph off so when I am going 68 (its really 65) and you people were pretty much sitting still the way I was passing you...and the speed limit was 65!

3. Really...HOW HARD IS IT TO PAY ATTENTION TO DRIVING WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUTCH!?!!???? All you have to do is stay between the lines and keep a steady pressure on your gas pedal (thats the one on the right everyone, just clearing that up if in case you were confused), and use your turn signal as needed. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look before you change lanes and maintain your speed its not hard! And hey you know that button/lever/knob that says "cruise" its REALLY cool! All you do is press it and then hit "set" and BAM your speed is maintained and now you are down to two tasks! Stay between the lines and using your turn signals. AMAZING!

4. Getting on the highway with an Automatic is INCREDIBLY BORING! I love getting on the highway with my 6-speed manual! Its AMAZING! SO SO much fun to down shift and fly onto the ramp and then turn my signal on and fly onto the highway AT SPEED! Driving an automatic is like "please please downshift I'm slowing down to make this corner to get on the ramp COME ON DOWNSHIFT! Okay whew! now can you go faster when I press the little pedal on the right please?" -.- SO SO boring...also a lot of you haven't grasped the concept of getting on the highway at speed -.- see Driving word of the Month: Commit

5. Where's the fun? Driving an automatic is SO boring...it takes all of the fun out of driving...

Top 5 reasons I won't buy that car from you...

So in the last couple years I have seen the purchase of a few cars. I can not STAND some car salesmen...and while most people can't stand them because they are "sleazy" I can't stand them because most of them are idiots. SO here are the reasons car salesmen totally turn me off and if/when they do these things...I refuse to sign the papers just on principle.

1) You see that I am a girl, and I came in with a guy, so you go talk to the guy. When he says to talk to me because I am the one looking for a car, you still don't take me seriously. I will not buy a car from you because you don't make an effort to find out what I like and don't think I am the decision maker. NOPE not buying that car from you.

2) You didn't spend the time to learn your used car inventory. If I come in and ask you what the price is and you go "uhhhh...ummm...hmmmm...what is this?...uhhhhh ok let me run in and check" If you don't know anything about whats on your lot...you failed. You have so much downtime you should go and learn whats on your lot. NOPE not buying from you.

3) Similar to number 3...You can't answer my questions about your NEW car inventory. If I ask you what the difference is between the trim packages and you don't know, well thats stupid. My boy's Mom went in to check out the new generation of Nissan Maxima and the salesman's mind was blown when she had to find and show him where the heated steering wheel button was. You should be keeping up with new innovations your company is coming out with, don't be ignorant or I won't buy anything from you. Sorry you just lost a sale cuz NOPE not buying from you.

4) You don't bother listening to me. When I tell you I want that bright blue, I WANT THE BRIGHT BLUE! Don't try and get me to buy another color I WANT THE BLUE! If I tell you I want a sporty hatchback, don't try and sell me an old mid-sized sedan because I obviously don't want that. I'm leaving because nope not buying from you.

5) When you stand at the front door smoking and when one of you comes to talk to me the rest of you stand and stare. You perpetuate your tacky sleazy-ness. When you smoke and throw your cigarettes on the ground and stare at your colleague trying to sell us, it doesn't make me feel like buying from your dealership. It seems like you don't care about where you work and how you get the job done. I don't want to buy a car from a company like that. Why don't you guys make yourselves useful or hey go learn your inventory. Because right now...nope I don't wanna buy anything from you.

So car salesman FIX your actions and start selling those cars in the new age. People care if you care. People want to be listened to so see to their needs. Women make a lot of decisions these days and if they want something specific LISTEN to them don't try and get chummy with the men they are with because that just pisses us off. And for heaven's sake, you have enough down time to smoke cigarettes and chit chat with each other, LEARN ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT! Sure not a lot of people know the difference between trim packages but there are a bunch who do and they find it irritating when you stammer.

Thank you.

Kart MADNESS...again...

So for the boy's birthday we went back to Unser Racing in Denver with a bunch of our friends. We had an insane time (again). That place is awesome. Since his birthday was on a Thursday...conveniently...we were able to go for Thursday Thunder again and had unlimited races for $60. Everyone had a really great time. Since there was 6 of us we were able to dominate every race we were in which made it way more fun. Here is video of the guys doing their last race of the night.



We had a really fun time. We still haven't tried the other new track on the other side of Denver and will probably have to just to see. Apparently Tim Tebow of the Broncos raced at that one *shrugs*. I think they just have better a better marketing team and probably had him come in for free but thats just me. Anyway here are the guys getting ready to race...



We had a blast :) someone even blew a tire haha

Kart MADNESS!

So its totally winter right now and that means stetchy drivers on icy roads and DEFINITELY no motorcycling...SO...what are we going to do to get our driving fix while also getting outside of the house?

Indoor Go-Karting!!!



We drove down to north Denver last night and visited a new indoor kart track called Unser Racing & Entertainment. We being my boy Brian and our friend The Nick Bair (of Supermotarded fame). To sum it all up into one sentence:

You know you were having fun when you find pieces of tire hidden among your unmentionables :]

This is just my back...see the little tire pieces? WELL they went everywhere...



We may have hit that threshold of too much fun haha! And our little bodies not used to a lack of power steering/out of motorcycling shape are definitely feeling it this morning! BUT we had a BLAST!

Unser Racing just opened this past November 2010. I really hope they stick around for a while! Last night was Thunder Thursday which gives you unlimited races (with a temporary membership purchase) for just $65. Normally one race is $30 and three races is $80 so this Thunder Thursday deal is a great one! The carts are really nice, the track has its bumps and quite a bit of sharp turns but that's what makes it interesting. They also have free lockers for your stuff and you get to hold on to the key which is nice. Also, they have really nice fire suits if you feel like you need to wear one. Overall it was a great experience and we will be returning. Here are some more pictures from last night!

This is the view from the locker room to the viewing area where we all hung out. Apparently directly to my left they will be building a restaurant with a better view of the track :)


Here is the view of the track from that waiting area...basically just the pit...but they did have a camera showing us the far end where we saw one guys helmet fly off...still don't know how that happened...



Here is Nick and Brian as soon as we figured out the name of Brian's blog (coming soon) "The Adventures of Drizzle and Bam" :)



And this is me! Waiting for our next race hehe



This Saturday me and the boys will be going on an adventure to get Nick some new stuff for his brand new bike Bam! I will be guest photographer on his blog to help him document it all. It's gonna be fun!

Dear Car designers...hide those naughty bits please!

So I have a bit of a pet peeve. When I am not driving I am usually observing all the cars around me as well as where we are going (I have mad skills when it comes to navigation). One thing I have noticed is a cars "naughty bits". I am referring to tail pipes and mufflers people!!! It makes me crazy when I see stuff like this...



Now this is the 2011 Nissan Juke. I was actually starting to like this car before I saw it driving around Phoenix and saw the complete back end...What is that???? ITS 2011!!!! Can't you hide that!!!??? Its an ugly old random tailpipe!!! I mean COME ON!!! Now most car designers have hidden this ugly eyesore...frankly I feel dirty seeing it because its like seeing my cars "naughty bits". Yes I know this is on the base model end of the available trims but COME ON!!! If Kia can do this...



Then everyone else certainly can too!!! Come on!! Complete the lines of the car and make the exhaust look presentable! Its like seeing a guy/girl with nice underwear on...its more classy than nudity...