It's been over eight months since the Buick Enclave first pulled into our garage. Since then, it's racked up over 20,000 miles on its odometer and at least a couple of glowing blog posts; we can safely say that the [...]
With gas prices the way they are, you would think we'd appreciate anything that would seemingly help one achieve more fuel efficiency. And we would, if it made sense.
Our Focus has an instantaneous fuel economy indicator, as some other cars, such as various BMW's, do. In short, these things [...]
R tronic. Even the name is awkward. After four days and several hundred miles, I've got mixed feelings about Audi's automated manual gearbox.
After experiencing it in every driving environment one can enjoy in L.A., I'm aware of how much latitude a manual transmission allows those willing to tolerate a [...]
Our Long Term Cadillac CTS is well worth the $46,000 as equipped sticker price. It's fun to drive, has plenty of cool gadgets not to mention it is a really attractive car. Looks aren't everything but I can't stand having something that everyone else has, that's why I like the [...]
I like to drive, to shift, to go fast, to take the curves. Pure and simple. And nothing suits that need like a cabin that speaks directly to the driver, without a lot of extraneous crap: lots of badly designed buttons, switches, nonsense. And the [...]
After driving the long-term 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 for a few days I looked down and saw the check engine light next to the gas gauge. My first thought (as always when I see this light) was, "Hmm, I hope it's nothing serious." So I drove with a notably lighter foot until I [...]
Here's an observation I had in our long-term 2002 BMW M3 over the weekend.
The fan delivers air to the cabin with a peculiar whooOOSH.... whooOOOSH... whooshwhooshwhoosh... whooOOSH sound that is especially prominent in the first 5 mins after the car is started.
Anecdotally, the climate control system in my [...]
I've been fortunate enough to be driving our G8 GT for almost two weeks now. And I've been wondering: If I were in the market for a midsize or family sedan for about $30,000, would I buy a G8?
The car enthusiast part [...]
After reading the blog comments about the 2008 Smart Fortwo's track testing I realized that if you say anything good about our Smart you better run for cover.
So, just to establish my masculinity right up front I'll weigh in first with a typical jab of the Smart: [...]
Edmunds road tests are now using real-world applications for measuring cargo space. Whereas one can write that a car has 14.5 cubic feet of trunk space, some find it better to say "You can easily fit two golf bags and an overnight bag in the [...]
I recently read a study about why people find certain things (and other people) attractive - buildings, art, or the opposite sex symmetry is the key. That could explain why some aren't loving the 135's looks. From some angles it does appear like they took the greenhouse from a larger [...]
Rear-view cameras are becoming more common in cars in general, but particularly in family vehicles. Not too surprisingly, some of them suck. Sometimes they distort the rear view so that you can't really determine your proximity to an object. Defeats the whole point, don't you think? Other times the picture [...]
The Hyundai Veracruz seems like a forgotten player in the large-ish crossover game. This isn't surprising given its badge and that it has to contend with the excellent Mazda CX-9 and three excellent triplets from GM (with a quadruplet [...]
Upon arriving home from work today I was greeted by my wife's grade-school chum and her two daughters. They were hungry. "Let's go the the pub," my wife suggested.
No, the pub in question was not the Winchester, and we were not being persued by suburban zombies (not that [...]
As the above photo illustrates, the driver seat of our long-term 2007 Saturn Aura XR is a fairly nice place to be. We have the optional $800 premium package, which provides leather seats, leather on the shift knob and other pleasantness. I like the clear, [...]
Like many BMWs, our 2008 BMW 135i emits brake dust--a lot of brake dust. At least the open 5-spoke wheels are easy to clean. And these brakes squeal a bit when I gently apply them at 30 mph or so in creep-along freeway traffic.
Do I care? Not much.
They [...]
Temperatures in Southern California this weekend were in the 90s and 100s. Hooooowee, thats hot! Not the best time of year to grab the keys to the big greenhoused long-term Kia Rondo, it turns out. I confirmed that that big [...]
After leaving the street fair in the BMW X5 on Sunday, my daughter asked, "Momma, what's this?"
Glancing up in the rearview mirror, I realized she was holding a piece of the X5 in her hot, little hand.
"I didn't do it," she said. "It was already on the floor."
Sure, I [...]
Our long-term 2008 Pontiac G8 GT is fully equipped. But it's still not ritzy. And I like that. As detailed in the introduction, it has the two available option packages, Sport and Premium. Want more? Well, there's an optional sunroof. And that's about it. Pontiacs should embody affordable [...]
