2008 Cadillac CTS

I just received my Car and Driver in the mail, and the Cadillac CTS is in the headline comparison. It only placed third, but it also made Car and Driver’s 10 Best list. Third place was in a comparison of Sport Sedans with manual transmissions, and the CTS lost to the Infiniti G35 and the BMW 328i. However, for the 10 Best they used an automatic car and it knocked the G35 off the 10 Best list. Since my next car will be the family car it will have to have an automatic, so I am glad the automatic in the CTS is so good.

Motor Trend also gave the Cadillac CTS its Car of the Year Award. Very nice!

I am turning 44 in a couple of weeks and I think it is time to grow up. I am looking past the New Camaro and think this will be my next car. Enjoy the photo.

Die Hard on iPod Touch or Zune… NOT!

I just got home from Target where I picked up a copy of Live Free or Die Hard. If you will recall, this latest installment of the Die Hard series comes with a downloadable copy. I read the jacket and the download works with Play4Sure portable devices. Well, that makes my decision between the Zune and iPod Touch even harder as neither of these devices works with Play4Sure. In fact, the jacket for the movie specifically says it will not work with video iPods, Sony PSPs or Zunes.

This did not stop me from buying the movie. I am buying it on principle. I hope this helps promote more movie studios putting a PC & portable device compatible version of a movie on the DVD disc.

Maybe I should rethink the Zen and Sansa View, over the Zune or iPod Touch.

Speaking of movies on portable devices, I did a little math today. The iPod Touch has a 480×320 resolution screen. All the other devices I am considering (iPod Nano, Zune, Zen, Sansa View) have a 320×240 resolution screen. Aside from the fact the iPod Touch is a higher resolution, it is also the only one that is in the wide screen format

320×240 reduces down to 4:3 format screen, which is the same as standard television. That means Die Hard on any of these devices with be displayed in letterbox with black bars on top and bottom. So the Sansa View and the Zen which are Play4Sure compatible are going to show the movie very small.

The iPod Touch’s 480×320 screen reduces down to 16:10.6. This is a little more square than a true wide screen display’s 16:9, but is a lot closer than the other devices. Did you know that when watching a movie on the iPod Touch you can double tap the screen and the movie switches between “mild” letterbox and full screen.

The iPod Touch is getting closer to the choice at hand. I still like the idea of 80 GB in the Zune, especially with a music subscription. PC Magazine is not helping enough. I just read their review of the Zune 80 GB and they gave it an Editor’s Choice. That should have helped me, but in the Zune review was a link to their review of the iPod Touch which also received an Editor’s Choice. PCMag had this to say about the iPod Touch regarding the high price, “The relatively hefty $300 and $400 price tags for 8GB and 16GB, respectively, don’t bug me either. Why? This is probably the best portable media player ever made.” They also gave the Touch 5 out of 5 starts. Wow! Their review plus the new screen resolution information is swaying me toward the iPod Touch.

I am trying not to let the iPod Touch’s web browser effect me. I don’t think I will use it much at all. I try to console myself that Microsoft could always update its WiFi enabled player with a browser, but then its low resolution screen would be more of an issue.

My wife told me I better make up my mind or she is just going to get me the one she thought I wanted.

Video on Zune or iPod Touch

I am getting closer to making up my mind on a MP3 player. My wife seems to be understanding of the iPod Touch’s $299 price, so getting it or the Zune 80 GB for $249 should not be a problem. I have seen enough at this point to suspect I want at least casual video watching. That means I want the big screen of the Zune or the iPod Touch. Sorry, Zen (to plain), Sansa View (better for music only, too small for video) and iPod Nano (again, too small for video, but I like it a lot).

At this point I am weighing the options of the Zune’s low resolution (320×240) screen to the iPod Touch’s high resolution (480×320) screen. As would have to be the case, the low res Zune has the large capacity to hold lots of videos and the high res iPod Touch doesn’t even have enough capacity to hold my entire music collection. I really wish Apple had made an iPod Touch with a hard drive, then this comparison would be over.

