Ride Report: 2006 Chevy HHR
Feb 10, 2006, 10:09 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Delta Diamond, Bonvoy something good; sometimes other things too
Posts: 5,055
Ride Report: 2006 Chevy HHR
I didn't want to like this car when I saw it in my slot--it looks like an uglier version of the PT Cruiser (and I never liked the look of the Cruiser to begin with). It's one of the many car models today with all-wrong proportions: its shape says it wants to be a big SUV, when in reality it's only barely bigger than the average passenger car.
However, climbing inside to grab the contract to bring back to the gold booth, I decided to give it a try based on a particularly nice interior--heated leather power seats, sunroof, fog lights, a sleek & cleanly-styled radio/heater unit, and a unique (if a bit tacky) gauge display.
The radio, which uses cell phone-like soft buttons to control the pre-set stations and some menu items, is one of the best features, and makes some of the first real strides toward improving the car radio that I've seen in a long time. There's a mini-RCA jack on the panel as well to plug in an iPod or whatever else. And the radio stays on after the key is removed up until the door is opened, a feature I always like but is surprisingly uncommon.
But several other interior features are poorly designed: the power window controls are below the heater controls rather than on the door, which is not only odd but completely out of the way* (on the PT Cruiser, at least the window controls are easily reachable above the heat & radio controls). Because of the car's odd proportions, the sun visor doesn't reach far enough when rotated against the driver's window to block the sun from the driver's face. The front map lights were inexplicably moved from their perfectly good location in every other car on Earth and put instead on the back of the rearview mirror, making them illuminate the dashboard when turned on--the only way to get them near your lap/general map-holding area is to move the rearview mirror completely out of place.
When leaving the Hertz facility I was initially unimpressed with the handling and feel of driving the HHR--it seemed kind of like the god-awful Saturn Vue--but it grew on me despite my better intentions. It's certainly no Mazda 6 or Outback (or better cars beyond the Hertz universe, for that matter) but it does handle better than the average passenger sedan. However, I constantly felt as though I could barely see the road around me as the car's odd design calls for windows that far smaller than any other vehicle I've ever driven--it's as if an SUV was shrunk down to car size, and all of the height lost was taken from the windows. That combined with extra-chunky borders (I don't what the correct term is) around the windows can make it feel like you can't really see the road around you.
The car doesn't have much power, either: acceleration is acceptable at low speeds, but above 45mph or so the car seems really to struggle, and getting it to go any faster than 60mph is an outright challenge--which wouldn't be surprising in, say, an early 90s or older light SUV, but it's been a long time since I've driven a car so weak at high speeds.
Still, overall, it's not an awful drive and having gotten used to it after a 5-day rental I'm starting to find driving it a bit enjoyable--the lack-of-power issues are manageable once you get a feel for the car and realize that you're just going to have to push the gas pedal farther down more often than you normally might. My model will be hanging out at the IAD Hertz as of about 5 pm tonight if you want to try to snag it (though given the efficiency of the Dulles location, that should mean it will be back in rotation around Wednesday).
*It took me a while to figure out just why it's so irritating to have the window controls in the "funky" places they put them on the PT Cruiser and the HHR, apparently for the cool/classic British car factor of doing it. The problem is that opening the window 90% of the time is a functional thing--you need to get a parking stub, pay a toll, pick up your drive-thru order, etc etc etc . . . and all of those things have your arms headed toward the window anyway. It's a major detour for one of your hands to have to head in the opposite direction to open the window first.
However, climbing inside to grab the contract to bring back to the gold booth, I decided to give it a try based on a particularly nice interior--heated leather power seats, sunroof, fog lights, a sleek & cleanly-styled radio/heater unit, and a unique (if a bit tacky) gauge display.
The radio, which uses cell phone-like soft buttons to control the pre-set stations and some menu items, is one of the best features, and makes some of the first real strides toward improving the car radio that I've seen in a long time. There's a mini-RCA jack on the panel as well to plug in an iPod or whatever else. And the radio stays on after the key is removed up until the door is opened, a feature I always like but is surprisingly uncommon.
