Well, I finally had an opportunity to test drive the most cliche of all mid-size sedans, the Toyota Camry.
I've heard it described as a car so boring that it screams "I've lived my life, I have no interest in having any fun ever again in a car, so go ahead and kill me" or something to that effect.
I must admit a significant personal bias in favor of Toyota. I learned to drive on an '87 Corolla with a manual transmission, and my first (and current) car is a '95 Corolla. My parents also own a Camry ('97 or '98, I think), which I had an opportunity to drive on occasion when I was in High School.
Here's the good and bad, and indifferent:
Good:
1) Fit and finish and apparent quality are quite good.
2) Wow--I can actually see thing off my rear corners! I think I have definitely decided that the modern resurrection of the station wagon concept, as embodied in the Mazda 5 and Pontiac Vibe, is not for me.
3) Sure, it has Daytime Running Lights, but only if you explicitly want them.
4) The sound system is great.
5) It's quiet on the road. Low road and wind noise.
6) It has plenty of low-speed torque, and enough power that accelerating onto the highway (as much traffic in LA allows) is of no concern.
Bad:
1) The key/remote combo has the same issue as the Vibe--the Panic alarm button is right under your thumb when you turn the key in the ignition. It's a flaw you learn to work around, but I think it was just a bad design idea. At least the rental car company only put one key on the keyring this time.
2) The brakes seem a bit mushy. I found myself having to push pretty hard on the pedal at times.
3) The rearview mirror somewhat obstructs the view out the right-hand side of the windshield. It's nowhere near as bad as the Aura, though, and I didn't find it bothering me much.
And, in general:
This is the quintessential family sedan. It's comfortable, it's practical, and it's well-made. Sure, it won't win any beauty pageants and will never be seen on the racetrack. It's not an exciting car, and it's not meant to be. It's just a good car for everyday use, and there's precious little to complain about.
I like this car. A lot. I consider it tied with the Hyundai Sonata as the best car I've driven in the last two months.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
This week's car: Mazda 5
I've been wanting to try out a Mazda for some time now. I've been generally impressed with the styling, Tom and Ray over at cartalk have said that the reliability is good, and even the tough crowd at TopGear liked the three Mazda models they tested (the MX-5, RX-8, and Mazda 6).
So I was kind of excited when I saw a Mazda on the rental car lot when I flew in this morning. I'm not sure how to describe it except as a shrunken minivan. A microvan? Here are my thoughts so far:
The good:
1) The steering is nice and tight. There's almost no play in the steering wheel.
2) Plenty of low-end torque. Enough that I accidentally broke one wheel loose when I left my first traffic light. However, this relates to Bad #1 and #2.
3) Wind noise is very low. But see Bad #3.
4) The rear doors are power-assist sliding doors, but you don't have to use that feature--you can slide them shut yourself if you're in a hurry. That gives it an advantage over my wife's Honda Odyssey.
5) The sound system is just fine. No complaints there.
6) Automatic climate control. I like it.
7) Excellent forward visibility.
8) Handling is very good. Smooth but sharp. At least compared to other cars I've tested.
9) The key and the remote are in one package, and the key flips out of the package like a switchblade. On most other cars, you either have the key separate from the remote (putting more things on your keychain), or the remote is integrated into the top of the key (giving you a key that might not make it through airport security). I like the way Mazda have handled the problem.
10) Fit and finish is very good. I haven't seen (or heard) anything in the car that's loose, rattling, creaky, or poorly-fit.
The bad:
1) The gas and brake are a bit touchy. You've got to have a sensitive touch to make a smooth start from a standstill.
2) Torque steer. And lots of it. Yeah, the first time I pulled away from a traffic light, I just about lost my grip on the steering wheel because of the sheer amount of torque steer.
3) Road noise. Holy cow, this thing lets through more road noise than the horrible Pontiac Vibe.
4) As seems to be typical of 5-door vehicles, the visibility off the rear corners is horrible.