As the title states, the issue is video on these devices. I find it amazing that when I search Google for ways to put DVDs on either of these devices I come across page after page of links to people that want me to buy a specific program. Does anyone have first hand experience putting movies one of these devices that they can give me unbiased information on how they are doing it.  Please post a comment if you have actually done this on your own iPod or Zune player. I am very interested if anyone out there has hooked up one of these to a TV to play a movie.

Zune in Hand, Zen Not Charged

I made it to Circuit City today to get a look at the Creative Zen. Go figure, it was not charged. The salesman tried hooking it to the USB cable from another player, but after a few minutes it would still not turn on. Oh well.

I did manage to get my hands on the Zune 80 GB. It was in a display case and the salesman was very helpful in open the case and letting me try it out. Unfortunately, the Zune had never been setup and would only show its main menu. Clicking on any item in the menu brought up a message to setup the device. Darn, foiled again. I can tell you that the Zune is a reasonably sized and weighted device for the size of the screen it has. I would not mind carrying it around. I really want to see a video on this device before I make up my mind on a MP3 player.

SanDisk Sansa View, iPod Nano – Face Time

I stopped by Best Buy on my way home tonight. I managed to get some face time with the Sansa View. I like it. I would like it a lot more if the slick main menu was taken to lower levels. As soon as you enter an item from this gorgeous main menu you are looking at list after list. A little disappointing. I did not get to listen to the device, but I worked the controls and saw a video clip on it. It is small, even at 2.4″. I don’t know if I could stand looking at it for a full length movie. Overall it was a pleasant experience. I like that you get 16GB of memory for $199.

A friend at work let me play with his new iPod Nano. The screen is very crisp. It is easy to see why so many think the iPod is the be-all-end-all music player. But that screen is tiny. My friend only had music on his Nano so I could not see a video clip, but I am sure the tiny size would make watching a movie a chore. I did like the games on the Nano. I wasn’t even thinking about it as a feature until I saw it on my friend’s player. This could make a nice time waster when on long lines or even when flying on a plane when not watching a downloaded movie.

Overall these players are close. I still want to see video on the Nano, and I still want feedback from people that have the Sansa View or the Creative Zen.

Tomorrow I am going to head to Circuit City to try and get a look at the Creative Zen. I went to the Zen site and it pointed to Target, Best Buy, Circuit City and CompUSA as all carrying their products. But visiting each retailer’s sites only showed it at CC. I’ll post again tomorrow.

Oh, and for those of you following my possible trading of my car… I am going to try and hit a VW dealership to get a test drive of a 2008 Jetta GLI. The GLH is basically a GTI on the Jetta body style. I want to test drive the paddle shifted DSG automated manual transmission and see how it compares to the Altima’s CVT and the Accord’s “regular” automatic.

Stay tuned!

Creative Zen vs. SanDisk Sansa View

I am looking at the Creative Zen and SanDisk Sansa View as alternatives to an iPod Nano, iPod Touch or Zune 80 GB. Does anyone own one of these and feel like commenting?

I would like to know how the screen looks? How well does it work for playing TV shows and movies? How did you get the video content on the device? How is the interface on the device? How well does it handle huge songs lists (over 500)? How is the software on the connected computer?

Please, any comments from people that own these would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Blog Stats

Well, WordPress has me at over 700 views a day for the last month. I peaked at 1096 on 11/12.

The search terms that still dominate my stats are people looking for information on the New Camaro and Outlook/Office 2000 info on Vista. I wish I had more to provide in those areas.

Like most of you I am waiting with baited breath for the new Camaro. Even though I will never get one. My wife is due for the next car and I am probably going to have to go four doors. My wife tells her 31 year old brother to grow up when he mentions the new Camaro. Oh well. I think I will try to push the classic daily driver and the next car that is just mine to drive. I am in the process of trying to trade my Mini Cooper in for a car that can carry four people (2 adults and 2 teenagers) that will eventually be used by those teenagers.

