Latest Addition to the Prius Family Goes Conventional
Having narrowly escaped a late February snow storm in Michigan and finding ourselves stepping off of a plane near the Atlantic beaches of lower Florida seemed like a dream come true. Certainly a trip to the beach town that curiously shares its name with a 1958 base model Chevrolet had a catch. Yes, that catch was that we were to sample Toyota’s newest and, as executives stressed, last planned member of the Prius family. While having earned a reputation in the industry as the leading hybrid, we have never been overly excited about the Toyota Prius. The Prius has managed to win over fuel misers and environmental advocates, but to say it has been generally disliked by driving enthusiasts would be a gross understatement. We were expecting that the smallest member of Toyota’s hybrid lineup, the Prius c, would be more of the same and figured our drive of the 98 hp fuel sipper would be the low point of our stint in Florida. Read more…
The Porsche Boxster has been a sensation since 1997 thanks to a winning formula of mid-engine handling prowess, boxer engine smoothness and timeless good looks. The lowest MSRP among Porsche’s offerings also didn’t hurt. The third generation 2013 model looks to continue all of that while comprehensively altering just about everything. Read more…
Buick has been teasing us for the last several weeks by slowly revealing bits of their newest crossover. Buick has also chosen to tease those of us with a long memory by choosing the moniker ‘Encore’ for this crossover. That name was last used on a much unloved Renault hatchback marketed in the 1980’s alongside its Alliance sedan counterpart at AMC dealerships. No matter, the Encore name likely was chosen due to its audible similarity to Buick’s large Enclave crossover. Unexpectedly, the Encore is based on the Chevrolet Sonic rather than the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. Read more…
Our main criticism of Honda these days is that they don’t seem to be willing to push any design or powertrain boundaries. It’s the same old transmissions and engines going into more-or-less the same old designs. That criticism was only partially addressed when Honda rolled out the Accord Coupe Concept which features some new powertrains in a coupe that looks very much like what you’ve been able to buy at any Honda dealer the past few years. We know that when the production Accord launches later this summer it will look like what you see here minus the fancy wheels and shiny bits. Read more…
Toyota took great pains to remind us that it was the pioneer in the industry and proved its commitment to that segment by unveiling the production version of the Prius c. Toyota claims the ‘c’ stands for ‘city.’ The intent of the Prius c is to offer the most efficient and lowest priced member of the Prius family. With a starting price of under $19,000 the Prius c is actually less expensive than the original Prius that debuted more than 10 years ago. The ‘c’ promises an impressive 53 mpg in city driving and 46 mpg on the highway. We found this to be an attractive addition to the Prius lineup and hope that it may have more enticing driving dynamics than the sterile standard Prius. Unfortunately, acceleration doesn’t sound promising with the 1.5L four combining with the electric motor for a total of 99 hp. We were not so impressed with our first look at the interior plastics, but we should withold final judgment until we are able to drive one of these cars. Read more…
We’d need all our fingers and toes to count the times we’ve heard this before, but Lincoln executives took to the stage to present the MKZ Concept as the first glimpse at a revitalized Lincoln that will finally compete for luxury customers with the best in the industry. The MKZ Concept is clearly a thinly disguised look at the production model that’ll debut later this year and love it or hate it we’re glad to see this isn’t just a leather-lined version of the new Fusion on which it’s based. Read more…
Hyundai executives appeared to have much to celebrate about this year. Having ended 2011 with double digit sales increases as well as numerous industry recognitions and awards, Hyundai started 2012 by receiving the North American Car of the Year Award for its Elantra. Their Detroit introductions included two updates to their existing sporty cars, the Veloster and Genesis coupes. The big news for Veloster is a new 201 hp turbocharged 1.6L four cylinder. This new powertrain achieves 38 mpg on the highway partly due to the Veloster’s low power to weight ratio of 14 lbs/hp. The specific output of that 1.6L is an impressively high 125.6 hp/liter. On the outside the performance oriented coupe benefits from a unique grille treatment and can now be ordered with matte finish paint. Read more…
Acura made a splash in Detroit by unveiling two new production models and a concept signaling the return of the dearly departed NSX. Since we’re enthusiasts around here you can bet our curiosity was piqued at every NSX detail they were willing to divulge. Unfortunately for us, and subsequently you, that wasn’t much. What we did learn was that the NSX will return to production within three years at the hands of a US development team and be built in Ohio of all places. Read more…
If there was a common theme at the North American International Auto Show, it was that automakers are no longer shy about introducing a convertible in brisk January. MINI joined both Mercedes-Benz and Porsche in unveiling an open air vehicle with a vehicle they have simply named the MINI Roadster. Read more…