That's what I'm talking about. The last couple of days and nights in the 2008 BMW 135i reminded me of why I loved this car so much the last go 'round. Excellent steering and handling, mega brakes and that 300 hp (at least) twin-turbo engine in a compact body--it's just [...]
With the Ultimate R8 Road Trip in the history books there was only one thing left to do. Good thing California has liberal child labor laws.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 9,925 miles
After four days, 10 states, 2,877 miles, one quart of Castrol Synthetic, one mullet head, and two fantastic BBQ lunches, we coasted into Santa Monica on fumes.
Over the course of the trip, the Audi R8 drank 144.8 gallons of premium gasoline and averaged 19.8 mpg.
At nearly [...]
We're finally out of Texas. Five states to go; New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and California. We could just bang due west and get this trip over with, but come on, we're in an Audi R8 and if there's anyplace in this country you can still go fast it's [...]
That green in this blurred image of the R8's speedometer reads cruise. You gotta love a car that lets you set the cruise control at a buck twenty. Most don't. The Audi's awesome high speed stability doesn't even make it a moment.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief [...]
Between Sheffield, Texas and beautiful El Paso there's a cop every 27 feet of I-10. I'm not kidding. For several hundred miles we've witnessed the most condensed concentration of police we've ever seen on any road anywhere.
Still, we're ticket free, baby. And it has nothing to do [...]
A couple of hundred miles west of our meat and greet, we had a run in with this mullethead and his Mitsubishi Eclipse.
He tailgated the R8, circled us a few times and basically made a pest of himself. We even saw him on his cell phone telling his [...]
I've been wanting to add iPod support to the Ford GT ever since I picked up an iPhone last December. With all the other audio add-ons supplied by the JVC KDNX-5000 (Bluetooth, Sirius and Navigation) it was the only item left that could be added. I don't really need [...]
In a case of using a sludgehammer to crack an egg I just picked up a new wicker loveseat with our long-term 2007 Toyota Tundra.
The local Green Thumb had the couch on close-out, and I've been wanting some yard furnishings ever since we installed new paving stones [...]
Hot Rod Jim was a nice find, but up the road in Lockhart is heaven. Gastrointestinal heaven. Bring on the meat, we've landed in BBQ nirvana.
First stop Kreuz (pronounced "Krites") Market, which has been turning out the smoked meats since 1900. Got a quarter pound of [...]
As I drove our long-term M3 last week with the windows down and sunroof back, I reveled in the luscious engine sounds amidst a beautiful Southern California day. As I pulled into the Edmunds garage and briefly considered going back out just for [...]
Almost to Lockhart we spot this '57 Chevy and few other assorted 'Merican muscle by the side of the road in Luling. U turn.
Hot Rod Jim (www.hotrodjimtexas.com) turned out to be a cool place. And Jim a cool guy. He gave us a tour of his shop, [...]
Big place this Texas. Like real big. Kim Kardashian's ass big. Should take us an entire day of hard driving to make it through the other side, plus we're going to make a stop in Lockhart, about 150 miles west of Houston for some of the state's finest BBQ [...]
Between The Big Sleazy and the Texas border we've made a few friends. First was this long haired older guy in his new black on black Aston Martin DB9 droptop. We ran together for a while at about 85 mph and nailed from a roll just once. I'd [...]
Problem: How can I move six people and their luggage from Los Angeles to San Francisco?
Solution: 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT.
Yes, this was one of those rare instances when a bunch of people (my parents and my two sons) were all going to the same place at [...]
You want proof it's hot in Nawlins? Well, here it is. But at least it's really freakin' humid.
But there's good news too. The Audi R8's air conditioning is up to it. In fact, it hasn't broken a sweat keeping us from breaking a sweat. With the system on [...]
According to Wikipedia the priest-chronicler Pierre Fran輟is Xavier de Charlevoix described the city of New Orleans in 1721 as a place of a hundred wretched hovels in a malarious wet thicket of willows and dwarf palmettos, infested by serpents and alligators.
Yup. Sounds about right. And at this very moment [...]
Delta flight 936 dumps us in Atlanta on time and in one piece. Now all we need is a car. A car with air conditioning. They don't call it Hotlanta for nothing. Temperatures are near the 100 mark, with the humidity approaching 5,000,000 percent.
Audi told us the [...]
The boys are thirsty in Atlanta and there's beer in Texarkana and we'll bring it back no matter what it takes. Jerry Reed, Eastbound and Down, Smokey and the Bandit, 1977
It was with that mentality that we went and got our Audi R8 in Atlanta, Georgia because it was [...]
