obama
01-21-2009, 07:08 AM
Unwilling, yes you read that right. Day at the beach, fancy cars to play with, and I'm still unwilling. Because before I can think of which of these cars I want to buy, I have to decide what sort of life I lead. Am I content to live in the city, or do I ache to leave it? Am I someone who likes keeping up with the ]oneses by buying the same car, or would I prefer something different, at the risk of getting an eyeful of upraised nostril? Do I like hip-hop funky or conservative cool? Listen, if! knew, I'd be on the cover of a men's mag, surrounded by stunned women and everyone would be asking for my advice on life. But they're not, and I'm a fundamentally confused bloke.
And more so because even at the end of two days of ploughing about on beaches and highways and clogged roads, I don't really know which of these soft-roaders I'd choose - and I had an idea it would be this way. It was easier when we compared the CR-V to the Mitsubishi Pajero - both were so enormously different, it was easy to choose. Even between the CR-Vand the Captiva, there was the choice between polished petrol car and earthier, warmer diesel. But here, the similarities are endless.
955
For one thing, both cost almost the same the top-end auto version for the sole variant of the Outlander. Both have 2.4-liter engines, both are big-booted five-seaters, both are more about refinement and class than about crunching up some Himalayan rock. And where one has the clout of the Honda badge behind it, it's equally difficult to deny the appeal of the three diamonds on an SUV.
The first time a difference pops up is on the beaches of Manori, a peninsula just northwest of Mumbai. The approach road to the sea isn't really a road at all, and between tarmac and packed sand is a heaving blob of powder-like beach, which greedily sucks your foot in every time you step onto it. Here, the CR-V with full-time four-wheel drive (no option of switching), bogs down and slews sideways; the Outlander in 2WD mode swans through.
Clearly, someone was not paying attention in off-road class.
And more so because even at the end of two days of ploughing about on beaches and highways and clogged roads, I don't really know which of these soft-roaders I'd choose - and I had an idea it would be this way. It was easier when we compared the CR-V to the Mitsubishi Pajero - both were so enormously different, it was easy to choose. Even between the CR-Vand the Captiva, there was the choice between polished petrol car and earthier, warmer diesel. But here, the similarities are endless.
955
For one thing, both cost almost the same the top-end auto version for the sole variant of the Outlander. Both have 2.4-liter engines, both are big-booted five-seaters, both are more about refinement and class than about crunching up some Himalayan rock. And where one has the clout of the Honda badge behind it, it's equally difficult to deny the appeal of the three diamonds on an SUV.
The first time a difference pops up is on the beaches of Manori, a peninsula just northwest of Mumbai. The approach road to the sea isn't really a road at all, and between tarmac and packed sand is a heaving blob of powder-like beach, which greedily sucks your foot in every time you step onto it. Here, the CR-V with full-time four-wheel drive (no option of switching), bogs down and slews sideways; the Outlander in 2WD mode swans through.
Clearly, someone was not paying attention in off-road class.