Song of the Day: Of Montreal - She's a rejecter

This post is in part due to recent headlines that GM and Ford are in speculation of a merger. As I read the article, I couldn't help but think how uncomfortable the 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix of rental car really is to the driver. I used to own a beast of an '88 Grand Prix, so it's not like I've never driven one before. I also grew up with GM products, especially Pontiacs. To be perfectly honest, I thought the older Grand Prix is much more accommodating than the newest model. The new edition Grand Prix is definitely not living up to standards of its predecessors. I thought manufacturers improves on past products? So here's a list of things that would help better a dying car model:

1. Make it easier for the driver to get into the car. Unless your an Asian girl that under 100 lbs. and under 5'3, you're going to have maneuver yourself in between the steering wheel and seat.
   
2. Place the ignition back on the steering column. The starter is mounted on the dashboard and everything you hit a bump, the keys make an annoying rattle, scratching the dashboard.
3. Source better material for the car doors. If you've owned a Grand Prix before, you can attest to how heavy the doors are to open or close. This is especially true of the 2-door models. When driving my old Grand Prix, the door sagged and wouldn't close unless I lifted the door parallel to the hinges.
4. Change the mileage/travel display to a time/radio console. Most of the time when fiddling with the radio, I really have to look down away from the road to see what station I'm on. If this could be swapped to where the travel display is, I could keep my eye on the road. Oh, and red is very intrusive to the driver, so pick a softer colour on your display. It's a major nuisance to a driver, especially at nighttime.
5. And last but not least, decrease the number of blindspots to the driver. At 5'6, I have a pretty hard time seeing the environment in front of me. The rearview mirror dominates the immediate road more than any other car I've seen before. The view of the back window is very much reduced from previous models. Since I'm renting a 4-door, I would expect lessoned blindspots than a 2-door, but that is not the case.

This entry was posted by .::Hung::., on Friday, September 22, 2006. You can leave your response.