Mid-life crisis averted; the magic of S

I own a 1999 Honda Civic HX. By all accounts a practical car. But I did get the version with the CVT (continuously variable transmission). This makes it fairly responsive with the accelerator.

But in the 10 years I've had the car, my commute has always been 10 miles or less. In fact I biked to work most days. With my new job, it's a 30-minute drive each way. For someone who's not used to a longer commute, it got pretty old, pretty fast.

I got it into my head that I should upgrade the car. Get something fun, sporty. Maybe a convertible. Maybe a roadster. Maybe both. I test drove a bunch of cars. The Z4, Mini Cooper, Miata, SLK... It was fun. I had even convinced the wife that it wasn't a completely horrible idea.

But ultimately, I was too practical to pull the trigger. I spent $1000 fixing all of the dents and dings in my Civic. I had the car detailed in and out. Got the 120k major tune up. That made it feel a bit more respectable.

Then I started driving to work with the windows down. It's not exactly a convertible, but it's a pretty good way to get a lot of fresh air while you drive. It's also good for drying out your hair when you're running late.

And then I discovered S. It's the "Sport" gear on my transmission. It revvs the engine to higher RPMs when driving, giving more torque and responsiveness. I love it. It's like a whole new car.

Sure, it's not nearly as responsive as a real sports car. But it's a lot more fun to drive. Maybe when this car falls apart, I'll get the sport car (Lexus IS C, I'm looking at you). Until then, I'm good.