I couldn't get any 93 this week due to the stupid gas shortage here locally. I will be running 87 this week and will be driving the car carefully. I thought about Octane booster but I'm not fully comfortable pushing the car untuned with FBO on 87 gas + octane booster.

 

I knew I wasn't crazy. I had a 2015 rental... I swear, it might be one of the best autos I've ever used. On par with the ZF8 and worlds better than the Jatco 7AT. I almost considered buying one over the G but the chassis and looks put me off.

Transmissions really make or break a car. I almost bought a last gen Genesis sedan over the G but the transmission killed it for me. Shame too as that is a much more luxurious car. I really liked it.

 

The CVT in the new Honda CR-V was horrible, loud and slow. And the CVT in the Nissan Rogue was like nails on a chalkboard, it was truly that bad.

Here's a fascinating surprise: the transmission in the Hyundai Tuscon is a 7AT with a dual-clutch! And it was great! However, the car itself was not. (There's a great reason for a 10/100 drive-train warranty, if ever there was one.)

Oddly enough, the exact same CVT on the Forester XT Turbo was not the same experience as the 2.5 NA. The turbo lag and boost just didn't mesh well with that transmission. 80 less hp than the turbo, but I honestly feel we bought the better driver's car... insofar as you can call a Subaru Forester a "driver's car", LOL.

 

Since those are all 7 passenger SUVs, might I suggest checking out the Ford Explorer? The 3.5 ecoboost V6 is a beast.

We recently traded ours in since my wife went from consulting/working from home back to an office job and we were going to end up 20,000 miles over her lease allocation.

She refused to even consider a car with a CVT, which unfortunately eliminated Nissan and Subaru. I would have liked to test drive a Forester XT. We ended up getting a 2017 Accord with the V6/6AT, which we're both happy with. I dunno why, but I prefer a naturally aspirated engine over a turbo for long term reliability

 

I'm surprised the Forester XT was no good. In my experience though, CVTs, like everything automotive, get better with more horsepower. I drove a Fit CVT and an Accord CVT.... Maxima > Accord > Fit, entirely down to the power available. The Accord was surprisingly punchy for a 4 banger but I just hated how it looked. So needlessly huge.

 

Well, it's a subjective opinion, so yours might be different. It just felt mismatched to the car, and mushy. And as for practicality, it only averages 23 mpg, while requiring 93 octane , all for approximately $4000 over the lesser engine... so there were contributing forces at work here.

 

Not gonna lie...this Hurricane is starting to worry me. Last big one I went threw was Andrew. It hit us down south but I remember looking for my buddies Aunt in a debry field. !st floor shutters are in and will do the 2nd floor later this week. **** gonna get real by Saturday. Hopefully something happens and it weakens a ton

 

We're not specifically looking for a 3-row SUV, but we need room for 3 big dogs so with the 3rd row seats folded down there tends to be more cargo room in the 3-row vehicles. We've already looked at the Explorer sport and we both really liked it... especially the exterior styling which looks far nicer than just about anything else in its class. Unfortunately by the time you add all of the options my wife is looking for the Explorer is well above our budget.


I think the CX-9 is also out now since my wife tried to fit our biggest dog in it and she's too tall to even sit up in the back. That sloping roof-line may look good from the exterior but at the compromise of head room and cargo space.



So we've pretty much narrowed it down to the Dodge Durango RT. It just drives nicer and, funny enough, handles better than anything else we have driven. Plus it comes pretty well loaded up with options for $42K sticker and can be had for around $37K with dealer discounts. I'm still trying to talk her into a Grand Cherokee Trailhawk instead, which can be had with the same 5.7L Hemi V8 as the Durango RT, but looks WAY better than the Durango IMO... She's just concerned that there won't be enough space in the back for the dogs in the Grand Cherokee.

 

I have family down in the Lake Worth area and it's not looking good for anyone located in South Florida right now. Like you said, hopefully it looses some of its steam before it hits, but at least you have a little time to prepare. Good luck and stay safe.

 

We took delivery of my wife's new car tonight. I knew going into this that the Touring Edition was loaded with all kinds of high-end technology, and lane-detection warning was part of that. Imagine my surprise realizing that it just doesn't warn you when you drift off-center, it actually nudges your steering wheel back on track.



Holy crap.

 

Just wait until the collision avoidance kicks in and brakes for you

 

Eek. That's scary! Hopefully that's something you can disable. My wife won't even buy a car with start/stop (that can't be disable) let alone one that tries to drive the car for you.

 

It can be shut off, but it's on by default, so you have to shut it off every time you use the car. At least, I think that's the way it is, but I really need to read the manual. Most safety stuff is like that... on by default, just like Traction Control.

Start/Stop isn't about safety, it's fuel consumption. And yeah I agree, start/stop sucks. I hate it.

Last night we were watching how the headlights swivel with the steering wheel in the direction we're turning. That was kind of freaky. Even more so if you pull up to something reflective and turn the car on while the headlights are on auto... they actually swivel outside, inside and back to center for some crazy "start-up" process. Hahahaha, wow.

 

My wife's '11 MKX has steering headlights. I'm jealous.... I need them more than she does!

 

Turn off DSC. You can point the headlights anywhere you want.