July 2009 Long-Term Road Tests Archives

JRiz recently gushed about how bitchin' the iPod integration is in our 2009 Nissan 370Z, and I agree with everything he said. Our 2009 Infiniti FX50 has the exact same interface, and our 2009 Nissan GT-R is 95% the same save for a smaller, off-center control wheel.

But all of them have an annoying flaw that only creeps into the picture when you are listening to your iPod when a bluetooth call comes in through your paired phone. And I always pair my Bluetooth phone to the cars I drive whenever I can, so the following happens to me a lot.

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Categories: 2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R

So this morning we dropped our 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe off at Santa Monica Ford for an oil change and a tire rotation. They quoted us, after some debate, a price of $55.99 before tax. Too late, you alerted us to a printable coupon that could've gotten us this service for $39.95. Being Santa Monica, they certainly offered us no such deal without our prior knowledge. Welcome to the West Side.

At the end of the day we walked out with fresh oil and rotated tires (I secretly and permanently marked the wheels, they were rotated front-to-back) and were charged $59.85. The cashier was on the slow and careless side and the valet took forever: Ford of Santa Monica gets a C for this effort.

Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 25,068 miles

Categories: 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe

Thanks to lowmilelude for this week's favorite caption. That's his second week in a row. Woohoo!

These are the others that made us smile:

The Focus on the set of "The Past and the Curious" (ergsum)
To compete with BMW's "iDrive", Ford offers "uHaul" (ergsum)
Restored, ignored, a Ford and no cord. (ergsum)
Well, I guess I'll take the focus...(jshhuber)
Is there any room on that truck for me?...the fiesta's coming. (vwthing1)
Eenie meenie minie NO (stpawyfrmdonut)
Pahrump concours d'elegance (stpawyfrmdonut)
Clear that ramp! I'm going to jump the laundromat! (actualsize)

What was your favorite?

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

Bonus Round: The little red wedge is a Citicar. I don't know about the other two, that's why I was asking you.

Categories: 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe,Caption Contest

So I'm in our long-term Mini E and realize it's only got about 30 miles left on the battery range. No biggie, I'm only going from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills and back, about 10 miles total.

But I notice my iPhone is down in the "red" battery zone (below 20%) and decide to plug it in while I drive.

Then it hits me: Is plugging my phone in going to risk getting back to Santa Monica without a tow truck?

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Categories: 2009 Mini E

Service still comes every 5,000 miles if you own a 2008 Ford Focus. We've just hit the 25,000-mile mark, so our blue coupe is due for an oil change and tire rotation.

It wasn't busy at Santa Monica Ford today, so I pulled into the service drive without an appointment, and within 30 seconds, a service advisor came out to greet me. After jotting down the mileage, he invited me inside and I told him I wanted an oil change and tire rotation. I then noticed he'd typed "$75.99" in as the preliminary estimate.

"$76 seems high for just an oil change and a tire rotation," I said.

"It's a minor service," he replied.

"Well, how much for just an oil change?"

"$35."

"So it's more than double that just to pull the wheels off for a tire rotation?" I asked.

"Well, it includes other inspections, including a brake inspection."

"Well, we don't need a brake inspection," I said. "How much just to change the oil and rotate the tires?"

That brought the estimate down to $55.99, and our service advisor was nice about it. The printout I signed actually included both figures, but he was willing to "X" out the $75.99 and put his initials next to it, so I'm 99 percent confident that $55.99 plus tax is what we'll eventually pay.

While waiting for a ride back to work, I lingered in the dealership's outdoor waiting area. There are chairs indoors, too, but this shady spot is a nice place to be on a Santa Monica summer day.

Then, I noticed this poster on the door. Hmm, just about 2-3 years out of date.

Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 25,079 miles

Categories: 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe

When I left work last night, I needed to make a quick stop off at the grocery store to get a few things for dinner. I was hurried and our long-term 2008 Ford Focus didn't seem to mind that.

You're undoubtedly aware that an electronic throttle ("drive-by-wire") replaced the throttle cable in the partial 2008 redesign. Yet, off-the-line response is still quite good in our long-termer --certainly by economy car standards and certainly compared to some of the newer cars I've driven that are calibrated to scrimp on fuel to an excessive degree.

