Topic: Rental car thread

[tortoise]

Consider yourself lucky

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Ugh, this is so dumb, but I'm starting to really enjoy the Corolla.  I actually look forward to driving it.  The transmission does this thing where, after it shifts out of the launch gear and into CVT mode, on light acceleration it keeps the engine at like 1100rpm, and just lugs its way up to speed.  I kinda really like it, actually.  Once you get used to the light steering, the car actually drives really, really well.  I'll go on a quick highway jaunt this morning.  I want to see what RPM the engine sits at at highway speeds. 

It's like, cheap and cheerful.  Honestly, if it had even just a slightly nicer interior, it would be almost perfect.  I definitely see why Quad loves his, because I think his actually has a slightly nicer interior. 

[quadzilla]

Glad you are enjoying the cheap and lovable little car.  RPM should be around 2,000 @ 120 and 2,250 @ 130 kph.  I just spent 500 km in my car yesterday and when I was looking around, it doesn't feel that cheap to me. Maybe my year/model has a better trim/materials or my standards are very low. Could be a little bit of both. 

I also think the car looks great once you get some better wheels/trim on it. I didn't want the Nightshade package as I thought it was a waste of money but it was the only car available so it was this or nothing. Glad we got it as I really like how much "nicer" it makes the car look. I've parked beside lower trims and it is like night and day with the looks.

[PJungnitsch]

Agree. This gen has a stylish basic shape, and those wheels accentuate that nicely

It's like Toyota opened its pockets to actually pay a designer the last few years 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

1650rpm at 110km/h.  That's great.  It wasn't too long ago that compact cars would spin at 3000rpm on the highway.  I'm not sure how this compares to the competition, as I haven't really been in any other modern compacts lately.  Perhaps the Civic also has a similarly low RPM on the highway? 

If we were looking to get a second car to complement the CX-5, a Corolla would end up being very high up on the list.  Perhaps an LE with the upgrade package to get the smartkey, alloy wheels, sunroof, heated leather wrapped steering wheel, and wireless charger.  I could live with the cheap interior, as the rest of the car is just so good.

[quadzilla]

Perhaps an LE with the upgrade package to get the smartkey, alloy wheels, sunroof, heated leather wrapped steering wheel, and wireless charger.  I could live with the cheap interior, as the rest of the car is just so good.

What about the LE Hybrid if you do more city driving? Think it is within $100 of the LE Upgrade (gas) but misses out on the heated steering wheel and alloy wheels. Or the LE AWD Hybrid for another $1500 which gets the heated steering and AWD.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Perhaps an LE with the upgrade package to get the smartkey, alloy wheels, sunroof, heated leather wrapped steering wheel, and wireless charger.  I could live with the cheap interior, as the rest of the car is just so good.

What about the LE Hybrid if you do more city driving? Think it is within $100 of the LE Upgrade (gas) but misses out on the heated steering wheel and alloy wheels. Or the LE AWD Hybrid for another $1500 which gets the heated steering and AWD.

I'd have to try.  I'm kinda liking the way the regular LE CVT is driving.  Not gonna lie, hybrid does sound appealing, though. 

Anyway, it's all moot.  We're not looking at moving past being a 1 car family at the moment, and the Corolla is a little on the small side to pull off one car duty for us full time.  I tried it with the Mazda3 Sport, remember?  The CX-5 is perfect for us in that regard. 

[Blueprint]

Perhaps an LE with the upgrade package to get the smartkey, alloy wheels, sunroof, heated leather wrapped steering wheel, and wireless charger.  I could live with the cheap interior, as the rest of the car is just so good.

What about the LE Hybrid if you do more city driving? Think it is within $100 of the LE Upgrade (gas) but misses out on the heated steering wheel and alloy wheels. Or the LE AWD Hybrid for another $1500 which gets the heated steering and AWD.

Top trim won't break the bank either  Current gen, I only drove the SE hatch with stick (not available anymore) and the interior was spruced up from the lower trims.

