This is the way it always goes with me and business trips - I get in the rental car and all of a sudden I have a lot to write about and it turns into a car review. I thought it's going to be boring since I have an economy car reserved. I was shown to a 2-door GM Delta car, and when I discovered it is a G5 with a sunroof I realized this could be a good week.
Getting the seat adjusted reminded me again never to actually buy a compact with a sunroof - there is no way I'd fit if I had a helmet for racing. Anyway, this car is optioned out pretty well. I noticed a factory sub in the trunk and an XM antenna - I'll have to try that out later. We also have cruise/DIC buttons on the steering wheel. Incidentally, the DIC on this "economy car" is packed with stuff - more than our Tahoe - they keep making this better. We have instant/average fuel economy, average speed, outside temperature, tire pressures, oil life, range, and 2 trip odometers. It was also kind enough to let me know when I engaged cruise, and when the temperature dropped below freezing: "Ice possible". Fortunately National kindly provided an ice scraper already for the cold mornings up here.
Enough on the weather - back to this economy car: I averaged 33 mpg on the mostly highway trip from the airport to the hotel - and I was definitely not hyper-miling. This explains the California plates on the car - someone took an efficient, yet not too boring road trip. I would also guess, based on the fuel consumption, I have the 2.2 engine. But that isn't really a problem - the problem is the awful automatic transmission. All it reminded me of was how dreadfully slow my 87 Cavalier shifted. I thought electronically controlled transmissions had this problem resolved. Is it too much to ask for it to be at least as good as my 15-year-old Cadillac? Sounds like we have another car here that is so much better with a 5-speed manual.
As I was parking the car (rear-first of course) I suddenly realized the last time I drove a coupe must have been Joe's old Integra. Needless to say it was a lousy parking job, but it's also 1:30am. By the way, the handbrake is an ergonomic disaster - you have to pretty much move the armrest extension to get to it!
With a $17650 base price, though, the G5 may need more than just a DIC to set it apart from all the other compacts that you can get these days. It could use a hatchback - the sloping rear line of the car begs for it. The tiny trunk lid on the G5 makes me wonder why anyone would buy it over a 4-door Cobalt or a Saturn Astra, which are cheaper cars.
Tuesday, 28th of October, 2008
Monday, 27th of October, 2008
Tuesday, 14th of October, 2008
Saturday, 11th of October, 2008
It looks like some of the cool parking solutions you see in Japan are implemented in New York as well.
We stopped by The City Bakery on our way uptown from Governor's Island, but unfortunately they only have the homemade marshmallows during the winter. We could still enjoy the rich hot chocholate shots though. We finished off the evening with dinner at Aliada, a Greek place in Astoria/Queens.
Friday, 10th of October, 2008
During the day we were able to take a boat around Central Park, head toward downtown for lunch at Google, and then over to the Tenement Museum. Tickets for the tours sell out - we had to kill some time in the area while we waited for the next available tour, and there aren't a ton of other things to do in the lower east side. It seems like the best to do the tours in the future would be to show up first thing in the morning and get tickets for later in the afternoon and come back after doing something else.
In spite of the waiting, We were still able to head all the way downtown to the South Street Seaport a little before heading back uptown to Le Zie for a good Italian dinner. I can't say I've been to all the establishments at The Hill, but this is probably the best Italian I've ever had.
Thursday, 9th of October, 2008
Saturday, 4th of October, 2008