Car Country

If you love driving, then the United States is the place to live in. Though clogged in some stretches, the US Interstate Highway system is still a pleasure to drive on.And the cars! You’ll have so many models to choose from in the U.S.: from the humblest commuter sedan to the wildest concept-cars-turned-real, to something neatly in between—the hot new Chrysler PT Cruiser.
That’s just what motioncars did over a three-week period: check out the car scene in the U.S.A. We visited seven cities, each with its distinct car culture:

San Francisco. Just north of the exploding economy of Silicon Valley, San Francisco has some of the most expensive real estate in the U.S. Good thing the road network is logically organized and well-maintained. Example: alphabetically-arranged street names. And in case you still didn’t get it, considerate road signs that inform you well in advance what the next street will be.
San Francisco also contains a stretch of the highway hugging the edge Pacific Ocean—a beautiful scenic drive along twisty roads. Sharp up- and downhills and curves are part of the city. The world’s twistiest street, Lombard Street, with its 8 consecutive downhill hairpin curves, is located here. The rest of the city roads are not that different from Lombard.

So what kind of car do San Franciscans like? Compact, agile cars would be the likely choice, and indeed most cars here are on the small end of the scale, such as Civics. Not many massive vehicles like F150s or Navigators here.

One car stands out as the most popular new car: the VW Jetta. Like its chassis-mate, the New Beetle, the Jetta looks friendly and inviting. The Jetta stands out from its American and Japanese counterparts, with its sharp, angular body. The large square headlamps add some liveliness to the car’s personality. That enjoy-life exuberance is carried over to the interior as well, which is roomy and functional. The layout and materials ooze quality and durability.

Just the right size, agile and distinctively attractive, the Jetta seemed destined to proliferate on San Francisco’s tight and twisty streets.

Our streets may not be as steeply angled but they are tight and twisty. So the Jetta, new to our shores as the VW Bora (Jetta is a much better name!) should be right at home here, too. Its price range is $17000-$25000, putting it in the same price class as the larger Camry and Accord. Those willing to give up some passenger space for a livelier chassis and better looks can certainly go for the Jetta.

There’s just one problem though: VW distributors seem to have forgotten that VWs are supposed to be first and foremost, AFFORDABLE! So they’re selling the Bora here for P1.38 million! It’s a fine car but at that price, don’t expect to see it become popular here.

Los Angeles. About an hour’s plane ride from San Francisco, Los Angeles is relatively close but the driving experience is quite different. The motorists are somewhat ruder, but still quite disciplined compared to what we have here. Seems that the stiff fines, which could go as high as $100+ are an effective deterrent to speeding, going through red lights or stop signs, etc.

The opulent town of Beverly Hills is smack in the middle of L.A., so we posed as a parking valet to check out just what cars these people drive. Although we got to see the occasional Bentley wing and Mercedes hood ornament, and got to hear the growl of an NSX and a 911, we did see a lot of ordinary cars as well—the Toyota Corolla seemed to be in much use, even in Beverly Hills.

The overall trend in LA however gravitated towards the 4x4s: the so-called SUVs. Luckily, we got around in a friend’s Ford Expedition, so we fit right in the mainstream. From the Expeditions interior, which shares the F150’s dashboard as well as high seating position, we could see eye-to-eye with a lot of people—because they too were in 4x4s.

Car manufacturers have known for some time now that most off road (as high as 95%) vehicles are never actually taken off-road.So they’ve designed their newer offerings with more of luxury and practicality in mind, retaining the body configuration and tall ride height while discarding features like low-gear ratios and lockable differentials.

Taking this marketing road are the Mercedes ML320 and RX300.Both seemed quite popular in L.A., as you could spot one every few corners. Both cars emphasize car-like ride and handling at the expense of true off-roading capability. The newer BMW X5, offering even better handling and acceleration, was also much in evidence.

Mitsubishi, for its part, chose not to water down its Montero (aka Pajero).It retains all the off-road prowess for which it became famous. Its unique selling point is offering as standard seven seats within its muscular body. Mitsu hopes to tempt buyers who might otherwise buy a minivan.

Nissan counters with its affordable Xterra 4×4.It’s priced from $17,000-$25,000, about the same as a U.S. Camry or Accord. The Xterra offers ruggedness and simplicity with full off-road capability. It looks the part, too, with its bulging fenders and staircased roofline. The Xterra is not a car-based pretender like the CRV or RAV-4: its sturdy frame and 4-wheel drive are derived from the Frontier. This would be a welcome addition to Nissan’s Philippine lineup. But please, don’t price it inline with the local Camry or Accord!

Las Vegas. A short plane ride away from LA is the surrealistic landscape of Las Vegas. Forget faux wood in cars; this place has a faux Eiffel Tower, New York City, Venice, Camelot, Starship Enterprise, Egypt, all within a few minutes walking distance.
Most at home in the outlandish surroundings are equally outlandish cars. Dodge Vipers and Prowlers circled the city. Indeed, you could easily rent one for your day on the town—it would cost you, though. They’re perhaps the only two (car) models that will get noticed in Vegas.

Offered as prizes in slot machines were BMW Z3, Jaguar XK8—and a PT Cruiser?! Even if the top Chrysler PT Cruiser costs only $19000, less than a third of the Jag’s price, it was still worth perching on top of the slot machines because it is one hot car.

