Archive for 2011 « JESDA.COM | Cars, travel, etc.

Texas Allows 85 mph Speeds

The Texas House passed a bill that allows speed limits to be as high as 85 mph in certain areas. Texas is now the fastest state in the union.

In the late 1990s, Montana earned the name “Montanabahn” after replacing daytime speed limits with a recommendation of “reasonable and prudent”, prompting visitors from around the country and the world to sample Montana’s high-speed interstates. Tickets were typically issued in Montana for speeds exceeding 100mph, and speed limits were valid and enforced at night.

In 2006 I flew to Los Angeles to buy a 1990 Infiniti Q45 and drove it home to St Louis. The first-generation Q, with its 280hp V8 and shark-nosed aerodynamics, was an outstanding high speed cruiser. I soared through west Texas and noticed that despite an 80mph speed limit, most passenger cars were safely traveling at 90-100mph during the daytime.

I-40 through Texas is wide open, barren, and sparsely populated, with flat, wide, and well-maintained stretches of highway. Visibility is excellent thanks to clear skies and flat earth, and population density is low.

Above: I-40, Texas

Compare that to Illinois, an equally rural state with flat, empty stretches of highway, where the speed limit is a paltry 65 mph with heavy enforcement.

Lower maximum speed limits make sense in congested areas like the northeast corridor or within city limits, but Illinois, outside of Chicagoland, is a bland, characterless expanse of corn and nothingness. I grew up there, so I know.

Meanwhile, Missouri and Indiana, which both neighbor Illinois, have speed limits as high as 70 mph.

See the National Motorist Association’s position on reasonable and realistic speed limits.

Interactive Map of State Speed Limits:
http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/us-speed-limits-map-by-state/

Texas Approves 85 MPH Speed Limit, The Fastest State In America:
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/04/texas-approves-85-mph-speed-limit-the-fastest-state-in-america.html

Chevy Vegas packed nose-down in railroad cars for shipping

The Chevy Vega started a lasting trend at General Motors: Great ideas with poor execution.

GM sold millions of Vegas from 1970-1977, and most suffered from engine failures, fires, oil consumption, and poor build quality. The few that miraculously continued running were eventually dissolved in light drizzles — body integrity was a major weakness.

The rail cars used for vertical delivery were called “Vert-A-Pac,” stacking the cars with their noses pointed at the ground, 15 per side for a total of 30 vehicles per rail car. The Vega was the only automobile ever delivered this way.

GM was so eager to build these cars and toss them out the door that paint sometimes had drip marks, screws were missing, and dealers were frequently burdened with the task of properly completing or redoing bumper and interior
assembly.

By the way, Atlas makes a Vert-A-Pac rail car for HO scale trains:

Now you can relive the Carter/malaise era through the joy and wonder model railroading. You can even build little towns with gas stations that have cars lined up for several blocks desperately thirsting for fuel. Hooray for the OPEC oil embargo!

Quality reading:
—Falling Star: The Checkered History of the Chevrolet Vega
–Former Vega owners shared their horror stories with US News.
—Cosworth Vega History

Will a Costco or Sam’s Club membership save you money on gas?

Fun with numbers!

You may have seen signs outside of Sam’s Club advertising significantly lower fuel prices, sometimes more than 25 cents per gallon for premium, but you may be wondering if its worth the trouble of paying for membership. Well, I did the math for you.

Here is the scenario:

Costco memberships start at $50 per year.
The average American driver puts 12,000 miles per year on a car.

Regular unleaded at the Shell station nearest to me is currently $3.69.
The nearest Costco is $3.59, or 10 cents less per gallon.

For premium unleaded, the Shell station is 3.96.
The nearest Costco is $3.79, or 17 cents less per gallon.

Costco 20 cents more for premium over regular while the Shell station charges 27 cents.

————————————————————————————————–

Let’s take a typical midsize sedan and run the numbers:

2010 Malibu I4 Auto – 26mpg combined

Regular unleaded gasoline
12,000 miles/year

$3.69 per gallon at Shell, 87 octane
Annual fuel cost: $1703.08

$3.59 per gallon at Costco, 87 octane
Annual fuel cost: $1656.92 + $50 membership = $1706.92

Annual Loss: $3.84 <—-

————————————————————————————————–

Now, let’s say you drive a more expensive car that requires premium unleaded:

2010 Cadillac DTS Performance V8 Auto – 18mpg combined

Premium unleaded gasoline
12,000 miles/year

$3.96 per gallon at Shell, 93 octane
Annual fuel cost: $2640.00

$3.79 per gallon at Costco, 93 octane
Annual fuel cost: $2526.67 + $50 membership = $2,576.67

Annual Savings: $63.33 <—-

————————————————————————————————–

Costco’s noticeably lower price jump for premium unleaded makes a noticeable difference, but $63 is hardly a deal. You would save more per year buy eating out less, and if you can afford a $50,000 Cadillac, you won’t sweat $63 in annual fuel costs.

This also assumes that you are not using your Costco membership to save on food, tires, eyewear, photo processing, insurance, clothes, furniture, dog food, or other essentials. My $50 membership fee pays for itself every year.

These figures also assume that you would fill up at Costco exclusively. Topping off your tank anywhere else would quickly eat into your $63 annual fuel savings.

Additionally, Sam’s and Costco’s pumps only accept debit cards, so you can forget about earning points or cash back for gas with your credit card.

CONCLUSION:
Don’t join Costco or Sam’s Club for the fuel discounts. If you have no intention of shopping there regularly, don’t bother. Think of the fuel discount as a perk for existing members rather than a reason for joining.

Fill up at the gas station that sells better coffee and don’t worry about the price.

Review and Video: 2001 Cadillac Seville STS

Love hurts.

Love (or lust) causes otherwise intelligent men to marry strippers and whores, and it creates masochists out of car enthusiasts. It is sometimes said that if you’re willing to endure thousands of dollars in annual repair costs to keep your car on the road, you know you’ve got something great (or you’re insane). By that measure, the fifth-generation Seville is outstanding.

