Automotive Reviews
Posts tagged subcompact
2005 Suzuki Forenza wagon
Nov 13th
It may not seem like it, but compact station wagons are a highly evolved breed. Since most serve as the only car for a household, they’ve got to carry small families and any cargo that might present itself. They’ve got to be easy to pilot through crowded suburban streets, and ride smoothly enough to deal with a variety of road conditions. A compact wagon needs to be sure-footed enough to handle all sorts of weather, and it should be comfortable too, because there are lots of errands to be run. And on top of all that, it ought to get good gas mileage, too. That’s a lot to ask of any car, and with the added competition of compact SUVs and the growing popularity of “crossover” five-door hatchbacks, means that a compact station wagon has to be very good indeed if it’s going to succeed.
For 2005, Suzuki has joined this complicated and competitive market, with a long-tailed version of the Forenza compact. Riding the same chassis as the sedan (and, going farther back, as the Daewoo Nubira), the Korean-built Forenza wagon features a handsome design, a well thought-out interior and one of the best warranties in the business. More >
2005 Chevrolet Aveo
Oct 31st
In spite of the general trend toward bigger and beefier pickups and SUVs, there’s a segment of the marketplace that’s always going to go for the flyweights. Proud Ford Festiva and Geo Metro drivers (I’ve met more than a few) haven’t been well served in recent years. The Honda Insight isn’t very practical, and the Kia Rio, while related to the departed Ford Aspire under the skin, just doesn’t have the “small and proud of it” attitude of a Geo Metro.
Tiny-car fans rejoice! The Chevrolet Aveo just might be the answer to your small-displacement, low-cost transportation prayers. The newest member of the Chevrolet family slots in below the compact Cavalier (and its replacement, the Cobalt), just like the Metro did. It’s based on Korean mechanicals and a familiar principle: a frugal engine powering a compact body, with plenty of room for full-sized adults inside and a low bottom line. The Aveo’s more stylish than most entry-level cars have been, and has a few big-car surprises as well. More >
2010 Kia Forte Koup
May 31st
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 >