StandardShift.com

Some updates *was between this thread or the community thread but found more relevancy here*

The day before Easter I went to to the NY auto show and participated in the "Camry thrill ride" and "Jeep adventure". I was with a group of friends who aren't really into cars that much... lines for each were pretty long. Have to say the Camry thrill ride was pretty meh... but I really was impressed with the Jeep exhibit.

The Camry car itself I actually like the look but the whole idea of flooring a v6 Camry didn't really thrill me nor did the donuts in reverse... The Jeep stuff though was pretty impressive honestly though I don't really know when I am going to scale a stair case or drive up a wall lol.

One of my best friends has a 1LE. It's essentially a track weapon... I am impressive how the modes can really transform the car though. He doesn't daily drive it but it's getting nice enough to go out in it again.

Thinking about test driving a wrangler JL tomorrow... hope it sucks so I can get over this little stint.

I drove a Camry at the Mpls Auto Show. Was okay. Liked the HUD, but the Camry didn't offer a thing that I couldn't get elsewhere.

Identical power numbers to the 300 in a lighter package though...

EDIT: I'm dumb and didn't even realize that I'd already posted this before.

Teamwork wrote:Thinking about test driving a wrangler JL tomorrow... hope it sucks so I can get over this little stint.

The JL really only sucks if youre taller than 5'10". The seats just dont move far enough back or drop down low enough. I really hope they do something about that.

watkins wrote:

Teamwork wrote:Thinking about test driving a wrangler JL tomorrow... hope it sucks so I can get over this little stint.

The JL really only sucks if youre taller than 5'10". The seats just dont move far enough back or drop down low enough. I really hope they do something about that.

I did it and I actually had a positive experience on a FCA sales perspective. Ugh actually scratch that, I typically only have lousy sales demonstrations/experiences with Chrysler and Dodge- FIAT for me the last two times were awesome. The guy who middle aged but pretty peppy for a slow Sunday afternoon. I think he was definitely trying to feel me out but got some hints that I knew a thing or two about cars and brands but I never try and give up my hand too early just in case I can find some funny lies or persuasion methods.

He got me into a sport 4 door, hard top, with automatic transmission. Honestly liked the no frills look and the wheels- those "titled editions" with the stripes and stickers kind of annoy me honestly. Somehow this car stickered 37k- wasn't too sure what was thrown into the option pool. UConnect 3 the 5 inch screen was pretty sad looking but it functioned actually well, like the bigger brother units. Didn't feel too stripped out either. He took me on a test drive that excelled the vehicle, a bit of a "freeway speed" stretch 55 mph, some local back roads that were a bit twisty, and then to the secondary lot which is an unpaved, muddy road.

I'm not really accustomed what so ever to driving any sort of SUV/crossovers period so this was quite a curve for me. For my 5'9, 150 lbs frame I had no real issue finding an ideal driving position. The visibility outside of this thing if the front windshield wasn't so physically small might be even better then my GTI believe it or not. Through the sides, back, over the shoulder spots were definitely better. The rear glass on the hard top is HUGE and even with the spare tire blocking part of it was still better then most cars I've been in. I have driven this engine in the charger/challenger and it feels pretty adequate here- I was fine with the transmission of this vehicle too. My guess is this isn't the garbage 9 speed ZF unit- if it was I'd be very surprised. I was able to carry a conversation at 60 MPH with the window even cracked a bit. This thing with the windows shut and such seals pretty well. Definitely seems livable as a daily driver.

It's rained here semi recently so this "secondary lot" was muddy, full of uneven terrain. It was almost like this guy planned for me to look at the other vehicles but able to test out the vehicles suspension here. I thought it was awesome honestly... I don't really know anything about offroading but this was pretty fun, puddle jumping, and pretty much driving through craters. They even had a manual transmission version in the lot as well.

Only weird notable things that I disliked here was: A) the hardtop inside the car is literally just styrofoam... not sure if this gets changed in upper trims but it basically looked like the truck was unfinished- very weird. B) the auto stop/on when at a full stop. I don't have much experiences with this system and I know you can cut it out. It pretty much created this weird sensation like I was about to stall when coming away from a stop. Maybe I could get used to this but it just seemed annoying. I could only imagine how obnoxious something like this could be in NY rush hour...

Overall I loved this thing- I thought it checked most of the boxes for me. It legitimately to me felt like I was driving a tank and I really liked the aesthetic and such. Maybe someday for me when the GTI can't take on family duty...

New York allows for Sunday auto sales? Or are dealers only open for tire kickers and service clients? Minnesota doesn't even allow dealers' sales departments to operate in any capacity on Sundays.

tankinbeans wrote:New York allows for Sunday auto sales? Or are dealers only open for tire kickers and service clients? Minnesota doesn't even allow dealers' sales departments to operate in any capacity on Sundays.

Yep... you gotta work 7 days a week baby. City that never sleeps baby.

Really though- they are only open typically 12-6 on Sunday. I saw plenty of people buying cars that day. Just not me

tankinbeans wrote:New York allows for Sunday auto sales? Or are dealers only open for tire kickers and service clients? Minnesota doesn't even allow dealers' sales departments to operate in any capacity on Sundays.

yep, dealers are allowed to be open on Sunday (in some neighboring states too), and then you get called back in on monday when your loan is denied.

Teamwork wrote:

watkins wrote:

Teamwork wrote:Thinking about test driving a wrangler JL tomorrow... hope it sucks so I can get over this little stint.

The JL really only sucks if youre taller than 5'10". The seats just dont move far enough back or drop down low enough. I really hope they do something about that.

(glowingly giddy review of a base 4 door JL)

just get it

AHTOXA wrote:

tankinbeans wrote:I'd read somewhere that the Mahindra buggies wouldn't be authorized for use on public roads and would be more similar to those big ATV type things from Polaris. Also, I'd read that Mahindra at one time had a working relationship with Willys, or the manufacturers of protoJeeps (I can't recall quite where).

Mahindra manufactured the CJ and throw license to do so never expired apparently.

The back-story of the Mahindra Roxor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MjYt8w ... c2e98ba58c

I don't know if I mentioned this.

So I drove a 2018 Camaro SS with the 1LE package - the handling package with the trick diff, 305 summer tires out back, killer suspension and a bunch of other goodies. Man, that was a fine ride!

If it were my second car, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. It's probably the best bang for your buck performance you can get for 40 large.