mytriplogs.com Blog

Vehicle Dependability Up

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:59:00 +0000

Vehicle dependability surged in 2009, J.D. Power survey finds

In the depths of the Great Recession that threatened their existence, automakers built better vehicles.

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120215/CARNEWS/120219929#ixzz1meDBfko2

Top 10 Used Cars

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:07:00 +0000

The "Top 10 Best Rated Used Cars" from play-auto.net:
http://www.play-auto.net/2011/12/top-10-best-rated-used-cars/

10 Most Fuel Efficient Cars

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:54:00 +0000

10 most fuel efficient cars since 1984

CNN Money's list of the 10 most fuel efficient cars built since 1984:
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.most_fuel_efficient_since_1984/?iid=EL

Cars Worth Waiting For

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:29:00 +0000

Popular Mechanic's calendar of 12 cool cars under $50,000 that will go on sale in the next 18 months.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/preview-concept/12-new-cars-that-are-worth-waiting-for?click=smart&kw=ist&src=smart&mag=POP&link=/cars/news/preview-concept/12-new-cars-that-are-worth-waiting-for#fbIndex1

10 Coolest Cars Under $18k

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Kelley Blue Book's 2011 listing of the 10 coolest cars under $18,000:
http://www.kbb.com/car-news/all-the-latest/10-coolest-cars-under-18000-_-2011-edition/

Best Overall Mileage

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:30:00 +0000

Cars.com's list of the cars with the best overall gas mileage:
http://www.cars.com/go/crp/buyingGuides/green/article.jsp?channel=high-mileage&id=greenMileageclass

OnStar At Best Buy

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 22:01:00 +0000

OnStar rolls out at Best Buy
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110721/CARNEWS/110729979

"Car consumers no longer have to buy a General Motors vehicle to get OnStar. An aftermarket version of the system goes on sale July 24 at Best Buy."

Under 20/Over 35

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 03:08:00 +0000

Cars.com's comparison of compact cars.

"Our goal here was to test cars that cost less than $20,000 and get more than 35 mpg."

http://www.cars.com/go/crp/buyingGuides/Story.jsp?section=Passenger&story=compactOverview&subject=stories&referer=&year=New

Best New Cars of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Wed, 18 May 2011 15:13:00 +0000

About.com's list of the best new cars of 2011:
http://cars.about.com/od/whatsnewfor2011/tp/Best-New-Cars-Of-2011.htm

Future Cars

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:39:00 +0000

Interesting article based on researchers at GM:

http://low-powerdesign.com/sleibson/2011/05/01/future-cars-the-word-from-gm-at-idc%E2%80%99s-smart-technology-world-conference/

Car of the Year 2011

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 22:06:00 +0000

Car of the Year 2011: Close win for Nissan Leaf
Nissan Leaf, the first full electric vehicle finalist in this contest, is the Car of the Year 2011.

Read more here:
http://www.caroftheyear.org/winner/Nissan/Leaf/2011_52/coty

BMW: Carbon-Fiber Bodies

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:52:00 +0000

BMW Recruiting Engineers to Focus on Lightweight, Carbon-Fiber Composites:

http://wardsauto.com/ar/bmw_staff_carbonfiber_110402/

Quote from the article:
"
Carbon-fiber bodies long have been used for Formula 1 race cars and supercars, such as the Mercedes SLR McLaren Roadster, and carbon-fiber components such as roofs and spoilers are not rare on sporty cars.
However, the i3 will be the first high-volume car using the technology, which is based on a material costing as much as E20/kg ($13/lb.).
"

Cars With Best Overall Mileage

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 02:52:00 +0000

A quick guide for cars of all types with the best gas mileage:

http://www.cars.com/go/crp/buyingGuides/green/article.jsp?channel=high-mileage&id=greenMileageclass

Rental-Car Olympics!

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 14:59:00 +0000

This article gives a good comparison of rental car companies, with some humor thrown in as well.

“There’s a lot of debate on this subject—about what kind of car handles best. Some say a front-engined car; some say a rear-engined car. I say a rented car. Nothing handles better than a rented car.”

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/11q1/rental-car_olympics!-comparison_tests

2011 Ford Explorer: 17/25 mpg

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 04:17:00 +0000

The redesigned Ford Explorer gets 17 mpg city/25 mpg highway according to Car and Driver Magazine, although this is with the front wheel drive, V6 version. More info here:
http://blog.caranddriver.com/2011-ford-explorer-v6-fwd-gets-epa-ratings-of-1725-mpg/

Saw a couple of these on the lot the other day, and they looked really nice.

7 Gas Mileage Myths

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 20:44:00 +0000

Some myths regarding improving gas mileage:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/4264939

Improving Gas Mileage

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:02:00 +0000

Some easy ways to improve your gas mileage:

http://www.wanderings.net/notebook/Main/SurprisingWaysGetBetterGasMileage

2010 Christmas Travels

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:11:00 +0000

Made it there and back again, traveling over 3,000 miles via car over a long Christmas vacation. Our 2004 Ford Explorer drove great, and we hit 100,000 miles on the way home! We traveled through a total of 8 states from the Southeast to the Midwest and back.

See our updated trip log here.

New Feature!

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:21:00 +0000

Customizable United States trip maps! Just click on the "Sig Pics" button at the top to get started. Or, login to create a map that you can save.

Rented A Harley

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Sun, 20 May 2007 01:28:00 +0000

I rented a Harley Electra Glide Classic last weekend. The bike isn't for me, but it was something fun to do! Kind of have the itch for a different bike, and am currently looking at HD Wide Glides and Softail Customs, among other models and brands.

Click here for some pictures of my ride on the Harley Electra Glide Classic on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Moved!

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Wed, 09 May 2007 01:43:00 +0000

mytriplogs.com has recently moved...from the Kansas City area, to Northwest South Carolina! We will be enjoying trout fishing, trail hiking, canoeing, white water rafting, and of course motorcycling on a regular basis. Much different than the Midwest...

Fun Time Skiing

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:18:00 +0000

Skiing was great. We skiied Keystone, Brekenridge, and Copper Mountain. Our last day at Copper, it snowed all day, which made for great conditions.

Our 2005 Ford Focus did well over 1392.7 miles, averaging 30.788 MPG.

It was weird being on some of the same roads in the winter that we were on this past summer on our motorcycle!

Skiing In Colorado

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:31:00 +0000

We are planning a quick ski vacation to Keystone, Colorado at the end of March. Should be a great trip. We are staying with 5 other friends at the River Run Condominiums right on the slopes! It should be a lot of fun, and a great chance to welcome in some warmer weather.

Garmin zumo 550 GPS

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:26:00 +0000

We recently got a Garmin zumo 550 GPS. This unit is really handy when on the road, and can be moved from the bike to the car very easily with the provided mounts.

This GPS from Garmin provides a lot of really nice features, and logs a ton of data as you travel. We also got the GXM 30 to go with the zumo, which provides XM radio. XM is great!

Now that we have had this GPS unit for a while, we realize how much we actually use it, both on daily commutes and on trips. The data it provides matches up nicely with mytriplogs.com.

Here is a picture of the zumo 550 mounted on our bike:

Christmas Trip

noreply@blogger.com (mytriplogs.com) — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:57:00 +0000

Merry Christmas a couple weeks late! We made our annual trek to see family and friends this Christmas. 883.3 miles in four days! Our Ford Focus didn't have a problem hauling us and a carload of presents around Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. Hope everyone had a good holiday.

See here for our trip log.

Happy New Year, too!