Automotive Reviews
Archive for May, 2010
2010 Kia Forte Koup
0719 days
You don’t see many entry-level compact coupes these days. They were popular for about fifteen minutes a few years ago, and then the market got all sensible with crossover vehicles and hatchbacks again. High-end two-doors are common enough, and the new muscle car war has plenty of big-engined coupes leaping into the fray. But if you’re looking for a trunk-backed coupe at the sub-$20,000 end of the market, what do you have? There’s the Scion tC, of course, and the Honda Civic coupe. Ford’s Focus will be available as a two-door coupe for the rest of 2010 at least, but it’s gone once the next-generation Focus arrives in early 2011. The Chevrolet Cobalt coupe is going the same way; its replacement, the Cruze, won’t have a two-door model. (more…)
2004 MINI Cooper S
0729 days
I just have to admit that automotive-journalistic integrity goes right out the window when it comes to the MINI Cooper. Whether you’re a car guy who likes a responsive, excellent-handling vehicle, or a commuter who only wants to get from Point A to Point B, there are few finer pleasures than nipping through traffic in a MINI, and that’s just the way it is. Personally I’d rather have a MINI than a Ferrari, even though I certainly wouldn’t be able to keep up with the Italian sports car. It’s all about personality.
2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
0729 days
Here’s a not-so-secret fact: the quickest way to get me to fall in love with a sedan that I generally approve of but am not excited about is to turn it into a station wagon. Tack a cargo area on the rear end, and a competent sedan turns into a chariot made of awesome. That’s just the way I roll.
That said, it’s no surprise that I was happy to hear of Cadillac’s plans to create a sport wagon out of the CTS, and even happier to meet it. The CTS is a standout among compact luxury sedans, combining Cadillac’s angular and upscale new styling with competent road manners without losing its basic American-ness. Taking that existing goodness and adding a boxy cargo space on the back? A surefire hit, at least in my eyes. But will the rest of the world agree? After all, this would be Cadillac’s first attempt at a true station wagon–those Caddy wagons that you might have seen occasionally during the 1950s and 1970s were all coachbuilt vehicles, not true Cadillacs. (more…)