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Afton, TN Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Snow today, AWD wao!!! [nickel]

by toboggan on Tue Jan 22 10:33:46 PST 2008

I see that nothing has changed with the Twin Cities drivers. :( When we lived in Shoreview hated driving on the freeways. Idiots drove like the road surface was dry. Avoided a few accidents with the OBW flexibility. Drove out to Afton Alps to ski every week (National Ski Patrol) in all sorts of weather. The OBW always got me there. With the Tribeca (still have the OBW) we rarely drive in the bad weather (we're retired now) just to keep it clean. :D But we've been out in several snow storms already. Even with the stock tires it gets around just great. Love it!

Re: Disappointing [hqly2001]

by mtngal on Mon Jul 31 13:54:54 PDT 2006

"i'm guessing u use the paddles? i wonder if it would be better to use the paddles since i could control the shifting " I don't use the paddles at all. In fact, I use cruise control as much as possible (I take it off for the steep portions of the Grapevine and drive about 60 so that the car won't shift to 3rd). I had been noticing my gas mileage dropping, so Friday I eased off on acceleration (didn't try to keep up with everyone else for a change), and since traffic was lighter through Santa Clarita I put the cruise on earlier than normal - got 39 mpg that day, vs. the 33-36 I've been getting recently. I got unbelievably good gas mileage going to Vegas (I often do - it's mostly downhill for me and Saturday I had a tailwind). I never post the figures here because I'd hate to get others thinking this car could routinely get such fabulous mileage (drove 300 miles and had noticably more than a quarter tank left when I filled up). Sunday's drive back was "interesting." I left Vegas at around 8:30am, then spent 3 hours going about 10 miles between Jean and Primm. I would shut the engine off for about 5-30 minutes, restart it to creep forward a couple of car lengths, then stop and turn it off again. I don't know how many times I turned it off and turned it back on - I accidentally ground the starter a couple of times thinking I had turned it off when I hadn't. I finally passed Primm (at the Nevada-California state line) around 12:30 pm, and ended up fighting a head wind or a cross wind the rest of the way. This wasn't a breeze - Edwards AFB reported the wind at 20 mph with gusts up to 30. Set the cruise control at 65, except across the part between Afton Canyon and Barstow, when I didn't want to accelerate and brake all the time. Then I set the cruise at around 62-63 because that's what the 18-wheelers seemed to be doing. I left it at 65 most of the time I was on Hwy 58. I stopped for gas at the small community outside Edwards. My gas mileage still came out to 33 mpg! My conclusion from this: 1. Always carry water in your car (I didn't), even when it's a routine trip you've done a million times. The Starbucks coffee I had didn't last long. 2. Always carry sunscreen. It doesn't matter if you never get out of the car long enough to need it - I had the windows open to keep as cool as I could and got sunburned. 3. As hard as it is (this car is quite peppy), easing off of the accelerator makes a huge difference. I'm not talking about jack-rabbit starts, I'm talking about not pushing it as much as most people in SoCal routinely do when starting up at a stop sign or traffic light. 4. Use the cruise control set at 65 as much as possible - the car does a better job at not over-accelerating or driving faster than planned than I do. If you drive this little car like an economy car, it will give you wonderful economy. If you drive it like a performance car, it will do a pretty good imitation of one, but won't give you any economy. 5. I might have gotten home quite a bit sooner if I had been driving the Wrangler - there are several dirt roads that I could have taken. But it would have been a very expensive trip - I would have been lucky to get 16 mpg with that much wind, and it would have been a constant struggle. Final note - have I said that I love this little car?

Re: The newbie again [chong1]

by mtngal on Thu Jun 23 06:08:35 PDT 2005

About that Vegas trip (having been in that situation several times) - if you can't get off on an exit and take a legal road then the answer is no, you can't drive alongside the freeway in the dirt. I wouldn't want to anyway - too much trash and so on, things that could possibly puncture tires etc. are along there. If you look back a bit, I was stuck on the I-15 a couple of weeks ago and bemoaning the fact that I couldn't get to the next exit (Basin Road). If I had, I would have driven through Afton Canyon - a lovely slot canyon carved by the Mojave River. The river is underground now and you can drive through the riverbed (very sandy). If your back-up is on Hwy 58 between Barstow and Kramers Corners (hwy 395) there are a couple of dirt road options. And if you want to avoid the I-15 between Victorville and Barstow - there's an easy dirt road that goes between them through Stoddard Wells (I think that's what it's called - I'm at work and it's been a few years since I was in that area) OHV area. Not only could you avoid I-15, you could explore some real off-roading trails at the same time.

