2012 Saratoga Auto Museum Spring Invitational

My family and I drove up to Saratoga this Sunday for the Museum's Spring Invitational. The weather was nice if not a little hot. There were L\lots of great cars to see. The feature this year was Cadillac.

Search for a family GT

As readers can tell by the posts on this blog one of my favorite weekend activities is to go for a drive with my family of five. The three vehicles we have available for this activity are those listed in the information column to the right. However none of these cars are just right for the job. The Pilot has lots of room for the whole family plus whatever stuff we decide to bring along. It is also very comfortable to ride in. The drawback for me is the handling. It is heavy, and you can feel the weight when accelerating, braking and in turns. The PT Cruiser is also quite spacious, although not nearly as big as the Pilot. All three kids fit in the backseat, with decent foot room for the middle passenger. It is much lighter and more nimble than the Pilot yet cornering is not its' strong point. I will say the PT is a decent car on the highway. Could use more power and slightly better handling. The Evolution is my vehicle of choice for road trips. This cannot be said for the rest of the family. The front Recaro seats have little padding and no adjustments. They get uncomfortable in about 30 minutes of riding. Due to the great handling characteristics the car rides very rough. Every bump in the road is felt by everybody in the car. The backseat has seat belts for three, but the middle passenger has little room in the seat or the foot area. This car does all the driving parts great acceleration, handling, and braking are all off the top of any chart. I am always for looking for a great road trip car that the driver and passengers can all enjoy. My requirements are better than average driving characteristics (acceleration, braking, handling), comfortable ride and plenty of room and seating for all passengers. The area where most cars fall off the list are in the back seat space. It is hard to find a sporty car or suv that has adequate space for the middle passenger in the back seat. The seat is usually very narrow and the foot area has a large drive shaft hump and the front center console extends back very far into the rear seat area. Some vehicles that I have looked at that have this back seat issue are the Porsche Cayenne and BMW 3 series. I would be open at any suggestions of cars or suv's that might be the perfect back road cruiser for a family of five.

Photo of the Week #21

Spring Drive

Got a chance to go for a drive with the family today. Checked out some back roads in West Glenville, NY. Weather was sunny and warm. Found some nice roads and a few cool views also.

Current Top 10 Explanation #1

About a year ago I did a post called My Current Top 10. Just a list of the top 10 cars I most want to own, in no particular order. I will start at the top of the list and explain why I want each car. First car on the list was the Porsche 911 (997). This version of the 911 was produced from 2005-2011. It is the second generation of the water cooled 911's. Porsche fixed many of the issues the first generation water cooled 996 cars. I have always admired the 911 since I started following the Flying Lizard Porsche team in the American LeMans racing series. I had a chance to drive a 2005 base model 911 about two years ago with my son on father's day. We test drove a silver car with the 6 speed transmission. Going into the drive I assumed the car was going to be nice, I mean it is a Porsche it should be nice right? I didn't think it was going to be amazing! It was nearly perfect. Almost flat cornering. The power band on the 345hp flat six was smooth from idle right to red line. The power wasn't mind blowing or anything just smooth and strong. Everything felt so refined and smooth. It was one of those cars you think you are driving about 30mph and a glance at the speedometer will red 70 or 80mph. The biggest difference between a Porsche 911 and your car is when you get back into your car. My Mitsubishi feels like a soup can on wheels compared to the Porsche. My top choice would be an "S" model with 40 more horsepower and bigger brakes than the base 911. Maybe someday. The 997 generation is now out of production and they can be found as certified used cars from Porsche for $45,000-65,000. Still a lot of money for most people but I feel worth every penny.

Photo of The Week #20

Covered bridge in Woodstock, VT.

Photo of The Week #19

Team O'Neil rally driving school.