Car Review -- 2018 Maserati Ghibli SQ4

Hey everyone!  It's been far too long since I've posted here.  I hope you're all doing well!

A couple days ago, I met my buddy Mike in Syracuse for their annual auto show at the OnCenter.  Before I even started the trip, however, things took an unexpected turn at the Enterprise rental car counter.

The previous evening, I decided to rent a car to (a) save mileage on mine and (b) drive something different for shits and giggles.  Enterprise had full-size cars available for $30 for the day, so I figured I'd get a Malibu, Fusion, Altima, or something of the like.  Little did I know that when I showed up to pick up the car, I would be convinced by the guy at the counter to upgrade, for an extra $125, to a Maserati Ghibli SQ4!  I debated in my head for about a minute before enthusiastically agreeing to the upgrade.

For the first hour of the trip, I really didn't like the Maserati, largely because it was not an ideal car for a long highway slog.  The ride was stiff, the seats were decent but not great, there wasn't adaptive cruise control (inexplicable, when a base Honda Civic includes it as standard equipment), the fuel economy wasn't great (between 20 and 25 mpg on the highway at a steady cruising speed, which admittedly is roughly what my 2012 Acura TL gets), the stereo was far inferior to the ELS system in my Acura, the sun visors were criminally small and didn't extend when moved to the side, and anything with a sticker well north of $70K should have a heated steering wheel included as standard equipment.   A new Malibu would've been a better highway ride, as would nearly any full-size car.

I did discover a couple interesting bits about the car, including the fact that parts-sharing is a mixed blessing.  It was disappointing to see power window switches, an engine-start button, a blinker stalk, and a headlight switch that could have come out of nearly any current Dodge, Jeep, or Chrysler vehicle.  However, Fiat-Chrysler makes infotainment systems better than virtually any other automaker, and the Maserati's system was the same ginormous uConnect touch-screen system found in a slew of other FCA products.  It worked brilliantly.  Response time was fast, the menu structure was logical, and it was extremely easy to pair my iPhone and toggle between Apple CarPlay (also brilliantly designed in itself) and the native uConnect screen.

It wasn't until after the show when I took Mike for a spin in the Maserati that it grew on me.  Driving on a mix of city streets, highways, and (most importantly) on-ramps allowed me to explore more of the car's capabilities.  The handling was outstanding; cornering was flat, grip was seemingly endless, and the steering and brakes were responsive and direct.  Hitting a "sport" button next to the infuriatingly complex electronic shift lever opened up the exhaust and allowed the Ferrari-sourced, 424-hp, 3.0 liter turbocharged V6 to sing its full tune.  And holy shit, this car had power.  I drove gingerly for the most part, but when I got it onto an on-ramp, I was able to briefly put the pedal to the metal.  The sheer force with which I was pinned back in my seat combined with the intoxicating Ferrari engine growl to remind me why people buy these cars.  I could now drive back to Albany knowing that I did not make a mistake in paying extra for this car over a standard full-size sedan for the trip.

To summarize, here are the high and low points of the 2018 Maserati Ghibli SQ4:

Highs:
-- INSANE power and acceleration
-- Excellent steering, handling, and braking
-- Peerless uConnect infotainment system
-- Awesome at its intended function (sports car)

Lows:
-- Shocking feature omissions for the price
-- Lackluster sound system
-- Infuriating e-shifter
-- Not a great highway cruiser

Would I buy one?  Absolutely not; there are too many better cars for the same price.

Would I drive one again if given the opportunity?  Abso-f***ing-lutely!

2018 NY Auto Show

I’m currently riding an Amtrak train home after an awesome day at the NY Auto Show.  A few thoughts after spending about four hours checking out an insane number of automobiles:

I’m glad Acura is finally making it possible to equip a four-cylinder TLX with ventilated seats, and I still think the TLX is a lovely ride (I’ve driven nearly every configuration of it as a loaner car over my past few years as an Acura owner), but it has never had the “special sauce” (or excellent manual transmission) that my 2012 TL (its predecessor) has in spades.  

The new Acura RDX is hot shit and I can see it OWNING the small luxury crossover segment when it hits the market mid-year.  Too bad it was locked and I couldn’t sit in it!

The Acura MDX has AMAZING front seats, but its second row isn’t as spacious or comfortable as it should be.  It drives far better than anything its size has a right to drive, especially in sport-hybrid form (I had one as a loaner car a few weeks ago and was blown away by the driving experience, not to mention the exceptional 25+ MPG I averaged after a day of spirited driving).  

Audi had a MANUAL TRANSMISSION A4 on the show floor.  It was awesome!  It had the B&O premium stereo too (700-plus watts and I think 16 speakers) but I couldn’t plug my phone in and sample it because it was disconnected.  I would ABSOLUTELY consider buying a fully-loaded version of this car if I could afford it.  And PROPS to them for offering the stick shift even in the fully loaded Prestige version.  

BMW had about five M products on display, and NONE had a manual transmission.  That’s downright blasphemous.  

That said, another car I would absolutely consider buying if I could afford it is the BMW M2 convertible.  