The video review is at the bottom of the page.

HISTORY

The Seville was never an ostentatious car, except for the 1980s bustleback design. While the gargantuan 1974 Eldorado was Arnold Palmer’s chariot of choice, the smaller Seville was preferred by Betty White.

Above: Betty White’s 1977 Cadillac Seville

Since 1975, its been Cadillac’s tastefully restrained alternative to European luxury, with sharper handling and more technology than the division’s traditional full-size sedans.

1992 was a year of dramatic change, with the Seville increasing in size and earning awards for its clean, balanced, tuxedo-like styling. 1993 introduced the 300hp Northstar V8, and the Seville became the second-fastest luxury car in its class, bested only by the 6-speed BMW 540i. Autobahn versions were introduced in the mid-90s with Z-rated tires and electronic speed limiters raised to 150mph.

Your average American Seville owner was a doctor or lawyer in his or her 50s with a well-established career, a massive retirement fund, and three children entering college. Demographically, Seville people were nearly identical to Lexus people.

Unfortunately for Cadillac, the older generation that fought two world wars was dying off, and wealthy baby boomers were buying Japanese and German imports. Lexus satisfied America’s working professionals with higher quality cars and exceptional dealer service, becoming America’s top-selling luxury brand in 2000, dethroning Cadillac after decades of dominance.

The Seville never had much of an impact on American culture, likely due to its clean and agreeable image. The Escalade and Deville are revered by urban populations, as depicted in the music video below:

Fast Tube by Casper

[In this song, “Rich Boy” just bought a Cadillac and recommends installing Dayton wire wheels.]

“Seville” earns a few brief mentions in a handful of lesser known rap songs, sometimes in reference to being driven by someone’s father. Don Henley said he once saw a Grateful Dead sticker on a Seville, which he wrote about in the song “Boys of Summer,” in reference to how jarring it was to see a counter-culture sticker on an automobile that represented the establishment.

Unlike the Escalade, the Seville will never become a pop culture icon, which is fine by me.

FIFTH GENERATION DEBUTS

Its not that the 1998-2004 Seville was a bad car. It was outstanding, in theory, but quality was inconsistent. There were published stories of union workers drinking and smoking on the job at GM’s Hamtramck plant and wonky robots that painted each other rather than the sheet metal.

Fast Tube by Casper

Early impressions by the media were generally positive, but long-term reviews were typically negative. Edmunds had nothing but trouble with their 1998 Seville, requiring several dealer visits for squeaks, rattles, steering issues, electrical shorts, paint, peeling buttons, and vibrations.

But Top Gear’s prissy Jeremy Clarkson, of all people, actually praised the Seville’s Northstar V8, calling it “an absolute gem.”

Clarkson went on to say, “I so desperately wanted to savage this car but the engine is too good.” How unfortunate it is that the engine was the most troublesome part of the car. More on that later.

The fifth generation Seville was built on a K-platform derived from Oldsmobile’s G-platform, which underpins the Olds Aurora. The Seville, Aurora, and Buick Park Avenue share several mechanical components including wheel bearings and hubs. Aurora uses a smaller 250 hp version of the Northstar V8.

ELECTRONICS AND TECHNOLOGY

The headlights on all Sevilles are below average. With optional xenon lamps, lighting is adequate. With standard halogens, visibility can be quite poor. Plastic lenses that turn yellow over time require occasional wet sanding to maintain optical clarity.

To the Seville’s credit, it was GM’s testbed for several new technologies including adaptive seating and road-sensing suspension. And the old iteration of General Motors, as we know, has a tendency to release new cars without working out bugs until the end of the production run.

There was an attempt at an early version of an in-dash computer, a rudimentary predecessor to Ford’s Sync system which promised Palm Pilot synchronization and e-mail access (hey, remember PDAs?). The successor to that is the Onstar-based Facebook reader available in the new Chevy Cruze. The infotainment system, slated for 2001, was never released because it was too slow to operate. Engineers blamed Windows CE and the Hitachi HS3 processor.

The Onstar telematics system in older Sevilles uses analog cellular networks and cannot be converted to digital. The cutoff model year is 2003.

Optional adaptive seats had air bladders that actively adjusted to the shape and position of your body. I have yet to try it, but some people have called it creepy. Burn victims and hospital patients, for example, use bed surfaces with air bladders that feel strange at first but offer impressive long term comfort, preventing the formation of bed sores.

The Seville’s Bose 4.0 sound system was a $998 option, with 425 watts, 8 speakers, DSP processing, and wide imaging to simulate live music. The soundstage is so wide that it actually makes the interior feel larger than it is. That width, unfortunately, doesn’t have much height to go along with it. You keep turning it up hoping for a rumble that shakes your chest and hits you like a wave, but it never happens.

The Bose system uses DSP compression that removes a bit of naturalness from music, limiting the frequency range and processing it to produce something that’s more Lady Gaga than Karen Carpenter, which can actually be exciting with the right kind of music. It excels at electronic pop and techno, which are artificially produced to begin with, but rock and symphonic music feel flat. Its as if the system has no idea how to handle real guitars, horns, strings, and drums. Treble sounds a bit artificial and bass feels distant, like the subwoofer is mounted in the car behind you. Still, it was impressive for its time.

The optional Nakamichi system in the competing Lexus LS400 is less powerful but dramatically more detailed. Listening to a jazz band in the Lexus is like taking a handful of magic pixiedust and gently blowing it into the air, then watching it glide to the earth gracefully as it sparkles in the sunlight (I know, quite a bit of imagery). Each instrument is delicately reproduced, picking up not just sounds, but nuances that give recorded music a sense of realism. On some CDs, you can actually hear the air rushing through the chamber as an oboe is blown. The Nakamichi system is truly remarkable, and its the only exciting thing about the LS400, unfortunately.