5) Flooring the gas pedal on the highway gives just as much delay as I saw last week with the Aura. I think the car is switching down one gear at a time, which accounts for the enormous wait.
6) In many ways, this car has all the disadvantages of a minivan without any of the benefits. It has three rows of seats (making it larger, uglier, slower, etc), but the back seats have very little legroom, and you have to be a gymnast to get to them. Only kids can use the second and third rows of seats comfortably. This car is marketed as a 5-door, 6-passenger car, but practically, it's a four-passenger hatchback.
And the miscellaneous:
1) The front seats are close together like a sedan, but have individual arm rests like a minivan. I think the traditional sedan approach, with a taller center console/storage compartment/armrest would have been a better approach, but I'm nitpicking here.
2) The particular car I have is black with a black interior. Not the greatest thing to drive around in sunny SoCal when the temperature is near or over 100F.
3) There's a multifunction display on the center top of the dash which displays information for both the stereo and the climate control system. While it works just fine, it takes some getting used to, and doesn't match (stylistically) with the rest of the console.
Overall: I really wanted to like this car. And there's a lot to like. But this car is an oddity. Often, you'll see "good concept, poor execution"--like the Vibe and the Aura. This car is a (mostly) brilliant execution of a poor concept.
So I was kind of excited when I saw a Mazda on the rental car lot when I flew in this morning. I'm not sure how to describe it except as a shrunken minivan. A microvan? Here are my thoughts so far:
The good:
1) The steering is nice and tight. There's almost no play in the steering wheel.
2) Plenty of low-end torque. Enough that I accidentally broke one wheel loose when I left my first traffic light. However, this relates to Bad #1 and #2.
3) Wind noise is very low. But see Bad #3.
4) The rear doors are power-assist sliding doors, but you don't have to use that feature--you can slide them shut yourself if you're in a hurry. That gives it an advantage over my wife's Honda Odyssey.
5) The sound system is just fine. No complaints there.
6) Automatic climate control. I like it.
7) Excellent forward visibility.
8) Handling is very good. Smooth but sharp. At least compared to other cars I've tested.
9) The key and the remote are in one package, and the key flips out of the package like a switchblade. On most other cars, you either have the key separate from the remote (putting more things on your keychain), or the remote is integrated into the top of the key (giving you a key that might not make it through airport security). I like the way Mazda have handled the problem.
10) Fit and finish is very good. I haven't seen (or heard) anything in the car that's loose, rattling, creaky, or poorly-fit.
The bad:
1) The gas and brake are a bit touchy. You've got to have a sensitive touch to make a smooth start from a standstill.
2) Torque steer. And lots of it. Yeah, the first time I pulled away from a traffic light, I just about lost my grip on the steering wheel because of the sheer amount of torque steer.
3) Road noise. Holy cow, this thing lets through more road noise than the horrible Pontiac Vibe.
4) As seems to be typical of 5-door vehicles, the visibility off the rear corners is horrible.
5) Flooring the gas pedal on the highway gives just as much delay as I saw last week with the Aura. I think the car is switching down one gear at a time, which accounts for the enormous wait.
6) In many ways, this car has all the disadvantages of a minivan without any of the benefits. It has three rows of seats (making it larger, uglier, slower, etc), but the back seats have very little legroom, and you have to be a gymnast to get to them. Only kids can use the second and third rows of seats comfortably. This car is marketed as a 5-door, 6-passenger car, but practically, it's a four-passenger hatchback.
And the miscellaneous:
1) The front seats are close together like a sedan, but have individual arm rests like a minivan. I think the traditional sedan approach, with a taller center console/storage compartment/armrest would have been a better approach, but I'm nitpicking here.
2) The particular car I have is black with a black interior. Not the greatest thing to drive around in sunny SoCal when the temperature is near or over 100F.
