RideAndDrive in Orlando, FL this Saturday

[gulfcat]

Addition: it was in Orlando 9/30, and will be in Miami Oct 8.
I tried www.rideanddrive.net/miami & got a sign-up page. For interest's sake I also tried www.rideanddrive.net/atlanta and got a sign-up page, trying to pick a time on the next page showed me it was 9/24. Try a city near you & see what you can find!! Notice, though, that you've got to be 21 to drive or ride.
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I signed up to do this, and got a confirmation with an open invite attached!! The test drives are of Caddy, Lexus and BMW, and they may quote you in one of the magazines.

Thank you for registering for the Car and Driver/Road & Track Editor for the Day program at EPCOT. Due to numerous requests, we are expanding the sessions to accommodate multiple guests. Should you wish to invite additional guests, please feel free to have them register at www.rideanddrive.net/orlando or call 1-877-DRIVE41. We will accommodate all new registrations based on requested session times.

Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you at EPCOT.
Car and Driver/Road & Track Ride & Drive Event Staff

I'll be doing the 3:00 drive, to give myself time to get to Orlando, showing up in my white '99 Cougar.

(If you think of any really witty ways to say 'I like this car best' let me know before Saturday )

[KerryKool]

Son of a female dog. You have to 21 in order to drive, only 2 years shy.

Man, I'd want to test drive some BMWs.

Are these test drives like "I'm going to buy this car" test drives or "lets see how fast I can take this thing around a corner" test drives?

[gulfcat]

The original invite made it look like autocross-like layouts for handling, and I found one participant on the web who said his test drives left a lot of rubber, so I gather you get to really play...

Wait & watch - I'm sure they'll keep doing these things.

[RandyCSVT]

I am gonna be there tomorrow at 8am. I dont want to test drive a car that has already been beaten on earlier that day.

[RandyCSVT]

I just got here and they have some SUVs and sedans. We will be test driving a Cadillac sts v6
And a 5 series BMW. I thought they might have the new twin turbo 3 series, but I don't see one anywhere. At least I get to mess around in some cars and eat free food.

[gulfcat]

Did mine at 3pm.

6 SUVs: 3 Caddy & Lexus pairs, 1 pair for climbing around in, 2 pair to drive.
6 Cars: 3 pairings of BMW 530i & Caddy CTS, again 1 pair stationary & 2 pairs to drive.

Main impressions:

-SUVs are a lot more stable than I expected. (I've only driven 20+ year old trucks/vans, so modern SUVs are in a whole new world!). The other 2 who were in my driving group were a young couple who'd recently put down a deposit on a BMW 335, so they pushed our first SUV (the Lexus) hard & it behaved much better than I expected - left a fair amount of rubber, got "saved" from too-tight turns & skids by its traction control. After that, I pushed when I drove the Caddy SUV. I think but am not sure that the reason all 3 of us did better wth the Caddy SUV was because it was the better vehicle, not just because of being the second SUV we drove.

-The CTS trunk access was the worst feature of any of the vehicles: a big suitcase would have to be put in sideways, not upright like you'd want it standing to really pack the trunk, and how you'd manage to get a row of big suitcases standing in the trunk I have no idea.

-The BMW first aid & small tools kit on the uderside of the trunk lid was the best feature of any of the cars: no unloading to get at things you might need in an emergency.

-The CTS seat felt as hard as an old bench-seat, the Caddy SUV & Lexus SUV seats were OK, & the BMW had driver's seats - held you in place through corners & accel & braking

-The BMW gas pedal felt like it had a time-delay built in!! Floor it, take a breath, and you start moving.

Biggest conclusion of the day:
None of these is worth 4 times my Cougar!
(Using brand-new prices - comparing my Coug's current value to the $50,000+ stickers on these, I'd say none are worth 8 times my Cougar!) I'd probably be a lot more inclined to rate the vehicles "worth" their multiples-of-prices if they were manual shift performance vehicles, not luxuary land-yachts. These were all something I'd consider renting for a long trip with middle-aged, non-car-people friends, not what I want to own.

I still hope to do it again next year, though!