If you can't take to the sky ...

Take to the road, preferably in a machine that will allow you to move as quickly (and safely) as possible. I'm a huge believer in the power of transportation. It transforms our world and lets people reach beyond normal definitions of space and distance. Imagine if we could get to Iraq in 30 minutes. I bet we'd all have a ton more Iraqi friends.

Like most technology the rewards have come with trade offs. But tonight I'd like to write about one of the positive sides of technological evolution, a new love in my life, my 2003 Saab 9-5 Aero. She's the most amazing car I've ever owned.

Let it be known, I loved my old 1999 Saab 9-3 SE. She was a fantastic machine: 200hp turbocharged inline 4, sport exhaust, SAS swaybar, front wheel drive, excellent ergonomics, and a rear hatch that gave her more cargo room than some SUVs. Many car enthusiasts contend that the Saab hatchback was one of the original utility vehicles. But as is often the case with machines and perhaps sometimes even with people, she got old. Little bits and pieces were starting to break, rattles were cropping up here and there. She's still a very worthy and capable machine. In fact she's still a beautiful, wonderful car. With 140k miles, her engine still growls and pulls like new. I simply found myself at a crossroads, invest about $2k in a new suspension and other little odds and ends, or get something else. Thanks to the recent economic downturn, nobody is selling cars these days. So there are some great deals out there. Who knows, maybe subconsciously I was wanting to get myself a really amazing holiday gift.

I went to bring my "old lady" in to the shop last week for a broken electric window motor. There in the lot sat this beauty. I had actually seen her before and even took her for a quick test ride. But I hadn't really thought seriously about buying the car. I never envisioned myself getting behind the wheel of a steel gray sedan. But this machine adds new depth to the phrases "silent by deadly" and "still waters run deep." Who knows why but I asked my mechanic to let me take this car home as a loaner so he could work on mine at his leisure.


I don't know how in the world I thought I wouldn't end coming back with a check. It's like going home with a woman, getting naked, going to bed and saying, "It's ok honey, we can be naked and *not* sleep together." The rest is history. I drove her up to NJ for Christmas.

Despite not being at all in the spirit of the season this year, objectively speaking I made out like a fat rat: the car, ValentineOne radar detector and Garmin Nuvi 770 GPS system. Driving up this year was an amazing experience. The V1 detector provides excellent information (including direction, strength, and radar type) to help you decide if the bogey is real or fake. I'm not sure if I just got lucky, but suffice it to say I managed some impressive velocities and not a ticket to show for it (eg., Cville to NYC in 4hrs 20min ... with one stop). The Garmin GPS system is simply magical. It talks to you. It talks to my cell phone and lets me use it as a wireless hands free speaker. It plays mp3 files and can transmit via FM on any station. It tells me when there's traffic up ahead and re-routes me if it thinks it will save me time.


But I shouldn't really start by talking about the electronic countermeasures I use while driving. I should talk a bit about the car. Forget the fact that she has barely a scratch on her or that the leather interior still smells new. It's hard to explain the grace and power this machine offers. The engine purrs, yet can thrust you back in your seat like a roller coaster. The wheels glide over the road. The chassis feels capable of moving in any direction at any speed without ever coming unglued, all while maintaining the purr and glide. It's a Saab. It was born from jets. It's also not just any Saab. According to some Saab fanatics (of which I am one) 2003 was the best year for the 9-5 Aero. It was the last year before GM bought the entire company. [Correction, GM bought the rest of Saab in 2000. But I have been told by several that '03 was the best year.] It also has insane bells and whistles like auto leveling bi-xenon headlights, rain sensing wipers, backup infrared sensors, auto dimming rear view mirrors and an air conditioned glove box.

The Aero series is the top of the line performance model powered by a 2.3 liter turbocharged four cylinder engine that outputs 250hp and 258lb-ft of torque. Generating more than 100hp per liter was a feat once only achieved by the likes of Ferrari and Porsche. Times have changed. That turbo also helps her get 30+ mpg on the highway when cruising at reasonable, double digit speeds. She has a fully independent sport suspension that allows her to maneuver like a gazelle on crack. The car is rock solid and provides such incredible feedback. Once you mate to it by sitting in the driver's seat, starting the engine and engaging the clutch, you quickly become superman on wheels.

My old car also had a powerful engine too but it was mated to a split semi independent suspension (rear) which is quite simply inferior to the fully independent setup. Body roll and torque steer are virtually eliminated now and cornering stability vastly improved. I can take exit ramps and turns at literally twice the speed I used to. The 9-5 was designed after the 9-3 (aka the NG900). Saab engineers took to heart many of the complaints people had about the 9-3/NG900 platform and went way beyond to design a truly amazing machine.

It's nice to reconnect with a childhood passion. I've always loved machines. Like most young teenage boys, cars quickly became a prime focus for me. My first car was a 1973 Pontiac Firebird. I had to mow a ton of lawns in my neighborhood to buy that car. I never did much work to her as I was still a novice mechanic. I also didn't have money to buy aftermarket upgrades. But she was my first and I'll never forget her. Then I saw this car, a 1970 GTO RamAir IV which actually belonged to my cousin's husband. It was love at first sight. I had to have it. It was the greatest car ever made (to me at the time). Truth be told, it was the stuff of American automotive legend; a huge V8 jammed into a large chassis designed to go in a straight line as fast as possible even if it took several gallons of gas to do so. It was loud, candy apple red, and ridiculously fast. That's when I started working at (no joke) Joe's Garage. I worked for free one entire summer in exchange for help working on my car at night. They were good times. I could write an entire entry about the GTO. It was Pontiac's take on Enzo Ferrari's original idea ("Gran Turismo Omologato", Italian for "Grand Touring Homologated") to make a real race car that you could drive on the street. The car even has its very own song from 1964 written by Ronnie and the Daytonas. It's why we have cars now with suffices like GT or more appropriately, Aero.

The thing people sometimes forget about machines is that they're made by people. We design them. We anthropomorphize them. Ever wonder why cars have two headlights (eyes) and a grille (mouth)? We imbue them with power and meaning that somehow transcend the designer's and builder's original intent. They are to a large degree extensions of our collective selves. We love cars. Hopefully we can make ones that run on electrons and not fossil fuels ... soon.

So what does this have to do with flying? Not a whole lot. My car is made by a company that also makes planes. But the commercial hype exaggerates the influence. She is blindingly fast. I can move at close to the same speed as my Cessna, but not completely. Nor am I moving in a straight line. The cockpit offers a ton of information to help me navigate and avoid "obstacles." Like a plane, my car is a machine that helps me get from point A to point B quickly and safely. But perhaps most notably, I've not been able to fly for the last two weeks due to weather. So I had to write about something.

Pray mother nature grows kind soon before I start blogging about sweaters and socks.