Cars & Bikes, Driving & Riding

[dodint]

I had a '70's Honda XR75. I suppose you could say it was my first manual transmission. I learned to drive a stick in my Dad's Ford Ranger though. He pulled over at Beatty Flats on Rt. 30 and made me drive the rest of the way to Whitney. No parking lot shenanigans for me.

[tifosi77]

My mom taught me to drive in a cemetery. Which, if I'm honest, was not super confidence inspiring.

[iamjs]

So I bought a car last weekend. Shortly after signing the paperwork, I discovered a slight crack on the windshield. Dealer did not hesitate to offer to replace the windshield and offer me a loaner. In the meantime, I'm not sure if I want to give back this new 528 xDrive that I've been driving while they swap windshields. It's a little bigger than what I'm used to driving, but it's oh so comfortable with gadgets upon gadgets.

[Shyster]

Would like to hear some firsthand accounts of your experience with the car after you settle in. I'm going to be in the market for a 5-door hatch, soon. The Mazda is currently at the top of my list; not sure how much the noisy interior would be a thing for me, as I prefer driving with the windows down.

After a couple weeks, I'm really enjoying my Forte5 hatch so far. The interior is comfortable and fairly quiet, with tire noise typically being the loudest noise. The handling is decent, and I have no doubt it could be improved by better tires. Despite being 18" in size, the stock tires are Nexen Classe Premier CP662s, which are standard passenger all-season tires. Sportier tires would no doubt improve the handling, and I imagine the Nexens are there for cost savings. Another sign of cost savings is that the car doesn't come with a spare time (and the Nexens are not run-flats); there's just a bottle of fix-a-flat in the trunk. The hatch is fairly spacious, and the rear seats fold nearly flat for cargo hauling.

The level of features and gadgets is unbeatable for the price. My SX with the Style Package came with a sunroof, leather seats, fog lights, automatic headlights, aluminum pedals, back-up camera, automatic folding mirrors, and keyless push-button start, among other doodads. All four outboard seats are heated, and with the air conditioning on the driver's seat is also cooled. It really chills the butt on a hot day. The driver's seat has power adjustment with two memory settings; the front passenger seat is manual. The steering wheel is heated and tilts and telescopes, and it has as nearly many buttons as an F1 car. The driver's seat is adjustable out the wazoo, and I find it comfortable. There's a large dead pedal for your left foot, and the shifter falls right under your right hand. The shift throws are positive and fairly short, and the clutch is fairly light and easy to engage.

The turbo engine is rated at 21 mpg city / 29 mpg highway / 24 combined by the EPA, but a lot of the reviews I read said they were bettering the EPA ratings. I've been somewhat babying the car during the break-in period (and I'm not a super aggressive driver anyway), and according to the dash readout I'm currently averaging slightly over 30 mpg, and that's probably based on 60% highway / 40% city driving. The 1.6 L 201-hp turbo does have a lot of scoot when you put your foot in it, and the engine is quite torquey even at low revs. It doesn't feel like a small-displacement engine.

The Forte5 SX isn't as sporty as something like a WV GTI. But with the turbo it offers roughly 25–50 hp more horsepower than most of its competitors in the compact-car class (e.g. Focus, Mazda3, Impreza), and it can be optioned with luxury features at a darn near unbeatable price.

[tifosi77]

Thanks for sharing that insight. Two things immediately stand out as attractive: Telescoping steering wheel, and torquey at low-revs. I would prefer having the wheel a little closer to my chest than it is when the seat is adjust for proper pedal reach. And my Celica's power band is only about 1000 rpm wide, and it's all north of 5500. That means it's sort of useless torque unless you do a lot of downshifting. (I'm sure the turbo is what makes that engine so grunty)

Anything you've found so far that you don't like?

[dodint]

When I started building my spec car, I put in a 3" spacer for the steering wheel to bring it closer. Like it a lot.

[Shyster]

Anything you've found so far that you don't like?

Let's see... mostly minor quibbles:

- The B-pillars are farther forward than on my old car, so it's harder to see out to the right when making turns. At intersections where before I could just look right, now I have to lean forward and crane my head some.

- The beltline is higher too, so there's more of a closed-in feeling to the interior.

- The auto-dimming inside rearview mirror strikes me as rather slow to dim, and there's no way to dim it manually. I'd really like a button to press to just have the bloody thing stay dimmed.

- I've managed to press the panic button on the "key" at least twice now just by leaning down when it's in my pocket. They should have recessed that button.

- The hood and front end slope down sharply, and none of the front of the car is visible from inside. I'm still mostly guessing about where the heck my front bumper is (knock on wood; I haven't bumped anything yet).

I would have added in the "upshift now" nag displayed on the screen in the instrument panel (I hate those things), but I discovered it can be turned off in the car's settings menu. Hooray!

[iamjs]

Another sign of cost savings is that the car doesn't come with a spare time (and the Nexens are not run-flats); there's just a bottle of fix-a-flat in the trunk.

I blew a tire in March by hitting a pothole going about 60ish. That bottle of fix-a-flat wouldn't have fixed the sidewall that was blown.

