Autopians Have Hearts Bigger Than The World’s Smallest Four-Seat Car: COTW

For many, if not most people, a car is just an appliance that escorts you from A to B reliably and safely. For others, the human condition and cars are deeply entangled together. Would you be where you are today if it weren’t for a certain car or the adventures you took with it? I know cars and I will forever be connected like the earbuds and USB cables hopelessly tangled at the bottom of your bag right now.

We didn’t run COTD on Friday, so enjoy a Comment Of The Weekend!

Still, it’s not always easy talking about the personal side of a car adventure. Earlier this week, I wrote about the honeymoon trip I took with my wife. We drove her Scion iQ from northern Illinois to the Grand Canyon and back on an unforgettable voyage. Your comments were touching. One comment that warmed my heart was from Clark B:

Mercedes, I just want to say how amazing it’s been to read your work and to see the representation you bring to the car community. I grew up in the same, “gay is the worst thing you could be” type of household, and coming out wasn’t pleasant. I was even sent to conversion therapy for a while. I’ve told this story before, but my friends 2004 Pontiac Sunfire was the car that may well have saved my life. I had my own cars, but when my best friend picked me up, we would drive around for hours, chain smoking and listening to music, and helping me figure myself out, as I had finally left the church and accepted myself for who I was. Things with my folks are infinitely better now, and my fiancee is part of the family, even for my small town, octogenarian grandparents. But the freedom of getting out of my parents house when I was 17, hopping in the car and just leaving all that shit behind, with the most amazing best friend (and we still are!), that probably saved me from…well, I’ll just say that without her and our drives, I don’t know if I would be here today.

I love how car culture is finally becoming more inclusive, and again I thank you for your role in that! It sounds like the two of you had a lovely time on your trip. I’m hoping to follow in your footsteps one day, with my best friend and my 1972 Super Beetle.

Of course, I know how you feel, Clark B. I’m happy to hear things have gotten infinitely better for you. They have for me, too! It took a lot of years, but my parents are on board nowadays. Or, at the very least, they are to my face. One day, you will take that trip, and I hope we get to hear about it!

 

Many of your comments, like this one from Diana Slyter, were short and to the point. They’re equally as lovely!

Just did a MN-FL-MN road trip and had a great time at BMW airhead tech days, good to see more trans folks defying the haters and enjoying this great country and it’s good people!

As well as this one from Tim R:

Thanks for sharing this Mercedes. We have a trans daughter so I’m grateful to you for using your platform to share your story.

Once again, I thank all of you for the kind words. I won’t say that the car and motorcycle worlds are perfect, but our readers are a shining example that there’s a lot to love about cars and the people who love them.

Changing gears, our engineer contributor Huibert Mees drove a Volvo EX30 on ice in Sweden. Angrycat Meowmeow’s takeaway is one that still shocks me about EVs:

3.4s to 60 is absurd. My tuned S5 is right around there. It may be becoming the norm, but it’s still crazy fast and before you know it you’re doubling the speed limit. And it’s not just about the speed limit, other drivers don’t expect that rate of acceleration out of an appliance! Think about it, you’re first in line at a red light thinking “I’m gonna give it the beans when this light turns green” and some jabroni in his Ram or Tahoe or Corolla says “Their light just turned, I can make my right before this traffic gets going and cut off this whole line of traffic”. Buddy isn’t expecting your white Volvo to accelerate like a damn Lamborghini and before either one of you know it both of your cars are a twisted mess of batteries and gasoline. This is a regular ass commuter car for crying out loud. Even a 5.1 0-60 is spicy for what this car is intended for. Like, imagine if Honda sold a CRV that could do 0-60 in 3 seconds. It’s absurd to think about, but when it’s an electric car you’re kinda like “yeah that’s about normal”.

It still blows my mind how fast electric motorcycles are. Just twist and hold on. Over the weekend, Joe Ligo explained the various reasons why small cars are so deeply unpopular in America. Lizardman in a human suit offers a different perspective on why smaller cars are cool:

As a truck driver, I don’t understand why everyone wants big vehicles. They are a pain to drive. My personal vehicle is a yaris. Why? After spending all week planning every move I make to avoid running over things, it is nice to just be able to throw my car at a parking space and still be in the lines

That’s it for tonight, folks. Thank you so much for being so awesome!