3) There's a multifunction display on the center top of the dash which displays information for both the stereo and the climate control system. While it works just fine, it takes some getting used to, and doesn't match (stylistically) with the rest of the console.
Overall: I really wanted to like this car. And there's a lot to like. But this car is an oddity. Often, you'll see "good concept, poor execution"--like the Vibe and the Aura. This car is a (mostly) brilliant execution of a poor concept.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Saturn Aura
Somehow, I found myself driving another end-of-the-line car this week. It's a Saturn Aura. GM is phasing out Saturn over the next few years, so you might still be able to buy one. Here are the things that stood out.
The good:
1) It's a much more enjoyable car to drive than the Pontiac Vibe I had a couple weeks ago. The ride is smoother and quieter.
2) The stereo, in part in consequence of #1, is pretty good. No complaints there. It's not quite as good as the sound system in the Nissan Altima I drove several weeks back, but meh.
3) Plenty of room, especially legroom in the back seats.
4) Even though the front seats don't have a huge number of adjustments, I had no problem getting the seat comfortable.
The bad:
1) There are several places where the build quality is poor. Grab the rear view mirror, and you get the same alarming creak that I saw in the Vibe. The latches on the central armrest/storage compartment are fit very poorly, and the whole assembly makes all sorts of rattling noises. The panel on the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel holds the console brightness adjustment, and if you push on it, it appears to have nothing anchoring it. It just bounces in and out. The driver's door is not properly mounted/adjusted. The driver's-side rear door takes a pretty hefty swing to latch properly.
2) DRLs that bong at you if you turn them off, and insist on turning on automatically every time you start the engine.
3) The shape and position of the windshield and rear-view mirror have an interesting consequence--you pretty much can't see anything out the right-hand side of the windshield. I'm still trying to figure out the geometry involved, and I didn't realize it right away, but it's a real issue.
4) Acceleration on the highway is...well, stupefyingly slow. After leaving the rental car agency and getting on the highway, I put my foot down to see what would happen. And I waited. And waited. And waited. And then the engine kicked in. I tried it again, and found that from the time I pushed the pedal to the floor, the car took nearly two seconds to downshift before revving the engine back up. Yikes.
So that's about it.
For the record, I have now rented the following cars in the past couple months:
Nissan Altima
Pontiac G6
Chevy Malibu
Hyundai Sonata
Pontiac Vibe
Saturn Aura
My favorite up to this point has been the Sonata. I just couldn't find anything about that car to criticize. Sure, it doesn't have huge amounts of power, but it has enough. And nothing stuck out at me as objectionable. I also really liked the Malibu (aside from the DRLs) and the Altima.
At home, I typically drive a '95 Corolla, but also get a fair amount of road time in a '01 Honda Odyssey, thanks to occasional cross-country drives.
The good:
1) It's a much more enjoyable car to drive than the Pontiac Vibe I had a couple weeks ago. The ride is smoother and quieter.
2) The stereo, in part in consequence of #1, is pretty good. No complaints there. It's not quite as good as the sound system in the Nissan Altima I drove several weeks back, but meh.
3) Plenty of room, especially legroom in the back seats.
4) Even though the front seats don't have a huge number of adjustments, I had no problem getting the seat comfortable.
The bad:
1) There are several places where the build quality is poor. Grab the rear view mirror, and you get the same alarming creak that I saw in the Vibe. The latches on the central armrest/storage compartment are fit very poorly, and the whole assembly makes all sorts of rattling noises. The panel on the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel holds the console brightness adjustment, and if you push on it, it appears to have nothing anchoring it. It just bounces in and out. The driver's door is not properly mounted/adjusted. The driver's-side rear door takes a pretty hefty swing to latch properly.
2) DRLs that bong at you if you turn them off, and insist on turning on automatically every time you start the engine.
3) The shape and position of the windshield and rear-view mirror have an interesting consequence--you pretty much can't see anything out the right-hand side of the windshield. I'm still trying to figure out the geometry involved, and I didn't realize it right away, but it's a real issue.
