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My back went out this week and left me prone for three days, unable to even think about driving a car. Instead, I gazed out the window at the vehicles rushing past, symbols of my lost mobility. I couldn’t make it to the bathroom, let alone the office.
With my incapacity, I was unable to fully test the three cars entrusted to my care this week — a Nissan Altima Hybrid, an Audi A3 wagon and a Saturn Vue Redline. That’s right, by a quirk of fate I had no less than three test vehicles and only briefly drove two of them.
I’ve wanted to get into the Altima for some time. Nissan has played it coy with this vehicle, making it available only in the states — including all of the Northeast and Northwest — that embrace the California emission standards. It’s a pity, because the Toyota Prius (who shares the same technology) is selling like hotcakes everywhere, and a hybrid Altima is just what the green doctor ordered.
The Altima features a 2.5-liter, 16-valve four, producing 158 horsepower. It’s an AT-PZEV, which means greatly reduced tailpipe emissions, plus it emits 5.4 tons of greenhouse gas per year, as opposed to 7.1 tons in a standard Altima. Fuel economy is 41 in the city, 36 on the highway. That’s not Prius territory, but it’s still very good. Because of its 20-gallon fuel tank, it can travel 700 miles on one tankful.
In my brief time with the Altima I found it quiet and responsive and practically laid out, offering plenty of rear-seat and trunk space. The $24,000 price is not unreasonable. Nissan, let the Altima drive free all over America!
The Audi A3 wagon carried me home to my bed of pain, so I was unable to fully appreciate its finer points. I’ve probably put only 20 miles on it. As driver’s cars, small Audis are technical marvels and very pleasant indeed, but sometimes a bit cramped for my taste. I was able to intimately investigate its cargo space with rear seats folded (not flat), because I ended up lying there when my back went into spasm. So it’s fair to say the little wagon can carry a 6-foot-1 man, especially if he’s doubled up in agony.
The Saturn Vue Redline (the model’s performance variant) has so far sat patiently in the parking lot, but I’m on the mend now (thanks to huge doses of Vicodin), so I may get a chance behind its stately wheel. This model is available as a "mild" hybrid, but GM is slated to turn it into a full-fledged plug-in hybrid, perhaps in 2009. Meanwhile, the Vue’s chunkier styling for ’08, with a relatively narrow side greenhouse, makes it look a bit like a pleasant cross between a Toyota Matrix and an Audi A3.
While I was prone, I received a call from a Louisville newspaperwoman looking for the straight dope about "clean cars." Since my mouth still worked I probably talked to her for about an hour. I think three days of forced idleness probably helped me think, and I certainly got a lot of reading in. Today I was able to nearly finish Tim Flannery’s fascinating book about fossilized kangaroos.
