Next week I am taking a road trip to California. For three days. It’s 17 hours each direction. Why, you might ask? I have found a pair of actual BlueShark DDR Pads – widely recognized as the best “commercially available” pads (though most people use that phrase loosely as they have been impossible to get for years, with huge waiting lists).
I’m actually kinda looking forward to the trip though, it will be a nice chance to do some driving in my car (which I am still loving), see some of the country, and hang out with my “partner in unemployment”, Forrest.
Of course, planning for a road trip which is likely to be *at least* 36 hours of driving means I have quite a bit of preparation to do. Gotta get my now-linux-friendly iPhone loaded up with music. Given my tastes, I am tempted to toss the entire collected works of Mozart, Vivaldi, and Bach on it (I have these sets, we are talking hundreds of CDs to rip here). Given Forrest’s tastes, I think I would do better to throw together a DDR playlist, but at 2 minutes a song, I’m going to need a lot of music. I’m sure we will listen to a little of both.
Another thing I had to do in preparation was get my oil changed. I’ve had the car for almost 6 months, and gone just about 5000 miles, and the car “told me” it was time just recently. It was nice bringing it back to my Acura dealer and getting the free oil change, along with a complete detail job (they gave me a coupon for it when I bought the car). The detail was great, the car came back all shiny and new looking, and I felt my “car pride” swell. I should treat myself to this at least once every 6 months, I think, because it’s a pretty cheap way to feel like you just bought a new car all over again while keeping the car you already know and love. This is how the dealer beats Jiffy-Lube. Getting the car back in “shiny awesome mode” instead of “paper carpet protector with grease footprints” mode.
They gave me a loaner car to use while they did the detail, since the detail takes a few hours at least. So, I got to drive around a 2009 Acura TL for a bit. Some things really impressed me, and other things not so much. Having driven my fair share of BMWs (my parents have owned several) the overall impression I got on the “changelog” from 2008 Acura TL to 2009 Acura TL is “make everything more BMW-like”. This was good and bad.
The first things I noticed were “keyless ignition” (which is hard to miss), and it had a thicker steering wheel, and tacitly felt a lot like the BMW did. The navigation system screen was sharper, and the maps more detailed and nicer looking. Also, it had done away with the touch screen in favor of a “big round nobby doodad”, which you press in to hit “enter” and turn clockwise/counterclockwise to select things on the screen, much like the BMW’s “I-wheel” or whatever they call it. I must admit I never liked the I-wheel, though I’m sure it’s just because it takes some getting used to. A friend pointed out that one big advantage of BMW’s implementation is it is down on the console by the stick shift, so you don’t have to lean over as much and divert your attention – but the Acura TL version does not have this feature, it is still in the middle of the dashboard. Also, the buttons seemed to be arranged less “grid-like” and more “clump of buttons around the nobby doodad”, which is strange at first but probably easier to feel out while driving, once you are used to it. Of course, all the voice functionality is the same.
I didn’t notice the increased size, but my friends all seemed to, either it is a little bit bigger, or better laid out so it feels roomier. Finally, it undoubtedly has a very slick “look and feel”, and the “front grill that looks like you whacked it with a shovel and it got stuck” not withstanding, it looks like a very sexy vehicle. I was also surprised that it *didn’t* seem particularly more powerful than it’s 2008 counterpart, despite having several more horsepower. Perhaps this is due to being a little heavier, or maybe it was just too little for me to notice. Either way, I am feeling a lot better about my choice to go with the 2008. All-wheel drive would have been nice, but all things considered, I am very happy with my 2008 Acura TL. I doubt many people could drive the new year model for the car they just bought and not feel at least a little regret for not having waited for all the nifty new bells and whistles, but I can honestly say knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have done much differently.