A little humor.
So while I was in Hawaii I had a rental car (well two actually but can't compare a Hybrid fusion with the SFS).
Anyway, I used Hertz at the Kona airport on the big island and it said "santa fe sport or similar".
Obviously I was rooting for the SFS since that way I would know my way around the vehicle.
Instead I got a Chevy Equinox (LOL). Oh the humanity!
I don't know the model year, or the trim level. It was FWD and I'm guessing the 4 cylinder version due to the excellent gas mileage.
Now, having owned a 2005 Equinox (POS), that was fairly comfortable to drive (just not a very reliable vehicle in terms of parts and stuff), it wasn't that much of a shock.
A few things:
1) Oh how I miss my surround view camera.
2) The electronic parking break on the Equinox actually works. Yes, it engages fully so there's NO movement at all when you lift the foot off the brake and there's no "locking" of the shifter knob either. Although its release mechanism was a bit funky (IMO). It doesn't disengage when you press on the brake pedal. But rather disengages when you give it gas. But you have to give it more than a "light" tap, so there's a bit of a "jerking" sensation. Or you manually release it with the button thingy.
3) The vehicle seemed remarkably quiet. Even more quiet than the SFS. However, I did not have my phone doing the sound meter testing, and even if I did, the road conditions over there are nothing like here in New York. There's no frost heave grooves cut into the road every 3-4 car lengths and no potholes to dodge or drive over and hear the lovely "cachunk" as your suspension gets beat up.
4) Seemed to have some pretty good pickup considering a 4 cylinder. Better than the 4 cylinder Equinox I had rented over in Denver a few years back, IMO. (and they do have steep grades in Hawaii as well). I was quite impressed.
5) Gas mileage. Wow, pretty good. It claims I drove like 220 miles and needed 7.5 gallons of gas. And that's doing lots of 40 mph driving (you can't really do a lot of 55-65 mph driving over there due to the terrain and whatnot).
Not saying that I'm going to trade my SFS in or get a new car any time soon, just that I was a bit shocked at how "nice" it was. Again, have no idea on the model year, trim level or option packages. It did have rearview camera thingy and the chevy my link (I think that's what they call it). Oh, and the annoying "look in the rear seat to make sure you didn't leave anything back there". I understand the reasoning behind it, but I can see it quickly becoming "tuned out".
So while I was in Hawaii I had a rental car (well two actually but can't compare a Hybrid fusion with the SFS).
Anyway, I used Hertz at the Kona airport on the big island and it said "santa fe sport or similar".
Obviously I was rooting for the SFS since that way I would know my way around the vehicle.
Instead I got a Chevy Equinox (LOL). Oh the humanity!
I don't know the model year, or the trim level. It was FWD and I'm guessing the 4 cylinder version due to the excellent gas mileage.
Now, having owned a 2005 Equinox (POS), that was fairly comfortable to drive (just not a very reliable vehicle in terms of parts and stuff), it wasn't that much of a shock.
A few things:
1) Oh how I miss my surround view camera.
2) The electronic parking break on the Equinox actually works. Yes, it engages fully so there's NO movement at all when you lift the foot off the brake and there's no "locking" of the shifter knob either. Although its release mechanism was a bit funky (IMO). It doesn't disengage when you press on the brake pedal. But rather disengages when you give it gas. But you have to give it more than a "light" tap, so there's a bit of a "jerking" sensation. Or you manually release it with the button thingy.
3) The vehicle seemed remarkably quiet. Even more quiet than the SFS. However, I did not have my phone doing the sound meter testing, and even if I did, the road conditions over there are nothing like here in New York. There's no frost heave grooves cut into the road every 3-4 car lengths and no potholes to dodge or drive over and hear the lovely "cachunk" as your suspension gets beat up.
4) Seemed to have some pretty good pickup considering a 4 cylinder. Better than the 4 cylinder Equinox I had rented over in Denver a few years back, IMO. (and they do have steep grades in Hawaii as well). I was quite impressed.
5) Gas mileage. Wow, pretty good. It claims I drove like 220 miles and needed 7.5 gallons of gas. And that's doing lots of 40 mph driving (you can't really do a lot of 55-65 mph driving over there due to the terrain and whatnot).
Not saying that I'm going to trade my SFS in or get a new car any time soon, just that I was a bit shocked at how "nice" it was. Again, have no idea on the model year, trim level or option packages. It did have rearview camera thingy and the chevy my link (I think that's what they call it). Oh, and the annoying "look in the rear seat to make sure you didn't leave anything back there". I understand the reasoning behind it, but I can see it quickly becoming "tuned out".