I expect it to be about 4 or 5 years before I can pick a car just for myself. I am thinking Cadillac CTS or a classic old car. If I have to finance it the classic will be a tough sell., but the new CTS would be really cool. With my Classic Car Watch column I don’t actually spell out what I would go looking for if I could. Maybe I need to do that in an upcoming article.

As for Outlook and Office 2000 on Vista. I have thrown in the towel and I am running Office 2003. I do not want to go to Office 2007, but 2003 is super stable and I highly recommend all Office 2000 die-hards upgrade.

No Car Magazines

For the first time that I can remember I have no car magazines to read. I just finished the latest Hot Rod magazine. I always have unfinished magazines laying around. I never seem to get enough time to read them all the way through.

Well, I have finally caught up with the my stack of magazines. I was very behind this past summer. I took over 1-1/2 years of Hot Rod to the coast on vacation. I managed to read 14 of them while I was there. Hey, it’s relaxing! But now I am caught up on back issues. I am going to go nuts this summer when we go to the coast. We are considering going for a whole week this year. Last summer was only a 4 day stay. What will I do with myself for all that time without a huge stack of car magazines.

I have been reading car mags since 1980 when I was made to go to the library for study hall in high school. I started reading the ones they had on their rack and liked them so much I went out and bought a bunch off the newsstand. I immediately subscribed to the big three road test magazines (Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Road & Track). I also subscribed to Hot Rod, Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding and Super Chevy. At one time I was up to 13 monthly magazine subscriptions. I can still remember hearing the mail on a late Saturday morning (we had a slot in the front door) and I could tell by the sound if a magazine was in the mail from upstairs. I would go get it and read it cover to cover in bed.

I was a car geek… huge.

Currently I only subscribe to three. Car and Driver fulfills my new car needs. I discovered a long time ago that I prefer Car and Driver’s style and coverage the best. They provide plenty of technical information when Motor Trend did not. And Road & Track is too much track and not enough road. I like reading about street cars, not race cars. I miss the project cars that Car and Driver would build. Yes, build. The story that got my hooked was a project Capri they build in 1981. This is the Capri that was the same as the Mustang. They took a 255 V-8 Capri and added a bunch of bolt-on power to get it to run 130 mph top speed. Right after they did his Ford came out with the 302 Mustang with the tag line “the Boss is Back.” I loved that project car. It was so cool for someone that had just a few months of knowledge to try and understand what happened to the Muscle Cars and if serious performance would ever make a comeback.

I also subscribe to Hot Rod and Car Craft. These two were the best way back when. For the cars they cover they are still excellent, if maybe a little watered down. Car Craft built up a Mustang with the same basic principle as Car and Driver. They took a 255 Mustang and  added some basic bolt-on performance items. I believe they attempted to make sure all the items added were street legal, something that was not easy in the early 80s. They did one thing very different. They changed the car from and automatic (the only way th e255 V8 came) to a Doug Nash 5 speed manual. This was incredible for the time. The Doug Nash has a super ow 1st gear and a stand (for the time) 1:1 top gear. This was not an overdrive transmission. The super low 1st gear in combination with a 3.08 rear gear would give the same acceleration as a four speed with 4.11 or 4.56 gears. Yet you would still have a 3.08 gear for driving on the highway. The other thing I remember about that Mustang was they had a Cobra painted on the hood. It was a tasteful pinstripe outline design in green (the car was black). It was very cool.

Popular Hot Rodding was the most recent casualty to go by the wayside in my current subscription reduction. I don’t have a classic or project car so having too many magazines that cover that aspect of automobile enthusiasm is a little disheartening. If… scratch that… when I get another classic I will find at least two magazines that specialize in the car to subscribe to. Super Chevy and Chevy High Performance got the ax after I sold my 1967 Camaro RS Convertible back in 2003.

