Saturday, December 29, 2012

Week of December 17 through the end of the year

It's the holidays, which means lazy car salesmen have given up for the year and I'm lucky if I even get called in for a full day of work. It's OK, I have a new arrangement with my Mortgage company that I can start paying in good intentions.

12/17/12

  • 2010 Subaru Forester: Steering is light and drifty on center so don't look away from the road on the freeway. Overall good feel and as usual great low center of gravity like all Subaru.
  • 2006 Lexus IS-250 Sedan: Good dynamics, but it just feels too small above the belt line and especially in the foot wells, How big is that transmission?
  • 2009 Saturn Outlook XE: Solid CUV feel. Ending Saturn was a bad choice.

12/18/12

  • Work? Hah nobody needs cars. 

12/19/12

  • 2009 Volkswagen CC Turbo 6spd (long trip): Great powertrain, good turn in, but controls are numb and pedals are skewed too far to the right. Great shiftier feel.

12/20/12

  • 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 w/Plow: Plows on the freeway are a pain. Overheating, horrible mileage  and boy do big bumps have new meaning when there's that much weight forward of the front bumper and nothing in the back.

12/21/12

  • 2010 Jeep Patriot: Too tight inside, brakes are needlessly stiff. This is just too primitive for its price.
  • 2000 Ford F-350 Lariat V10: This isn't a truck, it's a land borne tug boat!
  • 2006 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5: This is a really great simple small sedan. Get it as a stick and just drive it.

12/26/12

  • 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser: The novelty of these just doesn't seem to wear off. 
  • 2006 BMW X5 4.4i: It's big outside, but small inside. Not super great as far as AWD traction goes. Too reliant on the traction control to fake it.
Also just say no to soft touch plastic. Sure it looks nice in the show room, but it just doesn't hold up.

12/27/12

  • 2008 Chevy HHR: Great little hatchback. Doesn't try to be "retro" too much. Drives very well. If this is what Chevy needed to to do in order to make a nice 5 door then so be it. WAY better than the PT cruiser was.
  • 2009 Kia Borrego V6: A GREAT full size SUV that looks like, but isn't, a crossover. Stylish and comfortable, but not trying to be "Luxury" Kind of like what BMW used to do. If you can't bear to just get a great minivan, this is a good choice. Sadly it was sold here for only one year before being replaced with a CUV. http://www.edmunds.com/kia/borrego/

12/28/12

  • 2010 Ford Fusion SE: Fantastic sedan, comfortable, roomy, dynamic, the layout and interior design is top notch for it's class. Soft surfaces wherever your legs/arms rest. Sync controls are logical and smart. The steering wheel especially is well done, with radio/infotainment controls on the right (same hand you reach to the radio with.) and Cruse and dash info controls on the left. Also AUTOSTICK is the RIGHT WAY AROUND!!!! (Forward to Downshift, Back to Upshift, as Racing God intended.) More people need to love sport cloth seats; grabby, warm, and tough! And you don't need to feed them like leather.
  • 2009 Kia Borrego V6: Yes sometimes they sell that fast. When they are good,
  • 2009 Mazda CX-9: Responsive and well appointed, but still too tall, Autostick is the right way round.
  • 2005 Chevy Equinox LT: Sits tall, compromises interior quality to pay for the extra sheet metal, but hey, you aren't driving a wagon right......

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