The Cadillac’s head unit is integrated into the car’s data bus, which means upgrading or replacing the sound system is a chore. Memory and equalizer settings are tied into the key fob and driver profile. This means that when you get into the car, the Seville automatically pulls up your favorite radio station, EQ settings, seating position, steering wheel position, temperature, and feature preferences (horn beep, unlock in park, lock in drive, mirror down in reverse, etc).

It doesn’t always work, unfortunately. Occasionally, my climate control temperature will set itself to 60 and the radio loses its EQ settings.

All 98-04 Sevilles are equipped with Stabilitrak, which makes it darn near impossible to spin out in the snow as I discovered this past winter.

“StabiliTrak 2.0, an improved version of the most advanced integrated stability control system in the world… includes side-slip rate control and active steering effort compensation. Introduced on three performance-oriented Cadillac models in the 1997 model year, StabiliTrak provides an important safety advance by helping the driver maintain control during emergency or evasive maneuvers. StabiliTrak works by comparing the driver’s intentions (indicated by steering wheel position) with how the vehicle is responding. Three key sensors keep the ABS and traction control computer informed: one reads steering wheel angle, another reports the vehicle’s lateral acceleration and the third measures yaw rate (rotational velocity about a vertical axis through the car’s center of gravity). Information is also gathered from vehicle speed.

“If the vehicle’s dynamic response does not agree with the direction the driver is steering, StabiliTrak goes to work by selectively applying the individual front brakes to help keep the car on the intended course. If the car is slipping wide of the desired path in a turn, applying the inside brake helps the vehicle turn tighter. In case of diminished traction at the rear causing the tail of the car to drift wide, activating the outside-front brake gently nudges the car back in line. StabiliTrak is automatic and requires no additional driver action. In most cases, the driver probably won’t even notice the helping hand from this technically sophisticated system….Unlike stability control systems from other manufacturers, Cadillac’s system maintains the driver’s ability to apply throttle in StabiliTrak maneuvers.”

Rear ultrasonic park sensors could be more accurate.

Below is an article from Popular Mechanics about the Bose system.

[Show as slideshow]

STYLE

Few sedans on the road look as clean, professional, and balanced as the fourth and fifth generation Sevilles.

Above: Fourth Generation Seville STS, ’92-’97

Above: Fifth Generation Seville STS, ’98-’04

Fourth generation cars are longer, narrower, and have a more Italian look, as they should since they were directly inspired by the Pininfarina-designed Cadillac Allante.

The fifth generation Seville reduces overhangs and widens the car, creating more interior space while making it easier to park. [Unfortunately, the turning circle is a WIDE 41 feet.] The upper beltline flows gracefully into the trunk lid to form the shape of a gently curved lip spoiler. Longer and wider wraparound headlights give the fifth generation Seville a longer, lower look.

There’s something delightfully formal and aesthetically calm about this car, like an art museum. While Mercedes and BMW (and lately, Cadillac) have pursued scoops, swoops, lumps, and humps in desperate acts of attention whoring, the Seville stands the test of time as a tribute to cleanliness, minimalism and good taste. Its a successful interpretation of present-day American design, quite a contrast to the days of tail fins and chrome. The same could be said of the Lincoln LS.

Most importantly, when I walk up to my Seville I think to myself, “Gosh, that’s a beautiful car, and its MINE!” Its a feeling of genuine admiration and satisfaction, something Camry owners may never know.

Fast Tube by Casper

HOW IT DRIVES

The mess of gizmos, gadgets, and sensors attached to the Seville pay off with near-magical ride and handling. Imperfect highway surfaces become smooth sheets of glass and despite the car’s 4000lb weight, it grips corners like a labrador’s teeth on a chew toy.

Unfortunately, despite the Seville’s impressive performance capabilities, its nose-heavy weight distribution and insufficient front seat side bolsters discourage drivers from pushing the car to its limits. In a hard curve, excessive physical effort is placed on keeping the upper body centered, taking focus away from steering and braking. A front wheel drive car of this size has trouble mimicking the neutral handling of a BMW 5-series, where the car rotates around the driver seated at the axis of centripetal forces.

Unlike traditional American cars, the Seville glides down the highway with ease and stability, never wallowing, wandering, or floating thanks to Continuously Variable Road Sensing Suspension and Magnasteer which increases steering effort as speed increases. 2002-2004 Sevilles (later 2002) received Delphi’s Magneride, the same system used by Audi and Ferrari, for sharper cornering and quicker responses to changes in road surfaces. Magneride is faster to respond to changing conditions than CVRSS.

Click here to learn more than you ever wanted to know about CVRSS.

You genuinely feel like you’re dominating the earth, molding the ground beneath you. Part of that is the high-tech suspension system, the rest is perhaps due to the car’s weight.

Steering sensors and G-sensors send data to the PAS (Performance Algorithm Shifting) software, telling the transmission to hold its gear while moving through a curve, as you would with a manual transmission. GM’s 4T80E Hydramatic 4-speed auto is smooth and reasonably responsive, but the Northstar’s preference for top-end passing power makes it feel slightly delayed.

Cadillac’s 300 horsepower 32-valve DOHC Northstar V8 gives the Seville STS slingshot-like acceleration, especially above 3000 RPM. Passing power arrives like a fast-moving thunderstorm, complemented by a throaty, racy, and distinctly American growl. Unfortunately, 2000 and later Sevilles received changes to the intake that reduce engine noise.

The Seville SLS, however, uses different gear ratios and a 275 hp version of the Northstar with more torque for more comfortable around-town driving. Less high-rpm “winding” is necessary to move from a stop.

Premium fuel is required for 93-99, recommended for 2000 and later. Fuel economy is reasonable, 15 city and 25 highway. At 60mph on a flat road with a car in good tune, one could realistically expect 29 mpg. I tend to average 23-24 mpg at 65-70 mph, and see 16-17 in town.

