A message to all the people I know, both in the real and the virtual worlds.

My sincerest thoughts and wishes to you during this COVID-19 outbreak.

Forza 6 Apex - Revisit The Genesis

I maybe be on a bit of a Hyundai/Kia kick right about now, but this isn't the first time I have talked about either one of these brands.

Almost four years ago, I wrote a post about playing the Hyundai Genesis Coupe in Forza 6 Apex for the first time and a quick trip down memory lane to when I owned a vehicle from this marquee. You can check that page from history here.

A lot has changed from then to now, such as how Apex has been reformatted for one and for two, I never created a gameplay video of that particular car in action.

Time to add to that experience....

Corona Kia, Part 3

Continued from here. The final portion of Corona Kia Adventure starts in Jasper National Park.

My boy and I left behind the mostly sunny (with just a few cloudy/rainy spots) and clear roads of  British Columbia and ventured forth into wet with increasing snowy trails heading East, then North.

With no signs of a plow truck to be seen, only the light traffic had cleared the highway enough to be passable, barely. Despite being a very big National Park, I only took two pictures of our passage through Jasper, concentrating more on driving then photo-documenting this part of the journey.

Much to my surprise, the roads were cleared when we turned off towards Grande Cache/Grande Prairie. The trade-off started with monstrous potholes, frost heaves and a very narrow roadway. 

My boy took this picture, but I was getting too tired to pull off a more authentic looking "Wow!" face, so this is what you get.

I found it rather odd the Southbound lane was more clear then our slippery, compacted snow Northbound route.

A quick roadside stop to defrost the windshield and wipers (along with a "nature break" since there was no traffic in either direction).

As we passed through Muskeg River, which was nothing more than a "blink and you miss it" road sign, the highway got noticeably worse. Good thing my wife is a wise woman, the winter tires were not having difficulties keeping us on the road, thus far.

Grande Cache was a Ghost Town, for all intents and purposes. With the COVID-19 scare, most businesses were shut down, save for a few stores and the local A&W drive thru, where we had a late dinner.

This is the only picture taken of the highway as we headed North to Grande Prairie. The sun went down rather quickly and as darkness set in, the roads would require my full attention to navigate. A complete lack of plow trucks, coupled with hard, heavy snow falling and quickly accumulating on the pavement, taking any more pictures while in motion could have spelt a recipe for disaster.

Needless to say, after quite a few harrowing moments and the traction control kicking on for the first time this trip, we arrived in Grande Prairie 14 and 1/2 hours after leaving Kelowna. I was exhausted and sore in the hands, wrists, shoulders and eyes. I felt moderate pain in my lower back and backs of my legs. My boy was just glad to be back in civilization.

As well that ended well, but if I have to do that again, it will be too soon.

Corona Kia, Part 2

Before I continue the story from here, I want to clear the air about some very important details.

Although all the stores I/we entered on this little excursion were empty of patrons, "social distancing" was practiced with counter staff. Even time I fueled the vehicle up, I would get a paper towel (usually above the window washer squeegee at most service stations) and use that to pull the fuel nozzle, covering the trigger as well.

Short of wearing latex gloves, face masks and protective eye-wear (which seems to be the stage the Western World is at the time of this posting), my boy and I used every precaution to protect ourselves, outside the vehicle.

The next section of the trip is where we said a slow "good-bye" to Early Spring and a reluctant "hello" to the return of Winter.

Patches of snow started as we closed in on Barrière, but would vanish on some straight stretches of highway and almost magically reappear around the next corner. The highway was devoid of any signs of life for very long distances as we got closer to the Alberta Provincial Border.

Rain would start to fall....

....and clear away like it never happened. The above sign displayed the words which would change one important thing on the remainder of this voyage.

This would be the last public restroom we would use. Despite taking every precaution (like using take-out serviettes to open the doors), I was starting to feel uneasy about entering them at all. From now on, I made the decision that we would just use nature and some careful parking of the van....if you know what I mean.

The road ahead gave a little teaser of things to come....

....and pulling into Blue River confirmed that Spring hadn't come to this part of the country, yet. After buying drinks and more snacks, we were off again.

A short distance out of town, the sky got ugly and the weather turned....

....I was prepared for escalating Winter driving conditions....

....and quite literally around the next bend in the road, the weather tapered off and the skies cleared.

While the sky would eventually return to that dismal shade of grey, the snow piled along the side of the wet road was getting deeper. Good thing my boy was paying attention to what was going on outside the vehicle, I almost missed the "Welcome To Alberta" sign.

At this point, the adventure had clocked in 8 and 1/2 hours, including two fuel ups, drinks + snacks and rest stops. Travel fatigue had just started to set in on what I would later come to realize as the easy part of the trip....

Corona Kia, Part 1

As the grip of COVID-19, formerly known as the Novel Coronavirus Virus (still called this on many occasions), tightens on Canad, I embarked on a road trip with my son to serve two purposes. First, to make a long distance delivery of a vehicle to my wife....

