Kilmer road test

Costs Less Than Rivals; Falls Short On Electric Driving Range For years, Toyota has danced around electricity, perhaps fearful it would get schocked. But last year the company got back in the electric game (barely) with the Prius Prime, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) based on the 2016 Prius Liftback. Plug-in hybrids are a strange lot that are beginning to be noticed. They attract buyers who want a longer distance of all-electric driving, but aren’t ready to jump to a full electric vehicle. With a fully charged battery the Prime can travel 25 miles of electric-only driving before seamlessly switching to the hybrid drivetrain, and combined, the Prime can travel 640 miles without charging the battery or filling the gas tank. Short range, but great efficiency and low cost The Prius Prime has an EPA estimated miles-per-gallon equivalent (MPGe) of 133. MPGe is the government’s rating to try to help consumers understand how much energy an electric or hybrid car is using … [Read more...] about Road Test: 2018 Toyota Prius Prime Plus

No Speed Demon, But Adept Handling and Communicative Steering Won Me Over Now in its third year year, the 2018 Mazda CX-3 continues as a head turning subcompact crossover. It’s available in three trim levels: Sport, Touring and Grand Touring that are available with either front- or all-wheel (AWD) drive models. As part of its standard equipment, the 2018 CX-3 gains Mazda’s Smart City Brake Support. New options this year include a heated steering wheel, full-color Active Driving Display and a power driver’s seat with memory. A few quirks, but the package wins us over Mazda added its third crossover SUV in 2016. Smaller than the compact CX-5 and the three-row CX-9, the name suggests it’s a high riding version of the Mazda 3 compact car. But that’s not the case; the CX-3 is more closely related to the subcompact Mazda 2 hatchback, a car no longer sold in America. Pricewise, the 2018 Mazda CX-3 is right in the thick of things, with a starting MSRP of $21,085, … [Read more...] about Road Test: 2018 Mazda CX-3 Grand Touring

A VW Golf That Can Handle Light Off-Roading Americans love crossover sport-utility vehicles, which had been a bit a problem for Volkswagen. While most full-line automakers had several crossover SUVs to choose from, VW had just two; the small Tiguan and the larger, now discontinued, Touareg. To plug the gap until the three-row Atlas arrived, the German automaker came up with the Golf Alltrack for the 2017 model year. And just what is the Golf Alltrack? In a nutshell, the Alltrack is a made-over Golf SportWagen that has been slightly lifted, butched up with some body cladding, and includes VW’s 4Motion all-wheel drive system along with more standard content. A sedan in off-road clothing Sound familiar? That’s pretty much what Subaru did with the then Legacy wagon in 1994, morphing it into the Subaru Outback and calling it a “sport-utility wagon.” They haven’t looked back since. The 2018 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack was redesigned, lighting elements. All models … [Read more...] about Road Test: 2018 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack SE

Not The Corolla Of The Past For years, friends who weren’t looking to get a kick out of driving, but just wanted something to go from point A to B economically and reliably, Toyota’s Corolla was one of my top recommendations. Today, after spending a week in the 2018 Toyota Corolla, I still recommend it. Apparently lots of folks recommend it. After more than 50 years, it is just not the best-selling compact in America, but the best-selling automotive nameplate of all time. The Corolla keeps rolling along–better than ever on the road Toyota sells approximately 1.5 million Corollas globally each year, and sold more than 900 of the things every day last year in the U.S alone—including weekends and holidays. The first Corolla went into production in November 1966 and made its United States debut in 1968. Since then it has tallied 43 million units sold worldwide. Last year Toyota changed the model lineup, which carries over to the 2018 model. The Corolla S was … [Read more...] about Road Test: 2018 Toyota Corolla SE

All-new Compact Crossover with A Familiar Name Like a Phoenix rising, Mitsubishi resurrected the Eclipse name in 2018. In its previous iteration, from 1990 – 2012, the Eclipse was a very competent and popular coupe or convertible that could be pretty sporty with the right equipment. Now it is an all-new compact crossover, officially known as the 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross. Mitsubishi’s new crossover middle child Slotting between the Outlander Sport and the Outlander, the Eclipse Cross enters the hottest segment of the auto market, so expectations are high. But will a good-looking design and a very attractive entry price be enough for buyers to give it a try? Drivetrain The Super-All Wheel Control, not All Wheel Drive, 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that runs on 87 octane gasoline. The 152 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, was delivered through a Constant Variable Transmission (CVT) with an eight-step Sport … [Read more...] about Road Test: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross SEL 1.5T S-AWC