Our "own" car reviews

So, drove a brand new US spec Ford Focus for about 1.2 kilomiles over the last week.
Pretty nice car.

The positives
-Reasonably comfortable
-Pretty well equipped
-Easy to drive
-Handled highway speeds well

The downsides:
-Auto gearbox wasn't sure what gear to pick when accelerating sometimes
-Dashboard dials are a bit tacky. Trip computer difficult to see in my seating position (further back and lower)
-Steering wheel not nice to hold at the quarter to 3 position since the side spokes are too big to wrap your hand near comfortably
-Activating blinkers has a tendency to make the windshield washer engage (controls are on the same stalk)

Got ~29mpg highway. It was reasonable considering the rate of travel.

Overall, with a different steering wheel it makes a good competitor as an entry level car.
 
2009 TSX

I entered the dealer expecting a ruined steering rack as a result from the transition from a hydraulic steering rack to an electric one. I expected toyota like lifeless steering. I was wrong. Immediately in the car, I noticed a more solid interior. I also noticed what seemed like a more insulated car. Now to the driving experience. In the parking lot, the steering was incredibly light, and there was more low down torque. On to the road, the steering began to stiffen, not what I was expecting. On the road, there was less low down exhaust noise in the cabin. The increase in low torque was felt as well. The power delivery was smooth unlike the 2008, and the power did not die down at 6000 rpm, but instead, continued to redline. Overall, definitely an improvement overall as a decent car.
 
Hmm I disagree since I drive the bloody things basically everyday, not on the fact the Accent isn't a good car but how its compared to the Caliber. I absolutely loathe the Caliber's interior...particularly how badly designed it is and how unfriendly it is for someone who is shorter than 5'5. I always hit my leg on that stupid bowl thing under the wheel. The Caliber is also an absolute dog in the winter, it doesn't have enough power to prevent itself from being stuck(its so slow and weak) and cannot stop itself from slipping and sliding all over the place...did Dodge remember it snows in Canada? I'd gladly drive a 3-door option-less Accent all day over any Dodge Caliber. To me an Accent is about as good as a Cobalt/G5.

I have to agree with you on this one. I've driven an option-less Accent and a Caliber, and I'd take the Accent any day. Of course, the Accent had a leggy blonde (with an accent!) in the passenger seat, so that may have clouded my judgment a little, but the Accent handled better, looked better, accelerated better, and was better put together.
 
Ooooh I got a good one for you, a car that as redefined my whole vision of cars.

https://pic.armedcats.net/k/ki/killpanda/2009/06/08/P1020296.JPG

Do you recognize it? Yes, it's the Hyundai Accent! After the Dodge Caliber, which wasn't as bad as I expected, another rental experience.

Let's get to the action:

What first shocked me was the lady at the Avis rental desk: "The car is nearly new but the radio doesn't work..." Yeah, right... Second thing was the ugliness of the car :-D

So, the radio is broken, but it's not the only thing to be broken, the clock wasn't working as well and only half of the doors were unlocked when you pressed the button on the key.

By the look of things, I think the engine, brakes, suspensions and steering wheel were broken as well... Because they were hopeless.

I've looked on the Hyundai website and this car is equipped with a 1.6l 16v engine developing a whopping 110hp. Sounds Ok but then you discover a 4 speed automatic gearbox which was confused by hills, it changed its mind all the time "We need 2nd here... Oh no no no no, we need 3rd now!... Wait a minute, 2nd was better, let's get back to it... Hum, 3rd was not bad after all..." It's awful. The engine in itself was really rubbish, you put your foot down, the gearbox drops a gear, it makes more noise and that's it, no real change in speed...

Then there's the brakes, when it finally get some speed, after a few hours, you eventually need to stop it. So you press the brake pedal and pray that the redlight go green soon otherwise you'll hit the car in front, the brake really are scarily rubbish, they are the worst I've ever came across, and I have driven some pretty old and rubbish cars...

