This was an abbreviated test but... the first thing that comes to mind is PLUSH. For a astronomical price tag of about $65k, you can have one of the largest, most plus vehicle on the road. The test vehicle came equipped with the optional 22" rim/tire package and even still managed to soak up bumps with ease. The seats were soft, the ride was smooth and comfy and the steering, feel oddly almost like a steer-by-wire system with no road feel what so ever.
Power was supplied by a massive 6.2L V8 engine which was plenty good enough to accelerate from a stop to freeway speed. Stopping however felt as if it was lacking. I found the brakes in the '06 Suburban Z71 to be better. Handling... well, was none existant, however... turning radius was extremely tight and welcomed. Unfortunately, this test route did not leave the option open for an off-road test, but in reality, how many people are going to off-road a $65k school bus anyway. My comments on the 4wheel drive system would normally go here, but no off-road testing was available. The exhaust system on this vehicle was superb. It is almost as if half the money of the SUV went into designing and developing the exhaust note. It's PERFECT.
The interior is covered in look-a-like woods and leather almost everywhere. A large touchscreen control panel for radio and navigation was installed in this vehicle and I found it's use to be functional, but screen updates could have happened a little faster. Using the touch screen to operate the control of the radio is you best bet as the little button under the screen were complicated. When you toss it into reverse, a rearview camera is switch on which helps navigate the huge behemoth into a parking space. Oh, speaking of parking... at a length of over 9 feet... it will not fit into your standard parking space. It will stick out or crunch some expensive running gear in the rear.
My largest complaint is the want-a-be waterford crystal looking clock on the dash. It was a poor attempt and only a man on a galloping horse would confuse this with a quality piece of art. First, the clock is at an angle, so any sunlight what so ever renders it unreadable. Second, the thing looks like cheap plastic and setting it, well... lets not even tackle functionality.
The beast... is large, but comfy. Would I own one? Perhaps if I was a rap star or basketball player... however, I couldn't justify spending $65k on something this large that I would be scared to drive on anything more severe than pavement or small grass.
Now you may be asking... how was the gas mileage? Suprisingly... this logged an impressive 12-14mpg in the city while the Suburban logged a dismal 10-11mpg on the highway.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
2007 Chevy Malibu LT V6
Seeing as how 8 speed transmissions are on the horizon ... who the hell still uses a 4 speed transmission in a car?! I'll tell you who... Chevy and GM in the Malibu. One of the biggest let downs ... the 4 speed auto transmission.
Now... taking it into the account that this is a standard passenger sedan and a cheap one at that, we obviously can't expect supreme driving comfort and unsurpassed handling abd braking. However, being that as it is ... the car is not all that bad. The engine has plenty of low end grunt which is required for the long gears in the 4 speed tranny. The engine is more than happy to pull with force from idle through the RPM range. However, being FWD, ask for too much "go" power and you'll find that torque steer becomd a huge problem wanting to change your desired direction of travel to the left or right sharpely depending on where the scenery can do the most damage to your vehicle. All that go power is enough to get you up to just shy of triple digit speeds before starting to run out of passing power.
Handling is ... well, designed to be cheap and comfortable. So... it's not perfect but it gets the job done. Bumps are soaked up with ease but ask this monster to handle an on/off ramp at anything considered remotely fast and it'll have the tires screaming for mercy as your passenger wonder if you are pretending to be a NASCAR driver. Body roll and squat and dive are ever so prevalent and even more prevalent when the car has cargo.
Braking... well, I'm not even going to try to tell you that repeated stops from speed will give you any sort of confidence. The first stop from anything considered fast is decent and will leave you rest assured, but as you try more and more stop from speed, your confidence level drops considerably before you begin to wonder if it would be bail out and abandon car in fear of ending up as part of the scenery rather than asking it to do another stop from speed.
Interior erogonomics take a little while to get used to. The interior is made of cheap plastic, but it functions to get the job done. The high mounted shifter on the drift shaft is awkward and clumsy as shift controls for manual shifting are placed where the normal button for switching from reverse to drive is placed. The radio control do the job are are directly to the point. The buttons the steering wheel also serve their purpose, but there are two buttons mounted on the back of the steering wheel that you'll have to find before you know they are there that control the volume of the radio from the wheel rather than the dash.
Another sore subject for this car ... the horrible seats. They are far from comfortable and you probably would have a better driving exerpence if you took the seats out and replaced them with the plastic crate boxes. The seats are horrible.
Overall... for the price, it's a damn good car to drive, but that being said, you would be better off spending more money to get something a little more suited towards extended travel.
