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<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} h1 {mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-outline-level:1; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-font-kerning:0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --&a2009 Dodge Ram
by George Kennedy

 A great time to debut a new truck you say? Yea, I had to do a double take too when I heard these words spoken by Dodge’s Senior Manager of Brand Marketing at the Dodge Ram press event in Santa Barbara, CA. For most people looking for a new car at this very moment, a truck would not be the first choice. As a matter of fact, in many places, the pickup is a 4-wheeled pariah: A gas-guzzling vestige of a bygone era of Detroit dominance.

 

You don’t need me to tell you how expensive gas is, and in the current economy, the fair city of Detroit has hit hard times. The big 3 is oft referred to as the “Big 2 and a half” as of late, hinting at their abysmal sales in the past few months. In a lackluster lineup of cars, without a serious econo-box, or fuel-sipping, game-changing family sedan, the new Ram is a surprising beacon of hope for Chrysler.

 

What Dodge needed the new Ram to do was a few things. A- it had to improve fuel economy to survive, there’s no way around this. B- it had to bring a lot more features to the table to meet the demands of a truck segment in which buyers use their quad cab F-150 like an oversized Taurus, and C- it had to drastically improve its interiors. These are among the things that any new truck coming out in the next couple of years (next gen F-150) must accomplish in order to be seriously considered.

 

So how did the new Ram do in these areas? Well before we can get to that, there is one Ace in the hole that Dodge has, and with it can, very possibly change the truck market. Link Coils and springs instead of leafs for the rear suspension. Coils? On a light duty pickup? Somewhere out there, the Marlboro man just turned over in his grave.

(below: leafs on the left, coil link setup on the right)

Chevy had tried coils back in the 70’s and met with little success. Handling on those trucks were poor when under load, and experienced excessive wheel hop when unloaded. So how does this differ and does it work? Well the first answer is simple. Just like their new Challenger, which is bringing a classic icon and fitting it with modern technology, the Ram updates an old idea with a 5-link suspension that you would find on many sedans as opposed to the 3-link setup on the old Chevy trucks.

 

The result? Blissful. I was fully impressed with the handling and ride quality of the Ram. If people are using this truck like a family sedan (which many in the heartland will) you’ll be happy to know it finally rides like one. Traversing the windy roads of the Santa Ynez Mountains were a synch, and making turns on even ground was even better. On leaf sprung trucks there’s a tendency for the outside wheel of a turn to have a weak connection to the road. It touches the road, but hit a pothole and hello, wheel hop. That’s the other benefit of coils- potholes are no match for this thing. When you go over a pothole with leafs, the truck may bounce a few more times before settling. There is a well-planted firmness to the coil-sprung ride, but not jarringly firm. A fellow writer compared the ride to that of the new Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe. A Rolls? What universe did I just arrive in? I’ve driven the Phantom Drophead and while I don’t fully share the writer’s sentiment, I do see where he was coming from, and that’s saying a lot.

 

So the ride is worthy of the Texas-sized grocery-getter role. But how about those three crucial factors of fuel economy, gear for the dollar, and interior refinement?

  

FUEL ECONOMY: The engineers have been hard at work on a new 390 horsepower, 5.7L HEMI for this Ram. It features a Multiple Displacement System, which shuts off 4 of the 8 cylinders at cruising speeds. This is one of the best ideas around. The V6 Honda Accord has it, and enjoys Civic-like fuel numbers. But you have to do more than just build a more fuel efficient engine, so they did things like revise the front bumper and grille to channel air around and over the cab. The hood features a lip by the windshield that pushes air over the cab. The top of the tailgate has been widened to incorporate a standard rear spoiler. Apparently, in wind testing, wind would come off the back of the cab and just touch the spoiler before trailing off behind the truck. I don’t have a degree in fluid dynamics, but that sounds better than having the air get sucked into then out of the bed like man trucks do. Overall, the drag coefficient has been improved to .419, compared to .463 for the 2008 model. The coil suspension setup is actually 40 pounds lighter (it also has batter wheel articulation/travel than leafs) So, what does this all mean for fuel economy? 14 MPG city, 20 highway- 1 more MPG in both city and highway driving than last year. That was a letdown for sure. However some food for thought: In response to this, Chevy now offers an XFE trim on the Silverado (Xtra Fuel Economy) and it does a bunch of little things to reduce drag coefficient and improve fuel economy to 15/21. Well you have to special order that sort of stuff. With the Ram, the efforts have been made standard. That’s the right sort of thinking.

