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Took this while on the way back to the hotel after work yesterday... had to get changed for supper and some cruising in the crappy rental.



More here: http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/log...20April%202007/

It's so nice down here this time of year... you don't need a jacket until 8-9PM at least. The cars are RIDICULOUS. We're going to either the Planetairum at Uni of Nevada - Reno tonight or to the Harrah's Automobile Collection.

As friendly as our co-workers are here (and always have been), I'm enjoying this trip so much more this time with Sara here. Normally I'm a hermit in my room for 4-5 days.

On to the SUCK that is the Dodge Caliber SXT. DEAR GOD. There's my religious acknowledgement for the day. This thing is beyond useless. No balls, tippy handling and the CVT... I'd end up in the pokey for what I want to do to this thing because of the CVT. It's an unholy bastardization of belts and gear ratios and pretenses about being a geared transmission still. Oy. Climbing some of the more intense grades around Reno can be entertaining as the CVT edges the engine constantly higher, trying to maintain some speed up the hills.

It's noisy, there's lots and lots of tire thrum. The seats are flatter than Paris Hilton imitating Kate Moss. You take a corner in this thing at anywhere near a reasonable pace and it tries to launch you out the window. Fuel economy seems alright so far. There's also ZERO privacy in it... no rear decklid to protect what you put in the hatch, hence we lug everything everywhere we go. That's alright, more picture opportunities for us.

The only thing I like about it is the brakes. They bite hard, no sponge or waffle in them and they haul the trucklet down faster than I expected. Which is good, cause folks here weave as though it's the end of the world and they're fleeing for their lives.

Ford Focus = Lexus

/end thread

C'Mon what did you expect? It's Dodge. I took one for a test drive and almost made the salesman cry when I gave him my honest opinion for it. You'd think he'd been part of the design team for it. I just wish I'd thought of the Paris Hilton Kate Moss line. That was awesome.

I didn't like it one bit either. Over everything else that was bad about it, I could NOT get rid of the blind spots. No matter what I did with the mirrors I had at least 2-3 blindspots all the time.

The only Caliber of consequence is the replacement SRT4....

you know you can take your rental back for another one at no charge.

Serious? I might just do that tonight, depending on what time I get out of here.

my mother in law bought one , only thing cool is the lighted cupholders and cooler in dash other than that its a jeep crushed to be smaller and aint at all curvy or nice.

NOS2Go4Me,Apr 17 2007, 06:59 PM Wrote:Serious? I might just do that tonight, depending on what time I get out of here.
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yeah I'm totally serious, I've done it a few times with the focus was in the shop for electrical issues, when I needed a car I had a car, when I needed a van for the day I'd tell them I want something a little bigger, and when I was out west in Victoria, the Caviler they tried to give me I could not for the life of me get my knees below the dash with the seat all the way back.. it was impossible, and I almost hit 3 cars in the lot... I went back to the counter and they applogized to me and gave me a larger car (a Taurus) just be nice and tell them it's really really bad to drive or there is issues with it that you noticed, and they should exchange it hassle free for you.

Thanks Philip!

Now go get a Charger SXT and critique that :P

Not to mention the steering on those is s***. Why does a compact car need that much ground clearance???

Why does Enterprise rate it a "standard" car? Compacts are now B-series stuff, like Aveos and Fits. The last time I had an Aveo down here for a week, we damn near killed the three hamsters under the hood merging onto the freeway.

I've decided that it's just a rental and we'll live with it. I'll let you all know how it survives the trip to San Fran and then to Tahoe this weekend... or perhaps Sunday/Monday.

More pictures uploaded... we're going to Lake Tahoe tomorrow.

My fave out of today so far? Not sure, but these two fit the bill as "noteworthy" for sure:




These were taken between Virginia City and Reno on Highway 341/342, south of Reno. Virginia City is a great tourist trap (although I did spend over 50 bucks there today on stuff alone), but I'd go back for the view. It's breathtaking.

Oh, and one more...



I've never felt like I wasted such a great, windy and challenging stretch of road before. I think it eclipses the Fundy Nat'l Park as my favourite stetch of blacktop ever. Or, I'll just let it be my fave American highway and I'll let Fundy keep "best Canadian highway" status. :P

I'm voting this highway "Most likely to make me drive all the way there in the Focus, just to do it again".

How'd the CVT handle it? I would assume you would be looking at multiple speed/elevation changes if I'm reading that map right.

I fear that the Focus auto would be hunting like a bassett hound through that type of terrain.

NefCanuck

It was alright so long as you never got completely out of the gas and then back on it immediately afterward... that event causes a shudder in the drivetrain like Godzilla farting or some nonsense. We actually drove that road again today on the way back from Lake Tahoe. It's even more fun when you know where you're going ;)

The CVT really makes it sound as though you're seriously slipping accelerating up the mountain. It slips even off the line, unable to hold one ratio long enough to squawk a single tire. It's disconcerting to say the least, but you eventuallly learn to accelerate early and keep your foot in it for longer.

What surprises me is the fuel economy. We've gotten 200 miles to half a tank so far - mountain, city and highway. That's just under 30MPG if 1/2 tank really is 1/2 a tank. Given all the revving you do for so long, I expected it to do a lot worse.

I still want to come back in the hatch to run it again. It's THAT addictive.

We're heading to the west side of Tahoe tomorrow. :)