Hi. By the way, that gentleman in the trailer is Bill Kalin from Woodhouse. He left Blair, Nebraska on Tuesday and got here today with the new MIB "Monsta" coupe. I must give credit to Larry for the MIB part of the name. My initial impressions are as follows:
1. Excellent fit and finish - and I checked very carefully.
2. Much nicer interior than the interior in my GTS.
3. Brakes!! What a great experience to have great brakes. The stock Gen II brakes were, to be charitable, less than perfect.
4. Design: Sophisticated without the hint of cartoonishness of the Gen II GTS. The car really comes into its own when it is lowered a bit.
5. Handling: Not enough experience to assess yet.
6. Overall feel and rating: A much better car than my former beloved Gen II GTS.
7. Pedals: A little tricky. They seem closer together. But, I am already getting used to it.
8. Radio: better sound quality.
9. Instrument cluster visibility at night: much better.
10. Gauge array: I'll get used to it. It looks better artistically but I still would prefer not to have to scan down to see all the gauges. I would rather scan across and keep my eyes at front window level. The key gauges are visible at this level.
11. Headlights: Much better.
12. Trunk access: Much better.
13. Engine access: Believe it or not, it seems like there is much better access. This surprised me. But, when I thought about it, it makes sense because the clamshell opens from the back.
14. AC: Much, much more powerful with all vents adjustable.
15. Seatbelt: It goes in the regular way instead of the counter intuitive way. A little thing, but it was annoying the other way. Every time someone new got in the GTS, I had to explain how to do the seat belt.
16. Separate power plug in - a nice convenience.
17. Key entry on underside of outside door panel is a nice convenience if the alarm locks up. I used to have to go in through the rear hatch and pull the manual lever. That was a PITA.
18. Battery access: Wow! There actually is a battery access panel in the rear compartment on the left side. For those of us who have had the unpleasant experience of having a battery go dead in our GTS while parked somewhere and then removing the rear wheel etc., to change the battery, this is a giant leap forward.
19. Attention getting: I drove it to two public places tonight: a biker gathering at a local hamberger joint and an ice cream parlor. Plenty of gawks, stares, smiles, etc. At the ice cream store, there was a man with his wife and two young children. He had that Viper longing look in his eyes. As he walked past me to get in his car, I looked at his kids and said: " You've got about fifteen years to go. Been there, done that. Now, I'm doin this." He smiled and said: "I see it. I get it." This Saturday our son graduates from Medical School. What a great week!
Bob