I've complained mightily about the four-speed automatic transmission in our Focus, but even that deserves some credit. It's more decisive with shifts than many of the easily befuddled six-speed automatics I've sampled recently.

Categories: 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe

Yes, seat calibration. It's what our longterm 2009 BMW 750i requested upon shutdown yesterday with a ding and this message. Apparently HAL lost track of where in its range of travel the driver's seat was.

Here's what the owner's manual--accessible right on the spot with one turn and press of the iDrive knob--had to say about it.

I suppose this is used to ensure the seat memory functions are accurate, but they seemed to work normally.

I obeyed the electronic overlord's prescribed instructions, though, and motored the seat all the way forward and then back to my normal driving position. This seemed to please the machine.

Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor

Categories: 2009 BMW 750i

"You know, a town with money is a little like a mule with a spinning wheel; no one knows how he got it and danged if he knows what to do with it." - Lyle Lanley

Now replace "town" with "Test Driver." And "money" with " an electric car."

So, when in doubt and in his natural habitat, our test driver does what he does best: Goes as fast as possible. You know what it took to get our 2009 Mini E to the test track, now click through to find out what an electric motor and a few hundred pounds of battery does to the otherwise fun-to-drive Mini Cooper.

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Categories: 2009 Mini E,Track Tested

Not that any car with a front passenger seat couldn't handle this modest haul of groceries, but the GT-R's surprisingly spacious trunk does give it an edge over most supercars in its class. Only the Corvette can match it when it comes to usable cargo space and even then it's just a big, flat area under the glass which makes it a bit dicey at times.

You could easily fit a few suitcases in the back of the GT-R and not ever think twice about it. Not that people who buy these cars are really all that concerned about cargo space, but hey, it does make life a little easier when you're using this car on a daily basis.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 26,258 miles

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

Is our long-term BMW 135 ugly? Yes.

But at least it doesn't look like this.

I spotted this future classic at Albertson's the other night.

Good riddance Isuzu.

Albert Austria, Sr Vehicle Evaluation Engineer @ 24,800 miles

Categories: 2008 BMW 135i

"Is that your car out there on the street?" my husband asks when he comes in the door.

"Which car?" I say.

"The one that's making a muscle," he says.

Ha ha. Yup.

Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com

Categories: 2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD

"I never really noticed how effed up this road is," my passenger said as we drove the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo GSR down Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. "Well, it's this car's suspension. You're used to your Camry," I replied as we were jostled around in our seats as we passed over every road imperfection. It was really bad, teeth-rattling bad. But that's OK, I thought. The GSR may be short on comfort or everyday drivability but it more than makes up for it with its Weeee! Factor.

It's so easy to drive fast, rowing through the gears and even heel-toeing are so easy. A really fun car. Now that the MR is gone (sniff), it's really the only car that I feel comfortable taking for a spin. The Z is rough on the upshift, the M3 and S5 are too luxurious for my comfort feel too fancy to drive hard and who knows when the GT-R keys will ever land on my desk again (not that I can handle that car anyway).

By the way, I noticed this morning when I got on the road after having let the car warm up for a minute that it felt VERY sluggish. So sluggish that I was afraid it was going to go into limp-home mode. It didn't but it just wouldn't accelerate as quickly as it usually does. Hm.

Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 24,004 miles

Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,Vehicles

Just look at that picture. Driving down my narrow neighborhood streets is like piloting a 747 through the Grand Canyon.

Mark Takahashi, Associate Editor @ 3,937 miles

Categories: 2009 Dodge Ram 1500

Vehicle Testing Manager Mike Schmidt took this picture of our Ford Focus with these fellow coupes.

Dig that 1970s-era electric car and those two classic coupes circa 1940s.

We offer: Focus on Modern Style

What is your caption?

We'll post our favorite at 4:00 PM California time.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

Bonus question: Can you identify the make and model of the cars in the background?

*** Just added a closer shot of the mystery coupes, click through to view ***

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Categories: 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe,Caption Contest

2009 Infiniti FX50 meet Major Stan Valchek from The Wire.

Major Stanislaus "Stan" Valchek from HBO's The Wire is played to perfection by actor Al Brown.