Hey Insiders,
We've added an Audi R8 supercar to our long-term test fleet. Well, sort of long term. We only have it for three months, but we're gonna drive the hell out of it in that time.
In fact, we've already driven it across [...]
So now that Ive driven the Lancer Evolution and the Lancer Ralliart, I figured a weekend in our Lancer GTS would be a let down. It was. After all, with only 152 horsepower our Lancer is slow. I distinctly recall making a few lane changes that I [...]
Our long-term 2008 Hyundai Veracruz has been in service now for just over six months. Seems like a good time for a fuel economy update.
Current mileage: 11,276
Best over life of test: 20.3 mpg
Worst over life of test: 13.3 mpg
Overall average: 16.5 mpg
Official EPA estimate for the 260-horsepower 3.8-liter V6 SUV [...]
Our long-term 2008 Hyundai Veracruz has been in service now for just over six months. Seems like a good time for a fuel economy update.
Current mileage: 11,276
Best over life of test: 20.3 mpg
Worst over life of test: 13.3 mpg
Overall average: 16.5 mpg
Official EPA estimate for the 260-horsepower 3.8-liter V6 SUV [...]
The new power steering pump in our Buick Enclave continued to make noise through the weekend. I added a very small amount of fluid to the reservoir this morning which didn't seem to change anything -- the fluid level was slightly below the "low" indicator mark on the dipstick. [...]
The new power steering pump in our Buick Enclave continued to make noise through the weekend. I added a very small amount of fluid to the reservoir this morning which didn't seem to change anything -- the fluid level was slightly below the "low" indicator mark on the dipstick. Noise [...]
I'm not sure why, but whenever I mention the Ford Focus, most people wrinkle their noses and make "eeeww" noises. Why is this? If they'd only drive it, they'd find it to be a well-balanced car that steers and handles much better than a lot of the compact competition. It's a kinder, [...]
On previous generation Imprezas, an STI badge pretty much meant a suspension tune as hard as an elbow to the jaw and a wing and hood scoop juiced with HGH.
The new Impreza STI, however, is much removed from this description. The [...]
We have talked about the transmission in our Silverado before and the less than smooth shift from first to second. I can't tell you that it has gotten any better or any worse but there does seem to be a new noise related to the transmission. [...]
The Malibu LTZ's interior looks much better than the Aura XR. I'll take two tone over faux wood trim anyday. Even the 4-cyl Malibu 2LT's interior looks nicer than the Aura's. I'd rather have the suede seats from the Malibu 2LT than the extra cost leather that you can get w/ the Aura XR. [...]
Driving home in the Smart Fortwo last night, I noticed there are three distinct kinds of Smart spectators on the road.
1. Over Interested - This crowd was way too happy to see the Smart and kept either driving next to me smiling and waving as if they [...]
I took my chances the other night and rolled out in our long term Smart. My overall reaction borrows from my favorite movie reviewers, Blaine Edwards and Antoine Marryweather, from In Living Color: Hated it! What exactly did I hate? Well almost everything. Ill save you from [...]
I took my chances the other night and rolled out in our long term Smart. My overall reaction borrows from my favorite movie reviewers, Blaine Edwards and Antoine Marryweather, from In Living Color: Hated it! What exactly did I hate? Well almost everything. Ill save you from [...]
There's a lot to like about the Saturn Aura - I think it's a decent looking sedan for one. Also, there are a few details that make it feel like more than just another sedan.
The side marker lights and detailed logo up front are just two [...]
A few of us here at the office either grew up or have lived in Colorado. Our 2008 Impreza WRX STI would be great to have in Denver. There's all-wheel drive, of course, but thanks to the turbocharger, the engine wouldn't [...]
Mazda features three different key designs and our CX-9 features the switchblade one (there's also the credit card and the 3's old school). I'm a big fan of the switchblade design, having had one with my [...]
The Tundra's gauge cluster completely overstyled and thoroughly ridiculous. The picture above is a true representation of what they look like in a partly cloudy sky at around 4:30 pm. Can you tell how much gas I have? No, well that's because [...]
What you see here is the passenger side end of the trim piece that Ed mentioned in a recent post about the 135i. It's a little too long at one end and a little too short on the other. Hmm, not great. But still, the kooky little coupe is a [...]
Trucks are better than cars. How do I know? Our Silverado has more than 30,000 miles on the clock while many of our long term cars struggle to reach 20k in a year. True, we've had the Chevy a little longer than a year but there's a reason the [...]
