Two SUV’s, Two Very Different Designs: The New 4Runner and Pathfinder

Sometimes I give Toyota crap for having no soul, making immensely popular cars that get about as exciting as tying my shoes in a double knot. Conversely, as a Nissan enthusiast I typically find their designs refreshing and performance engaging. With the domestic market heating up, these two auto giants from the land of the rising sun are going to be doing battle for market share in a very vital segment, the flagship SUV. But their tactics this time around couldn't be more different, and when the smoke clears, it will be interesting to see what resonates with consumers. 

This weekend, Toyota unveiled the new 4Runner at the Stagecoach Music Festival, and it’s a stunner.  Fat tires, a cowl for the SR5, gunmetal rims, running boards, gorgeous headlights, and a front end that’s aggressive as hell. The 4Runner is something of an SUV icon; it’s been around forever, and has legendary reliability and durability. In fact, if the apocalypse were to happen tomorrow, this might just be the car I would choose. But that's a story for another day. With off road chops and an aggressive demeanor, this new truck doesn’t hide its Hilux roots, and looks like it’s ready for a foreign paramilitary group to throw a .50 cal on the roof and call it a day. 

The brand-spanking new 2014 Toyota 4Runner announced this weekend

I applaud Toyota for the eight-page press release and innovative product announcement at a mainstream country music festival in LA.It is also great to see that they didn't follow in the footsteps of many other automakers, and make their SUV a uni-body grocery-getter in the interest of driving sales. It started with the Ford Explorer, and many other automakers have followed suit in pursuit of marketshare. 

Looks like Toyota is starting to get its soul back.

Which brings me to next point. Nissan, what did you do to the Pathfinder? I used to make it a habit to rent Pathfinders when I went on business. highly capable, and the Armada version has crazy cargo room. The style was boxy and mean, and like most Nissans, a face only a mother could love. 

 

The new Pathfinder

But I hope this is a good move, and we should all wish Nissan the best of luck in gaining traction in a highly competitive market. From a business prospective  its easy to understand why. First, the core consumer for these SUV's doesn't go off road, and this is a much more approachable design. Secondly, the redesign allows it to share sheet metal with the Inifiti JX, where the J stands for "Jacked up minivan". 

Breaking Up is Hard to Do...

I know it's been a while, but we need to have a talk.

Really, its not you, its me. This blog was started years ago when I began my insane commute. Since the relationships inception, my hosting partner was Wordpress. They were easy, always accessible and good looking. But it had its limitations, and I think I have outgrown it. To Clarify, our relationship was doomed when they made my blog unreadable when I tried discontinued my domain name.  Since I have already resigned my life to Google's services, it made sense to convert to the Blogspot service, and gain the ability to edit code, get better SEO, and get AdWords.

For the future, this will be the new home of the 107 Miles blog, including all of my commuting insight, car lust and more than occasional rant.

How to Tell if it's a Boy Car

I like to consider myself a good marketer. I am confident in my ability to properly read demographics well, and create a comprehensive marketing plan that addresses a consumer’s needs and wants, while anticipating the desires for the target market for any given product. It’s not that I’m not being modest, it’s just that this is my job, it’s what I do for a living. But there is just one product out there that completely baffles me. I just can’t wrap my head around the existence of this product and who buys it. I am of course referring to “Truck Nutz”.

For those of you that aren't familiar with Truck Nutz, the concept is this -  it’s a pair of testicles that you can hang from the trailer hitch of your truck. They come in a variety of colors, but predominantly chrome. You can even get a set that lights up. Average retail price is about $45. You don’t see a lot of these in metro NY, where pick-ups are about as rare as a Waffle House.  And by the way, if you want a good laugh, search Amazon for Truck Nutz. And then go through the reviews. Don’t waste time on the fake reviews, but see the real reviews of people that actually take the time to write about their satisfaction or distaste for a product they ordered.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chapstickaddict/2787491967/in/photostream/



Average Truck Nutz sighting surprisingly with FL tags.