We can now move on another scary thing in this car, the handling. The suspensions are soft, too soft, it bounce on flat road and rolls in corners. The steering feels dead. Combine the two and you really want to stay on the highway, where there are no corners... Awfully bad and dangerous.

The interior? Worse than a Renault interior, and that says a lot about it. The steering was losing bits of it in my hand when driving and its texture was just unpleasant, same with the gearlever but luckily as it was an automatic, you don't really care about that. The interior in itself is not ugly but it's not really beautiful either, it's just an interior. But the quality is just appalling, worse than the Caliber I drove earlier in the week.
There was some play in the accelerator pedal, I think 1/3 of the course of the pedal was dead.

How many miles do you think the car had to be in such a state? 100,000? 200,000? No... 800 miles on the clock...

So it's no good is it? Well, no... I don't see who would buy that piece of shit, it's really the worst car I've ever came across. I mean, the Caliber I drove earlier in the week looked like a luxury car compared to this.

You can watch the Top Gear test of the Hyundai Accent, it's exactly like that... This car really is hopeless.

Don't you think, maybe that the Accent is a lemon that the rental place bought for less money?
 
Don't you think, maybe that the Accent is a lemon that the rental place bought for less money?
I don't think he is being dishonest about the problems with that Accent. Hyundai stereos especially the older units pre-2009 are absolutely terrible. Even the 2009 Sonata with a significantly better stereo still has issues with this. The Accent also does not have a very good automatic transmission as its unable to change gears without doing nothing for 1 second, for me its often changing from R to D or the other way around. This is the same problem with the Rio, only the Rio's steering wheel has more play in it for some reason.

If you want to buy a Hyundai, you definitely need to start at Sonata and up. It seems the bigger models are better financed and thus they're giant leaps from the previous version.

Is the interior really worse than the caliber?
You can make that judgement, here's a standard Hyundai Accent sedan interior, they're almost all like this.

2008-Hyundai-Accent-4317824-140.jpg


Very basic, but compared to the Caliber...a lot less depressing.

As for this topic, I've driven 2 more cars since my last post. A 2009 Jeep Wrangler and a 2010 Ford Fusion. The Wrangler is much better than the Compass, Patriot and Liberty...it makes me wonder why the 3 exist. Those 3 have no steering feel they're about as good as a toy while the Wrangler has this feel. It still suffers from the problem of being a Chrysler so its interior plastic is still very poor compared to other SUVs.

The 2010 Fusion...wow its actually a good car, I just drove them today brand new and they're extremely refined vehicles...significantly better than the 2007 I drove last year, much better looking too. The 4-cylinder engine has some pep in it and is actually very quiet...eerily like a soundproofed Toyota. For a FWD midsized car, it handled pretty good with a steering feel that is always present. The interior took a bit from the Mazda 6 in that most of it is black plastic but the roof and pillars are white. Its not Ford's best interior considering the Flex is better but the car itself is a serious contender for what it competes against. I thought the Malibu was good, the Fusion is much better to drive. I still haven't driven the Accord yet...but I don't know why anybody would buy a Camry over the Fusion.
 
The 2010 Fusion...

Over the last few months, the Fusion Hybrid beat the Camry Hybrid (and not just because of mpgs) and this month's Motor Trend, it was a dead heat between the 4cyl Accord and the 4 cyl Fusion until they factored in resale value/depreciation... They did note that the Fusion was quieter than the Accord.
 
I still haven't driven the Accord yet...but I don't know why anybody would buy a Camry over the Fusion.

The interior is better in the Camry and people know it exists.
 
The interior is better in the Camry and people know it exists.
This probably was the case just a few years back but the current version of the Camry has alarmed some Toyota enthusiasts about the quality of just the interior. Lots of issues so far with interior fit and finish with the current version of the Camry, rattles are extremely common that even the 2010s have some problems here. I don't know if Honda has the same issues but for now the current crop of Toyotas have slipped in the quality they were known for.
 
