rant

Eclipse Of The Heart

Posted on by noahmielke

Mitsubishi used to take a larger part of my heart back in the day. I always set aside time to think about their quirky spot in the industry. The plucky half alive company trying to stay afloat while building cars to compete with much larger brands, cough cough Subaru. But while Subaru managed to build their followers, Mitsubishi kept a solid small group focused on pride towards the Eclipse and eventually the evolution. It took them way too long to bring that starship too the United States but before we got that we had the Eclipse. One of the sleekest meanest coupes of their line was the late 90’s gsx. Basically a two door evo. I have no problem with them building cheaper versions, and having some faster counterparts for people with more money but damn I think they turned their nose up to everyone with their newest offering. I still don’t understand if your having an issue surviving why you would enter the competition with a new crossover in a saturated market, and then top it off use badging that could have saved your image. Its like tying a rock to your legs before you swim. You already had early entries into the crossover market long before it was a thing. Why would you feel your whole line up needs to be different versions of the same unflattering car not car, truck not truck. Please Mitsubishi say pop! Then pull your head out. Keep making the crossovers you have and the cheap cars you have entry level is ok people need to drive. Please bring back some of your amazing offerings with performance so people who like to drive can buy your cars again. We Eclipse lovers want you back but I kinda feel like you ghosted all of us, and its gonna take some flowers and chocolate before we call you back.

Come On Time To Step Up

Posted on by noahmielke

This is just an opinion, and it’s what I see daily, but it is limited to my view. What are the American car companies plans when their supportive generation is gone? I still see a lot of older people pick Ford trucks and Chevy trucks over the better competition brands based off brand loyalty. A loyalty that honestly has been worn down over the years by crappy office politics, and non-class leading ideas. I don’t think you have to be a fan of Tesla to see how change can be made when taking a real risk. Some day picking the sleepy safe bet isn’t gonna sell cars. The thing that really irks me about these companies isn’t their inability, it’s the fact they choose this path when they have clearly had the resources to push many times. If Chrysler had used their K-platform wisely it would have tuned and built lasting quality into their life raft they choose to build during the 80’s. Instead, they counted on American consumers to want less. Guess what – it didn’t last, they couldn’t compete with the smaller companies on foreign soil. Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and in fact Hyundai can thank American car companies personally for leaving that door wide open.

During the 80’s the big two spent more money lobbying against importing those better options than creating better options. For companies that like to advertise themselves as true red, white, and blue they sure don’t like working hard and pulling themselves up from their bootstraps. We spent the 90’s watching ford build better cars in Europe, because they have tougher competition, and people who had higher standards. While we received those sweet mustangs and FWD Escorts. Europe was dealing with Cosworth AWD editions including Recaro seats. Here, Ford is barely able to compete with Honda on their own soil because they still undervalued their consumer market. I just have a lot of respect for these massively capable designers and engineers held back by lower standards by their business bullshittery company rudders. I think its by time some of these idiots leave and let more capable hands take over before they are just companies talked about in museums because if they keep this crap up, they don’t deserve the present they can keep the past.

Badge Bitches

Posted on by noahmielke

Let’s talk about this dumb ass badge pride, something car guys deal with or dish out on the regular. The arrogance of feeling like your better than your brother because you have that special badge. It’s a reoccurring event in all performance package brands. BMW, Mercedes, VW, Ford, Chevy, Chrysler-Dodge, and now even Hyundai.

Look I got lucky and I spent more money than I should for an N model Veloster. It’s a fantastic car, and I joined all the groups talk about and love my car. But it only took like all of two seconds before the groups I joined to start bad mouthing other Veloster models. When did getting something so great mean dumping on others? I absolutely love the whole line because they all have their benefit. In car groups or shows this should be shamed fast. It alienates other people that supposedly have the same passion as you, and silly enough shows how little you really care about joining a community. If you want to prick it up, then make a group for yourselves where you can just bash and be bashed by other assholes like yourselves. Not everyone likes what you have or think the dollar amount gives you more clout.

When my wife got her BMW, she was so excited to join a group, and little by little her enjoyment of the car community was spoiled by these same validation whores. When I got my Hyundai Veloster N my wife posted in her group how proud I was of my purchase. Is it funny that right after she posted I had to warn her people are going to be mean about it? I’m ok with it, but the look on her face as comments poured in just left her sad, angry, and humiliated. I remember her immediately leaving the group and feeling bad that she had to see these people are everywhere.

So how about try to remember your in a community people will tolerate you as long as you join in building the group if your tearing it down no ones gonna give a crap what you drive.

Hocus Focus

Posted on by noahmielke

I’ve started to see a trend on car reviews that seems quite alarming. Things I definitely didn’t notice until I bought the car that I drive every day. When car reviewers complain about the tradeoff between performance vs luxury, I get frustrated because these are not treated with the grain of salt they should be.

