Good Morning to the carchat Warren and Friends,
Washington Post carchat – The kids are out of school, where is everyone planning to go for vacation? Are you driving your own car, renting a car, or borrowing a car from a friend when you get to your location?
I’m doing a couple of articles on the food you take in the car with you to eat, and food you include in your picnic basket. What are some of your favorites? Remember, nothing gooey, nothing that melts (unless you have a cooler). I’m looking for new fun foods, especially if they are organic, gluten-free, and/or vegan.
This week I flew to Ann Arbor, MI to visit Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and preview What’s New. I got to drive the Fiat 124 Spider that one of the chatters asked about last week. Fiat collaborated with Mazda to create the Spider. It’s not a Miata and it certainly isn’t the old Fiat 124 Spider, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a decent car. It’s five inches longer than the Miata, and a different drive than the Miata. The best part is how quiet the inside is, oh, and I loved the brakes – soft to the touch, yet effective.
The Dodge Hellcat, well that’s another story; all hell and cat that car is. Tweaky and Brembo brakes that catch on the quick. Did I mention it was hecka fun to drive? Yeah.
The compact SUV I drove that I liked (don’t tell Clifton) was the Jeep Renegade. The Renegade is a decent vehicle that starts at $18,000. I could live with that.
I also drove a Nissan NV3500, Starting at $32,810. OMG, talk about feeling like I was part of Gulliver’s Travels! That van is huge! This van has to be 85 feet higher. Okay, maybe 8 feet higher, but it is huge, and it feels it. Every car I passed I looked at and said, I could put two of those in this van.
I had visions of opening the back door and cars driving up, “come on in, shut down your engine, this is the party van”. I amuse myself driving down the street when I see a Kia Soul and a Honda Element and imagine throwing them in the back. I am at a stoplight and look down, and the woman in her little Honda CRV looks like a Lilliputian. The best part of the van, the Nissan NASA seats. I love those seats.
Did you see the Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100? Futuristic, autonomous, electric, magnificent. I was on the John Batchelor radio show talking about what will be new on the vehicle, and what is old that won’t be on the vehicle in 25 years.
Let’s chat about cars
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