 

FEATURES: This truck needed to have more kit for the dollar. Simply put, it does by a long shot. The new exterior feature being touted is the RamBox. It consists of integrated lockable, drainable storage compartments on either side of the exterior bed walls. In addition to being drainable, they are also waterproof, and according to the Dodge, can hold 120 cans, plus ice, in each box. Hello, next generation of tailgating. For now, the RamBox is only available with the 5’7” short bed crew and quad cab models, however after talking to the head of engineering its totally possible to offer it array of bed/cab configurations in the future.

But wait, there’s more! In the rear row on Quad cab models, the seats fold up without any latches, revealing another sub-derriere storage compartment. The rear seat floor area also has waterproof drainable compartments, that are said to hold 12 cans each, with ice. Who was on their design team? The frat brothers from Omega house? (in some strange way, that’s a compliment)

 

With all of these storage solutions, the Ram “brought it” in a big way. (1 note: opting for the premium sound system will put a subwoofer in place for 1 of the sub-seat cargo boxes) So this Ram definitely delivers more kit, and starting at $22,170 ($200 less than the outgoing, far less-equipped model), it does for less coin.

 

INTERIORS: Dodge has had a reputation as of late for falling short in the interior fit and finish department. It has been said that the Challenger’s interior is pretty weak compared to the retro-tastic Camaro. The interior bears a resemblance to that of the Challenger, but it works much better in this application. Most of the test models had center console shifters with a massive cargo box/mega armrest reminiscent of the Ram Charger SUV’s of the 80’s. The chrome and soft leather dash(an industry first) was impressive and the cooled seats ensured I wouldn’t stick to the perforated leather during the 2 hour trip to the test course.

 

This truck has been surprising me all day in little ways. One such example was the doors, which get wider right just below the sill to the 1-touch power windows. This widening created a true armrest even when the window was up. I found this terrific and the competition should be taking notes!

 

PROS: Finally gave consideration to the little things. Chrysler is realizing the high demands of buyers and acting on it. Coil setup puts leafs to shame. The only guy who didn’t agree was some crotchety old man from Texas. So it doesn’t count.

 

CONS: It seems like they went through an awful lot of trouble for meager gains in fuel economy. MDS should’ve translated into much better fuel economy in my mind. The big test is when the Ram Hybrid comes out in the near future. (Its been confirmed)

 

FINAL THOUGHTS: They should’ve never made the 02-08 Ram. Having ridden in a previous generation Ram, I can honestly say they have come a long way. In terms of styling, ride quality, and fit and finish, this is what the replacement for the first “big rig” RAM should have been from day 1. But we cant live in the past, and as far as the future, buyers will be as scrutinizing as ever to get the most for their buck in these trying economic times. If the RAM can find a way to improve fuel economy, it can call itself the best truck on the market. Going into the test drive, that’s a statement that I did not expect to make!

Tags: 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi Rambox Box Coil Spring Mds

Well, I hope that throw-up-in-your-mouth taste from last week's car is gone, because I have a fresh new eyesore for ya! This one isnt exactly a kit car in the way that the Enzo-Fiero was from last week. This one is terribile in its own right!





This is a Citroen Saxo coupe, done up like an extra from "The Fast and the Furious," which is bad enough on its own, but upon closer review, you can see that the whole car has been outfitted in snakeskin! I mean, its band enough that someone though they could trick out their Saxo, which at best has just under 120 hp, but to take it a step further with the snakeskin! If Loyd from "Entourage" and George Michael ever got married, this would be their family car! Well, once again, feast your eyes on the awful-ness!

Tags: Awful Kit Car Body Snake Skin Citroen Saxo Coupe

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? Well, when it comes to cars, there are certainly limits widely agreed upon. Everyone can probably agree that a Jaguar E-Type Series 1 is a masterpiece, while there are few that would say the same about a Chrysler K-Car. Yet, people break these unwritten rules all the time in the sake of creating something that is completely original and unique.