....and no, not my recently acquired Kia Sportage SX, freshly back from being repaired by the dealer (I will get back to that story at a later date).

Instead, it was a "first-thing-in-the-morning" adventure in a Kia Sedona (my wife's vehicle).

The second reason for making this trip was to avoid flying back up north for work. With the outbreak of COVID-19 and being trapped in this, yeah....I would rather take my chances on the highways.

The first leg of the journey was Kelowna to Kamloops, via Vernon.

Firstly, had to top up the fuel level....

....and really made an attempt to put faith into the range predictor.

The traffic on the highway between Kelowna and Vernon was noticeably less than normal, even with the time of day. This stretch of road usually has a lot of big trucks coming and going and even more small vehicles doing the same, than what is pictured.

Not too far from Kamloops, my boy and I had to make a rest stop.

Let my face tell you that it hasn't been cleaned since this COVID-19 business started (I am just guessing here).

Just up the highway, in a little town called Westwold, is the Route 97 Diner. I have been at this 50's themed roadside restaurant a few times before, but on this day, it was closed and appeared nearly abandoned.

We made it to Kamloops with plenty of fuel and neither one of us was particularly hungry, so we pushed on and out of town.

The next leg of the trip was going to take us to Blue River, where the water wasn't blue or much of a river.

By now, what little traffic we saw on the trip had vanished, as can be seen by this empty roadside panoramic shot.

It wasn't too long after that hunger started to set in, so the boy and I stopped in at a Esso/Subway in Barrière. Strong hints of Winter can still be seen.

Despite seeing them being used as taxis for years now, I still can't get over the fact that Toyotas have replaced the old, venerable Ford Crown Victorias, or just about any other North American domestic sedan.

After using the bathroom and loading up on Subway, we hit the road once again. This time, it was empty for miles and miles, in both directions.

This seems to be as good a place to bring Part 1 to a close. Up to this, there are no vehicle, comfort or road issues to report. The weather was favorable and my boy and I were in good spirits.

Little that we knew, some of that was about to change.....

Korean Kammback

The story about the Hyundai Veloster is pretty short, thus far....

Spanning two generations, the Veloster was launched for the 2011 model year, filling the void left behind when Tiberon ended production just three years before. While the Tiberon was a sporty looking, conventional two door coupe (with a hatchback instead of a trunk ), the Veloster brought out their updated version of a Honda CRX, but as 2+1-door kammback coupe.

With one door on the driver's side and two for the passenger side, the Veloster does take a bit of time to get used this asymmetrical door configuration. Early reviews complained about a serious lack of power versus the car's looks, a 1.6 liter four-cylinder engine producing 138 horsepower and 123 lb⋅ft of torque through a six-speed manual transmission as standard, a six-speed dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters as an option.

Hyundai listened and for 2012, a 1.6L T-GDi model was introduced, pushing out 201 horsepower and 195 lbf⋅ft of torque. The Veloster Turbo continues to this day.

For the 2019 model year, this second generation brought a new Veloster, the upscale Veloster 2.0 Premium, the returning Veloster Turbo, a Veloster Turbo R-Spec and the Veloster Turbo Ultimate to dealers. However, if a person wanted to get the "ultimate driving experience" form this Korean brand, then look no further than the Veloster N. Hiding under the hood lives a 2.0L T-GDi four-cylinder engine producing 275 horsepower and 260 lb⋅ft of torque, with a six-speed manual transmission.

Real world testing has shown this Hyundai Hotrod can do 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and a standing quarter-mile in 14.2 seconds at 100 mph....

Forza Horizon 4 - Feel The Sting

Kia stunned the automotive world when they unleashed the Stinger onto the world for the 2018 model year.

Not known for producing a high performance machine, the Stinger uses a shortened, front engine, rear wheel drive platform shared with the luxury Genesis G70, but with more emphasis on sportiness. The Stinger base model (not available in Canada) comes with a turbocharged 2.0 litre four cylinder putting out 255 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque in the rear wheel drive configuration.

However, if one was to step up to the GT or GT Limited packages (available in Canada), a twin turbo 3.3 litre V6 with 365 horsepower and 376 lb-ft of torque with all wheel drive will keep you planted in your seat, simply by massaging the gas peddle with your foot.

I have been fortunate enough to test drive a Stinger on two occasions and I will say the build quality and the performance impressed me. The two main reasons I don't have one myself is the price and me being me. At the time of this posting, pre-owned Stingers are on the market starting at $33,000 CDN, which isn't that bad of a deal for a broke in, low mileage, Korean Grand Turismo cruiser. New ones are about $20k higher in price (not including taxes, destination, documentation fees, etc).

As for me being me, with chronic lower back issues, I had a hard time getting into and an even harder time getting out of the Stinger. Being so low to the ground, compared to what I am driving this past while, owning one isn't really a practical option for me, sadly.

I love the looks, more than impressed with the handling and performance, saddened I could never get full enjoyment out of one, thanks to my pain barriers.

Good thing I can have my own Stinger without the pain, thanks to Forza Horizon 4.

