z28luvr01

I saw Petco Park from the harbor cruise that I went on, but I didn't get to go in it at all. My next time back, I'll probably take in a Padres game and spend more time in the city itself, since it lights up so nicely at night. I had heard about the gaslamp district from someone in the airport on the way to my flight home, so that's another thing to do. On the cruise we went right past the carrier. They had the "hangar" open where the helipcopters are stored. Didn't get around to the navy museum though. If you ever have a couple of hundred lying around, you can take a biplane ride out of Palomar Airport in Carlsbad and, if you're by yourself, the pilot will let you fly the plane for a bit. They have a whole bunch of flights varying in duration and flight path. I was going to do that on my last day there, but they were booked for the day. I think the website is www.barnstorming.com.

evok, am I correct in interpreting your comments as you saying in a roundabout way is that Lutz is getting more credit than he should with regard to the Solstice. In reality, the car was in the pipeline (long) before he got there and many aspects of it were already decided on before he got there. If true, then that's very...interesting to know.

Review: 2005 Nissan Xterra A Competent, Capable SUV…Just Keep the Dramamine Handy by z28luvr01 Last week I had the chance to sample a 2005 Nissan Xterra during a five-day vacation to San Diego. I had initially reserved an economy car and seemed destined for a Hyundai Accent, but the Hertz counter at the San Diego airport ran out of economy cars and gave me, presumably, the next smallest vehicle they had available. In any case, I logged several hundred miles on the Xterra, driving between San Marcos (my hotel location), La Jolla, and the major San Diego attractions, and I take this opportunity to report my impressions of Nissan’s smallest SUV. Exterior The Xterra sports Nissan’s new design language for its trucks and SUVs. It’s not too much of a stretch to see that it’s the kid brother of the Armada, Pathfinder, Titan, and Frontier. It’s bigger in just about every way over the previous Xterra. Bold, albeit polarizing, styling seems to be what Nissan is going after, and they seemed to have accomplished that goal. Being a fan of smooth, sleek bodystyles, I had initially been horrified to drive something that resembled a life-sized Trans-former. However, it did grow on me a bit after a day or two, and the fact that I actually got a few compliments from fellow tourists who mistook it for my personal vehicle shows that there is a place on the road for a truck that looks like this. Interior The Xterra’s inside is downright cavernous for a “small” SUV, with plenty of room for five passengers and cargo. The interior attempts to carry on the tradition of the original Xterra, providing maximum functionality, ruggedness, and durability. The cargo floor is made of a very hard plastic that will resist some abuse while cleaning easily, and it features a pull-out panel that can be used as a shelf or a table. 12V outlets are plentiful, with two on the dashboard, one in the center console, and two more in the rear cargo area. The floor mats are made of a low-pile, welcome-mat style carpet that will wear very well as the truck ages. The interior layout is pretty functional and ergonomic, with the exception of the dash-mounted power mirror switch, located to the left of the steering wheel. It would have been more intuitive to put it on the driver’s side door panel, but unless you’re sharing the Xterra with someone much taller or much shorter than you are, that switch will probably not see much use. Switchgear has an excellent feel to it, and the interior panels fit together pretty nicely, unlike some other recent Nissan products I’ve sampled. The seats, however, could stand to be a little more comfortable. Although the driver’s seat had several adjustments for leg, back, and lumbar support, I never could find a combination that felt “right”. Also, the seats were rather stiff, requiring you to sit "on" them rahter than "in" them. As a result, hour-long drives left me more tired than I probably should have been. Comfort/Convenience In fleet-grade trim, the Xterra did come pretty well equipped, featuring power windows/locks/mirrors, cruise control, a decent sounding AM/FM/CD stereo, map lights, comprehensive instrument cluster with tach, oil pressure, voltage and temperature gauges, intermittent wipers with rear wiper, and remote keyless entry. I really missed having little things like the momentary starter switch, retained accessory power, and automatic headlights, but none of those should be deal breakers. Drivetrain This Xterra was powered by a new 4.0L version of the Nissan VQ V6, and it’s the same engine found in the Pathfinder and Frontier. Lesser Xterras come with a four-cylinder. The VQ has long been my favorite Japanese engine, and the 4.0L specimen in the Xterra did little to alter my opinion. The engine provided plenty of power throughout the trip. Climbing up steady mountain grades on I-15 and CA-163, it never once felt tired or overmatched. The five speed auto seemed well matched to the engine, giving smooth, confident shifts. It always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. The truck felt most powerful when the engine was above 4000rpm, which is right where I was after downshifting to pass a slow moving driver. In most cases the downshift was followed by jet-like acceleration. Handling If there’s one area where the Xterra really falls flat, it’s in the handling department. The combination of a rather stiff suspension and top-heaviness made for a very bouncy ride. Even on smooth pavement, the Xterra still produced a side to side wavering motion that sometimes put me on the verge of seasickness. Turning most corners at any kind of speed was an adventure, as the Xterra’s top-heaviness helped produce the excessive body lean. Steering seemed okay, but I cannot offer much of an opinion on it because most turns required me to slow down well in advance. Concluding Thoughts My suggestion: drive the Xterra and sample it for a while before you buy it. Make sure you can find a comfortable position in the driver’s seat, because the truck will wear you down if you can’t. Take the truck on a few curves and take note of how it responds to your driving style. The Xterra, by most counts, is a fine truck, and a pretty solid choice for any prospective SUV buyer. If you can deal with the nuances that I mentioned, you’ll find the Xterra to be an appealing, capable, competent SUV.

