Automotive Reviews

,

2020 Hyundai Ioniq: Underdog defines value, economy

The 2020 Hyundai Ioniq, the fourth year of the South Korean liftback hybrid and all-electric, maintains the brand’s status as the country’s most fuel-efficient vehicle. Its top-line trim costs several thousand dollars less than the average price of a new vehicle in the United States. The combination of price and economy warrants consideration. What can a new car buyer expect from a vehicle that costs $32,000 and gets at least an estimated 55 miles per gallon? Key Takeaways 55 to 58 mpg combined makes the Ioniq America’s most fuel-efficient non-EV: The Blue trim hits 58 mpg combined; other hybrid trims deliver 55 mpg combined from a 1.6-liter gas engine paired with a 32-kW electric motor. Top-line Limited is priced around

Read more
,

2020 Cadillac XT6 worthy newbie, won’t alter buying trends

Cadillac entered the sport utility vehicle segment 21 years ago to compete with several luxury rivals new in the family mover revolution. It’s now further expanding its presence in a saturated SUV segment with the 2020 Cadillac XT6. It’s the manufacturer’s first three-row crossover, joining the stately, apartment-sized Cadillac Escalade. It has three rows of seating as a truck-based SUV about weight 1,200 pounds more than its new sedan-like smaller sibling. Cadillac’s debut in the class — the Audi Q7, Acura MDX, Lincoln Navigator, Mercedes-Benz GLE and Volvo XC90 are main rivals — is presented refreshingly. It has only two trim levels. Who needs to make a car purchase based on too many confusing choices with only nuances as differences?

Read more
,

2020 Nissan Versa: Still cheap, worthy and vastly improved

Nissan worked hard for more than a decade for an unusual honor. Its Versa, named after an acronym for versatile space, was the cheapest new car available in the United States. Not many years ago, the subcompact’s base price was just under $10,000. The Versa’s designation was via price only, not a rap on its quality. It was likely the best new car a buyer on a tight budget could purchase, and served its clientele well.  Key Takeaways Third-generation redesign ends the Versa’s cheapest-in-America title: The $15,625 base price now sits behind the Chevrolet Spark and Mitsubishi Mirage, but the Versa arguably delivers the most substance at the bottom of the new-car market. 122-hp 1.6-liter four-cylinder gains 13 hp over

Read more
, ,

2020 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 paces luxury SUVs

Mercedes-Benz may be the most diverse vehicle manufacturer. It introduced gull-wing race cars and station wagons in the 1950s, about 30 years after the brand debuted. The enduring carmaker’s modern-day sedans still define automotive maturity. The marque also made a hybrid in 1906 and it customized sedans in the 1930s with bullet-proof windows for the WWII German regime. With the 2020 GLC 300, one of its nine sport utility vehicle options, Mercedes-Benz is also at the forefront of the luxury people mover market. It’s the carmaker’s youngest segment; SUVs have been part of the brand since 1997. As a five-passenger, compact SUV, the GLC 300 receives a half-dozen upgrades as the carmaker’s most affordable utilitarian vehicle. But it’s well-disguised as

Read more
,

TheWeeklyDriver.com’s 2019 Best Cars, Trucks

Welcome to the 13th annual Best Cars and Trucks of the Year list, selected by TheWeeklyDriver.com. As is our logical way, we wait until the end of the year to name our selections. As in previous years, the 2019 choices were selected only from the list of 35-40 cars and trucks manufacturers provided for weekly reviews. Co-host Bruce Aldrich and I will discuss the list on The Weekly Driver Podcast. The 10 vehicles on the 2019 Best Cars, Trucks list include manufacturers from the United States, South Korea and Japan. The Weekly Driver has been writing about our main automotive vent for years. How do prestigious industry publications determine their vehicles-of-the-year selections before the calendar year starts? Selecting a list

