Karl's Daily Log Book - READ ONLY

2391 messages, Last post on Nov 30, 2005 at 6:50 AM

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What is this discussion about? Coupe, Sedan, SUV

Karl Brauer is the Editor in Chief of Edmunds.com, which means he finds himself in a different vehicle almost every day of the week. If you want a daily road test review regarding the latest cars and trucks to hit the market, along with commentary on everything from auto industry happenings to L.A. drivers to his latest close encounter with Johnny Law, this is the place to be.

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#2292 of 2391 Re: Karl - [kyfdx] by imidazol97 Oct 21, 2005 (8:28 am)
Replying to: kyfdx (Oct 21, 2005 8:23 am) That's what I'm trying to figure out by knowing where in IN and OH he lived... :grin I thought it was a telling slip. I am sure he wasn't south of the river.
#2293 of 2391 Re: Karl - [imidazol97] by dieselone Oct 21, 2005 (8:48 am)
Replying to: imidazol97 (Oct 21, 2005 8:22 am) You don't mean to stereotype people in Kansas, did you LOL, no not really. Just cowboys and airframe engineers / assemblers here in Wichita I was just making a general response towards Carlismo's thoughts on Tennessee I lived in Valparaiso, IN (NW Indiana for those not familiar), and we lived in a town called Norton that was just outside of Akron in OH. I always find it funny that people from the Chicago area make fun of those from Indiana. Obviously they never drove south on I55 or I57 to see the rest of Illinois LOL. Everyone refers to Kansas as flat, but I don't think it's possible to be flatter than central Illinois.
#2294 of 2391 Re: Karl - [splatsterhound] by editor_karl Oct 21, 2005 (10:10 am)
Replying to: splatsterhound (Oct 20, 2005 8:44 pm) Honestly, how many Edmunds employees can afford anything but rent a crappy one-bedroom in W. Hollywood? Not nearly enough of them. I was just talking to another editor who lives in L.A. and he was wondering how much house he could get in Ventura County, where I live. His house is 1,300 sq. ft. and he thinks he could get about $800,000 (yes, you read that right) for it. He's just had another kid and -- suprise -- he'd like a bit more room. Of course, both of us have had our houses for a few years, meaning we're like far too many other people in California these days -- if we had to buy our own house at today's prices we couldn't afford it. Anyway, I grew up in Denver and I continue to laugh at the "California or death" mentality of most residents here. The concept of another 49 states (many of which the residents - GASP - don't even really care about California) is foreign to them. "Everyone either lives here now or wants to someday" is what people actually think in this state. It's funny. Between the climate and the established business base there are many reasons people live here (myself included), but if companies (i.e. Nissan) start leaving because of the many reasons NOT to live here (housing costs, traffic, pollution, horrid schools, even worse government policies and organization, etc.) then I can't say I'd blame them. Replies to this message: xmf314 (Oct 21, 2005 10:46 am) splatsterhound (Oct 21, 2005 11:03 am) extremebigdog (Oct 21, 2005 2:49 pm) splatsterhound (Oct 21, 2005 5:45 pm) editor_karl (Oct 22, 2005 8:11 am) and 4 more...
#2295 of 2391 Nissan Tennessee by imidazol97 Oct 21, 2005 (10:45 am)
Nissan already has a large presence in a booming area SE of Nashville with their sprawling plant. It's an area with cheap workers to consume until their healthcare gets too expensive then spit them out. It's an area with a solid elite caste system. The city is metropolitan (probably not California, but that might be good) and has an aura that I like. We have friends who moved from Ohio and live 2 miles from the Smyrna Nissan plant. The only negative I see to that part of Tennessee is the lack of ability to drive safely. Rear end and silly accidents are everywhere, especially during high traffic times.
#2296 of 2391 Re: Karl - [editor_karl] by xmf314 Oct 21, 2005 (10:46 am)
Replying to: editor_karl (Oct 21, 2005 10:10 am) Between the climate and the established business base there are many reasons people live here (myself included), but if companies (i.e. Nissan) start leaving because of the many reasons NOT to live here (housing costs, traffic, pollution, horrid schools, even worse government policies and organization, etc.) then I can't say I'd blame them. As a resident of the West side of Los Angeles, I agree with everything you say. Housing costs especially are beyond reason. For example there are places in the West side of L.A. where small two bedroom one bath tract houses that were originally built for factory floor defense company workers, are now selling in the one million dollar range. It's insane!
#2297 of 2391 Re: Karl - [editor_karl] by splatsterhound Oct 21, 2005 (11:03 am)
