| Archive for The Motor Forum talking cars since 2006 |
| Rodge |
CalifornographyHere's a few snapshots of the last few weeks I spent in California, all taken with my new compact Panasonic TZ7.It was a great time, the only rain was in San Francisco but that's to be expected there. The temperature hit 107f in Death valley. 2 days later, it hit 118f so I was glad we'd moved on by then. Yosemite was brilliant and bettered expectations. The RV was a pile of turd, and I'd recommend anyone considering a similar trip to go with someone other than Cruise America. Most cars were underwheeled: 
Yosemite 
Not many get to see a bear while visiting but we did: 
Got colder above 8000 feet 
Sunrise in Death Valley 
Mixed Signals 
The '09 version of the RV 
Zoe runs for cover from the rain in Death Valley 
Joshua Tree 
Twilight 
The Turd 
Mandatory Duck Photo 
Best car ever built (After driving the turd, anything was an improvement) 
It was a good break and I was very pleased with how good the camera was, it has a huge range of options on it and even videos in HD. I've loads more but decided to limit it to a few. Best bit was Yosemite, worst was driving the Turd (There was loads wrong with it- water leaks, broken cd player, broken 12v supply, dodgy battery, overheating, I could list more- they fixed nothing and I'm waiting for a formal reply to my complaints). Nicest car spotted, Gullwing Merc and it was probably the most expensive too. People were very friendly, fuel was around $2.50 an US gallon, food is more expensive there as are clothes since I was last over. |
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| Matt |
Isn't she actually running from the UFO in the background 
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| "him" |
...towards what would appear to be a huge bear... | ||||||
| Humphrey The Pug |
It might be a turd but isn't driving something like that in the States all part of the appeal?
Looks like you had a lovely time, great pictures. Myself and Tina are really up for something similar as a late, probably very late, honeymoon. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
Re: Californography
It might be an improvement on the turd, but boy is it ugly! That collapsing feature line along the side - what were they thinking? |
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| DarthBalls |
Re: Californography
Something like "...if BMW can sell shitloads of 1 series, maybe it's worth a go?" |
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| Rodge |
The appeal was the thought of driving a V10. The reality was that there's more power in a baby's fart. It struggled to stay above 25mph on hills and had worse build quality than anything I've driven before. It's no wonder the big 3 are in trouble in the US if they've been making crap like it. A decent 3 litre diesel would have been much better suited to it than a V10 6.8 litre petrol engine. The Toyota was a really good car, particularly as there were 5 of us. I didn't even notice the fold lines until now! The 3.5 V6 was quick and had 270 hp and 249 lb/ft of Torque. I've not driven many SUV's recently but it was the best I've driven in the US by a long margin, and was much nicer than the Explorer we were collected in. |
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| Humphrey The Pug |
A 6.8 ltr V10 couldn't propel that, god it must have been either extremely heavy or an extremely shit engine, any idea on the power output? | ||||||
| "him" |
From Wikipedia - "The 6.8 L Triton V10 produced 305 hp and 420 ft·lbf torque" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_E-Series |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
Re: Californography
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| Rodge |
So comparing it with my own car, it had 4 cylinders more, 4 litres more and 4 valves less, it also gave about 4mpg at times and struggled in 4th gear all the time. The RV weighed 5,500kg without passengers. There was a weight chart in a cupboard in it listing these specs. |
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| DarthBalls |
Re: Californography
You knows it true 
BTW - Not that I'm complaining. But how come you've reverted to using 'Mild Mannered Mallard' (that's what I called that pic) for your avatar? |