Oh and remember the [07-current] Camry SE V6, quick 0-60 times [high 5s to low 6s]
 
Ok, I got something to write about.

Subaru Outback (current-gen)
I've always liked Subarus so I was very optimistic about this test-drive. However, I was left feeling... uninspired, I guess. There wasn't anything bad (except one thing but read on) about the Outback, but there was also nothing that really struck me as great. The ride was decent, but nothing special. The handling was not thrilling. The power... well there wasn't much to speak of here, as this was the NA motor. The interior was alright - nothing bad about it, but nothing to rave about either. The one nibble about the interior was the back seats. You sit upright on a firm cushion that offers little support. The one thing that really stood out, besides the back seats, was the auto transmission. The very slightest touch of the right pedal sends it hunting for the right gear. Within the first 30 seconds it pulled a down-up-down-up-down on me when I went to accelerate. Very annoying and very slow and ineffective. The car also had the Sportshift feature, which, when engaged, makes the transmission shift at higher revs. Once you nudge the lever, it gives the control over to the driver. This made driving the car much less annoying, without the auto tranny constantly shifting.

The b7 Audi A4 Avant was much better. The car is very stylish, inside and out. The rear seats are softer and more comfortable than in the Outback, yet offer much better support, especially for your lower back. They are also a little more inclined, which makes the rear much better for passengers. The engine and automatic transmission work very well together, to my surprise. The shifts are smooth and not erratic like the Subaru's. The two-liter turbo four is not bad either - I got up to 90mph by accident. The Audi left a great impression overall.
 
new-sx4-glx-copper1-1382.jpg


Suzuki SX4 1.6 GLX 4GRIP


They replaced an aging 1996 Vitara V6 with this SX4, the Vitara having been a very reliable and capable car that had coped with a tough life of towing, dirt roads, wet dogs and Scottish weather. The SX4 seemed like the obvious choice since they no longer needed the larger Vitara and wanted some more creature comforts.

Looks wise I'd say it's quite a nice looking car, it isn't what you'd call large but offers a level of interior space on par with its predecessor. Just as the Swift supermini feels very spacious inside thanks to its high roofline the SX4 pulls off the same trick. Four adults can easily fit inside in relative comfort and for a family I can see no reason why 3 kids couldn't be thrown in the back.

Interior quality is definitely up on Suzukis of old, typically Japanese of course but no creaks or rattles, neutral styling and solid controls which feel like they'll last. Various interior optional extras are available but of note is the rubberised plastic boot/rear cabin liners that have been fitted which make cleaning easy - a wet cloth is all thats needed to remove dirt and whatever else dogs and kids have a habit of dropping on carpets. The driving position is good and offers a wide range of adjustment allowing even the shortest of arses to see the end of the bonnet, seats are fine and offer good enough support.

Speaking of the bonnet (hood, whatever you like) it feels very short and indeed the car does have what seems like a deep dashboard - the Engine being positioned quite far back to achieve this. It also explains the rather curious addition of what look very like quarter light windows ahead of the front doors - presumably to allow for the high roof line without placing the windscreen at too steep an angle.

The design feels well thought out and offers good light and visibility, plenty of room for entry and exit, good enough ground clearance for the majority of 'light' off road use that a car like this may see and an overall look that is distinctive enough to not just look like a Swift crossover or a baby Grand Vitara. Quality seems good to me, the doors being satisfyingly heavy and closing without the hollow sort of sound you might expect of a cheaper car. It doesn't feel like an economy car and I suppose at ?13500 it shouldn't.

On the technical side of things this is definitely more of a car than previous 4x4 Suzukis which are best described as "agricultural" I think. The 4x4 system in the SX4 (be it the standard or the 4GRIP models) is far more refined and suited to lighter duties than the locking hubs and manual transfer cases of the old Vitara. It is a permanent 4WD system if you want it to be but offers adjustable splitting of drive between the front and rear wheels - it will perform this automatically if you desire by selecting "AUTO" mode (as any decent full time 4WD car should) but allows manual adjustment if you so require (choices being 2WD (FWD) or LOCK which provides a constant 50/50 split. It hasn't had to cope with wet mud or snow yet (wait until winter) but seems to cope just fine with loose dirt, rutted tracks and wet roads. Normal everyday driving is best done in 2WD for maximum economy of course.

