Nissan Leaf

Time for another post, here it is,

The Nissan Leaf

(credit: caranddriver.com)
I don't like the styling on the Leaf. The back is almost wedge shaped, for one. The windows look like leaves, I really hope that wasn't intentional.
It claims to get 107 miles to the charge. Keep in mind, a regular gasoline car gets over 300 miles to a tank.
The Leaf generates 107 horsepower, pitiful even for an electric hatchback. That would be enough to overtake on a gasoline hatchback, but the Leaf has an extra 1000 pounds on the frame, making it VERY slow.
The Nissan (with the highest trim package) goes for 37,655! For that, I can get a Dodge Challenger R/T with the 392 HEMI engine! Isn't one of the upsides of driving a hatchback the low price? I will never understand why people will buy the Leaf. To actually save money from the Leaf, you will need to keep it for seven years. This does not include repairs, tires, oil, etc. It doesn't seem worth it.
Nissan issued instructions on how to stay safe if your Leaf crashes. You would think that turning on an electric cutoff  switch, and using the emergency kit you have in your car wouldn't need instructions. I hope that Nissan doesn't issue a manual titled "How to Use The Steering Wheel".

Do you have any thoughts about cats? What drives you crazy? I welcome any respectful comments so keep it clean!

One post on this blog, one post on A Good Popular Blog About Good Popular Cats (if possible) a week, so stay tuned!

Ford C-Max

Time for another blog post, here it is,
The Ford C-Max

(credit: www.caranddriver.com)
The Ford C-Max was possibly created by the intern at Ford at 4:00 on a Friday. I mean, it has two grilles, and I'm pretty certain that they don't have a function. It also looks a little crossover-y, I think Ford is now making crossovers to any fraction between hatchback and SUV. Will this mean that we can get 3/4 crossover, 1/4 SUV? The C-Max has a CVT, you can look at my other posts to find out what one is, and how it is bad for the engine. The awful Ford also does 0-60 in 8.8 seconds, so overtaking will be tough. It doesn't have very many horses under the hood, only 141, which is the reason for the tragically slow acceleration. The C-Max  is on such skinny tires, they almost look like space savers! Penpie, and perhaps Bloggie will remember that spare tires used to be full size. It wasn't an option on your car to get a spare tire, it came with one, and it wasn't a donut. It can also come as a hybrid, and I really don't like hybrids, as you will know from my Toyota Prius post. It has such a silly name too, "C-Max". I wish cars continued to have really cool names like "Firebird", "Cougar", and even "El Camino".

Do you have any thoughts about cars? What drives you crazy? I welcome any respectful comments so keep it clean!

One post on this blog, one post on A Good Popular Blog About Good Popular Cars (if possible) a week, so stay tuned!

Chevrolet Sonic

Time for another blog post, here it is,
The Chevrolet Sonic

(credit: www.upload.wikimedia.com)
The Chevrolet Sonic is... how do I put this, strange. It would be questionable to buy this. The top-of-the-line model comes with a turbocharged I-4, this is understandable, it is not a very heavy car. However, the standard comes with a larger normally aspirated I-4 that produces the same power. I have never said "Yes, I want a smaller turbocharged engine, rather that a normally aspirated engine that produces the same power". For those of you who don't understand, a turbocharger has to "spool up" before the car can start to move. This means that the car, even if you put the pedal to the floor, will not move for a second or so. This activity is known as "turbo lag". I would also like to bring up the fact that it is a miserable little toaster! It is funny to see a Sonic going down the road. Because they are so tiny, and relatively tall, they look like they are going really fast (when in reality the car is going 10 under the limit). If you look closely, you can you see that there are no rear door handles. How do they open? Did Chevrolet implement star trek doors, so when you stand in front of the Sonic, they open themselves?

Do you have any thoughts about cars? What drives you crazy? I welcome any respectful comments so keep it clean!

One post on this blog, one post on A Good Popular Blog About Good Popular Cars a week, so stay tuned!

Mini Countryman

Time for another post, here it is:
The Mini Countryman

(credit: www.autoblog.com)
This is the complete opposite of a Mini. The Morris Mini Minor is my one of my favorite English sports cars, and I like the Minor because it is little, cute, and is a very capable rally car, plus, the Union Jack on the roof! The Countryman is none of those things. The new Mini grille looks like it has a constant frown, paraphrasing from Top Gear: (in a sad Richard Hammond voice) "I hate being a Mini! All the big cars pick on me and steal my petrol money! And last night a dog peed on my wheel!  I think Morris went downhill when they were purchased by BMW. It is also a crossover, frequent readers of my blogs know my opinion about crossovers: https://badpopularcars.blogspot.com. This car almost looks pudgy and nonathletic. The Morris Mini Minor was also a likeable car. Mr. Bean ran over that Reliant Robin in one. The Countryman? not so much. Mr. Bean would probably run over the Countryman with his original Mini (or attempt to). The Countryman wouldn't do very well in a FIA style rally either. With a 1.6 liter I-4 engine, the John Cooper Works model (top of the line) produces 202 horsepower and weighs 3263 lbs. It does 0-60 in 6.8 seconds, the top of the line Toyota Camry, which has a V-6, costs less, and is only front-wheel drive beats the expensive Countryman by one whole second in 0-60 times. Also due to the Countryman's 12.4 gallon gas tank, not only would it run out of gas, The Camry (which is not even a rally car, by the way) would for sure beat the Countryman in a rally.

