{"id":57255,"date":"2014-04-07T00:31:08","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T07:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/?p=57255"},"modified":"2016-11-26T00:02:41","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T08:02:41","slug":"waj-media-days-ride-and-drive-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/waj-media-days-ride-and-drive-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"WAJ Media Days Ride and Drive -Automotive Playland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"\/2014-waj-media-days\/\">WAJ Media Days<\/a> were intense, crazy, and overwhelming &#8211; all in a good way, of course. With 64 cars from\u00a025 automotive brands on hand and the\u00a0ability<span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">\u00a0to\u00a0jump in any\/all of them, it was quite an experience. In addition to meeting some new manufacturer reps and WAJ members, it was a pleasure to meet some of the ones I&#8217;ve previously been in contact with in person. The highlight was the Ride and Drive event.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Media Days &#8211; Monterey Back Roads Ride and Drive<\/h3>\n<p>As I was the WAJ member, I did all the driving and Frans was my photographer, navigator, etc. We had four main routes and drove the following:<\/p>\n<p><strong>BMW X5 xDrive35i<\/strong><br \/>\nThis is a beautiful car that excels in design and functionality. The X5 was so smooth that it was like floating over the road, no matter how rough it might be.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pros: Wide and clear audio\/navigation display, double vents, driver seat adjustable back width (hugs you on the sides), smooth acceleration, quiet, light suspension<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">Cons: Fussy t<\/span>urn indicators, s<span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">mall steering wheel<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-57257\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-bmw-x5.jpg\" alt=\"WAJ Media Days Ride and Drive Car Reviews - BMW X5 #MediaDays2014\" width=\"650\" height=\"609\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-bmw-x5.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-bmw-x5-292x274.jpg 292w, https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-bmw-x5-585x548.jpg 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Toyota Tundra<\/strong><br \/>\nThe extra cab provides enough room for company but isn&#8217;t ideal for curving backroads or short people.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pros: Extra cab, dash display unobstructed by steering wheel<\/li>\n<li>Cons: Sluggish acceleration, narrow rear-view mirror, hard seats, hard-to see\u00a0audio\/navigation display with heavy glare, wide turn radius, floor set deep<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT<\/strong><br \/>\nSolid SUV that handled everything I threw at it. The tight suspension was great for turns but gave me a headache on long stretches of bumpy pavement.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pros: Comfortable seats, automatic downshifting, substantial steering wheel, hugs turns, powerful<\/li>\n<li>Cons: Controls in odd places, extremely tight suspension, overloaded dash display but no option to show navigation in it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Chevrolet Corvette Convertible<\/strong><br \/>\nI can now say that I drove a Corvette but it was more of a novelty than a proper road test. Uneven surfaces and curvy roads at 30 mph resulted in overly cautious driving and non-stop shifting. It was also a challenge to get the right gears (the 6th and 7th gears kept throwing me off).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pros: Looks slick, convertible, speedometer projected on windshield<\/li>\n<li>Cons: Very low to the ground, cumbersome convertible operation, seven gears<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-57258\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-03.jpg\" alt=\"WAJ Media Days Ride and Drive Car Reviews - Toyota Tundra, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, Chevrolet Corvette Convertible #MediaDays2014\" width=\"650\" height=\"650\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-03.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-03-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-03-292x292.jpg 292w, https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-03-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-03-640x640.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Quickie Test Drives Around the Loop<\/h3>\n<p>After returning to the main venue, we had another hour to take other cars around a designated &#8216;loop&#8217;.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dodge Challenger RT Shaker<\/strong><br \/>\nAs a loud, muscle car with minimal extra, this is really the kind of car of some teen boy\/young guy. &#8216;Nuff said.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cadillac ELR<\/strong><br \/>\nLuxury hybrid with a surprisingly rugged feel, making it more appealing to a younger crowd. Tight suspension but almost too tight for anything other than smooth asphalt.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Land Rover Range Rover Sport<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Range Rover has an overall aesthetically pleasing interior and takes next to no effort to drive. Automatic rain detector came in handy during the inclement weather.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Whew, after six hours of backroad driving (and getting lost) in seven different cars, I was pooped. It had been ages since I drove a manual stick-shift so the constant changing of gears around turns wore me out. Taking ownership of everything else while I focused on driving was tiring for Frans as well. It was really a unique experience in entering the world of automotive journalism.<\/p>\n<p>I also found one other fact to be true, age and physical\u00a0frailties\u00a0can&#8217;t keep boys from playing with\u00a0their toys. Each journalist was assigned to a group of four. However, when the groups 1-2 was invited to head out, it seemed like some 30 people left the room. Yeah, &#8216;waiting your turn&#8217; was pretty non-existent among many attendees. Next time we&#8217;ll be better prepared to get in our &#8216;first choice&#8217; models and maybe even get the confidence to tackle the racetrack portion!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-57259\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-04.jpg\" alt=\"WAJ Media Days Ride and Drive Car Reviews #MediaDays2014\" width=\"650\" height=\"444\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-04.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-04-292x199.jpg 292w, https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-04-585x400.jpg 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WAJ Media Days were intense, crazy, and overwhelming &#8211; all in a good way, of course. With 64 cars from\u00a025 automotive&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":57256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WAJ Media Days Ride and Drive -Automotive Playland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out the 2014 WAJ Media Days Ride and Drive event with 64 cars from 25 brands. Read our first impressions of the cars and of the event. 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Photos included\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/waj-media-days-ride-and-drive-2014\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Family Lifestyle Mom Blog Cookies &amp; Clogs | San Francisco Bay Area California\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cookiesandclogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tvangosliga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-07T07:31:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-26T08:02:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/waj-media-days-drive-01.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TerriAnn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/cookiesandclogs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cookiesandclogs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TerriAnn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/waj-media-days-ride-and-drive-2014\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/waj-media-days-ride-and-drive-2014\/\",\"name\":\"WAJ Media Days Ride and Drive -Automotive Playland\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-07T07:31:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-26T08:02:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b95c57e00d7c09d5c3b26ea509c231f1\"},\"description\":\"Check out the 2014 WAJ Media Days Ride and Drive event with 64 cars from 25 brands. 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