Can subbing in a completely new engine and transmission significantly change the character of an existing model? Yes, it certainly can—and the Volvo S60 is the best example of how dramatic the change can be. While last year's model (and this year's model with all-wheel drive, as we'll get to...Read More»
The 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage is a disappointing car. It doesn't offer anywhere close to today's standards of refinement or performance, when we compare it not to cars that are much more expensive but to those that are of the same price range. And those inadequacies can't mask any of its positives...Read More»
The Honda Fit has made a fitting name for itself, as the best cheerleader out there for affordable, practical hatchbacks. And with an all-new 2015 Fit reaching dealerships soon, Honda heads into market with a built-in advantage. Back when the Fit showed up, arguably around the peak of the...Read More»
No matter what you’ve started to consider in a next new car, there are two things that taking a quick spin in a 2014 Ford Fiesta can make abundantly clear. The first is that small cars don’t have to be so soulless and appliance-like. The second? Low-price new cars don't all feel...Read More»
Family sedans are mission statements, everything a car company can do well in one package. Just to make it on the family radar, these four-doors have to look good, seat at least four adults, and sport a good track record for safety and reliability. The Chrysler 200 is new this year, and it replaces...Read More»
From the driver's seat of the 2015 Audi A3, it's easy to play favorites. This new most affordable sedan in the Audi lineup has the best in-car interface—and perhaps the best combination of connectivity and clean-interface information management—of all the premium compact sedans. Option...Read More»
The world, and the United States, has changed a lot since the late 1990s, not least in the automotive sphere. There are electric cars that aren't punchlines to poorly told jokes; electric cars which are in fact Very Good Things. Hybrids are common, no longer the sole province of the most...Read More»
Recalibration. If you have preconceptions of what the 3-Series has been and should be, it's what you need to do when first getting behind the wheel of the new 3-Series Gran Turismo. That's not simply because while the 2014 BMW 3-Series GT is a hatchback and the 3-Series sedan has a trunk; there's a...Read More»
If you enjoy driving, yet need a practical, economical small car, you'd be foolish not to include the 2014 Mazda 3on your shortlist. After spending time with several versions of the new 3, in Atlanta and Portland, we can't help but gush about its beautiful shape, its eye-catching sheetmetal, the...Read More»
The answer, in a word, is 'yes.' Yes, the 2014 Jeep Patriot does drive better with the new six-speed automatic transmission than it ever did with the continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) that it's been saddled with ever since its launch for 2007. Yes, the Patriot drives better than it...Read More»
Is the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid a more compelling vehicle this time around? You might not be aware that this is Honda’s second try at an Accord Hybrid; but as we drove the 2014 Accord Hybrid earlier this month we couldn't help but look back at what didn't work last time—and how...Read More»
Once in a great while, a product can be just enough of an outlier to reach discerning, trend-conscious buyers new and old, yet not so different that it feels contrived, or paints you the fashion victim or odd duck. The Kia Soul has been that—the ‘mainstream alternative’ hit of the...Read More»
The 2014 Toyota Corolla is an all-new model, but for better or worse it has quite the birthright. For the kind of person who doesn't like surprises—the kind who lays out their car-buying possibilities in a nice, neat array; considers cost of ownership and depreciation; and keeps a new car for...Read More»
With a new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, the EcoBoosted 2014 Ford F-150, and the soon-to-offer-diesel 2014 Ram 1500 on the field, the 2014 Toyota Tundra faces a very tough challenge: convincing truck buyers to pick it over any of the very capable alternatives. Fortunately, the Tundra has quite a lot...Read More»
At last, for the first time since the now-legendary EV1, General Motors has another all-electric car: the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. This past week we spent much of a day using it to get around urban environs in Portland, Oregon, and found it to be one of the best-driving battery electric cars yet...Read More»
Small cargo vans might not be the first vehicle you consider when shopping new, but chances are you've gone for a ride in one already--or will soon. The NV200 is new to the U.S. market, but it's been on sale in 40 other countries for some time. If you're a world traveler, you've seen it before. The...Read More»
The Nissan Versa sedan was new for 2012, but for all kinds of global-product reasons, the company carried over the previous-generation Versa Hatchback for a couple of years. At last, a new Versa hatchback is here, only its name has morphed into Versa Note. Will it eventually just become the Nissan...Read More»
As we've noted before, many automotive journalists seem to own Subarus as their personal cars. We recently spent three days with a new 2014 Subaru Forester XT--the more powerful turbocharged model--driving South Africa's Garden Route along the country's south coast, from Plettenburg Bay to Cape...Read More»
The 2013 Ford C-Max Energi is a plug-in hybrid. But if you keep your trip lengths relatively short, and get in the habit of plugging in at home and perhaps at work, it does a really good job pretending it's an all-electric car. Selecting the Energi's 'EV Now' mode, we managed to do a 20-mile...Read More»
