At Test Fest, we basically jump from one car to the next, and drive them on a prescribed route back-to-back within the categories, to make sure we compare them as fairly as possible.
Which means each of us gets into a car after one of our colleagues has driven it.
And two things are really bugging me this week.
First, virtually every car I get into has its side-view mirrors adjusted incorrectly.
Regular readers know the drill; for newbies, you crank them WAY farther out than they taught you in high school driver's ed.
"See the side of your own car," you were told. Why? You know perfectly well where the side of your own car is - IT'S RIGHT THERE WHERE YOU FOUND IT THIS MORNING.
It hasn't moved. No need to keep track of it.
It's what's BESIDE the side of your own car in the adjacent lane that you need to watch out for.
Anyway, apparently most of Canada's car 'experts' don't know this simple rule.
BTW, it isn't just me any more. The Society of Automotive Engineers did a paper a few years ago proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is how to do it.
Second, and this applies to their personal cars as well as their test cars - it's
stunning how many of these 'experts' don't know enough to back into parking spots. This is best because you can see if anything is in the spot as you drive past it to prepare to reverse into it; it is much more dangerous to back out of the spot when you don't - often cannot - see what's coming behind you.
C'mon, AJAC members - get it together.
