|
Faster than Flying Tomatoes: Chrysler Tests its Morals at the X Games
Whoosh! Shaun White lands another 1080.
That’s three rotations on his Burton board, flying like a trapeze artist. The only time I've spun that many times around was at the Skip Barber Racing School skid pit.
I admit it, I didn’t know about Shaun White -- missed the video game, the movie “First Descent,” the Olympic Gold Medal, the Tony Hawk tour and the reports of the three cars that he’s won from sweeping competitions like crazy. But everyone else around me knew what was up. I guess it has to do with the fact that I’m not a teenage boy obsessed with video games.
The Carlsbad, Cali native flew through the icy air in pristine synchronicity, board gleaming against the glare of the half pipe with more ice than Fat Joe on a Friday night. Crackling footage and laid back announcers offered sound bites of praise on Jumbotron screens. I flashed back to last year’s MTV music awards in Miami. Presto, the X Games in Aspen, Colorado are the Video Music Awards on the rocks.
The X Games started ten years ago. These days, it’s big money, big ESPN, big business on big mountains.
So what in the world was I doing, holding onto a handrail in Aspen? I was there testing the Chrysler Group’s technological advances to keep me safe in snow country. I had ESP on my side, well at least ESP stability and traction control on an Aspen slalom course. First shot was the Chrysler 300C. The big dog sedan threw its weight around but subtle adjustments helped keep it on course. Next up was the Dodge Caliber. I was a bit more skeptical. Growing up in snow country, small cars aren’t the best equipped for winter roads.
 Let me explain a thing or two about compact car winter capabilities. Where I grew up, snowboarding was a rebel sport in the 90s. Some of the local ski lodges didn’t allow it, which probably did wonders for its popularity in Michigan, a place where you ski on snow covered mounds of recycled garbage. We don’t have Colorado mountain peaks in our backyard or killer waves for surfing. But what we do have is plenty of January snow. And like anything deemed bad, naturally boarding was on the top of our "to do" lists. We would pile in our affordable cars, usually economy domestics with a ton of miles, and shove our gear where ever. I was a lone skier, so my skis were stashed, poles sloppily leaning across the headrest. Sometimes we still managed to squeeze a couple of skinny kids in the backseat in a way that defies all the safety laws of today. Suffice to say, it was a lot of work just to get there, but for the carefree creative spirit that went with it, the expedition was well worth it.
Well, this tough, quirky-cool snowboarding sports culture turned out to have more staying power than Nirvana or the Cypress Hill music we listened to back then. As I held onto the side of slippery rail at the X Games, I actually forgot what year it was, until I saw the Jeep logo splashed across the front.
These kids are brazen, with outdoorsy lifestyles. They dangle currents of carefree youthful bliss that we wish we could get in on, or if we are old, wish that we could have back. And capturing the needs of this generation of riders has turned the car industry on its head.
For those who boohoo the corporate feel of these events: Chill. These new mainstream sports may be exactly what we need. We live in a dangerous era of laziness. We are getting fatter. Depressed. Bored. Dumber. Blah blah blah blah blah. Our adventures are lived vicariously through reality show TV programming and our fears are manifested on Fox News. We dwell on our computers and if we exercise it’s usually done from the banality of a treadmill in front of a flat screen TV.
I can attest that I barely noticed the frostbite tingling in my toes, blood pulsing as I looked out at the Motocross jumpers. I was ready to sign up for a frisky Jeep, some fly Burton gear and sloppy hair in my eyes. This infectious adventure is a good thing. Heaven help us, but it may be car conveniences that provoke us to get up off our cans and go outside and play.
I was now pumped up for my own aerial mission. Back to the Dodge Caliber, an econo-car that is doled out for a palatable $13,000 and change. For that you get a Chill Zone water cooler in the glove box and a design that whispers brash bounciness. It’s a car for people on the go, who aren’t rolling in cash for options. When I drove it during my stint at the X Games and also in the serenity of Scottsdale, Arizona on its media launch the week prior, I can attest that this is NOT a car for lazy people.
It’s why Scion has found its niche with the young, fly and flashy. And in my opinion, the new Civic is hot on the tail with a sly marketing campaign that speaks to freshness. Standing on the showroom floor of the Detroit show, I stood by a fellow auto journo, one of the rare, young and cool guys in the game as he gazed at it. "Finally, this is a car I would buy," he said.
And how did I make out? Picture me revving in Drive, eyeing the five foot embankments with a degree of skepticism. Would my car turn into one and get stuck? It was the Caliber and I was up for the slalom course. I launched expecting a loose oversteer, but was pleasantly surprised at the trusty Caliber’s response to the patch of snow. It didn’t have the muscle of the 300C Hemi, but pep and authority loomed. I rounded a corner and hit full throttle, like Shaun White up for a big jump. And whoosh – I stopped squarely on the dime, steady and straight on my course.
Of course I love a fly luxury ride, but at the same time, in some ways that’s like throwing in the towel and saying I’ve arrived. What X Games culture says in unison with the Jeeps, xAs, Jettas, and Calibers is that it is all about the joy of the wild journey. |
|