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High Rolls Mountain Park, NM Car Consumer Discussions

Size Is Relative, As Is Comfort

by podred on Sat May 03 17:33:22 PDT 2008

As a _Driver_ as well as _Enthusiast_ and _Ex Racer_ if I want comfort I will.... sit on the couch....lol. When the "average driver" is taken into consideration it's about getting from point A to B, as in being "transported". If the average overweight American wants to "spread out" then yes give em a big Cadillac, Ford, Suburban, Tahoe or other rolling couch on wheels. It suits them fine. I understand that they cannot fit in a small car. Me? I want to have fun driving, not just being transported. Expensive gas? Yes, it's disgusting, however my passion, hobby and joy, is my car collection that I have worked very hard to assemble. Therefore I'm not about to give up the "gas guzzling F40 Ferrari" which by the way is quite an "uncomfortable, noisy, harsh riding, hard steering beast". Yeah..... and I love every minute of it. Funny how it is. I'm 6'3", 190 lbs, and I find my Yaris a good fit, thank you. When I'm out zipping around town in my Yaris 2 dr hatchback, I'm super relaxed and having a great time. Why? It's a garden variety car that draws no attention, is fun to drive and I can park it without worry of some jealous idiot scratching it with his keys or banging his door into it. Some people even laugh at how "small it is". Fact: my 08, Porsche 911 GT2, has the _SAME interior dimensions_ as my 08, Yaris 2dr hatchback. I get mobbed at the gas station, and not a single drooling male says " gosh that's a small car". Nor can I park it without drawing undue attention. In fact having the GT2 is half the reason I bought the Yaris for around town driving. Especially since the Yaris was nearly free.... as compared to the premium price on what is the finest all around sports car of the several high end exotics I have. And people say "small cars" are uncomfortable.... yeah right! Perhaps it's just that _I'd rather work out_ at the gym, and go for a _fast ride_ in a great sports car in the mountains, _as opposed_ to sitting in front of the TV _being Comfortable_ on the Couch, Eating Ice Cream.

On the other hand....

by blckislandguy on Sun Jan 06 18:42:20 PST 2008

I suspect that I'm like a lot of people on this board in that I run a closely held corporation, am sensitive to economic trends, like cars and have four or five cars kicking around at any point in time. In our two driver household, there is a Cayenne, a Volvo XC, a pristine Jeep Grand Cherokee Wagoneer as built by George Romney, and an F150. Nothing on the order of BlkHemi's fleet, but probably typical of the board. We had a good year last year and so last fall I went looking at the new S550. Had an interesting experience with the MB. The car, as C & D says, has more gadgets than a Sharper Image catalog. The problem is that none of them enhanced my driving experience. Moreover, as a relatively fit 63 year old guy, I felt old and pretentious in one. Anyway, just for chuckles I met with the F & I guy and ran some numbers. They were interesting. MBUSA has a three year residual of 57% on the car (assuming 12K miles per year), so if you opt for one of their subsidized leases you are almost forced to get right back into another one at the end of three years. Just like a hamster on a treadmill. Why? There is no way that you will want to pay 57% of the MSRP for the now three year old car. On the other hand if you buy it new, you don't get the lease subsidy. I guess one way around this is that you could have your company lease it and prepay a huge mileage factor (say, 100,000 miles) . Then at the end of the lease you could buy the car for a much lower figure and then sell it to your wife. Somehow this doesn't turn me on. Well, as I said the Cayenne/Volvo/F150/Grand Wagoneer etc. were running fine and the S550 wasn't doing too much for me either in terms of driving experience or in the F & I room. But I had the New Car heebeejeebies. What to do? I test drove a new Chevrolet Silverado LT 4X4 with the extended cab. Chevvy pickups now have rack and pinion steering, lots of suspension travel, good ride with the standard 17" wheels, no wind noise with the steeply raked windshield, XM radio and Onstar are standard, nice soft touch controls that you don't need either bifocals or an MIT EE to decipher, seats as good as our Volvo's, fantastic leather surfaces, fully boxed frame rails, etc. GM is clearly back. I wanted Side Curtain Airbags and GM's Stabiltrak, options that the dealers don't stock because I guess the average pick up customer doesn't think he needs. So I special ordered it in November with the 5.3 V8. GM offers a special rebate on the towing package which essentially gives it to the buyer free of charge. This package is nice to have becauses it gets you a tranny cooler and an Eaton locking rear end, in addition to the frame mounted hitch. Naturally the four wheel drive options (AWD, high range four wheel drive, and low range four wheel drive) are engaged by turning a knob, not a German mouse. The new truck had an invoice (not MSRP) of 31K and with the help of our accounting firm, after various deductions on our '07 taxes (we are a Subchapter S), it will wind up costing us 18K. (Britenesss can explain this better than I can.) These last two weeks have seen a series of signifcant snow storms and close to zero temperatures here in the Northeast. The Silverado was more than a match. Coming down the Maine Turnpike this morning it just rolled along quietly and competently, soaking up the bumps, and turning in 20 MPG on regular fuel. The American V8 is quiet until aroused, the HVAC is a wonder to behold on cold New England mornings, the sterio awesome. As a final note, I don't have to park it a 1/4 mile away from the front door to the supermarket as I would have to with an S550, I can throw my gymn stuff in the back seat area, and, come Spring, I can put some mountain bikes in the bed. I'm good to go! All in all I love it. With the economy pointing down, this makes a nice alternative to an leased lux sedan. As NevadaBanker used to say, YMMV.

