Obviously, a lot of what I do on this blog is review cars from a family friendly perspective. All you have to do is click on the Family Friendly Car Reviews page on the upper left side of this page to be able to see the dozens of different vehicles our family has now reviewed.
What happened over Easter weekend was a little bit different though…
You and Papa got to test drive his the 1980 MG MGB convertible he is fixing up for his Daddy!
He installed your car seat in the only passenger seat the 1980 MG MGB convertible has and you guys drove down to the end of the road and back. This marks your first time in a convertible and your first time in the front seat of a car.
Granted, I doubt you two even reached 30 miles per hour, and it was basically on a closed course, but still… that’s a big deal for you!
This weekend was basically Papa’s official debut of his 1980 MG MGB convertible. He’s been spending a lot of time working on it; getting it into drivable condition.
You took your “new” stuffed animal who you named “Killer Whaley” with you. I got him back in 1987 when our family visited MarineLand on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls during my only visit to see where Nonna grew up; in Buffalo, New York.
After Papa gave you, then your cousin Calla, a ride in the 1980 MG MGB convertible, we had planned to follow everyone else in the Toyota Highlander down to the park. However, right as we were all about to leave, Papa realized one of the tires had lost a lot of air.
So it look like you were pretty lucky to get to cruise in it… I didn’t even get to myself!
I had wanted to spotlight the new Sienna’s “Easy Speak” feature, by loading up my extended family in the vehicle and taking a road trip to Birmingham for my son Jack to visit his best friend Sophie; as they recently met up at Opry Mills Mall to meet Santa, while we reviewed the Lexus: Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend).
Turns out, all the Siennas were booked for Christmas. So instead, I was given a 2014 LX 570 to review instead.
Imagine how nice and wonderful a Toyota Land Cruiser is. Well, this is the Lexus version… the $89,805.00 version, to be exact.
To say it was a privilege to be trusted with a $90K vehicle for a week; that would be an understatement.
Another change of plans occurred when Sophie’s parents had to work the day after Christmas, the day we were supposed to meet her family in Birmingham.
So since those plans got cancelled, I made sure our family still got to take advantage of the Lexus LX 570’s awesomeness, as you can see featured in the stories below:
Also, I made a walk-around video so you can get 360 degree perspective of the vehicle:
This is an 8 passenger vehicle with 383 horsepower, 403 lb.-ft torque, built-in DVD players, and even a built-in cooler in between the front 2 seats, which runs off the vehicle’s A/C.
Well, this weekend you were quite excited when Mommy and I learned that Abbi’s birthday actually had a costume theme.
While I tried to convince you just to wear your Ninja Turtle hoodie and be Donatello, you insisted on wearing your costume from Madison.
The logistical problem with that is that we had already boxed it up in our storage unit, as our new house should be ready by the end of next month.
Mommy was up for the challenge so we loaded up in the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe we have been driving this week, as we await the news of whether or not my own car will be totaled thanks the albino deer that hit me on the way home the night before Thanksgiving.
Something really cool about every Hyundai I have reviewed is that basically the entire ceiling is a moon roof. You love that! You love being able to see so much of what’s going on.
Mommy’s favorite feature of the Santa Fe is the heated seats, especially this time of year.
My favorite thing about it is the size. Now more than ever, I like a good strong SUV that help protect me in the event I get hit by another albino deer. Hyundais are just nice vehicles anyway, as I’ve been quick to mention in my other reviews of them.
Speaking of safety, I also really appreciate the Blind Spot Detection System, which alerts me anytime another vehicle or object is getting dangerously close to me. (After having recently been hit by a deer, this is something I’m quite sensitive to this days!)
And not to mention, the back-up camera saves me a lot of worries too. (See below the relevant song that happened to come up on XM radio this week while we were driving the Santa Fe.)
Well, thanks to Mommy’s supreme packing skills, she was able to pull up the door of our storage unit, then immediately open up the box with your super hero costume! You then curiously asked about your monster trucks- she found that box too.
Before Abbi’s birthday party, we decided we should stop by our new house which is still under construction and see the latest updates.
Afterwards, as part of our tradition, we stopped by the model home so you could say hi to the in-house real estate agent. You had hidden a piece of foam (which you refer to as your “pizza parlor”) in the bushes and decided to crawl under the Christmas tree as a gift… because that’s normal for 4 year-old boys, I assume. (See top picture, again.)
When we arrived to Abbi’s party, we were greeted by hens, which we fed some dried worms to.
Once we walked inside the house, I was glad we had found your costume beforehand, because I realized your Ninja Turtle hoodie wasn’t quite enough for this costume-themed party.
You kept your eye mask on the entire drive and at least the first 30 minutes of the party.
And of course, your friend Madison (who gave you the costume) was so happy to see you wearing it. (Pictured below.)
You were lucky: you basically got to have an all-you-can-eat sweets buffet while we were there.
So we decided having dinner at Whole Foods would be a good way to offset that, but first we stopped to see some Christmas lights along the way.