I am about to take off once again for Texas, land of F-150’s, Dodge Rams and good ol’ boys. I’m sure I’ll be seeing lots of these appendages affixed to the rear of many a truck, further elevating my confusion. Lets take a second to look at the target market; Keep in mind, this is in no way official, and based purely off of my observation from spending lots of time in the south and in rural areas. Your average customer for this product, and for pickup trucks in general is going to be utility focused and male. Typically, they are of a conservative background with conservative views. Based also off of the reviews for his product, a good chunk of the sales of this product also are the result of gag gifts. This I can understand.

Knowing these things, one has to ask the question, “Why the hell do you have a set of chrome balls hanging off the back of your truck?” I’m thinking about getting a set for my Maxima to see how they look, and evaluate if they (1.) Make women stop in traffic and ask me for my number because they are so overwhelmed by my masculinity and (2.) Raise my testosterone by measurable levels, thus making me more manly.

But maybe I’m just being judgmental. There are a lot of aftermarket enhancements I can’t understand, including fake stick-on louvers, Spinners, and just about any bumper sticker that doesn't start with “my kids an honor student at…”.

One of these days I’m going to roll down my window and ask a driver why he has purchased a set of Truck Nutz.  But really,  I don’t think I would have the balls to do that….

How to conserve fuel in the gas line

Its starting to look like “Massapequa Beyond Thunderdome” out there. While all of us in the Northeast are subject to long lines at the pump, we have to wonder how much gas we are burning sitting in the long lines at the pump. Here are the ways to maximize fuel efficiency while sitting in long lines.

But since there is so much variation in fuel saving tech in cars, my recommendation is you try different things, between being in gear and in park to see where the car idles at the lowest speed, based on looking at the Tachometer.

Don’t be on the brake and in Drive (D) -For most cars, when the drive gears are engaged, gas is being fed to the motor to propel the car forward. Keeping your foot on the brake wastes this into braking energy, which consumers more gas.Try it: let go of the brake, don’t touch the gas, and the car moves forward, using fuel.

You should be in Park (P) -  This consumes the least amount of gas while driving the alternator and necessary systems.

Don’t be in Neutral -  Most cars automatically detect when a car is idling and shut down the fuel injectors. This is unless the car in Neutral (N), and then the car will rev at a constant rate, as shifting the car into neutral disables the auto fuel cut-off. Additionally, when you are in Neutral, you stand the risk of rolling.

Shut it down: if you plan to sit for more than 3- 5 minutes at a time, shut down the motor. It is true that this does cause stress to the starter, but it’s a myth that it takes more gas to start a car. At this point the wear and tear might be worth the gas savings, but if you hear your starter making funny sounds like whirring or buzzing, avoid doing this.

Avoid running auxiliary systems, especially A/C  -  keep using the heat to a minimum, and make sure your A/C is off -  most modern defoggers automatically turn on the A/C, which eats gas, so make sure you check this. running things like radio and hazards lights are fine, but try and keep the heat blower to a minimum.

Start/Stop systems -  If you drive a newer car, odds are you might have a start/stop system in the car, which automatically stops the drive motor when sitting to save fuel. Check your vehicles documentation to see if your car has this system enabled. If this is the case, keep it in gear, and stay on the brake.

Tire pressure: Cold contracts air, reducing the amount of air pressure in your tires. For maximum fuel efficiency, have your tires filled to the recommended PSI, located inside your driver’s side door well.

Air Filter -  Have a clean one.
Source: Car and Driver magazine, http://goo.gl/QZpxl

Commuting with Sandy

It’s been a long time since I have written anything. Just too busy with work, doing the daily grind. But then along came Hurricane Sandy, and turned all of our worlds upside down in the Northeast. After seeing the devastation on the rest of the South Shore of LI, I feel that my family and I were lucky with minimal property damage and no injuries. A little preparation went a long way. Having no power was a slight inconvenience considering what others have gone through.

But now we are trying to bring our lives back to normal, which includes getting to work. The rest of the world has n0t stopped, so getting to and from the job and navigating Metro NY has challenges we need to be aware of.

