cars Articles

Oh who are we kidding? A review of the Gucci Fiat 500C can be a few words long and read like a personal ad: Sexy cabrio seeks young adult who doesn’t mind having strangers take their picture. Must enjoy tiptronic for bursts of speed and should be aware that Gucci Gucci Goo means tickled pink in Italian.

When I tell you that this is a car for extroverts I am NOT KIDDING. Driving on the 405 (inching along if I’m going to be honest) will have a handful of people snapping their smartphone cameras at you. Driving this car is as close to celebrity as I’ve ever been.

The Fiat is adorable. There’s no other way to put it. When I first saw all the brightly colored cars they reminded me of gumdrops on wheels. Everything about the Fiat’s exterior made me smile. Also, doesn’t this look like a mustachioed Fiat?

Since I was driving a car that I’ve just described as adorable, we’ve got to talk about what makes it so. Although I enjoy styling on automobiles, I’m not someone who would ever recommend buying a car for it’s looks just as I wouldn’t steer someone away from a car because of it’s exterior styling. The Fiat breaks a few of these rules. Although it handles nicely I wouldn’t buy this car for performance and I imagine more than a few people will buy it for it’s looks alone. Those people will not be disappointed with the money they spend.

The Gucci Fiat has G’s everywhere. The seats leather, the floor boards, the gear shift, tires, etc. I adore the seat belt straps in Gucci red and green.

I took the car to Rodeo Drive (it was like returning an orphan to it’s mother for one last visit) and was stunned that tourists swarmed the car and started taking pictures of themselves with it. I think the Gucci Fiat is plastered all over Facebook Japan right now. Young men went CRAZY for the car. I expected young women to like it, but I never expected men to fist pump for the car and yell down the street.

It was fun. Lots and lots of fun.

After taking the Gucci Fiat on a tour of Beverly Hills I thought, “let’s see how this thing handles the curves of Sunset Blvd.” In drive the Fiat handled as I thought it might. It’s not a sports car, it’s a 1.4 liter engine that was built for the narrow streets of Europe, not the speedways of the Autobahn. Driving the Fiat in sports mode is incrementally better, but it’s still a tiny car with a tiny engine. What was surprisingly good was driving the car in manual. It gets loud quickly, but if you’re willing to shift manually (pseudo manual as there’s no clutch) you can really push this car to perform. It was actually fun taking the curves on Sunset Blvd and then Beverly Glen.

The cabrio top is nice, but there’s a little whomp whomp sound if you leave it open, drive fast and don’t crack the windows. I’m pretty sure there’s a name for it. I don’t know the name, do you?

There is kinship with Italians. When you drive a Fiat expect all the other Fiat drivers in town to give you a smile or a wave. Even in bad traffic. Even in the rain… even if anything. It’s so much fun. I think they must only allow fun people to buy these cars. It’s amazing.

What was truly amazing was the kinship extended to me as a Fiat driver by the Ferrari drivers. They waved too, really. So call me shallow, but if $23,000 gets me the ability to hang out with Ferrari drivers I’m thinking that’s money well spent. No?

I never really did write about the Acura TL in 2011. Since I just had a week in the stunning 2012 TL I thought I’d finally get around to writing about the experience.

Y’all may or may not remember the car shopping frenzy of 2010. During this time of buying (okay leasing) two new cars I was able to keep the 2011 Acura TL for an extended drive. I loved the car. I didn’t like it, I loved it. I love the performance, the handling, the size and the luxury. I couldn’t get over the contrast stitching on the soft leather seats or the intuitive navigation system. I went wild for the car.

Unfortunately I was the only one.

Mr. G wanted something a little flashier. In retrospect I do understand, but when a TL passes me on the street and I see it’s little happy face back end I can’t help but feel a little mocked.

The all wheel drive TL is a beast. The only aggressive styling can be found in the exhaust pipes, but don’t let that fool you. It’s a quiet and unassuming ride until you engage the Tiptronic (manumatic system) and challenge this car a little. I had a long drive out on the 10 freeway early on a Sunday morning and this TL climbs hills at crazy (don’t worry it was legal) speeds without batting a virtual eyelash.

One of my favorite things to try is driving in third gear at 50 or so and then a quick acceleration to really play with the torque. The TL has it in spades. I cannot tell you how much fun it was to leapfrog along. Of course this is a horrendous way to drive for the passengers. The car gently glides along and then jackrabbits forward. As the driver I find it exhilarating.

The rear seat has plenty of leg room. Jane is 5’4” and was very comfortable. One thing about the TL is that the center rear seat is on a bit of a bump. It’s fine for around town but I don’t know how it would work with car seats or on very long trips.

The sound system on the car I drove was spectacular and the dashboard is ergonomic and sensible. As I recall you can actually use the navigation while the car is going. Finally someone recognizes that passengers can do the data too. If you’re a fan of beautiful design this just might be the perfect interior for you.