4) Acceleration on the highway is...well, stupefyingly slow. After leaving the rental car agency and getting on the highway, I put my foot down to see what would happen. And I waited. And waited. And waited. And then the engine kicked in. I tried it again, and found that from the time I pushed the pedal to the floor, the car took nearly two seconds to downshift before revving the engine back up. Yikes.
So that's about it.
For the record, I have now rented the following cars in the past couple months:
Nissan Altima
Pontiac G6
Chevy Malibu
Hyundai Sonata
Pontiac Vibe
Saturn Aura
My favorite up to this point has been the Sonata. I just couldn't find anything about that car to criticize. Sure, it doesn't have huge amounts of power, but it has enough. And nothing stuck out at me as objectionable. I also really liked the Malibu (aside from the DRLs) and the Altima.
At home, I typically drive a '95 Corolla, but also get a fair amount of road time in a '01 Honda Odyssey, thanks to occasional cross-country drives.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Don't buy this car
If you're in the market for a car, and are considering the Pontiac Vibe (or whatever clone GM will end up making, since they dropped Pontiac), do yourself a favor and run away as fast as you can.
A nearly-new Vibe is my rental car this week, and even before I had left the lot, I knew I had made a bad choice. And it only got worse. Here is a list of my complaints:
1) Daytime Running Lamps - yeah, I've griped about this before, so I'll make this short. In this particular GM car, there's no option to turn off daytime running lamps. Period. I'm not sure if this is better or worse than giving you the option and then chastising you for it...
2) Automatic headlights that you can't override. You may consider the headlight controls to be "minimum headlight settings." "Off" means "at least DRLs, unless it's night--then you'll get full headlights." Turning it to "parking lamps" dims the console lights and presumably turns on your taillights (I haven't bothered to check), but again the DRLs remain on, and if it's dark, the car will turn on your headlights. If you're going to a drive-in movie, everyone will hate you.
3) Terrible fit-and-finish. My first clue about the quality of this car came when I adjusted the rear-view mirror before even leaving the parking spot at the rental car agency. As soon as I gripped the mirror, it creaked alarmingly. This morning, I noticed that the armrest on the driver's side was so poorly fit that I could pull it right off with relatively little effort.
4) It's noisy. While the other four cars I've rented over the last several weeks have been nice and quiet, I think the Vibe is louder on the highway than my '95 Corolla. At first, I wondered if I hadn't left a window open, but no such luck. The combination of the wind and road noise is unbearable.
5) The ride is horrendous. Not only do you feel every bump in the road, I think the suspension actually amplifies cracks and bumps in the pavement. As I ran around doing errands last night, it nearly made me sick.
6) The sound system stinks. I am by no means an audiophile or an expert, but I know when I'm having trouble understanding a radio DJ speaking in a calm, normal voice. Certain frequencies resonate piercingly in this car, and others seem to disappear. The road noise and wind noise certainly contribute as well.
7) The engine and transmission feel like something out of a third-world country. From a standstill, I have to push the accelerator pedal in some distance before the engine starts turning the wheels, and at that point, it suddenly jerks the car forward. There seems to be enough horsepower for accelerating on the highway...once it shifts down a gear or two.
8) The power steering, while perfectly functional, makes a very odd sound when turning the wheels against resistance. I'm not quite sure how to describe the sound--it's some combination of grind, whine, and whir, but it is rather disturbing when you first hear it.
9) The center console is badly placed. From a comfortable position in the seat, the stereo and climate controls are just out of reach, even though the steering wheel is at the right distance.
10) Visibility is horrendous. This car has blind spots the size of Manhattan. Take a look at a picture of the car, and you'll notice that the windows are tiny slivers of glass perched on an enormous expanse of door. The rear pillars are aligned such that there's no visibility to the side when you look through the rear-view mirror.
