Gina Bean!

I slept in til 6am on my day off (woohoo!) and after bumming around a bit, Evan and I went to test drive my top 2 contenders for our next car.

First was the 2010 Nissan Rogue S Krom.  We’d already taken its big sibling, the Murano, out for a drive, but that was out of the price range we’re comfortable with and this one has considerably less horsepower (170hp vs. 264hp).  The Krom edition of this small SUV has a beautiful body kit on it that I think makes it the best-looking one of the bunch.  Knowing that we both like Nissan, that it’s a reliable car, and that it’s very affordable, pushed us into trying it out today.  (My reasons for not liking it initially were the lack of horsepower, and no leather or heated seats.)  The drive ended up being quite fun with decent acceleration.  The interior looks and feels solid, the ride quality is good, and it handles more like a car than an SUV.  AND I found out that we can get after-market leather/heated seats!

The second car was the Mazda CX-7 S Touring.  We didn’t even have it on our radar because it looks so van-like online, but it’s actually quite cute and small in person.  The turbocharger is awesome, the interior is unique and well-done, and there are a lot of features over the Rogue for not much more money (like coming standard with the leather heated seats).  It has a very sporty feel to it and the ride is stiffer, like in my 350z.  Evan and I can’t decide if we think this is a plus or a minus…we both like the feel but it might be nice to have something with less road noise and less bumpiness overall.

So…could you see us poking around town in a black version of this?