1. I named my new car "Elmo" because my mechanic called the color "Ticket Me, Elmo" Red.*
2. Elmo is the result of a long and protracted process that included four (FOUR!) trips to Canton (which is, like, an hour away), and then me buying a car from a dealer that was five (FIVE!) minutes from where I work.
3. Here's a photo, not of my car in particular, but this is what it looks like:
Hi, Elmo! (The official name of the color is Velocity Red.)
4. In case you care (you know you do), the RX-8 is the only commercially available vehicle with a rotary engine.** Because of the mounting of the engine, the car has an almost perfect 50-50 weight distribution, which means that it handles like a dream. The torque is on the low side -- 159 lbs/feet -- but since I drive a manual transmission, that can be overcome by keeping the RPMs high.*** It's also got a really short throw.
5. All right, I'm sorry. I'm done now.
6. ELMO! eeee!
~~~
* My mechanic is a funny guy. If you need a good mechanic in Cleveland, Ohio, I highly recommend Sam at The Lusty Wrench (see what I mean? funny.)
** This means it doesn't have cylinders, like 4-cylinder, 6-cylinder, 8-cylinder. Instead, the RX-8 has three rotors that rotate around the axle. It's also the only engine that actually gets faster as the car ages.
*** Elmo and his relatives are only happy when they're at, like, 5000+ RPMs anyways. Not that Elmo will ever beat a Mustang off the line, but around the corners, that pony is going down.
2. Elmo is the result of a long and protracted process that included four (FOUR!) trips to Canton (which is, like, an hour away), and then me buying a car from a dealer that was five (FIVE!) minutes from where I work.
3. Here's a photo, not of my car in particular, but this is what it looks like:
Hi, Elmo! (The official name of the color is Velocity Red.)
4. In case you care (you know you do), the RX-8 is the only commercially available vehicle with a rotary engine.** Because of the mounting of the engine, the car has an almost perfect 50-50 weight distribution, which means that it handles like a dream. The torque is on the low side -- 159 lbs/feet -- but since I drive a manual transmission, that can be overcome by keeping the RPMs high.*** It's also got a really short throw.
5. All right, I'm sorry. I'm done now.
6. ELMO! eeee!
~~~
* My mechanic is a funny guy. If you need a good mechanic in Cleveland, Ohio, I highly recommend Sam at The Lusty Wrench (see what I mean? funny.)
** This means it doesn't have cylinders, like 4-cylinder, 6-cylinder, 8-cylinder. Instead, the RX-8 has three rotors that rotate around the axle. It's also the only engine that actually gets faster as the car ages.
*** Elmo and his relatives are only happy when they're at, like, 5000+ RPMs anyways. Not that Elmo will ever beat a Mustang off the line, but around the corners, that pony is going down.
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