This weekend I was out of town and forced to drive a rental car. My friend made the reservations and we got put in a Corolla. At first I was excited to be in the Camry's cousin. How bad could this be, I thought.

Boy, was I wrong. First I couldn't get accustomed to having to take my keys out of my pocket before I got in the car. Then there was the legroom issue. And the fact that I could never get the environmental controls quite right. Where's my bluetooth? And why, when I push the accelerator does the car change pitch for 1/2 a second, then spend another half a second before finally deciding to downshift and then pitifully accelerate? I'm so used to the smooth instant response from the drivetrain and the wonderful torque from the electric motor.

The next day I promptly traded the car in for a Chevy Equinox. It was somewhat better, but I still missed my heated leather seats, XM radio, and of course exceptional FE.