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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD
Jul 7, 2012

The body shop burned the starter on my E92 so they were nice enough to replace it for me and gave me a loaner. It's a second-gen KIA Soul.

From the moment I saw this not-a-hatchback, not-a-crossover roll up in baby-poop green I was prepared to hate it. But you know what, I don't. Actually, I've grown to like it a bit. The steering is not bad at all and you can even throw it around a little.

The biggest problem I'm having with it is that you have to absolutely stand on the brakes to get it to stop. Not sure if that's an issue with this particular, ~90k mile example (probably.) Also, I wish the interior were a bit less chintzy.

I wouldn't buy one for myself, but I can see this making sense for a lot of people.

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Head Bee Guy
Jun 12, 2011

Retarded for Busting
Grimey Drawer
If rail strikes continue in the UK, i’ll probably end up renting a car to get from Edinburgh to London. I haven’t driven anything in the UK spec: how do VW polos, audi a1, bmw 1 series, and whatever cheap vauxhall compare?

Polo the same as a US spec golf? An A1 is just a tarted up polo?

KozmoNaut
Apr 23, 2008

Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle


The Polo is one size smaller than a Golf, but pretty similar in general feel. The A1 is a tarted up Polo. The Seat Ibiza is basically a Polo.

The BMW 1-series is FWD now, so basically equal to the Audi A1 or MB A-class.

The Vauxhall Corsa is more or less a Peugeot 208, both are fine but the 75hp version is slow. Same goes for the Citroën C3.

Hyundai i20/Kia Rio is pretty solid if you get the 118hp turbo 3-cylinder.

You'll get plain A/C (climate control if you're lucky) and parking sensors and lane departure warnings and Bluetooth and all that jazz on all of them. Likely CarPlay/Android Auto. Probably plain cruise control instead of adaptive. Obviously manual transmission unless you specifically ask for an automatic.

KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 15:01 on May 30, 2023

knox_harrington
Feb 18, 2011

Running no point.

Edinburgh to London is a fair way so rather than paying extra for a 1-series or whatever, get an Octavia and have a nicer journey.

PT6A
Jan 5, 2006

Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane
Great news: the Dacia Sandero is available in the UK!

Seriously, consider renting one just for the meme.

slothrop
Dec 7, 2006

Santa Alpha, Fox One... Gifts Incoming ~~~>===|>

Soiled Meat

PT6A posted:

Great news: the Dacia Sandero is available in the UK!

Seriously, consider renting one just for the meme.



I had one in Greece a few years ago, it was fine, arguably better than what I have been dealing with for the past two weeks...

Sadly some jabroni t-boned my daily driver (2016 Mazda3) and I've been given this discourtesy car in the meantime

The 2022 Kia Stomach Stool Stonic


Don't let the lack of a reference vehicles fool you, at 1200kg and 1.5m high this is a small hatchback. It is sold as an SUV. Yep.

Ways in which this is an improvement over a 20 year old base model Corolla: The Stonic has electric windows.

The cruise control is so average I didn't bother using it.
While the Stonic has Wireless Carplay, it disconnects every time I drive in or out of my garage, and at random. Some of the time it reconnects, some of the time it won't until the car has been off for 30 minutes+.
The boot is deep, but also tiny. You could put something heavy in there, but not something big. Now you have to bend down and gently caress your back to get the heavy thing out.
There is an automated lane keeping feature, where it actively fights your steering inputs and beeps at you when you're driving across intersections. You have to turn it off every time you use the car.
The brakes are actuated by an on/off switch.
The throttle appears to be from an old timey steamboat, where you move the lever to "Full Steam Ahead" and eventually the engine room gets the boiler stoked enough to make heaps of a noise and not much else

Probably the most impressive feature was that the 1.4l engine in the Stonic returns similar fuel economy to my 2.5l Mazda, despite making a little over half the power.

You can buy one here in Australia with slighly higher odometer reading than my rental for $25,990. Which also happens to be the MSRP for this car.

Save your money, buy a 20 year old Corolla with an aftermarket headunit.

The Kia Stool: It's a real piece of poo poo

slothrop fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Jun 11, 2023

PT6A
Jan 5, 2006

Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

slothrop posted:



I had one in Greece a few years ago, it was fine, arguably better than what I have been dealing with for the past two weeks...

