Not-So-Extended Test Drive, 2015 Kia Optima GDI

We didn't spend much time in this car. We only drove around 27 or 28 miles in it and had to put in about 1.2 to 1.5 gallons of gas. It was weird. Drove from Philadelphia airport to home, gas needle didn't move. I filled it up until the pump clicked. Should have been full. Drove it back to Philadelphia airport to drop it off. And the needle decided to drop. So added more gas and then returned the car. So we'll say overall gas mileage for this trip was disappointing.
Why such a short car rental you might ask? We arrived on our flight back from Israel at ~5 or 6 AM on a Sunday morning. Public transportation back home was going to be a few hours and a cab ride was likely to be around $45 plus tip or you could get a private limo for $65 plus tip or... you could just rent a car and return it the same day for less than $40 and an additional 30-ish minutes of your jet lagged, half asleep time. Which is exactly what my wife and I did. That being said, I was perhaps not as attentive to car deals as I might be.

Extended Test Drive, 2012-2014 Hyundai i-Gen i20

My wife and I took a trip to Israel and we didn't exactly plan every day out. So, to allow a bit more freedom we arranged for a rental car. It didn't cost that much and unlike the USA you can rent a manual transmission! We both love our manual transmissions, so this was a very good thing.
Having done some Wikipedia research this car had at a max 138 hp and 123 lb-ft at the flywheel. This is by no means a fast car. In fact, considering the modern horsepower wars where tons of cars in the USA are breaking 150 bhp, 200 bhp, and many even clock in north of 300 bhp, this is a very slow car by comparison.
Here's the thing though, almost all the cars in Israel are city cars of the low horsepower variety. My Subaru BRZ, a Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Camaro of the four cylinder variety would be in the upper echelons of fast cars in Israel, even more so if you had a V8. But, one, Israel has fuel prices that are similar or in excess of much of Europe and two they have an enormous tax on cars, really close to 100%. My BRZ is a roughly a $60,000 car there. So most people buy cheap cars that can do everything for them. And this means a lot of compacts and subcompacts with small engines, often with 5 doors. Enough on that.
This car is all about momentum driving. Once you've gained any speed do your absolute best to keep it (except on that really twisty road down from the Golan Heights because it does not have the handling dynamics to take it at real speed).

Delaware Auto Show 2015

Well, I suppose I should have had high expectations for the Delaware Auto Show. It was very small. For the most part there were very few manufacturer representatives or much display work. A few manufacturers had displays and people talk to, but for the most part not many.
On the bright side most cars were open to sit in that were present. This included a Porsche Panamera Hybrid, which I think are normally closed at auto shows on public days, but I'm not certain.

Extended Test Drive, 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage

First we will start with Avis...
My wife and I flew into MIA for a brief visit (less than 30 hour round trip). We rented from Avis. The person at the desk was helpful, it wasn't terribly busy unlike Alamo, and it was a pretty swift and painless process.

The problem is, I pre-booked the car with them and booked a "Standard" car which is listed on their website as a "Subaru Legacy or similar". (Things it is supposed to do is comfortably fit one large bag, two small bags, and five people, which a Subaru Legacy does in spades.) Instead we were given a Mitsubishi Mirage ES, which according to Mitsubishi is classified as a "subcompact". I'm a bit miffed. This caused some problems with car / passenger division at times, that and it would have been nice to actually have a trunk to put bags in, instead of the back seat in the FL sun.

Cagalli Yula (Subaru BRZ) Windshield Replacement

As told previously the windshield on my 2014 Subaru BRZ was cracked.
I got it replaced by Clear Vision Auto Glass who came out and did the repair.

Some before pictures of the windshield and crack:

Cagalli Yula (Subaru BRZ) Cracked Windshield and on Being Too Low

On our way to Lock Haven, PA for Megatransect the windshield got hit by something. We were on I-476 heading north. Apparently whatever hit was near the A pillar.
And with a thwack a crack appeared.

