I was sitting in the back of the Fit recently and decided to rest my arm on the armrest on the door. It wouldn't let me. The slope of the rear-most part is pretty extremely raked, and my arm sort of kept slipping off. I jumped in the front seat to see if this was the case up there. Yup. The picture above is of the front passenger arm rest. Note the sloping rear section of the armrest. There's no place to keep your elbow anchored. Any other Fit drivers disagree?
Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com
Categories: 2009 Honda Fit Sport
Thanks to subaru123 for this week's favorite caption.
There were so many great entries, half of them from ergsum. We had to have two rounds of voting. We debated these finalists forever:
Little understeer, but a lot of overbite! (ergsum)
Is there anything in my teeth? (lowmilelude)
It comes with a six-speed Translyvanian. (eidolways)
The STI says you suck! (subaru123)
An Anne Ricer (ergsum)
Bumper sticker: "My Car Ate Your Honor Student" (ergsum)
These were the other succulent entries:
Mazdaspeed Demon (ergsum)
I guess daytime running lights and a sunroof are out of the question. (ergsum)
Does 0 to 666 in 6.4 seconds. (ergsum)
The competition looks a bit pale now... (stephen987)
Tricked out Treat! (ergsum)
You bite the caption (stpawyfrmdonut)
Laps up more than just track miles. (eidolways)
How many miles to the pint does it get? (ergsum)
Goes like a bat out of hell (mnorm1)
Exhume-Exhume! (actualsize)
Holds the fastest time up Widow's Peak. (sideswiper)
Bleed for Speed. (themiddleroad)
I vant to suck your Mobil 1 !! (SnakeDoctor)
Mazda takes FlexFuel concept to the extreme! (anonimo)
Trying to pass, is in vein. (mnorm1)
Neck and neck with the competition. (themiddleroad)
Traffic bites. (themiddleroad)
What was your favorite?
Happy Halloween.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Mazdaspeed 3,Caption Contest
The exhaust note in our 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T is pretty special, but after that there's the horn. This video doesn't do it justice (maybe we'll put a real mic to it one of these days), but it's one of the loudest and most satisfying horns I've ever used in anger. It's perfect for a large black coupe. "You will respect my authoritah!" I've been heard to quote...
Erin Riches, Senior Editor
Continue reading...
Categories: 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T
There are some pretty late nights here at the office from time to time. I had a string of them in a row. To add on top a touch of the flu and I'm getting a little loopy by the end of the day.
I was pretty much out of it as I left last night. I was waiting at the stop light to exit the garage when I looked down on the passenger seat. I swear to god I started to hear the piano intro to "Diamonds Are Forever" as I looked over the stitch patterns of the seat. All I needed to complete the package was Shirley Bassey to start belting out notes right behind my head.
I need to get some sleep.
Scott Jacobs, Senior Photographer
Categories: 2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD
Getting two flat tires in a single trip takes some luck, and getting two flat tires within 25 minutes takes some skill. But when the tire we're discussing is the same tire...well, I'm not sure what that takes. Maybe it's just a matter of acknowledging a greater power really wanted that tire to be flat!
Or at least as flat as our long-term BMW 750i's run-flat tires can be.
Continue reading...
Categories: 2009 BMW 750i
I'm going to have to disagree with Erin's assessment of our SX4's seating. After spending about four hours in the blue box yesterday, I realized that average-sized American males may have issues with the driving position.
Continue reading...
Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4
Our coverage of the SEMA Show has already hit full stride, but the show itself takes place next week in Las Vegas. And flying to Las Vegas from Los Angeles is never an option for those of us that love to drive. It's a 295 mile run through the desert if you stay on the interstate, but there are more than a few detours (great roads, great scenery) that are worth the extra time and miles.
I leave for Vegas on Monday and this year my chosen stead is our long-term 2009 BMW 750i (Last year I drove our long-term Cadillac CTS and the year before that I took our long-term Infiniti G35.). I've already thrown our Escort radar detector in the BMW's glovebox, so I'm sure not to forget it, and as you can see I already plugged Vegas into the car's nav system.
I'll let you know how it goes next week.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief
Categories: 2009 BMW 750i
...driving our Mini E. And why?
(Barely applicable title, but when else will I get to use that? Honestly, I'll buy tickets to opening night if the 30 Rock people have the sense to make that movie.)
Check back tomorrow for more.
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant
Categories: 2009 Mini E
Our long-term Mazdaspeed 3 is the third Mazdaspeed 3 we've tested since the car's introduction last August. And other than the little Mazda's "please-ticket-me-now" red paint, it's a brilliant machine which I plan to spend plenty of time driving.
Numbers after the jump...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2010 Mazdaspeed 3,Track Tested
Back on October 29, 2008, I wrote a post about our Ford Flex's quiet cabin at highway speeds. One year later, you wouldn't know that we've added about 27,000 miles unless you looked at the odometer. The Flex is still quiet and, impressively, there are no rattles or squeaks to be heard.
The only thing that seems a little different -- and my memory could be faulty here -- is that the Flex's ride quality doesn't seem to be quite as good on broken pavement as it used to. Director of Vehicle Testing Dan Edmunds suggested that the worn rear tires might be the cause, as there's not as much tread as there used to be to provide cushion and flex.