The wood trim on the dashboard of the BMW M550i is beyond stunning.  So are its front seats and their thigh-supporting cushion extensions (best I’ve experienced).  

Buick’s Regal TourX is a legitimate near-luxury station wagon, and has some serious cargo space.  The interior also looks pretty decent.  If it was offered with a manual transmission, I’d give it a look.  Props to Buick for offering an actual wagon and not just some high-riding crossover junk.  

Cadillac’s interiors are nothing special, but I’d love to drive an ATS-V someday.  Everything I’ve heard seems to indicate that their “driving-fun” factor is as good as, if not better than, BMWs from 20 years ago (which in some people’s eyes qualify as the gold standard).  

Why the Chevy Cruze (a subcompact sedan) has a foot-pedal parking brake (when equipped with the automatic transmission) is beyond me!  And to boot, it’s obnoxiously stiff and hard to operate.  No car smaller than a Honda Accord should have its emergency brake anywhere other than between the front seats.  

I’d love to drive a Camaro ZL1 or any version of the current Corvette.  They’re just awesome.  

I saw a new Chevy Silverado HD crew cab with a manually-shifted 4WD system, using the same insanely cheap selector lever they’ve been using for nearly two decades.  Unbelievable.  

Chrysler’s Pacifica is a way better van than the Town and Country it replaced.  However, I’d take my parents’ 2014 Honda Odyssey over it any day.  I just can’t get justify losing so much second-row seating comfort in the name of being able to fold said seats into the floor.  

Dodge had four Challengers on the show floor, and NOT ONE had a manual transmission.  It’s a muscle-car.  Unacceptable.  

The Ford F150 has one of the only front-row bench seats in which I’d consider occupying the middle position.  They actually did their homework, gave it a decent backrest replete with adjustable headrest and three-point belt, and didn’t treat it like an afterthought.  Actually, as far as full-size pickups go, as nice as the new Ram 1500 is, the F150 is the one to beat IMHO.  

The Ford Transit van is surprisingly comfortable, and I love that it has a proper handbrake, console shifter, and wiper controls on the RIGHT hand side of the wheel (where God intended all of those controls to be).  Actually, kudos to Ford for (with the exception of the Econoline van) equipping every one of its vans (Aerostar, Windstar, Freestar, and now Transit) with a proper handbrake.  

Honda’s got their shit together.  Not only is the Ridgeline one of the most useful vehicles out there (the bed has a freakin’ TRUNK, replete with drain plugs so it can function as a beer cooler), but it has an IN-BED STEREO, kickass front seats, and one of the best, most comfortable back seats I’ve experienced in ANY vehicle!

Also, the 2018 Accord is fantastic.  A true home run.  And they allow adaptive cruise control and their other safety aids to be ordered in combination with a manual transmission, AND with the upgraded engine.  I NEED to test drive one of these.  It nearly puts Acura to shame, and according to Motor Trend, beat a comparably priced Audi A4 at its own game.  

The Civic Si and Civic Type-R have INCREDIBLE front seats and amazingly precise manual transmissions.  I need to drive both.  Asap.  

The 2018 Odyssey is the van to beat.  

Hyundai’s Genesis G70 is on my short list for my next car.  Kickass interior, amazing stereo, awesome front seats, shitload of features, rear drive, and an available stick shift.  I’d have to drive it, of course, but I was EXTREMELY impressed after sitting in one.  

Nothing in the rest of Hyundai’s line-up truly lit my fire.  

I’d love to own a Jaguar F-Type convertible sometime.  

I did the Jeep off-road experience.  Riding in a 2018 Wrangler as it climbed and descended a 35 degree slope, negotiated a nearly 45 degree sideways tilt, and otherwise wrangled its way around (er, over) other obstacles scared the living shit out of me.  And it was so damn awesome.  I’d do it again.  And I was extremely impressed with the 2018 Wrangler in general.  Well-designed, comfortable, loaded, and still unabashedly true to its roots and to itself.  

The new Lexus LS’s interior, and particularly the back seat, blew me away.  SO opulent.  And the RC and LC sport coupes are downright sexy, inside and out.  

I will never own a Lincoln Navigator, but the newest version’s interior and sheer presence made me not hate it as much as I previously did.  It deserves to have its target clientele shell out absurd sums, because it is absurdly opulent and excessive.  And no longer JUST a re-badged Ford Expedition.  

There’s nothing quite as shit-eating-grin-inducing as sitting in a Mazda Miata with the top down, rowing through the gears, and imagining driving it on a summer day.  

The Mazda3 hatch is quite awesome.  It can be equipped like a luxury car (adaptive cruise, swiveling headlights, heated steering wheel, etc.) and drives very sportily (based on my experience driving my cousin’s 2014 version of that car).  

Mazda’s interiors have improved.  They still don’t nail small details (turn-signal stalk action, for example) as well as Honda/Acura, but other things (dashboard stitching, wood trim) have come a long way and are quite nice.  

