Not to put too fine a point on it, but our 2002 BMW M3 picked up what looked like a nasal secretion while visiting California Speedway yesterday.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an ancient piece of chewing gum. Our crack forensics team says the M3's projecting and sticky front tires picked it up off the parking lot somewhere and spit it back onto the rear quarter-panel.
Chances of something like this happening were improved by the Stoptech brake upgrade we installed a while back, a move that required 10 mm worth of front wheel spacers to gain the required caliper clearance.
Perhaps it's time for a pair of Yosemite Sam "Back Off" mud flaps. The paint looks OK so far, but...
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing at 62,345 miles (I think)
I was picking up a bunch of stuff at the dry cleaners so I had a moment to stare out the window at our 2008 Pontiac G8 GT waiting on the street. It is by far the most attractive car General Motors makes and it only gets more attractive when I drive it. It's a shame it's going to end up having such a short lifespan in the U.S. -- that is, unless a two-seat, plug-in hybrid G8 is in the works.
I've always liked our G8 from afar, but have never had more than a night in it, because it always seemed like more car than I needed. This week, though, I'm over that feeling, as I'm driving our big Pontiac to Napa for a business event. When the real work wraps up on Friday, the G8 and I will explore some of NorCal's back roads. I'm looking forward to it.
(Aside: Even I was surprised that two Priuses found their way into this photo. Lovely Santa Monica...)
Our GT-R is not the only car in the long-term fleet with the now infamous launch control feature. The Audi R8 has it too, and with a 420-horsepower V8 it's equally capable of causing some damage if used too often.
Audi seems well aware of this. In the owners manual it warns, "Accelerating with the launch control program places a heavy load on all parts of the vehicle. This can result in increased wear and tear". Not quite as explicit as Nissan's warnings, but the statement still leaves Audi some wiggle room should a customer come in with a fried clutch after a few thousand miles.
That probably won't happen though. You see, the R8's launch control setup isn't nearly as aggressive as the GT-R's. After just one launch, I got the warning signal shown above. I tried launching it again after letting it cool a little and the computer basically shut me down.
Maybe the GT-R's problem isn't that it has launch control. The problem is that it assumes owners are smart enough to not use it too often. With the R8, Audi assumed the opposite.
Minivans are a lot more popular in Canada (especially the Chrysler models) and so is hockey, so it seemed like the perfect vehicle to take last night to see my Toronto Maple Leafs beat the L.A. Kings. For the last week, I've basically been driving the official vehicle of the Canadian hockey mom (joke, pit bull, lipstick) so it was probably about time I go to a hockey game. The hockey was excellent and the van, well, "It sounds like we're in a covered wagon," my girlfriend said after the continuous creaking and rattling that comes with every road bump, driveway entrance or simple change in momentum.
Now for some house keeping. We've had the DGC since February and 21,611 miles later, we've never updated the fuel economy (there have been other things to comment about). So here it is. It's important to note that the Caravan lived with Dan Pund for a while in the less-congested confines of Detroit and has made quite a few long-distance trips, including his adventure out west.
Overall Fuel Economy: 18.6 mpg
EPA Combined: 20 mpg
Best Tank: 30.8 mpg (137.8 miles on 4.471 gallons of fuel achieved by photog Kurt Niebuhr)
Worst Tank: 9.7 mpg
Furthest Traveled on One Tank: 385.7 miles
Most Fuel Poured into the 20-gallon tank: 18.428 gallons
On a whim, I signed up for an autocrossing school Saturday at California Speedway's Lot 12 in Fontana. And on a whim, I requested our 2002 BMW M3 to experience what's left of the sticky Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 tires we put on in February.
Autocross school is better than a championship for a novice like me, as I probably got 15-16 laps in for the whole day -- about 3 times as many as you'd get in official timed competition. Somewhere during my third lap, I realized I was driving one of the trickier cars out there -- perhaps topped only by a Canadian-built, not-a-kit-car Cobra.
Which is to say that driving a E46 BMW M3 around an autocross course is very, very fun. Any combination of steering and throttle input (and not anything close to full throttle) had the back end coming around. The M3 offers good feedback through the seat and the steering wheel, though, so the slides were easy to predict and catch -- well, most of the time.
I was torn: Part of me wanted to turn some cleaner runs and quicker times, but another, equally impassioned part of me wanted to get the tail out through every corner. In the end, we sort of compromised. My times came down a bit, and I created my own enormously entertaining, hands-on course in car control.
Rarely have I ever had this much time and space to play with a powerful, rear-wheel-drive car. The Stoptech brakes also felt great when I got on them hard. The only casualty of the weekend was the right foglight. It was already missing its protective casing and when it knocked against a cone, the lens cracked. The light still works, but when I noticed it was bouncing out of position on the freeway, I yanked it out.
I am now intrigued by the idea of using an E46 M3 as a hooligan autocross car, a counter to all the WRXs and Miatas out there. Video and photos shot by Loren Wong (SubyTrojan) submitted for your enjoyment.