The 1.6L petrol engine develops around 105hp which is enough to get the 1650kg car upto 60 in around 11 seconds, certainly not what you'd call quick but adequate for what is a 4 door family car. Extra power is available from the 1.9L turbodiesel with 120hp and 200lb/ft but doesn't bring down that 0-60 figure much - these are definitely built for economy.

On the subject of economy, 40.9mpg (34mpg US) combined is very achievable and driving at 70mph on a motorway had the car displaying a steady 45mpg (37mpg US). This seems good to me considering the weight of the vehicle, it's rather tall shape and the full time 4WD. The diesel offers slightly better economy but I cannot comment not having driven it.


On the whole I like it, it's reasonably priced (the standard 4WD model coming in ?1000 less than the 4GRIP), practical, well built, attractive and suitable for small families or anyone who may require a car that is capable for light off road use while still being quite cheap to run.
 
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Ssangyong Kyron 2:

Kyron-1-big.jpg

Not my picture but ours has the same color.

Now to be honest, it's not a full review, it's more a sort of what the car is like after a few weeks being driven in it and a few kms at the wheel (I didn't drive on open roads with it because of the way peruvians drive, the road gives you a good idea of what chaos is).

So, let's go...

First, the styling. The first Kyron was offensively ugly, this one is still not a looker but is actually not that bad. You can look at it without puking and I don't think it will scare children.

The interior is pretty forgettable and the plastics are not what you'd call high quality but it's pretty comfortable and pretty spacious so that's ok, you can actually drive over speed bumps and paved roads at pretty good speed.

Most of my experience in this car was in town (Arequipa), where the streets are narrow, the tarmac in a pretty sorry state and where people just don't care about how they drive. The acceleration is not bad (I believe it got the 2.3l engine with 150hp) so you can avoid the taxi coming onto you at full speed at a junction with no intentions to brake. The brakes are not bad so you can actually brake when someone jumps a junction and doesn't accelerate fast enough (which is pretty much all the time).

As far as driving in it, I think I was quite biased because the last car I drove was this Hyundai Accent automatic (cf. my other review a few pages before) so everything should be better. But actually I don't think it's that bad. The manual gearbox it pleasant to use and the engine seems to have plenty of power so it pulls quite well. The suspensions are perhaps a bit soft for my liking but it's actually a good thing in this country with not very good road and lots of speed bumps. The same goes for the steering which is pretty light but I think every of these soft roaders came with light steerings.


Now I didn't really lived long enough to give you a verdict on this car but from what I can gather, it' doesn't appear to be as bad as everyone says. Sure the styling isn't what you'd call beautiful but I don't think any of these type of car are anyway.
 
looks like they took a S-Class front end and smooshed it together xD
 
I'm kinda thinking of doing a video review of the Kangoo once I pass my test. Good idea?
 
Don't think this deserves its own thread...
I've thoroughly familiarized myself with the 2.0T A4 now. Its a great car, very comfortable, the ride is definately on the soft side, its very quiet (if I wisper from the driver's seat, the rear passengers hear me perfectly well), and the engine is great - nice and torquey, especially compared to the S2000 I drove yesterday, which didn't want to pull at all. The Audi, even though its an auto, shifts down readily and very smoothly and pulls pretty hard. You can definitely feel the torque. The steering offers no feedback and makes you not want to drive it hard. Ergonomics are top notch. What was interesting about the engine is that half throttle and full throttle are exactly the same. Might be a turbo thing though, since WRXs are like that too. Basically, as long as you're not concerned with handling, the A4 is tough to beat as a small-ish luxury sedan (or wagon, in this case).
 
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