Extended Test Drive, 2016 Ford Fusion (Memorial Day Camping)

Another one for the A to B but not driver cars.
My wife and I were going camping with members of our running group for Memorial Day again. As opposed to last time where we used my Subaru BRZ which was a tight fit we decided to rent something bigger that we could fit our stuff in more easily and that I wound not feel like I was risking the paint on by mounting the bike carrier.
So we rented a Ford Fusion from Budget and actually got the car / size of car we prepaid for this time! (Much rejoicing!)

Update: Skywater, 2014 Subaru Outback Premium, 1.75 Year Review

My wife and I traveled to see my parents for a holiday. We've been in town a week, and rather than renting a car they were kind enough to let us use their 2014 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium, named Skywater (after this book, which is a good book) as our errand car and for visiting our friends in the city and surrounding suburbs of Chicago.

Marking Your Oil Filter

As I have likely stated in a previous post where my wife and I currently live doing car repairs is heavily frowned upon and can get us a fine. So, for the time being, this means we take our cars elsewhere for all major and minor servicing.
One thing which is both fun and silly to do is to mark your oil filter so that you know it gets replaces (or at least the mechanics spend the time to wipe off your marking). This way you can ask to see the old filter / check the filter the next time you get an oil change to make sure you in fact had the oil filter changed as you paid for.

To my knowledge I have not had a problem with this. But, as you can see, you can have fun with it.
Others certainly have had trouble with it and there all kinds of alarming investigative news reports out there and clips on YouTube.

Cagalli Yula (Subaru BRZ), JPM Coachworks Dash Panel Install

The Subaru BRZ is not exactly a very expensive car. Like most cars in its price range it comes with a fair amount of plastic as material in panels and so on. Personally I am not a big fan of the silver plastic in a lot of the places it is used especially on the two piece dash panel with the seam.

To alleviate / correct this I got a One Piece Dash Panel from JPM Coachworks (same company that made my knee pads).

Random Gift(?) From Subaru

Doorbell rings.
I have to sign for a box.
It is kind of heavy and says Subaru all over it... I am not expecting any parts, so what is this?

Box is decently heavy.
Could this be parts like the lip kit I have been eyeing for Cagalli Yula (2014 Subaru BRZ)? The lip kit that became available with the BRZ Series.Blue. Could it be someone got me the shop manuals for the car (something I plan on doing)? I have no idea. I have not ordered anything from Subaru recently.

Making It Yours, So Long As It Isn't A Manual

As a Subaru owner I get "Drive: the magazine from Subaru"

It often includes articles about what Subaru is doing as a corporate citizen, hype about new models, and reviews of certain things.

This most recent issue (Spring 2016) included an article titled "Making It Yours". The article discussed the accessory installation department of Subaru's Lafayette, IN plant. It is a nice article about the people and process behind having your factory options installed on your new Subaru. But, to me, this also reminds me of one of my chief frustrations with Subaru, which if you follow this blog or have had a conversation with me about cars you have heard (possible ad nauseam), in that if you want nice options with your new Subaru you cannot have them if you also want that new Subaru with a manual transmission. Having tried to get through to Subaru through dealerships, auto show representatives, and Subaru of North America via email and phone I figured I would try with the following email to insider@subaru.com. If you share my frustrations, it would be great if you were to write such an email as well.

Hello Drive Magazine Staff,

[Section as possible letter from reader]

Making It Yours, So Long As It Isn't A Manual

By MooncallerCars

In the Spring 2016 issue of Drive Magazine there was an article title “Making It Yours” on page 17. It was a nice article about options and customizations performed for your Subaru as factory installed options.

The “Making It Yours” article niggles me because at Subaru I am a second class car buyer in terms of options and amenities available if I insist I want to have a manual transmission.

Considering the ever decreasing availability of manual transmission cars in the US market, not just by Subaru but by all automakers, it means that the manual transmission buyer is generally a very discerning buyer who is picky and is likely to tick the option boxes they want on their purchase. It does not make sense to limit the availability of options to this would be buyer based on their transmission choice.

My wife and I currently own a 2014 Subaru BRZ (love it!) and a 1994 Honda Prelude. We’ve been looking to replace the Prelude with something a bit more practical in terms of family room but are frustrated by Subaru’s lack of option availability with manual transmissions.

[End section as possible letter from reader?]

Lyrical Silliness

All around the world cars crashing into me
Who knows how long I've driven you
Everywhere I go people smashing into me
Two years old my Prelude God rest her soul

I just want to drive

(Adapted from Sugar Ray's "Fly" in regards to my BRZ and two accidents and a cracked windshield so far)

Extended Test Drive, 2015 Toyota Corolla

I'll start this one very simply: this Corolla did not make me hate life like the 2013 I had as a rental and reviewed previously.
Was it as fun as the one I drove from age 16 to 19? No, I do not like this as much as I liked that 1995, but this one was much better than the 2013.

Starting with handling. I like to do a steering rack test. Basically I test the steering by starting from a stop and doing a left or right turn to see how many turns of the steering wheel are required, and another test at low speed, not from a stop.

Short Test Drive, 1996 Honda Accord

I was in Florida over the weekend, was down for memorial service for my grandmother and spreading her and my grandfather's (previously deceased) ashes in the Everglades. My cousin was down from Maine and borrowed this car from my uncle (his dad). So, I figured I would take it for a drive and write out my thoughts.

This is a 1996 Honda Accord DX. It is the fifth generation of the Accord.

Geico / Cavallo Auto Body (Chadds Ford) Repair Experience

My car was in need of repair due to the accident on 01/12/2016.
I had a good experience with Cavallo Auto Body (Chadds Ford) before when I had paint chips repaired, so I decided I would have this repair done there as well.
I dropped the car off on 01/15/2016 and got this rental. I got the car back on 02/17/2016. The repair took a while.

What I missed most about my car was the steering. If you hold the wheel at 9 and 3 or 10 and 2 and you make a 90 degree turn it takes ~180 degrees of turning from a dead stop and ~90 degrees of turning pretty well anywhere above 5-10 MPH. This is so much nicer than all rentals I've driven recently where right and left turns, especially low speed ones, require lots of steering wheel cranking.

These photos were taken with my new circular polarizing filter.