Sadly some jabroni t-boned my daily driver (2016 Mazda3) and I've been given this discourtesy car in the meantime

The 2022 Kia Stomach Stool Stonic


Don't let the lack of a reference vehicles fool you, at 1200kg and 1.5m high this is a small hatchback. It is sold as an SUV. Yep.

Ways in which this is an improvement over a 20 year old base model Corolla: The Stonic has electric windows.

The cruise control is so average I didn't bother using it.
While the Stonic has Wireless Carplay, it disconnects every time I drive in or out of my garage, and at random. Some of the time it reconnects, some of the time it won't until the car has been off for 30 minutes+.
The boot is deep, but also tiny. You could put something heavy in there, but not something big. Now you have to bend down and gently caress your back to get the heavy thing out.
There is an automated lane keeping feature, where it actively fights your steering inputs and beeps at you when you're driving across intersections. You have to turn it off every time you use the car.
The brakes are actuated by an on/off switch.
The throttle appears to be from an old timey steamboat, where you move the lever to "Full Steam Ahead" and eventually the engine room gets the boiler stoked enough to make heaps of a noise and not much else

Probably the most impressive feature was that the 1.4l engine in the Stonic returns similar fuel economy to my 2.5l Mazda, despite making a little over half the power.

You can buy one here in Australia with slighly higher odometer reading than my rental for $25,990. Which also happens to be the MSRP for this car.

Save your money, buy a 20 year old Corolla with an aftermarket headunit.

The Kia Stool: It's a real piece if poo poo


There's something about the poverty-spec Korean CUVs that make them just the absolute worst. I know Hyundai and Kia can make cars which aren't awful, which makes this Discourtesy Car (excellent phrase, full marks) issue quite baffling. They seem to be very tempting to use as courtesy cars and rentals, when they are indeed worse in every possible way than a simple hatchback. Slower, worse for economy, depressing to sit in, handles like rear end, transmission is a gently caress.

Nidhg00670000
Mar 26, 2010

We're in the pipe, five by five.
Grimey Drawer

KozmoNaut posted:

Hyundai i20/Kia Rio is pretty solid if you get the 118hp turbo 3-cylinder.

Engine-wise the 118hp might be the play, but good lord I avoid the smaller Kias and Hyundais in general if I can (everything up to and including the i30), the cabin noise is so bad compared to most other cars in their respective class.

slothrop
Dec 7, 2006

Santa Alpha, Fox One... Gifts Incoming ~~~>===|>

Soiled Meat

PT6A posted:

There's something about the poverty-spec Korean CUVs that make them just the absolute worst. I know Hyundai and Kia can make cars which aren't awful, which makes this Discourtesy Car (excellent phrase, full marks) issue quite baffling. They seem to be very tempting to use as courtesy cars and rentals, when they are indeed worse in every possible way than a simple hatchback. Slower, worse for economy, depressing to sit in, handles like rear end, transmission is a gently caress.

Yeah it's a bit odd, I was driving my bosses Sportage (2018?) the day I picked the Stonic up. Admittedly the Sportage is the top spec compared to the fleet special Stonic, but it felt like it came from a whole different manafacturer. The diesel being super noisy was my only real complaint about the Sportage, everything else was on par with what I expect from a modern car.

Cached Money
Apr 11, 2010

Not exactly a rental but I have my mom's Golf Mk8 for the week and it's great. 110 hp eTSI engine, 7 speed DSG. Good acceleration for such a small engine. The transmission is great, shifts smoothly when you want to, doesn't hunt for gears. It gets very good mileage, averages around 5 liters/100 km or less. It has all the good features you want in base spec (no added options). Heated seats, heated steering wheel, power windows, keyless ignition, wireless charger for your phone, carplay, etc. Good headlights as well.

Arson Daily
Aug 11, 2003

Got a ride in a Tesla for the first time the other day. Hotel had it for their airport pick up vehicle which is odd. Anyway, lots of road and wind noise, boring af interior and the footwell was nearly vertical in the front seat. Very uncomfortable.

Head Bee Guy
Jun 12, 2011

Retarded for Busting
Grimey Drawer
Picked up a VW “T-Roc” (a lifted golf with black plastic fender covers) from Avis at a small italian airport last night. Not my choice, but Sixt gave away my beamer and there wasn’t much left besides an Italian Jeep renegade or Fiat Panda.

