It's been a lonnnng time since I've gotten behind the wheel of our 1997 Mazda MX-5 Miata but after seeing its empty dance card I had to take it out for some fresh air. And I'm glad I did. Jeepers, what a fun car! Even in traffic. So quick and zoomy. And here I was going on and on about what great city cars our Fiat 500 and Chevy Sonic are.
It's the Miata that can kick rush-hour traffic's ass thanks to its small size and the fact it has a bit more get-up-and-go than the other two cars*.
And it's only the Miata I wouldn't fear parking on Hollywood streets or anywhere for that matter. No shiny new paint to scuff and no eye-catching, never-been-seen-before appeal to draw attention to it. Hooray for beaters!
In fact, I even daydreamed about some day owning this car. It's the perfect single person's city car, especially for the likes of me who goes all over L.A., from the highly congested streets of Downtown to fun, curvy roads like Sunset Boulevard.... Only thing is I don't have anywhere to put my dog Mya.
* The Miata's 0-60 is 7.7 seconds while the Sonic's is 8.2 and the Fiat's is 10.4.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 134,877 miles
Categories: 1997 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Our 2011 Chevrolet Volt is up for sale now and we decided it would make a great car to offer on eBayMotors. It's only a five-day auction, ending next Tuesday night, so get your bid in quickly. Here's a link to the auction page.
Philip Reed, Senior Consumer Advice Editor @ 14,900 miles
Categories: 2011 Chevrolet Volt
My favorite thing about our long-term 2012 Nissan Quest, by far, is its drivetrain. The previous Quest used a version of the VQ-series 3.5-liter V6, too, but the continuously variable transmission that Nissan has switched to on this generation changes everything.
This van feels utterly responsive when you step out to pass on the freeway, and the other vans in this class with conventional automatics simply don't.
My second favorite thing about this van is totally superficial: I love the exterior design. The Quest looks like it's related to any number of minivans -- large and small -- that I've seen in Japan. I have such a soft spot for JDM vans (especially the old Mitsubishi Delicas, which really don't look much like our Quest, save for their basic shape).
I have yet to meet anyone who's lukewarm on the styling of 2011 and later Nissan Quests. They either agree with me or they think I'm off my rocker. Which side are you on?
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Categories: 2012 Nissan Quest LE
I was looking at our S60 T5's introduction recently and was reminded on how our car stickered at $41,350. It kind of seems like a lot of money, but our long-termer is loaded up with just about every option Volvo offers for the T5.
Buying a new, $40,000 entry-level luxury sedan doesn't really fit my budget or lifestyle right now. But it did occur to me that if you had 40 grand to spend, there's a pretty eclectic group of cool 2012 vehicles waiting for you. The usual suspects are here, of course -- the Audi A4, the BMW 328i, the Infiniti G. Then again, you could get a Ford Flex Titanium or a Ford Mustang Boss 302. Or maybe you'd want a Chrysler 300C, a Hyundai Genesis V6 or a Silverado 2500HD with the turbodiesel engine. Or you could go slightly used, opening up all sorts of other possibilities.
All you need is, well, $40,000. But given our S60's equipment, $40,000 seems like a competitive price.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
Categories: 2012 Volvo S60 T5
We're trying to sell our 2011 Chevy Volt. But before it goes to a new home we wanted to put it up on our 2-post Rotary Lift . Go to the next page to get a detailed look at its bottom.
More pictures after the jump.
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Categories: 2011 Chevrolet Volt
I'll admit it. I still want to love our 911. Just this morning I caught myself watching online videos of 911s sliding around in gravel and snow. I might hate the reality of our 911, but I love the romance of 911 race cars. Like this replica of the 1984 Dakar-winning car (technically a 953, I suppose).
Want.
Videos after the jump.
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Categories: 1985 Porsche 911
Every time I look at the gas gauge in the Explorer I can't help but think it looks like the icon is under water, or is it gasoline? Hard to tell with the cool blue color.
Maybe someday Explorers will actually run on a crisp clean H2O. Someday, in the future. The very, very distant future.
For now, we've got Ecoboost. Works for me.
Ed Hellwig, Editor, Inside Line
Categories: 2012 Ford Explorer XLT EcoBoost
We received this recall notice for our 2012 Chevrolet Sonic. Click the picture to enlarge. The first lines read, "Why is your vehicle being recalled? The front brake inner or outer pad may be missing." Oops.
Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Manager
Categories: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ
Our long-term 2011 Ford Mustang GT 5.0 is equipped with Brembo brakes. They're part of the $1695 Brembo Brake Package that includes 14-inch Brembo ventilated discs with four-piston fixed calipers on the front, and 11.8-inch Brembo ventilated discs with single-piston sliding calipers in the back. Included are 19 x 9 inch wheels (with a design I don't care for) mounted with 19-inch tires.
When we tested our long-term 5.0, we got braking distances for 30-0 mph of 27 feet and for 60-0, 109 ft. Within a week we also tested a Mustang GT with the California Special Package. This car was not equipped with Brembos (13.2 inch front and 11.8 rear discs) and produced 30-0 braking distances of 30 ft and 60-0 of 117 ft.
So we got 27 vs. 30 ft for 30-0 and 109 vs. 117 ft for 60-0, from our GT and the C/S, respectively. The Brembos must be the difference, right?
