I had an automatic Chevy Cruze as a rental when I was on the road for work.
There were a ton of traffic circles around where I was staying in Dublin, Ohio. That Cruze was absolutely babied around every one of them, and I most certainly wasn't impressed by how or rapidly it could navigate through them.
That's odd.
I have a good friend who was a road racer, and national level kart racer, and he couldn't say enough good things about how his Cruze handled, and used to push it especially hard through the roundabouts and on/off ramps
DeadSkunk (Warren) said:My wife's 2006 Scion xB. There's nothing stellar about it aside from space efficiency and I love it.
Came here to say this. Ex had a 2005 xB. On paper it was awful. Driving it was a hoot. The fact that it went 200k miles needing nothing but a tailgate latch handle (I ripped it off trying to open the back when it was frozen shut) and spark plugs once was a huge bonus. Toward the end it started to need a muffler but she rear-ended someone and totaled it.
We moved two couches with that thing and a piece of rope. It's like the Tardis... bigger on the inside.
74 Ford Maverick. It had the wheezy 302, but if you think about it, it weighed about the same as a WRX. Much quicker than you expect.
Back in 2013 I bought a used 2008 Grand Caravan to be a "temp" driver while I did some extensive maintenance on my TDI and continued to search for a "forever" full sized van. Pretty much the definition of a "meh.." vehicle. I fell in love with it. Just big enough to be a good utility vehicle and just small enough to fit into my garage during winter snow storms. When it started to be too much of a repair headache in 2018, I replaced it with a much more optioned 2017 "GT" version of the same minivan.
Mr. Peabody said:That's odd.
I have a good friend who was a road racer, and national level kart racer, and he couldn't say enough good things about how his Cruze handled, and used to push it especially hard through the roundabouts and on/off ramps
Sarcasm isn't something you're particularly good at is it? :-)
Honda Element.
Looks like something a kid would draw with crayons in Kindergarten art class.
They're bulletproof and can haul enormous cargo. I'm a vain man when it comes to my cars. I only drive cool stuff. But the Element has been the exception to my rule. I've had two of them. They're so good that I can get past the snide comments and chuckles of my car guy buddies.
Come to think of it, maybe I need to get some different car guy buddies who are a little more intellectually evolved.
A 401 CJ said:Mr. Peabody said:That's odd.
I have a good friend who was a road racer, and national level kart racer, and he couldn't say enough good things about how his Cruze handled, and used to push it especially hard through the roundabouts and on/off ramps
Sarcasm isn't something you're particularly good at is it? :-)
I was just coming here to say that my "sarcasm meter" was blinking and flashing all the sudden. Subtle sarcasm is subtle.
I gotta say I'm still shocked by how fun our base (not a single option) 2017 Mazda6 is. We leased it just to have reliable transportation and went super cheap. But because we have a nice mountain freeway we take daily here in Oahu, we were surprised to find the car is so nicely balanced when driving and just loves the corners. We just didn't want a Camry or Accord like everyone has... in the end it converted Mrs. Sarcastic to "sporty" sedans, which she felt were inferior to an SUV in every way.
We liked it so much we bought it at the end of or lease term. It's no Miata, but it's got good DNA for sure.
jerrysarcastic (Forum Supporter) said:I gotta say I'm still shocked by how fun our base (not a single option) 2017 Mazda6 is. We leased it just to have reliable transportation and went super cheap. But because we have a nice mountain freeway we take daily here in Oahu, we were surprised to find the car is so nicely balanced when driving and just loves the corners. We just didn't want a Camry or Accord like everyone has... in the end it converted Mrs. Sarcastic to "sporty" sedans, which she felt were inferior to an SUV in every way.
We liked it so much we bought it at the end of or lease term. It's no Miata, but it's got good DNA for sure.
You driving the Pali or the Like Like highway? We had a Mazda Familia wagon in the 70s and that thing struggled going over the Pali.
Pali Hwy, and they just put down some nice new asphalt two years ago, so it's really a joy now! Our base 4 cyl. has just enough grunt to keep it interesting on the climb up, but heading downhill on the windward side is where it's really at.
It's a short blast, but if traffic is light it's about as much fun as you want to have on a public road, and in a base model sedan you can be pretty stealthy about it. :)
In reply to jerrysarcastic (Forum Supporter) :
Our little Mazda had a 60hp and was equipped with an auto-tragic tranny. My dad used to make jokes about it chugging up the Pali at 45 mph. Of course coming back from Honolulu it felt like it was doing 150 mph on the downhill run from the tunnel to the Kalanianaole Hwy.
Of course coming back from Honolulu it felt like it was doing 150 mph on the downhill run from the tunnel to the Kalanianaole Hwy.
Ha, you know the area well enough to nail the spelling. That downhill section on the windward side is a part any car can take as fast as it wants to. It drops fast! \m/
I had several base model Ford Contours as company cars back when they were new. I thought they handled really well. Clicking the overdrive button off was like having Mad Max's supercharger at your beck and call.
My crappy $1100 first gen Zetec Focus was a surprisingly fun and zippy car. It did suffer from indifferent quality but parts were so cheap you didn't really care.
In reply to A 401 CJ :
OK, I just re-read that.
I completely missed it.
In reply to jerrysarcastic (Forum Supporter) :
Grew up there; went to Keolu Elementary & Kailua Jr high. One of my coworker is from Hawaii and her family refers to me as "Da Guy" because I speak pidgin as well as any local..........I'm ohana now.
My older brother and his friends used to drive the old Pali Hwy, super sketchy.
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