Sport, Compact, Light? Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad

Sportlich, Leicht, Kompakt. If your German is as spotty as ours, that stands for ” Sporty, Light, Compact,” and it’s telling that those are the three letters used by Mercedes-Benz as an adopted moniker for the small hardtop/convertible coupe that it released all the way back in 1996. Thing is, it never really stood out as any of those things: Sporty, but certainly not powerful. Light, but, at a hair over 3,000 pounds, far from featherweight. Compact? Sure, a 94-inch wheelbase sounds about right, but the car has gotten bigger with every successive generation and has never seemed small behind the wheel the same way as, say, a Mazda MX-5 Miata.

If the Mercedes-Benz SLK350 isn’t a quick and nimble little sports car, what is it? It’s been a sales success for the most part, peaking in 2005 with 11,278 units sold in the United States, though those numbers have fallen in recent years. And it’s also been labeled time and time again as a so-called “chick car.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course, but those two words are a veritable death knell to the heads and hearts of driving enthusiasts the world over (though curiously the Miata has largely earned an exemption).

With keys to the latest 2012 SLK350 in hand, we pondered this latest compact roadster from Mercedes-Benz with a critical eye. Has the SLK grown into a proper sporting mount, or does it still wear the dreaded chick-car stereotype? As it turns out, the answer is a little bit of both.

Continue reading 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 [w/video]

2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aging Three-Row Still Light On Its Feet

All of the auto industry’s big-time players are making large three-row crossovers these days, so the segment has become extremely competitive. With stalwarts like the Honda Pilot, Chevrolet Traverse and Ford Explorer at the top of the sales charts, how does a smaller automaker like Mazda compete? Two oft-repeated words: Zoom-Zoom.

The Mazda CX-9 checks the same boxes as its competition: a beefy V6 engine, seating for up to seven, available all-wheel drive and a bevy of technology optio­­ns. Those features are all part of the price of admission, but to make headway in this crowded field, that’s not enough to cut it. On the market since 2007, we wanted to find out the 4,546-pound CX-9 still has the engineering mojo to dance to the head of the pack, so we grabbed the keys to a loaded Grand Touring AWD and headed for the floor.

Continue reading 2012 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring AWD [w/video]

2012 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring AWD [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This Midsize Cat Discreetly Blows Away its Competitors

The spotlight always shines on the superstars. These are the cars with the most powerful engines, largest wheels and most radical bodywork. In the midsize luxury sedan market, the brightest illumination falls on the flagships such as the BMW M5, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, Cadillac CTS-V, Jaguar XFR and Audi S6. These four-doors not only frequently secure the cover shots and garner the lion’s share of publicity, they also carry hefty window stickers.

But take a look past the flared wheel arches, side skirts and rear decklid spoilers and drop down a big notch in price. There you will find the unexpected sleepers – vehicles that appear much like their standard siblings yet pack serious firepower under the hood and all the proper go-fast equipment to tame it.

While not everyone in the midsize luxury sedan segment offers a contender in this niche (Audi and Cadillac only muster six-cylinder power), the BMW 550i, Mercedes-Benz E550 4Matic and this Jaguar XF Supercharged we recently spent a week with are prime examples of four-doors ripe for the discreet enthusiast.

Continue reading 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged [w/video]

2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cylinder-Envy No More

My first car was a used 1981 Ford Mustang. It was a complete piece of garbage, but it was the best I could do with $900 worth of hard-earned busboy tips. It only had one side mirror, the power steering fluid had to be filled every two weeks and there was a nail in the dashboard. I would have removed that last bit of nonstandard hardware, but whenever the Brown Bomber didn’t want to turn over, touching the nail for luck seemed to work. But compared to my friends’ cars, mine at least looked the fastest. Looks don’t win at the stoplight, though, and my rust-colored ‘Stang featured the double whammy of a 109-horsepower 2.8-liter V6 and an automatic transmission.