As it stands I have had never let my Car and Driver, Hot Rod or Car Craft subscriptions lapse since the fall of 1980. And in case you are wonder… yes and no. Yes, I attempted to save every one of those magazines. No, I do not have everyone of those magazines. But I have quite a few. I had almost all of them in the garage and the water softener decided I didn’t need them anymore. I threw a bunch away with the intention of saving just the back issues of the three main mags I have always subscribed to. However, some of them were ruined. I probably have a half dozen boxes outside and at least a three year supply in the closet of my study. If I could find the time I should go through them all and figure out what’s worth saving and what’s not. Then put the good ones in new boxes so they don’t look like boxes of garbage in the garage.

Well, since I am not reading anything at the moment maybe I should take a trip to the garage…

Two More Test Drives

In my pursuit of a replacement for my Mini Cooper to act as a family car I stopped by CarMax to test drive a 2007 Accord Sedan and get a price for my Mini Cooper S Convertible. The car I drove was very dirty on the outside, but spotless on the inside. I was not deterred by the appearance, knowing they would clean it if I bought it. The car was splendid. I would have no trouble buying the car I drive. It was a 2007 Accord Sedan with the V6 and leather interior. It had 9,700 miles showing. Overall a very nice car. My son in the back seat kept telling me to get the car. More importantly the power seemed exactly as I expected it, unlike that of the 2008 Coupe with V6 I drove with disappointing results.

CarMax offered $21,000 for my Mini Cooper. They showed me the printout from Kelly Blue Book with a Good condition price of $21,500. I was disappointed they think of my car as in only good condition, without saying anything as to why my car should not be rated as excellent. I am pretty sure they are going to tout it as excellent if they were selling it. BTW, the Accord I drove was priced at $23,599.

Since we originally looked at an Accord priced at $28.5K I did a quick search on Autotrader for G35 sedans. I found one at a nearby Infiniti dealer. It was a 2007 (all new for this model in this year) priced at $28.3K. Why not take a look. The car was dirty inside an out. I tried to overlook it on the inside, but I was a little uncomfortable with it. When my wife asked the salesman if they clean their cars. The salesman said this car was already cleaned. That put us both off. There were footprints on the rear seat and greasy dirt on the inside driver’s door handle. Also, we noticed two things wrong with the car. First was a lot of scratches and chips on the inside drivers door handle. Why would these be here. For a car with only 12K miles it seemed odd that these chips and scratches were there. You can’t blame this on closing the door with keys in your hand as the G35 has a keyless system. You keep the key fob in your pocket and push the start button to drive the car. There are also buttons on the outside door handles to push and unlock the doors if the key fob is in your pocket. The second problem we noticed was a crinkle finish on the shifter. It should have been smooth. I am guessing that the car must have been parked outside a lot or something.

Overall the car drove excellently. This is the revised G35 with the 306 hp engine. Power was abundant. But the two items above just made the whole experience less than it should have been. I never did get the feeling of being comfortable. I guess in the back of my mind these things were creating a mental block fro this car. The car were drove was a light tan, and it didn’t look elegant. There was a charcoal gray 07 priced at $33K that looked a lot nicer. The interior’s light beige interior didn’t go over well either, expecially how easily it was showing dirt and sings of wear already. A dark color interior would hold up better on this regard.

The experience may have been enough to put my wife off looking at any used vehicles, but not me. The Accord I drove was really nice, and I would prefer it over the G35.

The Infiniti dealer offered only $19,000 for my Mini Cooper. This was enough for use to leave.  We were hoping a “premium” dealer would make a more reasonable offer for a “premium” car. The Honda dealer offered $20,000. CarMax has been the only one that was close to the $23,000 the car should be worth on trade. $19,000 was a joke. The salesman had the audacity to start mentioning that my car may seem like it is excellent condition to me, but it isn’t in excellent condition. That was the leaving point. I wanted to knock some sense into this guy that my car was probably in better shape than his. I don’t have permanent damage to my car’s interior. And I can read the definite of excellent on KBB’s web site and my car qualifies.

Anyway, I don’t know what’s next. I’ll keep you posted.

