Edmunds | Help Contact Editor Sign In | Follow Inside Line
We are really digging the BFGs on our 2012 Jeep Wrangler. The other week, while securing the lugnuts, we noticed something. There is a potential downside to these big tires. It certainly isn't a deal-breaker, but it does require some extra care. Can you figure it out?
Take the jump for a better angle...
I dig the big disc brakes on our A8L. Of course, you'd expect them on a big German executive sedan bred for the autobahn. But it's a nice reminder that this car means business.
In case you are wondering, the front rotors measure 380 mm in diameter, or 14.96 inches. The A8L's listed weight is 4,453 pounds. A Chevy Suburban 2500 4WD weighs 6,419 pounds. Front brake diameter? Thirteen inches.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 15,562 miles
So there I am driving down the street in this perfectly nice 2012 Toyota Camry SE, the latest expression of the Toyota's most influential automobile. It's been reinvented and everyone loves it.
Except me. No matter how much I drive this car, it still rubs me the wrong way.
Not that anyone should care, really. I feel like just another cranky old guy standing on his porch, waving his cane at the sky as if to warn off invisible alien invaders, and yelling, "Hey, you kids, get off my lawn!"
I've always liked the idea of auxiliary turn signals mounted in the side mirrors. It makes sense to put these lights where people can see them, especially on a van as big as the Quest.
The signals on the Quest's mirrors are a little bigger than usual, but it seems perfectly logical. This is a big van, it needs all the help it can get letting people know it's coming. Signals this size are as important a safety feature as the airbags inside and the driver behind the wheel. Even the best drivers miss a car in their blind spot once in awhile, but with signals like these at least they're a little less likely to surprise someone when they do.
Ed Hellwig, Editor, Inside Line
While I won't let the cat (entirely) out of the bag with this post, we have tested our new Grand Cherokee SRT8 to see if we got "a good one." We did. Watch this space for the actual track results. While testing the Jeep, I decided to check the on-board performance data acquisition against our mega-buck VBox on the first default run. Hey, lookie there... They match! This is a first in my experience as most on-board systems like this have been historically wildly optimistic. The quarter-mile is very close too, and perhaps the 0.2-sec difference is due to the Jeep automatically subtracting the infamous "1-foot rollout" where our VBox raw data does not. Along with accommodating the ambient conditions, we do that it "post." Here's a clickable refresher on How We Test.
Why is it that I can remove the shift knob of virtually every Toyota, yet I can't on virtually every other car? Just twist it left and off it comes. Is the prevalence of people putting aftermarket shifters on their automatic-equipped Camrys, Corollas and Avalons that great?
Is this some brilliant feature every other brand is missing out on? Let me in on the secret Toyotaphiles.
James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 9,008 miles
This is the reason I don't ask for tire dressing at the car wash. The Grand Cherokee is perhaps more susceptible to it because of the wide tires and lack of mud flaps.
I've been reading Paul Ingrassia's excellent "Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars," which includes a chapter on the Beetle, "from Hitler to the hippies," as the author puts it.
Everyone knows that the car was Adolf Hitler's pet project, meant to be affordable, practical transport for Germans, just as Henry Ford's Model T had been for Americans. What I didn't know (though I'm sure Beetles fans did), but learned from Ingrassia's book, is that the car's original name was "Kraft durch Freude Wagen," or "Strength Through Joy Car."
Or that first reference to the car's appearance surfaced in a New York Times article in 1938, describing Hitler's vision of "great sweeps of smooth motor highways with thousands and thousands of shiny little beetles purring along..."
I also didn't know that for years, German execs hated the nickname (the car was to be called the "Volkswagen Sedan") and refused to use it until the early 1970s.
In high school, I very badly wanted a Beetle to call my own. I had one surfer-girl friend who drove a bright yellow Beetle and another who had a baby blue Microbus. And one day, my dad announced. "I got you a Beetle." I was flabbergasted. Thrilled. Over the moon. I was expecting him to give me keys, but this is what he put in my hand instead.
What I like best about the 2012 Toyota Prius C is that it pencils out.
Probably "pencils out" is not quite the right phrase for the careful calculation of the period of time that it takes to recover in fuel savings the premium cost of hybrid technology. But you get it. It's possible to think of the Prius C as a car that pays for its exotic technology in a time frame that's less than the half-life of a plutonium isotope.
Not only has Edmunds long believed in the evaluation of any fuel-efficient vehicle according to this metric with its Internet tool available here on the Edmunds.com Web site but also the federal government is now in the game with its own site found here.
I marvel at how superb the steering is in our LT Project Miata whenever I get into it. It's quick, precise and has an excellent feel. This is the kind of directness you want in your sports car.
I don't exactly mind gripping that Momo wheel, either.
No doubt a good portion of the credit has to go to the alignment set up by Jay Kavanagh. Never underestimate the value of a good alignment with the correct amount of camber and caster to make a car handle well.
Mike Monticello, Road Test Editor @ 137,262 miles.