Comfy seats, good visibility, wireless car play, and only 11k km on the odo. So i was surprised when the clutch totally failed on a no-name back road 30 miles into my trip. No grinding, no smells, no codes, just a complete inability to spin the drivetrain midway down a mountain.

About five hours later, a tow truck came and replaced it with a Seat Aroma. It is, technically speaking, a car. Nothing more.

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

by Fluffdaddy
Should've taken the Panda :colbert:

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



I’m at my brother in laws to meet my new nephew and rented a car via Sixt, some Nissan of shameful proportions. We got a message mid-flight that our car wasn’t available, would we like to upgrade to a BMW M5? For $250 extra a day? Yes but no.

So we went to the rental desk and they did have our crappy Nissan, but they also had an ecoboost Mustang convertible for an extra $47 a day. (Somehow not available as an upgrade on their website.)




We got the mustang. First of this generation I’ve driven, and the only manual of its type in my history.

Dude, this thing rocks. It’s the perfect rental car: good MPG on the highway, enough power to pass, pretty good driving dynamics and steering.



The tried and true 2.3L Ecoboost, pushing 310 horsies and 350 pounds-feeties. It certainly doesn’t feel underpowered, but there is a point in a corner where the suspension is loaded up that you can tell the chassis is really designed around the Coyote, and the Ecoboost is an acceptable compromise.

Because it’s a rental it’s auto only, but I’ve kept it in Sport+ mode almost exclusively. It holds the lower gears into about 5k pretty well, and is relatively responsive with the paddles. I did find out that it will allow you to run firmly into the redline in first and second (don’t tell the rental car company.) When you’re in manual mode, it won’t auto-shift on you unless you force it to, though Sport+ overrides that. It was a nice option and implemented well.

That said, there are some downsides. The stupid fake engine noise piped in through the speakers is clearly not natural, and it full drowns out the sound of turbo spools and blowoff valve noises. I drive a Fiesta ST, so I was really looking forward to hearing this stuff in a bigger engine. Come on Ford, you’re only fooling folks for a second. Let me hear the real engine you put in!

It’s also pretty clear that a V8 would be the ideal engine. The car is 3700 pounds, which is not light.

310 hp is pretty good, and the torque is better, but this is a big car by any realistic measure. It kinda needs more.

The convertible option adds a ton of weight too, though it kicks rear end to have as an option. It adds a bunch of visibility when the top is down. Hopefully the fastback hardtop has better visibility than with the top up.

This must be a Premium, because it’s got heated and cooled seats, with all the silly plane-style toggle switches. Gotta say it’s a really nice option to have cooled seats in a convertible.


All the android auto/carplay stuff works fine, but the placement is kinda crappy. It’s a little too low in the console, and the screen is partially blocked by my hand when using the paddle shifters. That said, Ford is pretty good with their Sync3 system, and it just works all the time. None of the climate or radio stuff is locked behind touch screens.

Because it’s a rental, nobody ever puts any gas in above 87 octane. When I fill this up, I’m probably gonna put in a little E85 and top the rest with 93, see what the ECU can do with more juice.

Bonus: an actual spare tire! And real trunk space in a convertible!



All said I’m pretty impressed. Worth the extra cash to upgrade, no question.

2022 Mustang Ecoboost Convertible: 4/5

davecrazy
Nov 25, 2004

I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.
Drove a brand new FIAT Panda down the Autostrade from Rome to Molise.

‘Underpowered piece of poo poo’ would be my top line review. It’s the “mild hybrid” one with the 3 cylinder and while it’s fine getting around city streets it was dogshit climbing the mountains of south central Italy.

Road noise is awful. The AC is weak.

The 6 speed manual is easy enough to drive.

davecrazy fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Jul 8, 2023

SlowBloke
Aug 14, 2017

davecrazy posted:

Drove a brand new FIAT Panda down the Autostrade from Rome to Molise.

‘Underpowered piece of poo poo’ would be my top line review. It’s the “mild hybrid” one with the 3 cylinder and while it’s fine getting around city streets it was dogshit climbing the mountains of south central Italy.

Road noise is awful. The AC is weak.

The 6 speed manual is easy enough to drive.