I would’ve liked to spend more time in the Mercedes-Benz area, and sit in a few more cars, but it was mobbed.  Everything there looked suitably opulent, though the rear-facing seat in the E400 wagon was laughably small and bolt-upright.  

I would LOVE to drive a Porsche 911, especially after experiencing similar straight-line acceleration in Disney’s Rock n Roller Coaster two days ago.  But alas, they were locked.  

The Subaru Ascent was quite comfortable and nicely designed, and I fit (semi-decently) in the third row.  That’s more than I can say about most midsize crossovers.  The rest of the lineup on display felt, well, like Subarus.  In other words, incredibly functional, slightly quirky, very space-efficient, generally in search of more opulence, and unabashedly unique.  

Nothing at the Toyota booth genuinely moved me.  

Volkswagen was a mixed bag.  I miss the early 2000s, when they genuinely felt like baby Audis (my 2002 Passat wagon feels and looks like a baby Audi A6 from the inside).  The newly-redesigned Jetta’s interior was an enormous disappointment, even in the top-of-the-line version I sampled.  It had a decent feature set with some luxury features, and the virtual cockpit gauge set was undeniably cool, but saying the materials looked like garbage would be unnecessarily kind.  Especially in the back seat, it looked like complete shit.  I can’t remember a bigger interior disappointment in recent memory.  

That said, the Golf R was cool, and is something I’d consider buying.  Ditto for the GTI.  Ditto for the Alltrack wagon.  These actually feel somewhat special from the interior, unlike the new Jetta.  

All said and done, here are the NEW cars I’d consider buying:

Acura MDX Sport-Hybrid Advance.

Audi A4 Prestige 6MT.

BMW M2 convertible (or M240i) 6MT.

Chevy Corvette convertible 7MT.

Dodge Challenger SRT8 or Hellcat 6MT.

Genesis G70 6MT.

Honda Accord Sport 2.0T 6MT.

Honda Ridgeline Black Edition with accessory tent over the bed (it’s super cool).

Honda Civic Si or Type-R.  

Honda Odyssey Elite.

Jaguar F-Type convertible 6MT.

Mazda Miata Grand Touring 6MT.

Mazda3 Grand Touring Hatch 6MT.

Porsche Boxster 6MT.

Porsche 911 Cabriolet 7MT.

Volkswagen Golf R or GTI 6MT.

Volkswagen Golf Alltrack SE 6MT.

However, there are a handful of used cars from the past two decades that I’d consider buying just as strongly as anything on the aformentioned list.  But that's a post for another day.  

Goodnight, all!

Waitress on Broadway

Now that I got that last post out of my system, time for something lighter a little less charged.  

As I mentioned in my last post, my sister and her fiancé now live in New York City.  I went down a couple weeks ago to hang with them, check out their awesome new place, and see a couple shows.  We all saw the Birdland Big Band, which was OUTSTANDING and something I'd recommend even to the non-jazzers that read this.  Earlier in the afternoon, however, I visited the TKTS booth and wound up scoring an orchestra seat to Waitress.  I'm really, really glad I did.  

I walked into the theatre not knowing much about the show, aside from some friends having raved about it and knowing that I have enjoyed the few Sara Bareilles songs I had heard (from the show, and otherwise).  I did not expect to be emotionally sucker-punched in the gut, and I certainly didn't expect to have to stand on the side of Broadway for about ten minutes just to mentally center myself.  

The show tackles several topics, ranging from pregnancy to adultery to judgment to stereotypes to, ultimately, happiness and how far one can and should go to reach it.  It does so with a very good modern piano-driven rock score, a very strong cast, convincing staging, and a tight on-stage pit band, among other elements.  None of those individual elements were the absolute best I've seen (it'll be a while before The Last Five Years is unseated as my favorite score), but this show is a quintessential example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.  The "whole" of the show absolutely blew me away.  How and why?  It made me think, it made me question, and it made me feel.  And those things are EXACTLY what should happen when someone is exposed to (or dare I say, assaulted) by quality art.  

Among the thoughts that ran through my head as a result of this show:

1.  Is lying OK?

2.  Is cheating OK?

3.  Even if cheating is not OK, is it possible to understand WHY someone might do so?

4.  Can a character still be rooted for despite their imperfections or flaws?

5.  Is "happy enough" truly "happy enough"?  Is "happy enough" even a thing?  Could the answer to that question be different for different people in different situation?

6.  How hard is it to have your opinion of someone changed?  

7.  Can you grow to like, or even love, someone with whom you get off on the wrong foot when you first meet?  

Any of those questions could be argued, and convincing so, any number of ways (except #2, IMHO).  I say that even about the first and third questions, and I would not have said that if not for this show and a couple others I've seen.  Ahh, the power of musical theatre.  

I would LOVE to discuss any or all of the above questions with anyone who'd like to do so, either within or outside the context of Waitress.  However, I want to share a few take-aways before wrapping this up.  

