4 16B - The Michigan Daily - Best of Ann Arbor 1999 - Thursday, April 8, 1999 MAZDA MX-5 MIATA: EVERYONE NEEDS ONE OF THESE The Michigan Daily - bCl of Ann Arbcr ike the Cadbury Egg, the season for top-down motoring is finally here, and people are rejoicing. It's different from driving a headlined automobile, in fact, I prefer to say "motoring" when I speak of travel- ing in a roadster, spider, or convert- ible. It evokes feelings of Mille Miglias and other great old races in which old Italian women waved their kerchiefs and cheered and cried as race cars blazed through everyday cobblestone streets. This weekend I grabbed a won- derfully ugly English flat cap and jumped in a 1999 Mazda Miata to visit some friends in St. Louis and Chicago and see one of America's best live rock acts, the String Cheese Incident. Of the 1,200 miles I clocked, about I,000 were spent topless. The Miata is perfect for long trips with the top down - the seats are phenomenal, the radio is loud and clear enough for listening at 90 mph, and the top can be flicked back up in seconds in case of rain. It is important to remember that it was the Miata, moreso than the Alfa Romeo Spider or MG B or Midget, that brought about the renaissance of the two-seat roadster in America. The aforementioned might have been crucial in the process, but Mazda's two-seater was the first one to offer a spunky four-cylinder con- vertible with ultra-reliable service and at a price that even the common man could afford. And on top of that, the 1989 debut car was a baby brother in design to the gorgeous Lotus Elan of the 1960s. The Miata is still a cheap thrill. The base price of $19,770 is reason- REILLY BRENNAN mw r ...rr Yll lv ~/SEEw8 Vac5 S N1 sle. 1T able, and comes stock with a CD stereo. From there, every option imaginable is available, including leather seats, a Bose stereo, and power everything. The top remains manual in every option package - it's so lightweight it can be raised or lowered while sitting in the driver's seat; a power top would only add unnecessary weight. The best thing about the new Miata is that it's still as magical as the original, and where improve- ments could have been made, they were. For instance, the new head- light design no longer impedes vision (the old unit had retractable, pop-up lights), and there's a glass back window with defroster - both stock. The engine is also a bit more powerful, although it's still the same spritely 16-valve four cylinder as before. Trunk space is increased a bit, too; I managed a large duffel and a pair of running shoes with room to spare. What makes this thing so fun? I think it's the outstanding shifter, which is probably the most enjoy- able, and effortless, bunch of throws you can experience in a shift-it- yourself ride. This is good for keep- ing the revs up - the little 16-valve requires frequent shifting and adjusting to stay on top of things. I could easily shift with only two fin- gers resting on the shift knob. One gripe might be the tiny fuel tank. I ended up making seven fuel stops all weekend - a little exces- sive. Maybe the car could lose some trunk space for a few more gallons in the tank. The Miata's interior is re-worked from the older wire-rimmed theme. It's all in black with neat circular air vents and easy temperature controls. In fact, the radio and temperature controls swapped places on the dash - no longer is the shifter in the way of switching CDs. There's an X-factor present here that makes motoring more fun in a Miata than in nearly all other two- seaters - the power-to-weight ratio. The Miata has just a four cylinder with dual overhead cams. It's not as throaty as a BMW Z3 or even the Mercedes SLK 230. However, the Miata feels quick, weighs little (2300 lbs.),and makes for quite a nice runabout. See BRENNAN, Page 17B THREE WORDs: READ THE DAILY. 6 h 'I [EBest of the Rest Parkg tickets, sleep, crashed computers slow 'sketchy' students Anywhere (Best Place to Get A Parking Ticket) They're out there, ready to use their stupid little machines to spit out a ticket and ruin our collective days before we can catch them in the act. Like an army of ants (or at least an army of under-paid parking police officers in blue shirts). They pound the pavement in search of a car parked next to an expired meter, a fire hydrant, a dumpster, a fire lane or stowed in a University lot with no sign of the coveted parking pass. They have very, very high monthly quotas and they always meet them. If you're lucky enough to have a car, you will probably be unlucky enough to get an unfair share of parking tickets in this town. "I slept in." (Best Excuse for Cutting Class) It's tough to get up for class after a night of three hours of sleep. Drinking is much more fun than lecture and why should the excitement end at Midnight? It shouldn't. If you miss class, it will at least be for good reason. This excuse is here to stay. "My computer crashed." (Best Excuse for a Late Paper) Well we've all used it, so stop feeling so high and mighty. The fact is, it's fool proof. The professor does not know the difference Do you ever feel like you're the only one in the room readingthe D aify? Change that. Tell your friends and col- leagues that they should read the Daily, too. It couldn't hurt them, and you will all have something in common to talk about. and, hey, with all new iMacs in all the computing sites, it's not like you could use a University computer. Plus, who here lives with a dog that could eat your homework. North Face (Best Fad) Rule of thumb: It's always better to fit in than feel left out. And that's the magic of North Face. Their coats come in all col- ors (including some that should be dis- continued), and they make all who wear them look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. But puffy is in. Another rule: People who look like they just returned from nine weeks in Antarctica make lots of friends. The People (Best Thing About Ann Arbor) So the weather's lousy from Oct. 31-March 25 - in fact we go weeks without even seeing the sun. So there's nowhere to park - ever. So there's not an Arby's restaurant within walking distance of any University classroom. So North Campus is so far away. Ann Arbor has a lot of problems - but the people we meet help us cope. Our friends and girlfriends and boyfriends, our professors and room/house/hall/classmates. The Ann Arbor residents we meet who work at Meijer, Mr. Greek's or Showcase Cinemas. These people are the best thing about life around here - because, well, what is col- lege without the people who go through it with you? "Sketchy" (Best Slang Expression) "Man, like, I was at this bar and this sketchy dude who I don't even know comes up to me - and he's got all these tatoos and he's, like, wearing all this leather and all these chains and stuff, and he, like, wants to dance with me. So I told him, I don't, like, dance with sketchy dudes like him, and to go harass someone else." Tailgating (Best Thing About Football Saturday) Ok, so we've never actually met a single student who tailgates. Still, the older people wearing funny hats and funny pants and munching on very delicious- looking goodies in the parking lots around Michigan Stadium every game-day Saturday seem always to be having a good time. Maybe instead of sleeping until 20 minutes before the noon kick off or getting up two hours before the game only when there's leftover beer from the night before to be pounded down - more of us students should take to tailgating. Lots of people who voted sure seem to like it. The people - the best thing about life shapes, all sizes. "What was I thinking? I wanted some great- looking European designer eyewear, so I dropped over $400 on some big-name designer glasses, only to find out I could have paid less than 1/2 of that atSEE. Including the prescription lenses! That's because SEE buys direct from the coolest young designers in Europe...no middle- man mark-up. I didn't know such an incredible store existed! So many styles to choose from. If only I had gone to SEE, I would have had enough money left to buy a whole outfit! Better Scores Better Schools Better THE PRINCE I' REVIEM 80 0-2R E FOUR MORE WORDS: WRITE FOR THE DATN UNDERSTAND? s Very cool, by design MCAT DAT USMLE LSAT I 308 S. State St., S. of Liberty . Ann Arbor . 734-622-8056 L _ __