Do you have any thoughts about cars? What drives you crazy? I welcome any respectful comments so keep it clean!

One post on this blog, one post on A Good Popular Blog About Good Popular Cars a week, so stay tuned!

Toyota Prius

New post, here it is:

The Toyota Prius

(credit: http://media.caranddriver.com/)
I have disliked the Prius since it came out, I really don't like the concept of having a car with a gasoline engine and an electric motor for extra power. Once again, why don't you drive a turbocharged car, that way you could perhaps get more power from a smaller engine, which also means less emissions, and better gas mileage (and also people won't laugh at you). The performance on this bucket of bolts is really tragic as well. It does 0-60 in 10.5 seconds, meaning that you will not overtake anything faster than me running. The styling on the Prius is, how do I put this; odd. This new generation especially looks like the new guy at Toyota styled it. This car has the appearance of a cat when it is about to pounce on some poor, unsuspecting chipmunk (Penpie will know what I am talking about). When your cat does this, it is cute. When your car does this, it is merely sad. This monstrosity doesn't come in all-wheel drive, which should be really easy to manufacture in a car with two engines. In fairness to female athletes, "you throw like a girl!" should be replaced with "you throw like someone who drives a Prius!"

Bonus Post!
The 1957 Trabant
This is a post requested by Bloggie,
 

(credit: blog.hemmings.com)

This thing looks like a cross between a Morris Mini Minor and a '55 Chevrolet Nova, but done horribly. The inside looks like it has a tuk-tuk interior, possibly because it came from East Germany after World War II. The thing is, old cars are only good if they are... well, good. 

Berlin also had a BMW factory that was divided into the east section, and they colored the blue squares in the BMW logo red, and called themselves "EMW". They basically made lousy copies of BMWs.

Do you have any thoughts about cars? What drives you crazy? I welcome any respectful comments so keep it clean!

Bi-weekly posts, so stay tuned!

Scion Xb

Time for another blog post here it is:
The Scion Xb

(credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org)
This has a lot of the same problems as the Nissan Cube. Anyways, it has several styling features that are really terrible. Why is the bumper 80% of the front? It looks like something an ex-Soviet state would produce out of old tin cans and scrap metal. Also, It is a Scion, not exactly known for quality, reliability, or really anything good. For instance, The ride is very stiff, the gauges are very hard to read, and it accelerates like a 'barrow with 2 wheels loose. It is also incredibly loud when inside; if this piece of Tupperware wasn't bad enough. The Xb is also this weird combination of minivan and hatchback, frequent readers of my blog will know my feeling about mixing two vehicles, it is the opposite of  a win-win, it is a lose-lose (read more here: http://badpopularcars.blogspot.com)-. This car's styling looks like someone described a Toyota Sienna over the phone to someone, and didn't realize that the other person didn't know what a modern car looks like. The BOX-ter can also come in some really horrible colors, like solar yellow, or hot lava orange. The fist generation Scion Xb also got a "poor" rating in side crash tests (possibly because it had no side airbags). The Xb is called the Toyota bB in Japan and it can come in all-wheel drive, and because we are only American, we only get front-wheel drive. This is also a popular "riced out" car (if you don't know what I am talking about google "ricer").

Do you have any thoughts about cars? What drives you crazy? I welcome any respectful comments so keep it clean!

Bi-weekly posts, so stay tuned!

Chrysler PT Cruiser

Time for another post,

The Chrysler P.T. Cruiser

(credit: upload.wikimedia.org)
This is a good idea gone bad. It is supposed to look retro and classic, but just looks sad. Why does it come in a convertible? Convertibles are meant to be for Porsches or Lamborghinis, not any old car. Anyway, if you want a car that looks old-fashioned so badly, buy a Morgan. Also, let's not forget that Chrysler classified it as a light truck as an excuse for it's 24 mpg (highway) to meet CAFE restrictions. It also has horrible crash test rating, once again getting away with it because it is a light truck. In fact in 2009, a warning was issued because it was so unsafe. The P.T. Cruiser is also this weird cross of an SUV, a station wagon, and a compact car. This monstrosity doesn't look at all like a 30's fed car anyway.

Do you have any thoughts about cars? What drives you crazy? I welcome all respectful comments so keep it clean!

Bi-weekly posts, so stay tuned!