Still Life

Have you noticed that if you look at the picture for some time,  you see details that were not obvious at the first glance? The longer you stare, the more pieces of the puzzle are getting processed by the brain.

On Friday morning the traffic was heavier than usual. Cars were piling up at the intersections, jumping from one lane to another,  annoyingly tailgating cars in front. A dynamic world with sounds of engines, the smell of cigarette smoke and impatience of drivers was digesting the morning commuters for breakfast.

Other side of the planet: cars in UK

After visiting UK I realized that Smart is not a small car. It is a European car. Actually, it could be bigger (at least taller) than some fellows that we met on streets of London
Should I mention that I almost twisted my neck looking around? I like compact cars and North American fashion for a bulky transport with 3+ L engines makes me sad. Therefore walking on the streets of London was like visiting a gallery with real art. 

Housewife's Car Review: 2018 KIA Forte

Do you remember my review of the Hyundai Elantra? So this is the same car. I mean, the insides of it are built from the Elantra's parts - same engine, gear, so on. The difference is in the exterior - the body of KIA has visual differences; and in the interior -  cheaper materials, simpler design, and less features.

So let's start. I drove 1800 km on this car. I really appreciated the switch from Chevy Cruze to KIA (provided by Enterprise Thornhill).

Housewife's Car Review: 2017 Cadillac CTS 2.0T

I have a hobby. I volunteer as a bird watcher at the BioBlitz events at our region. Since the BioBlitz is an event that happens at the natural habitat of animals or plants, usually it’s organized in areas without public transit. Think about it – why would you build a bus route through the forest?

Therefore, to get to those events I usually rent a car. My request for a Hyundai Elantra ended up being the Cadillac CTS 2.0T, which was not a big surprise after the BMW, but definitely not the best choice for our situation.

Housewife's Car Review: 2018 Hyundai Elantra

This week I received an e-mail from Hyundai Canada that read “We invite you to write a review on Hyundai Elantra. If you have ever used customer reviews yourself, you know how valuable they can be.”

So I’ve decided to put my Elantra’s review ahead of a number of others. First of all, I would say that this model deserves to be called best value for money. Korean auto manufacturers proved that cars could be inexpensive, but reliable at the same time.

Housewife's Car Review: 2009 Acura CSX

Continuing with our luxury edition, today I will talk about the 2009 Acura CSX.

The Acura CSX is the youngest brother in the Acura family, which was created to replace Acura 1.7 EL. Actually, 1.7 was a great car, and I still see them on the road.  CSX stands for Compact Sportscar Experimental.  It’s a dark horse on a road. It looks exactly like the Honda Civic (ha, it’s called Honda Civic in the Japanese internal market), but it has a great Acura 2.0 L engine. Originally this model was designed specifically for the Canadian market. Not sure if I ever encountered it in other countries, but it is pretty common in our area. Even though Acura CSX was a bestseller for a few years, the model got discontinued in 2011 and was replaced with the ILX edition. 

Housewife's Car Review: 2016 BMW 528i xDrive

One sunny day I came for my “compact sedan” and the boys from Enterprise gave me a bit of a different car. They didn’t have anything left but a pearl white 2016 BMW 528i xDrive. “Sorry, but we can only give you a luxury car.”

Housewife's Car Review: 2016 Hyundai Veloster

This one will be about the strangest car I ever drove. Just a week before I got it from a rental company, my daughter mentioned that she had a ride on a car with three doors. That didn't sound right, but a week later I was driving a 3 door, four seat car. 

The 2016 Hyundai Veloster is an excellent city car! It has one door on the driver's side and two on the other. It has a "panoramic sunroof" which actually means a transparent roof turning into a rear window. It makes the view from the back mirror a bit weird. 

Housewife's Car Review: 2015 Chevrolet Cruze

This time I got what I was asking for. I mean, guys offered a good car, but I ask for a low gas consumption one. Choice was between Yaris and Cruze. I took Chevy Cruze.
Not a bad car. Had a ride in it before, got the same feeling now - too narrow, space between front seats isn't comfortable. (Actually, same applies to Chevy Volt - I don't like design of the cup holders and else between seats.) Other than that, feels nice on the road, very smooth and sensitive to steering wheel, good performance for a small fellow.