Hold up.
(Photo by Kurt Niebuhr)
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Categories: 2011 Ford Mustang GT 5.0
That's what she said, I know.
Moving on, I don't think the NSX's sunvisor needs (needed) to be quite so large. Many other sports cars have a half-sized version that works better -- unless you're OK with driving using the Force.
James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 51,408 miles
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Categories: 1991 Acura NSX
Our 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI is a prime example of Exhibit E. Don't remember Exhibit E? I refer the jury to my recent iPod cord post on the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic.
Volkswagen and Audi are fond of short leashes that keep the device shut away in the glove box. One could argue this is OK for an iPod or other music-only device, but it eliminates the possibility of using any other iPhone function or app while the phone is docked as a music player, which in my case is 100 percent of the time I'm in the car.
And I'm talking about perfectly acceptable and legal uses such as any use while stopped, any use by your passenger (aka navigator) while moving. With smartphones, it's not enough to assume Bluetooth pairing for the phone and a physical dock for the music player is enough.
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Categories: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI
Photo by Kurt Niebuhr
In general, I'm pretty boring when it comes to car interiors. I like basic black, which may explain why I gravitate towards Audi cabins. Our new long-term BMW X3, however, is pretty far from basic.
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Categories: 2012 BMW X3
The last time we took our 2011 Chevrolet Volt for an appraisal at Carmax, the used-car superstore offered us $32,000. It was a solid price, but at the time we just wanted to get an idea of what the car was worth. That was about two months ago and we've put 2,000 more miles on it since. Now we are going to move forward with selling the car and this quote will serve as a reference point for our listing price.
This is the first time that we’ve taken a car for a second appraisal at Carmax and we weren't sure what to expect. Would it drop in price? Would it keep its value? Would the price go up?
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Categories: 2011 Chevrolet Volt
This guy greeted me as I fired up our 2011 Honda Odyssey Monday morning. Did I mention it was 5am and a crisp 48 degrees (hey, that's cold for us)? Anyhow, it wasn't fun.
A check of the tires showed Odyssey's right-front down 5psi as compared to the others. This is typically evidence of a leak. Fifty cents at the gas station compressor bought me 15psi, which gave me 10psi over spec were the issue significant.
I drove 40 miles to the office and rechecked the pressures. No air lost. So I dropped the tire back down another 5psi, keeping it 5psi over the recommendation for the sake of monitoring. This morning the right-front was 5psi over-filled, right where I left it. I dropped it back down to the correct amount and we'll continue to watch it.
Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Manager @ 20,254 miles
Categories: 2011 Honda Odyssey Touring
My experience with the Toyota Camry goes back a few generations, and in all that time, I never liked the driver seat in any of the cars. Space was never the problem -- I'm 5-foot-10; most cars are designed to fit someone my size. Rather, it was the shape(lessness) of the seats themselves usually combined with a lack of firm support and adjustability.
The driver seat in our long-term 2012 Camry SE rights pretty much all of those wrongs. The shape is great for me, and there's ample adjustability (I can raise the seat without being dumped toward the pedals, I can telescope the steering wheel toward me, etc.).
And although I'll need to take a longer trip to know if the seat is really supportive enough, it felt fine during the drive to San Diego.
Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 3,333 miles
Categories: 2012 Toyota Camry SE
We've added a 2012 BMW X3 to our long-term fleet of test cars. We opted for the xDrive35i with the 300-horsepower turbocharged 3.0-liter inline 6 and eight-speed automatic transmission. If you played along with Caroline's guessing game, you know the EPA estimates a combined rating of 21 mpg.
We also added the Sport Activity, Cold Weather, Premium and Technology packages, which will give us lots of features to write about.
Read the full intro of the 2012 BMW X3 xDrive35i on Inside Line.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2012 BMW X3
Thanks to Dan Edmunds' Oregon road trip, the Quest has already hit 5,000 miles. So far all is well, save for a small star on the lower part of the windshield (I don't think we've shown you that; I'll document it tomorrow). Compared to our long-term Odyssey and Sienna, the Quest stands out for its exceptionally quiet ride. I also think its CVT works better in a minivan than their five- and six-speed automatics.
I'd intended to catch this milestone exactly as the odometer "clicked over," but this was going on, and I wasn't able to pull over immediately.
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Categories: 2012 Nissan Quest LE
This is our long-term 2012 Chevrolet Sonic's manual day/night mirror. I use the night function a lot when I'm driving small cars in the dark, and I'll usually toggle between the two frequently, depending on traffic density.
Notice how close the OnStar buttons are to the lever. When we first got the Sonic, I spent a long weekend with it... I really enjoy driving it -- good ride, good shifter, good torque. During that time, I accidentally called OnStar four times. After the second incident, I learned to use the cancel function that comes up on the car's head unit.
OnStar buttons on a manual day/night mirror... not a good combination.
Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 2,481 miles
Categories: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ
I like heat. Our 2012 Audi A8L has a heated steering wheel. I'm happy.
I'll admit I didn't know our A8 had a heated steering wheel until I RTMed. I never felt it past that large switch for adjusting the position. It was a surprise find. And a good reason to always RTM.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 9,228 miles
Categories: 2012 Audi A8L
