automation

I drove the IS350 to work today and it was remarkable what a contrast it is to driving my MR2 Spyder to work. With the Spyder, everything is involving and requires your constant attention. You're shifting gears constantly, making corrections with the steering wheel to stay within the lane because the suspension and tires will pull or bounce the car to one side or another with every imperfection in the road, the engine and exhaust are roaring behind you like a busy factory of machines. It's a driver's car, for sure.


In the IS it's like the car does everything for you. You walk up to the car and you don't even need to take the key out of your pocket, the door unlocks as you pull on the handle. You push the start-stop button and the engine fires to life. The power steering wheel comes out and down into your waiting hands. Gear selection is optional with the 6-speed transmission. The headlights come on if it's dark, without your intervention. A little downpour of rain as I near the offramp? The wipers come on unbidden, to sweep the windshield clean. The climate control system quietly adjusts the fan speed and temperature of air coming out of the vents to maintain the proper comfort level. Man, do I have to do anything other than be a passenger? Thankfully, yes. The car lunges forward when I tip into the throttle, and the brake pedal feels reassuringly firm. Cornering is flat and tight as I whip it into a turn. And there's always the question of what song I want to hear as I cruise my way to the office in comfort. Is it a driver's car? Maybe it is in a different sort of way, but it certainly is less work.

It's hard not to feel superior to everyone else in the world when you're driving this car. Even in the harshest rainstorm or slickly wet roadways the car feels so surefooted, so confidently stable. Drivers in BMWs and Hondas alike pull into the slow lane, nervous that the next puddle of standing water or gust of wind will spin them off the road. While I continue at a relentless pace, at peace with the world within, despite the turmoil of the world without.