In snow or rain, the Seville is faultless, which explains its popularity in the northeast and midwest. With front wheel drive and Stabilitrak working in unison, its nearly impossible to lose control of the car.

RELIABILITY

Its not all sunshine and roses, unfortunately. As I said earlier, there’s plenty that can break:

–Gadgets and electronic gizmos that stop working
–Electronic suspension
–Head gaskets
–Oil leaks / Rear main seals
–Case half seals
–Bose amplifier and speaker problems
–Water leakage in the trunk (body seam problem)
–Rattles and noises
–Bubbling/bulging dashboard tops
–Front end noise and vibrations
–Crank sensors
–Bad motor mounts
–Misaligned doors and fenders

Some of this is minor. The rattling head rests can be remedied by taking apart the seat and tightening whatever is loose or replacing any clips are missing or broken. Bose amps and speakers can be sent away for low-cost rebuilding. The dashboard tops can be reglued for just a few dollars.

Unfortunately, problems involving the Northstar V8 can be expensive to repair.

A significant quantity of front wheel drive Northstar V8s from 1993 onward have or will suffer from head gasket failure. The root cause is separation between the head and block, due to bolts that inadequately secure the head.

In 2000 and 2003, the head bolts were modified for a more secure grip, which have significantly improved but not completely resolved the head gasket problem. 2006+ front-wheel drive Cadillac DTSes and rear-wheel drive Northstars such as those in the STS, SRX, and XLR seem to be dramatically improved, with far fewer cases of cooling system issues or oil leaks.

The permanent fix for a Northstar head gasket failure is a stud kit, but engine removal is often a part of the repair process due to clearance issues. The transversely mounted Northstar V8 is a tight fit.

Trunk water leaks are nearly impossible to fix, as it has been discovered that the problem is likely attributed to bad body seams rather than bad rubber seals. 1998 and 1999 model years suffer most.

Some Sevilles are affected by these problems, some are affected by a few, while others aren’t affected at all. Its baffling to see some Sevilles blowing head gaskets at 50,000 miles while others cruise past 250,000 with nothing but routine maintenance.

The issue seems to be the variable quality of parts and the inconsistency of the build process at Hamtramck. While the plant is currently an award-winning facility, especially since the turn of the century, it has a checkered past.

The general rule of thumb is that a Seville with a history of problems will have a future of problems. Ask a GM dealer to check the warranty history.

Who should buy a used Seville:
–Hobbyists
–Enthusiasts
–People who can afford expensive repairs
–People with other cars
–The mechanically skilled or masochistic

Who should NOT buy a used Seville:
–Teenagers
–Poor college students
–Single moms (you’ll get hosed by shady mechanics)
–People who need low-cost basic transportation
–Anyone who stumbles on to a buy-here-pay-here lot and uses their last $500 as down payment

RATINGS

Ride: 10/10 — Like glass thanks to thousands of dollars of technology.

Style: 10/10 — Timeless.

Powertrain: 9/10 — The Northstar V8 is outstanding. A quicker-shifting transmission would be nice, but it doesn’t significantly detract from the fun or sense of control.

Braking: 6/10 — Brakes require more pedal effort than they ought to, and lack a sporty bite. Modulation is even and progressive.

Steering/Handling: 7/10 – Front wheel drive has obvious limitations. While torque steer is not an issue thanks to equal length half shafts, most of the Seville’s weight is in front of the driver. Magnasteer does an impressive job of managing steering effort and communicating the road surface to the driver. Technology works overtime (and works well) to compensate for the Seville’s inherent difficulties.

Audio/Accessories: 9/10 — When they work, the array of toys and features make the Seville an everyday pleasure. The Bose sound system is a strong effort for 1998, but by 2001 other manufacturers caught up.

Interior: 7/10 — Materials are nice to touch and nice to look at, but assembly quality is poor. Wide panel gaps and rattles detract from what could have been a world-class interior. Eye-catching Zebrano wood and beautifully flowing surfaces make up for a few cheap plastics.

Comfort: 9/10 — Thigh support is excellent but side bolsters are lacking. The Lexus LS400’s spring-supported seats are slightly better over long distances. The front seats have two seat belts that meet at the buckle, which means leaning forward will not affect belt tension on your waist, and moving your hips will not cause the belt to pull on your neck.

Quality/Reliability: 3/10 — Consistency is a problem. A good Seville is a great Seville that will last forever. A bad Seville is a nightmare. Owners have widely varying experiences. So far, with this 2001 STS, it seems I’ve found a good one. Fifth-generation Sevilles built 2000 or later tend to be better built.

Overall Value: 5.5/10 — Resale value is ridiculously low. This $3800 luxury car with 112,000 miles was about $50,000 brand new only nine years earlier. An equivalent LS430, LS400, or Lincoln LS will cost more to purchase. However, high repair costs will probably make up for any savings. Few cars for less than four grand will make you feel as rich and pampered as a Seville.

VERDICT: Love hurts. It causes us to make irrational, emotional decisions. I know people who will buy a Seville, get tired of its problems, and sell it only to buy another one a few months later. Like alcoholics, maybe we need to form a support group. After having owned and enjoyed more than two dozen different cars, trucks, and SUVs over the past decade, this is the car I continue to benchmark other luxury cars against. Despite everything that goes wrong, I keep coming back.

Specifications at ConsumerGuide

[Show as slideshow]

Fast Tube by Casper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0BSC7E4MYU

Bonus: Driving on the beach in Corpus Christi TX

Fast Tube by Casper

Road Trip and Review: 2003 Range Rover HSE, St Louis to Tampa

This took place in October of 2007.

My time with the Range Rover was brief, no longer than four months if I recall correctly. I swapped cars with a friend — he got the 1998 Lexus LS400 and I got his 2003 Range Rover… and a higher payment, and higher fuel costs, and higher insurance, and so on and so forth.

