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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
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Jun 17, 2023 22:56
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I was in a current gen Malibu recently and was shocked by how much interior room there was. I know cars have gotten bigger, and the last Malibu I was in was made in the late 90s, but drat
Dr. Lunchables fucked around with this message at 14:02 on Sep 3, 2023 |
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Sep 2, 2023 23:40
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CmdrSmirnoff posted:Rented through Thrifty/Hertz (which share a cubicle at the airport) in Quebec City for a long weekend. I had reserved a "Dodge Charger or similar" for the luxury category or whatever it was. When I arrive they tell me I can have a Chrysler 300 or "a Volvo". Chose the Volvo and it ended up being a year old XC60 B6. You know what? It was fine. It's easily the most modern car I've ever driven, so most the gripes I have may not be unique to it but mostly my elder millenial brain hating things like touch screens for everything, a weird gearshift with a separate P button for some reason and a rotary start knob, and the fact that it's an SUV. It was quiet and comfortable and no complaints about the ride quality. The storage space in the rear wasn't as good as I thought it would be but it was fine. The controls were not great, especially having to go through the infotainment system for basics like fan speed, but that is probably just a function of learning its quirks. And much of the infotainment system was fine, especially the built-in Google Maps, though the screen was often wonky when trying to pinch-zoom. The visibility was decent. The steering was numb and floaty. I disliked the powertrain a lot, especially some weirdness when taking my foot off the brake and getting going. I thought it's some wheezy 180hp with DCT and was stunned to learn now that it's apparently 295 and an 8 speed auto. The mind reels. It's entirely possible I'm spoiled by 5 years of Dodge Challenger driving, but it definitely didn't feel remotely that strong. You think it’s the straight six for a power plant?
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Oct 20, 2023 01:14
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