Elite Auto Rental Blog

Americans are addicted to slang.  As recent examples, I would offer up “cool” which doesn’t have anything to do with temperature or “bad” which actually means good.
 
As the environmental movement rolls through our society, it too is adding words to our everyday parlance.  Consider the use of the word “green” to describe practically everything.  I recently came across a new slang term that I wasn’t actually sure what it meant. 

The term is hypermiling.
 
A little research enlightened me to the fact that hypermiling is the practice of incorporating extreme automobile driving techniques in order to get more MPG out of the old family battle wagon.
 
These hypermiling techniques are not just gimmicky; they can be effective.  For example, putting your car in neutral and coasting downhill, drafting closely behind other cars on the highway, and gentle acceleration can all add up to a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency.  Since nowadays a 30% increase in fuel economy can prevent your having to get a second mortgage…hypermiling is hot!

Although this is all fine and good, I must admit that when I first saw the term “hypermiling” I instantly thought of breaking the sound barrier in a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo.  Imagine my surprise when I found out the real meaning of the word.

 
Armed with this knowledge, I had to contact my friend Ron Sturgeon to get his thoughts. Sturgeon is the author of Green Weenies and Due Diligence, a book that catalogs the meanings of some of the more colorful phrases in use in America’s boardrooms.

“Hypermiling sounds like it should mean driving really fast,” said the author and owner of a DFW exotic car rental company.

Good, I’m not crazy.
 
This just demonstrated that people’s perception of the meaning of words depends in part on their backgrounds.  I’m sure that if you start talking about hypermiling at an Al Gore rally, the eco-conscious crowd will instantly chip in with their own tales of high-mpg driving in their Priuses.

Hang around with Sturgeon and his friends and mention hypermiling and you may get an earful about the latest V12 or the new 2008 Viper SRT-10 that just arrived at his Tarrant County exotic car club.  Sturgeon is also apt to start making suggestions for exotic car rentals in Dallas TX that he can set you up with to increase your hypermiling experience.
 
Whatever you think of hypermiling, just make sure you don’t show up to Gore’s Earth Day rally in Sturgeon’s Ferrari 360 Spider rental because the lack of fuel efficiency may not be “green” enough to earn you “cool” status and that would be bad.

 
Written by G.D. Gregory.  If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

Wow, have you heard of this new thing called the internet where you can, uh, buy stuff from your house?  Okay, I realize that I’m not breaking any Earth-shattering news with the notion that items may be purchased on the world-wide web.

But I am ever intrigued and surprised by the pure range of items that are available for purchase.  In this pursuit, I am always drawn to both the quirky and the over-the-top.  With that in mind, I offer you Candy Direct. 

Now everybody knows that candy is available almost anywhere.  Just try checking out of a grocery store with your kid and you’ll learn just how readily available candy is.  So why would I need to go online to order the stuff?

The folks at Candy Direct aren’t just selling your typical fare; they are going all out to offer anything anyone could ever want that is candy related.  Looking for hard-to-find candy, they’ve got it.  Looking for bouquets made out of candy, they’ve got it.  Looking for retro-candy from eras past, they’ve got it.  And on and on it goes.
 
Candy Direct will take you back to the simpler times of Jujubes, Jujyfruits, and bubble gum cigars.  What better way to develop cavities and life threatening lifestyle habits simultaneously!
 
My search for internet quirkiness has also led me to some somewhat grander discoveries.  Take for example Ron Sturgeon’s family of exotic car businesses that he operates with a strong online presence.
 
“In this day and age, you are really a dinosaur if you don’t have a strong Internet presence, regardless of what business you’re in,” opines Dallas sports car rental company.
 
Sturgeon appears to be trying to turn “kick the tires” into ”click the tires” when it comes to his exotic car businesses.  Perhaps his strongest internet presence is seen in his exotic car rental agency.  This company boasts an impressive garage of exotic cars that can all be reserved online by the day.  Additionally, the company’s website offers weekly internet specials that allow customers to choose from a changing menu of DFW exotic car rental special deals.

For those for whom cars are like candy, Sturgeon’s exotic car club allows members to drive a garage full of exotic cars for far less than the price of direct ownership.  This Dallas TX exotic car club accepts online applications and communicates with all of its members via the company’s website. Exotic car sharing is an excellent way to drive exotics without taking out a second mortgage.

Finally, Sturgeon operates a Texas exotic car tour company where participants are treated to an eight-hour sampling of an assortment of five exotic cars.  Again, the company’s website offers exotic car tour route descriptions, videos of past tours, and allows for exotic car tour reservations.

Whether you’re into licorice or Lamborghinis, the Internet has you covered.

 
Written by G.D. Gregory.  If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

A “supercar” that started in 2001 originally, it was the successor to the Diablo. Originally sporting a 6.2L version of the V12 engine coupled with either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed sequential automatic trans, it also had a rear spoiler that could elevate to an angle of up to 70 degrees to improve aerodynamics as well as side scoops that automatically opened to the just-right size to let the appropriate amount of air in to cool it’s engine.

Today, you can get an even sleeker model with a 6.5L V12 pushing over 600HP! For 2007, Lamborghini even brought out a new Roadster model called the Murcielago LP640 Roadster. This exceptionally beautiful car can be seen briefly in the latest Batman movie, “Batman Begins”.
The coupe’s base price? Starting at only $273,000, which is about $90,000 more than it’s smaller cousin, the Gallardo.

Maybe the first place you plan on driving your new Lambo isn’t in the snows of New Hampshire. That matters not to Lamborghini, which offers a driver-training course unique among the supercar set: winter driving.

This year’s Lamborghini Winter Driving Academy , offered in early March, gives Lamborghini owners the chance to pilot their toy in various wintry-weather scenarios. The course, Lamborghini says, pits driver and car against some slick surfaces and snow-covered tracks in the shadow of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. Professional instructors teach winter safety and year-round hints for all included.

The price? A measly $2500; includes an evening at the Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa in Whitefield, NH.

So, if you plan to drive your new toy in the snow or ice, I’d highly recommend this. Even if you don’t, the training you get here could probably be used on a rain-slick road down the road!