The San Diego - Coronado Bridge. A somewhat funny story goes along with it. The original design of this bridge was a straight line connecting San Diego and Coronado, stretching 1.8mi. Now, any bridge over 2mi is funded by the federal gov't, so they redid the bridge with a huge curve in it, and it's now 2.1 miles long. It's free to cross it, of course, thanks to Uncle Sam: A couple of Navy ships in the harbor. There's a huge navy presence in Sn Diego: the sub base, a Navy SEALS training facility, research and development labs. The San Diego Aerospace Museum and last but not least, the design inspiration for the Nissan Xterra (stay tuned to C&G for my review of the 2005 Xterra): This city is absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could have stayed longer, or better yet, found a job and a house and left NY for good. I'll be back again....when I left SD, the plane took off at 9:30PM, flew over the Pacifc for a bit, then turned around to give me a specatcular glimpse of the city at night.

From the San Diego Auto Museum, here you go 68: No caption required: The Tucker Torpedo, #19: This one's for you, Fly...an old skool Pontiac: The monument atop Mount Soledad, in La Jolla. I started a bike trip on this mountain and rode (mostly downhill, back to the hike/bike/kayak shop on Avenida de la Playa. The view from Mt. Soledad. In the winter, when the air is cleaner, you can see all the way from Mexico to LA. An unobstructed view of the sunset. I pulled off the road in Carlsbad to take this one: A shot of the Sheraton right across from the airport, taken just before I went in to check my luggage and get harrassed by TSA.

Well, I had a post with almost all the pics I wanted in it, then I hit back on my browser and lost everything. So here are the "best of the best", so to speak. A shot of the edge of the harbor: The whale who needs no introduction: an African penguin: a polar bear: A shot from Cabrillo National Monument, overlooking the National Cemetary, the harbor, and the rest of San Diego.

I went to an Auto Museum in San Diego....lots of cars and old motorcycles crammed into a building the size of an airplane hangar.

To really concentrate, I need to be in isolation for a long, long time. It usually takes a while for distracting thoughts to leave my head. Once I do that I can make some real progress. Background music (usually something classical or instrumental) sometimes helps, and sometimes it makes things worse. No TV, at all, under any circumstances, even Game 7 of the World Series. Despite several all-nighters and almost-all-nighters, I've never had the need to use any kind of "upper". If I fight my urge to go to sleep, I'll get my "second wind" which usually lets me stay up till I'm done with whatever I have to do.

Hey, She better not be touching the bumper, because I'd hate to see the paint get all scuffed up.

