This is the interior of the refrigerator inside the 2009 Ford Flex. Pictured is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. There was also a fluffernutter, but it didn't last long enough to be in the photo. It's a neat idea but the execution here is a little lame. First, they put the rear armrest hinge on the front. Probably to dissuade the driver from attempting to reach in while driving. Sorry, Ford, not gonna work. Humans are where we are today by adapting and bending the will of our opponents, animate or not. It's possible to get inside if one's willing to drive with their foot (cruise control is a necessity here) and contort a little. It's easier still to make your passenger do it. Its second shortcoming is the size. That's not trick photography, folks it really is that small. The third thing wrong with the fridge is the freeze setting. 12-hours and there's only some frost on the side of the water. It keeps things--and even gets things--very cold, but if you're going to give me a button that says freeze, the damn thing better freeze. Solid. Maybe I should have gone 24-hours straight.

The fourth thing that warrants complaints about the availability of a fridge is the lack of a microwave. Don't laugh. It's got a TV and a DVD player and a refrigerator already. Why not? 10 years ago I would have punched the current me for suggesting a car have any of those things. Now I'm jealous of future-Mike for having an in-car microwave.

Take, for instance a road trip across the country. You drive through a town that actually has food that looks safe and edible, but you're just not hungry...or maybe it was so good you want another order to go. Why not? It won't spoil thanks to the modern marvel of refrigeration. But then the problem arises that cold BBQ sucks. Sure, I could've wrapped it in foil and chucked it under the hood for a few hours but that's not the point.

Speaking of Road Trips across the country, today's installment covers the first few days of the return trip. Boston, NYC, Columbus, St. Louis and Tulsa!

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Not long ago I was taking a walk on the beach. There was a lone surfer waiting to catch a wave. Suddenly, a flock of dolphins -- actually, I think the correct term is a pod of dolphins -- started to play with him. These delightful creatures were swimming all around him and jumping out of the water. It was an amazing sight and the surfer was enjoying the interplay.

But, after a while, the dolphins started getting unintentionally rough. They didn't mean it. They're dolphins. They just wanted to have fun. Although they are wildly intelligent, they don't understand that humans are breakable.

Finally, the kid started to get freaked out and made his way to shore. He had an incredible experience but knew if he stayed out there any longer, he was going to get the wind knocked out of him.

That's how I feel sometimes when I drive the R8. It's a beautiful machine in a very accessible way. It is not at all aloof. People give you the thumbs-up just for beautifying their street. They want to play and drive next to you. They want to jump in front of you and take your picture with their camera phones. But after a while they start to sway too close and you really want them to pay attention to the road.

The photo above is one of several car murals decorating our office. She sure is a beauty.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

Last year we wanted to try out living with a diesel-powered car. Sadly, none were sold here in California, so we bought a used 2005 Jetta TDI instead. Since then, it's held a warm place in our collective hearts with its torquey engine, 40+ mpg fuel economy, fun handling and classic turn-of-the-century German styling. But it was dirty. Every time you lay into the throttle, it deposits a load of soot like a crop duster upon the pavement below.

After a hiatus, the Jetta TDI is back; complete with clean diesel technology that allows it to be sold in all 50 states and hopefully nixes the crop dusting. Plus, it doesn't require that urea scrubbing stuff Mercedes does. We just had to add a 2009 Jetta TDI to our fleet, so we did. We threw in the DSG automanual to try that out too.

This is the first time we've had two vehicles of the same nameplate in the long-term fleet at the same time, but being from two generations, it should be interesting to see the comparisons between old and new.

Read the Full Introduction to our long-term 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 1,356 miles

Maybe I'm stretching on this one, but as I was gassing up the R8 the other day I noticed another small example of how well thought out the R8 is from top to bottom. When you unscrew the gas cap there's a tether to hold it on. Nothing special there. But instead of just letting the cap dangle against the bodywork, they made it just long enough so you can hook it over the lid. Trivial maybe, but certainly no accident.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor @ 21,834 miles

Dear Lord,

Thank you very much for our long-term 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X MR. Thank for its state-of-the-art dual-clutch transmission, its turbocharged engine and its active differentials. Thank you for its remarkably smooth ride, huggy seats and perfectly shaped steering wheel. We are truely blessed to have it in our fleet. And for this gift I promise not to covet my neighbor's wife.

Oh, and by the way, lord. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but can we lose the Evo's wing next time? All it does is block my rear vision and make it look like I'm driving my son's car, that is my son with several piercings and absurdly baggy pants.

Amen.--Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief

You know how people claim that goose-neck trunk hinges are a sure sign of inferior quality and cost cutting, while struts are more expensive and therefore better? Well, here's a reason why that's wrong.

The struts shrink the size of the trunk opening, particularly on our Cadillac CTS. As the below video shows, it requires a bit of finagling to fit wider items like golf clubs through the opening. Once in, the battery compartment prevents you from fitting the clubs perfectly width-wise (which they did in a Chevy Cobalt nearby). This makes loading multiple golf bags or other items with the golf clubs more difficult. And since this is a Cadillac, how it holds golf clubs is certainly important.

