anyone get the number of that truck?

Today my father and I did this Chrysler driving challenge thing. Basically you get to run the piss outta some brand new cars on a set up track. I drove a Pacifica, a Town and Country, a PT Cruiser Turbo Convertible, Crossfire Convertible, BMW Z4, 300 Touring, Caddy CTS, and a 300C. My faves were the PT, Crossfire, and the Z4....not so much because of the car, but the little hot number sitting next to me. They didn't let you run by yourself out there, they had an 'escort' or something to help keep you in line and tell you what to do at certain parts of the course. Well, by complete chance I was escorted three times by the same person, Miranda. Sweetie of a thing, not much to complain about...other then she yelled at me in the PT for going too fast..don't think she liked the wheelspin I had going on in some tight esses. But each time out we talked about stuff other then what we were supposed to, which were the cars. It was kinda surreal, here I am just going flat out on this course in a brand new Crossfire Convert, dialing in a bit of countersteer as I come out of a tight hair pin and I'm talking to a hot chick about buying her dinner. One of those moments in life where you really don't belive wahts going on, lol. She doesn't live around here, and I failed to even remember to ask her for her email....even though the all important contact info should be the primary objective, I was having too much fun at the time being and just forgot. I"m a dumbass sometimes. Oh well, live and learn. But it sure woulda been nice to talk to her some more.

OK, off of MIranda for a while cause I could go on all day and onto the cars, first out of the box was the Pacifica. I"ve seen a slew of these thigns on the road and never much thought about them, but let me tell you, they are really nice. Quad buckets as standard, with front and second row dual stage heating...spiffy. This one has a DVD player with wireless headphones for the rear seat passengers, and a nice in-instrument navigation system for me. Drove pretty damn good, fairly flat in the corners, stable, quick turning radius, and good get up and go.

Next was the Town & Country....yeah, it was there, so I drove it. I really don't like stock minivans, but this was was OK I guess. Some nice features, but they wouldn't do well with younger kids, say under 10 years old. Drove like a minivan, plowed in the turns like a mini van, was smooth however in the rough section, but it's still a fuckin mini van....

Thirdly was a PT Cruiser Turbo Convertible (and Miranda), what a nice little rocket this is. I've always been a fan of the PT Turbo, the non Turbo's are jsut too damn slow, but the convert was even nicer. Wind in your hair, nice stiff body...and the PT's body wasn't too loose either. Had some horrible lag in first gear though, of course it was an automatic, a 5-speed would really help that. But since it's FWD, which inherently sucks, it did suffer from a bit of torque steer, but not too bad. I was going into some tight esses, flat out on the gas well before the apex of each and the wheels started spinning. Not uncontrollable in the least, but I did get yelled at and told to slow down. But I was really dissapointed by the lack of the sound from the turbo...you could hear it spool up, but no blow off valve sound....of course, the course was almost too small to get the RPMs up high enough, but still, have the fun of a turbo is the sound.

Fourth up was the Crossfire Convert. Again, Miranda was my escort, and since she yelled at me previous, I started out a little slow. At the beginning there is a nice accelleration straight followed by a quick stop...I didn't go flat out..."Aw, come on, you can do better then that!"...thats all I heard from the passenger seat, lol. Well, I did do better. The Crossfire is a RWD car, so I had it swung around on a few of the tighter corners, really mashing the gas early to induce wheelspin to square away the back end. She didn't yell at me this time, we were to busy conversating on other things, lol. But the sight lines, for me at least, were horrible. I had to have the seat down low so that my view wasn't blocked by the top of the windshield, which left a huge blind spot by the passenger front tire. I was having to constantly lean up and over to spot my cones. The lag in first gear was also bad in this, although not as bad as the PT. Still a real fun little car to thrash about in, I could easily see myself in one of these. I also owe Miranda $15...cause I hit three cones at $5 a cone. Maybe she'll come hunting for me for her money....I wouldn't complain too bad.

