BMW hopes the 2009 7 Series will upend competition from Mercedes-Benz and Lexus with better performance and luxury perks. In this video, Cars.com’s Kelsey Mays proves he’s around to do more than make bad automotive jokes; here, he explains where the 7 Series is a cut above and where he finds it lacking. Oh, and he also manages to get in a few bad jokes.
As Cars.com’s Kelsey Mays points out, the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO has one of something for every day of the year (except in leap years). To find out what this is, you’ll have to watch the video. To find out if the high-performance version of the Taurus is worth a price tag that puts it in the realm of faster high-performance cars, you’ll have to hear what Mays has to say about the SHO.
The Mazda MX-5 Miata made its debut at the Chicago auto show 20 years ago. For this special anniversary, the redesigned 2009 Miata gets a thorough look from Cars.com’s Joe Wiesenfelder. He scrutinizes everything from the so-called “smiley” grille to the interior seating and explains why he thinks the Miata might still have a decent shot at being a Recession-era winner. Check out the full video above.
The idea of a blocky subcompact was made popular by the Scion xB and Chrysler PT Cruiser. Now, the econobox category is growing larger with the addition of the new Kia Soul and Nissan Cube.
At the Chicago auto show, Suburban Dad Patrick Olsen got a chance to see the vehicles up close. Watch as he sizes up each vehicle’s strengths and weaknesses and makes a final verdict on which entry is best.
The Genesis coupe — shown in a Hyundai Super Bowl spot hot-dogging around Georgia’s Road Atlanta racetrack — arrives at dealerships late this month. It’s a rear-wheel-drive two-door, but can it compete with genuine muscle cars — specifically the Nissan 370Z and Detroit’s latest Mustang/Camaro/Challenger set? Hyundai thinks it can, but it also says that isn’t the car’s main goal.
At the Chicago auto show, product manager Derek Joyce said the Genesis coupe instead “has its own space.”
“Will it compete with Detroit muscle?” he asked. “Maybe. Will it compete against front-drivers like the [Honda] Civic Si? Sure.”
The key, Joyce said, is for Hyundai to completely separate itself from the front-wheel-drive competition – a key step for the automaker to prove its performance potential. Right now, the market segment the Genesis coupe will occupy is relatively vacant.
The Ford Fiesta has been a huge hit in Europe, where its small size and fuel efficiency have won it praise and, more importantly, sales. Now it’s on its way to the U.S. as soon as 2010, where Ford hopes to duplicate its European success. Cars.com’s Kelsey Mays had a chance to check out the Fiesta at the 2009 Chicago auto show, and he runs down what Ford will need to do to make the vehicle a hit.
In a crisis-ridden economy, carmakers can no longer count on muscular engines and slick styling alone to win buyers. Tastes have changed: Performance and looks are still important, but gas mileage, value and practicality figure in more than ever, experts say. Even as pump prices have thawed below $2 a gallon, car buyers haven’t swarmed the trucks and SUVs they spurned all summer. (Then again, they haven’t exactly swarmed anything.)
Gas mileage remains top of mind. This January, the Washington, D.C.-based Consumer Federation of America commissioned a study that found that despite sub-$2 gas, drivers on average still want 20 percent better overall mileage in their next vehicle than their current car gets.
The doors are now open to the country’s largest auto show, and the public is soaking up what we got to check out last week. Listen to what editors Mike Hanley, Kelsey Mays and Joe Wiesenfelder thought were the most important new models for you to see when you visit the show.
You can download the podcast via iTunes here, or listen in a web browser here.
As the lone concept vehicle to be revealed at the 2009 Chicago auto show, the Chevrolet Stingray was a shoo-in for the prettiest new car on the show floor. The Stingray instantly grabbed my attention with its mash-up of modern ZR-1 angles and its vintage Corvette styling. Not only did Chevrolet bring the split rear window back from the original Stingray, but this design was an opportunity to restyle the current Corvette and breathe some life back into what has become 20 years of stagnant and typical designs.
Kia's new entry in the compact-car segment is the Forte, and it will replace the Spectra when it goes on sale this summer. It faces strong competition from the Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla, long-standing models that have made a name for themselves in this category. Because of that, we wanted to see how the Forte compares to those models in a few key areas, including exterior looks, interior quality, roominess and seat comfort, and safety features.
Search Kicking TiresCategoriesCars.com Links
Recent Comments
|
Subscribe to our feed
Email us your tips!