[mac5155]

Shyster do you run 87 in the turboed engine? Or is 93 a requirement

[mac5155]

Another sign of cost savings is that the car doesn't come with a spare time (and the Nexens are not run-flats); there's just a bottle of fix-a-flat in the trunk.

I blew a tire in March by hitting a pothole going about 60ish. That bottle of fix-a-flat wouldn't have fixed the sidewall that was blown.

They also give you roadside assistance right? Lol

[Shyster]

Shyster do you run 87 in the turboed engine? Or is 93 a requirement

It takes regular gas. And I think I do get five years of roadside assistance.

[mac5155]

Interesting. When I had my 1.8t Vdub they always suggested to run 93 in it due to the turbo/higher compression.

[Shyster]

The engine has direct injection, and my guess would be that with direct injection the fuel mixture can be tuned precisely enough that higher octane is not needed to prevent knocking. I probably wouldn't have bought the Kia if it had required premium fuel.

This could be considered an irrational peeve of mine: cars that require premium that shouldn't. For example, I think it might have recently changed, but I know that for years Smart cars required high-octane gas. Why would you buy a tiny little car like that only to spend more money gassing it up? Isn't the whole point of going that small to save money on fuel? Stupid. I also think for a while Toyota Sienna minivans required premium gas. Why the heck would a suburban kidmobile like that require premium? That's a bad design choice from Toyota. Tune the damn engine to run on regular.

[mac5155]

I do agree. When we bought the 1.8t my wife was driving about 6 miles round trip, and she really liked it. Plus we got a great deal on it being an R title. Anyway I totaled it and we bought a TDI so it all worked out in the end lol

[FreeCandy44]

$100 deductible paid for new belts on my compressor and front wheels balanced. Im trying to figure out if this is good or not....

[mac5155]

Deductible? As in there were more costs?

[FreeCandy44]

It was part of my warranty, my paper says they replaced all 3 belts, but on my way home I noticed that it is still squeaking. The suv runs fine, but can I somehow get rid of the squeak/squeal?

[mac5155]

Believe it or not they make a thing called "Belt Dressing".. but it sounds like you may have a bad pulley.

By the way, depending on what kind of car.. a belt should run about 30 bucks, and take about 20 minutes to install. Tire balance is about $10-15 per tire. So I'd say $100 is right without the warranty.

[LITT]

The new corvettes and mustangs are solid

[dodint]

Flooded my car the other day and then blew something when I tried to start it. Heard a loud *pop* and then smoke from the bottom rear of the engine. Kind of odd since the only thing back there is the tranny and exhaust interfaces. Let it sit two days and then did some work on it tonight. Decided to pull the plugs to see if they still wet with fuel to see if that would fix the issue.

Pulled the first coil and hear a *sluuuuurp* sound. The plug well is completely full of oil. Keep going down the line an 5/6 of the wells are completely full of oil.

Off to order a valve cover and plug gasket kit. Then after that maybe I can get it cleaned up and start to see if there is any damage from that loud pop. I've been wanting to clean up and powder coat the valve cover so I guess I have that chance now.

[mac5155]

I put new brake pads and rotors on my 03 Accord the other day. Was over at my father-in-laws while he helped me. We butt heads so much because he does stuff the hard way and I do stuff the easy (but usually more expensive) way. Turns out the caliper piston on an 03 Accord needs "cranked" down, and not pushed in with a clamp or tool. Well he didnt have the patience for me to wait so he ended up busting a caliper. $27 at the junkyard, no biggie I guess.. whatever. But then when I put the driver's side on, the pads weren't going in easily at all. He gives me a hammer ans says to hammer them in. I think, hmm, this probably isnt gonna work but whatever. Hammer them in. Then they were scorching hot after about a 1 mile drive. He thinks the caliper is locked up.. this and that.. messes with it for hours. I tell him no the pads are in there too tight, he wants nothing of it. So I say whatever, just go buy a new caliper tomorrow for that side. He called me at like 10 last night and had it fixed. Guess what the problem was? Yep, the pads were in there so tight they weren't able to move off the rotor. What I told him 5 hours prior was wrong.

[mac5155]

So my battery in my car died. I charged it up and noticed it wasn't starting that easily, so I went and got a new one from pep boys. Well put it in and it was completely dead. Wtf? I've never bought a brand new battery and it be dead. I mean dead dead..like I jumped it and let it run for an hour, went to turn the lights on, and the car shut off.

[Willie Kool]

So my battery in my car died. I charged it up and noticed it wasn't starting that easily, so I went and got a new one from pep boys. Well put it in and it was completely dead. Wtf? I've never bought a brand new battery and it be dead. I mean dead dead..like I jumped it and let it run for an hour, went to turn the lights on, and the car shut off.

Bad alternator?

[mac5155]

So my battery in my car died. I charged it up and noticed it wasn't starting that easily, so I went and got a new one from pep boys. Well put it in and it was completely dead. Wtf? I've never bought a brand new battery and it be dead. I mean dead dead..like I jumped it and let it run for an hour, went to turn the lights on, and the car shut off.

Bad alternator?

There was a cap on the negative terminal post of the battery that I failed to remove. I don't feel that bad - 2 other guys missed it too.

[dodint]

Daaaaaaaaaamn.