Take, for instance, kit cars. You start with an underpowered, poor handling, poor build quality vehicle, such as a Pontiac Fiero, and you build a disproportionate interpretation of a supercar. A widely done kit converstion is a Lamborghini Countach or a Ferrari F355. These conversions may fool an untrained eye, but only at first. It is clear that they are not the supercars they claim to be.

What could be worse than some redneck in an 89 Camaro pulling up next to your "Fieroghini" and getting blown off the line because you were only pushing 98 horsepower. I mean that 80's 305ci V8 in the Camaro was gettin old 3-teeth over there 165 horsepower stock! And Fiero is suposed to be italian for "proud"?! Hardly. I mean, God bless you if you did a GM V8 swap when you did the exterior conversion as well, but doesn't that seem like a lot of trouble?

I digress. In the following weeks, I will highlight some of the most rediculous kit cars- mostly aftermarket, but some done by their misguided manufacturers-and you can decide for yourself in who's eyes is beauty beheld.

THIS WEEK'S AWFUL KIT CAR:

Enzo Ferrari (Pontiac Fiero)

The Enzo Ferrari is such an incredible car, that it earned the right to be named after the founder of the prancing stallion brand. The Enzo straddles the worlds of track-read racecar and head-turning supercar, while the Fiero on the other hand, straddles the worlds of Marlboro Red-smoaking deadbeats and junk yards. I mean, the two conversions I mentioned above aren't exactly lookers, and they are the best examples that the 'Island of Misfit Mid-Engines' has to offer. Anways, feast your eyes on a few more jpegs of this rolling disaster, and have your barf-bag ready for next week's installment!

         
  

Tags: Ferrari Enzo Pontiac Fiero Bad Kit Car

Anyone following green technology probably (or should) knows of the chronicles of fuel efficient-yet-sporty cars such as the Tesla roadster and Chevy Volt. While they spell the future for head turning cars that will lower our carbon footprint, both have been plagued by setbacks- each of their own kind.

 

I wont get into the trials and tribulations of Tesla too much. All you need to know is that Tesla and Fisker (the company behind the Fisker Karma electric supercar) have been suing each other back and forth over stolen power train designs. Lets face it, there are a growing number of wealthy people as the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow. In addition, for rich people, owning a hybrid is the automotive equivillent to wearing a “Livestrong,” bracelet wherein its all about showing everyone else that you are behind a cause. Based on these things, people of wealth are going to come out in droves for both cars, thus the bickering between the two companies can only hurt them, as the cars could never see the light of day. But enough of that soap opera.

 

The Volt has been Chevrolet’s concept darling for some time now, being unveiled at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show with much fanfare. Since then, the confirmed date of production has been debated and changed multiple times. As it stands currently, Bob Lutz of GM has said it will be a 2010 model and has been giving routine updates to the public as to how development is coming along.

 

Two things don’t settle right with me about the routine updates. 1) Like the Chevy Camaro concept, which has been sitting around as a concept for some time now, Lutz just likes to create buzz off the same thing as much as possible, milking any kind of excitement over the product dry. Both get overexposed, like Presidential campaigns these days, so that by the time its all over, people are apathetic. 2.) Having routine updates with new information every time can’t be good for the development team. It’s like Hitler asking Verner Bon Braun, “Hey how are those V-2 rockets coming along? Ein have a schity to bomb!” Such pressure simply cannot be good for the scientists working on the Volt.

 

In general, I am skeptical because GM has always represented the old ways, in my mind. They have been the poster child for the corner-cutting bottom line, and were forever staunch opponents to any sort of green technology. For me, they were Big Tobacco, Big Oil, and the NRA all rolled into one. For them to do an about-face either is representative of some sort of genuine thought change, or just being opportunistic.

 

The whole Tahoe hybrid thing seemed a little goofy to me, as many scientists will point out that hybrid technology is most effective on cars with smaller mass, and such technology is only marginally effective on full-size SUV’s. Why doesn’t GM put such technology or a clean diesel in any of its smaller cars? They ARE putting hybrid technology into the Malibu, but that to me just seems like them saying, “Well Nissan is doing it with the Altima and Toyota is with the Camry, we better do it to compete.” That is not truly drinking the “green” Kool-Aid. Until hybrids, hydrogen cars, and clean diesel is available in affordable small and mid-size cars, these top-of-line hybrids such as the Lexus LS600h L, and Tahoe hybrid that ONLY come fully loaded, will appear to me to be just a large donation to the Sierra Club, that you can drive to work.