1.  I turned thirty last year, and I've been (and still am) so, so lucky to have had the people and experiences in my life that I've had and still have.  And that's the understatement of the century.  All of that said, I still sometimes think "Holy shit, I'm a third of the way through my life.  To what extent do the things I'm doing and the choices I'm making rev me up and move me toward meeting all of my goals and realizing my potential (both individually and in the bigger picture), and to what extent do they hold me back?"

2.  The protagonist (Jenna) writes a figurative letter to her unborn baby at one point in the show.  I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen the show, but I give Jenna's character so much credit for saying what she says (not easy or widely accepted thoughts, mind you) with such honesty and candor.  

3.  This show reaffirmed my long-time belief against "settling" in any facet of life, because (a) it rarely works and (b) life's too short to spend it wondering if the grass is greener on the other side.  Disclaimer:  I firmly believe that there is a huge difference between settling, and modifying one's choices due to an outside need (caring for a family member or friend comes to mind, but there are other examples).  The latter is sometimes necessary, and can turn out to be rewarding in its own way.  

That it for now.  Like I said earlier, just drop me a line if you want to discuss or debate any of the above, or nerd out about the show itself.  And if you haven't seen the show, do yourself a favor, and go see it.  And leave yourself some time after the final curtain to collect your thoughts.  You'll need it.  

Charlottesville, Cabaret, 2016 Election

It's been far too long since I've updated this thing, and a lot has happened since May 2016.  A few recent things have compelled me to write, so here goes:

I haven't written or said much publicly since Donald Trump was elected last November, and at times I still feel like I'm in a state of disbelief.  Throughout the campaign season, I said time and time again, "We're not that stupid."  "We won't vote him in."  I even foolishly thought at times that Donald Trump winning the Republican nomination would turn a sufficient number of Republicans off to help Hillary or Bernie win the election.

I remember watching in disbelief as the results unfolded on November 8th of last year and wondering how the FUCK we could vote someone in whose hair-trigger temper and Twitter fingers could trigger foreign powers that have the capability to nuke us (look at what's happening with North Korea today)?  Someone who mocked an autistic reporter on the campaign trail?  Someone who appointed people to Cabinet posts with the intent of bastardizing the very organizations they would head up?  Someone who objectifies women and tries to save face by referring to it as "locker room" talk?  Someone who clearly does not see ALL people as equal and deserving of the same basic human rights and protections?  Those are but a few examples.

I know several people all across the political spectrum, and I have not been able to fathom what could inspire ANYONE to excuse ANY of the above and find it the "lesser of two evils" compared to another candidate.  The Democratic candidates were not perfect, and I was not 100% in love with any of them.  But NONE would have done ANY of what I described above, and certainly not the two that made it the farthest in the race.  I would like to think that those I know who voted for Trump take issue with ALL of the above, and I have faith that that is true, as I see good in them as people.  I really, really hope I'm right.  Part of our job as voting citizens is to make it clear when we're unhappy with our elected officials, so I'd go so far as to challenge any Trump voters I know to make one of the following two choices.  Choice one:  Make it clear through your actions that NONE of what I described above is tolerable from ANYONE, much less an elected official.  Choice two:  Disassociate from me until you find it in yourself to make choice one.  I welcome diversity in every sense, including opinions.  But I don't associate with people who don't view ALL people as equals, or who think any of what I described in the previous paragraph is excusable in a President.

Also, for quite some time, I have questioned the relevance of the Electoral College.  From what I understand, it was designed to ensure that candidates would visit small states on the campaign trail.  Sure, for the first part of our country's history, I can understand that.  However, the internet is now a thing, and it is very widely available on mobile devices and in free public libraries.  Information is out there, and people in small states can access it just as easily as people in large states.  While I'm sure what I mentioned above wasn't the ONLY rationale for the Electoral College, that particular rationale is no longer relevant.  And honestly, I struggle to see the point of something that doesn't serve a purpose other than to potentially distort the popular vote.  Think for a second about the possibility that, had a small handful of people (far fewer than the two million plus voter advantage that Hillary had) lived in another state, Trump would not have won the election.  That thought is sobering.  So is the possibility that a foreign power meddled in the election.  So is the reality that even if corruption is found to have happened, we can't simply go back for a re-do (which I feel is the ONLY fair correction in such a situation).  We live in a Democracy.  We need to ditch the archaic Electoral College, as it no longer serves a viable purpose in our society.

Either way, it happened.  The ball is now in our court to ensure that everything we have worked for over the past several hundred years, and especially recently, doesn't get lost.  Jason Robert Brown wrote a song called "Hope" the day after the 2016 election, and it helped me make some sense of the situation back then.  It also served as a reminder of how much stronger we, as people, are than we may think.  I had wanted to learn that song since it came out, and acquired the sheet music in January.  It came up in conversation with some friends a few days ago, and I revisited it the next day, as I felt it was still very relevant given the course of Trump's presidency thus far.

