Just full of surprises

Before my car went in the shop it seemed so powerful. It's been running good, so somehow that just translated into "it's really fast." Which is a good feeling. But 170 horsepower just isn't all it's cracked up to be. Frankly, the goofy CVT transmission is to blame. The thing has two modes, go and stop. There's no way to punch it off the line. The owners manual even warns about damaging the transmission if you put on the brake and rev the engine in gear.  I never tried racing the engine in neutral and then dropping it in gear, but I'm guessing you might have to pick up parts off the ground.

I drove a rental car for a day. When I got back in my car it was like driving a turtle.