WomanOnWheels.ca

Cell phones: Let's just get the damn things banned already

  Here in Ontario, the provincial government is proposing a ban on hand-held electronic devices used while driving. That includes talking on cell phones and sending text messages when a driver is behind the wheel.

You know what's coming, don't you?

Some of the letters to the editor in today's Toronto Star bristle with indignation. Why are they focusing just on this, writers ask. What about people who drive while listening to loud music or ebooks? What about talking to passengers, eating, putting on makeup or smoking cigarettes? In effect, why is the government picking specifically on cell phones?

I want to stuff a cell phone into these people where you won't even be able to hear it ring. Yes, someone eating a hamburger while driving can be dangerous, too. So cell phones should get a pass just because the government hasn't proposed banning every possible distraction in an automobile?

Here's the deal: it's a car, not a phone booth. Drive now, talk later. This cell phone ban can't come soon enough for me, and I'm only disappointed that the government isn't including handsfree communications in that as well (although I suspect that, given the number of new cars that come factory-equipped with Bluetooth connectivity, there would be strong-arming from the automakers -- doesn't mean it shouldn't be banned, but I know how political pressure works). I've yet to see anybody who drives as well while yapping on a cellphone as he or she does when not. I drove while talking on a cell phone once, and vowed never to do it again when I hung up and realized I had absolutely no recollection of the last three minutes at 90 km/h on the road. No phone call, ever, is worth my life or the lives of the other drivers around me.

The Acura TL: Is it coming or going?

Back in 1947, Studebaker introduced a new design that had a trunk and deck lid with similiar lines, as well as a windshield and backlight that shared styling cues. The running joke among buyers was that you couldn't tell if the car was "coming or going". I wonder -- did Acura consider the Studebaker when it designed the TL?

Corporate-Speak Translations: Chrysler

  From the press release announcing more job cuts at Chrysler: This adjustment to workforce levels is in addition to previously announced actions, and will be accomplished through a combination of socially responsible programs, including voluntary retirements and -- in order to broaden the eligible group -- salaried employee buyouts. These new programs will feature enhanced benefits, including both cash and new-vehicle vouchers.

What it really said: Good lord, I don't know where to begin. Anything that describes walking papers as an "adjustment to workforce levels" and severance as a "socially responsible program" really seems to be beyond translation...

Canadian Car of the Year: I'm back from Testfest

  I've just spent five days in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, as one of about 80 journalists helping to judge the Canadian Car of the Year awards. It was pretty tiring, with 56 vehicles in 14 categories, and with the vehicles in each tested back-to-back. All went out on the street; cars then went on a racetrack course, while SUVs, crossovers and trucks went on an off-road course. Each was then rated by each journalist on a variety of subjective measures including handling, styling, quality, ergonomics and performance; objective testing is also done on acceleration, braking and a price factor, which is further added into the scores. You do as many as you can; I tested and voted in seven segments.

Usually, someone goes off and counts all the votes, and some time later the segment winners are brought together and tested again to pick the overall Car and Truck of the Year. This year, to avoid the difficulty and expense of two separate contests, it was done differently; the segment winners were announced on Friday, and then if you hadn't driven them all, you had to go out in the ones you'd missed. I have a news report up on Canadian Driver, available here, which lists all of the category winners.

I agreed with some, wasn't sure about some others. But of course I have observations made over the course of the week, and I'll share some here:

I drove Godzilla. Yes, the Nissan GT-R was there, and it's as rip-snortin' as you've heard. It takes to the track like no tomorrow. But it had some pretty serious competition, and I have to admit that if I had my lottery money in hand, I'd probably look at the Cadillac CTS-V or BMW M3 first, because they're not as rough on the street. The Lexus IS F is really sweet, too (although it's got the ugliest exhaust treatment I've ever seen, with quad stacked pipes). The CTS-V was the real surprise. Cadillac's done an absolutely incredible job on this car.