Accord vs. Altima – The Coupes

My wife and I drove to a Nissan dealership this evening after dinner. We test drove an Altima Coupe with the 3.5 V6 engine and the CVT automatic transmission. I am in love with this transmission. It is amazing how the engine just keeps building RPMs and the car just keeps building speed. The engine RPMs never drop, because there are no gear changes. This is the coolest automatic I have ever driven… bar none. Nissan needs to get this transmission technology this good and put it in the G37.

The Altima’s CVT transmission even has a “manual” mode. The basically fakes gear ratios. It works quite well. I didn’t play with this much, but it what I did notice was quick shifts to these phantom gears and a useful way of holding RPMs if you wanted to, such as running through some twisty roads.

The power from the 3.5 V6 was totally amazing compared to the Accord, which I have issues with. The car feels fast. I did some research and I have found road tests that put this combination at 6.4 seconds on the jaunt to 60 mph. I have also found results for the manual transmission version hitting the magic 60 in 5.9 seconds. I have no trouble believing those number. I did not drive a manual equipped Altima, but I bet torque steer and launch technique could mean the average driver will get more performance from the CVT. It’s that good.

Overall the Altima is a pleasant car. It does feel a bit cheap though. The leather covered armrest feels very tight under your elbow. It is not as comfortable as others. The console is very plain, but the center stack of stereo & HVAC controls looks good. The door trim also has very bland styling. I had a hard time warming up to the interior. The dash on the Altima looks very cool at night, which it was when we drove it. I have not seen the Accord’s dash lit up at night yet, but pictures I have seen put the Altima in first place on this point.

We immediately drove from the Nissan dealership to a Honda dealership. A different dealership from the one we last drove an Accord at. I am hoping that the lack of performance in the previous Accord Coupe was a fluke, and this seemed like a good chance for a back to back comparison. Unfortunately the Honda dealership did not have any V6 Coupes in stock to test drive.

Right now I can tell you that the Accord’s interior is definitely a class above the Altima’s. But the Altima is clearly the performance car. Its handling is crisper, and the power is amazing. In fact, I told my wife that it is addicting, and will lead to speeding tickets. I was up to 80 mph and it was still pulling so strong I had to back off. In the Accord I was waiting for 80 to show up on the speedometer.

The Accord also happens to look a lot better in my opinion. Its crisp lines come across as looking faster when standing still than the Altima. A shame considering it is the slower vehicle.

One last thing. In our little experience with both cars I thought the Honda was the bargain. The Accord Coupes we looked at were priced $1-2K less than the Altimas we saw. However, looking at their respective web sites an Accord Coupe was $28,945 compared to $29,295 for an Altima Coupe equipped the same way. That’s a difference of only $350, and one Nissan dealer told us they were discounting the Altima $1,001 while the Honda dealer that actually had a V6 Accord Coupe had it “menu” priced a mere $450 below MSRP. I suspect dealer options may be at issue here, but certainly shopping around at both cars should have you in the same price range.

I was surprised at two options in the Altima. First was the key fob which has no key. You leave it in your pocket and push the start button. Kind of neat. Second was Bluetooth. This comes with the Premium Package on the Altima. To get Bluetooth on the Accord requires you to step up to the NAV system for over 2 grand.

In a perfect world I would love to have the style, interior and space of the Accord Coupe with the engine and CVT from the Altima in one car.

Accord V6 Coupe… Where’s The Performance?

I recently test drove the new 2008 Honda Accord Coupe equipped with the 268 hp V6 and an automatic transmission. I told my wife I was disappointed in the performance of the V6. It just didn’t seem to have much urgency in accelerating the car.

This bugged me so much that I looked online for some hard numbers. I assumed the Accord would be at least as fast as the last Accord Coupe that had 240 hp. That car was road tested to have 0-60 times of 5.9 seconds with a manual transmission. I would expect the extra 28 horsepower would be able to help an automatic attain similar numbers for the 08 model.