11) The interior is cheap, and it looks that way. Cheap silver-painted plastic, thin plastic controls, etc.
12) The design of the key is brain-dead. For once (happily!) the rental car company only put one key on the permanently-bonded keychain. The remote for the car is integrated in the key. Fair enough. However, I noticed that when you go to turn the key in the ignition, the button for the panic alarm is precisely where you press your thumb. That's just sloppy engineering and poor testing.
A few other things to note:
A) On the positive side, the seats themselves (or at least the driver's seat) are comfortable, even if they lack all the bells-and-whistles electric adjustments. I haven't quite grasped the trend toward taller cars in which you sit more upright, but this is one of them. I can't count it against the car, though, since the placement of the seat has not caused me any discomfort.
B) It's ugly, but that's a matter of taste, so I can't list it above.
C) I can't tell you whether it's economical--there's no display that will tell me what my average MPG is.
Several questions come to mind while driving this car:
Did I get a "Monday morning" car?
What were the engineers and engineering managers thinking when they designed this car?
Did anyone at GM bother to test drive it?
Should I bother to lock the doors? After all, who would bother to steal it?
Is this the kind of car our government is subsidizing through its bailout of the Big 3?
A nearly-new Vibe is my rental car this week, and even before I had left the lot, I knew I had made a bad choice. And it only got worse. Here is a list of my complaints:
1) Daytime Running Lamps - yeah, I've griped about this before, so I'll make this short. In this particular GM car, there's no option to turn off daytime running lamps. Period. I'm not sure if this is better or worse than giving you the option and then chastising you for it...
2) Automatic headlights that you can't override. You may consider the headlight controls to be "minimum headlight settings." "Off" means "at least DRLs, unless it's night--then you'll get full headlights." Turning it to "parking lamps" dims the console lights and presumably turns on your taillights (I haven't bothered to check), but again the DRLs remain on, and if it's dark, the car will turn on your headlights. If you're going to a drive-in movie, everyone will hate you.
3) Terrible fit-and-finish. My first clue about the quality of this car came when I adjusted the rear-view mirror before even leaving the parking spot at the rental car agency. As soon as I gripped the mirror, it creaked alarmingly. This morning, I noticed that the armrest on the driver's side was so poorly fit that I could pull it right off with relatively little effort.
4) It's noisy. While the other four cars I've rented over the last several weeks have been nice and quiet, I think the Vibe is louder on the highway than my '95 Corolla. At first, I wondered if I hadn't left a window open, but no such luck. The combination of the wind and road noise is unbearable.
5) The ride is horrendous. Not only do you feel every bump in the road, I think the suspension actually amplifies cracks and bumps in the pavement. As I ran around doing errands last night, it nearly made me sick.
6) The sound system stinks. I am by no means an audiophile or an expert, but I know when I'm having trouble understanding a radio DJ speaking in a calm, normal voice. Certain frequencies resonate piercingly in this car, and others seem to disappear. The road noise and wind noise certainly contribute as well.
7) The engine and transmission feel like something out of a third-world country. From a standstill, I have to push the accelerator pedal in some distance before the engine starts turning the wheels, and at that point, it suddenly jerks the car forward. There seems to be enough horsepower for accelerating on the highway...once it shifts down a gear or two.
8) The power steering, while perfectly functional, makes a very odd sound when turning the wheels against resistance. I'm not quite sure how to describe the sound--it's some combination of grind, whine, and whir, but it is rather disturbing when you first hear it.
9) The center console is badly placed. From a comfortable position in the seat, the stereo and climate controls are just out of reach, even though the steering wheel is at the right distance.
10) Visibility is horrendous. This car has blind spots the size of Manhattan. Take a look at a picture of the car, and you'll notice that the windows are tiny slivers of glass perched on an enormous expanse of door. The rear pillars are aligned such that there's no visibility to the side when you look through the rear-view mirror.
