My test drive of Volt, C-Max, Prius c, and impression of many other cars at Silicon Valley Auto Show

I spent 6 hours at the Silicon Valley Auto Show in San Jose today. Nice show, most of the 2013 cars on display and lots of cars available to test drive. Here's my take on many cars

Test drives-

Chevy Volt - Finally got to drive a Volt.. around the block twice. The sales rep was very attentive showing me all the info screen features of the Volt which btw are pretty cool and colorful.

I'm tall at 6'2" and could scoot the seat back far to stretch out my long legs. The steering wheel felt great and was nicely adjustable. There was no sunroof and I had decent extra headroom. During the test drive I discovered the seat bottom doesn't fully support my long thighs. Rep said Volt does not offer a power seat in any models. Hmmm, that's not good, because the seat would be a deal breaker if I was in the market. All I would need to do is adjust the seat bottom tilt up a little, but if not, my legs would flounder with little support.

The car had 27 miles EV range. The rep encouraged me to punch the gas a little. I wouldn't say it had pickup anything like a Tesla base model S might be, but pickup was definitely a lot better than my Prius. The Volt turned really well, not much body lean around tight city blocks.

With the driver's seat far back for me, there's no legroom left behind it. It's a pretty short car. Even with the front seats forward, back seat leg and headroom is pretty limited. I still like the car and hope it sells well enough and goes on to another generation. nuff said

Ford C-Max Hybrid SEL - This car had power leather seats and sunroof. The driver's seat adjusted easily for a comfortable position. It offers very good visibility out the front and both front side windows. Headroom is more than ample. The interior has pretty bold styling. Nice electric punch off the line and the gas/electric transitions seemed very smooth. We only went around the convention center block once, so it was pretty challenging to get much impression of the car. I did notice the average fuel indicator was reading 31.x MPG, but the Prius c I test drove happened to also indicate 31.x MPG. I think this car will draw in a lot of buyers who want a hybrid hatchback, but just couldn't live with a Prius.

Prius c Three - my test passenger Glen pointed out how the mechanical like shifter does not allow one to just push the power off button like in Prius liftback and leave the car. At least most people will be familiar with the traditonal shifters in regular cars. The seating felt pretty darn good for being such a small car. The interior layout didn't seem all that appealing to me, but there was a neat little circular display in the info screen.

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited - Wow this was a wild ride as passenger at the Camp Jeep obstacle track. We took it over a 30 degree bank, uneven logs and up a 35 degree incline up 20 or so feet in the air. I swear it was more like 40 degree, it was so steep going up and down the other side. My head could have hit the roof if we had bounced any harder over those obstacles.

End of test ride .... more on next post

 

Impressions looking and sitting in many others ...

Chevy Cruze (not sure if LT or LTZ) I was quite impressed with this one! It had fabric driver's seat that I think was mechanical adjust and it was really cozy. The door armrest made it really easy to grip the lower left part of the steering wheel. One can scoot the driver's seat back really far and make it low if they want. The steering wheel was ace with a very nice leather or leather like wrap on it. I really felt comfortable sitting in this car. And it's a really good looking car too. I put the driver's seat medim far back and the room behind was very decent for this size of car. Way to go Chevy!

Chevy Spark - Nice looking new sub-compact car. I was a little too big at 6'2" for this one but mostly because of my long legs. Nice little car inside. The rear seat bottoms would release so you could fold the seatbacks totally flat. And it's a four door car. it's not very long, but it's four doors. Another impressive small car for Chevy.

Time to skip ahead to something Very appealing ....

BMW 535i - goodness gracious Exquisite. This was by far the most impressive car I sat in of any at the show and that inclues Jaguars, Mercedes S class. You must sit in a BMW 535 i . The seating is perfection. The electrically adjustable steering feels just flawless to hold. The center console and front dashboard looks so advanced, so stylish, so integrated. This must be just about the perfect upscale touring car. Absolutely stunning outside and a pretty big trunk too. Not too big overall, not too small, just right. Very good front and rear seating layout and headroom. What a fine to car to look at and sit in. I'll bet the ride is off the hook!