But several other interior features are poorly designed: the power window controls are below the heater controls rather than on the door, which is not only odd but completely out of the way* (on the PT Cruiser, at least the window controls are easily reachable above the heat & radio controls). Because of the car's odd proportions, the sun visor doesn't reach far enough when rotated against the driver's window to block the sun from the driver's face. The front map lights were inexplicably moved from their perfectly good location in every other car on Earth and put instead on the back of the rearview mirror, making them illuminate the dashboard when turned on--the only way to get them near your lap/general map-holding area is to move the rearview mirror completely out of place.
When leaving the Hertz facility I was initially unimpressed with the handling and feel of driving the HHR--it seemed kind of like the god-awful Saturn Vue--but it grew on me despite my better intentions. It's certainly no Mazda 6 or Outback (or better cars beyond the Hertz universe, for that matter) but it does handle better than the average passenger sedan. However, I constantly felt as though I could barely see the road around me as the car's odd design calls for windows that far smaller than any other vehicle I've ever driven--it's as if an SUV was shrunk down to car size, and all of the height lost was taken from the windows. That combined with extra-chunky borders (I don't what the correct term is) around the windows can make it feel like you can't really see the road around you.
The car doesn't have much power, either: acceleration is acceptable at low speeds, but above 45mph or so the car seems really to struggle, and getting it to go any faster than 60mph is an outright challenge--which wouldn't be surprising in, say, an early 90s or older light SUV, but it's been a long time since I've driven a car so weak at high speeds.
Still, overall, it's not an awful drive and having gotten used to it after a 5-day rental I'm starting to find driving it a bit enjoyable--the lack-of-power issues are manageable once you get a feel for the car and realize that you're just going to have to push the gas pedal farther down more often than you normally might. My model will be hanging out at the IAD Hertz as of about 5 pm tonight if you want to try to snag it (though given the efficiency of the Dulles location, that should mean it will be back in rotation around Wednesday).
*It took me a while to figure out just why it's so irritating to have the window controls in the "funky" places they put them on the PT Cruiser and the HHR, apparently for the cool/classic British car factor of doing it. The problem is that opening the window 90% of the time is a functional thing--you need to get a parking stub, pay a toll, pick up your drive-thru order, etc etc etc . . . and all of those things have your arms headed toward the window anyway. It's a major detour for one of your hands to have to head in the opposite direction to open the window first.
Feb 10, 2006, 3:26 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Delta Diamond, Bonvoy something good; sometimes other things too
Posts: 5,055
I have never been able to get remote start to work on any of the several rental Chevys I've had . . . am I somehow clueless? (I've never had a car with remote start so I wouldn't know if there's some trick where you have to jump three times, snap, and then press the button.)
Feb 11, 2006, 2:08 pm
#4
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Easton, PA
Programs: Delta Skymiles, Hertz Gold, National Emerald Club, Priority Club
Posts: 247
Originally Posted by colerc
I have never been able to get remote start to work on any of the several rental Chevys I've had . . . am I somehow clueless? (I've never had a car with remote start so I wouldn't know if there's some trick where you have to jump three times, snap, and then press the button.)
You first have to press the "lock" button and then press and hold the "start" button for 2 seconds.
Szymon
Feb 12, 2006, 1:36 am
#5
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 1,031
Originally Posted by szymon
On the GM's the instructions for using the remote start are usually on the back of the keyfob.
You first have to press the "lock" button and then press and hold the "start" button for 2 seconds.
Szymon
You first have to press the "lock" button and then press and hold the "start" button for 2 seconds.
Szymon
Feb 12, 2006, 11:45 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Delta Diamond, Bonvoy something good; sometimes other things too
Posts: 5,055
Originally Posted by ezmonee
plus in the car radio menu *info menu* there is a feature to disable the auto start. many locations *not just avis or hertz* disable it, but its easy enough to turn back on.
With luck, it will be a long time before I have a Chevy again and get to try it out.