Read more

2020 Toyota Prius: hybrid sedan still worthy after all these years

The Toyota Prius, a combined gas-electric hybrid, was introduced into the United States in 2000, three years after it debuted in Japan. It was a dream car for the ecologically minded. But its freakish looks and sluggish engine prompted brutal criticism. It was called hideous to a larva on wheels. Key Takeaways Real-world 58 mpg on an 800-mile Sacramento-to-LA test: The reviewer averaged 58 mpg — more than 10 percent above the EPA combined estimate — negotiating Interstate 5 traffic and the Grapevine grades. Fourth-generation facelift finally looks modern: 2020 upgrades include Apple CarPlay, Amazon Alexa, a 7-inch center display, and standard safety connection services across every trim. 121-hp 1.8-liter four handles highway pace without flinching: Even with traffic exceeding

Read more

2020 Hyundai Palisade: worthy newbie SUV despite odd name

With the debut of the Nexo as a 2019 model and the Palisade as a 2020 offering, Hyundai now sells five sport utility vehicles. The South Korean manufacturer doesn’t do much wrong. But making more SUVs isn’t much different than making more traffic. There’s nothing good about more driving congestion. And how is it possible to find some area of the SUV segment that hasn’t been addressed? Hyundai‘s answer? The Palisade is the biggest vehicle it’s made. The carmaker’s flagship SUV, the mid-sized Palisade features a 3.8-liter V6 engine with 291 horsepower and an eight-speed automatic transmission. Gas mileage averages are 19 miles per gallon in city driving, 26 miles per gallon on the freeway. Available with all-wheel drive and

Read more

2019 Lexus IS350, a worthy sporty sedan failing

Comfort, superior ride quality and luxury aren’t often strong sports car characteristics. Feeling the road, shifting gears and making the best of a rugged minimalist interior provides a good chunk of the appeal. The 2019 Lexus IS350 rejects the norm. Defined as a five-passenger small sedan, the IS350 matches a quiet, relaxing and comfortable sedan with an aggressive-looking sports car. It’s ready for some country road shenanigans or long, smooth freeway hauls. The Lexus IS (Intelligent Sport) debuted in North American in 2000; the 350 variant arrived in 2008. Its third and current generation was unveiled in 2013, with a revamp in 2016. While 2020 models have just emerged, the still-available 2019 offering remains largely unchanged from recent years. Three-beam

Read more

2019 Honda Civic: lagging sales, still rules as top-rated compact

The Fit, Civic and Accord, sub-compact, compact and midsize sedan siblings, collectively represent nearly everything right in the automotive industry. If value, durability, functionality, fuel economy, repair efficiency and resale value are important, there’s nothing better than the Honda trio. Yet the threesome, all rated at or near the top of their segments, are rapidly losing new buyers. It’s not logical. The 2019 Honda Civic defines the ideal compact. It’s now in the fourth year of its 10th generation after debuting in 1972. But between generations, Honda, like most manufacturers, makes model adjustments, subtle to substantial. With the 2019 model (the 2020 model is also now available), the Civic’s front end has been restyled; it’s less drastic and more attractive.

Read more
,

Aptera Motors touts an industry first, a no-charge EV

Range anxiety will disappear in electric vehicles if Aptera Motors can make good on its latest promise to offer an EV that never needs charging. The San Diego, California-based maker of the self-advertised “world’s most efficient passenger vehicles,” has introduced Never Charge. It’s an integrated solar-charging option that means never having to charge your car again. Aptera says it’s going to offer the first solar vehicle-charging system capable of meeting well over the mileage needs of most drivers. The carmaker further says: “Power required for most driving comes from the sun, not the grid.” The Aptera, which can go 1,000 miles on a single charge, is four times more efficient than the average EV. At 100 watthours per mile, it

Read more
,

Nissan concept EV defines brilliantly bizarre city car future

Concept vehicles are polarizing, preposterous and brilliant, and sometimes simultaneously. Nissan has added to the wacky category with its new, all-electric IMk. Designed with the ideas of Japanese “city cars,” the IMk has been defined by Nissan as a chic vehicle and with the clever marketing phrase, “reduces driver stress.” What car has ever reduced driver stress? Built on a new electric vehicle platform, the IMk features ProPILOT advanced driver-assist technologies and seamless connectivity features. The carmaker reports the concept “gives a glimpse at what urban-oriented cars might look like and feel like in the near future.” The design and proportions of the IMk are meant to reflect a minimal aesthetic drawing on the Nissan design philosophy called Timeless Japanese

