Jan 2, 2008 - Exhausting

One thing I noticed when I was driving other cars recently (Saturn Aura, Honda Civic Hybrid) is that their filters are not as good as the ones in my Volvo XC90.

I keep the climate controls set to recirc all the time because I hate the smell of exhaust and I really hate when the car in front of me is being driven by a smoker and I can smell their cigarette smoke! The Volvo saves me from all of that. It also saves me from having to smell the charred remains of Malibu Canyon during wildfire season. The Saturn and the Honda did not.

After getting a whiff of something, I was often checking to see if the climate controls were set to recirc, and they usually were. Sometimes they were not, however. I hate when cars switch off of recirc automatically! Why do they do this?

Another question: why am I rambling incoherently about vehicle climate control settings?

2:45 pm | Categories: driving, road rage, car buying, hybrid, honda, saturn
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Dec 14, 2007 - My Baby Fits in the 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid

I posted over on the Driving Woman blog about my overnight test drive of the 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid.

Also, my baby is cute, right?

2:45 pm | Categories: driving, car buying, hybrid, honda
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Nov 29, 2007 - 2007 LA Auto Show -- Cool Cars

We had our all-company meeting at the LA Auto Show last week. After the meeting, we were able to wander the floor. I went with a dual purpose. First, I wanted to check out cars that are good on gas mileage with plenty of backseat room for a rear-facing infant car seat, and I also wanted to see a bunch of cool cars. Here are the cool cars.

VW Tiguan
I didn't necessarily think this car was that great, but VW set up a pretty cool display area for it.

This is configurator for the Tiguan. You put the large buttons around the circle to select exterior color, interior trim, wheels, etc. It prints out a glossy photo of your configured vehicle.

This is Inside Line's Sr. Graphic Designer and Edmunds' HTML Manager at the Tiguan configurator.

This is a Tiguan driving game. You steer a car through a course using the seat.

smart fortwo cabriolet
I just love it. I wanted to give it a hug and cuddle with it on the couch.

Honda FCX Clarity
It is a hydrogen fuel cell car, blah, blah, blah. Actually, I was impressed by it, especially by the gorgeous color. You have to live near the hydrogen refueling station in Santa Monica or Torrance in order to be eligible for their lease program next year, so it is of no use to me since I commute to Santa Monica for work.