Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Dave]

it's the mace-weilding psycho from the tram :-)

[HAULN-SS]

haha..in the loosest sense of the term ;x

[CaptainHenreh]

haha..in the loosest sense of the term ;x

Loose, you say?

[HAULN-SS]

well, not like you just took it apparently ;x

[Dave]

Review of my 07 Kia Rio rental, given to me while the Supra got some body repairs courtesy of a jackass who wanted my lane but didn't care to check that nobody was already there...

When I first stepped in, I couldnÔÇÖt help but think ÔÇ£Man, this is pretty nice.ÔÇØ Of course, the youngest car I own was built in 1993, so it would be hard for an 07 to not feel nice. Sadly, the feeling didnÔÇÖt really last long b/c the car conflicts itself constantly.

Some parts of the ergonomics are great: all controls are easily reached, the radio is slightly angled toward the driver, and the fit & finish is surprisingly good, considering itÔÇÖs a Kia. However, I have to wonder who is supposed to drive this car, as it is certainly not made for me. I have nowhere to rest my right arm comfortably, and my left canÔÇÖt be held at a proper, comfortable angle on the window sill or the armrest. The seat is enormous and flat, not unlike a park bench. The seats in my 240, notorious for having copious amounts of suck, hold me in better than these in the Kia, although the KiaÔÇÖs fabric is more comfortable (surprise, itÔÇÖs brand new). Otherwise the front has loads of room, you could probably manage a lap dance while youÔÇÖre driving.

The outside is nothing special, literally. There is not a single thing that struck me as I did my walk-around. This thing blends in like a snowflake in a blizzard.

The car wouldnÔÇÖt be a particularly bad city car. It has plenty of pep and gets around fairly well. ItÔÇÖs got a lot of lean, more than my stock 93 240sx, but for the most part it gets around. The steering is a little numb, but the stereo system is pretty sweet. The transmission shifted quite smoothly and gave me no signs that it is ready to violently remove itself from the engine bay. The engine is damn near silent at all speeds, which IÔÇÖm sure is due to a ton of sound-deadening, but I really like hearing my engine since it allows me to determine when a piston departs from the block.

I would hate to drive this every day if all I did was commute on the highway. Passing would be a truly scary proposition on a 2-lane highway with oncoming traffic less than 10 miles away. While cruising at 65 there is no noticeable change, in speed or engine noise, when putting the pedal to the floorboard. I guess the gerbils are at maximum efficiency at that point and I was just asking too much of them. If you are the owner of one of these and need to get somewhere quickly, the best thing you can do is install some form of hook and latch onto a large truck. I must say that I find it hilarious that the speedo even registers up to 140; thatÔÇÖs as high as my supra, except in reality no Kia known to mankind actually has potential to reach it. I noticed a lot of jerkiness which would make me think of wind blowing me, except there was forest on both sides which would prevent cross-winds. My only guess is a very switchy steering/suspension that just did whatever it wanted if you had less than 2 hands on the wheel.

All in all, a piece of crap. Every time you get in the car you can feel a small part of your soul sucked away and you find yourself to seem noticeably dumber for a short period of time after being in the car. Kia has come a long way (I actually made it through the week-long rental period without any catastrophic failures), but they still leave a lot to be desired.

[ScottyB]

haha....nice, Dave

[Jeff]

I suppose no one really makes a "great" rental car. I have heard some of the nicer Kias are damn nice...notice I say "I heard." I have also heard of Bigfoot.

[Feersty]

The Kia Rondo doesn't look bad. But I couldn't tell you about handling or interior appointments. I saw one on 295.

[Maengelito]

the subaru is getting its bumper touched up from some ass who doesn't know how to park. in the meantime, they gave me a PT cruiser. i just got it this morning and haven't driven it much, but the first thing i noticed is how uncomfortable the seat is. isnt it supposed to be a quasi-luxury model? the seat feels like a park bench wrapped in cloth.

more to come as i flog the car some in the next couple of days...

[ScottyB]

but the first thing i noticed is how uncomfortable the seat is. isnt it supposed to be a quasi-luxury model? the seat feels like a park bench wrapped in cloth.

seriously. i felt like i was riding a bar stool down the highway. and the interior felt really narrow too.

[Maengelito]

i preface this critique with the knowledge that my requirements for cars does not line up with probably over 90% of america's requirements, so i tried to keep an objective mind about this car.

its like a truck seat in a car, except the seat is hard and obviously meant for someone with the weirdest shaped ass ever. the car lacks power, which i wasnt too surprised about since its basically a nicer stock neon. the suspension is pretty smooth for a passenger car though the roads around here arent in bad shape so i havent really noticed much. the center console and design of the dash i think looks fairly decent. it looks a little too plasticy, but overall, i think it looks decent. however, the actual ergonomics of the controls are way off. i think the only thing thats intuitive is the volume on the radio. some of the buttons are in weird places, the climate control is way too low and the stalks on the steering column is like trying to play a game of bop-it. between pull, push, twist, flick, spin, up, down, etc, i was expecting to get 30 lives. the stalks are way too flimsy to have that many controls on them, so every time i used the turn signal, i felt like i was also flashing someone with my high beams. despite all this, its most redeeming factor has been the A/C. especially in this 100 degree weather, this A/C just wont quit. i've actually had to turn it down because i got too cold, something i dont do very often with car A/C.

