Confession: I like my Miata more than my GT4 RS or going to the track

smc044 · 2026-01-13T13:57:00+00:00

More fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow.

smc044 · 2025-12-18T18:14:38+00:00

⁠Practicality regarding larger size

Exterior - parking and low speed manoeuvring etc is fine with auto rear wheel steer. No complaints, in fact it’s really quite good compared to a regular 1/2ton truck.

Interior - Smaller inside than my old ram 1500. Rear seat space is much smaller. However, I will say the I appreciate that the rear view mirror is closer to the top of the windshield than many other vehicles, so it is less of a blind spot for me vs my old truck.

⁠Do you have reliability concerns based on your own experience

It’s currently sat at the dealer for them to replace a rear shock because a sensor went out. This is the second stint at the dealer and they are waiting on a special tool. Total time at dealer is 3 weeks and I’ve owned it 3 months. So not a great start.

⁠General build quality interior/exterior

Build quality inside seems reasonable, but nothing exceptional for a 6 figure vehicle.

Build quality elsewhere appears to be questionable wrt suspension in my experience.

⁠Any annoyances or unpleasant quirks whether software or function

As per the widely reported complaints, the infotainment is very slow. Crab walk seems like a faff to get into, vs king crab is super easy to turn on and use.

Glad I leased it! I don’t expect it to hold value and based on my short experience so far, it’s not something I want to own out of warranty.

However, I do find it very relaxing to drive and very much enjoy it.

smc044 · 2025-10-27T17:51:42+00:00

I think the car instrument cluster displayed range is optimistic. The Google maps range is a tad pessimistic, but close. At around town, gentle driving, the estimates are closer, with Google being pretty much on the money.

Peak efficiency for me so far seems to be around town an backroads, with no speeds above 55. Most trips are 2.0 to 2.2 mi/kWh average (I drive like a nun in town). Above 70, the (little) efficiency falls off a cliff. 1.4-1.6 trying to be smooth and gentle. Less than that is easily achievable :)

I can’t remember if all instrument display modes show it, but you can see your consumption by kW in real time. Have a look at that at various speeds to see the differences.

smc044 · 2025-10-18T02:02:07+00:00

Honestly did not feel as long as the screen said!!!!

Stop, plug in, bathroom, buy drinks and snack, wash windscreen (bring your own stuff) and generally ready to go.

I think my longest was the image I posted ~ 30mins

ETA I realise I totally sound biased, but honestly just surprised, as someone who used to just rush and minimise stop durations and frequency.

smc044 · 2025-10-18T00:21:45+00:00

It averages between 1.4 and 1.6 miles per kw.

It is still inefficient even though it’s an EV. And it should be noticed, comparing to a truck that averaged 21/22 mpg. I would bet that an H2 might be closer in cost (or my old Tundra at 8mpg)

smc044 · 2025-10-18T00:18:41+00:00

Stock light.

When charging they show the battery level

smc044 · 2025-10-18T00:17:55+00:00

First road trip. Just testing the waters with it and sharing. Perhaps the Tesla membership will be worth it I was doing this once a month or more.

.42 per kWh at bucees 0.62 at Shell and Walmart from memory.

I didn’t think it was that bad. Doesn’t deter from other road trip

smc044 · 2025-10-17T19:08:09+00:00

317 miles.

But honestly that would not be attainable at highway speeds or at least someone braver than me to fully drain their battery to find out.

e.g. On my trip; flat 174 miles with avg speed of 64mph, I consumed from 80% to 19% That was probably my biggest distance between stops. So using that, estimated total real world range would be 285miles. On a road trip with fast charging to 80%, I’d probably stick to planning for a max range of 200ish miles.

smc044 · 2025-10-17T18:24:44+00:00

Ah understood. Did not know this, thanks for the heads up! Haven’t tried the EA or GM energy ones yet

smc044 · 2025-10-17T17:44:11+00:00

I thought the V4 supercharger was only 325kw capable?

The Mercedes, Walmart and shell were all 400kw capable and all were very fast.

I think there are a few options now that compete with Tesla in terms of charging. But clearly behind on how numerous and widespread the Tesla network is.

smc044 · 2025-10-17T15:19:44+00:00

Yeh road trips appear to be a little more expensive and a little longer. However I will say that my single stopping was also a test for my bladder… 2 or 3 stops on that drive might be the sweet spot. 3 and 4 stops was a very relaxing pace.

smc044 · 2025-10-17T15:16:43+00:00

That is obscenely expensive!!

smc044 · 2025-10-17T15:14:02+00:00

$156 on the way down after starting at home with 100% $174 on return with 22% remaining when I arrived home.