Those eyes work on him, not on the FX.

OK, how about this one. 2009 Infiniti FX50 meet Admiral Ackbar of Mon Calamari.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

Categories: 2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD

Whenever I look at our long-term 2009 Audi A4 Avant, I think, "Well, that's it, no one else should ever bother trying to build a wagon, because it will never look this good."

The styling of the A4 wagon pulls me in every time I get the key to it. I don't quite care for the driving experience, you see. Although I like the way the car grips through corners, the combination of the 2.0T engine and six-speed automatic is fairly uninspiring in normal traffic (acceleration is fine, but a tabletop torque band can only keep you interested for so long). So whatever excitement I'm feeling about the bodywork begins to dissipate as soon I'm in the Audi.

But as soon as I get out, I'm bubbling over with enthusiasm once again. Is there a better looking wagon out there? I think not.

Erin Riches, Senior Editor

Categories: 2009 Audi A4 Avant

Although this doesn't qualify for a "Will it fit inside the Fit?" entry, it does show how the small Honda can make potentially awkward and back-straining tasks much less of a hassle.  I recently had to transport new tires along with the wheels/old tires for my motorcycle to the shop to have them mounted.

With the Fit's rear seat flipped down, I could either slide them in through the hatch or the side doors.  I tried both methods and they were both easy. 

Had I just a subcompact sedan, I might've fit either the new tires or the wheels/tires in the trunk, but probably not both. It would've involved wrestling the buggers both into the trunk and the rear seat area, possibly aggravating my lower back and then requiring copious applications of Ben Gay.

Thanks to the cargo-friendly, hatchback Fit, my part of the office will not be filled with the scent of menthol and the wrinkled noses of my colleagues.

John DiPietro, Automotive Editor @ 9,660 miles.  

Categories: 2009 Honda Fit Sport

Tradition has carried on from the previous-generation M3 as the new M3 has a variable redline indicator on the tachometer. When you first start up, the redline is low and then slowly rises in engine speed as the V8 warms up. From a diagram in the owner's manual, it appears that redline can be as low as 4,500 rpm, though here during the California summer our 2009 M3 sedan's redline has never been lower than 6,000 rpm or so. Of course, once it's fully warmed up, the engine can spin up to 8,400 rpm.

The old M3 had a colored light indicator for redline (previous blog posts with photos are here and here) but this time it's an analog indicator that circles the outside of the tach. It operates sort of like a reverse thermometer; the red part slowly drops down as the engine warms up. The new redline indicator is more sophisticated than the old M3's colored lights, but part of me still likes the old lights for their honest simplicity.

Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

Like most people on staff, I love the Jetta TDI. But I really think that VW would have broadened the car's potential audience if it had made it available with a standard automatic transmission (as it is now, the TDI comes with either a manual or a DSG tranny).

The DSG is great at higher speeds and will win favor with enthusiasts. But enthusiasts aren't the only target audience with this vehicle -- the average buyer who's just looking for a car that's efficient and green (and who isn't interested in buying a manual) may not be as impressed.

At lower speeds, the DSG's lack of creep will no doubt feel a bit odd to the uninitiated; it's also a bit sluggish in stop-and-go traffic. As James mentioned in an earlier post, these DSG quirks could be a turn-off in a test-drive situation. And that would be a shame, since this is a great car that's worth buying. 

Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor @ 18,685 miles

Categories: 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

That's what I thought as I flipped a u-turn on the way home last night. It was a standard width street, yet I barely had enough room to clear one of the cars already parked on the curb. I wondered how a compact coupe could make a street feel narrow, I mean it doesn't really get much smaller than this Focus right?

I decided to check the numbers to see how the Focus stacks up in the turning radius department. Turns out I was wrong, or imagining things, or not turning to full lock quickly enough.

According to Edmunds.com statistics, the turning radius of the Focus coupe is a very admirable 34.2 feet. Compare that to the Honda Fit (34.4 ft.) or Honda Civic coupe (35.4 ft.), and the Focus cuts a pretty tight circle. The only car I could find off hand with a tighter circle is the Chevrolet Cobalt coupe at 33.5 feet. And if it's between those two, I'd take the Focus.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 25,041 miles

Categories: 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe