Automotive

Its hard to get all-season tires for the Teg so this summer I was stuck getting summer tires for it. The tread looked like they might be ok in winter. Well, winter is here and no, they’re not ok. Luckily no damage has been caused. I got caught on a hill with a traffic light at the top of it and I spent the entire duration of the green light trying to get the car to move forward (it was creeping at about 5-10 miles but wouldn’t go any quicker).

Olessia and I were going to go to Mentor yesterday evening. I had heard from John they had 12 inches of snow already and snow tires would definitely be a requirement for getting around over there.

I slip-slided home from work and pulled the snow tires out from the shed. I had them mounted in an hour. Then I went to put some air in them and what a difference! Sure, they still slip here and there, but for all the silly things I did, I had grip and no loss of control. I went into the gas station and they hadn’t plowed or salted and there’s an inch of snow and the snow tires gripped. Starting and stopping was not a problem. With the summer tires, you’d have to gently slip the clutch and hope there’s enough traction to get the car to start rolling. Then once its rolling, you kind of have to keep egging it on to move forward. Then braking is a whole other problem. My car has ABS and at 20 miles an hour, would have to plan on 50 feet at least for stopping distance! With the snow tires, its not a problem! The car has plenty of grip to get going and stop, almost as if its summer outside.

The other cool part? I was able to change tires IN THE GARAGE and with plenty of LIGHTS! Whoa! Awesome. Not long ago this wasn’t possible…
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Ah, the Teg is back in the shop. I was hoping it was just going to be an oil change and alignment, but it turns out the suspension needs some work and rear brake pads and rotors need to be replaced. Not cheap! BUT…

The Acura dealer hooked me up with a loaner. Usually they do 50/50 with Enterprise and I get a rental (always nothing exciting like a Ford or whatever the popular people mover is of the day). But Wednesday they hooked me up with a 2005 Acura TL (automatic, no navigation). Wow! wow wow wow…

I’ll start by saying its a big car. I bit too big for me, but it makes getting around easy and fun so I can deal with it. It had only 1450 miles on it when they gave me the keys. So it still has that new car smell with a strong hint of leather. Mmm… The weather has been crappy out so the outside of the car is a complete mess. Inside is roomy, comfy, and very cool. The instrument panel is almost a work of art. You put the key in and the blue hash marks on the dials glow along with the red needles. As you turn the key to power everything up, the white numbers and auxillary info comes to life. Every time I get in, I stare at the dash for a moment to soak it all in.

This TL has the 3.2L engine cranking out about 270hp which gets it moving very quickly when you want it to. Its a blast to rocket it onto a freeway. The rental is an automatic, but it has a sport shift so you can command it to use the gears you want when you want. With the cold weather, heated mirrors and seats really make going to work in the morning much easier. I think my next car will need to have heated seats. Maybe.

What really rocks is I know the guy who did some R&D work on the this TL. He told me to just test drive one and I HAVE to bring a long an audio DVD. Well, now is the chance and yesterday I stopped over at John and Adam’s place and they had a demo audio DVD. We popped it in. I was amazed. Individual sounds were coming from individual places within the car. It was sort of like being IN the performance. I HIGHLY recommend getting an audio DVD and popping it in. If you don’t have one, then give the XM satellite radio a whirl. It sounds good, but not as good as the audio DVD. And with a sound setup like the TL’s, FM just seems old-school.

I get to play with the TL till Monday and maybe then I’ll get my Teg back. But you know what? I don’t mind. I think I can tolerate driving a $33,000 car… (I just wish I could keep it longer!)
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I picked it up today. Its running and feeling great. Maybe I’ll make a clock out of the old fly wheel…
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Acura is holding onto my Teg until Friday. They apparently got backed up today and had just started the clutch install.
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Light turns green, engage first gear and apply throttle to complete the right turn.

Scope out the traffic. Two lumbering trucks trying to make their way onto 271S in the left lane and I’m in the right lane also wishing to get on 271S.

Gently and slowly squeeze the throttle and evaluate the situation: Fall in line behind the trucks or zip in front of them?

The engine whine reminds me we’re still in first gear. 5000 rpms. Shift to second.

All clear?

Yup. As the Beastie Boys once said, “Kick it!”

The wind and road noise gets drowned out in no time as the engine revs increase.

The engine pitch changes as the intake opens wider to gulp more air. Left lane change now in progress.

Lane change complete. A quick look back and the trucks barely fill the rear window. The car is still pulling and the engine pitch is reaching its peak. 7500 rpms and climbing. Time to shift! Shift to third.

Evaluate the situation: Time to merge onto 271S. The right lane becomes an exit only lane. Target lane is the middle lane.

Right lane clear?

Negative. Early ’90′s vintage rusted out mini van approaching for intercept.

Engine whine status implies plenty of third gear left and there’s plenty of empty pavement ahead. Complete the lane change.

Just like the trucks, the mini van no longer dominates the rear window view. Shift to fourth.

Middle lane clear. Complete lane change and shift to fifth.

Time to relax and reminisce about the sight, sounds, and g-forces of another fun close encounter with the 8000 rpm red line. This is therapy.
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