East-West Brother's Garage Update

It has definitely been a long time since we last posted anything. With life generally catching up to both East Brother and myself, we lost touch with this blog and let it slowly wither away. Now that most of the country is in lock down due to COVID-19, there is definitely one thing that we all have much more of these days: time. Even though the automotive industry is at more or less of a standstill, there is still lots to report on, whether it's general industry news, or our own automotive adventures (that happened before California's shelter-in-place order).

When we last left you, we reported that we had parted ways with our 2016 Honda Accord Touring long term vehicle and some new changes were coming to our long term and personal garages. Since then, our long term fleet, which was technically empty when our last post went up, has seen the addition of a 2019 Infiniti QX50. We're definitely not big fans of any sort of CUV, but the decision was really out of our hand. Reviews for this vehicle were in the works prior to our leave of absence, but both East Brother and I struggled to find much good to say about the vehicle. With life happening, the reviews were shelved, but it still might be good to share some insight on this...fairly mediocre and somewhat overpriced re-badged Nissan.

Another addition, which is actually a personal addition to my own garage, comes in the form of a 2020 Honda Civic Si Sedan. This was actually a somewhat recent addition, purchased in December of 2019. My decision behind obtaining the Civic came because my S2000, which was being daily driven again after parting with the Accord, was starting to slowly lose its value as I inched closer and closer to 100,000 miles on the odometer. Also, maintenance on the vehicle was starting to become cumbersome, especially since I started doing much of the maintenance myself. I found myself having to replace some critical parts, which became longer than anticipated projects. Rather than running the risk of encountering a project that would take me multiple days to complete and being stuck without a vehicle, I decided to get a daily driver that would be fun and reliable while allowing me to take as much time as I needed to work on the S2000.

As for East Brother, his garage has not changed since we last posted. The Chevrolet Bolt and BMW K1200S are definitely still there. Will there be any changes in the near future? If there are, I'll let him write something up.

So that leaves the final question: are we officially back? Only time will tell. I may post sporadically throughout the next couple of months as time allows, but who knows? With the extreme uncertainty in our world right now, it's hard to say what's going to happen next...

Looking Back at 2017

2017 has admittedly been a somewhat slow year for us. With lots going on in our personal lives, it's been hard to post regularly. Still, 2017 was still an eventful year for us in automotive terms. As East Brother is currently on vacation, I will share some of my favorite automotive moments from 2017.

Cadillac Truth + Dare 

Earlier this year, East Brother and I attended an event put on by Cadillac called the "Truth + Dare" driving event. It was an event put on to highlight some of the technological and performance aspects of Cadillac's newest crop of vehicles. This wasn't something we covered here on the blog, but ended up on our own personal Instagram accounts instead. Still, despite the coverage, we had a blast at the event. The highlights being getting to floor both an ATS-V and CTS-V down a 1/8 mile course, and getting to flog some cars through a small autocross course.

Instagram

Speaking of Instagram, we finally have an Instagram account! I know, it only took us a few years to hop on the bandwagon. You can find us @eastwestbrothers.

Alfa Romeo Giulia

2017 marked the year Alfa Romeo was serious about returning to the mainstream American auto market with the Giulia mid-size luxury/sport sedan. East Brother and I managed to snag a test drive a few months after it hit the market at our local Rusnak Fiat/Maserati/Alfa Romeo dealership. While we both walked away impressed with how the car drove and looked, the interior was well below our expectations of a car costing north of $50k (as equipped). Of course, there was also Alfa's "legendary" reliability issues constantly nagging us in the back of our minds. 

A few months ago though, I had noticed that the dealer had vanished. Considering that at the time of testing, the Giulia was probably only doing about 2,000 units per month, it was really no surprise that Rusnak decided to abandon ship. It's a fantastic car, and I really want to like it and recommend it to people, but the reliability issue and company longevity issue really makes it hard to like and recommend. Damn shame too because it's such a fantastic driving and gorgeous looking car. 

East Brother's Chevy Bolt

East Brother acquired a new vehicle this year with a new Chevy Bolt EV. I was never a huge fan of his Ford Focus EV, but the Bolt, despite looking funny, impressed me with its performance and level of technology. Funny how we now have two cars in our fleet in a shade of  "pull me over" blue. I think we've agreed to stick with the theme and possibly get our next car in a similar shade of blue.

