Commuter's view of the Economy (rehashed)

I think I need to rescind my comment about perceived economic trends in the types of cars that people drive. Since I've been working a bit later the last month or two, I have seen a few more Mercedes and BMWs on the road, and a lot more Audis. Either the economy is picking up pretty rapidly again, or I was just driving amongst a different segment of the population during my commute. However, I'll add as a side note, I have been seeing some of these cars during my morning commute as well, so it might actually be a sign of economic improvement.

Be certain that I'll keep my eyes out for emerging trends to find additional merit for my perceptions.

More Fiesta bits

Based on what's being said on the net, it looks like our model and color choices are going to be similiar to what China is getting, so I took the opportunity to snoop around and look at some Chinese Fiestas for inspiration.



This is the 5 Door "Sport" version. There hasn't really been any word yet as to whether we're going to be getting a sport version or just a basic version. I really can't see Ford only offering one trim level of the sedan and the hatch, so here's hoping.

Apparently another similiarity between US and Chinese Fiesta's will be the seats. The European Fiesta has knob adjustments for reclining the seat, whereas American customers find these knobs unwieldy and time consuming. As such, we much prefer a lever which makes it much easier to move the seat to its extremes, but makes it difficult to find a middle setting that works well.

Also, in order for the Fiesta to meet US crash standards (see my rant in the previous post re:IIHS), some external modifications were made to car that we will be getting. The inside word is that the difference will be "measureable in millimeters", but we'll see once its released. The differences between the USDM Honda Fit and the JDM Fit are fairly pronounced, which may or may not be related to differing tastes in automotive styling between US and Japanese customers.

Small Car Tidbits (primarily Fiesta Related)

The Fiesta is faring very well over in Europe. Hopefully that bodes well for those of us in the US, anxious for its release. According to Autoblog, Ford has sold 108,000 units this year alone already, with almost half of those coming in March. Not bad for a continent with a highly developed mass transit system.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/16/ford-fiesta-winning-hearts-and-minds-and-wallets-in-europe/

Other related news includes the release of www.fiestafaction.com, a website for Ford Fiesta Enthusiasts. Its being run by the same guy who runs www.focaljet.com, so its pretty much a shoe-in for being very professional and uncluttered. Most of the people on there currently are current Focus owners who are looking to get into a Fiesta for their next car, but all are welcome.

Finally, a small car enthusiast's gripe about the insurance industry: The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) put out a report last week stating that small cars like the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, and Smart ForTwo don't hold up very well in collisions with larger vehicles. Shocking news, indeed! Its no wonder that American's don't like small cars. We're still in the mindset that a larger car mitigates the need for active safety devices, like knowing how to drive and being aware of your surroundings.

Focus Update

Its refreshing to be so close to finishing up my engine build. As I stated in my previous post about Automotive trends, I try to justify the expense of my hobby to myself, but I'm having more trouble doing that as time progresses. Project cars are money pits and you can seldom throw a few bucks at them without throwing a few hundred. I don't want to sound disappointed with my car or the money that I'm spending on it, I'm not. The car is great and its going to be even greater once the new engine is installed and tuned. I'm mostly just saying that truly great cars cost money and due diligence (I like that phrase) should be excerised when building one. I have probably gone overboard upon occasion with buying parts, but this current project has stretched out over a long enough period that it hasn't seemed to be that bad.

I ordered the water pump and new oil pan that I need this morning, and I also bought a Mass Airflow Sensor that is calibrated for the uprated SVT Focus injectors that I bought a few weeks back. The oil pan that was on the engine looked like it had been driven over a rock at some point and the bottom was scraped up pretty badly. I could have overlooked some cosmetic blemishes had it not been for the powdercoat peeling on the inside of the pan. I didn't really want any of that getting up into the refreshed rotating assembly, considering the expense of the machining and the $50 for a new oil pan seemed like cheap insurance. A lot of folks recommend replacing most of the less expensive components of an engine when you rebuild for exactly that reason. You certainly don't want a $50 part to cause thousands of dollars in damage.