Now I a few options to acquire one, by hoping one would drop on a random Wheel Spin (a little bonus that comes with leveling up) or bit the bullet and just bought one outright at full price....

I opted for the "deal" approach and picked one up through the Auction House and saved a ton of credits (no bidding, I went with the "buy out" price).

In stock form, the Kia Stinger was a monster, but not in a good way. The ingame version had the twin turbo 3.3 lire V6, in a rear wheel drive configuration? The vehicle was very hard to control and had almost no grip nor decent brakes for the corners. I had to fix this.

Rooting through the parts catalog, I installed the widest tires available, upgraded the brakes to the maximum and put on both front and rear sway bars. I also corrected the AWD deficiency....

A Seoul Issue

Is this start up experience one would expect before setting off on a short or long trip in a vehicle, or is it just me?

I have already regaled about how I finally wound up in a used, but well loved Kia Sportage here and I was about to talk about all the bells, whistles and other nostalgic invoking features that put this vehicle in my driveway, however, that will have to wait for another time.

Turns out the Gremlins were wanting to make an early-into-ownership appearance.

With the papers signed and taking possession of the Sportage on what I will call Day 1, obviously getting fuel was on the list of proprieties. Topping off the tank and reading up for what kind of real mileage returns was crossed off the "to do" list. Next, it was time to find some quiet and twisty roads so I could put the 2.0 litre turbo through it's paces, without a saleman sitting beside me.

I wouldn't say I drove the Sportage extremely hard, but I was pouring on some aggressive driving techniques to get some pent up "youthful expression" out of my system, but more importantly, try and get this new car's capabilities and limitations to reprogram/override my RVR experience. Think of it as upgrading a driving human's operating system....

I pushed the tires and brakes to newly discovered limits, my butt sliding slightly in the leather seat as I took corners rather briskly. I listened to the burgle and howl of the engine, felt the road through the steering wheel and my eyes were flying wildly as they shifted attentive glances through windows and mirrors. I felt more like I had my batteries recharged after having been run dead for so long.

After getting that out of the way, I drove home in a more "conservative" manner, rather pleased this Korean SUV had surpassed my expectations in many areas. I got home and Day 1 ended without incident or a hint of what was to come the very next day.

Day 2 began like the past few days, with clear blue skies and warm, early Spring temperatures.

Since we lived in what some would consider to be "borderline country" just outside the city, I had a bit of a drive, going to a small mall to pick of a few household necessities. I climbed into the Sportage and tapped the Start button. It fired up without any cause for concern and I was off.

It was a solo Sunday Drive, except this was a Tuesday, no limits were pushed. Down the hill and round the corners, a nice leisurely excursion. My heart didn't start racing nor did the sweat begin to flow until I got to the store and experience what was taking place there.

A scene that is almost everywhere.

Empty store shelves and folks walking around in masks is how I am going to remember 2020. COVID-19, but I still call it by it's earlier name, Cornovirus, has gripped  the world and people are panic buying everything, even stuff they wouldn't normally purchase. I feel like I am trapped in one of those "End of Days" movies and no one bothered to give me a script. Nevertheless, I quickly got what I needed and made my way out of the store as quickly as I could.

Out in the parking lot, I started the Sportage and was about to make my escape when something didn't sound right. The engine was running rather rough. Stepped on the gas pedal a few times, the roughness just got louder and the whole vehicle began to vibrate. I shut it down.

After waiting a few seconds, because sometimes patience can reset certain things, I start the Sportage again. Nope, the rough, barely idling engine greeted for a second time. I put the vehicle into Drive and gave a little gas. No instant power, but I was moving very slowly. "Okay," I thought to myself, "I know exactly where we are going."

My first experience with "limp home mode" was nearly 20 years ago, shortly after I bought a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am SE from a dealer. No power and a rough idle from the engine, snail crawling through the gears, that memory was mirroring what was happening right then with the Sportage.

From the mall, I planned on using "less traveled roads" to get to the dealership. I didn't want to be the focus of angry drivers by taking main arteries and suffering a complete power failure at a stop light, or worse, in motion. Manually shifting from Drive into Neutral, timing my gas peddle stabbing and easing the brakes, the trip took almost 40 minutes. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a 20 minute jaunt.

I pulled in, got out and walked into the dealership and headed straight for the saleman's desk I sat at less than 24 hours before. Turned out he got that day off and I was spotted by the manager who remembered our brief encounters the other day. He listened as I explained what I experienced and his response to me, when he took my key fob was "I will take care off this." I was shocked, since my less-than-pleasant Chrysler ordeal was foremost on my mind during this episode.

I sat in the Customer Lounge for around 20 minutes when the manager appeared. "It could be a minor issue, but I want to be very sure about this. It might take an hour, but would you be prepared if I kept it here overnight?" he asked me. I was trying to shake the stun off. "Sure," was about all I could muster from my mouth. "Great," he said, "I got a loaner for you, the gas is on me."

More on the Kona, later....