I came across this review of the 2008 Accord Sedan with the V6 and automatic from Edmunds. Rather than paraphrase them, here is what Edmunds had to say about this drivetrain:

“At the test track, the new Accord hit 60 mph in 7.1 seconds and ran the quarter-mile in 15.5 seconds at 91.8 mph. That’s a solid improvement over the Accord in our last V6 Family Sedan Comparison Test, but it’s still well behind the Camry V6 that whomped to 60 in just 6.5 seconds and scorched the quarter in 14.6 seconds at 97.3 mph.”

They went on to explain this anomaly as such:

“The biggest problem is the Accord’s engine electronics. With the standard VSA stability control turned off, the Accord’s computer doesn’t allow full-throttle acceleration until about 20 mph.”

Oops! These numbers are actually pretty poor in my opinion. A V6 Mustang with only 210 hp can get the same acceleration numbers. Plus, Road & Track tested an Accord Coupe with the V6 and manual transmission and got the old 5.9 second performance I was expecting.

I did a little digging on the competition. NITOclub did an early preview of the Nissan Altima Coupe with its Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). I have read nothing good about a CVT yet, but NITOclub had this to say about the CVT in the Altima:

“The CVT is what I was not ready for. After the engine hit 6,200rpm, it stayed there. I was going faster and faster with the transmission sitting right in the thick of the VQ’s powerband. Imagine first gear never ending, you never stop accelerating, and the engine never over-revs. Phenomenal.”

Automobile.com had this to say about the CVT in the Altima:

“For a huge portion of Altima buyers, the CVT is the way to go. Being one of the best units in the industry, it makes staggeringly quick shifts in manual mode that replicate a six-speed sequential gearbox. Really, it hops from gear to gear almost instantaneously making manual modes on traditional automatics feel off the pace.”

The combination of these two statements means I will be hitting a Nissan dealership in the near future.

The Menu Pricing Scam for New Cars

I recently when to a Honda dealership to see about trading in my Mini Cooper S Convertible on an Accord Coupe. This dealership uses the fashionable “menu pricing” model. This is where the dealer puts a price tag in the car that tells you what they are selling it for. It includes all their discounts and such up front and there is no negotiating.

This approach is doing very well. I know the number one thing people hate about shopping for a new car is the negotiating. Dealers make you feel so small and insignificant. They act so superior and are out to screw you at every turn. The menu pricing model is supposed to do away with all that.

The scam comes in when you bring in your trade. I looked up my Mini Cooper on Kelly Blue Book before going to the dealership. Here’s what I got:

Excellent $23,750
Good $22,355
Fair $19,970

Now the dealer did the same thing. I think they missed an option or two, bacause I remember the price on their print out from KBB showing an excellent price of $23,050, and the good price at about $21,900. BTW… NADA does not list a price for my Mini Cooper yet. They claim there have not been enough sales for them to give a reliable value. Regardless, using either set of KBB numbers would be fine. Care to take a guess how much they offered for my car?

$20,000!

Basically they offered me the “fair” value on a car in truly excellent condition. They told us they called a wholesaler to get the price. Yea, a wholesaler. Which means three people need to make a profit on my car. The dealer passing the car to a wholesaler, then the wholesaler that auctions it off to a small used car dealer, and the used car dealer that eventually sells the car to a customer. For all their menu pricing they were only discounting the Accord Coupe a mere $500 off MSRP. Granted, the coupe if the “special” car that will drive traffic to the dealership. It was surely gathering a crowd while we were there. But giving me 3 grand less than my car is worth they should take 3 grand off the sticker of their car.

Heck, there is nothing wrong with my car, and not once did they mention anything about the car that would justify such a low offer. No complains that the clutch was slipping (it’s not) or there are door dings (there aren’t) or the brakes are grinding (they’re not). They just made their disgusting offer. And there in lies the scam. Sure, they discount their cars by some amount. But then they stick it to you on your trade. And they have the audacity to mention the Accord’s resale value when hyping it. Don’t they know that BMWs have the highest resale value of any manufacturer, and the Mini Cooper the highest of any car. I wonder what they would say to the resale value if I was trading in an older Honda.

My wife and I found it extremely insulting that they offered $3,000 less than my car was worth by their own research. We left immediately!