As I've mentioned previously, I'm still planning on doing my own headwork. I was doing a little bit of reading this evening regarding that. Most folks generally construe porting and polishing as a black art, with which I won't disagree. However, it seems like one of the more straightforward black arts; much simpler than say, levitation or invisibility cloaking.

The other new project that I've brought on is to diassemble and rebuild an alternator. I have a handful of the accessories that came on the engine I bought at the junkyard and one of those is the alternator. However, when turned by hand, it makes a pretty nasty grinding sound, so I suspect that the brushes are pretty torn up and the commutator (or its respective bearings) might be rusted. I have no clue how to rebuild an alternator, but its got to be easier than building an engine, right?

Thanks Mom and Dad for the adventurous spirit! When I get in over my head, I turn to the internet for inspiration (or cheap(er) replacement parts when there's no getting back).

The commuter's view of the economy

Being a car person, I find it interesting to watch automotive trends in the general populace whilst driving to work and back. I bet most folks don't even notice these sorts of things, right? I drive a relatively remote stretch of US30 for about 15 miles, so its pretty easy to see trends.

I've heard Dad make comments on it before; you kind of get used to seeing certain people while you're either on your way to or from work. Everyone kind of has a routine and you start to recognize cars that you see everyday. You'd wave if it didn't completely creep other people out.

That's not really what this post is about, but it kind of is. The thing that I've noticed that is most interesting is the change in the makes and age of vehicles on the road over the past, say 9 months. I used to see a lot of Mercedes and BMWs out on 30, presumably commuting between Akron and Columbus (or points of similar magnitude). Surprisingly or not, I can count on one hand the number of both makes I have seen in the last week. I don't know whether this group of people were running around in leased vehicles that were stretching them financially, so they traded down and now travel incognito in the Camry that I just passed or whether they've been forced to completely relocate to more feasible commutes. I still see plenty of these German cars floating around town, just not out on the open road where they belong. This is kind of a trend that I would expect to see in light of our economic situation; people cutting back on frivolous expenses...I've heard that the luxury car market is a buyer's market at the moment.

The trend that seems to run counter to the current economic trend is with the age of the vehicles that I see. I used to see a bunch of older vehicles (primarily Crown Vics, Buicks, and Cavaliers/Sunfires) on the road, but recently, it seems like the majority of the cars that I see are newer Mazdas, Chevy's and Jeeps. Maybe these are the people who used to drive the German luxury cars, or maybe the folks with the old Buicks finally got tired of dealing with a headliner that kept falling into their eyes while driving. Regardless, the state of the auto industry has probably been a boon to those who were on the fence about picking up a new(er) car. With a lot of attractive offers and most companies being willing to practically give away their cars to avoid huge inventories, now certainly is a great time to upgrade to a newer car.

Sure, everyone's afraid of the economy and that their company might have to lay some people off, but even in times like that, you've got to be able to see when an opportunity presents itself. Maybe I'm a little bit naive, or maybe I'm not as aware of how lucky I am to be in a segment that seems to still be growing as I should be, but the whole situation doesn't seem as grim as most media outlets are portraying it as. On a personal level, things seem like they've gotten tighter, but it seems like they have stabilized (or even rehabilitated) to an extent.

There's another trend that I've been seeing a bit more of as well. That's the hot-rodding trend. Obviously as a bit of a hot-rodder myself, I catch these cars quite a bit, but it seems like a larger group of people are driving vehicles that they've modified to some extent. I've noticed a few in the parking lot at work, especially. I can't really call it a positive or negative trend. I try to justify the expense of a relatively pointless hobby with the gratification I get from learning new skills and making things work (better?), but for people who pay other people to trick out their cars, its a lot of money to blow on stuff that makes your vehicle less reliable. The money is better spent elsewhere, trust me.