For people who wanted to go the dignified route, mainstay choices were Cadillac de Ville and Mercedes S500 sedans. These got the premium parking valet spaces right beside the main entrances of the expensive hotels.

Stretch limos, derived from de Villes or Lincoln Town Cars, were available almost anywhere, for just a little more than what you’d pay for an ordinary cab.

Walking is the easiest way to tour Vegas, as you get to take your pictures and let the surrealistic landscape disorient you in the most pleasant way. New (and free!) electric monorails connecting some of the hotels are a good alternative when you’ve seen and walked enough. Still, if you’ve just won a lot of bucks in the Casino and want to get noticed while driving around, better head for the nearest Dodge dealer.

Philadelphia. From the newest and wildest landscape to the most historic and dignified—the city of Philadelphia, where the U.S.A. itself was born. Surrounding the Liberty Bell in the downtown area were massive buildings dating back to the 19th century.

It’s no surprise that some neighborhoods in the city also date back to that period. For me it was simply historic but it wouldn’t take a big leap of the imagination to suddenly feel creepy in those surroundings. We drove by the streets where The Sixth Sense was filmed. We did not see any dead people, but we did spot plenty of sensible cars. Low profile, practical cars like the Ford Taurus and Toyota Camry.

With their soft suspensions, these cars do a good job of absorbing the bumps of the older parts of the city, which remain paved in brick or cobblestones. Still, they are firm enough if you do want to take a drive to any of the neighboring states, like Delaware, New York, DC or Virginia.

Which is exactly what we did—320 km to Virginia in less than 3 hours. That’s about the distance to Baguio already. That was in the midst of afternoon traffic, including rush hour. The fast flow of traffic was slowed only near tollbooths or major exits. Signs posted required a 55 mph (88 km/h) maximum speed, 65 mph (104 km/h) in some areas. However, it would have been dangerous to travel those speeds because it was too slow! The slowest traffic was traveling at 65, and if you want to stay in the leftmost lane, you’d better be running at least 75 (120 km/h). Our 8-year-old, 120,000-km Accord was up to task—no problem. We probably could have run with the odd BMW or Porsche zooming past at about 150 km/h, but didn’t want to land in jail or pay a huge fine.

Virginia / Washington, D.C. Virginia, with its idyllic countryside and picturesque homes, would be the ideal launching place for environmentally-sound vehicles like the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. We didn’t really see any of those cars around, but we did note that a lot of new Hondas carried an “LEV” (Low-Emissions Vehicle) sticker on the rear windows.
Indeed, the emissions control of the US government has improved their air quality. Open the windows and you won’t die of the toxic fumes that our local buses and FX taxis spew by the ton. You won’t smell any smoky odor, even in the midst of clogged traffic! Our local Department of Environment and Natural Resources should make this a priority—they should require car manufacturers to install the same emissions control devices as they do in the states.

Virginians, too, seemed to be practical folk. Many motorists opted for sedans or minivans, with a scattering of coupes and convertibles thrown in. The 4×4 ratio is definitely smaller here.

Just a few minutes away by driving or subway is Washington, D.C. As one would expect, there were a lot of the large sedans favored by the U.S. government. Black Lincoln Town Cars were plentiful in D.C. Private users seemed to like other large domestic cars like the Dodge Intrepid. The Intrepid’s sleek aerodynamic shell wraps around a full-sized passenger cabin and 3.5-liter V6 engine. Though their durability remains questionable, Dodge cars are definitely among the most attractive and distinctive anywhere in the world.

New York City. The most dynamic city in the world, New York City is ironically not that good a place to drive around in, particularly in Manhattan. First, there’s the parking. Public garages or parking buildings charge at least $6 an hour! You’ll end up paying more for your parking than your meal or movie! That’s if there’s parking in the first place. It’s similar to Binondo: you’ll probably spend more time circling around looking for parking than if you had just walked to your destination.

Then there’s the traffic itself. Though we didn’t actually see cars get stuck in gridlock, the flow does slow to crawl during early mornings and late afternoons. The streets are numbered so finding a place should be easy. But one-way schemes and streets that stretch for kilometers can be confusing. Don’t stop to look at your map, unless you want a dozen angry vehicles blaring their horns behind you. It’s one of the few places in the States where drivers don’t hesitate to let you know they care.

If you must drive in New York, be sure it’s in the Mercedes S500.When you drive it to your favorite restaurant or the latest play, the new S exudes wealth, power and confidence. Yet it still looks as
fast and agile as it really is.

Still, don’t be discouraged if you don’t have the MB’s Keyless-Go card in your pocket. Walking is a perfectly acceptable way of exploring New York. Even the best-looking men and women can be seen just using their legs to go around, so you should fit right in…right?

By far, the most popular car in New York was the Ford Crown Victoria. It comes in your choice of yellow or black-and-white.

Coming home to the Philippines, to a sea of idiotic buses and reckless FX taxis, seemed like waking up from an all-too-pleasant dream.

With our diminutive market, we can’t expect to have the clout as the American consumer, but the least that the car and petroleum companies can do is to commit to protecting our environment by offering vehicles with cleaner emissions.

We also can’t expect to have a road system like the U.S.’ anytime soon. Still, our road network is not all that terrible. A little discipline would help a lot in improving our traffic. Next time you’re tempted to barge into the opposite side to jump ahead of other people, causing more chaos and havoc, be patient and wait your turn. It’s just a small step in making our country a fun driving experience.

By Jason Ang | Photos by Jason Ang