Drifting with the Turbo Veloster

What is it about this 2013 Hyundai Veloster that makes me feel like I'm in one of those Japanese Drifting movies--Bakusou Drift R.   I'm not drifting––not speeding, not off the rails, as it were––but  the styling of this hatchback-son-of- Elantra and Accent coupling puts me in a drifting state of mind--in my imagination.

Bad photo of third door

I get a kick out the three doors (why not four?). The third is door on the passenger side and it makes the cramped back seat useable for groceries and packages.  The built-in cup holders between the back seats are clever.  Still I wouldn't want to be back there for very long.

My Veloster is powered by a 1.8 liter, 4 cylinder turbo engine that delivered 201 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft. of torque.  It's front wheel drive powertrain is paired with a 6-speed manual.  I'll take a manual any day over an automatic but I found the gearbox a little indefinite.  Others, who can't be implicated here, agreed.

I did get good gas mileage--about 30 combined. The heated seats bolstered the old back on my long drives.  I appreciate the Oreo cookie-sized  start button is smack in the center console.  I found the controls easy to operate.  Hyundai has its own version of connectivity in its vehicles, called bluelink that pairs your phone and has voice-activated features.

One of the coolest aspects of the car--and perhaps the reason I felt like I was in a drifting movie--was the paint job.  Matte finish steel gray.  Matte finish has been showing up on Mercedes AMG's and other premium cars for a few years now. But the Veloster is priced at $27,520, $1,000 of that is the paint.  But let's face it, we couldn't get ourselves into one of those drifting movies for $10,000. Not that we'd want to.  Although I admit I've been thinking about going to drifting school.

Other added features take the base price from $21,950 to the final price.  If you opt for a panoramic sunroof you're going to get the more expensive package and you have to order the sunroof to get navigation--huh? The car is well equipped for its base price and includes a big boy stereo.

The EPA fuel economy is 24 city/35 highway, 28 combined, which isn't going to win any contests but is acceptable if you love this car. And like I said, I got 30.

What Hyundai wanted to do with this car is make it a standout--something to bring car buyers into the showroom.  I hope it works for them.  They're doing a bang up job of making take-home vehicles.

Note To Self: Buy Leather Jacket

The way to size up the Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart is to first know in your head that it's a bad boy with good intentions. Who wouldn't love the growl of the 237-hp 2.0 liter 4-cylinder turbocharged engine?  The engine is paired with a 6-speed, twin-clutch sportronic transmission, which I found imprecise and annoying.  Even after settling in to the car, I had problems shifting gears.

Once in gear, this performance-enhanced Lancer is a blast to drive.  It felt secure and grounded and responsive.   Foglamps and dual exhaust, makes this shark nosed, chrome-appointed, hood-scooped sedan a head turner.   The interior finishes and materials left me wishing for a better execution although sport meter gauges, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob make up for some of those issues.  I'm also one who doesn't care for the pumped up Rockford-Fosgate sound system.  The target market for this car would totally approve, but the sound is way to heavy and pounding for my musical tastes.  You can find me on  Broadway channel (XM 72) whenever I'm not listening to news.

Getting down to brass tacks, the fuel economy on this beast is 18 city/ 25 highway/20 combined.  My car as equipped was $34,240 including delivery with about $5,300 worth of extras.  The monroney (sales sheet) actually includes a full tank of gas.  Like, really?  Well the average annual fuel cost calculations do estimate that you will spend $2,850 annually in fuel costs.  It averages out to about $2,600 more over five years than an average new vehicle or about $500 a year.   

Mitsu is one of a couple of car companies that are struggling in the U.S.  In the Lancer slice of the market there are many desirable muscle cars to choose from so competitors have to be at the very top of their game.  With Mitsu total sales hovering around 40,000 in a market that is being estimated at 14.4 million vehicles this year, it is hard to see how they will survive.  Chevrolet,  sold 40,000 cars  over two weeks in August.

I had fun in the car.   But if you don't want to draw attention, you might be better off with a Camry.  I was stopped by the state troopers at 12:30 a.m. on the parkway.  He was more interested in the fact that I had California distributor plates than the fact that I was going 72 in a 55 mph zone.  "I've only ever seen one other California plate on this road in my entire career," he said.  (He had to be all of 19.)  And then he didn't know how to input a distributor plate and was fascinated by my job so I got off.

Suzuki Kizashi with All-Wheel Drive

Great looking car.

I wish Suzuki had sold more than 11,000 cars this year because they have good car.  The use of the singular in the previous sentence isn't a grammatical error, but it is a slight exaggeration.  Suzuki sells two cars in the U.S., the Kizashi and the Aerio SX4.  Oh, yes, and to date in 2012, they have sold 1 Forenza/Reno.  They sell crossovers too, the Grand Vitara and the Equator.  Compare that to their Japanese counterparts.  Toyota has sold 625,000 cars, Nissan, 389,000, Mazda 110,000.  You get the drift.

 This is a shame.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, Suzuki makes good cars.  I drove the Kizashi  2012 Sport GTS with AWD.  It has a 2.4-liter inline 4-cylinder engine that delivers 180 horsepower and 170 lb.-ft. of torque.  That translates into plenty of power for this sedan and it is available with a six-speed manual transmission.  It also comes with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).  Mine came with dual zone climate control and cloth seats which I vastly prefer over leather especially when wearing shorts in hot weather.  (How long does it take you to peel your legs off leather seats in the summer?  It takes me around 4 painful minutes.)