Our long-term Lexus ES300 left us stranded last week. Jay suspected the idle air control valve was the culprit. I ran a Google search on this and found a YouTube video that had a familiar scenario. The car in the video is a Camry, but it has the same engine as our Lexus.
Look, the 2012 Prius C has a normal-looking shifter, unlike the dash-mounted thingamabob Prii used to have.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 905 miles
I know this isn't how it works, but thinking this way is unavoidable for me.
Every time I see the hard plastic Mustang logo on the center of our GT's steering wheel I wonder if I might find it inversely embossed in my forehead should the airbag deploy.
Also, you ever wonder what happens to those people you see riding along with their feet on the dashboard in such scenarios? Can't be good.
Josh Jacquot, Senior editor
I had a jam-packed schedule during my weekend road trip in our long-term 2012 Ford Explorer XLT EcoBoost, and I hadn't built in time for a fuel stop. The distance-to-empty display ticked down to 50 miles, then 30, then 20, then 10 and then this... I was about 5 miles from my destination and running late, so I pressed on. I'd say I drove for a total of 8 miles before finally fueling up somewhere in East L.A. No question, I wasn't monitoring the trip counter as closely as I should have been.
This produced the Explorer's first 400-mile tank -- 415.4 miles. Its previous high was 388.8 miles.
I put in 18.434 gallons of 87 octane. Ford's published fuel tank capacity is 18.6 gallons, so if true, I apparently wasn't very far from stranding myself and my passenger for no other reason than poor planning. I actually stopped at one gas station, realized the pumpside credit card swipers weren't working, and was too lazy to go inside and wait in the long line. I then drove 2 miles to another gas station.
You should see her when I do powerslides.
Josh Jacquot, Senior editor
Some friends of mine own a 2004 Nissan Quest, the first year of the previous (third generation) Quest. I thought it'd be interesting to see how the Quest has changed since, so I stopped by their house to get their opinion on their van and what they thought of our long-termer.
Our 2012 Volvo S60 T5 saw a lot of backseat action during the road trip this weekend. My dog Mya occupied it for the 800-mile round trip on the highway while my dad and brother sat back there for the around-town excursions.
Since it was about 100 degrees or so up in Sacramento, getting cool air to the backseat occupants asap was critical, especially after the car had been sitting out in the afternoon sun for hours. Thankfully there are air vents on the B-pillars and I could point the large center air vent on the dash toward the rear for even more effective cooling.
First, the dog report...
I'm still on the fence about the door bars on our long-term Project Miata. I definitely appreciate the extra rigidity and safety. But after sliding in and out over the bar while driving around town over the weekend, I'm not sure I'd want to put up with them on a daily basis if it was my own car.
And I certainly don't like the havoc they wreak upon the door armrests.
That being said, those bars do make the Miata an even more serious sports car/track-day car. I guess you just need to channel your inner Dukes of Hazzard, albeit without the fully sealed doors.
I'll keep thinking on this one.
Mike Monticello, Road Test Editor @ 137,197 miles.
My decision to drive our long-term 2012 Ford Explorer to La Jolla, California, and back last Saturday had as much to do with my wanting to try something new as it did with the vehicle's availability. My inclination is usually to take something like the Mazda 3 or Sonic on these adventures, but when I thought about how many errands I had to run after the trip, I realized it was going to be a 300-mile day on L.A. freeways and I just wanted something cushier.
Our Explorer filled the bill. Yeah, there were only two of us most of the time (though we also carried a set of parents for a couple hours), but man was it comfortable.
I like the driver seat a whole lot. It's well shaped and supportive. The driving position is also good -- well, good considering the Explorer's tall hood and large D-pillars limit visibility. My only complaint about the seating is that I bumped my knee on the steering column trim a couple times while getting in and out of the Ford -- most likely, that's a consequence of my decision to crank up the seat height to get a better view over the hood.
Ride quality is also very comfortable -- as it should be on a family crossover with P245/60R18 all-season tires.
We've added a 2012 Toyota Prius C hybrid to our long-term test fleet. It may be the smallest in the Prius family but it's big in mpg performance with an EPA estimate of 53 city/46 highway. And this cute little five-door hatchback starts under $20,000.
It comes in four trim levels. We chose level Three which comes with keyless ignition, satellite radio, and navigation. Ours has a few added attractions like a moonroof and floor and cargo mats which, after negotiations, brought our sticker price to $22,701.
Read the full introduction of the 2012 Toyota Prius C on Inside Line.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Advertisement
Latest Poll
My next car will be:
Recent Posts
2012 Jeep Wrangler: Downside to the BFGs
May 25, 2012 3:03 AM
2012 Jeep Wrangler: Superwinch Close-Up
May 15, 2012 12:53 PM
2012 Jeep Wrangler: Undercover Jeepist
May 10, 2012 9:43 PM
2012 Jeep Wrangler: Topless in the Rain
May 5, 2012 3:03 AM
2012 Jeep Wrangler: Modded for Endor
May 4, 2012 6:00 AM
Advertisement
Tip the Editors
Got a breaking news tip for the Inside Line editors?
Send it to tips@edmunds.com
Awards
Vehicles
Past Vehicles
Browse Archives