Driven Today!!!

[Laconian]

I drove my dad's '01 Sequoia. It drives smoothly for how big it is. Steering is great. Brakes are so-so (stopping distance is startling long, coming from my car)

Nice for a truck, but I don't know why anybody would want to DD these monster BOF SUVs.

[MX793]

Got a chance to flog a 2nd Gen Mazdaspeed3 around an autocross course during post-event fun runs.  The MS3's owner and I are typically very close in overall (adjusted) results, though prior to today he usually manages to edge me out. 

Anyway, after the event was over they offered fun runs so I let him take a spin in the Mustang (with me riding shotgun) and I took a turn with his Speed3 with him riding in the passenger seat.  Holy turbo lag.  I test drove one of these back in 2010 and I had forgotten just how pronounced the lag was.  Huge difference from having power on tap as soon as you tip into the throttle.  Suspension was much better buttoned down that the Mustang, though, with much less roll and dive.  One of his main takeaways from my car was that the Mustang had a lot of body movement which made it pretty hard to be precise, particularly through slaloms and fast transitions. 

The best part of the drive was when he glanced at the timing display when we crossed the finish in his car and I had clocked a faster lap in that one run with his car than his fastest of the day by tenth of a second .

[Laconian]

GMC Terrain. Not a bad drive at all, aside from the totally anesthetized Magnetsteer IV system. Rides firm and flat, quiet, reasonably economical given its size too (22mpg combined).

[Colin]

Managed to post reports on most of the rentals from my last US trip (yes, it was months ago, been rather busy!).

The one everyone's been waiting for is here: http://themotor.net/?p=9522

(yes, Colin actually liked a BMW!)

[68_427]

91 is max octane in Cali.  Most other states have 93, and some higher.

Very thorough review.

[hotrodalex]

2014 Impala

Love it. Interior is a nice place to be, good quality and space. Plenty of power, decent suspension for that type of car.

Only annoying thing is all the chimes and bings and lights from the driver assist garbage. Would turn that off ASAP if I owned one.

[Laconian]

Rented a Mazda2 for three days in CA. Very basic tin can, but quite a lot of fun. Darty, nimble steering and a fairly level handling chassis. Easy to be a hooligan in.

Shame about the AT in my car. That little engine really needs a stick.

[Laconian]

2014 Impala

Love it. Interior is a nice place to be, good quality and space. Plenty of power, decent suspension for that type of car.

Only annoying thing is all the chimes and bings and lights from the driver assist garbage. Would turn that off ASAP if I owned one.

Impala was the best GM car I sat in at the car show. Much better interior than the Cadillacs IMO. I kept thinking "man, GM needs to promote the guys that made this!"

[2o6]

Rented a Mazda2 for three days in CA. Very basic tin can, but quite a lot of fun. Darty, nimble steering and a fairly level handling chassis. Easy to be a hooligan in.

Shame about the AT in my car. That little engine really needs a stick.

It's going to replace the Yaris here in roughly a month

[Eye of the Tiger]

It's going to replace the Yaris here in roughly a month

So much lol.

[Laconian]

It's going to replace the Yaris here in roughly a month

Awesome. I wish I had one as a college car. My cheapo Camry was so boring.

[2o6]

Awesome. I wish I had one as a college car. My cheapo Camry was so boring.

I should have bought a Mazda 2 instead of Yaris II.

Loads of mazda 2's with under 60k and under 9k.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Accent with 61K for $7K. Complete with rally flaps.

[2o6]

Accent with 61K for $7K. Complete with rally flaps.

Those cars are absolute trash.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Those cars are absolute trash.

I thought trash was what you liked dealing in.

[Secret Chimp]

Nobody cares about what you don't like.

[Xer0]

2015 Chevy Malibu

Only good thing about this car is that it cost me $61 for a 3 day rental.  If I would have actually paid money for it, I'd feel like an idiot.  The engine is lethargic while the transmission is always like 3 seconds late to a downshift.  The start stop system brings too much attention to itself.  The cabin, at 14k miles, is already rattling.  The steering is okay at low speeds but gets way too light at highway speeds.  The throttle response is confusing and hard to keep car cruising at a steady speed.

The interior is okay, I kind of like it, and I think the Malibu is a decent looking car, but the drivetrain is junk and obviously not fully developed.

[2o6]

I like the 2.5L. And GM autos like running to top gear and staying there.



Also, the stop start is a godsend compared to BMW's.

[Laconian]

? The 528 I drove had a pretty seamless stop/start.

[hotrodalex]

I think the Malibu might be the only car I've been in with start/stop, but it was pretty bad. It shook the car.

[CALL_911]

BMW's stop/start is absolute trash, unless they've changed it recently.

[2o6]

? The 528 I drove had a pretty seamless stop/start.

Seamlessly horrible, you mean. The one in the Malibu is absolutely refined by comparison.

[Xer0]

I like the 2.5L. And GM autos like running to top gear and staying there.



Also, the stop start is a godsend compared to BMW's.

Does the Malibu have an ECO trim or is that just a badge on the trunk?  I wonder if a non ECO spec (assuming it is a trim) would drive better.

[ifcar]

Does the Malibu have an ECO trim or is that just a badge on the trunk?  I wonder if a non ECO spec (assuming it is a trim) would drive better.

Eco is the hybrid.

[hotrodalex]

This is my boss's boss's car. 1929 Model A pickup, original 4 cylinder and a T5 transmission. Super fun to cruise around in. No power steering, just a big old steering wheel. Cable brakes, I'm pretty sure, and they don't work until it feels like you're slamming on the pedal. Transmission shifts nicely and without any hassle. I just drove around the parking lot and street in front of the building, but it was a blast. I forgot to honk the horn at everyone that I saw, will have to remember that for next time.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Wtf, that's awesome. How did they just bolt on a T5 trans to that old tractor engine? Need more pics.

[hotrodalex]

A couple of places sell adapter kits for the T5, apparently.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I want a T5 for the Accent.

[Laconian]

I was going to say, isn't that transmission crazy complicated to use?

Then I read more closely.

[hotrodalex]

I don't think the original transmission was complicated, just unsynchronized. The Model A was fairly close to modern cars, unlike the Model T and such that had many differences in controls. This car had two stalks in the steering column for timing and idle speed, but I didn't really mess with them.