Now... taking it into the account that this is a standard passenger sedan and a cheap one at that, we obviously can't expect supreme driving comfort and unsurpassed handling abd braking. However, being that as it is ... the car is not all that bad. The engine has plenty of low end grunt which is required for the long gears in the 4 speed tranny. The engine is more than happy to pull with force from idle through the RPM range. However, being FWD, ask for too much "go" power and you'll find that torque steer becomd a huge problem wanting to change your desired direction of travel to the left or right sharpely depending on where the scenery can do the most damage to your vehicle. All that go power is enough to get you up to just shy of triple digit speeds before starting to run out of passing power.
Handling is ... well, designed to be cheap and comfortable. So... it's not perfect but it gets the job done. Bumps are soaked up with ease but ask this monster to handle an on/off ramp at anything considered remotely fast and it'll have the tires screaming for mercy as your passenger wonder if you are pretending to be a NASCAR driver. Body roll and squat and dive are ever so prevalent and even more prevalent when the car has cargo.
Braking... well, I'm not even going to try to tell you that repeated stops from speed will give you any sort of confidence. The first stop from anything considered fast is decent and will leave you rest assured, but as you try more and more stop from speed, your confidence level drops considerably before you begin to wonder if it would be bail out and abandon car in fear of ending up as part of the scenery rather than asking it to do another stop from speed.
Interior erogonomics take a little while to get used to. The interior is made of cheap plastic, but it functions to get the job done. The high mounted shifter on the drift shaft is awkward and clumsy as shift controls for manual shifting are placed where the normal button for switching from reverse to drive is placed. The radio control do the job are are directly to the point. The buttons the steering wheel also serve their purpose, but there are two buttons mounted on the back of the steering wheel that you'll have to find before you know they are there that control the volume of the radio from the wheel rather than the dash.
Another sore subject for this car ... the horrible seats. They are far from comfortable and you probably would have a better driving exerpence if you took the seats out and replaced them with the plastic crate boxes. The seats are horrible.
Overall... for the price, it's a damn good car to drive, but that being said, you would be better off spending more money to get something a little more suited towards extended travel.
2007 Honda S2000
What a sweet car ... if you can overlook it's numerous annoyances. The car is great when it comes to ragged edge performance. However, if you aren't prepared to drive it like that all the time, you will be sorely disappointed. The engine ... when not flying high at it's astonishing 8000rpm (lowered from 9000rpm when the upped the engine size) is rather docile and buzzy. However, once you get it up past it's 6000rpm sweet spot, it loses it's oversized blender like buzziness and trades it in ... for you guessed it... a higher powered oversized blender. Engine sound and exhaust not are not this cars strong point. I've heard lawnmowers sound better than this thing. That being said, the engine is quite potent above 6000rpm... ask it for anything below that and you'll be left wanting... another engine in the back to help.
Enough about the engine tho, the car is balanced... very well balanced. Steering is sharp, but lacks communication. Suspension is stiff and taught, but supple enough to handle small bumps and road inconsistencies. Understeer is very prevalent if you are not careful and steering it with the throttle requires that the RPM be up around that sweet spot or else you will just induce more and more understeer. The shifter is awesome... Honda has perfected the shifting technology when it comes to smooth short shifts. Now if they could only get the thing to stop shaking around like a hawaiian dancing girl duct taped to the dash, we would be in business. The shifter tho makes the car a joy to drive... downshifts and upshifts are a breeze and just want to make you change gears for the fun of it ... even if not required.
The cabin... is horrendous. Remember that gokart like feeling I spoke of earlier when it comes to handling? Well, it's even more apparent in the car because you feel like you are shoehorned into a go kart. The interior erogonomis are excellent ... if you are going be blasting to and from work and don't care to do anything else. Otherwise, I found that the buttons to the left of the steering wheel were too far to reach easily, the buttons behind the radio cover were too small to get to and damn near impossible if you were in 1st, 3rd or 5th gears. Plus, when the radio cover is open, the cover folds down flat (if the shifter isn't up in the upper gears) which then starts to annoyingly stab you in the leg.
The steering wheel sits down a bit and the cluster is easily seen through the wheel opening, but the cluster is a big difficult to see in direct sunlight. I guess you can deal with that. However, wheel placement and bad erogonomic make finding the ignition extremely difficult... especially in poor lighting.
The car drives great when you are driving it how it's supposed to be driven ... with your hair on fire. However, daily driving and comfort leave you wanting much much more.
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