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

Cagalli Yula (Subaru BRZ) and the Blue Ridge Parkway

Holly and I were driving home from Christmas with her family in Atlanta, GA. We divided the trip into two sections. On our drive back we stayed in Roanoke, VA and when leaving Roanoke we went on a hunt for the Blue Ridge Parkway and then drove a significant portion back up until exiting the parkway at VA 56.
I filmed some of the driving because it was gorgeous.

This is some of the footage of Holly's driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway between Peaks of Otter Visitor Center and VA 56 when we exited. We weren't really wringing it out of the BRZ because there were some cops and we were being respectful to the park.

Audio and video are unedited. Sorry if the audio sucks (I suggest muting it).
This was shot with a Canon Rebel T2i and a 10-22 mm USM lens.

The road was gorgeous though and I may need to get a GoPro or some other such camera and revisit.

Part 1