Cagalli Yula (Subaru BRZ) Full Detail

Today I had my car go in for a full detail at The Studio which is part of the RDS Auto Group who are Porsche, Maserati, and McLaren dealers in the Philadelphia area. They also do Xpel Ultimate clear bras.

But today I just brought in the car for a full detail and to have some of the paint / clear coat swirl cleaned up by a good compound and buff / wax.

Memorial Day Camping with a Subaru BRZ

Holly and I went camping with our running group this weekend.
We took a Full foam mattress with us. Tent, food, alcohol, clothes, and so on. It really was impressive the amount of stuff we fit in that car.

Cagalli Yula (Subaru BRZ), Paint Chip Repair

I recently got some chipped paint, from rocks hitting the car and other road / highway debris, so as to prevent future rusting.
I had Cavallo Auto Body do the work.

Extended Test Drive, 2015 Chevrolet Cruze

So Holly has reviewed the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze here and is not really much of a fan, she's had it as a rental many times, this time was the first time I'd driven one.

This is going to be part test drive / car review and part road trip related travel journal.

New York International Auto Show 2015

My uncle and I paid the New York International Auto Show a visit.

This will be a LOT of picture (~350 to be precise).
And being rather unoriginal this time I'll be labeling all the cars and organizing automakers alphabetically with the car model shown also alphabetic. Generally speaking all the fun looking cars were locked or in paddocks and you could not sit in them. Perhaps this is more common in the higher volume auto shows, I'm not sure. But a lot more locked and inaccessible cars than Chicago, Detroit, or Philadelphia.

Extended Test Drive, 2014 Chevy Cruze

Holly here. I had a Chevy Cruze for three days over the course of a business trip.

Fuelly

I came across a website today while looking up car information, it is Fuelly.

The interface is pretty easy though sometimes somewhat glitchy.
Arguably it's a lot of information to put out there about your vehicle and could allow for some inferences in terms of driving habits, have you taken a road trip / done a lot of driving, and other things.
But, I really don't mind sharing this information because I think the aggregate data that this generates in terms of real world fuel economy for a vehicle, and the averages across numerous drivers, is fantastic and does something that staring at the EPA estimates online or off a sticker does not do.
It also gives you information across model years where there were minor tweaks and changes.
In some ways I think it provides a really cool tool for keeping auto manufacturers honest.
Also, it probably looks a lot nicer with the charts and info graphics than the Excel spreadsheet I use to keep track of gas consumption and fuel economy.

I made a profile there for anyone interested (and also so I don't lose track of it / forget about it in the future):
Cagalli Yula Fuelly Profile

Extended Test Drive, Kia Sorento

Holly and I had a Kia Sorento LX V6 on a drive from Massachusetts back to Delaware.

Here are some pictures of the rental car:

Auto Show Philadelphia 2015 (Thoughts / Reflections)

A few thoughts from Auto Show Philadelphia 2015:

I am really liking the trend from most of the automakers to now put the side mirrors on the door panels beneath the window line as opposed to in the corner of the A pillar and the window line.
I think the new approach looks a lot better and I sometimes find the little triangle of window provided helpful in parking and visibility wise.
I like this trend and I hope more manufacturers move toward this.

Auto Show Philadelphia 2015 (Manufacturer Displays)

Holly and I went to the Auto Show Philadelphia. There were some cars I would have liked to see that were missing. Most notably: Acura NSX and the new Ford GT. It also would have been nice if Audi had brought the new TT.
Being a bit of a heckler I asked the Honda reps where the petition was to bring the Civic Type R to the USA and asked the Subaru reps where the petition was to have manuals in the Legacy and Outback.

Auto Show Philadelphia 2015 (Non-Manufacturer Displays)

These are photos of the non-manufacturer displays at Auto Show Philadelphia 2015.
I'm going to be a lot less thorough in identifying the models here because frankly I don't know them as well and not sure I want to spend the time hunting them down.

The Workshop School