Not to sound like a Panda defender but it's a car for short range trips, not a tourer. The engine can barely reach highway speeds, which means being flat out for long period of time with decreased cabin comfort. You should have asked for a 500l or 500x equivalent if you planned a similar trip.

davecrazy
Nov 25, 2004

I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.
I was supposed to have an opel van that could fit 6 but suprise suprise at the counter:

Guseppi, dove l'auto per la famiglia?

grosso problema, l'auto e a Scilly!

So I had to take what they could give us. Which was two Pandas. Thank god my wife can drive a manual.

Tomorrow I have to drive 5 hours from Molise to Florence!

SlowBloke
Aug 14, 2017

davecrazy posted:

I was supposed to have an opel van that could fit 6 but suprise suprise at the counter:

Guseppi, dove l'auto per la famiglia?

grosso problema, l'auto e a Scilly!

So I had to take what they could give us. Which was two Pandas. Thank god my wife can drive a manual.

Tomorrow I have to drive 5 hours from Molise to Florence!

Are you sure you couldn't ask for a replacement at another dealer site? It's going to ruin your vacation to do similar stints in two tiny econoboxes.

If you want to explain to the locals the sentence you need to use " Devo fare centinaia di chilometri in autostrada, queste Panda non vanno bene, le ho accettate per necessità ma la mia prenotazione era per un veicolo di classe superiore".

knox_harrington
Feb 18, 2011

Running no point.

https://www.deepl.com for translating stuff

davecrazy
Nov 25, 2004

I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.
I have family here (that’s why we’re off the beaten tourist path) and a 2 year old toddlers command of the language.

KozmoNaut
Apr 23, 2008

Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle


SlowBloke posted:

Not to sound like a Panda defender but it's a car for short range trips, not a tourer. The engine can barely reach highway speeds, which means being flat out for long period of time with decreased cabin comfort. You should have asked for a 500l or 500x equivalent if you planned a similar trip.

I did 500km each way in my Panda for vacation. Three adults, two dogs and luggage for two weeks, no problem.

On the way back we added a cat in his transport cage, plus his scratching post and cat food etc.

We did that multiple times (although not bringing back a cat every time). Small cars are fine.

E: but the trick about giving you two small cars instead of a big one is a lovely move, that's not ok.

KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 11:43 on Jul 9, 2023

SlowBloke
Aug 14, 2017

KozmoNaut posted:

I did 500km each way in my Panda for vacation. Three adults, two dogs and luggage for two weeks, no problem.

On the way back we added a cat in his transport cage, plus his scratching post and cat food etc.

We did that multiple times (although not bringing back a cat every time). Small cars are fine.

E: but the trick about giving you two small cars instead of a big one is a lovely move, that's not ok.

The current hybrid panda has less grunt than the older non hybrid panda, it will be redlining at 140-150kmh. It's a bad play for highway usage, if was just spirited city-superstrada usage it would be fine. The aircon not working is a red flag for a beaten up unit, so i would also think about replacing those two if the vacation lasts more than four days. The sole redeeming feature of that trade is ease of park and historic city access, a opel combo is far more cumbersome.

RestingB1tchFace
Jul 4, 2016

Opinions are like a$$holes....everyone has one....but mines the best!!!
Second time since I bought my Nautilus three years ago that the dealership has loaned me a brand new vehicle (less than 100 miles) while my car is in for service. Is that normal?

KYOON GRIFFEY JR
Apr 12, 2010



Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22
Yeah, for premium brands you’ll get a loaner a lot of the time and that’s usually a fairly new car. Premium brand loaners go directly in to the loaner fleet from delivery so they start fairly close to zero miles.

ExecuDork
Feb 25, 2007

We might be fucked, sir.
Fallen Rib
I assume stock turnover at rental agencies is pretty high pretty much everywhere. Cars get bought and sold, or removed from service due to damage or insurance issues or something, and the end result is a reasonably high probability that the next person to reserve a car gets the one that still has blue plastic covering the shiny bits. Rental companies depend heavily on their reputations, and it's not (I assume) worth the risk to send out cars that are at higher risk of problems. Obviously, problems with rental cars are still very much A Thing (this thread has a few fun examples), but the companies are presumably churning their stock pretty quickly. Premium brands especially so, but I've been the first rental driver of at least two cars, neither one really "premium" - a Ford F150 in Canada and a forgettable oversize hatchback from, maybe, Mazda? Nissan? Honda? in Austria.