I got 63 MPG in my Camry!

by rocketman on Thu Sep 20 22:56:16 PDT 2007

I am a mechanical engineer who bought my Camry Hybrid in Nov 2006, so I have had a fair amount of time to really understand this car. I love it, and now I will bore you with a bunch of data and observations. I have been averaging 42-44 MPG in the city this summer as indicated by the car’s mileage computer. My best average for a whole tank is 45.5 MPG. In the winter, or at 80 mph on the freeway, or with the AC on, it drops into the 36-39 MPG range. My worst tank average ever was 35.5 mpg, due to very cold weather last winter. Now I should say that the car’s mileage computer over-predicts mileage by about 2%, or 1 MPG. I have checked this several times by calculating MPG by using odometer mileage and gallons measured at the gas pump, and it is consistently off by about 1 MPG. I also calibrated my odometer versus highway odometer checks and factored those results into the equation. Some observations from the data that the car computer spits out are that mileage is reduced for cold starts, short trips, high speed freeway driving, on very cold days, or with the AC on (these are true for any car). The mileage in the low-mid 40’s quoted above always has included one or more of these mileage reducing conditions for at least a good part of the tank full of gas over which it is calculated. I was curious as to what mileage I could achieve if I could eliminate these conditions and drive in totally optimal conditions. So I did a test. I drove, starting with a warm engine, 10 laps around my community, a total distance of 36 miles, or 3.6 miles per lap. Each lap had 4 stops, and I admit to rolling through most of them at about 10 mph, because even though the brakes regenerate electricity, they are not 100% efficient, so you are better off maintaining kinetic energy when you can. It was about 65 degrees that day, so I did not need AC. The elevation averaged 6000 ft (southwest of Denver), and it probably varied +/- 100 feet across the course. I put 45 psi in the tires. Owner’s manual recommends 32 psi, but the tires allow 51 psi max. Winds were almost non-existent. I averaged a speed of 34.3 miles per hour during the test, including the stops, so I was mostly doing 35-40 mph. The car operated in electric mode 74% of the time, and in gas mode 26% of the time. It was on gas mainly when it was climbing hills or accelerating from a "stop", and on electric most of the rest of the time. I started the test at the same elevation as I ended, so it was not like it was one long downhill test. The winds were light, and I went in 10 big circles, so wind had no effect on the mileage. I started with an 80% charge on the battery bank, and ended with a 90% charge, so I did not drain down the batteries to artificially inflate the gas mileage. In the end, the car’s mileage computer indicated 63.0 MPG for the duration of the test. Even though it over-predicts mileage slightly, I am still confident I got over 60 MPG. I have read about Priuses, under very controlled conditions getting over 100 mpg. They were on courses with no hills and no stops. They also used driving methods called gliding (coasting with electric mode and gas mode off) and warp driving (no idea what this is). I find it difficult and impractical to glide so I didn't for the test. But I suspect if my course had no hills or stops, I could have gotten over 70 mpg in my Camry just driving normally. Just a few more observations - Obviously, it drops into electric mode most frequently and easily when the engine is warm. On really cold winter days (below 20 degrees F or so) it will rarely if ever go into electric mode, even after driving more than 10 miles. On warmer days, it will drop into electric mode after driving 3 or 4 miles from a cold start IF you take your foot off the gas while going about 40 mph. If you do the same thing at 30 or 20 mph it will not go into electric mode. There seems to be a sweet spot around 40 mph because that's where it will go into electric mode quickest and easiest. After driving 10 or 20 miles, it will go into electric mode at lower speeds. It also seems to like to go into electric mode if you drive it for 5 or more miles, then park the car for 10 minutes to an hour, then drive again. I think there is probably some emissions equipment that needs to be hot (like a catylitic converter) to go into electric mode. While driving, the air flow keeps it somewhat cool. But if parked with a warm engine, the hot engine heats that component such that when you drive again it goes quickly into electric mode. That is just speculation on my part, but it makes sense to me. You will occasionally find people who tell you they are disappointed because they only get 25 or 30 mpg. I strongly suspect they do many short trips on cold starts with the AC on or in very cold conditions. It you drive 3 miles to work in the morning, and 3 miles home at night, and that it typical of most of your driving, you will probably only get 25 to 30 mpg. But very few people drive that way, hence very few people complain about the mileage. My daily commute to work is 10 miles each way, but I also usually do other driving as do most people. As far as power goes, the Camry has plenty. I can maintain 90 mph up any mountain grade in the Colorado Rockies with 2 adults, 2 teenagers, and 2 Golden Retrievers in the car and a packed truck. And it can beat many cars off the light when I need it to. I can't find any reason why every car should not be a hybrid. I love mine.