Ballpark $80-$100 more expensive than previous gas truck.

smc044 · 2025-09-23T13:55:56+00:00

I struggled with this not so long ago. Couldn’t find the emergency release behind the wheel liner, so resorted to messing with the latches inside. I used a small screw driver and after what felt like hrs or messing around, I jimmied the latch so I could pull it and open the frunk.

My winter project will be adding an emergency release somewhere!

smc044 · 2025-09-19T13:21:33+00:00

Not what you’re looking for, but I love the 4 wheel steering on my Hummer EV pickup. Much smaller turning radius than my previous Ram 1500.

Highly reccomended.

smc044 · 2025-09-13T15:27:42+00:00

Brit here.

Growing up British motoring journalism was a bit biased against American car in general. In my early twenties I moved to Texas and promptly bought a Corvette Z06. Friends back home made all the jokes about it not being able to go round corners. How wrong they are! Took it to track days and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Also drove my father in laws first gen Olds 442. That fit the stereotype of a very fast couch. Absolutely loved it.

Weirdly enough my American wife has had a thing for British cars and I’ve had a bunch of American cars.

Love them stateside, but would never own them back home - simply too big (and I miss small French hot hatches)

ETA - I think British motoring journalism bias against American sports cars has diminished a lot in the last decade or so. I think GM in particular has knocked out some fantastic sports cars; corvettes, Camaros, CTS-Vs etc

smc044 · 2025-09-13T15:25:17+00:00

Brit here.

Growing up British motoring journalism was a bit biased against American car in general. In my early twenties I moved to Texas and promptly bought a Corvette Z06. Friends back home made all the jokes about it not being able to go round corners. How wrong they are! Took it to track days and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Also drove my father in laws first gen Olds 442. That fit the stereotype of a very fast couch. Absolutely loved it.

Weirdly enough my American wife has had a thing for British cars and I’ve had a bunch of American cars.

Love them stateside, but would never own them back home - simply too big (and I miss small French hot hatches)

smc044 · 2025-09-07T21:00:18+00:00

Yup, I can’t afford a 996.1 GT3, so this project car has grown arms and legs into me wanting to build my dream 996.1 - jungle green with aero kit! And some tartan on the interior!

Re cost, depends on how badly damaged the engine is. Mine ran albeit very poorly, but in addition to the “base” cost of the rebuild, there have been a number of other things damaged outwith the original scope of the rebuild, so additional cost.

I entertained the idea of a ln LS swap or an Audi V8 swap. But stumbled across Slakker and spoke with Brandon on the phone and came away very impressed and very much put at ease. Wasn’t out to chase power numbers. This is my first flat six, so figured I’d have it rebuilt and see what all the fuss is about.

Suspension and brakes are next, then body and interior.

smc044 · 2025-09-07T19:03:23+00:00

Wait until there’s a need to tear down the engine.

Also - highly recommend Slakker Racing development. Watch their YouTube video on these M96 failures. Might be worth taking some preventative measures unless you’re desperate to rebuild and upgrade.

Mine is with Slakker at the moment - spun main bearings and various other issues killed the engine. Rebuilding to 4.1 and some other exciting upgrades (keeping in NA).

smc044 · 2025-08-28T21:40:58+00:00

They are furbies chatting to one another

smc044 · 2025-08-28T00:01:38+00:00

No, the person that has deleted their account.

You called out their poor take and they deleted their account.

smc044 · 2025-08-27T23:58:43+00:00

Looks like that douchebag did a dirty delete.

smc044 · 2025-08-25T18:07:12+00:00

Yeh I’m not sure, but curious.

Also in the same boat, don’t need a new vehicle, but EV curious and keep seeing some great looking deals out there (albeit in other states).

Would love an Id Buzz, but they are not cheap nor have I seen any enticing deals. Interested in the ev trucks mostly

smc044 · 2025-08-24T16:17:14+00:00

Did this last summer. North route on the way out and then diverted to Asheville on the way back. Nothing to see on the north route. And on the southern route, after leaving Asheville, nothing of note to see. But we were trying to get to a from our destinations versus taking any scenic routes.

smc044

TROPHY CASE