Everything posted by Robert Hall
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2023 Citroen C5: diesel engine and automatic transmission - (1 of 3 in a review series of short rentals in Italy)
I remember the fast food at an Autogrill on the Autostrada from Salerno to Rome having decent food...that was 20 years ago.
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L.A. on 3 cylinders for 3 days (yikes) - review of current Mitsubishi Mirage via rental
Sounds horrific. Last time I was in LA in '15, I had a Tahoe...before that, maybe a 350Z rented at LAX 20 years ago (when I visited So Cal from '08-15, I drove over from Phoenix).
- Reader Rides: Our EV Editor Buys a Kia EV9
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Random Thoughts Thread
Yeah, yard guy was out about 3 weeks ago, we discussed plans for this year...started this week since I was on vacation last week...the front hadn't grown much, the back was getting big in places...lots of rain this Spring. Trees just started blooming in the last week..
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Random Thoughts Thread
Got my first yard mowing of the season today...love the smell of fresh cut grass...thinking about planting a few new shrubberies this year..maybe some Arborvitae..I'm fond of Thuja Green Giants. Alas, got a lot of pollen in that air this week..Caddy was clean Sunday when I got back from vacay.
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Permanent Car Spotters
My vacation this past week didn’t pan out as planned, had to take an abbreviated trip closer to home. Spent the last 3 nights in Marietta, Ohio down on the Ohio River. Took the scenic route today up Ohio Rte 7 to my childhood hometown of Steubenville and out Rte 22 to 250 around Tappan Lake to I-77 then back home to the CLE area. Took a couple scenic drives around Appalachian Ohio back roads Fri and Sat, my CT6 performed great on windy, hilly roads for such a big car. It’s really a great road trip car. Averaged 27.7 mpg over almost 600 miles. Saw some interesting cars on the trip—an orange 70 Mustang coupe and a clean black ‘71 Chevelle. Saw many dead and dying old cars in the backwoods fields and hollers. Near my hotel, saw this red Thunderbird, orange MGB, red 1st gen Honda Insight (haven’t seen one of those forever), and a white C8. Also saw sternwheelers and barges on the river. Fun, restful little getaway.
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Random Thoughts Thread
And it has the awful trendy gray/black window trim and garage doors...barf...generic crap. A lot of the new construction around here looks like this, whether condos or McMansions in suburbia.
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Random Thoughts Thread
Ah, yes..the joy of taxes...mine were more complex than usual this year w/ the sale of a house, purchase of a house, and lots of taxable RSU income. But capital gains worked in my favor so I actually got small fed and state refunds, but owed regional tax.
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Infiniti News: The 2025 Infiniti QX80 Starts the Brand's Product Renaissance
Nice interior. Front is very similar to Buick’s new design language with the big grille and low headlights.
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Permanent Car Spotters
Beautiful weather this weekend after a stormy few days. Went for a scenic drive yesterday, saw a sharp apple green '69 Chevelle 2dr and a bright blue '65 Chevelle 2dr sedan. Also a very clean late 90s Camaro Z-28 in dark red w/ a black roof. Parked at a couple overlook parks on Lake Erie, stormy and windy, big waves.
- Buick News: Next Generation 2025 Buick Enclave Finishes Out Buick's Refreshed Lineup
- Buick News: Next Generation 2025 Buick Enclave Finishes Out Buick's Refreshed Lineup
- Mitsubishi News: The Phases of the Eclipse
- Mitsubishi News: The Phases of the Eclipse
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Mitsubishi News: The Phases of the Eclipse
Sadly, a real dearth of affordable coupes today. So many out there in the 90s. Had a coworker with one from around '97 that was a purply blue, had another coworker in the early 00s that had a silver 01 or so. Nice little cars and w/ AWD made good year round cars in Colorado. Rode in them in lunch trips and one particular memory w/ the '97 was to see perhaps the worst movie of the last 30 years, 'Battlefield Earth'...4 coworkers stuffed in the Eclipse, got stuck in afternoon traffic, got in the theatre during trailers and ended up in the front row on the side..so watched a movie with lots of odd camera angles from an angle.
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Pictures!
Beautiful spring weather today. Driving all 3 cars around. Took the Mustang for a quick spin this morning, got up to 70 in I-90, hit a few winding back roads. Took the Caddy out to lunch at a excellent Vietnamese restaurant, hit the winding scenic Chagrin River Road which winds through some of the most expensive NE Ohio real estate (Gates Mills, Hunting Valley, Moreland Hills, Woodmere). Saw several nice Corvettes and Porsches of various vintages, and a gorgeous black XLR-V rolling top down.
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What Are You Listening To?
Going to be in the totality for the solar eclipse tomorrow here in NE Ohio...a few songs I'll play during the eclipse, probably my favorites mentioning the sun... Audioslave--Shadow on the Sun U2--Staring at the Sun The Beatles -- Here Comes the Sun
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What Are You Listening To?
With spring in the air, looking into waterproof bluetooth patio speakers so I can enjoy my tunes outside (already have bluetooth speakers in the hot tub that I use when I'm relaxing in there). Lately, been listening to a bit of everything ...first the new..discovered this band when listening to a modern indie rock channel on Sirius XM the other day--'The Beaches', an all-female band from Toronto--this single 'Edge of the Earth' is very catchy...great guitar and harmonies. And of course listening to plenty of classic and 80s rock--Robert Plant both solo in the 80s and with the incomparable Jimmy Page in 70s Led Zeppelin... 'Ship of Fools" 29 Palms: Little by Little: LZ 'In the Evening': And probably my favorite LZ track--the heavy, bluesy, locomotive feel of 'When the Levee Breaks'.. Mix it up with some obscure 80s I love--'The Whole of the Moon' by The Waterboys.
- 2019 Cadillac CT6 AWD
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Word Association
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Kia News: Kia Previews the Kia K4 Ahead of the New York Auto Show
The sedan was China only apparently.
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Kia News: Kia Previews the Kia K4 Ahead of the New York Auto Show
That was also another example where the sedan and non-wagon 5dr hatchback are the same length. I don't recall if the US got the sedan version or only the hatchback...traditionally US market wagons had more rear overhang than sedans and thus were longer...but it's been a long time since there have been many examples of traditional sedan and wagon body styles in one model range in the US (since the 80s-90s when GM had the A-body and B-body still around, or Ford w/ the Taurus/Sable for several generations, etc...)
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Kia News: Kia Previews the Kia K4 Ahead of the New York Auto Show
Yeah, then there are cases where the hatchbacks that are the same size as the sedan, like the Mondeo where w/ the last generation the sedan and liftback were virtually indistinguishable in profile. The wagon version may have been longer.
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Polestar 4 Makes its North American Debut
Meh...just another forgettable appliance. What's up with no rear window?
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Random Thoughts Thread
A local dealer has one, white also with like 38k miles for $69k. I looked at a 2020 CT6 Platinum w/ the 3.6 for $55k w/ 35k miles. Also looked at a 2019 CT6 Sport (I think that was the trim level?--didn't have the chrome window trim).., I didn't realize how low the production numbers for 2019 and 2020 CT6 in all specs were, like 7500 in 2019 and 3600 in 2020...