Next up was the BMW Z4 2.5i. Wow, what a tight little car. Ugly as sin. At least the exterior, I don't even remember anythign about the interior...I was too busy yapping like a hen with Miranda and trying my damndest to get the car to break a tire loose. This thing felt like it was just glued to the road. Excellent turn in, almost too good, I found myself turning in too early, great brakes, and decent throttle response. Although coming out of a tight hairpin into some esses when I floored the gas, the engine really bogged down. It felt like the tranny didn't know which gear it wanted and stayed hung in second gear. It finally choose first for me on the downshift, but by then I was already on the brakes. Great suspension too, nicley tuned, almost no lean in any direction be it from accelleration, turning, or braking. Overall much tighter then the Crossfire. But, ugly...and considerably more expensive then the Crossfire. I could see myself in one of these for some SCCA SOLO I/II runs or at the track, but a big no on everyday use.

Fifthly (I think) was the 300 Touring. I told MIranda she needed to take me out on the 300 course as well, but she said that wasn't allowed, oh well, but the guy I had was pretty cool. The 300 is a really, really nice machine. A super nice suspension, flat enough in the corners to not feel like your out of control (it is a big sedan afterall), but enough lean to let you know what your doing. Meanwhile over the rough area it felt calm and collected. Super nice interior in this one as well. Good brakes on it as well.

Sixthly was the Caddy CTS. Now I"ve driven this car in the past pretty hard on more then one occasion, and I love it. I absolutly love the engine. A free revving V6. I mean you can really feel when this thing hits it's power band. Just feel like a damn fire was lit up under your ass. You get pinned back in your seat and are just along for the ride. Really nice performer as well. Great balance, you can induce just enough wheelspin (with traction turned off) to help square away the back end with out feeling like your about to loose it, brakes that could stop a frieght train, and very postitive steering input. The interior and exterior are kinda quirky, it takes some getting used to, but I like it. Has a kinda space-age feel to it. It's not one of those types of interiors that screams high class like in the 300C, but it's high class in it's own right, but in a different way. Of course, thats only if you 'get it', and I do.

Last but certainly not least, was the 300C. Oh my GOD I love this car. I would buy one tomrrow if I wouldn't go bankrupt. A nice HEMI engine that is not ashamed to show you it's powerful side, and yet, suprisingly gentle at slower speeds. It has a quick throttle, so the first week of ownership would see a lot of quick starts in the parking lot, until you got used to the feel. A super, super nice feeling and looking interior. Some gauges that look like they were knicked from a Swiss watch...and an analouge clock in the dash, very nice. Tourtise shell accents on the steering wheel, gearshift, and door handles has a nice translucent look to them. Different then the run-of-the-mill wood you see, and it works. Nice aluminim or similar looking accents, I can't really remember, I was having too much fun with the HEMI. A bit of a trouble to see out the back due to the high sides and low roof, but would take some getting used to is all. I could very easily see me in this beast as well.

So all in all I had a very, very nice day today. Got to spend some of it with a hot chick who seemed to dig me, got to thrash about in some brand new cars, and didn't sweat my ass off in the process. The list of my faves (putting all escort preferences aside) are: 300C, Crossfire Convert, Caddy CTS, 300, PT Turbo Convert, Pacifica, BMW Z4, Town & Country. While the BMW was a splendid track car, I just don't like the looks of them, and they would be very harsh to drive everday...although I'm used to rough, I don't want a stock car to feel like my lowered truck.

I also got to drive (OK, ride....) through the heart of ATL and then some. I absolutely love the city. I don't get up there much, but I just love it when I do. Here in ATL we don't really have 'districts' sorted by ethnicity..no Chinatown, no Russian-ville, no Little Italy, nothign like that. Sure we have our areas, a bunch of them actually, but they aren't seperated by ethnicity for the most part. So anyway, in ATL almost no matter where you look you'll see trees and fountains. This is a very green city. The Chrysler thing was up at Stone Mountain, which is the world's largest exposed hunk of granite. Out of towners always seem to want to go there for some reason, I don't really get it cause I live here. But anyway, on the way back to the house got to go past the FOX Theater. Been past it before, but have never actaully been inside. I will one of these days. Got to drive much of on of the many Peachtree streets. And yes, there really are almost 150 different streets in ATL with the name Peachtree. It can get very confusing. Also got to venture into the residential part of Buckhead...an area where the cash is flowing, and people aren't afraid to show it....even more so then where I live now. So that was kinda nice, got to see lots of nice houses, yards, and cars. Even got to drive on the back side of the famous Bobby Jones Golf Course. Swanky place right there, lol. Well, enough of my ramblings...but I had a very nice day today.