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"That was a pretty good dinner. I wonder if (eeeeeeeeeeek!)."

"What was that?" my girlfriend asked.

"I don't know. Maybe (squeeeeeeeak!). Wait, is that coming from the (gr-eeeeeek!)."

"That doesn't (screech!) good. (creak!)"

No, it doesn't. The amount of groans and creeks coming from the B-pillar is bad. When putting my ear to the area where the sound was coming from, I couldn't tell if it was screeching from the front drivers side door or from the sliding door. Either way, it isn't good.

Is it the dirt from a recent road trip? Bonneville? Or is it just poor assembly? I think it's time for a power wash to eliminate dirt and see if that helps.

I hope that isn't salt from the Flats rotting out the subframe.

Scott Jacobs, Senior Photographer

The GT-R's spoiler may be functional, but it's also ugly. If this were my car, the first thing I would have done is find a way to remove the ungainly plank of plastic. Sure, it might make it unstable at 175mph, but I think I could live with that.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor @ 8,327 miles

With its black-on-black color scheme (no mini-cooper/FJ white roof for us!) some have complained that our 2009 Ford Flex Limited looks like a hearse. So I took it to one of New England's newest cemetery-- established in the 1720s-- for a better field of reference. Indeed, it does look a bit like a hearse. But the kind of cool hearse that you'd see on open drag nights with a tubbed rear, big block and skull shifter. Except that this has a V6, FWD and a six-speed auto.

While it may not be able to do a huge burnout, and it doesn't have those cool curtains hearses do, it is still the best road trip car available today.

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Remember when I said I could see the outline of my apartment building on the Scion xB's navigation system? Well, the Cadillac CTS tops that. This navi adds little 3D animated versions of really tall and/or noteworthy buildings. As you can see from the photo above, the digital version is pretty darn close to the actual thing. If you scan left on the map, another similar building down the street is shown along with a digital rendering of one of the LACMA buildings.

Although this mostly seems like a "Hey, look what we can do!" feature, it's probably not a bad idea to have renderings of notable landmarks to assist in navigation.

I really want to know how they do it, though. Does someone go around taking pictures of random, big buildings and then hand them off to 3D animators to create the buildings? And what does Manhattan look like? I'll have to check that sometime.

James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 14,157 miles

Sticking to the 3,750-mile severe-duty service intervals has been tricky on our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, given how rapidly we've accumulated miles. So we're late again. Discuss.

Yesterday I made an appointment for 9:15 this morning at Subaru of Santa Monica. Last time I visited this dealership, it was Lincoln-Mercury-Mazda-Subaru and the service department was chaotic. I serviced several of our long-term Mazdas here, and it was often a hassle. Now, however, it's all Subaru (with a side helping of Ford), and it's a lot calmer.

As soon as I pulled in, Dan, the Subaru service advisor, came up to my window and greeted me. Then, we discussed service options and I indicated I wanted to pay for the following three items a la carte: an oil change, a tire rotation, and a cabin air filter replacement. And since the wheels are off, the dealer throws in a brake inspection.

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When it comes to interiors, Audi has become the standard by which other cars are judged. So you would assume that Audi's flagship sportscar, the one with the six-figure price tag, would have a flawless cabin. Well, it is indeed quite nice, but there are a few sizable pieces of gray plastic that are hard to miss, like this one around the center stack display. They don't look terrible, but they are gray, and they are plastic, so all is not perfect.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor @ 21,820 miles

I walked into my local Pep Boys for a replacement headlight bulb for our 2005 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. I found the bulbs hanging silently on aisle 16B. As expected, there was no self-service catalog nearby to help me decide which one the V-dub would need.

So I walked to the man behind the parts counter and asked for a headlight, fully aware of what was about to happen.

"What kind of car?" he asked.

"2005 VW Jetta," says I.

Here it comes...

"What engine does it have?"

Yessss. I love it when the world is predictable.

In response to my half-suppressed grin, the counter-man apologetically added, "This software won't let me go to the next screen until I enter an engine displacement."

Not remembering the exact displacement, I roll the dice with a simple "TDI Diesel."

"Here it is. You need a number 9007."

"Thanks."

$10.76 later, I'm on my way back home, bulb in hand.

Here's how the change went...  

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The above warning looks innocuous enough, but I ignored it this morning and almost left our Mitsubishi Evo with a dead battery. Since you don't have to actually pull the iginition key out of the ignition, it's easy to accidentally leave the car in the accessory position. I walked away without noticing, but when I realized my parking pass was still hanging from the rearview mirror I headed back and noticed that the doors were unlocked and the radio was still on. As much as I like keyless ignition systems, when stuff like this happens you wonder if it's worth the effort.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 4531 miles

I like the variable lights. They are pretty. It's like driving around in a rock show.

I don't care if you think this is the dumbest blog entry ever, it's the truth.

Scott Jacobs, Senior Photographer