2006 Cadillac DTS - 3 week Road Test

by fin on Sat Jul 29 21:29:11 PDT 2006

For anyone interested in a new DTS, my wife and I recently rented one and took a 3200 mile, 3 week drive thru 11 eastern states. Practically lived in the car when not visiting relatives. The trip had everything from mid Manhattan traffic to long 80+ mph runs in GA and PA. We are both retired, over 60, and here are our impressions: Engine/trans: Stunning! Excellent power and gearing for all situations. MPG: 25 at a steady 80 mph, 27+ if you drive at 65 or less, all using 89 octane. City, maybe 16 or 17. All hand checked but the electronic dash numbers were very close. Ride: Overall very nice, good seats, met our expectations. Some body roll on the high speed interstate exit ramps that curve. Brakes: The weak point. Lots of brake noise and some fade in the NC mountains as you come down the steep interstate hills at speed. (Car had 10k miles on it overall.) Fit and Finish: First class. Other: The trunk is a cave and the AC works well even on 98 degree afternoons. Good headlights but overall visibility from the driver's seat can sometimes be a problem (as is typical with many new models). OnStar: OnStar was wonderful getting us out of Manhattan to New Jersey and in the Williamsburg/Jamestown area. Better than a NAV screen. Parking: This car needs a wide area to turn and park and the doors are super wide when fully opened, making them hard to reach and pull closed. (Upper end models have an auto-closer feature.) Summary: The car is little large for us as a daily driver but for travel, it's wonderful. The dash info center rivals an airplane on information provided to the driver. Great car...... :)