Luxury Car. One of my categories was Luxury Car Under $50,000, which included the Audi A3, Acura TL, Infiniti G37X Sedan, Saab 9-3 Sport Combi ... and the winner, the Hyundai Genesis. Think you'd ever hear that? I don't know if Hyundai will be able to sell a pricy car just yet, given the fact that they're known for entry-level, but this car is really, really nice, especially when you factor in the price.

The what? In "Prestige", when it was announced that the BMW X6 defeated the Mercedes CL550 and SL63 AMG, jaws dropped everywhere in the room. We're still trying to figure out who voted for it. I drove the X6 and I'm sorry, I just don't get this vehicle. At all.*

Some really sweet machines: The drop-top Audi TTS goes like stink, corners flat, makes the sweetest blip out the tailpipe when shifting, and put a smile on my face; it's awesome. The Pontiac G8 with V6 engine is very well done; it's a shame it looks like a front-wheel-drive car. The Audi A4 is a very good makeover and I just love those LED running lights. The Mercedes SL63 AMG is a delicious car. Acura's SH-AWD (Super Handling All-Wheel Drive) is incredible technology; I tossed the Acura TL around the cones like it was on rails. And the Mercedes BlueTEC diesel is so quiet and smooth, you'd never know it's an oil burner.

Things that make you go hmmm: The Kia Magentis and Hyundai Sonata are basically the same car under the skin, so why does the Magentis accelerate and handle better? Likewise, the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe are twins, but I thought the Vibe was quieter. I want to know why Acura dashes have to be so damn busy; they look like jet fighter cockpits and it's impossible to find a control quickly when you're trying to drive. And did Jaguar owners really clamor for a starter button that flashes to mimic a heartbeat, a gearshift that rises up out of the console, and vents that close themselves when you turn the car off?

  Some biased opinions: The Dodge Ram is well done, but I think the Ford F-150 should have won, based on its abilities. The Mercedes SL63 AMG should have beaten the BMW X6. The four-cylinder Suzuki Grand Vitara wasn't included because the committee thought its makeover wasn't sufficient, but I think it should have been there. My predictions? I think Car of the Year (which will be announced next February) will be the Mazda6, and Truck of the Year will be the Ford Flex. That said, there's a reason why I don't make my living as a gambler, so don't hold me to that.

* Edited to add: I just got a bulletin informing me that the numbers were wrong and that there's a tie between the Mercedes-Benz CL550 and the SL63 AMG, with the BMW X6 one point behind them. This should be interesting ... especially given that the newspapers all took their photos of the winners grouped together!

Corporate-Speak Translations: General Motors

  General Motors has announced that it plans to sell its ACDelco parts manufacturing business. In the release:

A sale is expected to promote more rapid growth of ACDelco globally.

Translation: The new owners will build the parts in whatever country will do it the cheapest.

I'm at Testfest

  It's a busy, exhausting and very fun week -- I'm at Testfest. Each year, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada, of which I'm a member, meets at a single location with every eligible vehicle for the Canadian Car of the Year and Truck of the Year awards, and drives them back-to-back.

This year there are 56 vehicles in 14 categories. Each writer is assigned a specific number of categories that must be completed (mine this year is small cars, family cars and entry-level luxury), and once those are done, if time permits, we move on to other categories. So far I've done one category beyond my required number, and I plan to get a couple more under my belt today.

We start off on a track, and then go onto public roads, assessing everything from steering and handling to passenger comfort, ergonomics, and value. Along with our subjective rating, the cars are also tested separately for timed acceleration and braking, and price is factored in.

It's quite a lot to do over five days, but there's just something about arriving at the site each morning to the rows and rows of cars that gets the blood going and really wakes me up. We've got everything here from the Honda Fit to the Nissan GT-R, from the Chevrolet Aveo to the BMW M3, from the Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram to the Jaguar XF, Lexus IS F, and Mercedes SL63 AMG.

Unusually for this year, the category winners will be announced this Friday, October 24. Usually it's done later, but this will let us then test for the overall winners without bringing everyone back in a month or so. The two final winners will be announced in February at the Toronto Auto Show. And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get me some keys.