Smaller cars are inherently more fun to drive due to their agility and lightness. CVT's have come a long way, and while the moooing still happens, mute your ears and listen to your right foot - you're always in the right "gear" at the right time. They work really well in a light car with a small engine, better than Mazda's 6-speed conventional auto to be honest.

After dropping my XT4 tester last Monday, I realized just how good my Crosstrek is. The 2.5 has some pull, the CVT helps it and the h/k stereo drowns all drivetrain noise. It's also comfier than the XT4.

[Blueprint]

Perhaps an LE with the upgrade package to get the smartkey, alloy wheels, sunroof, heated leather wrapped steering wheel, and wireless charger.  I could live with the cheap interior, as the rest of the car is just so good.

What about the LE Hybrid if you do more city driving? Think it is within $100 of the LE Upgrade (gas) but misses out on the heated steering wheel and alloy wheels. Or the LE AWD Hybrid for another $1500 which gets the heated steering and AWD.

I'd have to try.  I'm kinda liking the way the regular LE CVT is driving.  Not gonna lie, hybrid does sound appealing, though. 

Anyway, it's all moot.  We're not looking at moving past being a 1 car family at the moment, and the Corolla is a little on the small side to pull off one car duty for us full time.  I tried it with the Mazda3 Sport, remember?  The CX-5 is perfect for us in that regard.

I saw plenty of these in the UK:

[warp]

1650rpm at 110km/h.  That's great.  It wasn't too long ago that compact cars would spin at 3000rpm on the highway.  I'm not sure how this compares to the competition, as I haven't really been in any other modern compacts lately.  Perhaps the Civic also has a similarly low RPM on the highway? 

If we were looking to get a second car to complement the CX-5, a Corolla would end up being very high up on the list.  Perhaps an LE with the upgrade package to get the smartkey, alloy wheels, sunroof, heated leather wrapped steering wheel, and wireless charger.  I could live with the cheap interior, as the rest of the car is just so good.

CVTs and the new 8/9/10 speed automatics have much wider gear ratio spreads compared to the old 4/5 speed manuals/automatics. Having said that, I would imagine that in a CVT with a relatively small displacement low powered engine, the ratios will automatically tighten as you increase speed as the available engine power will need to be multiplied by a higher gear ratio to achieve/maintain that speed i.e. the increase in engine rpms from say a speed of 110 kmph to 165 kmph (50% speed increase) will be more than proportional , more than 50%.

[Blueprint]

1650rpm at 110km/h.  That's great.  It wasn't too long ago that compact cars would spin at 3000rpm on the highway.  I'm not sure how this compares to the competition, as I haven't really been in any other modern compacts lately.  Perhaps the Civic also has a similarly low RPM on the highway? 

If we were looking to get a second car to complement the CX-5, a Corolla would end up being very high up on the list.  Perhaps an LE with the upgrade package to get the smartkey, alloy wheels, sunroof, heated leather wrapped steering wheel, and wireless charger.  I could live with the cheap interior, as the rest of the car is just so good.

CVTs and the new 8/9/10 speed automatics have much higher gear ratios compared to the old 4/5 speed manuals/automatics. Having said that, I would imagine that in a CVT with a relatively small displacement low powered engine, the ratios will automatically tighten as you increase speed as the available engine power will need to be multiplied by a higher gear ratio to achieve/maintain that speed i.e. the increase in engine rpms from say a speed of 110 kmph to 165 kmph (50% speed increase) will be more than proportional , more than 50%.

The Subie can drop to 1,700 rpm on the highway but it's always slightly adjusting to wind and slopes and your right foot, as all CVTs do.

[quadzilla]

Anyway, it's all moot.  We're not looking at moving past being a 1 car family at the moment

But that never stops us at looking around and thinking about what could be next 

Just over the last week I've gone from Prius to a WRX to a CX-50. I'm all over the place.

[quadzilla]

I saw plenty of these in the UK:

I'd be first in line for one of these.