Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Goodspeed]

Belatedly getting around to share my latest round of Rental Car Ruckus-ing, and boy howdy did I ruckus.  Only one of these was pre-planned, the latter two were a beautiful accident.

Car #1: 2018 Mazda MX-5 RF



I picked this up in Vegas and used it to not-nearly-soon enough get the hell out of Vegas (<24 hrs.) and on to Zion NP in Utah.  I rented it through Alamo; it solely occupies their "Compact Convertible" class (which might not be available in all markets).  6 speed auto (sad) with paddle shifters (alright) First things first, I loved this car even before my ass hit the seat.  I've been nothing but an adoring fan of the ND since its release so don't expect an unbiased review here, but inside & out this car looked great.  It instantly felt so right to be in a little roadster again, cocooned as I was in the tidy interior.

Everything fell perfectly to hand, the thick rimmed steering wheel & paddles, the nice body-colored accents on the doors classing up the joint.  Everything was just so effortlessly, almost weightlessly fun, and whipping this around the city and backroads between LV & Zion really taught me that this was the perfect car for a carefree vacation.

Teehee, it's so smol:



Mazda knocked this one out of the park.  I didn't realize how much I missed the pure joy of belting a tiny gnat of a car around well under the speed limit.  I started to chuckle at all the Lambos I saw crawling around Vegas while I was driving around.  I was having more fun than them by a mile.



Speaking of fun, the Red Rock Canyon scenic loop drive to the west of Vegas was a great stop.  It's a 13-mile one-direction loop that is nicely, widely paved and was somehow nearly deserted (hyuck) by 5pm on a Saturday.  It was like having your own private Nurburgring.  The ND was a total puppy dog for the occasionally spirited drive that ensued.



More of what I liked:

• Being in a sub 2,500 car again was very special indeed.  More like this, please.
  
• The RF power roof was wonderful.  Best of both worlds.  Rear buttress does give a large blind spot however.
  
• The electric power steering was very good.  I haven't driven many cars with electric PS but no complaints here.
  
• 6spd auto with the paddle shifters was A-OK.  I'd buy a stick but wouldn't shame someone for going auto.  It was good.
  

What wasn't so great:

• This was the last year of the 155hp motor before the bump to 181.  The extra power would've been nice - this iteration was merely adequate at best when you really had to give it some stick.  
  
• Motor also didn't sound great.  I think this too was improved on the 181hp motor, but it was pretty thrashy.
  
• Wind noise was substantial in between the DS door mirror & A-pillar.
  

I WANT IT level: 9/10.  I really should have one of these, honestly.



Car #2: 2019 Dodge Charger R/T

I landed in Portland and got to the Thrifty desk, where I had a reservation for an appliance of some sort.  I figured the Miata would be fun-enough for the whole 3-stop vacation and I could deal with regular transport for the rest.  The nice lady behind the counter quickly informed me that I could spend a very reasonable amount more for a V8 Charger over a Kia Soul.  I'm in desperate need of more V8 in my life.  Done.



It didn't hurt any that I'm a huge fan of what Dodge's got going on these days.  They're probably my single favorite manufacturer right now for staying true to what they do best: making brutish cars that do burnouts, including in great ads.  I've always had my attention grabbed by these latest Mopars on the street & really wondered how far they've come since the bad old days of...fairly recent memory.  They look & sound great inside (this had a bumpin' Alpine system) & out, and people just love them, including most reviewers whose platitudes have included "very AMG-like".  I gotsta know - how good is it?



VERY.  This car is wonderful and it might just be the most-missed out of the three.  The attitude it contains and infects you with before you even leave the parking lot is like a drug.  The factory exhaust behind the 370hp/395 lb-ft 5.7 sounds amazing, and every bit of this huge car just wants to be bad at every opportunity.  I was eating Priuses with impunity inside of 5 minutes behind the wheel and giggling while I did it.  And, with the Plus Package this car had (audio, stitched dash & door panels, electric aids all over) the inside was a truly nice place to be.  The seats are AMAZING, and even though this car is built to seat 4 silverback gorillas, I got supremely comfortable piloting this beautiful barge without delay.  It really hurt to give this one back.



More of what I liked:

• Bank vault quitness on the highway
  
• UConnect system was the best infotainment I've ever used.  I can see why it gets universal praise.
  
• Burnouts
  

What wasn't so great:

• .
  

I WANT IT level: 10/10.  I'm seriously on the fence of angling to buy one.  The only "problem" is a somewhat-loaded R/T spec'd how I'd want it is knocking on the door of a 6.4L 485hp Scat Pack and at that point, just jail me.

Car #3: 2019 Challenger R/T

OK, so this was no accident - I got to the rental counter in Sacramento basically foaming at the mouth for another Hemi Dodge.  To my very pleasant surprise, a brand-new white Challenger appeared.  Hell yes, the horizon and I have a date & this is guaranteed to get me there on time.  





My dad flew out at this point to join me for Monterey Car Week & the big coupe was perfect for the two of us to eat miles in and generally be a couple members of the goon platoon with.  Good times were had, & all the same text from the Charger above applies down here.  I'll just list a couple deviations:

• This car didn't have the Plus package (I don't think it's available for the Challenger) which meant a bare plastic dash with no fancifying with nice stitching and the like.  Even for someone who doesn't really care about this sort of thing, that big ol' dash did kinda get sore after a while.  It's way chunkier than the Charger's, and protrudes out much further which just looks like acres of black plastic.  It's whatever, not my favorite thing about the car.  Some covering & stitching would do wonders.
  
• The active exhaust baffles rattled under light/partial acceleration with increasing frequency during the rental.  QC issue?  Car was brand new.  Exhaust sounded amaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing though.
  

I WANT IT level: 8/10.  The Charger is more practical with a nicer interior, but the Challenger really looks the business.  I came away with a newfound appreciation for the big dumb-dumb of the Detroit muscle cars.  It was just fun.



As I wrote this, Nightcrawler was on in the background.  The final period landed above just as the star-car Challenger gave a slide.  God bless.