Stay tuned!

Don’t go far, as there are some great things in store for Reflections of the Drive. Check back over the next few weeks for new car reviews and photography from across the globe!

Burnout Radio Muscle Car Shootout Trailer!

You may remember that I had the opportunity to review the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS a few months ago. Well, that wasn’t all the fun I had with the car. The guys at Burnout Radio planned out an amazing day of head-to-head goodness with the Camaro, a Dodge Challenger SRT-8, and a Ford Mustang GT500.

Mark your calendars for February 22 when the full video hits, but for now, here a teaser!

2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS Review

It may seem odd, but for years I associated the Camaro with speed. It’s true. I had no feelings of malcontent, and I did not associate the Camaro with wife-beater t-shirts, mullets, and bondo. It looked good, had a great V8, was relatively comfortable, and provoked driving fast. That was a win in my book. It still is to some degree.

My entire first-hand Camaro experience was with a 1989 Camaro RS which had the 5.0 liter V8 option. By today’s yard stick, the engine’s 170 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque is quite meager. But in 1990, even short the 70 horsepower which was available in the IROC-Z’s 5.7 liter V8, it was a monster to this high school student.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in North Texas when a friend picked me up in his new RS. I immediately was addicted to the torque pushing me into the seat. The next thing you knew we were flying along at 135mph, T-tops removed, and my hair blowing in the wind. That’s right. I had hair once. Moving on…

Now let’s fast forward almost 20 years. Everything has changed. Here’s where the wife-beaters, mullets, and bondo come into play. In the 7 years following Chevrolet killing the Camaro in 2002 after 35 years of production, its reputation went drastically downhill. There still was that distant memory of high school, but that memory was all too often overshadowed by a giant mullet cutting me off in traffic with his bondo-covered Camaro apparently fitted with a smoke screen “feature”.

A few weeks ago, everything changed again. Chevrolet delivered Burnout Radio a 2010 Camaro 2SS, and I drew the long straw to drive it the first few days. This is the 5th Generation of the Camaro, and I’ve yet to find someone who dislikes the way the way this car looks. Every curve and angle blend together to make one of the best looking American cars produced in recent decades. This 2010 model urges you to reminisce of the first four generations while remaining wholly modern in design. Chevrolet nailed the styling, pure and simple.

Here is my experience:

Continue Reading…

Happy Hour with the new Buick LaCrosse

2010 Buick LaCrossse

Buick. It’s not a company often discussed or highly regarded by Gen-Xers. I’d venture to say it’s regarded even less by the younger generations. Handicap tags. Walkers. 40mph in the fast lane. That is the association many have with Buick. This is about to change.

Buick recently held an event in Irving, TX to showcase the new 2010 LaCrosse. Let me be the first to say, as a card-carrying Gen-Xer, this car does not belong in an assisted-living parking lot. Honestly, I think the technology in this car will baffle even many computer literate baby-boomers. You name it, and it’s there…rear-view camera and parking assist, heads-up display, keyless start, and my personal favorite, a 40GB hard drive. Need to take a call with the Bluetooth-linked speaker phone? Well, the radio will pause the broadcast and then resume from the same spot when you end your call. The interior looks great as well. The Ice-Blue ambient lighting carries through the entire car and accentuates the quality stitching and wood panels.

As I hung around the LaCrosse outside Cool River Cafe that night, many comments were overheard such as “Wow! That looks great!” and “It looks like a Lexus.” Many would think that the LaCrosse would be a bit out of its league sitting across from the row of valeted BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus vehicles. Many would be wrong. It really does look that great. However, GM, lose the fake vents. You’re not fooling anyone by moving them from the fender to the hood. The vents are much more painful now that they’re a blemish on an otherwise outstanding design.

Now it’s just a matter of time for the public to shake the geriatric stigma of Buick. The 2010 LaCrosse is a great start. Let’s just hope it drives as well as it looks. If so, watch out Lexus.

Thanks to GM for putting on this event. It was fun and the food and drinks were great. For those of you on Twitter, make sure to follow @GMTexas for the latest and greatest of what they are doing.

Hyundai Genesis Coupe Adrenaline Tour – A Review

Recently I had the opportunity to drive the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe at Hyundai’s Adrenaline Tour event at Texas Motor Speedway. This was not your normal promotional event, as far as the public is concerned. To the surprise of many, Hyundai had set up what was essentially a simple autocross course. Great! For some like me, it was time for some hoonage. For some others it obviously was time to enjoy a leisurely drive and closely examine each cone as the Genesis Coupe ambled along. Seriously, who test drives a sports car that slowly?

Before getting in line I took a closer look at a 2.0 Turbo Hyundai had on display. Fit and finish was surprisingly good. I wouldn’t put it on par with the 370Z interior, but it certainly is leagues better than the earlier 350Z. The layout was well designed with everything easily within reach. The driver’s seat was comfortable yet supportive. It later held me nicely while exploring the limits of adhesion. The back seats were a tad small but would be survivable for short trips if you’re less than 6ft tall.

So on to the experience. Hyundai allowed each person two laps, each lap choosing between the 3.8 liter V6 or 2.0 liter 4 cylinder Turbo engines in either automatic or manual transmissions. Let me preface what follows with the fact that I had one 30-40 second lap in each car, so my impressions can be taken with a grain of salt or even completely thrown out the window. Take your pick.

I took my first lap in the 6-speed V6. Clutch take-up was easy, quick and I had no problem getting a smooth launch. Power delivery was nice and linear but I felt there should be more considering the 306 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque. There was a good amount of initial turn-in understeer but once settled in the turn, a good jab of the throttle would bring the tail out nicely. Steering feel was quite good, although I often briefly wondered what the back end was doing. The brakes had good feel and were fade-free, as expected from a Brembo setup. There were some offset bumps at the end of the course intended to upset the car and demonstrate chassis rigidity. Honestly, I have no idea how this should have felt, as I was too focused on the clanking front right suspension as it hit each bump. I realize these are abused demo cars, but for only having a few thousand miles, it still left a bad taste in my mouth.

Next up…the 2.0 liter Turbocharged inline-4, also a 6-speed manual. I got in this car expecting a somewhat different experience. Considering a 106hp deficit when compared to the V6, obviously it wasn’t going to launch out of each turn as quickly. However, I anticipated a lighter feel and being able to carry a little more speed into the turn. So that’s exactly what I did. I came into the first turn a little faster than before. Bad idea. The front end plowed on ahead as I turned the wheel. Successive turns felt better balanced, as I had more appropriate entry speeds, but the car still felt quite heavy and underpowered. Now the V6 had felt a bit heavy too, but you could muscle it around a bit and make it obey. Not so with the 4 cylinder. There is about 100 lbs difference between these two cars, but unfortunately it’s just not that noticeable. In this car I was able to pay attention when rolling over the small speed bumps and it did quite well. I heard no creaks or groans and for a stiff sport suspension it soaked it all up nicely.

I think a buyer looking for a fun, somewhat powerful car will be more apt to want the V6, while the 2.0 Turbo might lean more toward a fun commuter car for someone who occasionally wants to enjoy a back road.  The  2.0 Turbo has decent power for daily driving and will still return 30 mph on the highway.  It may do well with the tuner crowd too, who have always loved anything with a turbo. The more hard-core might want to spend the extra $3k for a little more precision and power on a 370z, but for the money the Genesis Coupe is a steal that buyers won’t regret.

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Click Here to browse my photo gallery for this event.
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Here’s a short video I put together. If you have a fast connection,
click the YouTube icon and watch it in HD!

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