Read more

2019 Mazda6: worthy sedan struggles against Honda, Toyota

The 2019 Mazda6 is among several manufacturers’ offerings presented in recent years to infiltrate the dominance of the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. It’s automotive competition at its finest. Beyond the Mazda6, consider the Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Volkswagen Passat. Reasons abound for any of the alternatives to the midsize monoliths as solid choices. Honda and Toyota sedans remain the definitions of consistency and have among the industry’s best resale values. The Mazda6 in 2018 sold about 10 percent of the Accord and Camry tallies, and its best annual sales season was 15 years ago. It can’t match the resale leaders. Little has changed on the Mazda6 since a mid-cycle refresh

Read more
,

2019 Nissan Titan: tough competitors, tough road ahead

Pickup trucks for many years have topped annual sales charts. With their sport utility vehicle cousins as co-conspirators, several manufacturers did what seemed unfathomable — abandon their sedan lineups. Poor gas mileage, difficult entry and exit and sometimes clunky rides don’t matter. Masculinity and versatility reign in new automotive purchasing. The top six best-selling vehicles in the United States in 2018 were either pickups or SUVs. Good reasons abound. In many instances, pickups are luxurious small apartments. The Nissan Titan is among the few trucks struggling. Sales slipped to just over 50,000 in 2018, a loss of nearly 5 percent from a peak year in 2017, according to Kelley Blue Book, the automotive research company. The manufacturer is trying to

Read more
, ,

Auction backfire halts rare Porsche sale after $53 million mistake

What’s a $53 million error among friends, collectors and vintage Porsche fanciers? It likely what was the biggest blunder in car auction history, an auctioneer with a hard-to-decipher Dutch accent at RM Sotheby’s on Aug. 17 during Monterey Auto Week began bidding on a 1939 Porsche Type 64 at was heard at $30 million. The starting bid for the one-of-kind vehicle was actually $13 million. It’s what was expected for the spacecraft lookalike. Only three of the cars were built and the prototypeup for auction is the only survivor. But monitors in the room showed the bid at $30 million. It quickly escalated to $40 million, $50 million, $60 million and then $70 million. While a stunned and quickly confused

Read more

2019 Chevrolet Camaro defines muscle car in shrinking market

One of the most compelling automotive industry competitions occurred more than 50 years ago with the debut of the Ford Mustang. It was followed in quick order by the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird. The trio represented affordable sporty coupe sensations. The Firebird ceased production in 2002, but the Mustang and Camaro remain rivals. The Dodge Challenger is a newcomer foe now in its third iteration. As muscle cars, the trio represents a polarizing segment. Loud, powerful, masculine gas-guzzlers have loyal followers and equally passionate detractors. Sales figures give the latter group some boasting clout. Ford sold 75,842 Mustangs in 2018, followed by the Challenger (66,716) and the Camaro (50,963). The Pontiac’s sales increased three percent; Ford and Chevrolet‘s options

Read more

2019 Mazda3: Can hatchback help rally poor sales?

Nearly every mainstream manufacturer has a basic car marketed to appeal to budget buyers and a flagship model touted to redefine luxury. Competition is fierce, and the extremes of success and failure can often be defined by Mazda. The former Mazda Miata (now the MX-5) is 30-years-old and is the best-selling sports car in history. But the carmaker’s overall sales and industry influence continue to stumble. Individual models, like the CX9, are highly respected. But Mazda sales fell in 2016 to 1.7 percent of the U.S. market share — the carmaker’s lowest tally. More than two dozen compact crossovers are available in 2019, among including the Mazda3 hatchback. It’s fully redesigned this year as the manufacturer tries to regain its

Read more
Previous Next