My New Ride

All right y'all, here's the long-awaited update of how life is in Georgia. As you probably know, I flew down here last Saturday (Jan. 28) and have had a week or so to get settled in. I'm already getting ready to head off to Utah for a week for some business-related travel. Anyhoo, I wanted to provide somewhat of a photo journal of my travels through the remainder of my rotations. So,with no further ado here's my current (rental) ride:

My current ride: 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser

The folks at Enterprise gave me a choice of an Impala, Taurus, Saturn, PT Cruiser, or HHR. I figured I'd give the PT Cruiser a try. It's nice having a little more cargo space than I'm used to, but I don't think this car was made for tall people. I'm 6'1" and even with the driver's seat down as far as it goes I often find myself hunching down so the roofline doesn't obstruct my line of sight (especially when I'm waiting at a stoplight).

Cargo space: More than my Civic - no big surprise there

I like the dash and gauges, though. And I really like having all of the little compartments in the center console to stash my stuff in (as in iPod, coin purse, sunglasses, etc.)

Dash and gauges

And of course, what everyone was waiting for, the massive poweplant that pushes this rig down the road. Quoting the Chrysler website:

"PT Cruiser's standard 2.4-liter 16-valve 4-cylinder DOHC power plant offers 150 horsepower at 5,100 rpm and 165 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm. You'll appreciate those numbers when you step on the gas pedal to climb a hill or pass another vehicle."

Yeah, I guess I missed the memo on that one. I'd really appreciate having slightly larger numbers when I mash the pedal. I think they left out some of the fine print. So, I took the liberty of editing that last sentence:

"You'll appreciate those numbers when you step on the gas pedal to climb a hill or pass another vehicle (but only if you don't mind having a car with no cajones whatsoever)."

A different word initially came to mind, but I thought "cajones" might be more acceptable, especially since my mom will be reading this. Well, sorry to keep you waiting, here's the powerplant with those great numbers:

2.4 Liter 4-cylinder: Standard equipment for PT Cruiser

At least I think there's an engine in there somewhere under all of that plastic. At least there better be -- according to the in-dash mpg calculation I'm getting an average 21 miles per gallon. With a 4-cylinder!? The PT Cruiser is doing a good job of getting me from point A to point B, but it does have a few shortcomings (poor acceleration, poor gas mileage, poor visibility for people other than pygmies). I think that at the end of this month I may trade it in for something else, then I can bore you all with another car review. Oh well, as far as I'm concerned, the folks at DaimlerChrysler will redeem themselves of any wrongdoings ever done if they would just put the Challenger concept car into production:

My next rental (I wish): 2006 Dodge Challenger Concept Car