Barely after I had worked it out and made a pass at recording it (the final product can be found here), I looked at my Facebook feed and learned of the horror of what was happening in Charlottesville.  My sister and her fiancé lived in Charlottesville for three years, until a couple months ago.  Thank God they're now in New York.  I had been to Charlottesville three times within the last year.  It's a beautiful town.  There's a vibrant music scene (which spawned the Dave Matthews Band, one of my favorite musical groups).  That it could be overtaken by such a virulent display of racism, fascism, Nazism, and poison is beyond sickening.  I realized then that the song was far more relevant on that day (Saturday 8/12) than I had even thought.  It's disgusting that this shit is even a thing, and Saturday's events proved that it is alive and well, and I'm sure very largely responsible for the election of Trump to the White House.

I'm also currently music-directing a production of Cabaret.  I won't spoil the show for those who have yet to see it, but it takes place as the Nazis were rising to power in Germany.  The sheer relevance of the show in TODAY'S times is devastating, and there are far too many parallels between the show and our current situation.  Hopefully, the production, as well as other art/music/theater out there, will serve its purpose and help people understand the gravity of what's going on as well as what must be done to stop it.

There's no sugarcoating that the world is a massive shit-show right now.  It's also an incredibly beautiful place.  It's our job to bring the beauty back to the forefront and flush the shit away.  It's up to us to do what we can to stand up for what we believe is right, and to stand up for those who are not viewed as equals.  It's up to us to stand up TO those who don't view all people as equals and deserving of equal rights and protections, both in our personal circles and in our national leadership.  I plan to do my part through music and theatre, but there's a lot that can be done in many ways.

We, as people, are stronger than we may realize.  We're still here, in spite of what each of us has survived so far.  We can do it.

2015 Acura TLX -- Second Drive Review

It's been a while since I posted!  Hey, everyone!!!

You may recall my post on the 2015 Acura TLX I drove a year and a half ago when my car was being worked on.  While I enjoyed that car, I didn't feel that it was appreciably better than several other cars at its price point.  I commented that the ELS sound system was disappointing, the nine-speed automatic transmission was borderline awful, that the back seat was less-than-huge, and that the car just didn't feel "special", despite being an excellent features-per-dollar value.

Well, I took my Acura in for an oil change, tire rotation, and NYS inspection yesterday, and they put me in another 2015 TLX.  The TLX I drove last year had the Technology Package, which adds items like navigation, the aforementioned ELS stereo, perforated leather seats, lane-keeping assist, and a few other goodies to the base model.  Yesterday's TLX had the Advance Package, which includes all of the Technology Package's items, and adds adaptive cruise control, ventilated front seats, and remote start, among other things.  In other words, it was fully loaded!  The only available option it lacked was Acura's excellent Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive system, which I sampled in their MDX SUV.  It essentially gave that large, seven-seat vehicle the handling chops of something much smaller, and it blew me away.  But that's another story entirely.

Anyway, I spent a few hours in the TLX Advance Package yesterday, and ended up liking the car significantly more than I liked the TLX that I drove last year.  I'm not quite sure why.  I think this was partially, but certainly not entirely, due to the additional goodies on the Advance Package model.  Anyway, here are my thoughts:

1.  This car is FAST!  I thought this about the other TLX as well, but it's got BALLS!  It's quieter and smoother than my 2003 CL, which is why it doesn't feel quite as brutally snappy as that car does despite almost certainly being quicker.

2.  The nine-speed automatic transmission still SUCKS.  In this day and age, it's inexcusable for any automatic transmission to shift harshly.  IMHO, Toyota set the standard for smooth automatic transmissions in 1992 with that year's new Camry, and almost every normal (non-DSG, non-CVT) automatic car I've driven or ridden in since about 2000 has shifted with at least reasonable smoothness.  Not this one.  It lurches almost every time when shifting between 2nd and 3rd gear under acceleration, and it's unnecessarily busy.  It has too many speeds for its own good, and is clueless about which one to use at any given time.  That, and though the push-button shifter works more intuitively than I would have expected, the delay between pushing the drive (or reverse) button and the car actually engaging the appropriate gear is unacceptable at best and borderline unsafe at worst.  I would hate to make a three-point turn in this car in any busy city street.  If Acura would drop its outstanding eight-speed dual-clutch automatic (and its conventional floor-mounted shift lever) from the four-cylinder TLX into the V6 model, it would be a far better fit for this car and all of these gripes would be solved.  Or better yet, offer a real, honest-to-goodness six-speed stick shift as an option.

3.  Transmission aside, the ride itself is very smooth and controlled, even with sport mode engaged.  The car handles and steers very impressively as well, though I can't help but wonder how amazingly the all-wheel-drive model would handle, and I wonder if the four-cylinder model would turn a bit more eagerly given the relative lack of mass over the front wheels.

4.  It's a QUIET car.  Hondas and Acuras aren't typically the most serene vehicles, but this one is at least as quiet, if not more so, than I would expect any entry-level luxury sedan to be.

5.  Not only are the front seats heated and ventilated, but said heating and ventilation are automatically controlled based on how the climate control is set.  For example, I set the interior temperature to be 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and the car continuously adjusted the intensity of the seat ventilation to optimally maintain that temperature under my butt as well as all around me.  It was quite awesome.  I have to wonder, though, if the ventilation feature would act as a "fart-trapper".

