New Direction

Since not much has been happening with the TR in the last few weeks I have been thinking of taking this blog in a bit of a different direction. I will still add updates on the TR and the MINI but will be throwing in my thoughts about other cars that I drive while on the road or when I stop into a dealership.

Let's start with the Pontiac Vibe:

Rented one of these while up in New York state this past week. I guess it was a pretty basic model (only option that I can figure is the "premium" package). Not a bad looking car (of course this is coming from someone who has only owned one non-wagon/hatchback ever, the TR4a) lots of room all around. Tailgate worked well and there was more room behind the rear seats than in the Impreza/9-2x wagon. Don't really understand the glass only opening option, never used it and I think the opening is really too small to do any good. Back seats give good leg and head room and aren't that bad for rear bench seats. Front seats are nice, very supportive. After driving 5-6 hours across the state of NY I was surprised how good I felt. I am usually ready to rip the seats out of my MINI after sitting in them for 4, so the drivers seat gets a big thumbs up. Only real beef about the driving position is the dead peddle. To close to the seat and is at a strange angle, had to keep my foot off to the side and almost under the brake peddle to be comfortable. "If" I owned one of these I would figure some way to tear that thing out. Basic audio was pretty good, easy controls within easy reach, even sounds good. Negative is that if you wear polarized sunglasses you can't read the info on the radio at all (wish more carmakers would take this into consideration). The drive, well it wasn't bad. Reverse gear was really twitchy while 1st gear seemed really sluggish, odd. Steering had better feedback that I would have guessed and the car didn't have that much body roll on the on-ramps. Engine did seem to struggle up hills at interstate speed, having to shift out of overdrive to keep up, this is the only time I noticed the engine noise so that is a plus. The claimed gas mileage is 29/34 with the auto box. No way, I got closer to 27 while on extended highway driving, good but not the 34 that they claim and not even the 29 that you might get in the city.

Anyway, I would give the Vibe a solid B. Nothing fancy, gets the job done hauling me all around the state of NY. If I needed a cheap (sub $20k) semi-suv/wagon/hatch/crossover thing (it's a wagon) then I would look at the Vibe and get the cheap version.