Vehicle Retirements

2017 also marks the year we sent two of our long term cars back to their respective manufacturers: our 2014 Acura RLX and 2014 Ford Focus EV. You can read about our respective final thoughts on both of these vehicles here and here.   

I hope that 2018 proves to be an even more exciting year for us. 

Stay safe everyone, and Happy New Year!

Editorial: 2016 Detroit Auto Show illustrates the future direction of American motoring

Before it happened, this year's Detroit Auto Show was thought of by many as a real dud. Many of the usual auto journo channels had largely written the show off due to a lack of major announcements and those few announcements that were anticipated were vehicles that nobody thought would actually catch anyone's attention. Yet, this year's Detroit Auto Show ended up revealing a surprising amount of technology that seems to foreshadow the future direction of the automobile in America. There were a few alternative fuel vehicle announcements, a few autonomous vehicle reveals, and a whole lot of focus on turbos and horsepower.


Key among the alternative fuel vehicle reveals was the production version of the Chevy Bolt, the first expected electric vehicle with a 200-mile range, the Bolt is a 180-degree turnaround from the company that killed off the first commercially viable EV that it itself produced. Using battery technology from LG Chem, the 60-kWh battery pack fills the floor and works in conjunction with a set of electric motors to deliver solid performance in a passenger friendly package. It is unfortunate that Chevy has chosen to design the vehicle as a tall CUV style small car. The proportions are almost Seuss-ian in nature, appearing somewhat comically tall with a shortish wheel-base and wheels that look too tiny for the height. The design is trying too hard to hide its odd proportions by using tapering side windows and lots of surfacing and character lines along its flanks. Many may see the appeal of a tallish small car, but as an EV, the increased frontal area is a serious sacrifice of aerodynamics.

Industry news: Chevy Bolt presages expansion of EV market

This week has been insanely full of automotive news with many major announcements taking place at Cobo Hall during the Detroit Auto Show. Marking the official start of the auto show season for 2015, many manufacturers have used the opportunity to announce seriously bad ass performance vehicles, including the new Ford GT and the long-awaited Acura NSX. However, the most important new vehicle announced during the show is not either of those cars, but rather a much smaller and slower vehicle. Yes, the real showstopper at this year's Detroit Auto Show is the announcement by GM that they are going to build a battery-powered EV with a 200 mile range.

Called the Chevy Bolt Concept, this new vehicle is the first announced competitor to the much anticipated Tesla Model 3. Intended as an affordable EV for the masses, GM has set the bar to deliver a purely electric vehicle with a 200 mile range that will cost less than $30,000 after federal incentives. In states where additional credits or incentives are available, the Bolt would end up costing even less.

The concept vehicle itself has a footprint similar to the Honda Fit or Kia Soul, but with the upright profile of a people mover. This likely means excellent interior space, but may present a challenge to American car buyers who seem less interested in space efficiency. Speaking of that interior, GM saw fit to include a 10-inch touchscreen center console information display wrapped in a fantastic looking interior that most likely will not see production. Outside, the cues from GM's newly announced 2016 Chevrolet Volt are hard to miss and that massive slab of glass serving as the roof panel gives the car a more premium feel, even though that is a feature also unlikely to make it onto the production vehicle. Still the upright greenhouse should provide excellent visibility and the promise of 200 miles of range definitely stands out.

It is unclear when a vehicle like the Bolt would actually make it into production. Tesla's Model 3 is supposedly due out in 2017 and there are rumblings that the next generation Nissan Leaf will see also be targeting a 200 mile driving range on a single charge. The biggest hurdle right now still seems to be charge capacity of the batteries. A car with a 200 mile range will require a large battery pack (a la Tesla Model S) and that does not seem to match with the smaller mid-size or compact car that automakers seem to be producing. As the owner of a first generation production EV, it will be interesting to this segment develop and grow. My Focus EV will be coming off lease towards the end of 2017 and I am looking forward to having options for replacing it with a proper long-range capable EV, especially living in a state where EVs are increasingly popular and the infrastructure to charge them continues to spread rapidly.