car reviews

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 3180 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?

(more…)

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 3180 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.

(more…)

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 3180 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.

(more…)

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 3180 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.

(more…)

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 3180 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.

(more…)

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 3180 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?

(more…)

2016 Scion FR-S – Driving a Slow Car Fast

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars reviews scion Toyota and tagged 2016 2016 Scion FR-S car review car reviews coupe reviews scion sports car subaru on by (updated 3180 days ago)

2016 Scion FR-S - 1 of 39

Driving a slow car fast is better than driving a fast car slow.

Don’t get me wrong, the Scion FR-S is by no means slow, but in comparison to a Mustang GT, Camaro SS, Challenger Hellcat or Tesla Model S, it has no hope of keeping up. But I have absolutely no issue with that. In fact, that is precisely what makes this car so damn appealing. At 200 hp, the FR-S has more than enough grunt to get around and have tons of fun without resorting to the type of antisocial behavior that’s likely to get you thrown behind behind bars or worse.

Cars hold a strange place in our lives. For most people, they are the second most expensive purchase they will make after a house. Many of us depend on them for personal mobility in modern life. But in many ways, cars are frequently the least rational big-ticket purchase we’ll make. If we were at all rational in choosing cars, we’d all be driving either a Prius or a minivan. There would be no SUVs or sports cars and only contractors would drive pickup trucks. But we are irrational creatures that buy cars for emotional reasons; the way they appeal to our eyes when we see them, the thrill we get from the roar of the engine, the rush we get from the acceleration.

(more…)

First Drive: 2016 Nissan Altima

This entry was posted in active safety Carmakers cars Nissan reviews and tagged 2016 car car review car reviews first drive midsize sedan nissan nissan altima reviews on by (updated 3180 days ago)

2016 Nissan Altima first drive - 2 of 28

While auto industry observers seem to be fixated on the idea that crossover utility vehicles are taking over the entire market, the reality is that in America, the midsize sedan segment is still huge and vitally important to mainstream brands. For Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Kia and Hyundai, midsize sedans are their top sellers and even at Ford and Fiat Chrysler, they trail only full-size pickup trucks. With so many sales on the line, no one can afford to stand still and Nissan is launching a major refresh of the Altima for 2016 that brings new style, technology and efficiency.

(more…)

Living With Aftermarket Android Auto and Apple Carplay Pt.2

This entry was posted in cars infotainment reviews technology and tagged android auto apple carplay car audio car reviews pioneer avh-4100nex pioneer car audio review on by (updated 3180 days ago)
Apple Carplay running on the Pioneer AVH-4100NEX

Apple Carplay running on the Pioneer AVH-4100NEX

There are more than two billion smartphones in active use globally now with the vast majority of them running either Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS. People have access to all of the world’s information and entertainment almost anywhere they go and they’ve come to expect to be able to use it anytime they want, including in the car. Thus, 2014 brought the announcements of Apple Carplay and Android Auto.

(more…)

Living With Aftermarket Android Auto and Apple Carplay Pt.1

This entry was posted in cars infotainment reviews technology and tagged android auto apple carplay car reviews pioneer avh-4100nex pioneer car audio on by (updated 3180 days ago)

4100nex - 1 of 68When you stop to consider how complex the task of driving a vehicle actually is, it’s rather surprising that there aren’t a lot more accidents and fatalities than we already have. Despite this, we keep adding more things for the driver to do on the road and designers have struggled to find a way to integrate everything into the human machine interface (HMI). Having watched the struggles of automotive designers to develop a usable in-vehicle HMI, technology giants Apple and Google have now stepped into the breach with their own solutions to the problem in the form of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

(more…)