Driven Today!!!

[2o6]

The Spark's tachometer is analog...

???


The digital tach (at least in this execution) isn't the easiest out there to read.

[93JC]

This is a digital tachometer:



The Spark's tachometer is electronic (as is the Sonic's, FYI), and it is displayed on an LCD, but it is not digital.


I for one despise digital speedometers so everything you're saying runs contrary to what I would prefer.

[2o6]

Whatever, it's hard to read. There's only like two bars near the top of the range.



I can go either way with digital speedos, but the typography in many GM cars (at least in the new crop of GM cars) makes the analog speedo redundant and hard to read.


Most cars I drive at my job, 9/10 of them have their information display set to the digital speedo display.

(which looks generally looks like this, in the new Fullsize trucks, Cruze, Malibu, Impala and pretty much everything except for the Traverse)

[Laconian]

The Spark's tachometer is analog...

I misspoke; discrete & shitty LCD-based.

Numeric speedometers are nice in a land choked speed cameras with no mercy.

[Laconian]

I rented a Fusion SE Ecoboost during my minivacation. There were a few odd build quality issues such as a terminally misaligned hood and a trunk that didn't want to shut on the first or second slam, but the car drove great. Well composed chassis with no roll whatsoever, decent steering but with maybe a bit too much response off center, and an engine that was gruff and loud but pulled hard in a very satisfying way. The interior was well appointed with above average seat comfort. My biggest complaint was SYNC. It's like somebody built an MMI around a first generation Samsung Blackjack Windows Mobile 5 phone. Yuck!

[MrH]

I like the BRZ's setup.  Analog tachometer, digital speedometer.  There's an analog speedometer off to the side as well, but it's poorly scaled and small.  I wish that was just blank so you could cram boost and wide band gauges in.

[BENZ BOY15]

I rented a Fusion SE Ecoboost during my minivacation. There were a few odd build quality issues such as a terminally misaligned hood and a trunk that didn't want to shut on the first or second slam, but the car drove great. Well composed chassis with no roll whatsoever, decent steering but with maybe a bit too much response off center, and an engine that was gruff and loud but pulled hard in a very satisfying way. The interior was well appointed with above average seat comfort. My biggest complaint was SYNC. It's like somebody built an MMI around a first generation Samsung Blackjack Windows Mobile 5 phone. Yuck!

How about the moonroof opener? The non button button.

But the weirdest part was the misaligned hood. I can't imagine it came new like that.

[Laconian]

Yes, placing touch-sensitive plastic in unseeable crevices was a stupid idea.

It's like the interior designers had an eight year old on staff.

[BENZ BOY15]

Yeah. The size of the screen bothered me. It's like they had planned it to be bigger but got a super good deal on a smaller screen that they couldn't pass up.

It also didn't look like the world's most intuitive system.

[68_427]

The Chevy thing in my Cruze LTZ worked fine.  And real buttons.

[Colin]

Rental wheels for the past 2 days have been a BMW M5.

What can I say?......... other than, you'll have to read the report when I've both written and published it!

(It was really rather good............... but at over $100,000 dollars with options, you'd rather hope it would be!)

[dazzleman]

Rental wheels for the past 2 days have been a BMW M5.

What can I say?......... other than, you'll have to read the report when I've both written and published it!

(It was really rather good............... but at over $100,000 dollars with options, you'd rather hope it would be!)

Nice.  Where are you driving it?  Under what conditions?

[CALL_911]

Rental wheels for the past 2 days have been a BMW M5.

What can I say?......... other than, you'll have to read the report when I've both written and published it!

(It was really rather good............... but at over $100,000 dollars with options, you'd rather hope it would be!)

w-w-what, how'd you pull such hijinx

[Colin]

Well, you have to pay money, of course.

They usually go for around $400 a day..... but I managed to get it for $135. Comes with having befriended the person who does the roaming Gold Service at LAX (she also did the deal on the Cayman for me a couple of weeks ago)......... if they have lots of these high end cars not booked out, they will do deals. And Presidents Circle members generally get better offers than regular punters. So, well worth being Pres Circle.

They also have: C63 AMG and E63 AMG, CTS-V, 650i Convertible and Gran Coupe and Merc S500 and SL550 at LAX, as well as Boxster, Cayman, 911, Cayenne and Panamera and a few Tesla Model S. I gather the first batch of Jaguars arrived mid week. PHX had an M3 Convertible, too. So, plenty to have a go at on my next trips!