The F150 replaced the broken Dodge Ram for fieldwork in 2016; the Ram showed up with blue plastic covering most of the chrome pieces (it had A LOT of silly chrome) but from the odometer we were probably the second renters of that thing.

Zero One
Dec 30, 2004

HAIL TO THE VICTORS!
Once while getting work done on my Ford Fusion, the dealer loaner was a new F-150. The next time they gave me an Ecosport.

davecrazy
Nov 25, 2004

I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.
Went from Rome to Bojiano to Viareggio to Florence to Venice in the Panda. It threw a check engine light when I badly missed a downshift going 120, but it drove fine and and the code cleared on its own a few days later.

Florence to Venice was the best drive since it was last taxing on the car. There was awful traffic on A1 so took a much more senic route through the mountains up to Bologna then hopped on A13 the rest of the way.

Next time I’m going to insist on some thing better, but once they hosed me out of the Opel van I was just happy to have something to drive.

Driving in Italy is a joy, just wish I had a better car this time.

I’ve been thinking about getting a commuter for home now that I’m back in the office. I might see if I can snap up a cheap Fiat 500.

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


Rented a Hyundai Elantra for my drive back to Calgary after my car died outside Regina and I was really surprised at how well it drove and its fit. Complaints were it being so low to the ground it was hard to get out of (especially for my partner with mobility issues) and the seats were set so far inside away from the doors she had to struggle a bit.

In town I rented a Chevy Equinox, and it was alright if uninspiring. Certainly seems the US makers are upping their game in recent years and we were in the market for a CUV but renting it helped rule it out as an option. Bit tall off the ground so it made it difficult for her to get into and out of.

morothar
Dec 21, 2005

New Prius, some kind of poverty spec with cloth seats and no lumbar?

It was, just as I feared, pretty loving good. Fast enough, comfortable enough, big enough, 500 mile range, stop-and-go ACC, I can keep going.

It was even a tiny bit fun…:ohdear:

You need a car? Go buy a New Prius

Fuller9x
Feb 15, 2005

Gimme Milk
There are very few times a goon can hold it over Mrs. goon, but Stellantis and the Fiat 500 DolceVita are one of the rare times.

After being upgraded in Scotland to a full size pickup and running into the psycho tooling around the Moore's in a Unimog, Mrs. Fuller has been on about city cars for island hopping.

So enter Madeira, the Hawaii of Europe. MRS. Fuller is concerned that we want the city car for the narrow roads, I want the most powerful thing they have in the catalog, we compromise and go for the small city car and declining the complimentary upgrade to a Renault Clio, we got aboard our delightful spiteful Fiat 500 to live La Dolce Vita with Hybrid.

Powered by a 900cc three cylinder Geriatric Asthmatic Squirrel (GAS) engine producing a whopping 60HP. The Italians, as always wanting to be unique, Combined this engine with an electric assist motor that rather sit between the engine and gearbox or on the drivetrain, instead sits and drives the accessory belt. A unique interpretation that allows one pedal driving even in 6th gear down a hill. Putting out 11KW, it will assist you for all of 100m before the battery is depleted and you are left watching all the trucks you passed, pass you again while gesturing that you are holding them up. After all that work getting to the 90km/h speed limit, it suddenly turns into a prolonged braking session as you try to coast Regen down a hill so that you have those precious few seconds of assist before resorting to 3rd or 2nd gear to get you to the crest of the next hill.

Not one to shy away, Mrs. Fuller is hiding under the dash in shame as this all unfolds. Being that person that now has to climb a hill in second at 40Km/H because that's all it has is certainly a reset to the ole manhood. No blasting past caravans or trucks grumbling as they block your path, this week we are the blocker.

Then the Dolce Vita, where the white interior and white fabric shows us the finest German and Dutch rear end stains that have come before us. We too can add to that patina since the choice is A/C and holding up the locals or turning our fabrics of choice that day into a liquid mix of bodily fluids and being able to not hold traffic up.

