Jim Kenzie's The Driver's Seat

AJAC Test Fest 2014 - So Much Fossil Fuel to Burn, So Little Time

All last week I was testing cars.

So what else is new? I test cars all the time.

But last week was the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) Car/Utility Vehicle of the Year Test Fest, where we bring all the new cars, trucks, SUVs and Crossovers to one location so journalists from across the country can evaluate them in order to choose the best new vehicles in each of several categories, and the overall Car and Utility Vehicle of the Year.

We've been doing this for three decades, and to our knowledge, there is still no other program anywhere in the world that is so comprehensive, where such a broad range of journos - over 100 this year, our most ever - can drive so many vehicles back to back, on the same roads, under the same conditions, for a proper apples-to-apples comparison.

That 'one location' was slightly different this year. For several years now, we've been at the Niagara Regional Airport near Niagara on the Lake. For reasons about which I am not 100% certain, we shifted down the road a little to The Legends of Niagara Golf Course, which provided ample space for all these vehicles, and access to a number of local roads to try them out.

The lack of a true high-performance track was a bit of an issue; a complex slalom course was set up to allow us to expose any handling deficiencies.

This photo (right)? That's the Horseshoe Falls, taken from the top floor restaurant of the Niagara Falls Hilton where we had breakfast each morning.

We had expected animals-walking-two-by-two weather all week; we did have a few showers and it was cold and windy at times.

But for late October?

We'll settle for that.

The category winners will be announced in early December, the overall winners at the Canadian International Auto Show next February.

I apologize for not blogging daily from the event, as I had planned to do. Our on-site Internet connection was a bit iffy at times, there were just too many cars to test, and we also had the third appearance of the AJAC Troubadours, a rock 'n' roll band consisting of journalists and car company personnel for which I was, among other things, lead Cat Herder.

There just didn't ever seem to be any time.

I'll fill you in with tidbits over the next few days, plus we'll have full coverage in Wheels as the week progresses.

A Couple of Money-Making Ideas for You

I was up in Muskoka a couple of weeks ago, and came up with a couple of ways somebody is going to make some money.

Might as well be you - I don't have enough time to make any money...

I was in Gravenhurst, looking for my half-caf one percent latte. I hit 'Points of Interest' on the SatNav in the Volvo S60 I was driving, and spelled out 'Starbucks'.

The nearest one was in Parry Sound, 67 km away!

Really? All those moneyed folks in Muskoka, and they have to drive to Parry Sound to get a 4$??

There is a good coffee shop (Oliver's) in Gravenhurst, but Starbucks never worries about a little competition.

My second money-making idea?

That Volvo needed a wash.

But there is no proper car wash in Gravenhurst!

None in Bracebridge either.

Oh yeah, they have so-called 'Touchless' washes.

But 'Touchless' means 'Cleanless'.

I ended up settling for the hand-held spray wash in Gravenhurst, with one of those grotty foam brushes.

As you can see (above) it didn't do a bad job, but I'm always leery about those things. Who knows who has cleaned what with those foam brushes?

D'ya think I shouldn't be subjecting new cars to those rotating stainless-steel bristle brush (kidding - they're plastic...) car washes at gas stations?

Not sure if it is still like this, but at least some years back, the last step Porsches went through when they came off the assembly line in Zuffenhausen Germany was a rotating plastic bristle brush car wash.

If it's good enough for a Porsche...

Paris Auto Salon...

...or as they call it, the 'Mondial de l'Automobile'.

I'm in the aircraft in Montreal awaiting departure (the flight from Toronto was full).

The Press Preview day is Thursday, and assuming we can get cell reception, we'll blog the highlights live from the show floor.

Join me then!

Paris Auto Salon...

...or as they call it, the 'Mondial de l'Automobile'.

I'm in the aircraft in Montreal awaiting departure (the flight from Toronto was full).

The Press Preview day is Thursday, and assuming we can get cell reception, we'll blog the highlights live from the show floor.

Join me then!

Speed traps = fishing holes

So, Toronto is the North American capital of speed traps, according to a survey by the National Association of Motorists.

