The price of smooth jazz
Today marks the first time I've driven the Jazz in an unexpected shower of evening rain, in March. As much as the rain caught me a little off-guard, I had no choice but to drive through it on my way home.
The artifical lightness of the Jazz's helm, already giving me nervous tingles in my fingers on dry roads, is more manifest in the wet. That's not to say it doesn't generate grip (because it does); it's just not quite an assuring car to barrel along a wet C5 at high speed as the City was. The hydraulic steering on the old Honda always told you how much grip you have left. It takes a lot more effort to trust the Jazz's abilities in the wet because of the numb electric steering, but when you do, it's capable of driving around anything.
This time 'round, I don't think I'll be able to replicate my 14.37 km/L economy figure from my last fillup. The raison d'etre of the Jazz is fuel efficiency, but pushing it to redline can shock you with just how thirsty it can suddenly get. Maybe it's because the fuel gauge is twice as big as that of the City's, but the movement of the needle dropping its inevitable way to "E" is a lot more noticeable now. Perhaps there's a reason why it's called the "Jazz:" it ultimately rewards smooth driving.
My gray hamster needs an oil change soon as it's just hit 24,000 km on the odometer. It also needs a new latch/anchor for the center lap belt at the back, a new floor latch for one of the folding rear seats, and that Sony head unit I had written about earlier. And that's not counting the repairs for the two small spots of rust I found, front and back.
Yeesh. I have to spend again.
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