Category: cars

Posted on

Once Custom

My friend Johanna reminded me that things tarnish with time. Even beautiful Cadillacs.

So as I rode my bicycle past this 40 year old pickup, I remembered that the original owner loved it the day he drove it off the Chevrolet dealer’s parking lot. He had a great time taking his wife or best friend for a ride. He waxed the red paint with great care a few months later. He spent more at the car wash each month than his friends spent on their kids’ birthdays.

And now it’s sitting in a parking lot, having not been driven for at least 15 years. Sad.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

Big brother?

Audi’s new A6 uses GPS and Google Maps to anticipate hills – so it knows when to upshift or downshift the transmission at just the right second. (Millisecond.) This increases performance and efficiency.

So the internet is even creeping into your future car’s transmission!

I do not say this in an alarmist manner. Rather, I see it as an exciting thing. This is technology being used well.

I think it’s even cooler when technology like that is used to bring clean water to people who might otherwise die. A friend of a friend, Erik Hersman, is doing stuff like that for Africa.

(By the way, I do have a big brother, in real life. He’s great. And by the way, this version of the A6 will hit US showrooms late in the summer of 2011. Stand in line now… just kidding.)

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

Denver Auto Show 2011

Last Friday night, I took Jay, Ben & Rachel to the Car Show. This was Rachel’s first time. At 10 years of age, she wasn’t quite up to the amount of looking at new cars that Jay would have enjoyed. But we all enjoyed the evening.

A highlight was the weirdest Toyota minivan ever – it was about ten feet longer than normal and had the strangest interior (top photo). It was a very low-rider – about 2″ of ground clearance.

We all loved loved the Scion iQ, a great little small (very small) car that is finally being sold in the States (middle pic). Think Smart Car with a rear seat.

Finally, my personal favorite was the Honda CR-Z. It’s the grandson (granddaughter?) of the CR-X, probably one of my favorite cars that I’ve owned (bottom pic). It scored a 10 on the EPA’s Global Warming Score and a 9 on the Smog Score. (10 is the highest.)

A fun family outing!

Update: The iQ has an EPA fuel economy rating of 37 miles per gallon highway. Ford has a Focus that gets 40 mpg and Chevrolet has a Cruze that gets 42 mpg. (Both provide far more room and versatility.) It just wouldn’t make sense for someone to get an iQ, unless its novelty value was huge for them – or if they lived in a place like NYC, where parking is a challenge.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

Chevrolet Volt test drive

Chevrolet Volt test driveChevrolet had a huge promotion at South by Southwest. One hook was free local taxi rides in the Cruze, their version of the Honda Civic/Toyota Corolla.

The second hook was what got me – a test drive in the new Chevrolet Volt – a mostly electric car that won’t hit the market till “the end of 2010” – and then only in seven states.

I enjoyed it! It was very quiet. The build quality seemed to be solid. It was about as roomy as a Prius. I hit the pedal to the metal, and the acceleration wasn’t bad… maybe slightly faster than a Prius. The coolest thing was that during my 5 mile test drive, the gas engine didn’t kick in once.

My recommendation? Wait.The Volt has a lot of cutting-edge technology, and it will be a few years till it becomes cheap enough to compete with the value of a Prius. My real recommendation is that if you want to buy a green car, get a used Prius. Buying used is almost always more green than buying new. You’ll save as much as $20,000 – and you won’t have to wait until they are available in your market.

Yes, the photo is really poor, due to my cheapo cell phone.

http://www.chevrolet.com/volt
FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

The downside of retro

I was surfing Svpply* on a Sunday afternoon. I came across the highlighting of this 1976 Ford Bronco.

Yes, it may be cool, but I wanted to remind you that it puts out roughly 20 times the amount of pollution that a more modern vehicle does. So if you buy one (or something similar)… for the sake of the air I breathe, please drive it just on Sundays.

* Thanks to Andrew Swanson for the site suggestion.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

The car to rule them all

(In Malaysia, anyhow.)

The Perodua Myvi is the most popular car in Malaysia. It seems that every third car is a Myvi. And for good reason – a 2009 study by J.D. Power & Associates saw the MyVi ranked highest for its initial quality in terms of new-vehicle ownership in the compact car segment. (Thanks for that fact, Wikipedia.)

Not fast. Not big. But I like it. I want one. Great fuel economy, easy to park and very versatile. (Fold the rear seats down and you can haul a lot of stuff).

It’s a rebadged Daihatsu Sirion, but assembled in Malaysia. This “supermini” segment of cars (as they call them in the UK) is largely absent from the American market. The new Ford Fiesta is starting to change that, hopefully. And the wonderful Honda Fit (Jazz in the rest of the world) is an excellent member of this class.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

Cool Asian cars

I saw some really cool cars in Kuala Lumpur.

This Honda Odyssey (different model than in America*) is about 5 years old. Very cool. It’s a tiny bit taller than an Accord and yet has 3 rows of seats.

Toyota Wish is a similar model. Slightly taller and way less cool.

* Wikipedia has some good info on this model. Be sure to scroll down the page till you hit “JDM “.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

What is naughty?

Volvo wants you to think that they are.

It’s a classic case of re-branding. For decades, they have been known as the safety leader. They were the first on the market to have airbags (maybe). But now they want to grab your attention and say, “We’re not boring!”

They have had their less-boring side for a while. I drove a 1995 850 T5R with a friend (who then worked for a Volvo dealer). We had massive fun. Somewhere deep in my basement is a video of that speedometer screaming toward a speed maybe a bit higher than the legal limit.

Interestingly, their campaign still focuses on safety. Their precept is that you can move a lot closer to the edge – and still be safe.

Will their “naughty” re-branding work? Time will tell.

Lest you think I am obsessed with Volvos, I really do like Hondas and BMWs better. And I thank Volvo for the great photo of their newest “naughty” car – the S60. I would like to drive one.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail