Edmunds road test

In less than five months, our long-term 2016 Honda Pilot has already hit the 10, 000-mile mark, nearly a month ahead of schedule. Comfy, road-trip-friendly vehicles are popular around here so that's not a massive surprise, but even this big Honda has seen more than its fair share of action.

Our 2015 Dodge Viper has received its fair share of criticism as a daily driver. Editor Frio was "not sold" on its cargo-carrying ability and Editor Riswick memorably wasn't sold on anything. I can't really disagree, but at the same time, I developed some genuine affection for the Viper while running errands over the past few days.

In fact, I'm here to tell you that there's no current long-termer I'd rather drive to the drycleaner.

The last time I drove our long-term 2016 Honda Pilot, I took the three-row SUV on a 1, 000-mile road trip and it did an admirable job carrying five people and all our gear. Last weekend when I signed out the Pilot for the second time, I had a very different task in mind.

My plan was to build a coffee table for my apartment and both of the Edmunds long-term pickup trucks were spoken for. So I went for the next best thing I could think of: a 16-foot-long crossover SUV. According to vehicle manager Mike Schmidt, the interior dimensions of the Pilot were perfect for this sort of task and I was happy to test his theory.

A couple of weeks ago, I was sifting through our list of long-term cars, hoping to schedule one of them for an upcoming 600-mile road trip with my family. The Honda Pilot and Kia Sedona were obvious choices, but were already booked. So was our new Honda Civic. The Chevrolet Volt was available but I was worried about it not having enough trunk space. Hmm. T

And as it turned out, I should have just considered our Optima to begin with. This sedan is well-suited for long hauls.

Headrests, or "head restraints" in automotive technical parlance, are great things, providing both recumbent comfort and mitigating whiplash injuries in rear-end collisions. And in this golden age of mobile distraction, they are no less important to have in place than a seatbelt needs to be buckled.

I've nitpicked about the stereo (twice), complained about the panel gaps, criticized the non-telescoping wheel, bemoaned the lack of parking sensors, whined about the poor visibility, groaned about the super-wide rear tires, protested the presence of skip-shift in a 645-hp supercar and lamented its inconsistent ability to start after being washed.

Don't get me wrong, I stand next to those critiques, but I feel bad about saying mostly negative things about this car. And every time I drive it, I'm reminded of the one ultra-redeeming factor: It's fast. Really, really fast.

It's visually deceptive, however, as it produces more than enough power to get this sizable sedan up to speed.

A wise Edmunds editor (is there any other kind?) once called the Miata's powertrain "the most engaging setup you'll find short of an S2000: The reworked engine winds out to 7, 600 rpm like a sport bike while still providing respectable midrange torque."

Except that sagacious fellow wasn't talking about our long-term 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata. He was talking about the previous-generation "NC" Miata, which received a notable overhaul for 2009.

It's been a few months since I drove our long-term 2015 Ford F-150 but the last time I was in it, it seemed much more comfortable. Maybe it was a relative comparison to some hardcore sports car I'd been driving or maybe my butt-dyno needed to be recalibrated, but this truck is much less cushy than I remember it.