I have to say that I've been enjoying driving our new long-term 2012 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ through rush-hour traffic. That's saying a lot considering it's stick.
Usually when the long-term car board comes to me, I pick a car based on where I'm going for the evening. Like, is it way cross town where I have to sit on the notoriously clogged-up 10 East and then cut through the equally bad surface street traffic? Or am I just going straight home, which is just 7 miles from the office, aka 30-45 minutes away? Most of the time I'll go for a car with auto because, let's face it, driving stick in stop-and-go suuuhucks.
But our little Sonic isn't so hard to shift. It's not as light as the Fiat's shifter/clutch but neither is it like our old Mazdaspeed 3. And bonus is that it has a 1.4-liter turbocharged Ecotec engine and 138 horsepower so I can switch lanes quickly and get around the slow pokes and not-so-slow pokes like no one's business.
I see many more rush-hours in our future together. By the way, score on the seat heaters in the Sonic. So effective! More on that later.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 2,244 miles
tempesting says:
06:55 PM, 01/25/12
Looks like the exit toward 3rd street promenade off i-10..
jasond52 says:
05:18 AM, 01/26/12
I use to drive stick in DC's horrible traffic. I mastered shifting (up and down shifting) without the clutch. You only need to push the clutch in when you come to a full stop. Not following too closely minimizes having to stop. This would be a good skill to acquire in LA.
duck87 says:
06:42 AM, 01/26/12
@jasond52: Clutchless upshifting and downshifting is PRETTY BAD on a car's transmission (helical gears rather than spur gears in the transmission). It's a required skill on a motorcycle but you really shouldn't do that to your car.
Also, I really feel sorry for you guys in LA. 30-45 minutes to 7 minutes... is this normal? My 30 mile commute takes me about 35 minutes and I thought that was long!
bankerdanny says:
07:07 AM, 01/26/12
duck: On the rare occassions that I drive to work here in Chicago, weekdays between say 8am and 9am the 13 mile trip (1/2 city streets and 1/2 Lake Shore Drive) from my home to downtown is 45-60 minutes. On a Saturday morning the same trip is about 20 minutes. If I tried to take the euphemistically named "Expressway" during rush hour you could add an extra 15-20 minutes.
fordson1 says:
07:09 AM, 01/26/12
God, that blows.
If I had to put up with that traffic I would probably kill someone and be in jail right now. I do not care about the fabulous weather, the pretty people, the great cars and car culture all over the place. If I can't freaking drive where I want, when I want, what good is it?
ed124c says:
07:40 AM, 01/26/12
I set a personal record of 12 minutes to work one day (a 12 mile drive). I was able to do this because, during rush hour, police would not dare pull anyone over for speeding on the interstate and cause a crash. Every morning I, and everyone else, zoomed along at 75 in a 55 zone. Wonderful, if a bit dicey at times. This was 8 years ago. Don't think that I could do this any more at my age.
Last year, driving in, I think, Virginia, on the way to Busch Gardens, I tried to keep up with the majority driving at 85 in a 75 or 80 speed limit. Couldn't do it. Too scary.
dscain says:
07:58 AM, 01/26/12
My regular commute is 17 miles each way, and it's an easy drive in 22 minutes (half on country roads and half on the interstate). I love where I live!
tempesting says:
08:38 AM, 01/26/12
your 15 mins commute could turn into an hour+ commute any given rush hour... that's why you get up early and beat the traffic :-)
ed124c says:
09:02 AM, 01/26/12
On the other hand, there is that Southern California climate-- as long as you ignore smog, earthquakes, high taxes, high utility costs, actors pretending to be governors, etc.
stovt001 says:
09:03 AM, 01/26/12
10 minutes to get my bicycle out of the garage, pedal the mile and a half to my office (lots of stop lights) lock the bike up, and walk upstairs.
When I did commute in traffic, I preferred the clutch in my Miata to the high idle speed of our Taurus. The Miata could crawl in 1st at just the right speed.
jasond52 says:
09:11 AM, 01/26/12
If done properly, I don't see how shifting w/o a clutch is harmful. It goes into gear just as smoothly w/o the clutch as with the clutch. Mess it up, and it makes a hell of a noise.
exnevadan says:
09:58 AM, 01/26/12
I'll stick with four seasons (30F and snowy this morning) and a fun/short commute (22 miles in 30 minutes).
can't understand seat heaters in LA or 7 miles in 30-45 minutes
kain77 says:
10:24 AM, 01/26/12
You get used to it. I've lived in pretty rural areas before, but now I commute in DC traffic six miles each way, and it takes me 30-40 minutes. No problem driving stick in it everyday, and the clutch in my MS3 is pretty unforgiving.
csubowtie says:
12:22 PM, 01/26/12
Ewa Beach to Pearl Harbor, HI. 17 mile trip. ALL highway. Leaving the house at 4:45 AM (!), took an hour and a half. It was even worse at reasonable hours.
zhackwyatt says:
09:06 PM, 01/26/12
Thank goodness for Phoenix. I have a 20 mile commute and it takes me 30 minutes max usually.
litewerk says:
02:59 AM, 01/27/12
My 25 mile commute to work here in the Buckeye State typically takes 42 minues. As little as 35 minutes returning home in the late night/early morning hours. And, I make do without heated seats or a heated steering wheel! However, if I read the introductory info correctly, the upcoming all-new Dodge Dart will offer both on the Limited model. Without ever experiencing it, I do think it would be very nice to have.
gregbird says:
07:41 PM, 01/27/12
WOW! Thirty-five to forty-five minutes for seven whole miles. A forty-five minute drive for me is the weekend trip to Austin that is 40-50 miles away. And to think that I was starting to think that was too long a drive...