11) The interior is cheap, and it looks that way. Cheap silver-painted plastic, thin plastic controls, etc.
12) The design of the key is brain-dead. For once (happily!) the rental car company only put one key on the permanently-bonded keychain. The remote for the car is integrated in the key. Fair enough. However, I noticed that when you go to turn the key in the ignition, the button for the panic alarm is precisely where you press your thumb. That's just sloppy engineering and poor testing.
A few other things to note:
A) On the positive side, the seats themselves (or at least the driver's seat) are comfortable, even if they lack all the bells-and-whistles electric adjustments. I haven't quite grasped the trend toward taller cars in which you sit more upright, but this is one of them. I can't count it against the car, though, since the placement of the seat has not caused me any discomfort.
B) It's ugly, but that's a matter of taste, so I can't list it above.
C) I can't tell you whether it's economical--there's no display that will tell me what my average MPG is.
Several questions come to mind while driving this car:
Did I get a "Monday morning" car?
What were the engineers and engineering managers thinking when they designed this car?
Did anyone at GM bother to test drive it?
Should I bother to lock the doors? After all, who would bother to steal it?
Is this the kind of car our government is subsidizing through its bailout of the Big 3?
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Look what I did: Water Pump replacement
A couple years back, the water pump on my '95 Corolla started making nasty noises. It sounded a bit like what you'd expect to hear if you threw a handful of gravel in a blender on low speed, and gradually got worse. I attempted to remove it myself, but between my lack of tools, the tight spaces, and some really stiff bolts, I had to eventually give up and take it to a real mechanic. $750 later, I had a new water pump and timing belt.
So when the water pump started making nasty noises again this spring, I decided to replace it myself. It cost $20 for a new pump off eBay and $10 or so for new coolant.
Two days before I had planned to replace it, my wife took my car to her monthly book club. Afterward, when starting the car to return home, she heard a loud squealing sound coming from the engine. The water pump had decided to finally seize up during the one event to which my wife looks forward with the greatest anticipation each month. She shut off the car and called me, then drove home with a neighbor friend (who had also come to book club) following. The car was smoking, steaming, stinking, and squealing the whole way.
I didn't drive to work the next day--my wife dropped me off instead.
That Saturday, I took on the car. It took me all day, from about 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, and by dinner time, I was not only thoroughly coated in grease and grime, but had also acquired several bruised and scraped knuckles. But I was done. The belt driving the alternator and water pump had been nearly completely shredded, and there was antifreeze and rubber residue splattered all over the engine compartment.
It's remarkable how much quieter my car is when the water pump isn't grinding itself to shavings.
I also found myself cursing the Toyota engineers who designed the thing. In order to remove the water pump, you must remove the timing belt. In order to remove the timing belt, you must remove the timing belt covers. In order to remove the timing belt covers, you have to remove the valve cover, the idler pulley, and the crankshaft pulley. In order to remove the crankshaft pulley, you have to remove the starter motor (so you can jam a screwdriver in the flywheel), and in order to remove the idler pulley, you have to remove the alternator. In order to remove the starter motor, you have to remove the air intake and air filter. Oh, and don't forget the need to remove the right front wheel and several splash guards in order to get to everything.
I couldn't get the starter motor or the crankshaft pulley off, but I was able to remove enough of the timing belt covers (there are three) to squeeze a socket wrench onto the last mounting bolt for the water pump, pushing the timing belt to one side in the process. I also managed to remove the bolts mounting the pulley to the water pump, which gave me more flexibility in removing the water pump from that cramped, twisted space.
I think my next car is going to be some type of land yacht. The ability to replace individual parts without taking apart half the engine will more than make up for the reduced gas mileage.
So when the water pump started making nasty noises again this spring, I decided to replace it myself. It cost $20 for a new pump off eBay and $10 or so for new coolant.