Gas

First and foremost is the gas situation. Its bad, but we all saw it coming. The lines are a good 1-3 miles long in Nassau County, and from what I hear its getting bad in other places too. My friend in Dutchess County tells me they are now getting short on gas because all the Westchester people are flocking there for fuel. The best advice right now is to wait. People’s hoarder mentality takes over, so if you can restrict driving, do it. That gas is better served in someone generator keeping a family warm or for someone who doesn’t have the ability to telecommute. The situation should remedy itself in a few more days, but until then, sit tight. Take mass transit, car pool, and work from home.

But what if it doesn’t get better and the world gets all Mad Max on us? At that point, people are going to be looking to siphon gas, if they haven’t already, and you may have to defend. Most modern cars are secondary targets because the gas tank needs to be pried open. The best targets for stealing gas will also be SUV’s because of their larger thanks and higher ground clearance makes it easy to puncture a tank. So what can you do for defense?

To avoid being siphoned, it’s a team effort. You and someone you park near should park tank to tank, with not enough room to fit in between. For example, in a driveway, one car goes in forward, and the other backs in parallel within inches of the first car. Rear wheel to rear wheel, this should block any access to both tanks. One of you will likely have to crawl in your passenger side, but its better then being stuck on E. while of course this will not stop a determined thief, it will likely make them move on to easier targets.

Mass Transit

You know those images that come out of Japan, when trains are so full, they actually hire guys to get a running start and push people in to the cars? Well the LIRR will likely be looking to hire them soon. This morning, I took a 5:25 am LIRR train from Massapequa to Penn station. By the time the train hit the next stop, all of the cars were full. The conductor, who ironically sounded A LOT like Samuel L Jackson was telling people at every stop the train was full and no more passengers were being admitted. Of course, no one listened, and this makes the train late.  Even with limited service, Mass transit is still likely the best option for commuting if you can swing it. The lines are terrible, as are the crowds, but most of the trains are running. The Ferrys into Manhattan are also running, and Metro North is doing well.

But the best advice is to leave early, and travel off peak until the tunnels are pumped out and gas becomes available again.

Bridges and tunnels

If you need to commute, the bridges may be your only option as most of the lower tunnels are still flooded out. Listen to traffic reports for recent closures and maintenance. 

 

Good luck out there, and e smart, and be courteous.

Why the GWB Carmegeddon isn't as bad as we thought it would be...

Last night I decided to take the lower level of the GWB inbound. This was not an error, rather a carefully calculated decision based on upper level toll plaza traffic and CBX traffic on the other side. I decided that the 25 minute trek downstairs was favorable to about 40 minutes upstairs. I would have followed the traffic indicator sign on the 95 approach which listed approximate wait times, but shocker, it wasn’t working.

We have all been warned to avoid the GWB. Everyone says its complete anarchy as 3 lanes are reduced to one, creating an absolute bottleneck and gumming up the full approach. This is actually not true.

[caption id="attachment_579" align="aligncenter" width="300"] this is the three lanes that are on the GWB lower level. the left is the HRD exit, the right is the Deegan exit and in the middle is the CBX approach.[/caption]

In reality, the traffic pattern is not all that different. The 3 lanes in question encompass the Harlem River Drive left exit, the 95 through traffic lane, and the Deegan lane to the left. The Harlem River Drive exits as normally, and about 50 yards later, the other two lanes go into a slow merge. And when I say exit as normally, I mean the left lane moves more rapidly than the 2 right lanes. The middle lane is not for the weary, requiring constant concentration to keep within 6 inches off the bumper of the car in front of you, to prevent the asshats that are too important to wait from cutting in.

I think these pricks are actually thee root cause of most of the  traffic down there, both on the span and in the Harlem River Drive approach. People stop in the middle of the left lane to cut off traffic, which causes that lane to stop moving, in addition to the middle lane. After this it’s 2 lanes merging slowly, which are then expanded out from one lane to two, which actually is an improvement over the cluster that was the previous traffic pattern -Remember that? Lower level and upper level all merging into four lanes, with all of the Deegan bound trucks desperately trying to jockey all the way to right from the other side of the road, through traffic? Yeah, im kind of glad that’s gone.

So in conclusion, the lower level of the GWB right now is not that bad for the weekday commuter, but always add about 10 minutes to drive time. But still consider it off-limits between Thursday night and Sunday night, when all the travelers are on their way to their destination. For now it is an option, but when September hits, I still think its going to be utter chaos.