Rich

by jettaglxvr6 on Wed Apr 16 13:46:31 PDT 2003

My wife graduated from UVA and we used to travel north on Rt29 through Culpeper every time we would go up to northern VA or DC. I'm a JMU alumnus and the views over Afton mnt and the Blue Ridge mnts are spectacular, especially in the spring and fall. We love VA, where did you move to? By the way, I have hit the 850 mile mark, only 150 more 'til the fun begins. The car's still great! Good to hear about your driving impressions on the new C while you were overseas. A couple of quick points: in reference to the AC being a bit touchy, I feel that very slight movements in the climate control dial DOES make drastic differences in the overall climate of the cabin; however, I find the cool down occurs very rapidly, which I REALLY like since our temps have hit the upper 80s today and the charcoal interior seems to heat up quickly. And, of course, (you probably know this) MB is finally adding the in dash CD as standard equipment in the '04 C Class. Lastly, even with a few 30 degree mornings last week, the engine never "rattled" at the start. This could be because my car is so new or just because the one you drove had been dogged a bit, but I will let you know if I detect any rattles--in the engine or anywhere else on the car. That C230/6 speed in Silver is calling your name. . . .of course, if you can wait, see what the '04 model year brings (which should be hitting the lots by Sept) and decide then.

Just got my 02 EX 5spd

by atthebeach on Thu Dec 13 18:03:51 PST 2001

Well I have to thank you guys for all the info that I have gathered since I started reading this board back in August. It has been fun to follow the intro of the new V with all of the commentary and friendly banter. I ordered the green 5spd ex from my cousin dealer in western VA. On intro day he called to tell me mine was built (in Japan) on NOV 5th. 1st question "When does it get here?" Well I got my answer this past Tuesday.:-) He happened to be at a dealer conference in Williamsburg and I got a ride to pick it up that night. He was driving his demo, an 01 SE V... I got a 200 mile ride and I can tell you there is world of difference between the two vehicles. Some of the highlights for the 02 are in no order: Great pick-up-have not revved over 4400 rpm YET. Smooth and fast shifter (snik-snik) Loaded 6 Cds and found all the favorites fiddled with the bass and treble and found a great combo of settings. QUIET when I turned off the player. It was misting and breezy and the ride felt very solid. I'm 6'1-220 and found the perfect seat position. My back was a little tired after the ride to the dealer but it got better on the ride back. Set tilt on the moon roof and set the floor heat on low and didn't have to turn the defroster on. Ex cloth looks better to me, I test drove an auto LX and it has a different feel. Came over Afton mountain on interstate 64 in 5th pulling strong, had to slow to 55 (truck) and got right back to 70 with no downshift-it has a real sweet spot at 3250 rpm that is 70. Can't wait to check out the upper cam setting of the vtec-I have to keep telling myself "break-in period, break-in period". Put my two kids in it this morning and the comment was "sweet". Now to the things I don't like. Maybe I should of gotten that Subie nah! I'll let you know about mileage once I fill up. 295 miles so far on the Factory tank of gas reading 1/4 left. If you are cross shopping you should drive the 02 V before you buy. Did I mention Honda quality. Got to go my wife is wondering what I'm doing on the computer so long. Can you see the smile on my face, Dave

Just bought a 2001 OB Ltd. wagon, and we love it!

by jeffsaxe on Thu May 03 16:54:39 PDT 2001

After months of lurking on this board, I'm finally posting because we went ahead and bought a lovely new Timberline Green Outback Limited 5-speed wagon. We were initially attracted to the Passat sedans and wagons, especially after driving my sister-in-law's, but reliability complaints soured me on VW. (I've been driving a 1983 Volvo turbo sedan for a few years now, and I can't stand a company that uses clearly inferior instruments, wiring, controls, etc. that don't last the life of the car. Ridiculous! I'm ready to get rid of it!) Of course the lively and positive nature of the posts here has made us feel more comfortable buying the Subaru -- nothing like the grousing about other makes and models elsewhere on Town Hall (including the Passat). We just picked up the car Monday evening, and it's wonderful. (Frank Smith at Staunton Nissan-Subaru in Staunton, Virginia helped us out; over the phone, he matched a quote at straight dealer invoice I had been negotiating with a dealer in Northern Virginia. They did sneak in a $119 "documentation / processing fee" under my nose, though.) It has enough power to easily come back over Afton Mountain, accelerating in 5th gear with the A/C on -- not possible in our Nissan Sentra. Seats are very comfortable, although no long trips yet; the seat warmers work. :-) Plenty of room for humans and cargo, the 3-year-old's car seat fit in just fine. Sound system sounds a little odd to my ears -- I had to cut down the midrange and boost the treble a touch to have it sound natural. And popping up the sunroof or opening windows at 65mph highway speed yields quite a lot of wind noise -- perhaps the aerodynamic profile is not as svelte as the Sentra's. Around town, though the fresh air options are appreciated. Suspension and the powertrain in general are really nice! Maybe I haven't driven a wide variety of cars lately, but I think it's a superb blend of bump absorption with connectedness to the road. And everyone loves the color. Well, just wanted to chime in as a happy camper. I fully expect this Subaru to be as reliable as previous ones in our family have been, so I expect to own it for a good long time. -- Jeff