KeriBlog

Cars, Security & a Peek into my Life

Spent Last Week in Miami with Honda

Honda invited my blog to South Beach to test their all-new HR-V.

Kind’ve a big deal really, since that’s the same invite as the newspapers and magazines get #proud

Here’s your first look at their all-new vehicle: 
the 2016 Honda HR-V Compact Crossover

Ran into a chunk of Team Autonet down there.

Top right middle is Frederic Mercier, the French side of the newspaper’s newest addition.

And bottom left is Eddie; if you prefer to read car reviews in Mandarin, read his.

Close as I ever make it to the beach #HideFromTheSunAlways

Here’s a good shot of the HR-V until I get a proper post built about it.

See those long vents in the dash on the right?  Slick eh.  As is the open cavern beneath the gear shift where all ports are, that’s good ergonomics.

My driving partner was my editor at the paper, Dan Barron.

You’ve met before, and any clever headline of anything I write is all him.

When you drive an HR-V, this is what happens to your head.

The driving impressions of this vehicle are embargoed until end of April, so until then, I’ll roll out more about the car, then tell you how it handled after that.

(what’s an embargo? Here)

Short review – this car is going to crush it.

Honda managed to design seemingly-opposite features and functions into one vehicle, and I predict this HR-V will take over the compact crossover segment when it arrives this summer 2015.

Now a plane photo so if you’re scrolling, you know I was out-of-country.

 

 

OBDII Ports are About to Become All the Rage

With this year’s arrival of the connected car, you’ll soon start to see and hear all about OBDII… On-board Diagnostics, II is pronounced “two.”

OBDII – the mandatory port, found within 2 feet of all steering wheels, that’s used to access a vehicle’s computers.

Or, plug an internet-enabled device into this port, now you’re driving a “connected car.”

For more details here’s a blog post about them – OBDII Ports

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

It’s the mandatory-since-1996 port used to access the computer in your car, and we’re about to hear a lot more about it as internet-enabled devices start to flood the market and allow us to make any car a connected one.

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Also the 7th paragraph, which I filed under Predictions – we will all soon start locking our OBDII ports.

Back to ‘Keri on Driving’ – Index

 

 

Keeping an Exotic Clean at an Auto Show

Speaking with Dale Courville, the gentleman behind keeping both Ferrari and Maserati polished at this year’s Canadian Auto Show.

Those aren’t dealer cars but shipped direct from the factory,
run through a pop-up wash, then everything is pre-stolen.

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

The ending – where he uses his access to turn the bullied kid into the class VIP.

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If you’re in the Southern Ontario region, Dale also has a mobile car wash, and does a ton of the exotics you see around Toronto, as in, your Civic will be in good hands. Here’s his site – PrecisionDetail.ca

And if you’re unfamiliar with going to a detailer, here’s an old column of what to do and say.

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Back to ‘Keri on Driving’ – Index

 

 

The 2015 Canadian International Auto Show #CIAS

It smells so good in there – new car smell turned up to 11.

First stop was the exotic room downstairs.

I was there hours before the rest of the media ha, but didn’t Tweet as much so not to bring heat to my interview subject.

Pfaff always brings the big badges.

Top is a Pagani (more about this car here, including me inside the thing), and bottom is my dream supercar – a Mclaren.

Because most cars make their debuts at either the LA or Detroit show, most of us auto journalists have seen all these cars already.

See my Top 5 list for the paper – Top 5 Favourite Things at the LA Auto Show.

Stopped by for the Acura NSX reveal. Why doesn’t everyone use this silver fabric? So dramatic.

Acura NSX Reveal

First time I saw this car in real life was Detroit a couple years ago, more about that here.

Best ad spec of the show goes to Honda’s selfie stick.

Which I used to capture the best part of any show – the people.

Here’s the website – Autoshow.ca – $23/adult, $7/kid, $45/family – February 13 – 22, 2015.