6.  The ELS stereo seemed far more impressive in this car than in the one I drove a year ago.  It could have been that I sampled different music this time, but it seemed MUCH crisper, with deeper bass and exceptional clarity.  Quite literally, it rocked, and I felt like I was sitting in a concert hall.  It was easily one of the best car stereos I've sampled in a while, and I didn't quite feel that way last time, despite the system being identical.

7.  One of the goodies that is included with the Advance Package is adaptive cruise control.  For those unfamiliar with this technology, it maintains not only a set speed, but a set following distance as well.  It was surprisingly effective, though it took me more searching than I would've liked to find the following distance adjustment, as it wasn't grouped together with the normal cruise control buttons as it is on Honda-branded cars.  I could see myself using this feature quite a bit.

8.  Both of the TLXs I drove had "lane-keeping assist".  This feature reads lane markings and helps keep the car in its lane.  Last time, I tried using it as a hands-off feature, which it will only do for 90 seconds before requiring driver input.  It worked decently but seemed like a gimmick.  This time, I kept my hands on the wheel the entire time with this feature engaged, and it worked like a charm!  The car stayed in its lane nearly flawlessly with very minimal guidance from yours truly.  This is another feature I could see myself using regularly, now that I know how effective it is when used its intended way (as assistance to steering, as opposed to replacement).

9.  With adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist engaged simultaneously, the car essentially drives itself in certain situations.  I'm normally not one to advocate for driverless cars, but these features can definitely be useful.

Overall, I liked the TLX much better this time around.  I liked it enough, in fact, that were I in the market for a new car, I'd give it some serious thought.  The only real deal-breaker is the damn nine-speed automatic transmission.  Acura would need to drop a real manual transmission into it, or at the very least, offer their eight-speed dual-clutch automatic with the V6 engine.  Yes, this car is good enough that I would give it some consideration even with an automatic transmission, and I never thought I would say that about any car (just not the nine-speed unit it currently uses).

Two parting thoughts:

1.  I still love my 2003 CL Type-S six-speed coupe.  Even with nearly 170K miles, it's reliable, comfortable, reasonably practical, quite good on gas given its performance capability, and incredibly fun to drive.  I'm in no hurry to get rid of it.

2.  The new Honda Civic offers most to all of the cool features that the TLX offers, as well as a few that the TLX does NOT offer (such as heated REAR seats), for about $16K less.  I have yet to drive the new Civic, and after sitting in one at an auto show, it does give up a bit of the luxury vibe found in the Acura.  That said, virtually every journalist that has sampled it has RAVED about it, and there's a chance Honda might offer the fully loaded version with a stick shift next year.

And on that note, this guy needs some shut-eye!

Dieselgate . . . A Different Perspective

Holy crap, it's been a while since I last posted!  Happy 2016, everyone!!!

As most of you know, I currently drive a 2003 Acura 3.2CL Type-S 6-Speed as my primary nice-weather car.  My winter car and musical-equipment-schlepper is a 2002 Volkswagen Passat GLX 5-Speed wagon.  I feel that both cars are unicorns of sorts (more on that in an upcoming post) and I absolutely love both of them.  Both cars have high mileage -- the Acura has 165K and the VW has 184K.  Both cars also are in very good running order.  While they are old and need the occasional fix, I still pay far less on average each month to keep these cars on the road than I would pay toward a loan on a new car.

In short, I have no need to replace either car, and I have no immediate plans to replace either car.  However, I consider myself an opportunist in that I always have an eye out for the best time to make key purchases.  I know that I want my Volkswagen's eventual replacement to be a wagon, I want it to have a manual transmission, I want it to be simultaneously fun to drive and economical, and I want it to be well-equipped like my current car (heated seats, automatic climate control, a KILLER stereo, etc.).  I won't settle for anything less, and I am aware that manual transmissions and wagons both aren't desired by more than a small single-digit percentage of the U.S. car buying public.

The ramification of this is that there are barely any new stick-shift wagons available in this country.  The Subaru Outback hasn't offered a manual transmission since 2014 (though inexplicably, the Canadian model offers one), and it hasn't offered one in combination with a leather interior since 2009.  Volvo hasn't offered a stick in their wagons since the late 2000s.  Neither has Audi.  BMW retired the stick-shift option from their wagons in the early 2010s.  Acura offered a wagon version of its Goldilocks-perfect TSX sedan from 2011 until 2015, yet inexplicably they didn't offer it with the sedan's buttery-smooth six-speed stick.  Had they offered the stick on the wagon, I would've bought one in a heartbeat.  Volkswagen has offered a manual transmission in its Jetta and Passat wagons pretty consistently, but packaging it with things like a premium stereo, leather or leatherette seating, automatic climate control, etc., has been pretty much impossible since about 2010.  I also know that, long-term, neither wagons nor manual transmissions are poised to make a resurgence in this market anytime soon, so when something comes along that fits the criteria, I need to give it some serious thought.