[CaptainHenreh]

TO THE TOP BITCHES!

So. The flavor of the week here in Sunny Seattle is a 2006 Chevy HHR.

It's gotta be better than the "Hyundai Accent or Similar" I reserved so when I rolled up to the Hertz at SeaTac, I was actually pretty pleased to hear I was getting an HHR.



I've spent 6 days with it. And I don't hate it. Mind you, I don't like it, and I have some very serious problems with it, but I don't hate it. Maybe I'm getting old?

The acceleration sucks. Bad. This thing is in desperate need of either a turbocharger or a V6. You put the hammer down and the 2.2 ecotec just makes alot of noise. Maybe I'm spoiled by the MS3, but this thing definitely needs some testicles.

I actually don't mind the styling. It's reminiscent of an old panel truck, and looks better than the PT Cruiser, IMHO. It has a nice high seating position (nice being relative) and you've got alot of headroom BUT. The B Pillar is HUGE and the windshield is pretty small which makes forward upper and lefthand visibility pretty shitty. This is probably my biggest complaint with the car. You can see what I mean, here's the view if you were Tiny Elvis On the Steering Wheel:


So, say you're sitting at a stoplight. And you've pulled up to the line. You're going to have to haul your body over the steering wheel and peer up to see if the light turns green. Awful design.

Rearward visibility is excellent, on the other hand. You can see alot through the back window, and there's a shit-ton of cargo space behind the rear passenger seats, which also fold flat. This ends up being an amazing total amount of cargo space, 63 fuckin' cubic feet.

And, if you're into the whole retro thing, it is rather stylish:

And the quasi-retro gauges are nifty too:

The information center was actually really nice. It gave the outside temperature with the odometer, which was nothing special really, but a button on the steering wheel cycled through oil life, tripometers, fuel economy, etc. One of the complaints about my 3 is that you can't change that stuff on the fly without dangerously reaching over your steering wheel . From that same button you can also switch between MPH and KPH, so there's only one set of numbers on the speedo, and a little "mph" or "kph" light. I like that alot. And hey, 34 mpg. Not bad. Not great, but not bad.

I guess I like this thing because even though Chevy calls it an SUV, it isn't. It's the car that people who THINK they want an SUV ought to be buying. If you've got 2 kids and live in Nova, you don't need a Suburban, or even a trailblazer. You're not storming Stalingrad, you're driving on the beltway, so why do you need a huge behemoth of an SUV. You don't, you need this.

So, despite it's shortcomings, I'm gonna say that this isn't a half bad car. A for effort Chevy, too bad you didn't beat the PT to market.

[Dave]

Save the manatee!!

Seriously, look at it :-). Good review Rex, and you're right that people should be buying this rather than SUVs. We all know they won't though, b/c they feel the need to be able to ford a river should they need to. For instance, when rain water is slowly draining past their driveway...

[NTIman]

Good review Rex, and you're right that people should be buying this rather than SUVs. We all know they won't though, b/c they feel the need to be able to ford a river should they need to.

This is why we affectionately refer to the Tundra as the "Soccor mommy truck" at work.

The HHR isn't horrible looking, at least it looks better than the gay ass SSR.

[ScottyB]

hey, it's gotta be better than the PT Cruisizzle dizzle.

i don't think i could live with that tach, auto or not. that's just wrong.

[HAULN-SS]

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testicles

[BLINGMW]

A for effort Chevy, too bad you didn't beat the PT to market.

That was my first thought when that thing came out, that they were about 5 years too late to the party. A pathetic response. And, IMHO, it's uglier than the PT, and I'm surprised anyone would want one. FWIW, about the low windshield and not being able to see stoplights, I have the same problem in the Mini. :dunno: I guess there's no way around that when the windshield is almost vertical and 3 ft away from you. It IS a bit annoying.

[Feersty]

Save the manatee!!

Seriously, look at it :-). Good review Rex, and you're right that people should be buying this rather than SUVs. We all know they won't though, b/c they feel the need to be able to ford a river should they need to. For instance, when rain water is slowly draining past their driveway...

Some parents want to protect their children in the even of a vehicle accident, so they figure the best chances of them getting the least injured or avoid death is to throw them in a big suburban or something similar, but this isn't always the case.

[Ginger]

Some parents want to protect their children in the even of a vehicle accident, so they figure the best chances of them getting the least injured or avoid death is to throw them in a big suburban or something similar, but this isn't always the case.

Statistically that's not actually true. In addition to knowing that modern compact cars have some very advanced safety features one must also remember that the very same features are being applied to vehicles with greater mass.

Translation: bigger vehicles crash better than smaller vehicles.

Bigger vehicles, like SUV's, are being purchased because they have been better able to cope with the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards than smaller vehicles. The CAFE mandates have forced down max. weights of road going vehicles... the government's attempt at regulating fuel efficiency into the market. However, because the smaller vehicles are effectively less safe to most people they purchase higher mass vehicles to protect themselves and families. The effect? Most people are driving less fuel efficient vehicles than they were before the CAFE standards and gas prices have gone up (hooray misapplied regulation).

It's great that the government is so great that chosing our priorities for us.

[JackoliciousLegs]

I hated that car rex... i couldn't see shit. if you had to bend over... imagine what sort of contortions I had to go through...