Lexus CT200h - This one had a sunroof and I had far too little headroom even with the electric seat all the way to the floor. I noticed the seat bottom/side bolsters were awfully firm. Not much else to say about it, I didn't fit in it. Same with the IS 250, couldn't fit in it. Nice looking but too small for me.

Toyota Prius liftback - My friend was impressed with how the rear seat headrests fold forward and the rear seats fold flat to create a flat load floor with nice carpet for protection. She noticed the load floor in Prius v was not as nice because of the gap around the rear seatbacks and the rear seatback fabric being exposed. I think she was also impressed with the cargo area tray. She didn't like the idea of not having a spare tire as is the case with the plug-in Prius.

2013 Honda Accord Sport and V6 Touring - The sport model 'sported' a price of $24.9k with destination, a set of 18" wheels and 235/45 tires, power cloth driver's seat and it nearly looks 'something' like a BMW 5 series these days. Honda is advertising 29 MPG overall with the 189 HP 4 cylinder sport (I think it has CVT transmission, check Honda.com).
The seating is ace, the feel of the steering wheels are so nice. Lots of headroom. Nice room in rear seats, good size trunk.
These 2013 Accords are the best looking ever in my opinion. The last generation was ok, maybe a little too big and wavy looking, but they trimmed in all the right places making a little more taught and very good looking car this time.
Even the base LX Accord 2013's are loaded with tech - bluetooth, SMS text and I think voice recognition for it, USB port, rearview camera in base model.
Bottom line - Honda is going to sell an absolute S$&@ ton of these cars during this generation.


2014 Honda Accord Plug-in hybrid - The car was locked up. It looked really nice although the wheels looked a little weird. I tend to think those wheels will not be found on the production units. Maybe they will. Couldn't look at the trunk. Closed. I hope Honda gets serious, produces and sells some of these because the Civic, CR-Z and Insight hybrid sales absolutely stink here in the US.

 

I didn't test drive any of those four. I test drove a 2011 Accord Sedan EX and it was very impressive. To each his own on styling. It seems Honda usually goes a little more for the sportier, darker colored interiors and that just works for me.

Apparently the sales rep for CODA was coming right out and offering to get a CODA for really cheap for my friend. She's maybe moving to Hawaii and rep said no problem, we've got dealers over there too. I think they might be desperate to sell those cars. It look sort of bland inside and the door armrest was totally not useful. Kinda sad story there.

For Honda, they sell a tonnage of cars. Years will tell if they can get their hybrid act together.

btw, you can still go to the auto show Sat and Sun. 1/12, 13.

 

Ok. But if you thought the new BMW 535i's are ugly, I might think you lost a marble or two Have you seen those things?

 

Saw the trunk of a Honda Civic Natural Gas car at show yesterday. Ouch. Said to have only 6 cu ft cargo space. Awfully big tank required to store the gas. No wonder not selling well.

Google Image Result for http://0.tqn.com/d/alternativefuels/1/0/b/N/-/-/ag_civicgx_trunk.jpg

 

Camry hybrid XLE - Nice looking car. I like the 2012 and later Camry body style with its sharper lines. Not too much of trunk space loss. I like the new '12 interior design much better than the previous generation.

Subaru Legacy sedan - Nice front and back legroom, good sized trunk. Can scoot driver's seat back far. AWD, so only 27 mpg combined, 32 highway, but if must have AWD, goo choice.

VW Jetta hybrid - It's here folks. Felt great in driver's seat. Some loss of trunk space as floor is raised 6" near the back seats. It's a bi-level trunk floor. 170 hp, turbocharged. I'm sure it's more 'fun' to drive than Prius.

Honda Fit EV - It was there in all its $36k glory, ouch. 82 miles range. Interior room very close to regular Fit. They'll lease a few hundred or thousand of these for now.

Ford C-Max Energi - Not impressed with cargo area. Actually, cargo area is terrible. Cargo floor raised so high, can barely call it a cargo area. I don't think this car holds a candle to Prius Plug-in.

CODA all electric - It looked ok inside, but I sure noticed how the door armrest was .. wayy down there somewhere.

Ford Fusion - Looked great outside but didn't seem to have as much front and rear interior room and Accord and Camry. I hope Ford sells a lot of them. they need to.

My favorite car to look at at the show? Hands down... BMW 535 i.