The adventures of Darth Tahoe…Day 2!
We’ve found a few more interesting fiddly bits and features on Darth Tahoe during this morning’s epic fight with I-440:
- Nick and Katie discovered at least the middle row of seats also sport tushy warmers which rather amused them! The Traverse only has them up front.
- Darth Tahoe definitely stands taller and is much less aerodynamic than the Traverse which was brutally exposed on the ramp from the US-64 bypass onto I-440 when a 20 knot crosswind hit right at the apex.
- Darth Tahoe has the Traverse’s lane deviation/proximity warning feature but with an interesting twist. Instead of freaking you out with noise…Darth Tahoe has a variation on the stick shaker that in a plane would warn you of an impending stall. Except that instead of shaking the wheel…the warning shakes your bum cheeks. And it’s right clever enough to know that if you’re drifting right…it only shakes your right bum cheek. So if you’re looking for something a bit more…errrr…satisfying…make sure the proximity warnings are thrown on the centre line! ??
- The Porsche-inspired tiptronic manual-ish gear shift is mounted on the wheel handle hanging off the steering column (as opposed to the throttle quadrant I much prefer on the Traverse). The downshifting is less aggressive than the Traverse’s and the handle feels like a motorcycle’s handlebar. It’s a somewhat weird feeling unless you’re into motorcycling (or you’re Richard Hammond!)…
- And now for the feature so truly evil that only a Sith Lord could have come up with it. If you flip through the menus you’ll find one with a digital speed indicator. But Darth Tahoe is clever enough to know where you are and adds an indicator on that display with the posted speed limit.
Now I’m sure you’re seeing where I’m going with this. If you’re the sort that believes that speed limits are suggestions much like the sell-by date rather than a suicide pact…having that information available isn’t particularly helpful when the rozzers nick you for taking liberties and enjoying the power your vehicle is capable of. And given that a lot of them tend to be petrol heads…you know they will know of that “feature” and be less convinced of your professed ignorance of the speed limit! 🙁
I’m sure that Darth Insidious at GM who thought that was a good idea also thinks average speed cameras and dedicated bus lanes in congested traffic corridors was a good idea (and they are if you’re a big fan of the Galactic Empire but not for us in the Rebellion who just want to enjoy driving!).
- We know now who has the softer suspension and better yaw dampers. Here is a hint…it isn’t Darth Tahoe!
And this becomes painfully obvious with the love affair for speed humps/bumps near the schools and in neighbourhoods… 😉
- The boot and the third row of seats are mutually exclusive…you’ve got enough room for maybe a couple of bags of groceries from the shoppes and that’s about it unless you fold them down using a set of switches (Niiiiiiice…much success!!!). The boot in the Traverse isn’t particularly huge…but it does very well for what we need without dropping the seats.
- Speaking of the third row seats…third row shelf is more like it. If you’re normal adult size…forget trying to sit there with far less legroom than the average economy seat on an airplane.