Automotive Reviews
Posts tagged subcompact
2012 Toyota Corolla
Jan 10th
“Beige” is fast becoming automotive-enthusiast shorthand for “dull and uninteresting appliance, so some might think it fitting that the 2012 Toyota Corolla that arrived in my driveway was painted Sandy Beach Metallic. You’ve probably already guessed that’s a fancy name for a metallic beige color.
The Corolla makes no apologies for being a driving appliance, though, and it doesn’t need to. The sturdy, reliable Corolla is the Maytag of automotive appliances not matter what color it is, with a well-deserved reputation for drama-free ownership. For 2012, the Corolla is largely unchanged after its 2011 refreshing. Toyota’s added a few features to the standard-equipment list and improved the sound systems, and left everything else be.
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2011 Ford Focus
Oct 20th
It’s hard to believe it took this long for the Focus to get here. If you’re not a car person, you might not realize that the Europeans have been getting the “good” version of the Ford Focus for many years. The Focus sold here was something of a dinosaur, first developed in 2000 and allowed to soldier along with significant updates but missing out on the whole-car redesigns that the European version benefitted from. There was talk of bringing the “Euro-Focus” to the United States, but it’s been a long time materializing.
For 2012, the Focus finally appears in the same form as overseas, and the result is a significant upgrade. The all-new 2012 Focus spans the range of the compact spectrum, with affordable entry-level versions and enough amenities available to turn it into a premium compact.
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2011 Scion xD
Oct 11th
There’s some question as to if Scion has lost its cutting-edge mojo. The brand has gotten a bit conservative thanks to influence from parent company Toyota, and Kia and Nissan are fielding edgier subcompacts these days. The new microcompact iQ is interesting, but has limited appeal, the redesigned tC is an excellent car but arguably less in-your-face than it has been in the past, and the boxy xB has faded almost entirely into the woodwork thanks to an influx of cube-shaped vehicles from Kia, Nissan and others.
Somewhere behind the xB in terms of curbside crowd-drawing ability is the xD. Unchanged since 2008, the xD is perhaps exempt for the moment from the pressure to be the attention-getter of the family. In fact, there’s a chance it might’ve been cancelled by now if it weren’t for the upsurge in gas prices. And it’s precisely that upswing that keeps the xD, which isn’t fresh in hip-car terms, from being hopelessly out of date. More >