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CarSpace Driving Miss CrazyAdventures, observations and never short of an automotive opinion. Mar 13, 2008 - 2 Sugars, Hold the pants - Man sans Pants at Drive-Thru
Man Forgets to Wear Pants at Drive-Thru: Careful with that coffee! Police say a man placing an order in a suburban New York doughnut shop's drive-through lane didn't have any pants on.
They say a Dunkin' Donuts worker saw John Greco's exposed genitals in the Feb. 27 stunt and then noted the make of his car and his license plate number... The article goes on with a few more benign details but the reader comments are really where the fun begins. My question - what kind of donuts do you order when driving pant-less through the Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru? Is this really the difference between Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme?
Feb 24, 2008 - That Annoying Honda Gas Tank SloshI have a 2003 Honda Odyssey with the annoying sloshing in the gas tank. Yes, when you back up with a 3/4 tank it's like driving with a giant fish bowl in the back - swish, slosh, swish, slosh. Thank goodness I have screaming kids to drown (pardon the pun) out the noise. Now, I wasn't the first to hear the slosh. Many other Honda owners heard it in their Honda's and you can even find Technical Service Bulletins on the Odyssey and other earlier model year Hondas (Pilots, MDX, etc.). So why 5 years later are Honda owners still experiencing this swish, slosh mosh? Honda Pilot owners and members of the forums are reporting a sloshing sound coming from the gas tank. Apparently, baffles are absent in the gas tank and the gas tank is missing acoustic insulation. Some report having the gas tank replaced and the problem is fixed. The question appears to be why Honda hasn't fixed the problem after so many complaints and so many years?
Feb 11, 2008 - Spring weather brings out all types of driversIn some parts of the country spring is starting to fling meaning Sunday afternoon sun, dry pavement and people ready to shed cabin fever. This past weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area was no different. Stupid Test Drives Dude, buy a toupee, get liposuction or go to the gym if you want to feel/look young and powerful. What's even worse is the stooge salesperson in the seat next to him. Grrr. My only moment of glee was to find the CHP officer staked out behind a cluster of bushes by the exit ramp with the radar gun in hand. For that gesture I'm adding the CHP to my list of donations this year. Thanks CHP! Go Motorcycles! Watch for Bicyclists Oh, yeah - happy spring.
Feb 4, 2008 - Super Bowl stunner was the score and not the commercialsHow wrong I was predicting the outcome of the game. Similar to my stock predictions, run the other way. Sorry Patriot fans, but the Giants gave a great deal of heart in this year's game. While the game didn't lack suspense or surprises, in my opinion the variety of commercials did. There were some funny ads, but for the most part I was geared up for fun and far-reaching creativity found in Super Bowls past. What did you think of the commercials? Watch, vote and comment on the Super Bowl Car Ads. Here was my personal favorite:
Feb 3, 2008 - Super Bowl Sunday - Guacamole, Men in tight pants and car commercial funAt my house, we won't be to interested in the game unless the Giants pull out all the stops and make it interesting. I'm too old to care about men in tight pants as I still remember the Chicago Bears and Refrigerator Perry. My prized guacamole dip will be present - no double-dipping please. That said, I'm watching for the car commercials. Yes, I will sit through the hoopla, confetti, halftime show and more in order to see what the creative agencies have thought of this year. In the line-up will be spots from Cadillac, Audi, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai and perhaps even GMC. CarSpace has compiled the Super Bowl car commercials from years past and present and will be adding to the collection as today's game progresses and concludes. Just in case you have to make a trip to the kitchen or fall asleep during what may be a snoozer of a game, CarSpace will have you covered with the commercial highlights. TiVo past the plays, stop and watch the commercials.
Dec 8, 2007 - Are mild hybrids like low fat cookies?While in the office this week I kept hearing "well, that's not a true hybrid, it's a mild hybrid". I get that the car isn't 100% electric but at what point does a vehicle go from 'mild hybrid' to hybrid? Is it like a low fat cookie v. a fat-free cookie? Well, curiousity got the best of me and I headed into the halls of research to find out. I also headed to the grocery store to see if my cookie analogy held true. I'm happy to say, it did. Mild hybrids are defined as those with an electric motor which provides assistance to the gasoline engine but lacks the power to drive the vehicle on its own. Yes, you save gas because the gasoline engine shuts down when the vehicle stops. No idle vapors straying from your vehicle. The 2008 Saturn Aura Hybrid and 2008 Chevy Malibu Hybrid are in the mild hybrid camp. A full hybrid can run alone on the electric motor for shorter distances, but don't try and top out the speedometer. Yes, the trusty Toyota Prius is what most people think of. What's the difference in fat consumed? Um, make that gasoline consumed?
Wiping the crumbs off of my desk and chugging a glass of skim milk, I'll take the 50 calories in Nabisco's Snackwells Fat-Free Chocolate Devil's Food Cookies over the 2g of fat in Newman's Own Lowfat Fig Newmans (sorry Paul). And while I pine for 8g of fat in the Pepperidge Farms Sausalito Cookie (which if they could ever make fat-free I'd sell the dog's soul for a case), I'd like to keep both my carbon footprint and my buttprint from expanding. If you are looking to count calories and fat grams, check out The Daily Plate. If you are looking for advice on hybrid vehicles, read the 2008 Hybrid Buying Guide as I'm sure you'll find it quite helpful in your quest to understand the different shades of green.