So Stellantis, you have a few gems in the catalog, this is a mass produced rental turd that you happily shove on rental agencies and tourists, but to you, Thank You. There are not many times a man can say he was right, and the wife is wrong, but this, this right here is an argument winner. I can rent the penis extensions and no longer have to justify why.







trevorreznik
Apr 22, 2023
Drove a 2023 GMC Sierra around high deserts in north central New Mexico last weekend. Rode with 2 friends, and another 2 friends in a lifted TRD Tacoma.

GMC thoughts: gigantic. We weren't in towns very often but when we were it didn't fit well with all the Spanish era roads and buildings. I finally learned to use all of the cameras after I actually needed to , and appreciated that it had corner cameras, front and back, the works.
I also liked that the front and back both had both types of USB plugins - standard and the C prong.
I couldn't figure out adaptive cruise at any point but pretty much everything else worked well. It did freak me out when I was going fast up to a light to turn and a red flashing light popped up on the windshield as well as a seat rumble.

Ventilation in the back left a lot to be desired, even with direct vents.

As for driving it : plenty of power. Too much, actually, for the dirt roads we were on, since it had highway tires. One friend didn't understand not to gun it when we were off the road and climbing back on and got a ton of wheelspin.
Also, for its height, the nose went way down so hard to get over some obstacles.

And yes, the bed was stupidly high up and a pain to load and unload.

But it was a ton more comfy in the back seat than the Tacoma, especially compared to when we put 5 dudes in the Taco. Even the back seat had good lumbar which was incredibly appreciated.

Gas mileage was surprisingly good as well. If youre going to be on a trip with 3+ adults, a bunch of gear, and mild off road, this is hard to beat. Although we did see a Camry handling the same roads as us (the harder ones got landslided out)

trevorreznik fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Aug 4, 2023

Arson Daily
Aug 11, 2003

Going to the Midwest at the end of august to visit 2 sets of parents. Can't wait to see what junk Dollar puts me in!

morothar
Dec 21, 2005

Arson Daily posted:

Going to the Midwest at the end of august to visit 2 sets of parents. Can't wait to see what junk Dollar puts me in!

If you’re flying into Detroit, the National selection can be outstanding. I’ve had a GR86, A4 with 80 miles, any number of CX-9s, V8 Challengers that were loud enough to wake the first 5 floors of the hotel I was staying in, and more!

KYOON GRIFFEY JR
Apr 12, 2010



Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

morothar posted:

If you’re flying into Detroit, the National selection can be outstanding. I’ve had a GR86, A4 with 80 miles, any number of CX-9s, V8 Challengers that were loud enough to wake the first 5 floors of the hotel I was staying in, and more!

it can also be a sea of pacificas

Salami Surgeon
Jan 21, 2001

Don't close. Don't close.


Nap Ghost
I don't think I've ever been to Detroit and not gotten a Dodge or Chrysler minivan

PT6A
Jan 5, 2006

Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

morothar posted:

If you’re flying into Detroit, the National selection can be outstanding. I’ve had a GR86, A4 with 80 miles, any number of CX-9s, V8 Challengers that were loud enough to wake the first 5 floors of the hotel I was staying in, and more!

The frustrating thing is that I know, in my heart of hearts, every one of these cars would be the absolute worst versions of themselves. Why can I get a horrid spec of an Audi, but never a GTI? God knows it can't be loving cost!

Jean-Paul Shartre
Jan 16, 2015

this sentence no verb


Because you can charge whichever letter is "luxury" category rates for an Audi but not a VW.

morothar
Dec 21, 2005

PT6A posted:

The frustrating thing is that I know, in my heart of hearts, every one of these cars would be the absolute worst versions of themselves. Why can I get a horrid spec of an Audi, but never a GTI? God knows it can't be loving cost!

All of the cars I mentioned were just standing on the National lot. The A4 was just a regular-rear end premium trim, but no poverty spec. The CX-9s were Grand Touring or Signature, and the standard Challenger neither comes with a V8, nor do people complain that you woke them up pulling out of the lot.

The worst spec was probably the GR86, because automatic.

And yeah, you can face a sea of Pacificas / V6 Chargers + Challengers, but there was always something interesting on the lot in the 4 months or so that I had to fly into DTW weekly.

Enterprise on the other hand, not so much. There they give you a hateful shitbox and tell you how lucky you should feel they didn’t pick something even worse.