Here's a post on the GSR which was delayed one week because of technical difficulties. Ignore the mileage.
The distance-to-empty warning is one of the most useful and tempting technologies in any modern vehicle. That is, until it isn't. Here's what the EVO GSR's DTE display looks like when one keeps driving after the display hits 30 miles to go. Notice there's still one bar of fuel remaining on the digital gauge.
Would you park this car in your driveway? I could, happily, as the CTS continues to impress as the perhaps the most well-rounded GM product available in eons. We scooted down to San Diego from L.A. for the Turkey Day holiday, where I managed some real-world feedback regarding one of the CTS's closest competitors.
I was pretty excited to get the Jetta TDI for the long holiday weekend if only for one reason: mileage.
I knew driving 370 miles north to my family's house would be a slog with the Thanksgiving traffic. If I didn't have to stop to gas up with all the hordes of travelers, it would make my journey that much faster.
I wasn't disappointed. I was able to drive the distance on half a tank!
I thought I might be able to do the round trip on one tank. I avoided going out on Black Friday, but my family goes up into the Santa Cruz Mountains on the Saturday after T-Day to get a Christmas tree. The short drive over the hill killed the other half of the tank. It doesn't like mountain climbing.
As long as it's a fairly flat and long freeway, this thing rocks. 475 mixed miles (mostly freeway) on 11.2 gallons is pretty good in my book.
After about a week with the Pontiac G8 GT, I've decided that it's not the kind of "family sedan" I would ever choose to own. Don't get me wrong, I can definitely see its appeal: plenty fast, looks great, roomy back seat.
But there are also a lot things that I don't like, and they outweigh the elements that I do like.
Our long-term Audi R8 is one of the more rewarding vehicles in the long-fleet, but only if you can take full advantage of its combination of luxury and performance. I enjoyed driving the R8 for the past two weeks, but within 24 hours it was clear something was amiss regarding its normally refined ride quality.
At higher speeds a subtle, but consistent, vibration intruded upon the Audi's upscale interior. I figured (and hoped) it was simply a wheel balance isssue. A trip to Stokes Tire in Santa Monica confirmed my suspicions...and more.
Americans by and large prefer a coupe or sedan body style to a hatchback. Though the latter are more practical (easier to load and more capacity) and popular in less image-concerned Europe, our dear citizens equate hatchback with "cheap, entry-level car". Even prestige brands can be dissed -- remember the BMW 318ti and the Mercedes-Benz C230 Kompressor "Sport Coupe"?
Yet to provide the best of both worlds, hatchback functionality with more upscale coupe or sedan styling, a few car makers have disguised hatches quite well. The 2008 Mazda 6 five-door hatchback is a good example.
Fire up its very vocal engine, and our Lancer Evo GSR v-v-vibrates l-l-like c-c-crazy. Kind of like a go-kart. Or a ride-on lawn mower.
The big surprise is that in everyday driving, this trait isn't as annoying as you'd think. It never translates into quite as much fun as the guy in the massage chair shown above seems to be having. Still, at various points, it did feel as if a few very energetic magic hands were doing their thing. M-mmm, n-no m-more k-kinks.
Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor @ 13,266 miles
Our 2009 VW Jetta TDI was on holiday travel duty the past few days. I drove my wife and daughter to visit the in-laws for Thanksgiving, which entailed a round trip from central California to Orange County as well as a side trip to San Diego. Further details about how the Jetta did on the trip, including its fuel mileage for the 700 miles driven, follow after the jump.
After my Thanksgiving misadventure, my driver's license and gas card safely arrived via Fed Ex on Friday, meaning I was good to return home from Phoenix yesterday. Unfortunately, I forgot my cell phone and work computer this time.
No, I'm just kidding (although I did leave the computer at my apartment this morning). So me being an idiot aside, the Grand Caravan proved to be a so-so driving partner. The abundance of space was certainly overkill, but it allowed my mother to give me five boxes of special edition Gingerbread biscotti, six bottles of wine (which I stored boot legger style in the Stow 'n Go hold) and a whole heap of other stuff. Everything was spread about the cabin with no particular effort made for packaging efficiency.
I didn't find the seats particularly comfortable, however, as the backrest is hard and pushes up against my back. It's not as bad as the Dodge Journey, though. The Sirius satellite radio proved to be useful as I could listen to the first quarter of the Colts-Browns game, plus I like its other XM-bolstered channel selections. Unfortunately, I can't stand the touchscreen interface -- most of the same complaints I described in this Wrangler MyGig video apply to the Grand Caravan as well. The button-press issue is also present in the Caravan despite the smoother ride.
The whale of a gas tank also came in handy -- not only saving my hide on Wednesday, but also allowing me to go from Phoenix to L.A. without filling up. I averaged 21.76 mpg on my needlessly too-far journey. I'll post lifetime fuel economy tomorrow.