Looking back on it four years later, I realize that my opinion of the Range Rover varied widely from love to disdain. On one hand, it was at the time the most exquisite, posh, and upscale SUV ever built. On the other hand, it was a potential reliability nightmare and a pretentious, conspicuous eye-magnet, at least in my somewhat conservative part of the country. [I’m sure it blends in with Miami traffic like a yellow cab in New York.]

At first, I was enthralled by the beautiful piped leather, the refinement, and of course the prestige. At 25 years old nothing mattered more in life than what I was driving. Its a product of immaturity I supposed, an inexplicable need to impress people you don’t like.

Now at 29, I’m driving two thoroughly used cars, 10 and 20 years old, that cost as little to buy outright and maintain as the Range Rover did in only a year’s worth of payments, repairs, and insurance.

After the passing of four years, I can reexamine the Range Rover from a more reasonable perspective.

We’ll start with the road trip from St Louis MO to Tampa FL and conclude at the end with a review.

A nice morning in Chesterfield MO to begin a road trip.

This was all I had for navigation, my Samsung M610 phone. It worked.

Approaching Nashville. You can tell you’re in the south when you see signs for Shoney’s restaurants.

Tennessee has friendly people. I chatted with the lady at the gas station for what seemed like ten minutes about orange juice, viruses, and colds. Unfortunately, their spelling is subpar.

Winding through beautiful mountains in Tennessee. The Lexus LS400 really is an invisible car. On a couple occasions, semi trucks changed lanes and nearly ran me off the road, and they didn’t seem to hear my wussy little horn.

Stopped at a rest area to look at the Nickajack Reservoir.

Approaching Atlanta

Extended Stay Studio, $25, Priceline. The carpets smelled old but the bed was clean.

Crap dinner saved by bacon.

I was doing 80-100mph on I-75 through Atlanta and people were STILL passing me.

One of Altlanta’s many skylines.

Home of Coca Cola. I also drove past the plant that built the original Ford Taurus.

Honda with a Ron Paul 2008 bumper sticker.

2008 CTS! I was excited to see it four years ago since the car had just come out.

Shockingly tasty. Basically a large piece of fried chicken on a dense sweet bun. With pickle. After this trip I vowed to begin cutting back for my health (and I did), so I took every opportunity to indulge.

I left the interstate and followed a sign that was supposed to take me to a President Carter historic site. The signs eventually stopped telling me where to go, so I headed back.

This train eventually just stopped. Fortunately, I was able to make a careful u-turn, go down the street, and cross elsewhere.

The one and only thing I miss about the Lexus is the Nakamichi system. It is, by far, the greatest OEM sound system I’ve experienced (as of 2007). The Harman/Kardon BMW system in the Range Rover was worthless, astonishing considering it had an MSRP of $73k.

Clean and beautiful Fleetwood Brougham.

I hope thats a rental.

Average fuel economy keeps rising.

I finally arrived at my hotel in Tampa, the Grand Suites on the north side. I stayed here twice before and didn’t have major complaints, especially being a $50 suite.

Picking up the Rover. Taking blurry photos.

Swapping keys.

Ian’s mom drove a 1990 LS400 in pristine condition. The engine is beautiful and ornate, designed before the arrival of ugly plastic covers.

We went to Carabba’s. I ordered mussels and pork chops.

The CD navigation system is junk. $600 would upgrade me to a BMW DVD unit.

According to the stickers on the side of this Camry, the guy does house sitting, taxi service, personal errands, maid service, and probably computer tech support.

Ian’s sad, undecorated cubicle.

Personalization. Having a Ron Paul and NRA sticker on the same vehicle is somewhat ironic. In Texas, the NRA and GOP tried to campaign against Ron Paul (the #1 second amendment supporter in congress), and failed miserably.
These days, I prefer to avoid bumper stickers and keep politics to myself. You never know when some idiot will get angry and vandalize your vehicle.

My dream car, the Cadillac XLR.

Heading to Clearwater for dinner.

We found a hispanic restaurant that looked inside and out like an Italian place. Parking spot was excellent.

I ordered the grouper. Ian had chicken and saffron rice. It was decorated with Brazilian artwork. The owner was on site asking patrons if they were pleased.

The next morning. There was a large group of kids standing in front of the hotel lobby just as a pickup truck pulled up. I joked about the kids climbing into the back of the truck, and they did!

Seriously?

“I CANT GO FOR THAT. NO NO, NO CAN DO.”

Busch Gardens was doing a “Fright Night” thing where the park was Halloween-themed. We stopped for some cash.

Some Rover pics.

Ticketing entrance.

Waited in line to enter a haunted house. It was decent.

Gender benders bending.

Camera flash ruins the mystique of a haunted house.

Waited in line for 45 minutes to board a roller coaster. No, it wasn’t worth it. A white girl and a black girl got into a shouting match. Unfortunately, no hair was pulled.

Throughout the park there were areas covered by artificial fog. Costumed zombies jumped out of the dark and scared people. Feeling tired, cranky, and sick, I instinctively told one of them to get a job. He backed away quietly. He looked more homeless than scary to me.

After being tossed around by a couple rides, I started to feel sick and went to the car to take a nap. I used my phone’s navigation to help me find where I parked.

Tampa, downtown the next day.

Something of some sort happened there to those people.

Bern’s Steakhouse was the highlight of my trip. Supposedly (and believably), its among the top 5 steakhouses in the country. The place has a half-century history, and our server had been working there for 21 years. Each server goes through one year of training.

French onion soup.

Loaded baked potato, onion rings, homegrown organic carrots glazed with Grand Marnier, green beans, and a 10z Delmonico aged five weeks.
Still the best steak I’ve ever enjoyed. Our server mentioned that all of their vegetables were organically grown in-house. A guy at another table commented, “Do you make your own furniture too?”

Its decorated like an old whorehouse.

After our amazing dinner ($100 + $40 tip), we went upstairs to their dessert room. Each dining table is encapsulated in a big barrel.

Recipes on the wall in Ye Olde English.

Elaborate dessert menu followed by an elaborate wine menu.