Le worst

by geoffdgti on Thu Dec 15 17:53:07 PST 2005

"What does "wealthy" mean, anyway?" Wealthy means you have more assets than I do. marika writes: Back to the topic, I would not be caught dead in any recent SUV, full size sedan or coupe, pickup truck, or sports car, with the sole exceptions of GTI or much older inexpensive reliable (usually Japanese) options. In high school and college, I drove a diarrhea-brown 2-door 1972 Ford Maverick so I clearly can't say there's any car I wouldn't be caught dead in. Today, I commute in a VW GTI and my wife drives the Mountaineer that has the "Geoff" vanity plate on it. I tow a boat and cope with a dirt driveway during mud month at the ski resort so I'm willing to cope with the uncoolness of owning an Exploder variant. I'm a Hertz five star so I'm no stranger to boring domestic mid-sized and "full-sized" cars. My banned list includes any domestic GM product except a Corvette, any domestic Jeep/Chrysler product, most Ford products, boring Toyota sedans, Subarus, cars from Korea, Mazda 6... essentially, any car that could possibly be in the non-premium rental fleet at Hertz. The worst car I've been given by Hertz was a Nissan Quest minivan. I drive an SUV but I couldn't park the thing in a strip mall parking lot without backing back and forth several times. It's easier to dock a supertanker. On the road, it was incredibly ponderous with huge body roll and imprecise steering. It has the aerodynamics of a barn door and sucked down fuel. Definite two thumbs down.

Buick Rainier Sightings

by snoking on Tue May 03 06:16:25 PDT 2005

We have had the Rainier for about 6 weeks now, and they should start a reward program to Rainier Sightings. We have only seen one other on the road! We drove the I6 and the V8 and bought the V8. There was no comparison in the way they drove. With the I6 I felt that I had to push to make it run at speed on the hiway. With the V8 is just rolls along. Mileage average is 16.734 so far. I believe that on a long freeway trip it would be in the high 18's or low 19's. When I drive it, mileage goes up, when wife drives it mileage goes down. Figuring out she must have a lead foot. There is no way that I would have paid 40-42K for it. We got a 2004 demo with 5782 miles on it for 31. Full warranty, minus the miles. Loaded with everything but DVD and Nav. We like the XM radio, as we have it on the boat, in the house in two places and in the RV. Ours has an analog/digital ready cell phone. They have a program that you can share minutes with your personal Verizon cell phones. However the cell phone will have to be upgraded to digital for this, so we just added the extra first year 100 minutes to the free 30 minutes for 19.95. If it was me driving it all the time, I would be looking to install stiffer shocks, however my wife likes it "just the way it is". Here is my list of things they should improve. 1. Front drink holds/center console. :mad: Move the parking brake to kick panel and install better center console. 2. Front seat lateral support. 3. Cruise control on the steering wheel. OH NO already 12 buttons there. 4. Funky hi/lo beam push/pull. Why not click it like other cars. Maybe this is a GM thing. I have not owned one for many years. 5. Quiet air compressor for rear suspension. 6. Rear seats that fold down without moving the fronts ahead a bit. 7. Better AWD system (as reported by others). I have an email into Buick about this system. I am a little affraid to send my wife into the mountains with it next winter until I know more about it's handling in the snow. Reports I have read are all negative, with fishtailing and pushing in corners listed as short comings. Seems the car could use a four wheel traction control similar to Honda's or others. With posi-traction in the rear and the need to turn the rear driveline more than the front for it to kick in, you have both rear wheels spinning and the fishtailing before putting power to the rear, and the minute that happens, it appears that the system goes back to rear wheel and you start all over again. 8. Gas struts on the hood. 42K cars should not have a rod to hold the hood open. 9. Fix soft hump in climate control system. Appears others are hearing the same thing. I do not see a TSB on this issue. 10. Better storage pockets in doors and dash. Have these guys every looked at a Honda. I have to say, I purchased this vehicle on a Sunday night on impulse and tried to backout of the deal on Monday morning. Dealer would not let me do that. Wife loves it so far. Deal was pretty good, with them giving us 2225 more for our 2001 Honda Accord, than the Honda dealers would on a trade for a Pilot. So I call the Rainier our accidental SUV. As in I bought it by accident. For a body on frame vehicle, Buick has done a very good job of refining this vehicle to drive fairly well and it is very quiet on the road. It came with the tow package, and I would have had to spend another 1K on the Honda to add that feature. If you like your TB and want to step up a notch, then take a look at the Rainier. SNOKING