KeriBlog

Cars, Security & a Peek into my Life

Another Reason I Love Jaguar

During the recent Automotive News Europe Congress in England, Jaguar Land Rover’s CEO Ralf Speth gave a keynote presentation during which Mr. Speth said something rare and refreshing…

… down with hybrids.

Specifically, he said:

“Customers are not impressed with it currently. Battery technology today is still too heavy, too expensive and the [power] density is too low,” he told Automotive News Europe following his keynote speech at the event. “As we learned at school, there’s this correlation between mass and energy and as long as this is not favorable, even if you recuperate, this is an issue.”

Source – Europe.AutoNews.com

Finally!  Been saying this for years – hybrids are a lateral move.

My column below states why; try to defeat my argument.

Can’t, too much logic.

(original post here – October 15, 2013)

 

 

Sun Protective Clothing for Driving

Got so burnt in early June – in a coupe too – that I realized I can no longer drive without special protective UV clothing.  So I investigated.

Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) rating – 15 is good, but 50+ is what you want. And turns out China is really into this idea of protective-driving-clothing.

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

Use the search term “summer driving clothing” and click on results from DHGate or AliExpress, two of China’s largest online retailers. Below are “arm mittens.”

I’m going to order the above hat, gloves and shawl, really.

(update: I now own the hat)

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Back to ‘Keri on Driving’ – Index

Blog tag = #NoSun 

(taken during the 2014 Mazda Adventure Rally)

 

My Pet Peeves on New Cars

I can’t find the logic behind the following features. Especially because a small something, or absence of something, can have a big negative affect on the driving experience.

Here’s my list of the little things that bug me the most. Tweet or email me yours!

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

To the automakers who have omitted a volume dial – no, the steering wheel volume button is not a reasonable replacement.

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That SOS button has its own post, here.

So does the chrome interior touches, here.

Back to ‘Keri on Driving’ – Index

 

 

More Road Etiquette, Please

I set out to investigate a trend of ticketing slow left lane drivers, but the story morphed into one about the road manners.

Or as Officer Stibbe corrects me, “no Keri, it’s about lack thereof.”

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

Last 3 paragraphs, Stibbe’s one-liner, I burst out laughing.

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You’ve met Officer Stibbe before, in the column – So you Got Pulled Over for Speeding

Back to ‘Keri on Driving’ – Index

 

 

The 2015 Jeep Experience in Moab, Utah

In straight-from-factory 2015 Cherokee’s, Jeep sent us off-roading on Hell’s Revenge, one of North America’s most difficult off-roading trails.

As far as press trips go, this one was very laid back. Which was why it felt fine to commandeer the hotel golf cart, and drive it into the presentation.

Off into Utah, which is very red and alien-ish.

The trail is 10.5 km and okay woah, I totally get Jeep now, it just climbs up walls?! Throttle, little more now and whoooosh up I go.

I was literally hanging weightless from my seatbelt, my new favourite thing.

Got to drive with Lorraine Sommerfeld and there were lots of laughs, “it’s happening.”

A veteran auto journalist, like, my 2.7 column years to her 13, and 2 weekly columns at that. Plus she’s 2014’s ‘Canadian Journalist of the Year’. Read her stuff here, she’s snort-out-loud-clever.

(Above and below photos: Costa Mouzouris)

Jeep goes up, Jeep goes down.

The Cherokee’s Trailhawk trim is how it can do this (the base model won’t.)

Trailhawk means it’s been modified at the factory for this terrain – skid pads, tuned suspension, front tow hooks, and a more angled fascia for a 30º approach.

It’s also equipped with Selec-Terrain Mode (choose sand, snow, more) but the key is Active Drive Lock, available only on this trim. It locks the rear differential in 4WD so you can zoom straight up.

All my best photos are over at the paper, since I was there for them.

I camped! Okay the tent was already set up and had a cot, but still.

Sleeping in a tent is like a sensory deprivation chamber eh; had to be woken up.

Woke up like this #NoFilter

Wheels up!

Utah is pretty – all you do is wave your phone around, and amazing photos come out.

My story published yesterday morning, read it on Autonet here.