Saw a paper-plated Lexus HS-250h yesterday. Based on the JDM Avensis platform like the Scion tC, this entry-luxury sedan is slightly larger than a Toyota Corolla, beating out the next nearest luxury competitor, the Civic-based Canadian-market-only Acura CSX. I don’t have any gripes with the design (it looks great for a sedan), or the technology (Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive is the benchmark), or the market segment (this has been empty since the Infinity G20 disappeared): It’s the labeling. The HS is a hybrid-only vehicle, hence the “H”. Does it really need the “h” after the 250 to drum it into out heads that it is a hybrid? If they intended to keep the little h to make it fall in line with all the other hybrid models nomenclature wise, they should have chosen a different series name.
(0)Archive for the 'SUAR' Category
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Saw the 2010 Toyota 4Runner today. I guess it is possible to make it uglier than the previous generation! It’s as unatractively boxy as the latest Honda Pilot. They have carried through the very Korean-car-looking nameplate over the rear number plate like the new Highlander, and borrowed the “crab-eye” taillights from the FJ Cruiser. This example was without a rear wiper – I guess that’s where they are cutting costs on the base models now, just like on the base Matrix.
(0)Finally saw a Hyundai Genesis sedan last week. Up until now, I’ve only seen it on Korean dramas and in print ads. Hyundai is trying to place this car amongst similarly sized upmarket rear-wheel-drive premium sedans, but after seeing a silver example of this vehicle, my impression is, “it’s big, but it’s still a Hyundai”. The paint finish is not at the premium level, nor is the chrome trim. Design-wise, there are a lot of unresolved lines and curves like where the rear windscreen meets the adjacent metal, and the edge of the boot lid and the associated panel lines. I’m still waiting for the Federal Government to slap them with dumping for selling this car for $25K USD less than what it costs on the KDM.
(0)Nice to see all the krappy drivers back in Hawaii. On my way home on the day I got back from Japan, I was in the center-right lane of Alapai by the police station turning onto Beretania when a maroon Camry went speeding by in the center-left lane and went straight up Alapai! Today, I was going down Lagoon in the second left lane to turn left onto Nimitz. There was a big-ass Lexus tailgating me all the way down from Tripler, constantly poking her nose out into the turning lane so she could try seeing around me. At the intersection when I got into the right of the two turning lanes, she went into the far left lane. As I turned left onto Nimitz, I could see her flash by in back of me going straight down Lagoon Drive diagonally across two lanes! Good job poeple!
(0)Guess this is a case for “Do as I say, not as I do.” Driving along a compact “SUV” with the Eh, Slow Down, this Ain’t the Mainland bumper sticker doing 65 in a 45 mph zone. Perhaps not entirely fair since no one actually does 45 on that stretch of ewa bound H-1 before University, but still excessive as it darted between lanes.
(0)Cooped up at home working on artwork for an upcoming show, I was subjected to two bad “straight to TV” films shot at Kualoa Ranch on SyFy – Heatstroke with Danica McKellar and Aztec Rex (aka Tyrannosaurus Azteca) with Dichen Lachman. Both were bad digital dinosaur/monster films, the latter having the most laughable scenic props, including an Aztec sacrificial altar obviously made of plywood with rocks painted on!
(0)Sheeze, the new Satan box just died on me! Usually leave it on, this morning decided to power down before going to work. Get home today & it won’t power on. Damn it, cutting into my time to go throu Oki fest photo contest entries!
On pos note, thanks Scat for stopping by & giving me a hand pulling the transmission, that was pretty easy.
The State has been using a tractor with a side-mounted arm with a PTO or hydraulically driven cutter to “groom” the sides of the Like Like Highway instead of using the normal compliment of workers with appropriate cutting tools. The result is a section from ground level up to about 3 meters that is covered with jagged, broken branches and splintered knee-high stumps. Anyone unlucky enough to encounter these would be instantly impaled. Good job!
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