A farewell to Z (O my Soul)

I have left the brotherhood of the Z. After 10+ years of zipping (when traffic permitted) around the Puget Sound area in my nifty 2007 Nissan 350z, I am back to being an everyday driver in a practical car.

Late yesterday afternoon, I took possession of a new Kia Soul turbo. It's a bittersweet experience because I traded in my Z. I've gone from 3.5L V-6 306hp to 1.6L inline-4 201hp (turbocharged).

It's a paradigm shift. Let me tell you.

The Soul turbo (a.k.a. the Soul Exclaim, a.k.a. Soul ! ) is a nice car. The turbocharger gives it some zip. It also has a dual clutch, so I can pop it into a 7-speed manual, which is much more responsive--though not on par with the Z. I can also put it into Sport mode with a touch of a button. I'm still getting used to it. After 10 years, the Z felt like an extension of myself when I drove. For now, the Soul is like being in a different body.

The bells 'n' whistles are nice. The sound system with SiriusXM satellite radio and Apple CarPlay, which integrates my iPhone (+ music, + apps) into the system, is pretty cool. The steering wheel has more buttons than the Mach-5:

But there's no jump jacks or protruding power saws, so I'm stymied if I encounter a chasm or forest  in my path. I can, however, control my music, send/receive phone calls hands-free, change driving modes, etc.

It's an odd feeling to be sitting up higher in traffic. I can actually look down and see the top of some cars. The commute to work this morning was less stressful without the constant clutching.

Of course, the big advantage is that it has good cargo capacity. Trying to schlep enough boxes of minis 'n' terrain to a game venue was a challenge in the Z. For the past several years, I've opted to drive the 80+ miles round trip every day to/from the venue of our annual convention, Enfilade!, because I could never carry with me everything I needed for the games I was hosting for the weekend. I'm looking forward to staying the whole weekend this year without worrying that I can't bring all my stuff with me. (Of course, the whole Bogart vs. the girls situation concerns me when it comes to bringing in a cat-sitter.)

It's also front-wheel drive, which means it will handle better on our rare snow days here in the Pacific Northwest. No more slipping 'n' sliding. Generally, I've been housebound on snow days (including Christmas this year); I can dare to be adventurous now--even though, unlike the Mach-5, it has no super-gripping belt tires that can be produced by pressing Button B.

I'm happy with the exchange. I've gone from sports car to sensible car and I can call my midlife crisis over (for now). Sensible, but I've still got a bit of pep in my drive.

Griot's Garage

I took a step deeper into the waters of car-enthusiast geekdom yesterday with a trip down to Fife, WA to the retail store for Griot's Garage. Griot's is an international purveyor of car-cleaning supplies that staggers the imagination in some respects. For the enthusiast who pines throughout the week for a sunny Saturday so they can spend the weekend detailing their car, Griot's is nirvana.

The actual retail area of Griot's is quite small, but their back area is a warehouse of products as well as where they manuafacture some items. They host events all year round to demonstrate using their products. Car enthusiast groups gather there for vehicle-specific demos; for example, next weekend it's BMW M-class owners.

I went down with my friend Phil Bardsley in his BMW Z4 roadster. He found Griot's through a Z4 Web group. The group is international and he kept hearing Griot's products recommended. When he went to their Web site, he was happy to learn that they're local (well, 60 miles south of me--that's local enough).

My Nissan 350z has chrome wheels, black leather seats and trim, and stainless steel and vinyl interior. I try to keep it clean, but I'm a slug when it comes to cleaning cars. Stuff happens, an espresso spill here and there...

Also, despite the fact that my cats don't ride with me in the car, their hair seems to permeate the interior. I appear to be a carrier of cat hair that suddenly expels itself from my clothing the minute I turn the key to start the car. I can accept ingesting cat hair with my food, that's to be expected, but in my car it rankles a bit.

I typically go to the Rose Hill Car Wash in Kirkland, WA. Their full works wash costs about $20.00 and includes interior cleaning. They also have detailing services available at $150.00 for full interior/exterior detail. There are also other places. The Pro Sports Club in Bellevue, WA provides car washing/detailing services that can run up to $445.00 for a small car--of course that involves Q-Tips and hours of labor, but it's still almost half a thousand dollars for what amounts to a very fancy car wash. I think I need to train myself to do it on my own.

So there's Griot's. After browsing through the small retail space and picking this and that, I spent about $140.00 on products that I have to use myself, and that's just for interior cleaning products. I haven't even begun to look at serious exterior cleaning products like buffers and waxers.

Now here it is Sunday and I haven't tried a single product yet. I can excuse myself with the weather, which, after a glorious Saturday, is now gray and rainy. Again. Also, I don't really have the driveway space to do it right. My garage is a wee space that doesn't let me fully open my doors. My driveway is a bit tight, too. I've got shrubbery on one side and, if my neighbor parks his truck in his driveway--which he does--it's a bit close on that side, too.

But I'll tough it through. I may just get a reasonable detail job done on a yearly basis, but in between, I'll need to supply my own elbow grease.