At our table was a phone and radio. The “contemporary” button started blasting punk rock. We changed it back to classical.

Tiramisu. Note that we’re fat.

Macadamia nut ice cream with a side of macadamia nuts. The recipe is THREE HUNDRED YEARS OLD. It was, by far, the best ice cream I’ve ever enjoyed in my entire life.

Staircase leading to the dessert room.

The next day we went to the Tampa Auto Museum. The Rover’s navigation system barely got us there. It consisted of mostly European cars, including the Irish-built Delorean and the Cugnot, the world’s first self-propelled vehicle. Every vehicle displayed can be driven out (and often are). It was basically some rich guy’s garage.

The auto museum pics were unfortunately taken with my camera phone.

Lots of early front wheel drive cars.

Every vehicle has a current registration.

Parked outside was a Cadillac Cimarron. Along with slavery, Jennifer Lopez, and Windows Vista, the Cimarron is an example of the absolute worst America can do. Every example should be hunted down and destroyed.

We went to historic Ybor City. Why? To eat, obviously.

I suggested we buy some cigars.

We stopped at the Gandy bridge to enjoy some scenery and smoke in the Range Rover.

That concludes my visit to Tampa.

On my way back I was tired, so I bought some pillows, idled the car, and took a long nap in the cargo area.

I checked into a Days Inn outside of Chattanooga and got a room with a nice view.

——————————————————————————————–

Now, on to the vehicle review.

HISTORY

BMW bought Land Rover in 1995 and embarked on their most expensive project ever, investing billions into the design and engineering of the next-generation L322 Range Rover. Ford bought Land Rover in 2000, which included the acquisition of the man at BMW who headed the Range Rover project, and released the Mark III Range Rover in 2002 as a 2003 model.

More info: http://www.rangerovers.net/rrmkiii.htm

MECHANICALS

BMW’s 4.4L V8 moves it along reasonably well thanks to 290hp and 325 lb-ft of torque. 0-60 took 9 seconds — standard for midsize SUVs but slow compared to the Cadillac Escalade. In later years, the BMW powertrain was replaced by a 4.4L Jaguar V8, with supercharged versions producing 400hp.

The Rover delivers more of its power in mid and high RPMs, a change from the low-end grunt most Americans expect out of trucks and SUVs. It did feel a bit sluggish when loaded with 800-900 lbs of cargo.

The Range Rover moves like a large sedan, best described as an E38 7-series on stilts. You will hear tires squeal if you push it, but it never loses its composure, which is impressive for a 5400lb lounge on wheels.

The ride is never harsh or uncomfortable, remaining steady, firm, and communicative while keeping road imperfections out of the cabin.

Unlike the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, the Range Rover stops on a dime thanks to brakes engineered by BMW. Emergency stops, even with a full cargo load, are neck-snappingly short as I discovered on a few occasions in downtown St Louis.

Around town, the Rover proved to be an excellent daily driver thanks to its wide all-around visibility, sporty dynamics, and accurate parking sensors.

The air suspension comes with a few tricks, including a ride height adjustment with a feature called “kneel” that lowers the vehicle to allow easier ingress and egress by women and children. The system also has the ability to apply downward force to a particular wheel, increasing traction when climbing over rocks, similar to the behavior of a live axle. Arguably, this allows the Range Rover to handle off-road conditions more successfully than the classic Land Rover Defender, so say the off-roading experts (which I am not).

Riding in a Range Rover is like being a Persian king perched high on a throne. Slaves and servants hoist you up on a platform and carry you around on their shoulders while you smugly look down on your subjects. And if you drive around town in a throne, people will eventually think you are made of money, as I discovered one night at a gas station.

I was in Clayton Missouri near Washington University putting gas in the Rover.

A gray early 90s Buick Regal was parked near me. A guy was filling up, and his friend/girlfriend was standing outside the car yelling into her cell phone. She wasn’t yelling at him or at the person on the other end of the line, but she was raving mad and cursing about something.

He asked her to quiet down, “People can hear you!”

Well, it was the middle of the night and I was the only one there.

She goes, “Its just some rich guy in a Range Rover. I don’t give a f*ck what he thinks!”

I stared at her blankly and continued filling my tank. I am not rich.

EXTERIOR

NOTHING looks like a Range Rover. If you want to make a statement about wealth and success, this is THE vehicle to do it in, short of something exotic. The designers did an incredible job of retaining the Rover’s classic lines while bringing it into the 21st century. Over the years, the glass headlights were replaced by cheaper glass and the clean four-slat grill was replaced by an abomination that looks like a cheese grater. (2008 pictured below.)

The Range Rover offers a wide view of the world around you thanks to its generous square feet of glass and high seating position. It bucks the trend of silly rising beltlines.

The only major styling flaws are the silver plastic tail lights that look like they may have come from your favorite auction site.

INTERIOR

This is where the Range Rover shines. It smells delightfully British with real wood flanking each side of the center console and rich, thick leather with color-contrasting piping. Not one single visual detail was overlooked.

In earlier production years there were a couple spots where the arm rest on the door would wrinkle and the rubberized surfaces would flake off — that was resolved later on. I fixed the rear center console flaking by purchasing a piece of wood trim to cover it.

Storage is limited, and the cargo area is unusually shaped. When the rear seats are folded flat, there’s a step in the load floor that makes it difficult to slide boxes and packages.

Like traditional American stationwagons, the rear hatch of the Range Rover opens in two sections, one bottom half that opens downward and one bottom half that opens upward. The bottom half offers a nice place to sit for tailgating.

A cupholders pops out from underneath the passenger side vent and in this truck, they were broken.

The analog clock at the bottom of the center stack is digitally set using the navigation system. When you set and save the time, the analog clock then rotates its hands to the correct setting.

The steering wheel is all leather, thankfully, though wood trim on the steering wheel was introduced in later years (blech).

