Current Cars, Two Extremes

Here is a little bit of how I look at cars, using the two I drive most often right now.

First is the 2006 Chevy Impala. My sister nicknamed this thing Titan, cause its HUGE! ( the pictures are of my actual Impala)

To get a little insight into why we bought this car in the first place, It was originally supposed to be a car for my mom. She liked to sit upright and did not like bucket seats, so with those stipulations it sorta narrowed down the search quite quickly. Also, SUVs were out of the question, except the Honda CRV. 

But, it eventually came down to the Impala or the Toyota Avalon. Unfortunately she also didn't really want leather seats, so the Impala it is! Another reason that we chose the Impala was the fact that it has a timing chain instead of a timing belt. meaning it would almost never need servicing ( usually a decent price every 100,000 KMs). We found it on Autotrader.ca for a reasonable $10K with only 73,000KMs on it.

It has been a pretty good car to us, both me and my sister went to the same university in the states. So this thing had to haul a lot of stuff back and forth to Ohio ( we live just outside of Toronto). This is where the Impala really shines, it is definitely a highway cruiser. We had the LS version with the optional 6th seat, essentially making the front row a bench seat. But when that seat wasn't being used, it was a giant armrest, fantastic for the 6+ hour drives.

Also, I gotta give it props to having one of the best stock stereo systems Iv ever heard. 6 speakers and an AUX input for the ipod.

So this car was quite a nice place for long trips, the 3.5L V6  cruising around 2,000 RPM with plenty of power on tap, nice big seats with good adjustments and big windows for great visibility.

The only problems with the Impala were of course fuel consumption in the city, hard to park in Canada ( not so bad in the US due to wider spots), and for some odd reason really bad rear seat leg / foot room. It has thick front seats with a flap that hangs down in the back just completely getting rid of any good space back there.

For a few facts about the Impala:

• aprox MPG: 19 city, 29 highway.
• cargo room (cubit feet): 18 trunk, 39 total
• 200 inches long, 73 wide
• 17.4 gal tank
• average miles on one tank: 417 - about 670 KMs ( note: I figure this number out literally just by finding the middle number between the city and highway figures and times it by the tank amount, so in a sense I'm being very conservative on the estimations, better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed and angry...)
• FWD of course

So there is the one extreme, huge, like very huge sedan with tones of power, more than I would every really be able to use. Its a good car, but I like to push my cars, and why have a car that you can never truly find its limit?

Now, for the other...

A 1992 Toyota Camry that was my grandfather's until he couldn't drive anymore. My sister nicknamed this one Sir Percy Percy....

Ours is white and let me tell you, this car was kept in perfect condition, never driven in the winter (until I got it), well maintained and had extra protective layers added. Also my grandfather clearly knew what would be good to have a in a car because he got every bell and whistle added in this thing besides the leather and V6 engine. It has a power front seat, power windows and locks and AC, all working great from the early 90's! One odd thing that my grandfather added which I am glad he did, was larger than normal tires. Im not saying a larger rim size, they are still 14 inches, but he actually put tires on that had more rubber and space between the rim and the edge, meaning they are much more cushy on the road and it coasts a lot better.

Its hard to describe to people why I love driving this car but I think its because it has less technology in it ( which to people who know me sounds odd as I love new Tech). There is less between what I'm doing in the car and what the car is actually doing / is able to do. I can feel where the limits of this car are and that's nice to know. It may not be a rocket off the line, and it may run out of steam trying to pass on the highway, but its comfortable, easy to maintain and very reliable. Due to it being an old car, it also has great visibility due to huge windows

Some basics about this car for me:

• I put in new speakers and a CD player with an AUX input ( sooo much better than the aging system in there)
• It has a small 2.2L 4 cylinder with most likely less power than a new Corolla now.
• Its surprisingly roomy front and rear, with plenty of foot room ( come on Impala...)
• A 3 speed, plus overdrive, auto transmission that definitely needed one more gear
• Really soft suspension. Like, I'm not sure what would happen first, the car rolling over around a corner or the tires coming off their skinny rims...

Now, it might sound like im ripping a lot on this car, but its these quirks that make me love it, like I said, I know the limits of this car and can see that for its original purpose and how it was put together, it does everything perfectly.

Some facts:

• aprox MPG: 18 city, 28 highway. I would say these are actually better in real life as i can drive farther on one tank with this than the Impala...
• 188 inches long, 70 wide
• 18.5 gal tank
• average miles on one tank: 380 ( I have gone much farther...) - about 611 KMs
• FWD of course

Well, so there you go, I had to condense the reviews a bit since I was covering two cars, but now you can get a little idea of how my other reviews will go. Since I will be doing other reviews for individual cars, they will have a few more details ( interior impressions, reasons for comfort, visibility, how they drive in certain situations...)

Also, the future reviews will have a little less personal memories or reflections in them and should be more factual.

I hope you guys like it and check back soon for the first post of new cars ( new could be a year or two old, as long as its the most recent design / model) 

J.K.