subcompact
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Crossover utility vehicles are popular the world over, and they're going to get smaller. What started out as full-size and mid-size trucks are now most popular as car-based compacts--and subcompact crossovers are coming fast. MORE: 2013 Mazda CX-5 & 2012 Mazda 3: Real-World Mileage Boost From SkyActiv Engine Mazda is the latest to confirm that it'll offer a smaller crossover, likely built on the same underpinnings as its all-new 2014 Mazda 3 compact sedan and hatchback. Call it CX-3? There's a new subcompact Mazda 2 coming next year, and the new vehicle might logically be called the Mazda...
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2014 Nissan Versa Note: Gas Mileage Drive Report
The Nissan Versa is one of the largest "subcompacts" on the market. For 2014, a new hatchback model called the Versa Note joins the all-new sedan launched last year. We spent several hundred miles with a prototype 2014 Versa Note over three days of this past weekend, and came away relatively...
John Voelcker -
All-New 2015 Honda Fit Appears, Hybrid Model Too (Not For U.S., Though?)
The Honda Fit today is the oldest subcompact sold in the U.S., but there's an all-new one on the way. Now Honda has released the first official photos of the entirely redesigned Fit for the Japanese market, though only so far in the form of the Fit Hybrid model not sold in the U.S. The images show...
John Voelcker -
Small And Fast, But Efficient? 3 Hot Hatchbacks, Pros & Cons
More or less coincidentally, we've recently tested three hot hatchbacks: the Chevrolet Sonic RS, the Fiat 500c Abarth, and the MINI John Cooper Works Paceman All4. (The Fiat was actually the Cabrio version of the Abarth hot-rod model with the roll-back cloth roof, not a hatchback--but for all...
John Voelcker -
2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS: How Hot Is Chevy's Sporty Hatch?
The Chevrolet Sonic subcompact was an impressive offering when we tested both a 1.8-liter LT hatchback and a 1.4-liter LTZ sedan almost two years ago. Now, with the advent of the 2013 Chevy Sonic RS sports model, we had a chance to revisit the car--and we remain impressed. The RS version uses the...
John Voelcker -
2013 MINI Paceman John Cooper Works: We Ask 'Why?'
Every once in a while, we end up driving a car that leaves us utterly confused. The 2013 MINI Cooper Paceman John Cooper Works ALL4 we drove for a day last week is one such vehicle. It's striking, but far less functional than the MINI Countryman from which it's derived. The handling is decent, but...
John Voelcker -
The first new Datsun of the 21st Century is here, though it may not be quite how you remember the brand from its heyday. Datsuns always represented good value, but this time around they're really banging the budget drum. The new Go, previewed a few weeks ago in sketches, will sell for well under $7,000 when it goes on sale in India in early 2014. While the Indian market is awash with cheap new cars--the Tata Nano being a prime example--such vehicles are often significantly below par compared to their European equivalents, a byproduct of a market where consumers value simple transport above...
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2014 Nissan Versa Note Tops Subcompact Gas Mileage; Clever Aero, Light Weight
As automobile manufacturers strive for greater fuel efficiency, it's the low-hanging fruit proving most effective for immediate gains. That's why Nissan's new 2014 Versa Note--replacing the old 2012 Versa hatchback--has improved by a full 5 mpg on the old car's combined economy. The 2014 Nissan...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Ford Fiesta Vs. Mitsubishi Mirage: Which Will Have Highest Gas Mileage?
Hybrid and diesel might be winning the gas mileage wars, but gasoline is stepping up its game. We'll shortly see the debut of two new gasoline-powered models that offer the highest non-hybrid gasoline-fueled gas mileage on the market--the 2014 Ford Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost, and the 2014 Mitsubishi...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Mitsubishi Mirage: EPA Gas Mileage For Manual Car Revealed
The 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage is due to arrive in U.S. dealers this fall, but until now we've only known the EPA gas mileage of the CVT automatic variant. At 37 mpg city, 44 highway and 40 mpg combined it's one of the most efficient subcompacts on the market, and thanks to Mitsubishi Canada announcing...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Mitsubishi Mirage Subcompact: NY Auto Show Details
Mitsubishi has unveiled the new 2014 Mirage subcompact at this week's New York Auto Show. Rival for cars like the Ford Fiesta and Chevrolet Sonic, the new Mirage claims impressively high fuel economy figures and high equipment levels, set to make it a tempting option in the subcompact class...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Buick Encore: Subcompact Luxury Crossover, Drive Report
It's a subcompact. It's all-wheel drive. It's sort of a crossover, sort of a small wagon. It's also a Buick. Huh? We recently spent four days and covered 373 miles in a 2013 Buick Encore, the newest and smallest entry in the five-car lineup from GM's near-luxury brand. Despite its subcompact size...
