The Driving Woman

The Driving Woman http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/  1995-2008 Edmunds.com, Inc. The contents of this feed are for non-commercial use only. Sat, 10 May 2008 01:05:40 GMT Web Crossing(r) Unix-v6.0 built May 6 2008 01:30:43 (source:1029 2008-05-05 23:05:11 -0700)/Unix-6.0 (http://webcrossing.com/) http://backend.userland.com/rss Traffic Jam Help Sat, 10 May 2008 01:05:24 GMT http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/5 http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/5 Bryn MacKinnon <bmackinnon@edmunds.com> Factory Installed Navigation Systems Real-Time Traffic <IMG height=276 src="http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea72c3/cmd.233/enclosure..eea72c4" width=430 align=textTop> With in-car navigation systems becoming more and more common, the dusty, old stereotype of men being unwilling to stop to ask for directions may also extend to women, too. With a good (and easy to use) nav system, now you dont have to rely on the kindness (and accuracy) of strangers to help you find where you need to go. But not all factory-installed navigation systems are equal and many of them dont include one of my favorite features: real-time traffic. If a factory navigation system is high on your new car must-have list, youll want to check out <A href="http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/audio/articles/125947/article.html">this article</A> on the best in-car nav systems that feature real-time traffic. http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea72c5#cm Not Their Father's Dealerships Wed, 07 May 2008 23:05:56 GMT http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/4 http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/4 Joanne Helperin <jhelperin@edmunds.com> Women-Owned Car Dealerships <IMG height=339 alt="Photo courtesy of Inmagine." src="http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea71dd/cmd.233/enclosure..eea71de" width=420 align=textTop> Ward's Dealer Business, an industry publiciation, recently published a good article on women-owned dealerships. Here's an excerpt: "Women bring a different approach and style to something that has been a man's world," [Deborah Dorman, president of ENYCAR, Inc., the Eastern New York Coalition of Automotive Retailers] says. "And what they bring helps the industry to prosper because of some of the old traditional methods and styles commonly used in auto retailing today are not effective for today's workforce." Few women dealers woke up one morning and decided to buy a dealership. Most women dealers became dealers because their fathers were dealers before them or their husbands were. They learned the business the traditional way in many cases, learning through family need: filing, working the customer service desk, filling in the parts and service departments and otherwise helping out where needed. Today women own a mere 8% of U.S. dealerships, but that should change as more women become aware of the opportunities. To read the whole article, click <A href="http://wardsdealer.com/ar/auto_not_fathers_dealerships/">here</A>. http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea71df#cm Sarah Fisher and Hillary Clinton meet in Indiana Wed, 07 May 2008 01:05:02 GMT http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/3 http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/3 Joanne Helperin <jhelperin@edmunds.com> Indiana Democratic Primary Sarah Fisher Hillary Clinton Sarah Fisher and Hillary Clinton have a certain amount in common. They are both groundbreakers, advancing women's position in areas strongly dominated by men. So it wasn't unfitting that Fisher decided to endorse Clinton. Today the AP reported on Clinton's visit to Fisher's garage at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Fisher gave Clinton a team helmet and introduced her around. Of course, today is the Indiana Democratic primary, so we'll see if Clinton needs that helmet (crash and burn?) or if she'll be crossing the finish line first. For photo, see <A href="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080507/2008_05_06t123035_450x316_us_usa_politics.jpg?x=400&y=280&sig=qnxVshp5.1Zyq_PEKCkC1A--">here</A>. For more information on these pioneering women, see <A href="http://www.sarahfisher.com">Sarah Fisher's Web site</A> or <A href="http://www.hillaryclinton.com">Hillary Clinton's Web site</A>. (And please, even if you don't like Clinton, restrain your comments to something relevant.) http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea716a#cm Care and Feeding of a Drag Strip: NHRA Safety Safari Tue, 06 May 2008 01:05:51 GMT http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/2 http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/2 Sheila Scarborough <see_the_world_now@yahoo.com> Women in NHRA drag racing race track management drag strip preparation Safety Safari <div align="center"><img alt="Robin Crosby, NHRA Safety Safari (Photo by Sheila Scarborough)" title="Robin Crosby, NHRA Safety Safari (Photo by Sheila Scarborough)" src="http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea707c/cmd.233/embedded..eea70c1" align="middle" height="280" hspace="10" width="350"> </div> In professional drag racing, cars don't just launch down any old street. They need a 1,320-foot strip that is carefully prepared to handle 2,000 pounds of nitromethane-fueled vehicle reaching over 300 mph in mere seconds. Enter the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Safety Safari. It provides crash rescue and emergency medical assistance if needed, but is also responsible for orchestrating racing competitions and grooming the track. Robin Crosby has been working national-level events on the Safety Safari since 2000. During the NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, I asked about her responsibilities: "Anything that has to do with track preparation, anything that has to do with the safety of the drivers, racers, crew and our own [NHRA] staff," said Robin. "I [first] started out in the staging lanes....I used to pair up cars, make sure that drivers were in, that [competitive] pairs were correct, that they had all their safety gear on. Gear depends on which classes [of car] are running. Some require gloves, helmets, 5-point harnesses. Others