I think the Buick slogan, “That’s a Buick” is pretty clever, because the brand has truly changed my (and I’m sure other people’s) perception of what a Buick is.
Thanks to Buick Canada, I had the opportunity to test drive a 2019 Buick Envision to Montreal in April. And I comfortably drove for 2.5 hours straight; this is the longest stint I’ve ever been behind the wheel ever since I started driving at the age of 18. And I felt comfortable (great ergonomic design), safe (thanks to features such as the heads up display making me aware of my speed and blind-spot detection system) and aesthetically, the car’s very sleek (appealing to my design sense — check out the dashboard in the photo below; and love the huge sunroof!) and the Envision we test drove was in the Galaxy Silver Metallic, which is the colour I would get the car in (although the Summit White is pretty hot, too). Oh, and the OnStar (which provides turn-by-turn navigation and if you know me at all, I have zero sense of direction) and 4G LTE WiFi hotspot (which I used aplenty when I was a passenger to catch up on work). And the car had Sirius and I was able to listen to all my faves:
Plus there was plenty of space, both in terms of leg room (Billie Jean curled up in the floor area of the passenger side) and in the trunk (we drove back with several dozen bagels and loads of food that my mom cooked, and she cooked for days and days since she knew I had a car that I could load up).
Even though I grew up in Montreal, it was great to have the Envision to try somethings I’d never done in my hometown. I got a chance to see the two apartments I lived in as a baby (which I’d never been back to before); we stopped for a sweet and creamy drink at Orange Julep (which I haven’t been to since I was a kid even though I have passed by it for years on the way downtown); and we hiked with Billie Jean on a trail I’ve never been to at Mount Royal, one just off of the observation deck area.
Yep, that’s a Buick, and it’s a car I’d seriously consider when it comes time to get a car.
Thank you GM Canada for the test drive where I got to explore a bit of my childhood and discover new things to in the city I grew up in! I think Billie Jean enjoyed seeing where I came from!
To help celebrate the upcoming Father’s Day (did you get your dad a gift yet??), Ford Canada invited me to drive a Mustang GT and Ford RS on a race track, and I brought along my good friend Damian (and he’s a dad, so there’s my gift to you, D!). I’ve filed this under Fitness Swellness…’cause it’s a sport, right, kinda sorta?
So we drove out to Toronto Motorsports Park, and it was both of our first times driving on a race track. I was kind of nervous…here I am thinking, “Uh…can I do this?!?”
I let Damian go first since I was a bit unsure about getting on the track, but soon enough it was my turn. Got into the Ford RS and our Ford instructor Malcolm took me out on a recon lap. I only realized once we started out that the car was standard, and I wasn’t confident I could get the car into third gear (I’ve tried to learn to drive standard a few times and it has not gone well, it really stresses me out!), so I didn’t do laps around the track in this car, but instead tried to commit to memory the turns and paid attention to how to handle them based on Malcolm’s talking me through the process as he drove. Turns out, for me anyhow, it’s hard to memorize the curvy track! I did get a feel for the car, though, and felt very safe (those Michelin Cup 2 Track summer tires never felt like we were sliding all of the track). I’m not a car geek, but if you’re wondering the Ford RS has Ford Performance all-wheel drive system with Dynamic Torque Vectoring, turbocharged eco-boost engine and you can select from Normal, Sport, Track and Drift modes.
Next was my turn to drive the Mustang GT. I did three (or was it two–the laps are all blurring together now) and it was fun! It’s hard hugging those corners the way you’re supposed to and always looking a step ahead for the next pylon so as to plan where you’re maneuvering the car! The GT, like the Ford RS, has modes you can select (Normal, Snow/Wet, Sport or Track), and 435 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. It also has blind-spot info system (which I didn’t have to use on the track!), and I wish I could tell you how fast I drove it on the straightaways but I kept my eyes on the track and peeled for the next pylon so I could make my turns.
Here’s a pretty funny video of our track adventure that Ford put together:
To end our track adventure, we each got to sit in the car as the instructor did a hot lap, and I got to see how I should’ve been getting the GT around the track! It was way, way, way faster than what I drove but I probably didn’t have to tell you that.
Thanks for the fun afternoon, Ford Canada! Now I can check “race a car on a track” off my bucket list!
How can it be fall already? I’m still catching up on summer blog posts, oopsie. Like back in June (June!), I spent the afternoon with Ford Canada learning about the Ford Edge crossover vehicle and also doing a bit of “living on the edge” — more on that in a bit.
The Ford Edge has a number of cool features I discovered that day. I can’t talk to you about horsepower (and I doubt you expect me to!), but how about the nifty tiny jetwasher that keeps the camera clean? Whenever I’ve driven a Ford, having that rearview camera help me with parking, and now the view is not only kept clean with this jetwasher, but the camera technology is such that it allows you to see around corners (viewing things that you just seated in the driver’s seat can’t!). For example, way before you spot a pedestrian walking past behind your car, you’ll view them on the screen.
And parking has never been my forte (friends can attest to that…) and I’m a huge fan of active park assist. Now it’s been enhanced. Some features of enhanced park assist: There are now sensors that help you with perpendicular parking and as for parallel parking, the feature now helps you with parallel parking on either the left or right side of the road.
And a feature I’m fond of (as is a friend of mine who also drove a Ford with me recently: blind-spot information system. There are radar modules on the vehicle and when a vehicle is in your blind spot area, a small light in the corresponding rearview mirror blinks on.
My fourth favourite feature: the lane-keeping system. A camera in the car monitors your driving compares to the lines on the road that define the lane. If the camera detects movement that indicates you may be drowsy, the car alerts you and recommends you take a break.
Having the experience of driving with these features in the Ford Edge allowed me to drive and live on the edge, as they framed it, but all safely. And it’s all about safe driving now, isn’t it?
To top off the day, we literally got to live on the edge by taking part in the CN Tower EdgeWalk. If you’re not familiar with it, it involves being harnessed basically at the top of the CN Tower, walking around the Tower, while also completing a number of poses. I don’t particularly have a fear of heights and based on photos I’d seen of the EdgeWalk, I’ve always thought the experience looked a bit lame.
LET ME TELL YOU I WAS OH SO WRONG.
So the actual walk around the Tower is a bit boring as I’d expected, and I found most of the poses quite easy to complete. Leaning at a 45-degree angle with the harness holding you securely? No problem; all I had to do was stare straight out towards the horizon. But one pose had me shaking with fear and I just barely completed it. This was when we were to step to the edge of the platform and have our toes extended over the edge of the platform. For me, the reason this had me shaking like an 8.0 magnitude earthquake is because having to extend your toes over the platform meant I was forced to look down…down alllllllllllll the way to the cement streets and sidewalks of downtown Toronto. I can feel my heart beating faster just typing about the experience. I failed on my first try (stepping back quickly) but the second try I forced myself to get the very tippy toes of my shoes over the edge for the quickest moment, before stepping back to stand solidly on the platform.
It was the exhilarating way to cap off the day (a day in which I even drove in rush-hour Toronto traffic, which in and o f itself is its own adventure, haha, through various neighbourhoods I don’t usually get to, so it was a bit like being a tourist in my own city). Thank you, Ford Canada, for the adrenaline rush!
