cars

2016 Ford C-Max Energi – 20 Miles of Usability on the EV Spectrum

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars crossover electric Ford Hybrid reviews and tagged car review car reviews cars crossover EV ford c-max energi hybrid phev plug-in hybrid reviews on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 Ford C-MaxLike most things in the real world, when it comes to automotive electrification, there is a continuum of approaches rather than a binary electric or not. At the minimal end, you’ll find automatic stop-start systems while the maximal solution relies on electric motors alone for propulsion. Lying somewhere in between is the Ford C-MAX Energi, the Dearborn automaker’s first production plug-in hybrid. After three years on the market, is the C-MAX Energi a good solution for those interested in going electric without range anxiety?

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2016 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium – Extra Traction on a Budget

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars reviews Subaru technology and tagged all-wheel-drive car review car reviews cars driver assist legacy reviews subaru on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 subaru legacySometimes being ahead your time can kill a business because there aren’t enough customers that understand to sustain you. On the other hand, if you can round up enough true believers you might just hang in there until the world begins to see things your way. Fortunately for Subaru, the latter seems to have been the case and the 2016 Legacy sedan is a perfect case in point.

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2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Review

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Hybrid Hyundai reviews technology and tagged 2016 Hyundai sonata hybrid car review car reviews cars hybrid hybrid electric reviews on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid - 1 of 28

Five years after launching its first hybrid electric vehicle, Hyundai is at it again with the second-generation Sonata hybrid. Hyundai went its own way with the powertrain architecture it developed in-house. Unlike the two-motor power-split systems used by Toyota, Ford and GM when it debuted in 2010, the Sonata had a single-motor system with a fairly conventional six-speed automatic. Hyundai priced the Sonata hybrid aggressively and it sold well but it wasn’t considered as refined as some of the competition. I spent a week with the 2016 Sonata Hybrid Limited to see how it compares.

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2016 Mercedes-Benz GLC300 4Matic

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars crossover Mercedes-Benz reviews and tagged 2016 mercedes-benz glc300 4matic car review car reviews cars crossover reviews on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 Mercedes-Benz GLC300 4Matic - 3 of 28One of the downsides of having a seemingly ever-expanding lineup of vehicles with arbitrary alphanumeric badges is that over time, customers will become completely confused about what those nonsensical names mean and where models fit into the lineup. This problem has afflicted every brand using this kind of naming strategy including Mercedes-Benz. 2015 saw the Stuttgart marketing mavens completely realign their model badging including compact GLK SUV which has now been redesigned and renamed the GLC. So does a new look and name help the 2016 GLC300 4Matic better compete in the hotly contested compact SUV/crossover? Read on.

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2016 Mazda CX-3 Grand Touring – Has It Hit That “Just Right” Mix Yet?

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars crossover Mazda reviews and tagged 2016 mazda cx-3 car review car reviews cars crossover reviews on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 Mazda CX-3 Grand Touring - 3 of 25The sub-compact crossover utility has been one of the fastest growing market segments in the industry over the past few years. As of the time I sit to write this in January 2016, there are 10 entries available in the American market with several more to come in the next few years including Ford, Hyundai and probably GMC. Of the examples I’ve driven in the past year including the Chevrolet Trax, Nissan Juke and Honda HR-V, each has elements to recommend it, but like Goldilocks looking for a place to nap they were each too hard or soft in some respect. Did Mazda get it “just right” with the CX-3?

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2016 Kia Sorento SXL 2.0T – The Crossover Is The New Station Wagon

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars crossover Kia reviews and tagged 2016 kia sorento car review car reviews cars crossover reviews on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 Kia Sorento SXL - 1 of 30I give up, the crossover utility vehicle is new station wagon. There I said it. For what seems like forever, I’ve been advocating the station wagon over SUVs and crossovers. However with the distinct exception of Volkswagen’s Jetta/Golf Sportwagen, Americans steadfastly refuse to buy them, even when an automaker like GM builds one as awesome as the late Cadillac CTS-V. Thus I am giving up the battle and accepting defeat. Buying cars is often an irrational choice but modern crossovers like the latest Kia Sorento have overcome most of my complaints and are about as rational as many customers will get.

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2016 Nissan Maxima SL – Not a Sports Car But It Doesn’t Need To Be

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Nissan reviews and tagged 2016 nissan maxima car review car reviews cars nissan reviews sports sedan on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 Nissan Maxima SL - 1 of 28

The 2016 Nissan Maxima may have the long-running 4DSC badge molded into the rear turn signal lenses but I’m not going to classify this as a sports car. There, I said it, now let’s move on and talk about what this car actually is and what it’s about. The all-new eighth-generation of the flagship of Nissan’s car line launched a few months ago with a dramatic new design and a host of technical upgrades. After a preview drive last June, I finally got to spend some extended time with the Maxima just before Christmas.

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2015 Kia Forte5 SX – Korea Does a Hot-Hatch Right

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Kia reviews and tagged 2015 kia forte5 sx car review car reviews cars forte5 hot hatch kia kia forte reviews on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 Kia Forte5 SX - 6 of 24Forty years ago, with the addition of three little letters to the compact Golf, Volkswagen established a market segment that persists to this day. The quick and sustained success of the GTI has since inspired virtually every automaker to create their own interpretation on the “hot hatch” idea. Over the years hot hatches have waxed and waned in popularity but they have never completely gone away and in recent years they have had something of a resurgence with cars like Ford’s Focus ST, Fiesta ST and my most recent ride, the Kia Forte5 SX.

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2016 Toyota Corolla S Plus 6MT – Think Scion Instead

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars reviews scion Toyota and tagged 2016 toyota corolla s car review car reviews compact corolla reviews toyota on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 Toyota Corolla S - 4 of 21Compared to the rest of the world, the American automotive market is an anomaly in ways. No where else will you find fullsize pickup trucks selling in such enormous numbers with the big trucks from Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler being the perennial best-sellers for years on end. Move beyond our borders however, and so-called C-segment or compact cars dominate the market. For nearly five decades one of the continuous top-sellers in that space has been the Toyota Corolla in all its different flavors. While Corolla buyers elsewhere get to choose from a variety of body styles, Americans are limited to a four-door sedan unless they opt for the related Scion iM hatchback.

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2016 Toyota Tundra Limited Double-Cab 4×4 – Much Improved, But Is It Good Enough to Compete?

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars reviews Toyota Trucks and tagged 2016 toyota tundra car review car reviews pickup reviews toyota tundra on by (updated 3142 days ago)

2016 Toyota Tundra - 1 of 24

The American light vehicle market is a unique beast in the world. Nowhere else on the planet will you find so many full-size pickup trucks in use and representing such a large proportion of total vehicle sales. Through October, 2015, Americans bought 1.78 million fullsize trucks, 12.3 percent of the year-to-date total. It’s also the only market segment where the three Detroit based automakers have remained utterly dominant despite challenges from Japan. As the world’s largest automaker, Toyota looked at the profit margins that Ford, GM and Chrysler were pulling in on those trucks and it’s been trying to capture a piece of that pie for more than two decades with surprisingly limited success. In 2013, Toyota gave the Tundra pickup a major makeover and it’s better than ever – but is it good enough?

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