You Can, But You Shouldn't

You Can, But You Shouldn't

You Can, But You Shouldn't

A trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania

  I just got back from a trip to the annual AACA show and swap meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania. If you've never been, it's something to see. It takes three days to walk by all of the 9,000 vendor spots, and there are hundreds of cars in the show.

It's not quite the same as in the bygone days -- it's been going since 1955, and I've been attending for 15 years -- which is understandable, given that it makes more sense to go to online to find that one missing part for your 1911 Pope-Hartford than it does to tramp around the fields hoping that someone might have one. A lot of the rare stuff isn't there anymore for that reason. And it's now all on pavement, which means that the days of sinking hopelessly into the mud are gone (the show cars are now on grass). But I still wouldn't miss it for anything. No matter how much the Internet has changed the old-car hobby, there is still a need for hands-on shopping, along with piles of rusty, unidentifiable car parts, impulse buys, and the thrill of the chase.

As usual, I spent most of my money on taxi memorabilia -- a metal Yellow Cab sign, some taxi plates, a cap badge from Flint, Michigan, and a Yellow Cab directory for Chicago, date unknown, although I suspect it's the 1930s.

Prices for parts were generally reasonable, but when it came to the cars for sale, I swear there's crack cocaine in the Hershey's chocolate there. Or else people were figuring they could pay off their mortgages and ride out the economy on the strength of a single sale. How else to explain a 1930 Austin Bantam for $37,900, a 1972 BMW 3.0 for $39,900, and a Ford Skyliner at $92,000? I did notice that on Saturday morning, the last day of the event, prices on the windshields were dropping faster than the stock market. It's usual to see them go down by a couple of hundred dollars, but I saw a huge number that were reduced by as much as $5,000 (and were still too high). Reality, gentlemen, reality.

I drove down in a 2009 Ford Flex, which proved to be an extremely impressive vehicle, and paid anywhere from $3.69 to $2.99 for gasoline. Speaking of which, if there's a fuel crisis in the US, it sure isn't evident; every vehicle seemed to be a full-size SUV, sedan or pickup truck, all of them exceeding the speed limit by at least 15 mph. But I sure noticed the restaurants: in one chain where we normally have to make reservations, we were one of about eight tables, and the server told us that she makes $2.83 an hour plus tips, and one night last week took home $18. For a full shift. Scary? You betcha.

You Can, But You Shouldn't

Ford MyKey: Sounds like a plan to me

  Ford has announced a new feature, MyKey, which will be standard equipment on the 2010 Focus and eventually be added to other models as well. It sounds like a plan whose time has come.

MyKey lets the owner program the vehicle so that when a specific key is used, it limits the vehicle's top speed and the maximum volume of the audio system. The idea is that parents can set these limits before their teenagers drive the car.

Teenagers need to drive in order to gain the experience that will make them safe drivers, but all too often, I see young drivers who are too young to have much seat time, and they're driving far too fast and with the stereo blasting. I call that a recipe for disaster, and the number of crashes involving young drivers under these conditions is just too high.

My hat's off to Ford, and I hope the technology eventually makes its way onto every car on the road.

Safety: It's no accident!

  I gave a presentation to a church group this morning on auto safety. It's become a very important issue with me, especially as I drive the highways and see so many people driving while they're distracted, driving in the wrong lanes, or just doing dumb things that affect all of us.

The handout I gave is available to the right here, under the new "Auto Safety" list.

The Volt: Look what it started

  Just a couple of weeks ago, General Motors unveiled the production model of the Chevrolet Volt, and now the floodgates have opened.

One of the three electric prototype models that Chrysler unveiled recently is an extended-range, meaning that, like the Volt, it runs on plug-in battery power and when that runs out, it goes to a gasoline engine that makes more electricity, rather than running the wheels itself. And at the Paris Motor Show today, Volvo announced that it will also have a similar vehicle, scheduled for production after 2012, which will run on battery power and then on gasoline to generate electricity.

So I wonder: did everyone have the same idea at the same time, or did automakers see the Volt concept unveiled in 2007, run to the drawing board, and then wait for the production model to be presented before making their own announcements? It sure seems odd that others are coming out with similar cars so quickly -- and very heartening, too.