I got 99 Problems and the TVB is one.

I'm driving on the Clearview Southbound the other day. I'm keeping pace with traffic, and take position behind a rapidly moving black A4 from the middle lane to pass a slow moving VW. It was a gorgeous day. The sunroof is open, the radio is blasting, and I feel great.

That is until I see the unmarked black NYPD Charger bust out from my left from his hiding spot.

He accelerates with such fury that his ass actually kicks out as he pulls out from the dirt underneath the overpass to the tarmac. Im not worried. I see him coming, and I slide to the right. The Audi in front of me was hauling ass, so I almost feel bad for him.

Then he moves right with me and gets right behind me, cherries ablaze. Crap.  This is gonna suck. I know im about to get pulled over, so my first move is to roll down all my windows and avoid the illegal tint ticket.

At this point I'm contemplating that I got two choices, yall-  pull over the car or bounce on the double put the pedal to the floor. Now a high speed chase is the wrong move, as I can’t outrun an Interceptor package V8 charger.

Plus I got a few dollars I can fight the case.  So....I pull over to the side of the road, and I heard "Son do you know why I'm stopping you for?"

"Cause I'm young and I'm black and my hat's real low" I said;  this was not received well.  At this point I realize my PBA and officers Union stickers won’t be of help.

"Well you was doing 74 in a fifty (four)".

So I got a ticket. Its OK, I'm not mad about it. I have the "don't do the crime if you cant do the time" mentality, and my respect for police officers reminds me he is out there doing his job. I was speeding, I got a ticket, I deserved it, lets pay the fine and move on. But this is where things went south.

Apparently, in NYC, Buffalo and Rochester only, traffic and vehicular infractions are handled by an Organization called the Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB) which is actually the militant arm of the DMV. This is different than the rest of the state where you get a ticket, and you can plead guilty or not guilty. If you plead the latter, you got to court, where the cop will likely knock it down. Not the TVB. If you dare to plead not guilty, the ticket actually warns you that there will likely be additional fees. They also warn that there is no reduction - you are either guilty or the ticket is dismissed. You better lawyer up if you want to fight because the tickets don’t get dismissed. In fact, it has even been reported that cops get in trouble if tickets are dismissed. Even on the ticket, it basically tells you don’t even attempt to fight this ticket.

In big letters, it tells me i have 15 days to respond, or my automotive world will end due to license suspension, they will kidnap my dog, and write mean things about me on yelp.

As you might know, there is now a fantastic world wide web out there of information sharing that we can all use to computerize our lives and make things easier. The TVB has also embraced this with an “E-plead” function of their website. When you log on using the ticket information, you are able to pay for your ticket and put it behind you. Sounds great in theory. So I logged on a few days after I got the ticket, and it says it is not in their database yet. I signed up to get the email, and they will send me a generated notification of when it becomes available. Great. So I researched this matter, and I found they actually never really post the tickets online in a timely fashion. I also asked one of my friends who works for the NYS DMV about this delay. She was unaware of the TVB’s practices, further contributing to their image as a rogue shadow splinter cell that exists within the states bureaucracy.

I got the email today. Today. I got the ticket nearly 20 days ago. I’m no mathematician, but that seems to be more than the threatening 15 day minimum. Foreseeing this delay, I thankfully dusted off my checkbook, and paid this by snail mail. Now let’s just hope they recognize it, as I always worry about the efficiency of blindly sending something and trusting the post office to deliver it.

But there is one more nagging thing that I have to deal with, and that’s the points. this infractions carries a 6 point penalty, which is very harsh. In NY, if you get 11 points within an 18 month period, you get an automatic suspension. So you better believe that im going to be taking a defensive driving course to lose 4 of those points, and help with any insurance issues that arise.

But I also learned something today. I don’t have to drive that fast. I was never a douche on the road; I never was a tailgater, or made unsafe lane changes. I let people merge in front of me, and I try to be courteous. But I do certainly prefer the left lane and have a lead foot. I think this is a good example of the system doing its job as I constantly remind myself to slow down to a reasonable speed, or risk losing my right to drive. But I am also saving gas, and being safer, which are also benefits. Did I just grow up? I think so.