GADGETS AND ELECTRONICS

I already mentioned the cleverly articulating air suspension with load leveling and manual height control. Like the 1993 Lincoln Mark VIII, it can be set to automatically lower the truck at highway speeds.

The BMW navigation system is awful. Because it does not have a touch screen, you are forced to manually rotate the knob to select one letter at a time. Because of a software defect, the navigation voice (a male British accent) will occasionally sneeze when saying “ahead.” No, this is not an intentional feature, though it does add some character. The map graphics look like they were taken from a computer game from 1983, with what appears to be no more than eight display colors. On top of all this, the system’s routing is terribly inaccurate.

This was remedied in later model years.

The BMW DSP sound system is awful. The equalizer offers a wide selection of settings but none of them produced a pleasing result. Highs were artificial and shrill, mids were harsh, and lows very easily overwhelmed the twin subwoofers. It is inappropriate for what was originally a $73,000 SUV.

This was remedied in later model years.

RELIABILITY

2003+ L322-chassis Range Rovers suffered from front propeller shafts that failed. I purchased an extended warranty specifically for this reason, but it didn’t alleviate the problem of a possible breakdown in the middle of nowhere.

When the shaft and differential fail, the vehicle loses power and coasts to a stop. Some have reported a loss of braking and steering. The ECU detects a fault, takes over, and kills the vehicle, requiring a tow to have it repaired.

Only after I got rid of the Range Rover (after Ford sold the brand to Tata) did they issue a proper recall.

Later Jaguar-powered Rovers have reported engine failures and oil leaks.

This one had an ignition issue where the key sometimes had to be twisted two or three times to start.

The suspension behaved oddly, though nothing major went wrong. It sometimes jumped up or down a half inch while driving, perhaps due to a faulty height sensor. I once walked out to the truck on a cold December morning and hit unlock on the remote key fob, and it responded by unlocking the doors and raising the front suspension a half inch.

The windows liked to randomly open themselves. Occasionally, I would walk outside and find that it had lowered the windows two inches for no reason.

The telescoping steering wheel is known to break, and on this Range Rover, it was indeed broken. Apparently it binds easily and seizes. Steering continues to work fine.

It mysteriously leaked a little bit of oil and coolant, nothing serious but still annoying.

The horn didn’t work.

Overall, the Range Rover is unusually dependable considering how insanely complicated it is, but when something does go wrong, the repair cost is astronomical. Air suspension issues could require a new valve body or new lines costing thousands of dollars — it isn’t like a Lincoln or Cadillac where you replace a $100 air bag.

The front prop shaft is two grand with parts and labor. Electronic issues have the potential to be nightmarish.

While I never had anything major go wrong, some of the folks at rangerovers.net spent most of their time driving rental/loaner cars due to their Rovers spending so much time in the shop.

RATINGS

Ride: 10/10

Style: 10/10 — Chic and iconic.

Powertrain: 8/10 — Could have used a touch more power, which you can get in the supercharged version of the Range Rover.

Braking: 10/10

Steering/Handling: 9/10 — Outstanding handling for its class. The Lincoln Navigator, however, offers a bit more steering feel.

Audio/Accessories: 3/10

Interior: 10/10

Comfort: 10/10

Quality/Reliability: 3.5/10 — Interior and exterior build quality are excellent, but electronics and mechanical issues are a potential nightmare. How do you trust a vehicle like this in the wilderness? I suppose since 98% of them are used for commuting, its a non-issue. Even Land Rover Lifestyle magazine, which I subscribed to for a year, rarely mentioned L322s in off-road expeditions.

Overall Value: 6/10 — If you buy new, expect to get hosed on resale value. For those of us who buy used, its a potential bargain. The problem with Range Rovers is similar to the problem with classic Jaguars — loving one can be an expensive curse, and they have a devoted following. I greatly enjoyed this truck for the first couple months, but the infatuation wore off as the joy was replaced by worry.

Specifications

Automatically find points of interest for your next road trip

1. Go to http://www.roadtripamerica.com/maps/mapwizard.php (the site is buggy with Opera)

2. Enter your start and end and click “Make My Route!”

3. Select how far off your route you’re willing to go to see attractions.

4. Click “Find RoadTrip Attractions”. An array of flags will appear. When you click on the flag, it will reveal detailed information on an attraction.

5. You can register on the site for free and save your map.

The dining and lodging information are incomplete, but the attractions cover the most popular locations. Not everything is listed yet, like the Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo SD, which I’ve visited twice and enjoyed. As time goes on, the data should become more comprehensive. For now, its a good place to start.

Other Travel Tools:

Take a look at their travel fuel cost calculator, which is also handy for comparing annual fuel costs when shopping for a new car or comparing the cost of air and rail travel to driving.

There’s also an excellent tool for figuring out what city you’ll be arriving in at a given time.
For example, say you are driving to Chicago from Kansas City and feel like you might want to stop in two hours. You pull over (of course) and enter your current zip code (you will have to figure out what city you are in and search online for the zip), then enter the number of hours you intend to keep driving. It will bring up a list of cities within your travel range based on the speed limit and offer a list of available hotels. You can then use the Priceline and Travelocity guide I posted to find the best nightly rate.

[I have yet to see the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, but I feel like I ought to.]

Australian family loads up their Caprice, embarks on a GLOBAL road trip

By “Caprice,” I refer to the Holden Caprice that shares its architecture with the now-defunct Australian-built Pontiac G8, not the American sedan discontinued by Chevrolet in 1996. After studying the cost of buying an RV, the van der Weegen family realized it would be cheaper to ship the car and buy a camper to tow behind it.

In total, the car covered more than 20,500 miles, reliably crossing the Nevada desert in 116-degree heat, trudging through Russian winters at 40F below zero, and climbing heights of 10,000 feet above sea level. The rear-drive 3.6L V6 Caprice even managed to plow through blinding snowstorms without snow tires or chains.

Despite serious concerns about their safety and security (with several bribes required to pass Russian police checkpoints), they finally made it, completing their journey just north of Mongolia in Chita, Russia.

