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Yes, friends, Honda and KIA have been secretly collaborating regarding a new hybrid model, half Odyssey half Soul.
All seriousness aside, we've just completed a 2000 mile shakedown cruise of our trusty Soul. We DID cruise by Joliet, Ill-annoy but did not stop to pick up any recently-discharged prisoners.
We're relocating to the midwest, thus the motivation for the odyssey.
Our trip took us from Post Falls, ID (the home of Bobby Wilhelm, author of Bobby Convict, a fascinating story of sin and redemption in the world of criminal enterprise) with stops in Billings & Missoula MT, Rapid City SD, Sioux City & Davenport IA, and finally to the outskirts of quaint, lovely, and charming Toledo, OH.
Stops were determined somewhat by the fatigue factor and largely by finding pet-friendly hotel rooms.
edit: Our overall MPG was 29.7. We did climb some mountains, run through numerous twisties in those mountains, and run at 80 or better for stretches in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. Our load was probably in the 500 lb.+ range.
The Pirelli P7s were at 35 lbs. when we departed in about 50 degree weather. No issues at all there.
We'd probably have made better time and longer days if we weren't exhausted by clearing the house. That's another story entirely.
The Soul performed flawlessly. No problem pulling the mountains including numerous 5000' or more passes including of course the Continental Divide. The main thing I noticed during mountain climbing was the trannie would kick down--and stay down--a lot more to fourth gear the higher our elevation, as power was sapped by altitude.
I left the car in cruise for most of the trip, adjusting speed as needed with handy little thumb controls.
We departed on November 4 and were accompanied by winds of 30 MPH or more from the Alaska system that we beat through the midwest by two days throughout our journey.
Despite its block shape, the Soul is not sensitive to buffeting by winds of cross, tail, or head variety.
There were only a couple of instances when a vigorous gust would move the car at all.
Had we been in the late lamented Charger, which was extremely sensitive to winds, I would've spent the trip fighting the wheel to keep straight.
We likely would've gotten MPG into the 30s overall, but getting blown all over the road is not my idea of great travel conditions for all-day drives, especially when we're starting the trip seriously tired. I did all the driving.
Our cat had our 6 o'clock and would assume the tailgunner position from time to time between naps, rest stops in the litter box, sessions with the crunchie tower, and tours of the vehicle to ensure all systems were ship-shape.
During this trip she also decided she will no longer drink water from a bowl, she now prefers a glass.
Human, all too human.
With two cupholders in the rear armrest, her glass of water was always available.
We took I-90 to I-29 to I-80 near Missouri Valley.
Of note: Day three through Iowa, this is The LeSabre Capital of the Midwest. Perhaps every 20th car was a pretty clean LeSabre. And no, only one of them was going a steady 60 MPH.
Also a preponderance of medium-sized GM sputes, GM but not Cibby PUTs, the somewhat frequent Cadillac, occasional Bimmah, and assorted other cars of various denominations.
The next day running into Iowa driving habits took a turn for the worse, with folks overtaking and then cutting in (often without signals) within 20 feet or so. Usually that happened with a mile or two of empty road ahead and near-zero traffic. That habit continued throughout the remainder of the trip through Ill-annoy, Indiana, and O-hi-oh!
Locally the drivers have a need for intimate behavior as manifested by tailgating no matter ictraffic conditions.
Also in the dynmic megalopolis that is greater (or lesser) Toledo--or as I like to call it, Toe-leo--speed limits appear to be more suggestions than any hard sort of limit. Forty-five means fitty-five, 35 means fitty, etc. etc. Typical of any metro area, yes we can!
The seats gave neither of us any aches or pains. The car never felt underpowered or wanting for kick. The ride was decent though probably not as smooth as the Charger would've been but certainly better than our last-gen 2013 Soul, which with its low-torque 1.6 would likely have had more of a schtruggle going up big hills.
The car used no oil.
Fuelly stuff:
Initial fill: Love's Truck Stop, 1172 on odometer, Post Falls ID 87 proof E10.
2nd: 1341 mi, 5.6 gal Exxon 87 proof, MPG 30.1, avg. MPH 61.
3rd: 1464 mi, 4.6 gal premium no-ETOH, MPG 26.7, avg. MPH 61.
4th: 1679 mi, 6.657 gal premium no-ETOH, MPG 32.2, avg. MPH 67.
5th: 1810 mi, 4.4 gal 89 proof Exxon 10%, MPG 29.7, avg. MPH 61.
6th: 2048 mi, 8.75 gal Conoco 89 proof 10%, MPG 27.1, avg. MPH 74.
7th: 2378 mi, 10.54 gal BP 91 octane 10%, MPG 31.3, avg. MPH 68.
8th: 2469 mi, 3.1 gal Murphy 91 octane 10%, MPG 29.1, avg. MPH 51.
9th: 2698 mi, 7.75 gal Love's Truck Stop 87 proof, MPG 29.5, avg. MPH 62.
10th: 2856 mi, 5.2 gal BP regular 87 proof 10%, MPG 30.2, avg. MPH 60.
11th: 3079 mi, 7.6 gal BP 93 proof 10%, MPG 29.5, avg. MPH 67. Final fuel for trip.
Observations and impressions? The people here are not nearly as physically attractive as those in the Idaho panhandle. One trip through Costco there would net more A+, A, and B+ wimmins of the female extraction than ANY I've seen here. The most attractive woman I've seen here so far would net perhaps a C. Someone please 'splain that to me!
addendum: Regarding Odysseys, one of the odder vehicles I've seen in the Toe-leo area is a ricered Odyssey. First I noticed the purple wheels as it sat next to us at a stoplight. Then as he pulled ahead, I heard the sound of a happy fartcan giving its all as the mighty Odyssey riced away from the stoplight.