To say that my Mustang’s powertrain was a disappointment could be the understatement of the century, but I wasn’t the only V6-powered Mustang owner suffering from horsepower humiliation. It would be another 30 years before Ford would offer a V6-powered Mustang with anything more than mule muscle, but that’s where we are today. The 2012 Mustang boasts a legit 305 horsepower, or more punch than the 4.6-liter V8 under the hood of the 2009 Mustang GT. I have no doubt that the 2012 Mustang is vastly superior to my 1981 shame machine, but does that 305 horsepower and a vastly improved rear-wheel-drive chassis make this Mustang one of America’s great performance bargains? Hit the jump to find out.

Continue reading 2012 Ford Mustang V6

2012 Ford Mustang V6 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Ultimate Passenger Vessel For Travel To Infinity And Beyond

Sometime before the end of this century, humans will travel to Mars. The longest manned journey ever attempted will take the explorers at least 34 million miles over the course of many months, at best. The vehicle necessary to support such an odyssey will need to be spacious, comfortable, technically advanced, incredibly safe and very powerful.

Before plotting the future spacecraft’s design, we suggest the engineers take a close look at the 2012 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG for ideas.

Of course, we don’t think the S63 is fit for interplanetary travel – micrometeorites and ultraviolet radiation would likely wreak havoc on its expensive and vogue matte finish Magno Platinum paint – but we do feel it is one of the most spacious and luxurious rocket ships that someone outside of a space agency can put in their personal hangar.

During our week with the AMG-tuned S-Class, its four wheels never left the surface of planet Earth, but we did load it up and make a long weekend trek to Palm Springs. How did this twin-turbocharged sedan handle the long outing and subsequent run into the mountains? Does it drive ponderously, or is the big Benz agile and athletic? Most importantly, what’s not to like with this two-and-one-half ton almighty giant?

Continue reading 2012 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG [w/video]

2012 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What Are You Willing To Sacrifice For A Low Price?

The compact car market is white-hot. The new Ford Focus, Chevrolet Cruze and Hyundai Elantra have lifted the segment to new levels of refinement while at the same time improving fuel economy to 40 miles per gallon on the highway and beyond. Instead of turning their attention back to trucks and SUVs, manufacturers are going even smaller. Automakers have begun pouring vast resources into the smaller subcompact segment, and the result has been a wealth of all-new models. The Chevrolet Sonic, Hyundai Accent and Ford Fiesta are all-new or updated and vastly superior to prior subcompacts that still linger in our memories like an unpleasant aftertaste.

Nissan has put its subcompact under the knife, too, as the 2012 Versa features all-new sheetmetal, revised powertrains and a fresh interior. The previous Versa was known for being larger and less expensive than its competition, and its sales reflected that – it’s been the most popular model in its segment. But we’ve been curious to learn if this latest redesign may help or hurt the Versa’s standing, so we borrowed the keys to a top trim 2012 Nissan Versa SL Sedan for a week to find out.

Continue reading 2012 Nissan Versa Sedan [w/video]

2012 Nissan Versa Sedan [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ich bin ein Mainstreamer

Volkswagen tried building cars in the U.S. once before, and it didn’t end well for the Rabbits assembled in Westmoreland, PA. “In Vietnam, ‘Westmoreland’ was a synonym for boundless optimisim in the face of raw facts. The same principle applies here,” said my friend Mike, explaining why his Rabbits at the time were imported from Das Vaterland. The real problem with American-made VWs wasn’t Pennsylvania or a self-deluding General, Mike continued, but “mushbucket suspensions, chintzy build quality, frou-frou styling compromises,” all resulting in a sub-par experience that’s got Volks-folks with long memories wondering if we’re doomed to repeat the past.

Volkswagen wants its new 2012 Passat to disprove that trope about repeating history, and the Passat has racked up awards like the Motor Trend Car of the Year and was a North American Car of the Year finalist, lending credence to VW’s efforts. We contemplated if the United States earning its own version of the Passat makes us elite or uncultured swine in the wake of our First Drive, and so we signed out a Passat SEL with a 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine to see what the Mainstream American Sedan Songbook sounds like when delivered with a German lilt.