I was thinking about using this topic for an article on my regular web site. But I want more information that my own experience. Please help me. If you have looked up your car on Kelly Blue Book or NADA and then been offered something by a dealer… with menu pricing or not, please post a comment with the numbers. I don’t need to know how you felt, or anything. We want this anonymous. Just how much one of the industry standard pricing guides say your car is worth and what the dealer offered. Also include if the dealer was a menu pricing style dealership. If you don’t want to post your info here please click this link to send me an e-mail with the numbers. I will NOT use your e-mail address for anything… ever.

I have a hidden agenda here. I am also looking for information to show that Kelly Blue Book and NADA numbers are not reliable. Which is particularly annoying. Dealers quote NADA when selling a used car, but I think they ignore it when buying your trade. That’s not fair, especially if you follow NADA and KBB prices for trade-in vs. retail pricing, You will see the dealer is getting thousands of dollars profit on your trade… yet they screw you anyway. I hope the results of this informal pole will bare this out. Please help by providing some real numbers.

THANKS!

New Honda Accord Coupe and Sedan

We visited a nearby Honda dealership to look at Accords. We went with the intent to look at a 2006 or 2007 Accord Sedan to possibly trade my Mini Cooper S Convertible in for. The Accord would make a good family car to save miles on our SUV. Plus it would be a great first car for our kids when they reach driving age.

We got hooked by the cool looking 2008 Accord Coupe. They had a nice black one sitting front and center of the dealership as you drove on the property. We liked the coupe so much we thought about it as a family car. I sat in the back seat as the salesman drove it off the lot. Yes, it is a little but of an effort to get back there, as with any coupe, but once there it really does have quite a bit of room. Two adults can fit comfortably as long as the front seat passengers are under 6 feet. Surely two teen age boys can fit back there behind my wife and myself.

I still think a sedan would be the better car to haul the family around in, but the looks of the coupe are so compelling compared to the sedan. Let’s look at it. Here is the front of the two cars:

Notice the lower nose, and the sleeker headlights of the coupe. The sedan’s headlights are not only taller they also stick out from the body lines. If we head around to the back of the car it is almost two different cars:

I know, the sedan picture does not show the rear very well. But I could not find a proper rear view on Honda’s web site for the sedan. I suspect they know about the problem. The sedan is totally different looking, and it shouldn’t be. With the sedan the license plate moves from inset in the bumper to inset in the truck lid. Also, the side body line continues around the trunk in a clunky way. It makes the trunk look broken up. The coupe’s smooth truck lid looks great, especially with the small lip spoiler on the V6 model. I don’t understand why the sedan could not use the same trunk lid & rear bumper. The sedan is actually ugly compared to the coupe from behind, and this is probably why they don’t show it on their web site. It was also the main reason my wife and I were “selling ourselves” that the coupe would make a good family car.
As for the drive… we drove the V6 coupe and a 4 cylinder sedan. I wanted to compare the two engines, because the 4 gets better gas mileage in this day of $3+ gasoline. Don’t do it. The 4 was extremely loud every time you pressed on the pedal. The exhaust noise boomed throughout the interior. It would become quite tiresome on my 75 mile round trip drives to work.

The coupe and sedan interiors, from the drivers seat, are very close. You would have to compare them back to back to notice any difference. The coupe’s seats are a little better. I was disappointed with the power of the V6 in the coupe. The Accord comes with a 3.5 liter engine pushing 268 horsepower. It didn’t feel that fast. I remember driving my in-law’s Avalon with 220 hp and it feeling faster. The Accord certainly did not feel anywhere near as fast as my 93 Camaro with 275 hp. I believe the V6 with a manual transmission should be in the high 5 second range in the run to 60 mph. The car I drove did not feel anywhere near that fast. In fact, it did not feel as fast an my Mini Cooper which is only good for 7.0 seconds in the sprint to 60.

