A distraction from your crappy holiday commute

This post almost turned into a rant about crappy drivers, traffic, and how awesome Top Gear is. But I held it back.

The roads are going to suck this week. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but Thanksgiving week is when the family packs into the minivan, and proceeds to Grandmas house, always in the left lane and way under the reasonable speed limit. This is when the travelers come out to do battle with the commuters.

How can you tell if you are stuck behind one of these people? A surefire way to know is if they slam on their brakes in the EZ pass lane, or you see someone blindly following their GPS into oncoming traffic. Do your best not to get behind ay minivan with stenciled stickers of the whole family plus the dog.

But I thought I was smart. This week, I did everything I could to avoid the roads. I had meetings scheduled in NYC on Monday and out on the Island on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then my Tuesday got moved, and now I’m stuck driving to Jersey today. It took me 2 hours to get in, but that’s probably nothing compared to what thwe ride home is going to be.  But at least its better then Wednesday.  I guess that’s karma teaching me not to meddle with my business schedule just to avoid driving.

But the post today is actually to distract me from all of this with some auto-erotica. I don’t understand the Nissan Juke, although I have been dying to drive one. A sporty, well handling compact car seems like a no brainer for commuting, assuming the MPG is up to snuff. But then the boys over at Nissan UK decided to stuff a 3.8 liter V6 from a GT-R into it. The result is pure beauty. Autoblog has been covering the build from day 1, and they have now posted some videos from Nissan on it. We can expect this will never be more than a project car, but its good to know that they care. Check out the video below of the complete build firing up, anturn up your volume around the 1:00 minute mark to hear some Christmas music come early.

Via Nissan via Autoblog.

Video courtesy Nissan

 

Autoblog tests the Nissan Cross Cabriolet

Nissan sent Autoblog a Murano Cross Cabriolet to test out, and the results are...A fully loaded Murano minus the roof, but still more questions than answers. Good luck to you, Nissan.


http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/08/2011-nissan-murano-crosscabriolet-first-drive-review/[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1280" caption="image from Autoblogs review"][/caption]

AAA's 10 best commuter cars

I just read a great article on Autoblog – Apparently, the AAA has listed their 10 best cars for commuters.

The cars were judged on practicality, safety, comfort, fuel efficiency and affordability. Of course, if I were judging, I would have had to put “fun to drive” in there in addition to in-cabin amenities. Spend enough time in your car and you start to realize the benefits of a car with some pick up as well as Bluetooth mobile.

But the winners are…

1. Honda Insight – It’s small, good on gas, and decent interior room, with legendary Honda reliability. It’s a great alternative to the hybrid.


2. Ford Fusion – It is no secret that Ford has been kicking ass and taking names in the auto market lately. The fusion is decent styling, decent power, and offers the SYNC system for entertainment


3. Volkswagen Jetta TDI: This Vdub has great gas mileage and a motor that captures the heart of torque lovers.


4. Hyundai Elantra – Huge warranty, little price makes for a great combination and peace of mind.


5. Subaru Legacy/Outback – In any weather, both of these cars are phenomenal. I prefer the Legacy, it’s just a bit more refined, yet still bad-ass in its GT iteration. Super


6. Honda Civic – I drove one of these once. Despite a great interior, it felt like an economy car. But amazing gas mileage.


7. Chevrolet Malibu – I have had more of these for rentals than I can count. Average in every way shape and form.


8. Honda Accord – My 89 accord died on me due to a timing belt when it had 350,000 miles on it. Accords are a hallmark of reliability, and the 6 has some real get-up-and-go.


9. Mazda3 – unique styling and handles like it’s on rails. Awesome interiors make you feel like you are in the game.

Here is what the 10 best should really be…

1. Infiniti G35X


2. Suby Legacy GT


3. BMW X5 Diesel


4. Nissan Maxima


5. New Ford Taurus SHO


6. Caddy CTS


7. V6 Accord Crosstour


8. Bigfoot


9. Jaguar XF


10. Camry V6

Care to debate me?

Click here for the article on Autoblog
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/24/aaa-lists-top-picks-for-commuters/