DRIVER’S JOURNAL
Day 1: The Ascent has an amazing amount of power when accelerating on the highway. Bit of a lag in throttle response, but when it kicks in, it has lots of power. My first thought was this must be a turbo! Opened the hood when I got home and sure enough, the first thing you see is an intercooler mounted on the top of the engine. It was hard to find hood release; all the switches and levers in the cockpit are easily located and recognized, except the hood release. I had to refer to the owner’s manual to locate it. Well appointed interior — loads of technology. Steering-wheel heater works very quickly. The tan leather accents on a black leather interior really suit the layout of the vehicle.
Day 2: Highway drive. Used lane departure-assisted steering correction. Seemed to correct a bit more aggressively than other systems
I have used. Has a tire-pressure monitoring system, but you cannot monitor actual tire pressure. It will just provide a warning light if a tire’s pressure falls below a preset limit and it’s not clear what this limit may be. I would prefer to see actual tire pressure on all four corners. Extremely clear rear-view camera image. Opened the sunroof; the cabin is very quiet at highway speeds with it open. Location of paddle shifters seems to interfere with where I naturally want to grip the steering wheel. Might just take some getting used to.
Day 3: City driving. Parking at a shopping mall was a breeze. Good sight lines through the ample glass made it easy to understand where the four corners of the vehicle were at all times.
Day 4: Discovered a drop-down, wide-angle rear-view mirror mounted in the overhead console. Makes view of the entire back seat and its occupants possible. Notice a couple of driver reminders/warnings that I hadn’t previously. Seatbelt reminder warning increases in volume over time if you ignore it, to the point where it would be impossible not to notice it. Gap between the second-row captain’s chairs proved to be excellent for carrying a long ski bag. Two adults could sit comfortably with the ski bag extending from the cargo area to the gap between the two captain’s seats. Choice of captain’s seats versus a second-row bench would be driven by the type of cargo and number of passengers one intends to carry most of the time.
Day 5: Tried out the voice-activated command system. Good voice recognition.
Day 6: Secondary info screen located high on the dash, just below the windshield, can provide a variety of information, from engine performance to navigation and tuned radio stations. The location of this secondary display is just a slight glance down from the view of the road and is well-positioned to provide information without really taking your eyes off the road. I found myself referring to this screen much more often than the main screen, which is located much lower in the dashboard. This second screen is a great addition to the driver information system.
Day 7: I had passengers use the rear seats today. The reclining and heated captain’s chairs were reported to be very comfortable, with lots of leg room. Never did get a chance to use the third-row seats, but based on their size and associated leg room, it appears they are best suited to smaller children or for shorter trips with adults.