Tags: Chevy Volt Tahoe Hybrid Tesla Roadster Fisker Karma

As automotive writer and analyst here at WheelsTV, I get my hands on some pretty nice cars, if only for a day. When we go to shoot a car for a quick vehicle profile or video test drive, I am usually the driver. This accomplishes two things. 1) We have a driver for the video who essentially a prop, or the automotive equivalent to a hand model, and 2) I get to experience the car and take that into account when I am writing my profile. I decided it was time for me to get down and dirty and give a thorough account of everything, good and bad, that a particular vehicle brings to the table.

 

This week, I had the distinct pleasure of driving the all-new 2008 BMW X6 in Xdrive 35i trim. BMW is pushing its all new all wheel drive system with the naming nomenclature of this car, but we’ll get to that later. For now, let’s talk first impressions.

 

STYLING: The X6 is being dubbed as the “coupe, reborn,” and at first glance, I don’t really see it. It’s like someone telling a joke, and then asking them to go back and explain it. Don’t get me wrong, its insanely aggressive and oozing with testosterone. With bulging fender flares and 20-inch 5-into-10 spoke wheels, it gives the appearance of being utterly, completely firmly planted- like a tank.

 

 The front end may bear some resemblance to the current X5 SUV, but with an even more aggressive look. As you move along the body, however, things depart quickly from the X5, as the roofline departs elegantly from the sky. The sloping roof has a fastback appearance and meets at the rear deck lid.

 

It is after appreciating this design element, that I realize what the whole Sport Activity Coupe moniker is all about. Like getting that joke someone told you 15 minutes prior, and having a chuckle about it to yourself.

 

POWER TRAIN: When driving this thing, I never yearned for more power out of the 3-liter twin turbo inline-6. It produces 306 horsepower and 295 pound feet of torque. Having said that, I didn’t pull any boats uphill or drive through any rivers, so my actual testing of the vehicle has some holes in it.

 

However, for those who just simply can’t buy 4-wheel drive vehicle without V8 power, BMW is offering the Xdrive 50i model. It will be powered by BMW’s all-new 4.4 liter twin turbo V8. Interestingly enough, the turbo’s are nestled in the crevasse created by the V of the engine, resulting in a compact layout. The blown V8 is rated at 407 horsepower and 442 pound feet of torque.

 

There is all wheel drive and then there is all wheel drive. The new X6 is equipped with the latter. The new Xdrive system, which BMW has shamelessly plugged at the expense of its own vehicle naming process, could very well be worthy of such a naming stretch. Much like the Super Handling AWD system on the Acura RDX, Xdrive actively sends power from front to back, as well as left to right wheels, depending on road conditions. The rear differential has electronically controlled clutches on either side of it, so that when cornering, it will overpower the outside wheels. If you are paying close attention, you can actually feel this power transfer when making a quick 3-point turn or a tight corner at speed.

 

Power is sent through a 6-speed sport automatic transmission that had two manual modes. For a car that doesn’t actually have a clutch pedal, that’s one too many. The paddle shifters were a little unintuitive. Just like “wax on, wax off,” paddle shifters should be one up, one down. These were both up and down, tapping with your fingers to go up, and pushing with your thumbs to go down. Just didn’t sit right.

 

INTERIOR: Any current BMW I look at has some of the best interiors around. It was luxurious, yet precise- like a really expensive fountain pen. While the seats were a little flat for my liking, I could never see myself making such a tight corner that it would necessitate buckets. The quality was that of the best office chair you’ve ever sat in Staples (that’s not a knock, their chairs are legit). 

 

The iDrive that BMW loves to tout is a pain to navigate through- I miss audio displays that are separate from all the Nav stuff. The actual center console shifter is unorthodox, but very cool. You push up or down ‘til you’re in the preferred drive mode and click a little button on the side, like you’ve just launched a pair of sidewinder missiles at a target.

 

Note to BMW: I like backup cameras, there great, but for the love of everything holy, when I take the car out of reverse, the damn camera should go away, and not stay there for another 30 seconds!!!

