Friday, August 15, 2014
Richmond Review · Page 17
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Welcome to the driver’s seat
Splish, splash diesel dash to ride a wave
Question of the Week
Summer. What a wonderful time of The Grand Cherokee is a fantastic veyear, heading out on the open road with hicle for an active family of four, there family. is plenty of room in the back seat, and Okay, it isn’t all fun and games, especially I never heard one complaint. My wife with 11-year-old and nine-year-old boys loved the solid ride and I kept an eye on bickering in the back seat, but for the the fuel economy. At the end of our run most part it can be enjoyable. to Portland, the average consumption For the first time I decided recently to was 8.0L/100km. Pretty nice stuff for a take a road trip to one of my many truck with 420 lb.-ft. of torque. With a belly car-related events. Usually I fly to a Day Three full of Voodoo vehicle launch, but this time I thought This was the day I had to work. Poor I would take some extra time, and the Doughnuts, including me, trying out the all-new Dodge family, on the road from Vancouver to Challenger Hellcat on the track with Double Bubble Portland, Oregon. While I attended the all 707 hp. It’s a tough gig. While I was flavour, fruit loops, 2015 Dodge Challenger event at the Portshooting for Driving TV, my wife took coco puffs and good the Grand Cherokee to the Waterpark land International Raceway, my family could take in some of the local sites. old chocolate, we for a day. I checked in throughout the Day One day and the comments were universal. were ready to go. The plan was to break things up a bit, “This is the best waterpark ever!” Zack Spencer instead of six solid hours behind the As I wrapped up the day at the track, I wheel of the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee did get a frantic call from my wife “The EcoDiesel. Thanks to the Nexus card, crossing the Jeep has lost power, I can’t drive over 30 mph, what border took all of 10 minutes. The next stop was the should I do?” Boeing plant in Everett, Washington. This location The gang at Chrysler jumped to attention and before was first developed in the 1960 when the world’s first I knew it, I was on the road with another Jeep Diesel Jumbo Jet was being developed, the iconic 747. I take and being accompanied by two PR reps in a 2015 over 100 flights a year but I’m still impressed with the Challenger. From the track to my stranded family machines that make it all happen, especially the 747. I took over an hour; in total they sat at a Shell station wouldn’t visit the factory tour on the weekend again. for two hours waiting. To pass the time, the kids ate There is no action, just half-built planes sitting around. what they wanted from the Shell convenience store I found it all amazing but my two boys – Jack and and taking “selfies” seemed to do the trick. Once we Charlie – didn’t share my enthusiasm. arrived, we realized a Dodge dealership was literally five minutes up the road! Day Two After a night in Redmond, Washington, we continued Day Four our trek to Portland, the land of tax-free shopping With a belly full of Voodoo Doughnuts, including Douand the Evergreen Wings and Waves Waterpark. The ble Bubble flavour, fruit loops, coco puffs and good waterpark just outside of Portland, in McMinnville, has old chocolate, we were ready to go. It took a while for a real 747 on the roof with water slides that exit the our repaired Jeep to arrive so on we went to sample fuselage, pass through the roof of the building and more tax-free shopping and sample some of Portland’s splashing into a huge waterpark complex. This, along many food trucks. When the Jeep did arrive, it turns with promise of Portland’s famous Voodoo Doughnuts, out the Diesel went into “limp-mode” enabling the kept everyone on track for the three-hour Jeep ride. driver to get to the next dealership. The fix was a
With the exception of Alberta and Quebec, drivers across Canada can be served with an Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP) if they blow 0.05 mg/100ml at the roadside. Should those two provinces fall into line with other provinces?
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simple computer program flash, which took no time at all. Regardless, we were on the road, heading to Seattle for some underground fun. Day Five After a great night in Seattle, we woke up to rain, lots of rain, so we went underground to visit the old, hidden city of Seattle. These tours take visitors on a walk through the ruins of Seattle after the massive fire of 1886 and the rebuilding that took place. Seattle is built on top of the old city; there are tunnels and abandoned sections of buildings there to explore. Time to head home. The Grand Cherokee never set another wheel wrong; it was fantastic in the heavy rain and very solid on the highway. After 1,300 plus kilometres behind the wheel, I averaged 8.5L/100km. The Lowdown Power: 3.0L turbocharged diesel V6 with 420 lb-ft. of torque Fill-up: 9.8L/7.0L/100km (city/highway) Sticker price: $58,000-$62,000 zack.spencer@drivewaybc.ca
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Safety Tip: There are many ways to show courtesy behind the wheel, including allowing space for other drivers to change lanes or manouevre. Driver courtesy is contagious, so wave at the next driver who lets you merge in front of them – they may just pay it forward to another driver.
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