Such a car appeared at the NY Auto Show a couple years ago.  It was a wagon version of the just-released seventh generation of the Volkswagen Golf.  It has VW's TDI "clean diesel" motor that promised well over 40 mpg in real-world highway driving, it had a six-speed manual transmission (hereafter known as a 6MT), and it was brilliantly designed, comfortable, and well-built.  I knew that if they were to pair the diesel motor and the 6MT with the outstanding Fender sound system offered on the Golf hatchback, I'd buy one.

Sure enough, such a configuration was offered when the Golf Sportwagen came to market as a late 2015 model.  The Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen TDI SEL 6MT featured the diesel motor, the 6MT, the Fender stereo, automatic climate control, and a seemingly bottomless list of standard and available luxury items.  Critically, it was viewed by many as the "perfect" all-around car.  The entire VW Golf family won Motor Trend's prestigious Car of the Year award.  The TDI motor was well-known to EXCEED its rated fuel economy numbers, particularly when paired with the 6MT.  It was absolutely the car for me, and I found out there were two upgrades coming for 2016 that would make it an even better car for me.  One was the addition of a new, faster audio head unit that supported Apple CarPlay.  The other was the addition of an improved driver assistance package that newly included adaptive cruise control (cruise that maintains a preset following distance as well as a preset speed; it'd be amazing on the roads I take to work), automated parking (you control the pedals and the car steers; not something I need but something that could occasionally come in handy), and many other items.  I made plans in my head to take my 2002 Passat through this winter, and buy a loaded 2016 Golf Sportwagen TDI SEL 6MT in the spring, once prices had come down on the Golf.  The Golf Sportwagen, configured as described above, was almost too good to be true.

I noticed in September that, while several 2016 examples of the GAS-POWERED Golf Sportwagen were appearing on cars.com, none with the TDI motor were appearing.  Shortly thereafter, news of Dieselgate broke.  For those that don't know, Volkswagen was outed for installing "cheat devices" on its TDI motors.  These cheat devices would program the car to run in a "clean" mode when they detected an EPA emissions test cycle, and would defeat the "clean" programming in normal conditions.  This resulted in multiple times the legally allowed amount of pollutants being allowed to enter the environment.  A stop-sale was placed on the 2016 TDI models and stays in effect as VW furiously works with several agencies to create and implement an acceptable method to reduce emissions while maintaining the performance and efficiency for which the TDI motors are known.

So what happened to the 2016 TDIs waiting on dealer lots, unable to be sold?  Well, when I brought my Passat in for service in November, I was surprised to receive a TDI edition of the 2015 Passat as a loaner car.  I later put two and two together, and realized that the dealers were finding probably the only allowable use of something otherwise useless to them.  While my Passat loaner didn't have a 6MT (thank you, automatic-loving American car buyers), the TDI motor nevertheless was a torquey, snappy little monster that still returned 40+ mpg under my lead foot.  I can only imagine how amazingly it would perform in the lighter Golf Sportwagen, and I hope some day to find out on a daily basis.

You may ask why I don't buy the gas-powered version of the Golf Sportwagen SEL?  Here's why.  Volkswagen only offers a manual transmission on the entry level "S" model of the Sportwagen if the gas motor is selected.  In other words, if I want a stick shift, I can't get the Fender stereo, the leatherette seating, the automatic climate control, the drivers' assistance package, the heated seats, and most of the other luxuries that were partially responsible for my attraction to the Golf.  That, my friends, is a deal breaker, and not something I'm willing to compromise on.

If VW comes up with a fix for the TDI motor that brings its emissions in line with current legal requirements, without compromising the responsiveness and efficiency I love about that motor, I would still buy one.  This is for three reasons.  The first is that it'd still honestly be a damn fine car that meets my needs better than anything else currently for sale.  The second is that it's in a class of one; it has no direct competitors.  Finally, while VW cheated on regulations and was/is responsible for huge quantities of illegal pollution, it didn't do something even close to what General Motors did when it deliberately green-lighted subpar ignition switches on a series of small cars.  These ignition switches saved GM a few bucks at the direct expense of human life.  That the penalties being sought of Volkswagen are higher than those sought of GM is absurd to the highest degree.  

If VW does NOT fix and re-market the TDI Golf Sportwagen, I'll be hanging on to my Passat for quite a while, and if the Passat doesn't last, I'll have to take a hard look at one of the following cars.

1.  Volkswagen's own GTI hot-hatch version of the Golf.  Why they don't offer a GTI version of the Sportwagen is beyond me!

2.  Honda's upcoming Civic hatchback, provided they offer the fully-loaded trim with a manual transmission (unlikely, which is too bad, as the new Civic is an outstanding car with a terrific 1.5T four-banger).

3.  A fully loaded Mazda3 hatchback.  My cousin currently drives one and it's a fantastic little car.

None of these vehicles would have nearly the cargo capacity, nor the fuel efficiency, of the Golf Sportwagen TDI.

In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy my 2002 Passat.  In an upcoming post, I'll delve into its several attributes that make it so fantastic and such a unicorn in its competitive set and in the automotive landscape as a whole.  Until then, be well everyone!