 

Rear headroom for my 6’3” frame was inexistent. I could not sit in the back seat of this car for a road trip. Good thing too, because the only way to fit enough stuff in the X6 is to fold down the rear seats. The fastback roof completely takes away any utility that the rear of a vehicles with this kind of footprint should offer. Its enough room for a golf bag (maybe) and groceries, but campers with a family need not apply.

MY TAKE: Ever seen the Family Guy where Peter feels his manhood is less than adequate and buys a really expensive sports car? That’s this car. If the X5 is for rich soccer moms, than the X6 is for the rich husband going through a midlife crisis. This car exudes testosterone. Its like if Eric Bana, Vitor Belfort (for you UFC fans) and RoboCop morphed into one person, this is the car he (it?) would drive. Starting at $52,500 and with so-so rear headroom and cargo space, this car is entirely impractical. In light of all of this, some part of you (that might as well reside below the belt) really, really wants to own one.

PS- For those who really want a Sport Activity Coupe, check out the Mega Track

PPS- Had to borrow pics from Autoblog.com, our videos on the X6 are not up and ready, yet.
 

Tags: Crossover Sport Activity Vehicle Bwm X 6

My Beef This Week: Cyclists

 

When I started this somewhat-weekly verbal barrage on all things traffic, I said I would stick to things that seemed to the most annoying things on the road in my mind. Old people during rush hour and school buses neglect for any other vehicle on the road are things that I feel are direct sources of traffic that can be changed to reduce their drag on the flow of traffic.

 

My latest beef, however, is not as much a traffic causer as much as it just plain hurts my head to deal with. Cyclists think they own the road. They use the rules that apply to autos, as well as those of pedestrians, and take whatever benefits them at the moment.

 

These Lance Armstrong wannabes will ride in a lane of traffic and nearly take it up completely. After taking up a lane like they are a car, only some will stop at a stoplight like a car would.

 

While were talking about cyclists, what is the deal with the spandex? OK, I understand if your on the 5^th leg of the Tour de France and cutting down on wind resistance will help you get that extra edge, but who are these people I see riding around town with their gut hanging out, wrapped in spandex?

 

Here’s a news flash: IF YOU ARE OVERWEIGHT WEARING SPANDEX WILL NOT BENEFIT YOUR ATTEMPTS TO LOSE SAID WEIGHT. It won’t help in getting any girls either.

 

I mean think about the logic here: Middle age yuppie with money to spend and a gut to lose decides he wants to bike to lose weight. That’s great. More power to him. But then it all goes wrong when he sees Lance Armstrong highlight and thinks that wearing the stretchy stuff will help him lose weight. By wearing a garment that cuts down on wind resistance, you are actually cheating yourself out of a better workout. If you were really committed, you’d wear clothes act created MORE wind resistance, resulting in a harder workout.

 

I mountain bike, but that doesn’t mean I don’t go on roads. When I have to travel along roads, I go on the sidewalk as much as possible, minimizing my exposure to the open road. I also don’t wear spandex. I wear just normal shorts and a t-shirt most of the time. Also consider that I am traveling on the road and sidewalks on knobby mountain biking tires. My tires create more resistance than speed bike tires would.

It is possible that when I adorn my plain old shorts and t-shirt, hop on my mountain bike, and ride to the nearest state park (which is about a mile from my house) that I am getting a better workout on my ride TO my workout than some old slob, wearing his best Floyd Landis costume, complete with fingerless gloves, and "Macho Man Randy Savage" shades.

Some people just need to own a mirror... and learn the rules of the road.

 

 

Tags: Traffic Bikers Cyclists Spandex Lance Armstrong

My beef this week: School Buses

OK, now this one might seem a little strange. You may say to yourself, “Where is George going with this one? Has his striking gorgeousness impeded on his thinking?” Well, first let me assert that, to my knowledge, it is impossible for that to happen. Second, I feel I have a valid argument in at least pointing out some annoyances that school buses represent.

 

The idea first popped into my head that things that annoy people on their commute should be the topic of a blog wayyy back in the fall. I was on my way to work for one of the first times as a full time employee of WheelsTV after interning there for the summer. It seemed like after a summer easy commutes (only 3 days a week) going everyday was combined with a ton of new construction work as well as school starting up again.