I think the TL is sexy as all get out, but what made me wish we’d bought it (I’d have bought this car, not leased it because of Acura’s incredible maintenance record) is the price tag. The 2012 Acura TL starts at $35,600 and tops out near $50,000. If I had to choose between a 5 series BMW a 6 series Audi and the Acura TL I would say that the Acura TL is the nicest of the three cars and probably should cost the most. Fortunately that is not the case and the Acura TL is the most modestly priced of the three.

The valets won’t freak out when you pull up in a TL, but they should.

You can find Acura on Twitter at @Acura_Insider

I’m not really a nice woman, which is totally okay, because I’m not trying to be. I’d like to be thought of as kind and honest, but nice women clutch their pearls and say Bless Your Heart and then they die when their ulcers explode. I’ll be ulcer free.

There are people I will never like, there are first impressions I simply cannot recover from. At one point in time I tried to talk myself out of these kinds of snap judgements, but then I realized they served me well.

I don’t like Range Rover drivers in Los Angeles. I know there are regions where a Range Rover is a practical choice, but Los Angeles is not one of them. If you have elected to spend six figures on a car you have options and one of those options is to not buy a disgusting behemoth that screws up parking lots, visibility and the planet. They’re gauche and I didn’t have to teach my kids to not respect you. The kids at half a dozen schools in LA know they’re the vehicle of choice for selfish people.

I don’t like idlers. The carpool lines are a fact of life here in the City of Angels. Moms (and nannies) drive to the school, wait in the line, grab their charges precious cargo and drive off into the sunset. I totally understand not wanting to park your car a whole block away, getting out of the car and then tottering along in 4″ wedgies walking to the school to fetch your kids. I really do understand this. What I don’t understand is why you must idle your car five feet away from where our children are playing. What is so difficult about turning the engine off and rolling the windows down? When did your comfort trump my child’s right to breathe clean air?

I love cars. It’s not a secret. I love small cars, big cars, loud trucks and hybrids. I love German cars, Japanese Cars, British Cars and I have a soft spot for Detroit. Recently I was asked what my favorite car was and I gasped, “It’s like asking me to pick a favorite child. I would say that the Acura TL feels a lot like the one that got away.”

I don’t think that loving one car makes me less able to love another.

I’m sad to say that I do not love the Nissan Leaf. This weekend I brought the Jaguar in for service and I drove out to Pasadena. Pasadena is not particularly close to my house and Rusnak isn’t the dealer that I bought the car from, but their service is so superior to the local dealerships that I bring the car in on Saturdays for oil changes and maintenance and I plan to do stuff in and around Pasadena to make the drive worthwhile. If I go to Rusnak on a weekday they have an Enterprise Rent a Car on site that will give you a Jaguar to drive, if you’re there on a Saturday you’ve got to go to Enterprise in South Pasadena.

The shuttle driver took me to South Pass and we chatted about cars. “The XJ is a boat, it’s for athletes and the elderly.” We both agreed. “The Ford Fusion hybrid is an incredible ride, but the lease rates make it too expensive.” More agreement. A classic Corvette passed us on the road and he told me about the muscle cars he once owned. I felt sad that I’d never owned a muscle car, but agreed that the sound of eight cylinders is sweet.

As we pulled up to Enterprise I noticed that there was a Nissan Leaf. “Oh my gawd,” I practically jumped out of the minivan, “it’s a LEAF. I’m renting that car I don’t care how much it costs.” I waved goodbye to my shuttle driver and practically ran to the rental counter.

“I’d like the Leaf please.” I said plunking down my paperwork from Rusnak that said I was entitled to a $33 a day rental.

“It’s $69 a day.” The clerk was apologetic.

“Oh, that’s okay. I just want to drive that car.” I flung my AMEX at him before he could change his mind.

We went through this whole song and dance where they explained to me that the car only has a 100 mile range, they showed me the mobile charger and they told me it would be okay to return it to Rusnak but asked me please to be sure it had enough charge left to get it back to their location.

“So you can add ‘Don’t be an asshole’ to the bottom of the contract if you want. I’ll sign that.” And he smiled and muttered something about adding a line about not being a jerk. If I was a more appropriate woman I’d have been embarassed.

I hopped in the car, adjusted the mirrors and headed home. My house is 20 miles from Enterprise Rent a Car. The Leaf doesn’t have gears that shift in the manner that a combustion engine would. There’s feeling of added acceleration when you’re in a lower gear and there’s no glide when when you take your foot off the accelerator. You know those ride on cars that the kids have, where you sit in the big Cadillac and press the pedal? It drives a lot like that, only faster and smoother. The car is all torque, and it doesn’t accelerate much when you go downhill, you still have to accelerate with the pedal. This is NOT a bad thing, it’s simply a profoundly different way to drive.

The Leaf has space, the interior is fabulous, we’ve seen quite a few cars with a similar shape and as much as they aren’t sexy or streamlined they are Oh My Gawd This Is Sunshiney spacious inside. It’s a wonderful feeling to have so much headroom, to have stadium seating for the kids in the back and to have a trunk big enough for another two people to sit in it. It’s still a small car though, and parking it is a dream.