Replying to: editor_karl (Oct 21, 2005 10:10 am) Anyway, I grew up in Denver and I continue to laugh at the "California or death" mentality of most residents here. The concept of another 49 states (many of which the residents - GASP - don't even really care about California) is foreign to them. "Everyone either lives here now or wants to someday" is what people actually think in this state. It's funny. I'm right with you, Karl. I really enjoyed living in California, but I enjoyed living elsewhere more (east coast, midwest). I found, however, Californians the most provincial people in the country -- and amazingly unknowledgeable about the rest of the country. And I wasn't wrong about real estate, was I? Starter homes -- tiny -- for $800,000! And, yup, most school districts are poor. No doubt, Calif. is living off its reputation from thirty to 60 years ago. Most newcomers were a bit shocked when they realized that LA wasn't like the TV shows...
#2298 of 2391 Re: Remote start isn't really an "innovation" though... [kevm14] by redmaxx Oct 21, 2005 (1:19 pm)
Replying to: kevm14 (Oct 20, 2005 12:09 pm) Um, why wouldn't it just rely on the automatic climate control to bring the interior temp to, say, 70°? Just maybe you're "abusing" or over-using the system, no? It does rely on the auto-climate system. When you remote start the car the climate system is put into remote-start mode and it reads the interior temp of the vehicle. If the temp is less than a set amount, it turns on the heat full-blast, thinking its winter. Over-using? No, I just want to keep the car cool some times when I go into a store. My suggestion is that they put an outside sensor somewhere other than right in front of the radiator so that it is not affected by the engine temp. Then they could have an accurate idea of what the driver wants the climate system to do. Replies to this message: kevm14 (Oct 25, 2005 5:42 am) redmaxx (Oct 27, 2005 8:56 am) kevm14 (Oct 27, 2005 11:13 am) and 1 more...
#2299 of 2391 Re: Contrarian viewpoint on some of these "engineering" firsts [editor_karl] by phillyone Oct 21, 2005 (2:08 pm)
Replying to: editor_karl (Oct 20, 2005 5:20 pm) excellent point about the 4WS on the GM trucks. A lot of new technology doesnt survive because it doesnt catch on or people dont want to pay for it. The reason ATTS failed is because most people probably never new the Prelude had this feature and it did little to help the sales of that car. Replies to this message: explorerx4 (Oct 21, 2005 3:41 pm) dieselone (Oct 21, 2005 3:45 pm) explorerx4 (Oct 21, 2005 4:39 pm) and 1 more... kevm14 (Oct 25, 2005 5:46 am) and 3 more... kevm14 (Oct 25, 2005 5:44 am)
#2300 of 2391 Re: Karl - [editor_karl] by extremebigdog Oct 21, 2005 (2:49 pm)
Replying to: editor_karl (Oct 21, 2005 10:10 am) Personally I love it in Santa Monica. Sure I spend a fortune to have a smallish two bedroom apartment but my life isn't about roaming the expansive corners of “fly-over” acreage my rent money could purchase. In fact, I don’t even spend ‘most’ of my waking hours at home. That being the case, I care far more about where I spend most of my time then about having a walk-in closet and three car garage. And I know, before any of the cracks come, its not that I would rather be bumper to bumper on the 405 freeway. Santa Monica is one of the very best designed ‘walking cities’ I have been to on this side of the pond. But back to the point that Nissan may move their design studio away from horribly expensive and small-minded California. Certainly there are many different kinds of people in every part of the world. But doesn’t it add something to Nissan to be very near, even in, the most culturally diverse place in the United States? How about to Edmunds.com? Granted there are a lot of great companies that do business in California, but I doubt very much that is the cause of Santa Monica’s (in particular) diversity. I would put it the other way, I think many California business successes are in fact because they benefit from the Californian mentality. If Nissan decides to skip it then they may miss out on that in the long run. Obviously Edmunds.com would lose most of its employees if it moved from California. Would you stay Karl? How about the effect that would have on being competitive in your marketplace, would any of those effects also transition to Nissan in the next 10 years? Replies to this message: splatsterhound (Oct 21, 2005 5:45 pm) editor_karl (Oct 22, 2005 8:11 am) splatsterhound (Oct 22, 2005 10:38 am) and 1 more... bigdaddycoats (Oct 22, 2005 10:55 am) xmf314 (Oct 22, 2005 11:23 am)
#2301 of 2391 Re: Contrarian viewpoint on some of these "engineering" firsts [phillyone] by explorerx4 Oct 21, 2005 (3:41 pm)
Replying to: phillyone (Oct 21, 2005 2:08 pm) if 4ws is something that is only beneficial 'at the limit', it isn't going to pay off. how many apporoach the limits of their vehicle intentionally? Replies to this message: dieselone (Oct 21, 2005 3:45 pm) explorerx4 (Oct 21, 2005 4:39 pm) dieselone (Oct 21, 2005 5:40 pm) kevm14 (Oct 25, 2005 5:46 am) imidazol97 (Oct 25, 2005 6:13 am) and 2 more...