I'd say HHR too, but I think it needs AWD to up the capability quotient.

Whoa, I forgot about this thread. I have them at home, I can put some up tonight. I have I think 400-something pictures from my digital camera plus another 24 from a waterproof disposable. I was there from 8/25-8/29, and it honestly was very hard to leave. If I could find a decent paying job out there......

Mustang V6 - coupe or convertible New Beetle stock, non-Si Civics The G6 got a bit of a rep as a chick car thanks to the Oprah thing, but I think that's over now.

I hear that....on her "vacations", my sister (a HS art teacher) is usually either grading projects and/or tests, writing out interim reports, writing out a syllabus, getting materials ready for the next project, putting together a list of supplies for her annual budget, or just coming down from a rather bad day with the students. It's a job that you have to take home with you. I envy anyone that can do that, because I sure can't.

If someone behind me beeps at me, to either make a turn or accelerate after a green light, I'll do it veeeeeery slowly, as in, just let the car creep without touching the gas. If/when they decide to pass me, I floor it until they're specs in my rearview. Sometimes, if it's a really long light, I'll make like I'm having a conversation with an invisible person in the passenger's seat. Oooh, I know, next time I'll get into an argument with them. Sometimes I'll play smooth jazz, country, or classical really, really loud on my stereo, especially if someone pulls up playing gangsta rap or something.

So opening the doors now requires a stepladder. Pure brilliance <_<

I really don't think so, not this time. Civic engineers really need to remember what made the Civic so popular in the first place. This car is so far away from the Civic formula that it almost doesn't deserve the name anymore. Honestly, the current Impala is truer to its heritage than the new Civic is to its heritage.

I kinda know where you're coming from....If it wasn't for this type of situation, I'd have had no interaction with women at all. We're both victims of "Nice Guy Sydrome", in that we treat the ones we want with respect. I'd much rather hold the door open for a lady thatn fling her a cheesy pickup line, and you seem like the similar type. Is your guy currently with someone who's obviously 100% wrong for him, or has he previously dated people who are wrong for him? I've been down that road before too, and it's really frustrating when they complain to me about the one they're with. Sorry this turned into more of a rant than anything else, but I feel your pain.

No Metro, please. The Aveo is a fine car for what it is, and it's been prtty successful so far. The next one will be fine...Geo's time has come and gone. On a different note, I really must admit that I like the Aerio a lot after they changed the nose on it and gave it some balls. It's probably the most underrated, most overlooked subcompact out there.

I'm not sure of the name, but the front gives it away as a Pontiac, and it's shape is very similar to the late 70s/early 80s H-bods (Monza/Roadhawk/Skyhawk/Firenza).

For the democrats, we'll start with the "Punch Out George Bush" popup. We'll follow that with a few "Click here for your free Ipod" banners and a popup or two for Orbitz or partypoker.com. And you may want to make sure your firewall is working properly. :P j/k. One of the requirements for any ads that we allow on the site is that they'll be tasteful and not distract too much from your experience at C&G. The most likely place for them is in the "Sponsors" section on the front page, and a banner or two inside the forums. We hate ads too, but any and all proceeds are going towards the site. Trust me, none of us are going to quit our day jobs anytime soon.

I love the way the Caprice wagon looks when someone gives it the Impala SS treatment. That blows away the Magnum in terms of coolness.

Here's a newer pic of me, taken last week while kayaking in the Pacific Ocean.

There also was a Toyota Cavalier for a while (95-99ish) that was a rebadged Chevy Cavalier, sold in Japan only. And yes, in case you were wondering, there is a GM part number for the Toyota badge

RWD Throwaways Chevette (though with today's technology, that would be an awesome package.) Dodge Aspen Just about any RWD Lexus (if I want a Benz, I'll buy one, thank you very much) FWD Keepers Cobalt (Did any of you think I wouldn't mention this?) Intrigue all Auroras 98-up Seville the last Eldorado Bonneville GXP and my token Japanese entry, the TL.

What a bloated piece of crap. If I were a Civic enthusiast I'd have lost it by now.