Speaking of tires, some readers commented on my last post noting how much we've been using the Flex. I believe the Flex's 37,000 miles (we started reporting on it in Sept. '08 with 1,700 miles on the clock) is a record for an Edmunds/Inside Line long-term test vehicle. There have been others with more total mileage, but none with as much of a rapid gain. Of course, it helps that we've driven back and forth to Oregon twice (Dan), to Colorado (Paul), and to the East Coast (Mike).
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
Categories: 2009 Ford Flex Limited
More Halloween fun: this has been circulating recently. It's neato!
Albert Austria, Senior Engineer, Halloween, Inc
Categories: 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS
The radio suppliers to our long-term 2010 Chevy Camaro SS went all-out in designing the radio tone setting/graphic equalizer in the car, sparing no expense.
You see, I heard from a guy, who heard from another guy's cousin, that the cousin's high school classmate said that the radio's engineers took
Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine to the 80's when designing the Camaro's radio tone settings.
Perhaps it's hard to tell from the top pick, but this thing looks like it was designed at the University of Atari.
Check out more pics after the jump.
Continue reading...
Categories: 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS
Happy Halloween from Inside Line.
We took this picture of our newest long-termer, the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3, in our parking garage. Dracula PhotoShop work is by Mark Takahashi.
We suggest: MazdaBleed 3
What are your hauntingly good captions?
We'll post our favorite this afternoon.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Mazdaspeed 3,Caption Contest
This morning it was a bitter 56 degrees Fahrenheit in Santa Monica, but I survived the wintry turn thanks to the heated driver's seat and heated steering wheel of our long-term 2009 BMW 750i.
The car's three-level bun warmers worked like a charm, defrosting my bod just enough without causing sweaty back syndrome, even on the highest setting.
Even more impressive was the performance of the BMW's heated steering wheel, which kept my digits toasty without a single inconsistency of temperature. No hot or cool spots here, just the right amount of heat for the extreme conditions.
All of the above may seem trivial, but if you use as many different heated seats and wheels in as many different cars as we do here at Inside Line you learn that all heated seats and wheels are not created equal.
After this morning's cold front, I give the the BMW's heated accomodations high marks for BTU output, heat consistency across surfaces and quick warm up.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 19,652 miles
Categories: 2009 BMW 750i
Here's one thing Mazda does right on all its cars including the really fun-to-drive models like our new Mazdaspeed 3. With a single touch of the button all the electronic babysitters simply disappear. Stability control and traction control are gone -- just like that. No holding and waiting and waiting and waiting.
Amen, brother.
Josh Jacquot, Senior road test editor @ 1,218 miles.
Categories: 2010 Mazdaspeed 3
Picked up this little number from the local furniture store recently. For a second I thought about running home to get a bigger car, but I figured it was worth trying to squeeze it in to the M3 first.
Sure enough, with a little adjustment of the front seat I wedged it in there. Could I have done the same in the M3 coupe? Maybe, but to me this was just another instance of why the M3 sedan makes more sense.
Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 11.055 miles
Categories: 2009 BMW M3
Question:
How much can we squeeze into the Ram Box in our
2009 Dodge Ram?
Answer after the break...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2009 Dodge Ram 1500
Every time I open the trunk of our long-term 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T, I get a bit of a shock. It's a wider and deeper hold than I've been conditioned to expect in a coupe, and published capacity is an impressive 16.2 cubic feet.
Still, a few cargo tie-downs, or grocery bag hooks, or a cargo net would greatly improve its functionality. As it is, I end up stuffing grocery bags (and, yes, melons) into the cabin since there's no way to corral anything. I checked the Mopar accessories site and came up dry -- the only extra you can get is a trunk mat. So real owners might have to use some creativity here.
Just seeing the trunk, though, makes me wonder why I haven't taken our Challenger on one of my road trips. Plenty of room for my stuff here, and I certainly like the way the big coupe rides. I also like the way it moves out in traffic (with a downshift or two) but then settles back into its customarily serene cruising demeanor (with an upshift to 6th). So, no reason for delay: I'm planning a road trip for November.
Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 12,842 miles
Categories: 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T
What a way to start the day. Yesterday morning I was greeted by a low tire warning a minute or so after I left my driveway in the 2009 Audi S5. But that's not to say the tire went low somewhere in those first couple hundred yards--it doubtlessly dipped below the trigger point while the car sat overnight.
The delay comes from the way most TPMS systems operate. The in-wheel pressure sensors and their transmitters are battery powered, but the need for long battery life means they don't broadcast continuously. Update intervals range from once per minute to once every three minutes, and reports are not necessarily issued at engine start.
And that's why I got a half-mile or so down the road before the warning came on.
Continue reading...
Categories: 2009 Audi S5
When the Honda Insight meter moves from CHRG to ASST and back, the color surrounding the digital speedometer also changes.
What I find surprising is how often it goes green, even at higher speeds.
Here's a video because I love making videos.
In the last bit (the part in the daylight) you'll see an illustration of what Bryn mentioned in her last post when autostop switches off.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