The Last Five Years and Valentine's Day

Greetings, everyone!

One of the finest musical theatre works of all time, Jason Robert Brown's "The Last Five Years", is being released as a movie this weekend.  I will be seeing it tomorrow in NYC and then staying for a Q and A session with Brown and director Richard LaGravenesse afterward.  To say I am stoked would be an enormous understatement.  

I intentionally have not watched or listened to a single "teaser" clip from the movie, and I have not watched the theatrical trailer.  It has been tough, with the soundtrack having been available for download for four days now.  I know the music and the show inside-out, and I really cannot wait to hear how the music has been adapted for the big screen.  While I have my skepticism about how an artistic piece so intimate and personal can be blown up into a full-length movie, particularly given that several extras (including JRB himself) are featured in the movie, I want to go in with a completely clean slate tomorrow.  Will I love it?  Will I hate it?  Will my reaction be somewhere in the middle?  I don't know and I won't know until tomorrow, but the initial buzz seems to be overwhelmingly positive, so I am optimistic that I will love it.  And I really should, because an encounter between JRB himself and Stephen Sondheim has made us consider the possibility that the only acceptable thing to say to a composer after seeing his or her work is "I loved it". (Go Here to read the full story; it's quite interesting and my opinions and thoughts after reading it are mixed.)

 Given that JRB will be at the showing I will be attending, I really hope to be able to shake his hand and (honestly) tell him "I loved (it)", and I really do think I will be able to do that. 

I couldn't resist reading an interview of sorts with LaGravenesse (the director) today, though, and this quote of his expertly sums up what I have felt about the musical almost since I first was exposed to it.  You can read my complete thoughts on the musical version here.  Here, he speaks of the "Shmuel Song", which itself is a metaphorical story written for Cathy by Jamie as a way to show her just how much he believes in her and loves her.  

"I went back and excavated the song and realized it wasn't what he was singing, it was why he was singing it. And once I unlocked that secret or that intention, I understood how to do it," LaGravenese says. "It's a very important song because it's the one time you see...how much he loves her and how much he will go through and the efforts he will make to boost her morale and to make her feel good about herself and how much he believes in her. The problem in their marriage —??where she's more neurotic and more in her own way and he's so supportive, so later on when he sings 'Nobody Needs to Know' and he sings, ['We build a treehouse / I keep it from shaking'] while he's sleeping with other women —??the 'Schmuel' thing is the kind of thing he's been doing throughout the marriage. That just doesn't work, and he can't do it anymore. That song became really important once I understood why it was there."

There really are two sides to (nearly) every story and situation and, while I know for a fact that it is impossible to truly understand a particular situation unless you are immersed in it, it is often easy to form a solid allegiance to one party in a situation like this.  Several people side with Cathy because, well, Jamie cheated on her and broke up with her by leaving her a note.  It's true.  He did.  I don't condone cheating (or breaking up any way other than in person).  Jamie is an immature character, and he could have handled the end of the relationship differently.  

However, it is important to look at what, for lack of better words, drove him to act out in such a way.  I really do think that, as LaGravenesse suggests above, the Shmuel song is representative of what Jamie has been doing throughout his and Cathy's relationship -- trying desperately to help her believe in herself and boost her self-esteem.  On the other hand, while Cathy is clearly proud to be dating (and later married to) such a successful author, I am not sure she ever explicitly gives JAMIE HIMSELF any emotional support.  Imagine busting your ass for the one you love, constantly being his or her cheerleader and support rock, and not receiving any support or encouragement from him or her in return.  Yes, Jamie was considerably more successful than Cathy from a professional standpoint, but her lack of support shown to him (and I mean HIM as a person) combined with his feeling that his efforts to boost her up are going nowhere......left him feeling like there was no good way out.  Driven by this dearth of emotional support and availability from his own wife, and lacking the maturity to make a better decision, Jamie sought out his publisher (Elise) to have his physical and emotional needs met.  

I don't condone cheating and I don't doubt that Jamie's decision to cheat on Cathy was the nail in the coffin, but I have no doubt in my mind that, as much as ANYTHING, Cathy was responsible for the failure of their relationship.  No, she was never a particularly confident character to begin with, and yes, it can be argued that some of that could stem from mental health issues and thus debated that to some extent she may not be at fault.  Regardless, though, both partners need to support and be available to each other in any romantic relationship.  If it is, or becomes, a one-way street, as was the case with Jamie and Cathy, it won't work.  

How does all of this relate to Valentine's Day?  Regardless of whether or not you are romantically involved with someone, I have two things to ask of everyone.  Be supportive and emotionally available to those near and dear to you (be they friends, family, or romantic partners), and be grateful to those who have been supportive and emotionally available to you.  Yes, The Last Five Years is a piece of musical theatre with fictional characters, but I really feel like it is a terrific reminder to all of us to remember how much of a MULTIPLE-WAY-STREET every relationship (romantic or platonic) is.  The support and emotional availability have to come from both directions.  It's not easy, but we all need to make that effort.  There's no way around it, because that, at the core, is what love is.