Automotive Reviews
Posts tagged subcompact
2005 Kia Spectra5
Dec 23rd
Down in the automotive trenches, bells and whistles don’t matter much. Oh, sure, seat heaters and navigation systems are great, wonderful toys, but they don’t make the traffic any kinder, or the lines at the Wal-Mart any shorter. No, when you’re really in the thick of it, in the dog-eat-dog world of daily errands in suburbia, it’s the hardware that truly matters.
We had a pretty serious fight on our hands. Groceries and housewares had to be picked up and shifted from one end of Metro Detroit to the other. We were staring down the barrel of some of the nastiest roads Southeastern Michigan had to offer, about to cross the most heavily-traveled roads in the region…and it was ten minutes before rush hour hit. It was a task for a Marine battalion, but it was just us and the new Kia Spectra5. More >
2005 Honda Civic Hybrid
Dec 7th
A quick roadtrip from Detroit to New York City was required, and we had a choice of transportation. A HEMI V8, or a Honda Civic Hybrid? Raw power to deal with the mountains, or 51 mpg?
We’re happy to say that we went with economy over brute strength, and it turned out to be the right decision. Although their fuel-saving qualities are touted with city driving in mind, Honda’s hybrid-electric cars are actually more efficient on the highway. Unlike Toyota’s Prius and other hybrids, which are “full” hybrids that can shut off the gasoline engine when it’s not needed, Honda’s hybrid strategy keeps the gasoline engine running at all times. By using an absurdly small gasoline engine paired with an electric motor that provides additional torque, Honda’s hybrids are able to achieve excellent freeway fuel economy without sacrificing power or performance. More >
2005 Ford Focus ST ZX4
Dec 7th
In general, small cars are either grown-up, like the Toyota Corolla and Kia Spectra, or they’re playful. The Volkswagen Golf, Mazda3 and Ford Focus fall solidly into the latter category. Like the Golf and Mazda3, the Focus’ mission in life is to prove that frugal and sensible don’t have to mean “no fun to drive.”
A light redesign for 2005 gives the Focus a more grown up face, but its happy-go-lucky nature has only been strengthened. The hard-core SVT Focus model has gone into the bunker with the rest of Ford’s Special Vehicle Team and is not available for ’05, but many of the SVT Focus’ go-fast goodies are available on a new mainstream model, the Focus ST. The new design also (hopefully) means that the quality control problems that surfaced on the early Focus models in 1999 are long gone. More >