 

The construction was a pain in itself, as it seemed like all 3 ways I could get to work from my house has multiple holes in the road. Holes in which one flannel-clad man was digging, while a plethora of flannel-clad men stood watching.

 

Even without the construction, it was the busses that seemed to draw most of my angst. For years kids from the entire neighborhood would gather at the entrance of said neighborhood to be picked up 12 at a time. Somewhere in between my stopping riding buses in favor of rides from older kids in high school and now, it seems like that has changed. Now every snot-nosed little twerp can sit at the end of their driveway with, playing “Virtua Fighter 13” on their PSP whilst I sit in traffic waiting for every one of them to be personally picked up in front of their houses. Kids in my day never had it that good!

 

In addition to the small matter of a bussing service turned apparent limo service, there is the fact a large caravan develops behind these big yellow monstrosities. No one has asked why a bus can’t pull over and let the 20 cars that have backed up behind it pass. Trash trucks do it. Mail trucks do it. When a police cruiser pulls someone over, you don’t see everyone behind that cruiser stop until his lights are off. Yes, I know about the kids crossing the road and whatnot, but there should be a way of allowing people to pass a bus once the children are safely on the bus.

 

I think of the bus drivers from back in the day and am pretty sure that they would be the type that gets their kicks owning the road and taking town the plate of someone who hurries by the bus before the yellow blinking lights turn red. (Do they even do that anymore? I don’t know.) They don’t care about how much traffic builds up around them. I really don’t know how to implement it, ergo this really could be one of the intangible, uncontrollable things of the road. All I know is I look toward summer now with anticipation of open roads, the way I used to anticipate playing street hockey, baseball, and riding my bike through the woods. (Although now, I bet kids spend most of their time inside playing video games. Oh well.)

Tags: Buses Traffic

No one likes commutes. It’s a fact of life. It is as inevitable and undesirable as spilling a piece of toast and having it land jam side down. The commute is always going to be there, and you are going to hate it. It is not so much that you are frustrated the minute you get into your car, but rather what occurs during the commute turns an otherwise diligent employee into a strung out lunatic.

 

I thought about this notion, and really wanted to break down what it was that affects us the most on the commute. What is it that makes driving to work so bad? In the next few blogs, I will take a look at each individual nuisance of the daily grind (in the interest of your attention span I will only go over one area per blog).

 

I decided to break it down into two categories. The first are the “intangibles”; things that one just has to accept, like death and taxes. They are intangible because the other drivers on the road have little or no control over the causation or resolution to these things. Intangibles include, potholes, construction, traffic, etc. The latter of the three is somewhat of a gray area, as people’s stupidity can sometimes be the cause of traffic.

 

That leaves the rest of what I call the “tangibles,” or things that people and their carelessness/stupidity/laziness are the direct cause of. There are a litany of things that people do on a given day that make the average driver go mad.

 

What we will look at today are elderly drivers. Sure, call me an ass for calling them out, but, there is a method to my madness.

 

I don’t have a problem with elderly driver, for the most part. I do think there is a certain age at which drivers should be re-evaluated to see if they should be driving, but I won’t get into that now. What I am looking for is what ticks people off when driving that they don’t even know about.

 

What I realized on my way into work is that elderly drivers that are on the road while everyone else is going to work. I was driving down a 45 mile per hour road on the way into work and a Mercury Grand Maquis was in front of me doing about 30-35. I looked closely at the driver, sure enough, there was a big ole perm sticking up from the headrest.

 

I don’t get why someone who has retired feels compelled to get up early and drive 15 miles and hour under the speed limit just to go to the grocery store so he or she can buy 3 tomatoes with a coupon they cut out of the Sunday circular! You have all day to go about your business, why can’t you just wait until after everyone else has gotten to their respective businesses? That way, we may work so we can save up for our retirement, (considering Medicare won’t exists by the time we get old thanks to the elderly of the nation voting for our current president and his flawed Medicare plan).

 

Japan is actually trying to encourage elderly drivers to turn in their licenses. As the article here states that while overall accidents in Japan have decreased by 20 percent, accidents involving drivers over the age of 70 has gone up 35 percent! It’s not just a stereotype, there are numbers to prove the dangers elderly drivers pose to others on the road.

