Thanks to the Dads

If you'll permit me, I'm going to wax a little personal and perhaps even sentimental.  Over Father's Day weekend, my family swapped a lot of "Dad" stories.  I had to laugh at the number that involved the misadventures of teaching three teenage daughters to drive. 

My dad took each of my older siblings to a local church parking lot with for driving lessons and brought me along a little moral support.  (I'm the youngest, and apparently the most reckless.) I generously tasked myself with inventing with the best "real world" driving scenarios!  Hey! Let's pretend there's a cow in the road... What should you do?  Whiplash and hollering ensued, but my dad stayed as calm as any father of a 16-year old standing on the breaks of a 1984 Buick Century could. Apparently, lesson unlearned, I accompanied sister number two on her parking lot lessons.  There, I kindly invented a scenario in which backing up alllll the way around the building was necessary.  As we sped toward the building... up over the curb and on to the grass.... and narrowly missed an oncoming tree, my dad very calmly said, "Brake.... brake... brake....BRAKE!"  It's a wonder he didn't have a heart attack on the spot.  (I was later banned from further ride-alongs.)   And I well remember flying off the road and sliding past a chain link fence before coming to a stop as my dad calmly said, "Turn here... Yes, here... You have to TURN!!!"  My dad never really got mad at our youthful incompetence, but he sure took the wheel in a hurry when danger was immanent.   

I can't imagine the dread he must have felt turning each of his daughters loose behind the wheel of a car.  But, to his credit, we were always well prepared with the necessary road skills.  He's a Wyoming-bred boy, so we learned the ins and outs of proper snow driving (some of us more successfully than others...), we were taught to be handy with a jack, but we were also armed with phone numbers for towing services, and we learned to check our own oil and how to identify leaked car fluids.  My dad was determined to raise car-capable daughters and he succeeded.  (I've even had to teach a boyfriend or two some basic car maintenance.) But maybe the best thing my dad ever taught us was that no matter what happened, he'd always be there for us.  My sisters and I have totaled our fair share of teenage junkers, wrapped his pride and joy red pick-up truck around a pole, and STILL not mastered the art of driving out of a spin on the ice (I'm red-faced here!), but on that inevitable call home, we could always bank on my dad coming to the rescue.   

So here's to all the dads who taught their kids to drive, changed a host of tires, brought gas cans to the sides of roads in the middle of the night, and pretended the dent just wasn't that big of a deal.   Your kids salute you and Ken Garff Honda of Orem does, too.  

2016 Honda HRV Test Drive

As we climbed into the new Honda HRV between errands, my 14-year-old son asserted, "This is my new favorite Honda."

Although he's had his eye on the Civic for years, HRV--Honda's crossover--turned his head. And it's turning other heads, too. Car and Driver noted, "The HR-V mixes angles and curves in an attractive design that lends it a sporty look while hiding its budget-friendly roots."

The HRV has seating for 5 and a dumbfounding 3 different interior configurations.  It has tons of cargo space and that's before you fold down the seats for cargo space that blows out any small SUV or sedan.

I got to drive the high-end model, the EXL Navi.  It had HondaLink, blue tooth connectivity, backup camera (standard on every 2016 Honda), blind spot camera, moon roof and leather interior.  It was fun to drive and very sporty without feeling like I'm sitting on the pavement.

It comes with an automatic transmission, but it also has a "Sport" setting that allows you shift up and down manually with buttons on the steering wheel.

I can't really explain why, but I'm absolutely in love with the rear door handle.  Seriously!  It almost looks like a coup, but with the functionality of a sedan.  There is just something about that I find so attractive!  It's turning my head, too!

Honda's Predictive Cruise Control

Honda is set to introduce the world’s first predictive cruise control system known as Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control (i-ACC), capable of foreseeing and automatically reacting to other vehicles ‘cutting-in’ to the equipped vehicle’s lane.

Based on extensive real-world research of typical European driving styles, Honda’s Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control (i-ACC) uses a camera and radar to sense the position of other vehicles on the road. It then applies an algorithm to predict the likelihood of vehicles in neighboring lanes cutting-in by evaluating relations between multiple vehicles, enabling the equipped vehicle to react quickly, safely and comfortably.

i-ACC will make its debut this year on the new European CR-V, building upon the traditional Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system. Traditional ACC systems keep a preselected longitudinal velocity, which is only reduced for maintaining a safe distance to a car in front. However, if a vehicle cuts-in from a neighboring lane, the traditional ACC system reacts later thus requiring stronger braking.

The new i-ACC system is able to compute the likelihood of a cut-in up to five seconds before it occurs, and is therefore designed to react very smoothly so as not to startle the driver, who might not yet be aware of the imminent cut-in. In this case the system applies just a mild brake initially, with an icon appearing on the driver display, informing the driver why a slow-down occurs. It then proceeds to apply a stronger brake to adapt the velocity to keep a safe distance. Dr. Kleinehagenbrock, responsible for i-ACC at Honda R&D Europe (in Germany) GmbH says, "i-ACC takes cruise control systems to a whole new level, offering what we call ‘predictive safety.’"

The real question is if this technology has application in an American market. Do you think American's use cruise control differently than our European counterparts? Would you find this technology helpful? 

You can read more about this technology here.

Honda Fit, Accord and CR-V Named Best Family Cars for 2015

The parenting experts and car experts at Parents magazine and Edmonds.com picked the 10 best family cars and there are 3 Hondas on list: Honda Fit, Honda Accord and Honda CR-V. These three family friendly Honda vehicles earned the top crashworthiness ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.  The experts we also impressed that each vehicle is equipped with a standard rearview camera.  These three models were selected out of hundreds of models because they excel in the key areas of safety, convenience features, performance and value.

The Accord was recognized as one of the top sedans for families for the third straight year.

The 2015 CR-V was recognized as one of the best crossovers for families.

The spacious, fuel-efficient and versatile 2015 Honda Fit was chosen as one of the best budget cars on the annual list.

The full list will be featured in the July 2015 issue of Parents magazine available on June 9th.