I believe I’ve recently passed one hundred road tests (I’m pretty backlogged with upcoming goodies). I think by now you’ve caught the theme. Fun. Soulful. Luxurious. Useful. I can’t believe all the things I did not know when I began, that I do now. What will I know in another hundred? For now, here are three observations from behind the wheel of reviewing cars.
1-The line between “regular” and “premium” has become heavily blurred
When I plopped my butt into a MINI Countryman, I wasn’t sure what to expect. A watered-down BMW, full of F30 hand-me-downs like the an incestuous Supra? I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was modern, highly-equipped, and full of the latest BMW tech.
Rivals the X2? Nope – I found things in there from our X3 M50. Was a great drive too.
That’s just one example. The current Porsche Cayman has the cockpit from the 991 911. The Acura TLX just needed a Honda badge, so close they are inside. Infiniti and Nissan are using the same dash and infotainment – this in a $112k QX80.
On the other end, you have brands like Mazda, consistently punching above their weight. It makes me wonder how much longer softer leather and more Alcantara is going to satisfy those looking for justification to spend more money. Hell – even the Corvette is doing a great Ferrari impersonation lately.
You sure the Italian is worth the extra cost?
2 – Everyone’s infotainment sucks
Part of the reason your phone works so well is because Apple set up some nice guidelines when the iPhone was first released. It gave developers a common framework (and screen size) to build around. Not every app is wonderful, but by and large, the important ones work quite well.
You can see this logic in cars too, dating back to the 1950s. The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) get together and decide “that’s seat belt icon”, and evvveryyyy car gets that icon so you know what it means no matter what you’re in.
No such luck now. Everybody does things different. Haptic controls. Touch screens. Dials. Conventional buttons. The dashboard has become a place where no idea gets wasted. Every icon means something different in every else’s car.
All of this is solved by none other than, yup, Apple! Or at least, the idea of it. Everyone gets the same infotainment system, all my music and destinations are stored. My contact are there. All everyone needs to do is make an app for their specific model so you can adjust the drive modes and whatnot. Done.
I know they won’t (some now leave out CarPlay – auto makers desperately want your info), but I can only tell you what works.
3 – They don’t make bad cars anymore. But they don’t make a lot of really memorable ones either.
I went on a lot of dates over the course of say, 15 years. Ask me to remember a majority of them, and I’d come up blank.
Reviewing cars is a lot like going on a date. I’ll take it to all my favorite spots. Treat it to a nice photoshoot. Give it the loving embrace of my camera lens. Then it goes away. Notes become very important if I don’t publish the review for a few weeks.
Why? Because most cars made today aren’t really aspirational. I enjoyed the Mercedes GLC43, and it would be very nice to own one. But I have no desire to. Once it was gone, it was gone. That holds true for most cars I test.
But it works both ways – great cars stay with you. Wait till you read the Acura TLX review in a few weeks. Blew my socks off. In the Merc I was comfy, the drive serene. In the Acura, my head rubbed against the headliner and the ride was as rough as your dad after a long day.
You know which I’d pick.
I love trying all of them, because you never really know what will ignite that spark. That’s what being a car reviewer is – hoping to find that connection, one turn of the wheel at a time.
Here’s to the next one hundred.