We apparently have more reported speed trap locations than Los Angeles, Montreal and New York City - COMBINED.

Is any driver familiar with the GTA surprised at this?

No.

And any driver familiar with the GTA and also familiar with driving in other major North American jurisdictions (like, ahem, me) will tell you we have among the worst drivers on the continent.

Still, the cops keep running radar and laser, up to THREE TIMES as frequently as other major metropolitan areas.

One definition of insanity is you keep doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.

There you go.

Now, Sgt. Tim Burrows of the Toronto Traffic Services was quoted by CTV News as saying that Toronto has one of the lowest traffic injury and fatality rates of the top cities.

Are we THREE TIMES better?

Than, e.g., Los Angeles? American seat belt wearing rate versus our own? Hello?

And of course, that Prince Edward Viaduct, scene of a notorious fishing hole just about every Saturday morning, would be complete chaos without the constant radar because of the dangers posed by all those intersections (none), all those stores (none), all those houses (none), all those schools (none).

Scarlett Road. Allen Expressway. Yonge Street past the Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The list goes on. Nothing whatsoever to do with traffic safety.

C'mon, Sgt. Burrows - do you take us for idiots?

Well, you certainly do 'take' us.

Police chiefs in Toronto have been whining to municipal officials since time immemorial for a bigger budget, for more officers, to combat crime, get the guns off our streets and out of our schools, battle real criminals. Most of the cops I've spoken with would much rather be doing just that - real police work - than glorified Green Hornet duty. Real police work is what they signed up for, what they're trained to do, why they cost so much.

With a fishing hole needing anywhere up to eight officers - sometimes half of which are giving tickets to people who are warning other drivers of the fishing hole (which, apparently, I DO have to mention again, is patently NOT illegal) - well, Chief Blair, I think I just found you your additional, um, 'person-power'.

What can we learn from commuting surveys?

The Toronto Board of Trade published a study earlier this week that said Toronto has the longest average commute of any major city.

Worse even than Los Angeles.

This caused the Usual Suspects at City Hall to scream for more funding for subways and other mass transit systems.

They seem to forget ex-Ford and Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca's famous quip that he too built mass-transit systems.

The study also showed that Toronto has among the best, if not the very best, score when it came to education and intelligence of its work force.

The obvious conclusion, which apparently isn't obvious enough for said Usual Suspects, is that - for whatever reasons - smart people choose to drive.

Wouldn't it make sense to make it easier, not harder, for smart people to do what they want?

Apparently not.

Remember this when the civic elections roll around this fall.

I think they call this 'irony'...

I am not sure whether the J. D. Power reliability surveys are statistically valid or not. Is a total of some 45,000 data points out of some 50 million new cars sold over a three-year period - with some low-selling brands surely accounting for only a few of those points - enough to draw proper conclusions?

Like I say, I don't know.

What I DO know is that the Power surveys are taken very seriously by the car makers and by most consumers.

So the news yesterday that Lexus has been toppled from its perennial top spot in the three-year problems-per-100 cars survey is news indeed.

Even more so that an American brand (Buick) and a brand recently sold off by an American manufacturer (Jaguar, which Ford sold recently to Tata of India) tied for the top rank, given the problems North American brands have been experiencing in the marketplace recently.

Lexus remains a close third.

That Buick and Jaguar rank highly should not be a surprise - both have been consistently near the top for a long time.

Jaguar's quality took quantum leaps upward a few years after Ford took it over and taught the Brits how to measure quality - until you actually know HOW you are doing, it is hard to improve.

Buick has the distinct advantage that one of its best-selling models (the mid-size Allure/LaCrosse) is built in Oshawa, which again is consistently among the top-quality (and top productivity) car factories in the entire world.

It wasn't all bad news for Lexus, or its parent Toyota - Lexus had four models at the top of their respective market segments, and Toyota had five.

Odd then that Toyota's youth-oriented brand Scion, recently introduced in Canada, ranked very near the bottom.

I mean, those cars are essentially built from the same bits by the same people as various Toyotas.

And you wonder why I'm a wee bit sceptical about surveys like this?