I picked up the car last night, drove about 70 miles almost all interstate, not prime Sky conditions, with the top down for the last 20 miles (53 degrees, cloudy-I grew up 100 miles NW of Detroit so that wasn't really 'cold'
). It looks and handles great as everyone has said.
I won't duplicate the good things everyone else has said which are true; I’ll throw out some comments at the risk some may see this as complaining, which it isn’t, it’s only an attempt to provide honest comments for others. It is a roadster. It is small and that is a consideration for anyone my size or bigger, and we accept that if we buy this car. My observations may change as I haven’t even had a chance to learn the car much. I reserve the right to change my mind!
I am 6-1+, 205, pant size 34x34, not what I consider a really big guy. There is a tug of war between leg room and angle of the seat-back. One cannot change without affecting the other, between tipping the seat-back a little bit, and how much bend in your left leg you can live with. To move the seat all the way backwards you have to tip the seat-back substantially upright. Initially this was tipped way up to create more leg room, but after 30 minutes my back was uncomfortable. I moved the seat forward one notch or so, to tip the seat-back backwards a little, and that was better for my back, but the left leg really had no place to go on the uninterrupted hour long highway trip. NOT cramped, at least for one hour, but a noticeable knee-up in the left leg. I hope not to do many long, straight trips anyway.
Driving with the top up it is very difficult to have much traffic awareness as compared to driving the Vue. Headroom is no problem, but there is difficulty seeing stop lights (or anything “up”) without bending your head way down. There is limited field of view to the left/right rear flanks because of the top/sides, meaning you mostly have to trust the small side mirrors to change lanes. You sit low so that even the passenger hump seems a little in the way. Vision thru the rearview mirror is good.
Gas mileage was about 31 mpg at 69 mph, up to 34 mpg at 60 mph, but changes dramatically if you have a rise or hill.
There was noticeable wind noise behind the driver left ear and the passenger right ear above 45 mph (top up).
I’ve got to learn the controls of the Monsoon/XM system, but the speakers were substantially richer than what’s in my Vue. It has equalizer or bass/mid/high adjusts.
It is not tremendously quick off the starting line, but not a dog by any means. If ¼ mile performance is a main factor in your car, than you are right to wait for the RL. It’s responsive as is and I’ll probably opt for a GM CAI.
The shifter seems more forward than below you, but shifts really nicely.
That said, with crappy weather, the short time I was driving with the TOP DOWN was such a kick :lol: that I didn’t even notice any of the above. Today is sunny and 75 and tomorrow 80 so should be fun.
Anyone much taller than I should really test drive or sit in the Sky for a while (pro’ly not possible) before deciding to spend that much money. You might want to check out a Mustang or something else topless to see if it had more leg room. Not whining, just first off-the-cuff observations that others deserve to hear.
). It looks and handles great as everyone has said.I won't duplicate the good things everyone else has said which are true; I’ll throw out some comments at the risk some may see this as complaining, which it isn’t, it’s only an attempt to provide honest comments for others. It is a roadster. It is small and that is a consideration for anyone my size or bigger, and we accept that if we buy this car. My observations may change as I haven’t even had a chance to learn the car much. I reserve the right to change my mind!
I am 6-1+, 205, pant size 34x34, not what I consider a really big guy. There is a tug of war between leg room and angle of the seat-back. One cannot change without affecting the other, between tipping the seat-back a little bit, and how much bend in your left leg you can live with. To move the seat all the way backwards you have to tip the seat-back substantially upright. Initially this was tipped way up to create more leg room, but after 30 minutes my back was uncomfortable. I moved the seat forward one notch or so, to tip the seat-back backwards a little, and that was better for my back, but the left leg really had no place to go on the uninterrupted hour long highway trip. NOT cramped, at least for one hour, but a noticeable knee-up in the left leg. I hope not to do many long, straight trips anyway.
Driving with the top up it is very difficult to have much traffic awareness as compared to driving the Vue. Headroom is no problem, but there is difficulty seeing stop lights (or anything “up”) without bending your head way down. There is limited field of view to the left/right rear flanks because of the top/sides, meaning you mostly have to trust the small side mirrors to change lanes. You sit low so that even the passenger hump seems a little in the way. Vision thru the rearview mirror is good.
Gas mileage was about 31 mpg at 69 mph, up to 34 mpg at 60 mph, but changes dramatically if you have a rise or hill.
There was noticeable wind noise behind the driver left ear and the passenger right ear above 45 mph (top up).
I’ve got to learn the controls of the Monsoon/XM system, but the speakers were substantially richer than what’s in my Vue. It has equalizer or bass/mid/high adjusts.
It is not tremendously quick off the starting line, but not a dog by any means. If ¼ mile performance is a main factor in your car, than you are right to wait for the RL. It’s responsive as is and I’ll probably opt for a GM CAI.
The shifter seems more forward than below you, but shifts really nicely.
That said, with crappy weather, the short time I was driving with the TOP DOWN was such a kick :lol: that I didn’t even notice any of the above. Today is sunny and 75 and tomorrow 80 so should be fun.
Anyone much taller than I should really test drive or sit in the Sky for a while (pro’ly not possible) before deciding to spend that much money. You might want to check out a Mustang or something else topless to see if it had more leg room. Not whining, just first off-the-cuff observations that others deserve to hear.