Wrar
Sep 9, 2002


Soiled Meat
2022/3? Toyota Tacoma V6 4x4 TRD (Not pro)

Interior:
Adequate. Decent storage, plus tons of cupholders. Decently laid out. Seats are pretty similar to my Focus ST1 cloth seats, but have power for the driver. Large enough inside to fit my 5'11 spouse and my 6'3 self with one 4' child behind the driver and a rear facing car seat behind the passenger. Infotainment was fine. Android Auto worked nicely, the sound quality wasn't irritating. I didn't push the system to loud as there were small children in the car. It might fall apart past half-volume.


Exterior:
It's a truck. The hood is too tall and you can't easily place where it ends. It just sorta disappears. Visibility is decent otherwise. Ingress was fine for my spouse and I but my 4' 6 yo had to climb in and out of it. Why do short people buy these things? At least the bed was at a reasonable height compared to the shitshow of the American fullsized lineups. Again, if you were shorter, it would have been less pleasant.

Powertrain, Chassis, Controls:
The GR is a good motor that sounds terrible in this application. Toyota did not give an iota of a gently caress about audio for this thing. It has more than adequate power but get hosed if you want to ask for it. The throttle pedal is as heavy as a GD WRX clutch, and in Drive the transmission is a recalcitrant piece of poo poo. You push in and eventually it decides to move forward. Eventually the loving thing will kick down, but it doesn't want to unless you insist on it. In Sport the transmission is better and will shift, but the throttle is still lazy and the pedal makes it a pain in the rear end.

The brakes were almost unpredictable. I have 3 cars from 3 different manufacturers I drive on a regular basis and this Tacoma was the only thing I've driven in several years that I couldn't stop smoothly with, and neither could my spouse.

I'm not sure if the shocks were just completely beat to poo poo after 26k (probably, it is a rental) but the body control was very odd. The rear axle felt disconnected. It didn't do a great job on the big bumps, and some of the small stuff still came through. I expected more of the small stuff to be soaked but that was mostly mitigated with the tires, the front end felt more vague than my Chevy Express.

Driving home in my Outback 3.6R 5EAT was like getting into a razor sharp Porsche with a PDK.

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marcopolo
Oct 24, 2010

Wrar posted:

2022/3? Toyota Tacoma V6 4x4 TRD (Not pro)

Interior:
Adequate. Decent storage, plus tons of cupholders. Decently laid out. Seats are pretty similar to my Focus ST1 cloth seats, but have power for the driver. Large enough inside to fit my 5'11 spouse and my 6'3 self with one 4' child behind the driver and a rear facing car seat behind the passenger. Infotainment was fine. Android Auto worked nicely, the sound quality wasn't irritating. I didn't push the system to loud as there were small children in the car. It might fall apart past half-volume.


Exterior:
It's a truck. The hood is too tall and you can't easily place where it ends. It just sorta disappears. Visibility is decent otherwise. Ingress was fine for my spouse and I but my 4' 6 yo had to climb in and out of it. Why do short people buy these things? At least the bed was at a reasonable height compared to the shitshow of the American fullsized lineups. Again, if you were shorter, it would have been less pleasant.

Powertrain, Chassis, Controls:
The GR is a good motor that sounds terrible in this application. Toyota did not give an iota of a gently caress about audio for this thing. It has more than adequate power but get hosed if you want to ask for it. The throttle pedal is as heavy as a GD WRX clutch, and in Drive the transmission is a recalcitrant piece of poo poo. You push in and eventually it decides to move forward. Eventually the loving thing will kick down, but it doesn't want to unless you insist on it. In Sport the transmission is better and will shift, but the throttle is still lazy and the pedal makes it a pain in the rear end.

The brakes were almost unpredictable. I have 3 cars from 3 different manufacturers I drive on a regular basis and this Tacoma was the only thing I've driven in several years that I couldn't stop smoothly with, and neither could my spouse.

I'm not sure if the shocks were just completely beat to poo poo after 26k (probably, it is a rental) but the body control was very odd. The rear axle felt disconnected. It didn't do a great job on the big bumps, and some of the small stuff still came through. I expected more of the small stuff to be soaked but that was mostly mitigated with the tires, the front end felt more vague than my Chevy Express.

Driving home in my Outback 3.6R 5EAT was like getting into a razor sharp Porsche with a PDK.

If this was Denver then I drove that exact same truck in April.

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