“It’s 10,000 kilometres and we basically had 28 days to do it in and most days we tried to do 500 kilometres,” he says. “There were times when there was complete whiteout. It was snowing, the road was covered in snow, the sides of the road were covered in snow. Those sorts of times were fairly scary.”

Then there were the challenges of Russian-style policing. “We had to pay quite a few bribes to keep going,” van der Weegen says. “Every 100 to 150 kilometres they’d have a police checkpoint and would be checking things on people’s cars.”

“Even if there was nothing wrong they’d put the hard word on you. I think the cheapest I got away with was 200 roubles[about $6.80]. The most I paid was 1000.”

Above: -40F temperatures in Russia

Above: Arriving in Moscow

Above: Parked at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

Above: In Keystone, South Dakota heading to Mount Rushmore. Note the Holden badge and Australian license plate.

The full article is absolutely worth reading:

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/the-globetrotting-holden-20110331-1cgkq.html

He posted a few responses and additional photos at GMInsideNews under the name “OzCaprice”:

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f67/chuck-wife-kids-caprice-caravan-back-drive-around-world-101864/index2.html

Buying a car near the end of its production run? Quality may be an issue.

Above: The Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS being assembled in Hamtramck, Michigan

This information is from a member on a forum who I’ve never personally met. Take it for what its worth.

The Cadillac DTS will be ending production at GM’s Hamtramck plant this summer, with leftover parts being used to piece together final vehicles. Some of these leftover parts, according to this gentleman, may be past rejects that need to be cleaned up or repaired for installation. Some of these parts, such as body panels, may have large gaps or flaws.

What remains of these rejected parts, “billdaman” claims, will find their way into dealer inventories.

Reposted here, spelling errors in tact:

The build out is starting based on the production numbers for March: DTS produced at Detroit/Hamtramck assembly – total of 1,580 vehicles down -26.4% from 2010.

That’s basically a rate of 75 per day, and at 40 vehicles per hour tells me that the production mix of Lucerne, Volt and DTS is no more than 30% DTS.

Get them while you still can get a quality vehicle! As you get closer to the build out (like the last 2-3 weeks of production) stay away from those vehicles. Here’s what happens: Every previously rejected part that could pass with repairs or cosmetic rework will be unloaded from the suppliers MRB cages and shipped in vehicle sequence to Ham”Tragic”. Sequenced parts are VERY difficult to reject during build out.

Interior fits and finishes will suffer. Anomolous electrical performance can be expected from the contents of 100’s of part totes (PCM.s BCM, Harnesses, Motors that were dropped, and should have been scrapped or had been lot rejected for high defect rates, and the supplier was charged back for the parts. These parts have been sitting gathering dust waiting for this day to arrive.

Nothing that was previously rejected by the assembly plant which can still be dolled up or retested will remain in the suppliers inventory, you can count on that. As the last 2-3 weeks arrive the suppliers will begin mixing these parts in with the “good” parts. They will be able to get away with it.

Every single part in the assembly plants inventory in the last 2 weeks will be necessary so borderline cosmetic rejects will be passed. Any extra parts remaining after the last vehicle has rolled of the final line will be sent out to service parts, and yes you guessed it , those stand a good chance of being previously rejected parts. Nice huh?.

The plant body shop also frequently has bodies that are shall we say are less than perfect sitting on skucks gathering dust. These will somehow find their way onto the mixed bank when no one is “looking” and hopefully only make it into rental fleets, but you never know it could end up being yours. (Hint: Water leaks, 8 mm fender gaps, etc.)

Lastly some of the difficult electrical problem vehicles that have been sitting in the plant float will find their way back into the repair areas, ripped down for troubleshooting, put back together and pushed through the “Care line” area by over zealous final line superintendents who want them on the Rail head companies books and out of the plant inventory. Believe me the final scheduled shipment date will be met,

Stay away for these last vehicles. This advice is from one who has been part of many GM model assembly plant “build outs”

Color specific parts (less finish part numbers) like interior and exterior plastic, rubber, seats, headliners, and any electrical parts that are not common to other models still in production the answer is ABSOLUTELY. And the old addage thet they have to supply parts for 10 years is complete rubbish. Less finish part numbers are typically only inventoried to supply 3-5 years after model production ceases.

After that GM SPO awards small lot contracts to suppliers who will push the parts out for a high per piece price. Quality control is marginal, particularily if the tooling belonged to the original supplier and it has been scrapped.

Dont agree? Just try to match colors on interior parts for these vehicle in 2014 from GM Service parts. You will pay through the nose for Crap parts IF they are available.

Is it true? What do you think?

Automakers do in fact use their remaining inventory of parts to assemble final quantities of vehicles, as they ought to, but the claim that some of these are rejected, flawed, or previously damaged may be worth some level of scrutiny.

Cadillac and Buick production at Hamtramck will be replaced by the Chevy Volt. GM Hamtramck earned several North American quality awards from JD Power, while the Cadillac DTS earned initial quality awards from JD Power and a recommendation from Consumer Reports.

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/cadillac-dts-forum-2006-through-2012/226308-dts-production-numbers-march-2011-junk.html

Auto Sales Data and Market Share, March 2011

Its good news for almost everyone but Toyota.

Here’s a pie chart depicting US market share for March 2011:

Up:
Nearly everyone

Down:
Lincoln — Ugly sells BMWs, but not Lincolns.
Smart — Because grown-up cars get better fuel economy and cost less.
Toyota — The Lund Family needs to buy more Camrys.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110401/RETAIL01/110409997/1448

http://wot.motortrend.com/winners-losers-calm-before-storm-march-2011-auto-sales-64565.html

Weekly Wrap-Up – 2 April 2011

The week ending Saturday, 2 April 2011.

Alan Mulally – The domestic auto industry’s most effective leader earned a well-deserved 26.5 million in 2010. For turning around an American industrial icon, it is well deserved.