John Voelcker -
The choice of subcompact cars on the market has never been better. Not just better in terms of numbers either, but in quality, reliability, safety, equipment and every other factor the average buyer looks for in a car. Gas mileage isn't bad either, even if it doesn't match some of the paper-thin Hondas and Geos of a few decades ago--which didn't have to meet today's much tougher safety standards. But if you're in the market for a subcompact, which should you go for? Is a shiny new subcompact fresh on the market any better than some of the cars that have roamed the roads for a few years now?...
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Toyota Excited By Next Mazda-Based Yaris Small Car
Toyota has admitted that its Yaris small car isn't a marketing priority right now in the U.S. Instead, much of the company's efforts are going into the top-selling Corolla line--but when the firm's next-generation small car hits the streets, things could change. The next Toyota subcompact isn't yet...
Antony Ingram -
GM And PSA To Collaborate On Future European Small Car Designs
General Motors and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen have penned an agreement to merge their future European small car development program, as well as focusing efforts on building a fuel-efficient, high performance small-displacement gasoline engine. The brands have abandoned plans to jointly develop a midsize...
Kurt Ernst -
2014 Ford Fiesta EcoBoost Prototype: First Drive
Three-cylinder cars are increasing common in Europe, but aside from the Smart ForTwo, they’re a rarity in the U.S. That’ll change next fall, when the 2014 Ford Fiesta EcoBoost goes on sale here. Its 1.0-liter, turbocharged, three-cylinder engine puts out 123 horsepower (at a high 6,000...
John Voelcker -
2014 Ford Fiesta Updates: Styling, Interior, MyFordTouch, And EcoBoost
Along with the new, ultra-fuel-efficient 2014 Ford Fiesta with the 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine, Ford's subcompact gets a number of other changes for the 2014 model year. These include a revised interior that adds a 6.5-inch LCD touchscreen display and optional MyFordTouch infotainment...
John Voelcker -
2012 Toyota Prius C: Real-World Gas Mileage Test
With the 2012 Toyota Prius hybrid family now comprising four members, the subcompact Prius C hatchback is the one least like its siblings. It's smaller, with a smaller engine and battery, and less cross-section to cause aerodynamic drag. So does it consume less fuel? The EPA rates it at 50 mpg...
John Voelcker -
Could the next Toyota Yaris be a Mazda2 under the skin? Mazda has announced that its factory in Mexico will begin producing a new Mazda2-based Toyota small car from 2015. Mazda's press release states that the car, which will be sold "mainly in North America", will be produced at a rate of 50,000 units per year, commencing summer 2015. The plant in Salamanca, Mexico, currently produces the Mazda2 subcompact and Mazda3 compact cars. Both companies are set to benefit from the deal. Toyota Motor Corporation is aiming to strengthen its North American vehicle lineup, while relative minnow Mazda...
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Young Buyers Like Small Cars, Don't Care About Fuel Economy
Statistics are curious and often contradictory things. That's doubly so when they reveal shopping habits, because shoppers are curious and contradictory creatures. For example, we've heard time and again that even if Millennials (aka "Generation Y") could afford to buy cars, they wouldn't flock to...
Richard Read -
GM Recalls 2012 Chevrolet Sonic For Faulty Windshield Washer System
The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, General Motors’ popular subcompact car, is being recalled to fix a potential fault with the windshield wiper hose. According to the official recall posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s SaferCar website, the recall affects 44,668 cars...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Compacts Better Than Subcompacts For High Gas Mileage?
It's fairly easy to point at trucks and supercars as the biggest gas-guzzlers on the market, but for the average person on the street it's a lot harder to identify the cars with better gas mileage. The casual observer might assume that Smart ForTwos or Scion iQs are among the most parsimonious...
Antony Ingram -
2012 Nissan Versa 1.6 SL Sedan: Weekend Drive Report
When auto writers drive test cars, they're usually loaned out from carmakers' regional fleets. So when we asked for an 2012 Nissan Versa sedan to test over a four-day weekend, following our brief test drive of the all-new Versa in May, the car we got seemed rather familiar. It was, in fact, the...
John Voelcker -
2013 Fiat 500X: Previewed On Video, Full Details Soon?
It's just 18 seconds of video, but a clip from Italy appears to show the first clear details of yet another upcoming Fiat model to help the brand return to volume sales in the U.S. market. Posted on Tuesday, the video shows what is almost surely a Fiat 500X crossover. This new model is the...
John Voelcker