Another New Car?

The wife wants me to buy a new car...  She is driving our 2013 Audi A4, and she wants me to get rid of our trusty 2007 Mazda 3.

My response to her was that if we look to do that, we should look to trade/sell our Audi.  That would get us something like $15K to $20K.  Trading/selling the Mazda would get us something like $2K...  Not really significant when you look at the cost of a new car.  She didn't want to give up the Audi so soon, AND what if we want to have another baby?  We would need to look for an SUV or minivan or something.  SO...  What if you want a new car, don't want to keep it for a while, AND you don't have very much equity to use for down payment?  LEASE!!!

Here are the requirements:

• Gotta have all of the cool tech
• Gotta have All Wheel Drive
• Gotta have a largish cargo area
• Gotta have 4 doors
• Gotta have some additional room for growing baby and car seat 

Here is what I am looking at...

Audi A5 Sportback

from $42,600
252 HP
3,704 lbs
0.29 Drag coefficient
24/34 MPG
7 Speed Transmission
186.3 / 79.9 / 54.6 Length / Width / Height
39.4 / 37 Headroom front/rear
41.3 / 35.1 Legroom front/rear
55.7 / 54.5 Shoulder room front/rear
21.8 / 35 Cargo capacity (cu ft)

Mercedes Benz GLC 300 4Matic Coupe

from $46,600
241 HP
4,001 lbs
0.31 Drag coefficient
21/28 MPG
9 Speed Transmission
186.3 / 82.5 / 63.1 Length / Width / Height
38 Headroom (in)
40.8 / 37.3 Legroom front/rear (in)
57.3 / 56.5 Shoulder room front/rear
17.6 / 56.5 Cargo capacity (cu ft)

BMW X4

from $47,600
240 HP
4,130 lbs
0.36 Drag coefficient
20/28 MPG
8 Speed Transmission
184.5 / 74.1 / 63.9 Length / Width / Height
39.3 Headroom (in)
40.4 / 34.8 Legroom, front/rear (in)
57.2 / 56.0 Shoulder room, front/rear
17.7–49.4 Cargo capacity (cu ft)

All of the cars are comparable in terms of price and specs.  The Audi stands out in terms of tech (the most bad ass of the bunch).  I was surprised to see that the overall head room was comparable between all three.  I would have thought that the MB and BMW would have won that battle.

Overall look, I have to go with the Audi as well.  The lines are clean and it looks aggressive with out getting dated or weird.  The BMW and MB look like beefed up cars...  A lot like an AMC Eagle that a friend owned in High School...

What gets me is the MPG.  All cars are the All Wheel Drive option.  All have turbocharged 4 cylinder engines.  The Audi has a slight edge in HP, but they are all about 245 HP. 
The MB and BMW are significantly heavier, 300 and 400 lbs respectively, than the Audi.  That, and the drag coefficient, make for a big difference in MPG. 

I like my current Audi, and being at risk of being called the "Audi family," I don't think I can go wrong with the A5 Sportback.  Just have to find a way to keep the price around that $42K...

Why Iron Fist Sucks

Iron Fist and the Defenders have been out for a bit, so I feel it is OK to talk about them without worrying about spoilers for anyone.

I was really excited when I heard that Iron Fist was coming to Netflix.  Then I watched the first season of Daredevil.  Then I was chomping at the bit.  If Daredevil was this badass, Iron Fist, the Living Weapon, the pinnacle of Martial Arts, should be insanely off the hook.

I heard Finn Jones was starring and I wasn't too worried.  Charlie Cox of Daredevil wasn't know for his Martial Arts, and he made DD look amazing. 

Then it premiered.  My expectations were high.  I was devastated.  It wasn't the story.  It wasn't the angle they took for Iron Fist.  That was all OK.  They played up the whiny rich kid angle way too much but that's fine.

The fight scenes that featured Jones just stunk up the room.  No energy.  No talent.  With out trying to exaggerate at all, my 43 year old non-acting, inflexible, fat ass could have done a better job.  EVERYONE, including Rosario Dawson, did better then the supposed "Living Weapon." He was terrible.  Awful.  Unforgivable.

What's worse is that Marvel had a change things when the filmed The Defenders.  They KNEW that Jones was terrible.  They did NOTHING.  There were times in The Defenders where Charlie Cox and Finn Jones were in the same fight scenes.  I can't even remember watching Jones.  I remember Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones movements more than I remember Jones.  Ritter's moves basically consisted of her throwing someone in to a wall. 

The best scenes in BOTH shows where when secondary characters, Iron Fist is the primary in both shows, fought.  Davos, played by Sacha Dhawan, was amazing in Iron Fist.  I was actually cheering for the bad guy when Danny/Davos finally faced off.  That fight SUCKED, because Dhawan was obviously holding back for the craptastick Finn.
The Electra/Daredevil fight in The Defenders was incredibly badass.  NOTHING that Finn did was badass.  Even the should have been insane Luke Cage/Iron Fist fight.  Just terrible.

There will be a season 2 of Iron Fist...  I will watch it, because of the interconnection between the Marvel Netflix series.  I hope they teach Finn some Martial Arts, or have other people fight his battles.  Because he sucks.