Two days before I had planned to replace it, my wife took my car to her monthly book club. Afterward, when starting the car to return home, she heard a loud squealing sound coming from the engine. The water pump had decided to finally seize up during the one event to which my wife looks forward with the greatest anticipation each month. She shut off the car and called me, then drove home with a neighbor friend (who had also come to book club) following. The car was smoking, steaming, stinking, and squealing the whole way.
I didn't drive to work the next day--my wife dropped me off instead.
That Saturday, I took on the car. It took me all day, from about 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, and by dinner time, I was not only thoroughly coated in grease and grime, but had also acquired several bruised and scraped knuckles. But I was done. The belt driving the alternator and water pump had been nearly completely shredded, and there was antifreeze and rubber residue splattered all over the engine compartment.
It's remarkable how much quieter my car is when the water pump isn't grinding itself to shavings.
I also found myself cursing the Toyota engineers who designed the thing. In order to remove the water pump, you must remove the timing belt. In order to remove the timing belt, you must remove the timing belt covers. In order to remove the timing belt covers, you have to remove the valve cover, the idler pulley, and the crankshaft pulley. In order to remove the crankshaft pulley, you have to remove the starter motor (so you can jam a screwdriver in the flywheel), and in order to remove the idler pulley, you have to remove the alternator. In order to remove the starter motor, you have to remove the air intake and air filter. Oh, and don't forget the need to remove the right front wheel and several splash guards in order to get to everything.
I couldn't get the starter motor or the crankshaft pulley off, but I was able to remove enough of the timing belt covers (there are three) to squeeze a socket wrench onto the last mounting bolt for the water pump, pushing the timing belt to one side in the process. I also managed to remove the bolts mounting the pulley to the water pump, which gave me more flexibility in removing the water pump from that cramped, twisted space.
I think my next car is going to be some type of land yacht. The ability to replace individual parts without taking apart half the engine will more than make up for the reduced gas mileage.
Look what I did: new rear speakers
A few months back, one of the rear speakers in my '95 Corolla started crackling and generally sounding bad. I disconnected it, and have been limping along with just one rear speaker for a few months.
Last week, when budgeting for this month, my wife and I set apart a few bucks to get new speakers. They arrived yesterday (a pair of Blaupunkt 6.5" speakers for $20 shipped off eBay), and I installed them last night.
I ran into only one glitch during installation: the original speakers had mounting holes that extended further out than the 6.5" diameter, while the new speakers' mounting holes lay within the 6.5" footprint. Also the instructions included zero information on the extra mounting hardware that was included with the new kit.
A few minutes with the drill press, and I had modified the mounting clips to work for my new speakers in the old mounts. I had to loosen them again to rotate the speakers after I realized the hookup wires were too short, but I got it all put back together before going to bed. Now, I'm enjoying a full set of speakers again.
Oh, and I replaced the front interior door handles last night as well.
Last week, when budgeting for this month, my wife and I set apart a few bucks to get new speakers. They arrived yesterday (a pair of Blaupunkt 6.5" speakers for $20 shipped off eBay), and I installed them last night.
I ran into only one glitch during installation: the original speakers had mounting holes that extended further out than the 6.5" diameter, while the new speakers' mounting holes lay within the 6.5" footprint. Also the instructions included zero information on the extra mounting hardware that was included with the new kit.
A few minutes with the drill press, and I had modified the mounting clips to work for my new speakers in the old mounts. I had to loosen them again to rotate the speakers after I realized the hookup wires were too short, but I got it all put back together before going to bed. Now, I'm enjoying a full set of speakers again.
Oh, and I replaced the front interior door handles last night as well.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Mini review: Mirror's Edge (PC)
Short version: It's short, but fun. Replayable to some extent.
Long version: Plenty of time has passed to let the game season. There was lots of hype about the game leading up to its launch. The fact that someone was creating almost a new genre of game, a first person game that plays down the shooter in favor of movement and interaction with the environment.
The game was short. I wish it had been longer.
The High Dynamic Range graphics looked nice, but the overwhelming whiteness got a bit old after a while.