Other than the low feeling of power, the car felt great. This is a very comfortable cruiser. The door panel was of a cheap plastic that did not feel at all good when I tried to rest my elbow on it. The Accord is wider than my Mini or my old Camaro that I could not rest my elbow on the door panel and hold the steering wheel. SO I guess that becomes a blessing in disguise. I found the console top/arm rest to be too soft. Yes, too soft. It is leather (I assume) and it is very plush. But I would be worried how leather this soft would stand up to being rested on for 100,000 miles.

Overall I would say the Accord is a success. I don’t think many Accord buyers are as picky as I am about 0-60 times. The V6 is very smooth and speed builds well, though I just felt like I was waiting too much without any feeling of urgency from under the hood.

If you want a great sedan or coupe than these cars are worth looking at. They are a bit boring, especially the sedan, compared to some other cars I can think of. The coupe we drove was “menu” priced at $28,495. I might think about buying a used Infiniti G35 Coupe for the money of an Accord coupe. Certainly if you are in the market for an Accord Coupe you should test drive a used G35 coupe before deciding the Accord is right for you. That is as long as you don’t have a problem buying a used car. Some people are adamant about buying new cars, which means the Accord Coupe is a bargain next to the new G37.

I have read a couple of reviews on the new Nissan Altima Coupe that said it had significant torque steer. I would still test drive the Altima Coupe before buying the Accord Coupe as well.

I just can’t get over the lack of power in the V6 Accord, which was compounded by the fact there is no manual mode for the automatic transmission. I did not try shifting the car by using the 1,2, D3, D gate, but a manual mode with paddles might help. I did notice it shifted at least 500 RPMs below reline when left in drive. Go figure!

Overall I can recommend these cars to the people that would shop for them. If you are more performance oriented you should make sure you test drive a manual equipped version or shop elsewhere.

Goodbye Old Friend

I sold my 93 Camaro Z-28. Last year in early June the car overheated and stalled on my way to work. I found a big piece of paper stuck in the radiator, which caused the overheating. I had it towed to a dealer and they told me the distributor cap, rotor and water pump would all need to be replaced… for $1,600. I had it towed home.

The water pump was new so I bought the distributor cap and rotor and installed them. I got the car running and started, stopped & cooled the car off a few time to get the anti freeze level topped off. I took it to work and it stalled on the highway… without overheating. It just died.

My wife suggested I get a new car, and I bought my 2006 Mini Cooper S Convertible. I was going to get the Camaro running some day so I could drive it to offset the miles I put on the Mini. I drive over 75 miles a day.

Well, after 16 months of letting the car sit in the back of the driveway I was going to work on it. I picked up a new distributor cap and rotor (assuming the generic ones I got last year failed), this time getting GM parts. I went to turn the engine over to circulate the oil but after only a few short cranks a nasty grinding noise started. What else could be wrong with the car? I suspect it was a starter, or starter-to-flywheel issue. I still had not figured out how I would get 16 month old gas out of the tank. I was worried the car would turn into a money pit trying to get it to run.

My brother-in-law new a guy that would pay $1,500 for it “as-is.” And pay cash. He came to look at it while I was at work and the car was gone when I got home… and $1,500 cash was sitting in my kitchen.

I am a little sad about this. I was the original owner of this Camaro, and I kind of hoped it would someday be worth something. And then it would be really cool that I was the original owner of a cool old car in another 15 years. I will never get the chance to say I was the original owner of a cool old car now, as I am already too old. My only hope would be to buy a new Camaro or Challenger when they come out and pass it on to one of my sons so they can say “it has been in the family since new” when they reach the age that would be cool to say.

Goodbye old friend.

P.S. The car did not look anywhere near as good as it does in the picture above which was taken in 2001 when the car had 60K miles. I sold it with sun worn paint, more rock chips on the hood than you can shake a stick at, and 159K miles (and some other issues). I think I got my money’s worth out of it and the $1,500 is a bonus.

P.S.S. And don’t e-mail or comment that you would have bought it and I should have put it up for sale. It never works that easy for a car not running. This was easy and convenient since he brought a trailer when he came to look at it.