require fire suits; tops and bottoms. Some vehicles require arm restraints, or window nets, or <a href="http://hansdevice.com/s.nl/sc.5/category.22/.f">HANS devices</a> [Head And Neck Support]...." How does she remember all of the rules? She laughed, "Well, to be totally honest with you, in the wintertime when the Rule Book comes out, (around the first of the year, before [race teams start] testing and tuning in the middle of January) I sit in the bathroom and read a chapter at a time." The Safety Safari also prepares the track for an NHRA event. A good starting line launch is key to a good drag race, and racing tires are slick, with little grip of their own. Robin and her crew make a sticky track ahead of time with glue-like adhesive and the "tire dragging machine." "We come in two days before the race starts. We make sure [the track] is scraped down to the concrete, we clean it so that there's no oil or dirt, we make sure that it's nice and spiffy," said Robin. "Then we start dragging it with the tire machine and use VHT, which is a traction compound, an adhesive, sprayed on the track in liquid form, to make race car tires adhere to the track. Then we run our drag machine, our tire machine (mounted with old Hoosiers Tires with the sidewalls cut off) until we get rubber down on [the track.] Then we clean it again, wash it, spray it and it's ready to go!" The work continues between rounds during a race event, and the drivers and crew chiefs are not shy about letting Robin and her crew know when they don't think the track is up to par. "You need to keep the bald spots under control," said Robin. "The higher-powered cars with their tires, when they take off they come up to high speeds and it rips off the rubber [from the track] so you have to put more rubber down either from what we've scraped up between rounds, or from powder or spray [adhesive] and then dragging over the top of that with the dragging machine.”" Everyone dreads rain, because it isn't safe to race on a wet drag strip. There's an elaborate, detailed procedure for thoroughly drying a track; the Safety Safari crew uses big machines that are basically motorized ShopVacs. They vacuum up the standing water, and then act like a hair dryer on wheels, to blast air down every inch of the quarter-mile until it's dry. Robin thinks sunshiny thoughts whenever clouds roll in - "You always try to keep positive; 'Its not gonna rain! Its just gonna blow over real quick and well be able to get out there and get back on.'" She works on the team with her husband; "I met [him] at a drag strip. He started racing, then I became a track manager at <a href="http://www.dragway.com/">Lebanon Valley Dragway</a> in upstate New York. I had worked constantly at the track, for different events, then the track owner asked if I wanted to try [managing the facility] and I said sure. The only part I didn't know at that point was financial; how to do tickets, how to do marketing, but that all came very easily." Robin used to do a little racing herself, in her <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/saturn/review.html">Saturn</a> SL2 (really!) "Yep, an all stock car, no special parts, and I always got a head start. That's what's great about <a href="http://www.nhra.com/basics/index.html#et">bracket racing</a>; you can take anything in your garage to the track." http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea707c#cm 2008 smart fortwo Gets Rock Star Status in NYC Mon, 05 May 2008 21:05:03 GMT http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/1 http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/1 Holly Reich <starzone@rcn.com> 2008 smart fortwo <img alt="photo by diane hersey" src="http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea7055/cmd.233/enclosure..eea7056" align="texttop"> Drive a <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/smart/fortwo/2008/index.html">smart fortwo </a>in NYC and you can instantly achieve rock star status. Sounds like an advertisement? But it's true. Everywhere I went people gave me the thumbs up for 'driving green', let me pass if I wanted (unheard of in the city), asked me for a ride or asked me where to get one. In other words, I got respect! Who would ever think that a smart fortwo could garner as much praise as other flashier, more upscale and expensive models I've driven in the city. All the right ingredients: It's great looking, eco-conscious, inexpensive and new to the US. And it's tiny-tiny enough to create it's own lane, to park anywhere and skittle between cars like a bicycle. But deceptively enough, the interior is very spacious with cargo space big enough to contain 10 bags of groceries with room to spare! Upfront there's plenty of head and elbow room. My 6' teen was comfortable enough to ask me if I'd buy one for him! Driving the smart fortwo is a blast: In the city, the car was so quiet that everyone was asking if it was electric. And it's so nimble that I was able to skirt around pot holes, tuck into half parking spaces and hustle down narrow streets. The engine: The 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder engine puts out 70 hp, 33/40 miles to the gallon and was given the ULEV for low exhaust emissions. When you try to get some juice in automatic the gearing is jumpy but once you get it up to speed on a highway this guy rocks. I found that driving in manual (with paddles or the shifter)is much smoother and more responsive than in automatic. If you're not manual savvy an arrow in the console lets you know which direction to shift. As safe as a brick: The smart fortwo was designed by the Mercedes engineer of the S-class, who confirms that this is just as safe. For instance, the metal body is reinforced at strategic points with high-strength steel, the high-seating position gives the passenger and driver advantages in frontal and side impact crashes, the engine and starter battery are housed in impact protection zones. The smart fortwo also comes standard with two head/neck side airbags, a seat occupancy sensor and kneepads, ESP and ABS. The price: The smart car comes in three versions; Fortwopure starts at $11,590; Fortwopassioncoupe starts at $13,590 and the Passion cabriolet starts at $16,590. http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea7059#cm