To each his own. :drive:
All seriousness aside, we've just completed a 2000 mile shakedown cruise of our trusty Soul. We DID cruise by Joliet, Ill-annoy but did not stop to pick up any recently-discharged prisoners.
We're relocating to the midwest, thus the motivation for the odyssey.
Our trip took us from Post Falls, ID (the home of Bobby Wilhelm, author of Bobby Convict, a fascinating story of sin and redemption in the world of criminal enterprise) with stops in Billings & Missoula MT, Rapid City SD, Sioux City & Davenport IA, and finally to the outskirts of quaint, lovely, and charming Toledo, OH.
Stops were determined somewhat by the fatigue factor and largely by finding pet-friendly hotel rooms.
edit: Our overall MPG was 29.7. We did climb some mountains, run through numerous twisties in those mountains, and run at 80 or better for stretches in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. Our load was probably in the 500 lb.+ range.
The Pirelli P7s were at 35 lbs. when we departed in about 50 degree weather. No issues at all there.
We'd probably have made better time and longer days if we weren't exhausted by clearing the house. That's another story entirely.
The Soul performed flawlessly. No problem pulling the mountains including numerous 5000' or more passes including of course the Continental Divide. The main thing I noticed during mountain climbing was the trannie would kick down--and stay down--a lot more to fourth gear the higher our elevation, as power was sapped by altitude.
I left the car in cruise for most of the trip, adjusting speed as needed with handy little thumb controls.
We departed on November 4 and were accompanied by winds of 30 MPH or more from the Alaska system that we beat through the midwest by two days throughout our journey.
Despite its block shape, the Soul is not sensitive to buffeting by winds of cross, tail, or head variety.
There were only a couple of instances when a vigorous gust would move the car at all.
Had we been in the late lamented Charger, which was extremely sensitive to winds, I would've spent the trip fighting the wheel to keep straight.
We likely would've gotten MPG into the 30s overall, but getting blown all over the road is not my idea of great travel conditions for all-day drives, especially when we're starting the trip seriously tired. I did all the driving.
Our cat had our 6 o'clock and would assume the tailgunner position from time to time between naps, rest stops in the litter box, sessions with the crunchie tower, and tours of the vehicle to ensure all systems were ship-shape.
During this trip she also decided she will no longer drink water from a bowl, she now prefers a glass.
Human, all too human.
With two cupholders in the rear armrest, her glass of water was always available.
We took I-90 to I-29 to I-80 near Missouri Valley.
Of note: Day three through Iowa, this is The LeSabre Capital of the Midwest. Perhaps every 20th car was a pretty clean LeSabre. And no, only one of them was going a steady 60 MPH.
Also a preponderance of medium-sized GM sputes, GM but not Cibby PUTs, the somewhat frequent Cadillac, occasional Bimmah, and assorted other cars of various denominations.
The next day running into Iowa driving habits took a turn for the worse, with folks overtaking and then cutting in (often without signals) within 20 feet or so. Usually that happened with a mile or two of empty road ahead and near-zero traffic. That habit continued throughout the remainder of the trip through Ill-annoy, Indiana, and O-hi-oh!
Locally the drivers have a need for intimate behavior as manifested by tailgating no matter ictraffic conditions.
Also in the dynmic megalopolis that is greater (or lesser) Toledo--or as I like to call it, Toe-leo--speed limits appear to be more suggestions than any hard sort of limit. Forty-five means fitty-five, 35 means fitty, etc. etc. Typical of any metro area, yes we can!
The seats gave neither of us any aches or pains. The car never felt underpowered or wanting for kick. The ride was decent though probably not as smooth as the Charger would've been but certainly better than our last-gen 2013 Soul, which with its low-torque 1.6 would likely have had more of a schtruggle going up big hills.
The car used no oil.
Fuelly stuff:
Initial fill: Love's Truck Stop, 1172 on odometer, Post Falls ID 87 proof E10.
2nd: 1341 mi, 5.6 gal Exxon 87 proof, MPG 30.1, avg. MPH 61.
3rd: 1464 mi, 4.6 gal premium no-ETOH, MPG 26.7, avg. MPH 61.
4th: 1679 mi, 6.657 gal premium no-ETOH, MPG 32.2, avg. MPH 67.
5th: 1810 mi, 4.4 gal 89 proof Exxon 10%, MPG 29.7, avg. MPH 61.
6th: 2048 mi, 8.75 gal Conoco 89 proof 10%, MPG 27.1, avg. MPH 74.
7th: 2378 mi, 10.54 gal BP 91 octane 10%, MPG 31.3, avg. MPH 68.
8th: 2469 mi, 3.1 gal Murphy 91 octane 10%, MPG 29.1, avg. MPH 51.
9th: 2698 mi, 7.75 gal Love's Truck Stop 87 proof, MPG 29.5, avg. MPH 62.
10th: 2856 mi, 5.2 gal BP regular 87 proof 10%, MPG 30.2, avg. MPH 60.
11th: 3079 mi, 7.6 gal BP 93 proof 10%, MPG 29.5, avg. MPH 67. Final fuel for trip.
Observations and impressions? The people here are not nearly as physically attractive as those in the Idaho panhandle. One trip through Costco there would net more A+, A, and B+ wimmins of the female extraction than ANY I've seen here. The most attractive woman I've seen here so far would net perhaps a C. Someone please 'splain that to me!
addendum: Regarding Odysseys, one of the odder vehicles I've seen in the Toe-leo area is a ricered Odyssey. First I noticed the purple wheels as it sat next to us at a stoplight. Then as he pulled ahead, I heard the sound of a happy fartcan giving its all as the mighty Odyssey riced away from the stoplight.
To each his own. :drive:
