by Chris Chase For a number of years now, Mazda has been making a measured move upmarket. I would argue it started with the original Mazda3 in 2004, a compact car that looked, felt and drove like something more sophisticated. Mazda made its intentions overt more recently when it added top-end Signature trim lines to
... Read More.Category: Compact
All about compact cars
Small Cars, Big Performance
These days, vehicles with 300 hp – or more – aren’t hard to come by. Many family sedans, minivans, and SUVs can be optioned with engines that approach or exceed that threshold in order to provide satisfying everyday performance. But the 300-hp marker means something much different in a sporty compact car. What feels mundane
... Read More.
2020 Models Least Likely to Cause Buyers Remorse
By Chris Chase J.D. Power has named Porsche and Dodge the industry’s top brands in the 2020 version of its annual Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study. The APEAL survey measures which vehicles are most likely to make their owners feel good about their purchase. It’s a less tangible thing than the organization’s initial
... Read More.
The Safest Cars for New Drivers
by Lori Straus Although car safety has increased dramatically over the years, safety ratings still show some cars are overall safer to drive than others. In this blog post, we’ll share with you tips for evaluating a vehicle’s safety as well as a few recent listings of the safest cars on the market. What to
... Read More.
How Much Does It Cost To Charge An Electric Vehicle
by Chris Chase Despite their high profile in the media, electric vehicles make up a small percentage of vehicle sales. For the most part, that’s because many drivers aren’t sure if an EV would suit their lifestyle. But another thing that has hurt take-up is the perception that charging an electric vehicle at home would
... Read More.
2020 Honda Insight Review
by Chris Chase Rating 4.2/5 Since the end of the 1990s, Honda has used the Insight name on three different cars. The first was a tiny, two-seat hatchback; the second Insight wore a four-door hatchback body; and the third, and current, Insight is a four-door sedan. The only thing these three cars have in common
... Read More.
Cars that Pretend to be Crossovers
by Chris Chase By the mid-2000s, the crossover utility vehicle craze was well underway. Models like the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 were selling in big numbers to buyers who wanted a car-like driving feel in a rugged-looking vehicle with AWD traction. Those three models helped shape today’s crossover-centric marketplace. Fifteen years ago,
... Read More.
Exotic Names for Ordinary Cars
by Chris Chase It strikes us that naming a car must be one of the most interesting jobs in the auto industry. That’s not to say it’s easy, though. Ideally, a car’s name should evoke some desirable image that its maker wants to project. There are also more mundane concerns, like the risk of copyright
... Read More.
2020 Lexus UX 250h Test Drive
by Chris Chase 3.8/5 stars The Lexus UX is a subcompact crossover made by Toyota’s luxury brand. Introduced for the 2019 model year, it’s the least-expensive Lexus model, and the only one with a price that dips under $40,000. Based on the same underpinnings as the Toyota C-HR, the UX boasts flashier styling and nicer
... Read More.
Used Boxy Compacts
by Chris Chase While the 2000s was not an especially memorable decade for the auto industry, it did introduce a handful of short-lived vehicle segments we wish had stuck around. Among them is this set of practical but weird-looking vehicles: The Scion xB, Nissan Cube, Kia Soul, and Honda Element. The Scion, Nissan, and Kia
... Read More.