 

If elderly drivers would just stay off the roads during rush hour and gave everyone else a chance to get to work, the world would be a better place. (Next time, my beef with school busses!)

Tags: Elderly Drivers Traffic

      Long before I started blogging for WheelsTV. Long before I went to college. Long before I had any inkling of a career in writing, there was my love of cars, and there was the Expo. The Bayside Expo Center was one of a collection of locations that any sort of major exposition of exhibition could be held. Other options included the Heinz convention center and the fleet center, however Bayside’s location, near south Boston and Umass Boston was just enough outside of Boston to make it accessible to those coming from outside the city, especially points south and west.

     I can remember going to my first Auto show at the expo center with my brother when I was in 6th grade. My brother and I are competitive about everything, and back then, that included outsmarting each other when it came to facts about cars. Born out of that was a love of cars that brought me to where I am today- having the privilege spend every day researching, writing about, and occasionally test driving cars as a vocation. Who would have thought that wandering around the bayside, checking out what at the time was a novel continuously variable transmission, that I would be back there, but being paid to do so!

     Looking across the massive main hall of the recently opened Boston Exposition and Convention center at can be described as a car-lovers all you can eat buffet, I thought back to the previous location of this auto show and almost grimaced. According to Einstein everything is relative. Ergo, our perceptions of everything this world are judged relative to other experiences we have had, and seeing the pristine gargantuan beauty of the new exhibition center that made me realize what a prehistoric dump the old expo center was.

     Looking back, the Expo center had a layout worlds apart from that of the massive exhibition center, that bears a resemblance to an airplane hangar or what one might mistake for worlds largest airport terminal. The expo center on the other hand had a layout that was more like that of that outdated mall you stopped going to. There were no main halls, or rather the construction of expo was such that I have no memory of a main hall. There was a mass of disjointed mediocre halls, and many exhibitors were constrained to the confines of conference rooms adjacent to these sub par concourses.

      The outdated expo also suffered with regards to the upkeep the facility received. When attended auto shows in the past, I can remember a patched together exterior that looked like a shingled house after a hurricane. Upon entering the center I can remember the drop ceiling having exposed panels, with wires hanging out of said panels. Carpets were patched together, and considerations to concession facilities, or the products that they were peddling, all seemed out of date.

      Perhaps the expo does not deserve this sort of verbal laceration and at the time it could have been state of the art, however after spending a day at Boston’s newest expo center made such an impression on me that I had to rant about the shortcomings of the expo center of old. Take this rather as a vote of confidence in the new center and the considerations towards quality and ergonomic planning that it had received. There were many wonderful features of this new convention center had never even crossed my mind.

      First was the fact that only knowing the New England auto show, I had only known a layout that bore more of a resemblance to an outdated mall. It had very few large rooms, rather, many poorly lit smaller rooms that winded through the facility. The new Exhibition Center (they should probably come up with a short and catchy name for the center, see- Cobo Hall) has a massive center concourse where all the exhibitors set up their stands. This center concourse can have areas shut off to accommodate smaller events. All of this is flanked on either side by two batteries of conference rooms and outside of that are the hallways/ ticketing arrears that span the length if this monstrosity. It has the proportions of something like a storage area for multiple dirigibles- simply massive.

      Considerations towards ease of use of this facility have clearly been taken into account- not just for those passing through the Exhibition center, but for the exhibitors themselves. From looking at schematics, it appears that there are power outlets and an array of multimedia connections build right into the floor. No running wires across the open floor here- everything is right in the floor for easy access. And apparently they have quite a support system! If you are trying to run a display that requires the internet, there is wired and wireless internet connections that have been run throughout the hall. This was an update that the Expo would have much difficulty achieving.

      At the end of the day, I am not completely disgusted with the Expo center. It had served the city of Boston for a number of years, and will continue to do so for an untold number of years to come. The New England Convention and Exhibition Center, however, is without question, the future of exhibition halls for Boston. I predict as recognition and popularity shifts towards the new center, the Bayside will be phased out and be torn down. Fret not, however, as the location of the Bayside Expo center, nestled between Columbus Park, Umass Boston, and the oceanfront, would make a terrific location for any number of projects. Until then, however, I implore you to check out the new Boston Exhibition and Convention Center. If your like me, you’ll forget all about Bayside!

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