The interior is very well designed, plenty of leg room, easy to manage controls, and cool touches that aren't so terminally hip you feel diminished if you're not in the latest fashion.

Roomy, sleek interior.

 

Very cool IP.

Fuel economy is competitive at 22 city/29 highway/25 combined.  The GS has some very nice features included in the base price:  sunroof, tilt and telescope steering wheel, power driver's seat, 18-inch wheels, a 425-watt Rockford Fosgate audio system with 10 speakers, iPod and MP3 USB port, front fog lights, sport aero body kit, sport wheels, sport tuned suspension and sport design steering wheel.

In the highly competitive sedan category, the Suzuki Kizashi lines up against the best selling Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.  It competes with the best of them.  If there is a Suzuki dealer in your area, you can bet that they are hungry for business and will very happy to see you walk through the door.  Go for a test drive.  See what they're offering.  The MSRP on my test vehicle was around $26,000.

Ford's C-MAX Rates 47 MPG Fuel Economy City and Highway

This is kind of cool.  Ford Motor Company once again raises the hybrid fuel-economy bar with the all-new Ford C-MAX Hybrid, which is now officially EPA-certified at 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway and 47 mpg combined – beating Toyota Prius v by up to 7 mpg.

Below are a few highlights and attached is a release with further information. Please let me know if you have

any questions or if you would like to speak with someone at Ford. Thanks.

·         All-new 2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid delivers EPA-certified 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway ratings – 7 mpg better than Toyota Prius v on the highway – for a 47 mpg combined rating

·         Ford’s first hybrid to achieve equal city and highway ratings, the versatile C-MAX Hybrid also is expected to offer 15 class-exclusive features such as the available hands-free liftgate

·         C-MAX Hybrid launches this fall as part of Ford’s power of choice strategy to deliver leading fuel economy across its lineup while tripling electrified vehicle production capacity by 2013

Can boxy be cool? 2011 Scion xB

I was feeling the need to connect to my inner twenty-something, which is buried beneath a few extra years, so I borrowed the Scion xB from Toyota. Certainly, this car, in a color named sizzling crimson (my people call it burgundy), intended to appeal to a younger generation, would dig into my psyche and pull out that wild and crazy girl I really am.

To be honest, I was expecting not to like it, but you know, this boxy little brat is kinda cute. In a boxy, little car kind of way.

It's got a 2.4 liter 4-cylinder engine that puts out 158 horsepower. Mine was paired with a 4-speed automatic transmission (a 5-speed manual is standard). With the technology built into the powertrain and transmission, the ride is satisfying and pugnacious, though it can be a little shy of go. Driving position is upright--something I've always found comfortable. All my stuff--a lot--packed neatly into the roomy interior, so there I was booking up the Taconic singing over a fair amount of road and wind noise, along to the XM Broadway channel, my constant companion.

The centrally placed gauges--speedo, fuel, tach--pop up out of the dash. I like the pop because it keeps your eyes closer to the road and eyes on the road is a major key to safe driving. The central location of the the gauges is not ideal. The large round heating and AC controls are joy to operate. The radio, less so, though it is not thoroughly mind boggling the way some are.

My vehicle, with premium sound and upgraded alloy wheels came in at $22,213 including destination charge. The base model is very well equipped for a small car and for the enthusiasts, there are hundreds of after market add ons. (The Scion is that kind of car--it has fans who want to add and add.) Fuel economy is listed at 22 city/28 highway, not the 30 or even 40 claimed by other small vehicles. I'm not sure why the fuel economy is so lackluster, but these days when the government is going for a corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) of 54.5 by 2025, this small car isn't doing us or Toyota any favors. (In car development years that's not a long time.)

To be brief, I did touch base with my inner twenty-something and over all I do recommend at least giving this burgundy brat a drive around if you are considering a new vehicle. You might think, uh-uh, at first glance, but look again. It comes in other colors, too.

My Kind of World--Burnt Orange

Just returned from a 450 mile trip in the 2011 Honda Fit painted a favorite color of mine--burnt orange. The Fit is a roomy, comfortable small hatchback. The instrument panel has large dials, simple solutions to things like checking your gas mileage, which for me averaged an excellent 35.5. Fuel economy is rated at 27 city/ 33 highway. MSRP starts around $16,000. The cost of mine as equipped was $20,000, with a navigation system.

The auto press loves this car because it is spirited driver with a 117 hp, 1.5 Liter SOHC (single overhead cam), 16 valve IVTEC 4-cylinder engine paired with at 5-speed automatic. I have a very steep hill I use to test my cars and this little Fit climbed it admirably. The car has been getting high fives from Car and Driver for years (http://buyersguide.caranddriver.com/honda/fit/2011/honda-fit/price)and ranks as one of its 10 best every year. I may not have been able to hear the radio as it climbed the hill, but a bit of a noisy engine is the trade-off.

The looks of the Fit, like the looks of the Scion xB, may be off-putting at first. It's wedgy and I'm never going to love wedgy as much as curvy. But once you have driven the car (fun!) and seen its versatile roomy interior, you might put it on a short list. Rear seats fold down to create a huge cargo space, but, get this, the rear bench seat also folds up so you can put stuff there too. Clever by half.

No question it's a terrific model and to boot, it's a Honda. There are others in this category that compete with its attributes--the Ford Fiesta and the Mazda 3 to name a few.

I did like the Fit. I might buy the Fit. I don't like its looks that much so I would have to go deeper into my research to be 100% sure. But, good? You bet.