Car Throttle

I'm admittedly a little late to the party here.  This is not exactly a new car: the Suzuki Kizashi midsize sedan went on sale in the US market at the beginning of December 2009 as a 2010 model, so it's closing in on two years old.  My question, then - why can I count the number of these cars I've seen on the road since then on my own two hands?  I was curious.  the Kizashi is, in my opinion at least, a pretty good looking midsize sedan with appealing specifications and an almost too-reasonable price.  Why aren't there more of these things buzzing around?  After driving one, I'm even more curious - this is a really nice car. First, some background.  The Kizashi is the

Some manufacturers would choose to space their introductions of performance cars out a bit.  Maybe one or two at Frankfurt, and another at Detroit.  Not Audi - they're bringing four all-new S models to the Frankfurt show this fall: the S6, S6 Avant, S7 Sportback, and the S8. The big trend with performance cars is obviously engine downsizing.  The BMW M5 went from 5.0L and ten cylinders to 4.4L and eight (gaining two turbos and 60 horsepower or so in the process.)  Mercedes' AMG Division has shrunken their thundering 6.2L V8 down to 5.5L, but added twin turbochargers.  The new Focus ST is dropping a cylinder and gaining direct injection for more power.  This comes from a seemingly contradictory pair of needs: meeting rising fuel economy

I'm not just being mysterious; Kia really hasn't announced a name for it.  But what's in a name, anyway?  What's interesting here is that Kia wants to build a low-slung, rear wheel drive "four-door coupe." Besides a coupe of computer renderings, Kia hasn't given a whole lot of details on the car, but Frankfurt isn't that far away now - so expect more soon.  The big news is that this concept is on a rear-wheel-drive chassis.  That means it could either be based on the Genesis sedan (which has double wishbone independent front suspension) or the related Genesis Coupe (which uses simpler McPherson struts for space constraints.)  Still, this would be the first time Kia has offered a rear-wheel-drive vehicle since the original Sportage quasi-SUV from

The most rapidly changing and growing segment in the US market is the C-segment. Cars like the Civic, Corolla, and Focus are becoming some of the biggest sellers on the market, passing the previously dominant mid-sized market as buyers realize they'd rather trade some space for increased fuel efficiency in these days of gas prices less predictable than Lucas electronics. So it's not shocking that every high-volume manufacturer is throwing a lot of money and research into their C-segment entries, because that's where the buyers are.  The vast majority of the big selling C-segment cars are new for 2011 or 2012, including the Cruze (Chevrolet's replacement for the Cobalt), the Jetta (now simplified, cheaper and larger), the Civic, and interesting upstarts like the Kia

Let's file this one under "no, duh!"  Audi is thinking about making a sedan version of the A3 hatchback. This is presumably because they'd actually like to sell some A3's in the US market, as opposed to look at them on dealer lots and wonder why Americans don't buy them.  (hint: it's a $30,000 hatchback that doesn't say "STI" on it.)

The grille, it is large enough already.

So an A3 sedan isn't much of a surprise for a lot of reasons.  For one, with the A4 continually escalating in price, Audi needs something in the low end of their lineup.  For another, it's not like its going to be expensive to engineer: an A3 sedan is also referred to as a "Jetta" in

Honda's Civic is a stalwart in the compact market. It's always been a favorite of people who like to drive, as well as people who just need a car that won't break.  But Honda's been following the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra for too long, and it's safe to say the competition has really caught up at this point.  The Chevy Cruze, new Ford Focus, new Elantra, and the new Mazda3 have all got various advantages over the Civic - whether in technology, comfort, price, power, or economy.  So the Civic is getting a redesign for 2012... and from the outside, it seems like more of the same. Honda actually debuted two concept Civics at NAIAS this year, a Coupe Si Concept

Observe the intro image to this post.  That's my key-carrying carabiner, with a modern Honda automobile key attached to it. As I write this post inside my home-away-from-home Starbucks coffee, there's a 2007 Honda Accord sedan sitting outside which this key fits into the ignition switch of.  The title says "James Mackintosh," and if you look closely you can see the faint outline of a "CarMax" sticker on the back of it. ...WHAT?!? Me? The constant preacher of the joys of old-car ownership?  The person who said "I'll chew off my own foot before I own an OBD-2 car!!!"  Why do I, of all people, have the perfect example of car-as-transportation-appliance now?  Well, let me tell you.  It all started with a rattling noise... About three weeks

When Subaru introduced the current generation of Impreza 3 years ago, one thing was missing: an STI sedan. Sure, you could get the fire-breathing STI in nifty (and arguably better-looking) five-door hatchback form, but it was a bit strange to not be able to get an STI sedan.  Subaru has finally seen fit to remedy this, and along with the updated Impreza/WRX lineup for 2011, you can now get your fire-breathing rally homologation special in four-door format. This is the first time that US consumers will be able to choose a body style for their STI since the model first went on sale here in 2004.  The 5-door will remain in production, but now there's a four door to chose from as well.  And being a four-door

These days, the consumer in the sports sedan market is spoiled for choice. There's pretty much always been the 3-series BMW (and before it the 2002 and the 1600), and there's always been a comparable Audi and Mercedes (at least since the 190E appeared on the scene in the mid eighties), but the field has never been as diverse as it is now. Take, for example, these two seemingly unrelated sedans: the 2009 Infiniti G37 6MT sedan, and the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO EcoBoost.  On paper,  about all they have in common are four wheels with pneumatic tires and a sticker price hovering somewhere around $36,000.  Experiencing both back-to-back just proved exactly how different of a sports sedan your $35k and change will get you these days. This

Sport compact cars have it rough. They basically have to do everything, and people expect them to do most of it quite well.  First off, the car needs to be exciting to drive - fast, responsive, good brakes, tight suspension.  They also need to look tough but not too racey, which I think some manufacturers have a hard time with (I'm looking at you, Caliber SRT-4!).  They also need to be pretty practical - a hatchback at the very least, able to move around the college-student crap they are normally hauling.  Oh, and they need to be fuel efficient.  And reliable.  And relatively inexpensive to insure.  And they also need to give you a complimentary shiatsu massage on every third friday of the month.  Or so