So I arrive at the Phoenix airport and catch a shuttle to the rental car terminal. The new rental car terminal is stunning by the way, very nice and as large as some small airport terminals. I pick up the car from the Hertz garage and after a very meticulous inspection of the exterior they let me out onto the streets. Almost immediately I am playing with the throttle, listening to the sounds the car makes. The car comes equipped with Sirius radio, but I turn it down to hear the car's own tune. The modern Shelby GT-H is powered by the same V8 in the Mustang GT but has an upgraded performance intake and exhaust system that gives it an extra rumble and roar when you get on the throttle.The car definitely garners attention -- the fat gold racing stripes, the bulbous front hood and billet aluminum front grille all shout look at me. Before I've even made it to the freeway I pull up next to a Pontiac GTO at a light. The driver rolls down his window and I do the same, giving him a nod and a grin, as he no doubt expects to see. "How is it?" he asks. "I just picked it up, but so far so good," I respond. Despite probably having a 75hp advantage over my ride, he nods with admiration and we part ways.
The rest of the drive to my hotel is uneventful, although I am able to sharpen my impressions of the car a bit more. The car is very comfortable cruising on the highway, and where the tightened suspension made bumpy streets a bit rough, it seemed well suited for higher speeds. Like many performance and luxury cars, the ride, handling and noise levels are deceptively damped enough that you end up going a lot faster than you think you are. 80mph feels like 50mph, and 100mph feels like 80mph... and next thing you know a state trooper's on your tail. I tried to keep it under 80 but just nudging the gas pedal the car wanted to leap forward and swallow the black asphault in front of you. That's V8 torque for you. Hot damn, I think I actually could see the fuel gauge needle moving down as I drove along.Well for the next 2 days I didn't really get to drive it much as I was pretty much holed up at the resort and conference center for our training workshops. At least the food and accomodations were good (see other entries below). But when the work was done and Saturday morning arrived, I was ready to hit the road. One of my co-worker joined me as passenger and navigator, and we set off north of Phoenix.
The route I had picked was recommended on azcentral.com for driving enthusiasts, and it was pretty much what I had hoped for -- a nice drive up a mountain and down the other side. Traffic was a little more than I expected but we were rewarded with some great vistas and silky smooth roads. Along the way bikers waved and gave us the thumbs-up when they saw the Shelby GT-H. Coming down the other side we caught a glimpse of the red rock formations of Sedona off in the distance, and stopped for lunch in the small town of Jerome perched on the mountainside. The place we had lunch was questionably called the Haunted Hamburger but the burger and steak fries were not bad at all. And the view from their patio deck is quite nice.
After lunch we continued down the mountain and headed towards Sedona. The red rock formations as you approach the town are nothing short of breathtaking, I felt like I was driving up to the Grand Canyon, it was that level of natural and scenic beauty. Photos don't quite do the place justice, but in person it was like the rocks were glowing with red light. We found a few spots to stop and take some photos. Unfortunately there wasn't much time to do any more than that, we had to turn around and head back to Phoenix and catch our flight home.My overall impressions of the Shelby GT-H? It's a great car to be seen in and fun to drive, but not as responsive as I would like. Unfortunately the rental version comes only with an automatic transmission, and I felt like the clunky transmission was slow to downshift and really robbed the car of its power. When I floored the throttle the car didn't accelerate with the sort of authority that I expected. Maybe it was the weight of 2 guys and their luggage in the trunk, or maybe the engine was somehow restricted in this rental version. My co-worker and I came away not that impressed, we'd both driven other cars that seemed to really push you back in your seat in a way that the GT-H did not. So the car has more bark than bite.
And our whole experience with the car soured on the way home. Somewhere along the way back the radio seemed to lose signal, and not only could we not hear anything on the Sirius radio, but we couldn't listen to the FM radio either. It was like the antenna broke off or something. The rest of the way back I was relegated to listening to the engine, wind noise, and the monstrous hood rattling with bumps. And as if to add insult to injury, I was charged an extra $50 by Hertz for bringing the car back an hour late. I was outraged that they would charge me so much for one hour, for that much you can rent another car for a whole damn day. That's just lame. They made this car out to be something special, and they even checked over the car when I brought it back as if I had rented it to steal parts off the car, or pry off the Shelby badging, etc. But c'mon, the car is worth what, $35,000 maybe? I didn't get this kind of anal scrutiny when I rented the G35. I tried to talk the manager into waiving the charge but he didn't seem to care about losing my future business and I had a flight to catch. The whole ordeal has left me with a bad taste in my mouth and I doubt I will use Hertz again because of it.scenic drives in Arizona: http://www.azcentral.com/travel/drives/travel_scenicdrives.html
1 comment:
You wanted something sportier than a G35 and got a Mustang?!
Stop watching NASCAR and NHRA buddy!
Post a Comment