It's pretty hard to play the game without shooting anyone or beating anyone up, although I guess it's meant to be that way (I think there's an achievement for that). The game unnecessarily makes it even harder by forcing a certain timing on quick-reloads after you die. In one case, I had to exit a door, jump from one building to another, then run across a building top and climb up some pipes, all while police rappelled from a helicopter to the top of that building. The first time I ran that sequence, I had a head start, thanks to a quick transit through the previous area. I had plenty of time to make it through that area before the police could shoot me, but fell and died at the end. When the game reloaded the sequence, I didn't get the head start, and the police showed up much earlier, making my passivistic trek across the rooftop impossible.
I didn't have any problems with the controls, other than operator error. The controls were consistent and simple enough. I have to share the complaint heard elsewhere that turning your head to look around while hanging from something was stupidly slow.
I also encountered an issue with sound, where the effects and ambient noises were far louder than the dialogue. This in effect removed any sort of plot, until I found that an update of my sound drivers would solve the problem.
Speaking of plot, does anyone else see an issue with Faith's crusade to save her sister? How many police did she kill or beat up on the way to save her sister? And where the heck are all the regular citizens? I mean, come on, this is a dense urban environment. Where are all the people? And what's the point of the bags, which originally figured to be a significant part of the plot?
The game begs to be replayed--can you make it through without firing a shot? Can you make it through without so much as a punch? Can you hit a rhythm so well that you never break stride through an entire chapter?
I didn't take the time to hit the time trials, but thinking back, I kind of want to now.
After release, the game got slammed, mostly on the basis of controls and brevity. I had no issues with the controls, but I have to agree with the sentiment on brevity. Overall, I would give the game a B. The technical execution, in my opinion, was outstanding. The plot and length were its main weak points.
Long version: Plenty of time has passed to let the game season. There was lots of hype about the game leading up to its launch. The fact that someone was creating almost a new genre of game, a first person game that plays down the shooter in favor of movement and interaction with the environment.
The game was short. I wish it had been longer.
The High Dynamic Range graphics looked nice, but the overwhelming whiteness got a bit old after a while.
It's pretty hard to play the game without shooting anyone or beating anyone up, although I guess it's meant to be that way (I think there's an achievement for that). The game unnecessarily makes it even harder by forcing a certain timing on quick-reloads after you die. In one case, I had to exit a door, jump from one building to another, then run across a building top and climb up some pipes, all while police rappelled from a helicopter to the top of that building. The first time I ran that sequence, I had a head start, thanks to a quick transit through the previous area. I had plenty of time to make it through that area before the police could shoot me, but fell and died at the end. When the game reloaded the sequence, I didn't get the head start, and the police showed up much earlier, making my passivistic trek across the rooftop impossible.
I didn't have any problems with the controls, other than operator error. The controls were consistent and simple enough. I have to share the complaint heard elsewhere that turning your head to look around while hanging from something was stupidly slow.
I also encountered an issue with sound, where the effects and ambient noises were far louder than the dialogue. This in effect removed any sort of plot, until I found that an update of my sound drivers would solve the problem.
Speaking of plot, does anyone else see an issue with Faith's crusade to save her sister? How many police did she kill or beat up on the way to save her sister? And where the heck are all the regular citizens? I mean, come on, this is a dense urban environment. Where are all the people? And what's the point of the bags, which originally figured to be a significant part of the plot?
The game begs to be replayed--can you make it through without firing a shot? Can you make it through without so much as a punch? Can you hit a rhythm so well that you never break stride through an entire chapter?
I didn't take the time to hit the time trials, but thinking back, I kind of want to now.
After release, the game got slammed, mostly on the basis of controls and brevity. I had no issues with the controls, but I have to agree with the sentiment on brevity. Overall, I would give the game a B. The technical execution, in my opinion, was outstanding. The plot and length were its main weak points.
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