Aug 12, 2007 - Texting while driving
At any rate, let's set aside the reason for the marketing, ummm, survey and get on with some of the interesting results. -66% of drivers who use text messaging admitted to reading while behind the wheel -Men and women are equal opportunity offenders when it comes to texting while driving Talking, texting... oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be driving, that's it! Sorry, I got a bit distracted there.
Aug 1, 2007 - You can't outrun the law, so stop tryingWith all the gadgetry and cameras these days it never ceases to amaze me the amount of stupidity running wild on the streets. From time to time while in Los Angeles I'll wake up in the morning to the 5am news only to see the top story of some idiot taking the police on a wild car chase. Up exit ramps, on ramps, through intersections (thanks for slowing while you make that illegal left) the car speeds, slows and swerves taking at least six patrol cars on a tour. And don't forget the news helicopters overhead. Hey, as long as we're buring gas, might as well burn it on land and air! I certainly don't mean to single out LA, although it does seem since the OJ chase, LA does seem to be the capitol of car chases. Sometimes the chase is over in under 15 minutes. Most of the time it's half-hour or more ordeal. Heck, there's even enough of them to have an entire TV series about car chases (advertisers and producers should be ashamed). And for what purpose? To try and get away? Ummm, the law of averages would tell the offender that they won't get away. Then again, we are talking about individuals with less than average intelligence. Albeit, at some point you have to think that they've seen the Slow-OJ chase and the countless they simply don't learn. There have been numerous debates around the country as to how the police should handle these situations. Persue and endanger more people? Let the perp go? Radio tag team and cut 'em off at the pass? Other tactics such as spike strips? I'm for what is most effective in catching the offender with the least danger to the public. Sometimes this isn't possible and endangering some (listen for the sirens) while in pursuit is better than the criminal continuing to drive recklessly until crashing and injuring or killing others including law enforcement officers. There are too many sad parts about these situations. The obvious is the gut-wrenching loss of life by those who are in the line of duty. It saddened me to hear yesterday that a CHP officer was killed in a high-speed chase in the Sacramento area after he put out a spike strip and the driver swerved to avoid it, hitting the officer who sustained fatal injuries. I don't know what the driver will ultimately be charged with but I would hope it's the max the law will allow and even then it likely won't be enough.
Jul 23, 2007 - Top Gear Visits the American Deep SouthNot only is this video scary, it's downright shocking and yet sadly amusing.
Jul 19, 2007 - 2007 Toyota RAV4 Review
My initial impressions when picking up the RAV4 - nice looking, not too big, not too small. I have a rental, so it's white (eh, ok) but in our travels we did see many RAV4's on the road in various colors which are very attractive. The overall exterior styling is nice with clean lines, nothing fancy or too curvy. For around-town driving the RAV4 is very comfortable, easy to park and provides all the needed hooks, nooks and crannies for picking up dry cleaning and groceries. I easily fit two booster car seats in the second row and measured whether or not a third, standard 5-point car seat would also fit in the center (the boosters need to be on the sides for the over-the-shoulder seat belts). Installing the carseat in the middle would have been really tight. I did note that while installing the boosters there was plenty of rear legroom and thought the front seats must have been pushed all the way forward - they were not. If you have tall kids or need a bit more rear legroom than normally found in other vehicles, you might want to look at the RAV4.
As for the interior appointments on the RAV4 (I was driving the base model, cloth interiors), I found the seats to be comfortable. They could use a bit more cushioning but more for the "lush" factor than anything else. The dash is clean but the steering wheel feels a little small and toy-like. The climate control buttons are a bit "chunky". I don't like the charger directly in front of the cupholders though as if you have something plugged in you can't put a drink in the passenger side cup holder of the console. I also don't like mirror controls in the center column...more buttons for kids and teens to play with. These are best on the driver's side door. Nothing about the interior had the "wow" factor going for me, but it wasn'tlow-quality, just sparse. The stereo was average and the AUX jack and charger in the console storage area is very nice. You can plug-in your iPod and charge all at the same time. My miscellaneous gripes include door not having that "thud" so you know the door closed. I had to keep checking if the door was indeed shut. Annoying but I'm sure I'd get used to it. The doors are solid and quite heavy - particularly the rear hatch. Other than that, the only other nit was the side mirror controls set in the center console rather than the driver's door. Never give a passenger access to the controls only the driver should have.
MPG - how are we doing? Well, not that great. According to the specs we should get 22mpg city/29mpg highway. We certainly aren't loaded down and we've yet to crack 25mpg. For the entire trip our tank fill-ups kept us at 23.47 - 24.6mpg. On that front, I'm not impressed. Performance - we have the base model so I'll have to assume that some of what our Editor's liked in their 2007 Toyota RAV4 review was on a more well-appointed model. It did have a little bite off the line, but nothing that would make me feel sporty. Overall they scored it an 8 out of 10. Consumers ratings at the time of publishing this entry had scored it an 8.9. Both are fair from my driving perspective.
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