If you’re like me, you want a driver’s car. Uncomfortable with unrelenting ass destructive interior, and brute force, it’s a trade of luxury items for pure unbridled performance. First generation Dodge Viper is one of those mythical beasts. Older cars fit the bill sometimes, but in 2019 I found the pepperoni to my cheese. A delicious combination to make the Veloster N this type of car.  

The 2020 Hyundai Veloster N, with most of the base luxury items gone, in trade for locking dif, special Pirelli tires, racing brakes, racing suspension, and an active exhaust. I could’ve gotten a fully loaded model with 201hp, but the 276hp performance package with less weight is more my cup of coffee (I don’t drink tea). I watched reviews about this car religiously before I bought it, and every review starts and ends the same. They say it’s an amazing car, but it has cheap plastics on the dashboard. Nearly every time. I’ll hand it to a few reviewers that immediately discounted the plastic as an issue – understanding what a driver would be getting for the tradeoff. You can’t have both. If car reviewers and focus groups trick Hyundai into adding 3k to the price tag to “fix” this “issue” it would be sacrilege.

I bought this car to support the auto manufactures who are actually building their cars on a mission. I wanted to support Hyundai for ignoring all the lame ass people that want a cheap car to be expensive so it can be more comfortable. Its plenty comfy, and honestly its quite versatile, but asking a company to keep watering down their products is just wrong. Watering down something won’t make it stand out. It doesn’t let you know it’s meant for certain drivers.

If you want a watered-down lame ass piece of driving, most companies have an option for you. So please can we stop focusing on what a sports car can’t do. No ones buying them to be everything, but they are buying them for one reason – and Hyundai hit a homerun with this one. Complain for now, but someday this car will be a memory of a car built the right way, without the use of a focus group stripping away what makes it special.

Driven To Extremes

Posted on by noahmielke

I started to write about slow traffic in the fast lane – possibly a little more specific. One car in particular. I was full of anger and brimming with justice. Then I started to write about it, and you know what; this rant changed, it became about ME instead. I’m a fairly cool collected guy, you can ask anyone who knows me I can turn a cheek for almost anything but damn if that doesn’t fly out the window when I drive. I’m not condoning sitting in the left lane at all, but I’m also not condoning my side of it. If I am harmed or angered its because I am doing it to myself. Being behind another driver, while I have zero idea what their day was like, and feeling no compassion just isn’t me. Neither is letting someone get a rise out of me, it just isn’t how I roll. So why do I choose to validate myself through close driving and a flash of brights when I could just cool it and wait for that opening.

As soon as I tell my finger to flash that indicator stock, I’ve started an old battle that will go almost the same way every time. Their inaction isn’t my causality it’s my action that is, and by doing so I should expect what is coming. They are human too. Most likely their response is to drive slower or block my next chance to pass. I am feeding my own anger and that’s something to rant about. My own anger – playing a game that I’m starting. It’s giving into that most basic of validations. So, I am going to keep a sharper eye on myself, to be a stronger person. I must take grasp of my own actions. I had options and next time I will improve myself remind myself that giving in to this is weakness. Cause it is a weakness. Also don’t park in the fast lane not everyone wants to improve themselves. Also, shitty driver I crossed today sorry I lost my cool, but you still drive like shit.

Iconically Bad Business

Posted on by noahmielke

Icons are defined every generation. To create a definition worth having takes hard work, and sometimes risk. You don’t gain Icon status overnight, and you don’t gain icon status from staying safely in others shadow. This applies to car companies too; brand loyalty, bragging rights, and being true to the principles created can build sales figures.

Some companies have exhausted their loyalties, or live off of days gone by, a car created in another time by another group of engineers. Some companies build it, understand it, and keep it at all costs. I’m not going to name, names we all know, both winners and losers. There is no place in business, for old fashioned business mentality when your selling dreams, and image. Passion should drive business owners, not stock prices. Passion leads to direction, direction leads to goals, and goals lead to delivering on a product. Many have found ways to cut costs to get those quick gains. Costs cuts are not bad themselves but leaning on them to provide you a boost in revenue is a short term win long term loss. There are plenty of tools used by old mentality business without passion used time and time again. Companies, dependent on these practices find it hard in the future to survive.

Back to the point though, if you want to build an icon, that work, that investment, is in every generation. You need new clients and brand loyalty to win the long game. (Pictures here do not reflect the modern debate on this subject, just an older example of falling on old icons to make sales while cutting costs drastically.) K cars might have saved Chrysler in the short term but it took some wild ideas in the early 90s to rebuild their name and created a new icon in the process.

On its own not a horrible car. using an icons nameplate to sell it actually makes it worse.