Needless to say, we had a really fun week in the Santa Fe. And you especially had fun, being a super hero the whole time!
Love,
Daddy
2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Standard Features:
5 year/60,000 mile New Vehicle Warranty
10 year/100,000 mile Powertrain Warranty
7 year/Unlimited mile and Perforation Warranty
5 year/Unlimited mile Roadside Assistance
Advanced Safety Technology:
Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) with Traction Control
ABS with Electronic Brake Force Distribution & Brake Assist
A few weeks ago in preparation for my son’s upcoming 4th birthday, I requested to review “something special” for him. Therefore, a 2014 Scion FR-S was delivered to my home for me to review the week of his birthday.
I explained to my son, “This is Lightning McQueen.”
It really does look like the character from Disney’s Cars, doesn’t it?
Obviously, this is a very sporty, sharp looking car. There is no denying that.
And to make sure I got the full experience on this sports car, I asked for the manual transmission.
Let’s talk about that…
I’ve driven a stick shift since I was 15 and the Reverse gear has always been the bottom right section.
Not with the Scion FR-S, which is also known as the Subaru BRZ and/or the Toyota 86, depending on which part of the world you are in; more on that in a minute…
It actually required some research to figure out how to use this apparently European style of a gear shifter. I noticed there was a lack of information on the Internet and even YouTube on how to shift the gears.
The main problem I was having was simply getting the car into Reverse.
Here’s the trick, as demonstrated in the video I made for you:
You have to pull up on the “ring” of the shifter before it will allow you to move the shifter left into the Reverse gear.
Once you move the shifter into 1st Gear from there, you will probably feel a slight vibration, sort of like a “triple click” so that you know you’re in 1st gear, not 3rd.
That’s something else that may take some getting used to: the gears are not so much in the tradition squared “U” formation. They are more of a “V”; very tight.
Again, this all takes some getting used to. It might literally require driving around the block a time or two, literally.
I suppose that’s sort of the qualifier for the manual transmission version of the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86:
You have to be pretty confident in your abilities to drive a stick shift to enjoy it. I feel this car is designed for that corner of the market that is still passionate about driving a stick. After all, if you’re like me, you probably see the ability of driving a stick shift as a lost art.
This car is not for most people, which is probably why you don’t see an abundance of them at Toyota/Scion dealerships. Chances are, if you’ve made it this far in to my review, you’re part of that demographic that the Scion FR-S is intended for.
I am 5’9” and 143 pounds. Sitting back in the seat, the top of my head was against the back windshield. Sitting straight up, my head cleared the ceiling by a half an inch.
As long as my knees weren’t together, leg room wasn’t an issue. I sort of have to straddle the front passenger seat; which was not pushed fully back; only about half the way.
And here’s a video I made on on that too:
A child will easily fit back there, given that your wife is okay with it…
Adults my size or smaller shouldn’t have too much of an issue for shorter trips. Granted, I don’t think anyone is expecting a “road trip worthy” back seat from the Scion FR-S.
After all, it’s a 2 door sports car. However, it does indeed have 4 seats and 4 seatbelts should the occasion arise.
Lastly, I want to point out the obscure fact that the motor for the Scion FR-S is made by both Toyota and Subaru!
If you’re familiar at all with Scion, you know they are the sportier, younger sister of Toyota.
So I wasn’t surprised to see a Toyota engine in it, but I definitely was surprised to see the Subaru name. Check out my video on that now:
Apparently, overseas, Toyota and Subaru team up for special projects; unlike here in America, where it appears those two companies are competitors.
Notice the “86” emblem on the sides of the car. I suppose that’s a sort of “Easter Egg” that points to the fact that outside of America, this vehicle would be a Toyota 86, or a Subaru BRZ.
As you can see from the dashboard display, I was averaging over 28 miles a gallon in this $25,000 sports car.
I get a free tank of gas with each car I review, and sadly, I didn’t even get through the first quarter tank. I could have easily spent another week driving this one!
At least my brother-in-law and I got a chance to take it out for a spin down Broadway in Nashville late Saturday night.
I’m all for answering any questions you have about the Scion FR-S. I really do feel there’s a lack of information on the Internet about this car, so I’m hoping to change that.
Today, right as I was leaving for my lunch break, a coworker informed me that a car had just driven through the front wall of the Chuck E. Cheese a few blocks away from our office in Cool Springs; the business borough of Franklin, TN- about 20 miles south of Nashville.
As a blogger, I make a point to carry my camera with me wherever I go. By the time I got to the seen just a few minutes later, the vehicle had already been removed from the building.
News crew was wrapping up some stock footage for the story. In fact, the cameraman handed me his phone with the story pulled up:
To my surprise no one asked me to leave as I took pictures of the aftermath and wreckage of the Chuck E. Cheese building.
As you can see, that’s a pretty big hole.
I don’t understand how the vehicle gained enough speed to run over the curb, drive through the hedges, then crush right through the brick wall and windows.
It was right there in the parking lot, and that part of it was very small.
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 