What
· The World
· · Products
· · · Automobiles
2009 Ranger · This week we’re vacationing at the family cabin on an island; the nearest town is Gibsons. Mid-week, we hit town to pick up groceries and hardware. Unfortunately, it’s a really demanding walk from the waterfront to the mall, particularly with a load to carry, and there’s little public transit. Fortunately, there’s Coast Car Co-op, a competent and friendly little five-car outfit. We booked a couple of hours and the closest vehicle was a 2009 Ford Ranger, described as a “compact pickup” or “minitruck”. It made me think ...
[8 comments]
[8 comments]
Abbie Angie Velar · I’m driving a loaner car from the Jaguar Land-Rover dealership, a 2023 Range Rover Velar. I’m not in love with it. But it’s got a name: Abbie Angie ...
[1 comment]
[1 comment]
RAV4 · I’m not a car guy particularly, but when one saves your life you have to take notice. Well, and dumb luck; but the car didn’t get in the way ...
[10 comments]
[10 comments]
Prius · I was going to be driving up and down the Valley for the best part of four days and Avis bollixed up my reso somehow so the usual mostly-harmless mid-size wasn’t available. “Wanna Blazer?” the redcoat said and I said “Whatever”; F2F with the Blazer I was reminded it’s an SUV the size of one of new high-density Vancouver townhouses. I couldn’t face the thought of hauling this ill-formed mass of steel up and down the California tarmac, and as I was walking back to say “No” passed a row of Prii so I said “Prius” instead and the guy said “You sure? They’re weird, no key, can’t figure ’em out myself.” And you know, it’s not bad at all ...
[14 comments]
[14 comments]
Cars and User Interfaces · I can remember, back in the day, when we were arguing about user interfaces we said “It should be as intuitive as a car is. Any experienced driver can get in a new, strange, car and figure it out in minutes.” Well, I’ve been using a bunch of different computers and driving a bunch of different cars lately, and I think we’re there. With a sad picture and some automotive micro-reviews ...
Cars and Publishing · While our car was in the shop, we rented a van and it dawned on us that for a 2-child family that’s on the road quite a bit, a van might be a better choice than either of the current chariots, a tiny lovable Golf diesel or a slick but space-challenged Audi wagon. So we’re kind of car shopping. As a side-effect of this process, I begin to think that Consumer Reports is maybe ahead of the world in effective integrated publishing ...
Van Distortion · We’re looking for a mini-van or equivalent, and it seems like the industry really wants to sell us something less useful for more money ...