I drove the car home without incident. After 20 miles I enjoyed myself. All that torque was a lot of fun on an uncrowded freeway and I liked that it accelerated as quickly at 60 mph as it did at 10. The visibility is fabulous and the car, in many ways, is a joy to drive. The dashboard is intuitive and ergonomic. I enjoyed every part of it.

Until I looked at the battery life on the dashboard.

I almost had a full fledged panic attack when I realized I had to drive downtown, home and then to Pasadena and I had to get it done in 50 miles. Although I had the mobile charger it was going to take 23 hours to charge the battery half way. So I gripped the wheel and white knuckled it through the rest of my afternoon hoping against hope that I’d get everywhere I needed to go in 50 miles or less.

It’s a real bummer that the Leaf didn’t add a generator like the Volt did. I enjoy the spaciousness of the Leaf and it would suit my family’s needs better than the Volt because it seats five not four, but I can’t forsee a the Leaf being a part of my days with such a short battery life and no way to get out of a jam quickly. The pleasure of driving an electric car was quickly eclipsed by the panic of driving an electric car and being stranded for at least a dozen hours.

I love the concept of an electric car, but unless you have a windmill in your garden you’re still plugging into coal power.

I’m waiting for Leaf 2.0 because I want to add this to the list of cars I love.

I just ran home from Main Street in Motion so that I could pop off a quick post for y’all.

GO.

If you’re buying a car Main Street in Motion is brilliant because you can test drive (short but fun drives) two or three comparable cars one after the other. When you’re at Auto Row running from one dealership to the next it’s sometimes hard to remember what features you enjoyed about which car. With this setup you hop from one car to the other in minimal time.

I’ll post pictures to Flickr later this evening, but I drove a few cars:

Chevy Cruze: this is a compact car that grew a set of balls pistons. I hadn’t really planned on driving it, because I was too busy salivating over the Camaros, but one of the fine ladies at GM suggested we try it, and I’m pretty sure she lived to regret that. The car is small, not a rocketship, but not slow either. It handled a 140 degree turn at about 40 miles an hour beautifully. The car hugs the road in a way I hadn’t expected for a car in that class. Oh, it also has doodads. Doodads are important (like USB hubs and paddle shifters). It was the big surprise of the day.

Impala: It’s a beast. I’m going to do a little research, I want to know what engine they jammed in there.

Camaro SS: I want. I love. I want. I love. I want.  Review over. (it’s fast and luxurious, like ridiculously so)

Corvette GS Convertible: My lap around the track was so fast I think we time traveled. It handles exquisitely, as Corvette’s are known to do.

Volt: I still think it’s fabulous. It’s not a performance car, but it’s a high torque car with limited drag. Driving it at 40 mph is an absolute joy, and it handles curves well.

If you decide to to to Main Street in Motion (this weekend in Los Angeles, coming to other locations all through 2011) there are a few things you should know.

• Register ahead of time if possible.
• Test drives are limited to folks 18 and up.
• Lines will be long for the performance cars
• Getting there early is probably a good plan
• The track is short. Floor it off the line. You won’t regret it.
• Don’t brake in a turn, speed up, it’s fun
• They had hot dogs, sandwiches, and drinks. You really can hang out there all day
• If you’re bringing kids, make sure you have two adults so you can take turns driving

Red Chevy Volt

Red Chevrolet Corvette

I’m beat. I’m somewhere past exhausted.

Mr. G is still away, and I’m pretty good Mom, but I’m a miserable Father. Alexander is starting to show his need for his Dad.

Also, note to Mr. G, he has a black eye. It is not my fault. It was a school desk injury. Apparently he was looking into a desk when a girl next to him flipped the top up. Again, not my fault. (This time)

I spent the day at the LA Auto show. The folks at Audi treated me to a drive in their A3 TDI, it’s a fast and fun smaller midsize wagon that runs on diesel. It gets up to 40 MPG. It drives nicely, it’s a high torque vehicle, which (for people like you and I) means that if you’re already cruising along at 20mph and you floor it you can accelerate to 60 pretty quickly. It was a quick drive, and it’s a fun little car with some nice details.

Most importantly I got to see the A8L. There are two things you should know about the A8L Google Maps and WIFI. Oh, there’s also a car that comes along with it. Basically the A8L is a big luxury rolling hotspot. I’ve been promised a test drive in it and I cannot wait. I’m going to drive all over town, park the car and whip out my laptop just because I can. I’m going to make Mr G drive me places while I tweet, blog and facebook from the passenger seat with my laptop for one reason: just because I can. I love that they used Google Maps too. My car has Sirius and I can subscribe to traffic, but I’ve never been willing to pay for something that every cell phone has free.

I’m really excited about a few of the cars I saw there, hopefully I’ll have some Acura reviews coming up (I love the look of their crossover), as well as Audi.

A bunch of car pictures