Continue reading 2012 Volkswagen Passat 2.5L SEL Premium

2012 Volkswagen Passat 2.5L SEL Premium originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An Aveo By Any Other Name Is, Indeed, Sweet

Whether General Motors likes it or not, the Sonic story starts in 2004, when GM decided to import a cheap, crummy little econobox from Korea. A product of its newest subsidiary, Daewoo, the Chevrolet Aveo had few charms. But it was available as a five-door hatchback, one of the few on the market at the time, and its starting sticker price was under $10,000. It was enough of a pitch that the car sold – and stuck around.

Some of us actually developed a modicum of affection for the little piece of junk. It’s not every new car that you can use and abuse and care not a whit about. If GM had marketed the Aveo as a disposable product, meant to be driven hard and left for dead, it might have disappointed fewer people. Instead, the Aveo was famously named the “Least Satisfying” vehicle of 2007 in a Consumer Reports survey.

Hundreds of thousands of Aveos have been dumped here over the years, often into rental car fleets where they would have even greater opportunity to reflect poorly on GM. The company sold some 48,000 Aveos in 2010, over 28,000 in 2011, and stragglers on dealer lots continue to find new homes even as you read this. So it’s no wonder the “new” GM doesn’t want us talking about the Sonic as its replacement. But that it is. And thankfully, it’s a good one. We’d even be willing to call it great if GM would work on a few of the details.

Continue reading 2012 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ

2012 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EcoBoost Finds Right Mix Of Power, Efficiency

The sport utility vehicle became an endangered species not long after fuel prices began to skyrocket. But while vehicle buyers changed their shopping habits, they didn’t actually stray that far from the SUV formula. Many of today’s hottest-selling vehicles are crossovers; essentially the same tall wagons as the SUV, but with a lighter unibody chassis.

Among other things, the CUV promised to deliver superior efficiency, and while some improvement has been evident, in many cases, the genre’s fuel savings have failed to impress. A good case in point is the Ford Edge. When Ford’s two-row CUV entered the market in 2007, it managed only 24 miles per gallon on the highway, and many buyers struggled to hit 20 mpg in mixed driving cycles. There were plenty of reasons for its unimpressive efficiency. Most crossovers remain substantially heavier than a comparable four-door sedan, and with plenty of frontal area, they don’t exactly slice through the wind. But perhaps the biggest issue has been unevolved powertrains.

Ford thinks it has the answer to that problem in the form of its new EcoBoost 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. Ford is using the compact, turbocharged mill in a variety of crossovers, including the 2012 Ford Edge, and we sampled a well-equipped Edge Limited to see how effective the Blue Oval’s engine downsizing strategy is going.

Continue reading 2012 Ford Edge Limited EcoBoost

2012 Ford Edge Limited EcoBoost originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is 42 MPG The Ultimate Answer To The Ultimate Question?

On paper, it sounds like an enthusiast’s dream. Start by trimming almost 100 pounds from the curb weight of the base Chevrolet Cruze. Then drop the optional turbocharged engine underhood, bolted to a six-speed manual transmission. Lower the suspension and mount some lightweight, forged alloy wheels. Finish it off by sticking a little spoiler on the decklid, along with a special badge.

Where do we sign up?

But the car we’ve described isn’t the stuff of boy racer fantasies; it’s not even a performance car at all. No, the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco is not meant to run circles around the competition on an autocross course as much as it is designed to pirouette its way around the Environmental Protection Agency’s fuel economy test. It’s the greenest machine to wear a Bowtie this side of the Volt, boasting a highway fuel economy of 42 miles per gallon. But that heady figure is accomplished without the benefit of any advanced hybrid powertrain technology. The Cruze Eco is an impressive package that proves GM’s smarts and gives the company further green bragging rights. That said, we’re not entirely sure it’s the Cruze we’d park in our driveway.

Continue reading 2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco

2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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