The really high end stuff - Merc SLS, Gallardo, AM V8 Vantage, California, Viper, you have to provide your own insurance, and these cars are generally around $1200 a day just for the car, with far less likelihood of getting a deal.   

[68_427]

Yeah saw all those cars at lax when I was leaving with my cruze

[Rich]

I've been driving a 2001 Honda Accord VTEC around the past 2 weeks.  Decent car, and I can tell back in the day it was made well.  Since it's a beat-on rental there's some stuff up with it, but it's not bad.

But that VTEC though, it's like bad turbo lag.  Kinda fun, and kinda no thanks.

[Xer0]

I just test drove my friend's 2010 EVO GSR with the 5-spd.

Driving this car and then immediately going back to my SI, the Si felt like a numb piece of shit.  Everything about the EVO is more intimate and more raw.  Everything is heavier and more connected and driving the car takes much more focus.  The power is instant and the sound the engine makes as the revs go up can only be described as furious.   The steering is everything that the Si's isn't; direct and communicative, and the car just does not roll into corners while the Si kind of wallows.  About the only thing that I can think of that the Si has the EVO beat in is the transmission, but the unit in the EVO just fits the car so much better anyway so who cares.

After this test drive I actually sent out a couple of quote requests.  Won't be getting an EVO, but it's fun to be curious 

[Laconian]

Depreciation is awful on them, no? Just get one with 5 miles on it for a 50% discount.

[afty]

I have a 2014 Chrysler 300C for a rental right now.  Yes, it's got a HEMI, and surprisingly I really like it.  It's fast, feels solid, and is a great cruiser.  It drives like I would imagine an E-Class drives, which makes sense since it shares some underpinnings with the last-gen E-Class.

[Laconian]

I rented one with the 2.7 during Peak Cerberus, it made me want to put a bullet through my brain. Too much car for that crappy engine to haul around.

[ifcar]

I rented one with the 2.7 during Peak Cerberus, it made me want to put a bullet through my brain. Too much car for that crappy engine to haul around.

That decision was all Daimler-Chrysler.

[68_427]

Depreciation is awful on them, no? Just get one with 5 miles on it for a 50% discount.

Resale on evos and stis are really good

[Xer0]

Resale on evos and stis are really good

STI's better then EVOs, but yeah, this ain't your ordinary Mitsu resale.

[MX793]

Had a Kia Soul as a rental this past weekend.  Really not a bad little car.  Ride seemed pretty firm and well controlled (as much as you can tell on Florida's straight, smooth, and flat roads).  Lots of room.  Engine felt pretty peppy when taking off from a stop, though acceleration at speeds above about 45 mph (like when trying to merge onto a 75 mph highway) seemed to generate more sound than fury.  If I could find one for cheap, it might make a good winter car replacement for the Mazda.

[2o6]

Had a Kia Soul as a rental this past weekend.  Really not a bad little car.  Ride seemed pretty firm and well controlled (as much as you can tell on Florida's straight, smooth, and flat roads).  Lots of room.  Engine felt pretty peppy when taking off from a stop, though acceleration at speeds above about 45 mph (like when trying to merge onto a 75 mph highway) seemed to generate more sound than fury.  If I could find one for cheap, it might make a good winter car replacement for the Mazda.

Old soul or new soul? I drove a 1.6 automatic last week. Nice little car, if a bit too roly poly and boring for my tastes.

[MX793]

Old soul or new soul? I drove a 1.6 automatic last week. Nice little car, if a bit too roly poly and boring for my tastes.

I'm pretty sure it was a first generation car.  I don't think a 2014 would have had quite as many miles on it even in rental service, so I'm guessing it was likely a '13 model.

[2o6]

Well, the new Soul looks totally different so....

[MX793]

Well, the new Soul looks totally different so....

Not different enough for somebody whose never really paid much attention to them.  I didn't even know they came out with a 2nd generation this year until you asked me which version I drove.

[68_427]

Which one?

[MX793]

Which one?

It was definitely a first gen.  Like I said, mileage was a bit high for it to have been a '14.  Not impossibly high, but more mileage than I've ever seen on a rental that was a current model year.  More typical of what I've seen from rentals that were 1-2 years old.