After weeks of indecision (there are about two dozen cars to choose from) I've decided to drive our long-term 2008 BMW X5 from L.A. to Detroit. It'll be good test of the truck's cross country and winter driving abilities. Plus it has nav, satellite and all that good stuff. All season tires too.
Should I make it to Detroit alive, I'll leave the BMW with Dan Pund, our Detroit Editor, and drive our long-term Cadillac CTS back to California. Regulars on this page will remember that Dan drove the Caddy from L.A. to Detroit about a month ago.
I'll blog from the road if I can, but fatique and the Detroit Auto Show might get in the way of that. Chances are I'll catch up on the posting when I return.
I will Tweet, however. That I can promise you. So if you care to tag along, go to the insideline.com Twitter page and follow my trip. I'll try to make it interesting.
I hit the road early Thursday morning.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief
06scooby says:
07:39 AM, 01/ 7/09
so why are you guys brining the CTS back so soon... just because it's not the best winter vehicle? seems kind of like a waste to drive it up there and then right back in a month.
louiswei says:
09:20 AM, 01/ 7/09
Scott, can I "really" tag along?
Heh...
roar02ram says:
10:09 AM, 01/ 7/09
I'm really curious to hear about this thing's winter-weather abilities...past X5s were not known for being particularly capable (performance-biased tires, crappy AWD).
autoboy16 says:
12:40 PM, 01/ 7/09
Yay! A non-disaster-from-the-get-go-because-of-summer-tires-in-the-snow Trip!
Now if only Karl would listen to us about those tweets...
subytrojan says:
06:36 PM, 01/ 7/09
Even with the X5's 19" all-season tires and xDrive, it still struggles in some light snow/slush (Video by Edmunds.com Automotive Editor, James Riswick).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oso0nzYHt0
James' blog entry about the X5's F41L moment (no, it's not epic):
http://www.carspace.com/blogs/curbthoughts/Behind-the-Scenes--Playing-in-the
dougtheeng says:
06:24 AM, 01/ 8/09
There are some good videos in Rizs account. Embarrassing about the X5 and the snow bank. I like the CR-V fail one too.