The 2012 Mazda 2 reviewed by txGarage

Small, compact cars are really making a comeback in America, and we’ve driven quite a few here, including the new Ford Fiesta. The all new Mazda 2 is based on the same platform as the Fiesta, so you’d assume they are pretty similar cars. While they’re similar in size, that might just be where the similarities stop. We’ve had the opportunity to drive a few different models of the Fiesta and on every occasion we’ve come back with the same opinions. It’s a great car for the money. Lots of fun to drive on tight, twisty roads and economical. So what did we think about the Mazda 2?

Mazda obviously has roots in racing and they have been branding their portfolio to remind you of that fact. So the first area where the Mazda differs from the Ford is in the weight of the car. Mazda knows lighter is better. The Mazda 2 is only a few hundred pounds heavier than the Lotus Elise, one of the best handling and fun cars you can buy. It’s also a few hundred pounds lighter than it’s cousin, the Ford Fiesta.

This really translates into less body roll and more agility around corners. The Fiesta is good on windy roads, but the Mazda 2 is great. We had this car zipping around Dallas, namely some of the back roads around White Rock Lake. If you’ve ever been out there, you’ll know you can’t pickup a lot of speed, but you can have lots of fun in the corners, and in this Mazda, we really had some good fun.

2012 Mazda 2 reviewed by txGarage

The Mazda 2 does have 1 less liter in the engine than the Fiesta. All models come equipped with at 1.5 liter 4-cylinder engine that pushes out 100 horsepower and 98 ft-lbs of torque. Our tester came equipped with Mazda’s 4-speed automatic transmission, but it can be had with a 5 speed manual. This is less than the Fiesta, but remember, you’re pushing less weight around. Obviously this is also the big letdown of these small hatchbacks. You can have fun zipping around the corners, but when it comes to really putting the power down, you’re always left wanting more. Highway driving is decent, but you need to plan ahead when overtaking.

One thing to look forward to with this car, though, is the aftermarket getting involved. We’ve already seen some great concepts from Mazda and others with some real racing potential. The lack of power in this 1.5 liter engine is just begging for an aftermarket turbo kit. It’s already a great handling, light car, all you need now is a few more ponies under the hood.

Standing back and looking at this car, it is unmistakably a Mazda. The “smiley-face” front end runs throughout Mazda’s lineup, and swooping lines down the side plays to Mazda’s key design language. The only real problem with the looks of the Mazda 2 is the looks of the Ford Fiesta. I think the Fiesta looks much better, but that might just be me.

Inside the car looks good, but isn’t as refined as what you get in the Fiesta. Mazda keeps it simple and straight forward. Our tester was nicely packaged for the price with steering wheel mounted controls and some nice red bordering along the seats.

Another difference between the two cars is fuel economy. Although the Mazda is lighter and has a smaller engine the Ford actually beats it out in fuel economy. I think this mainly comes down to the transmission as you get a better geared 6-speed automatic in the Ford. Either way you’re looking at the high 30 mpg range in either of these cars.

The last difference between the two is in price. Picking up a Fiesta hatch will set you back a minimum of $15,965 and the last one we tested with leather seats pushed up to just over $24k. The Mazda 2 starts at $14,370 and our tester as specked out at $17,460.

I can definitely see why these compact cars are catching on. If you live within a bigger city like Dallas or Houston where you’ll be negotiating tight corners and heavy traffic, these cars come in handy. With all the options in the American market you have to choose from now, though, is the Mazda 2 the one I’d buy? Maybe. I do like the way it drives and the way it feels on the road. My only slight reservation comes when comparing it to the Fiesta. I think I’d pay the extra money for the nicer interior and better looks.

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Family wagon, mini-mini-van, crossover, people carrier, or standing in a class of it’s own? The Mazda 5 was introduced in the American market back in 2005. Although small family cars like this are popular in Europe and Asia, they are not prevalent in America. There isn’t much here that competes directly with the Mazda 5 and it’s not terribly hard to see why. We love our SUV’s. If you’re looking for a vehicle to carry 6 people, there are a slew of options that are bigger and have much more interior room. What if you’re looking for fuel economy and price point though?

Being a driver in Texas, you keep in the back of your mind, while car shopping at least, that you never know what kind of terrain you may encounter. The idea of a taller, more rugged SUV is a very appealing one for a family. But SUV’s are expensive, and even the ones that are good on fuel economy, aren’t that great. The Mazda 5 on the other hand is a bargin for a vehicle that can seat 6 people in comfort. In the 2012 model, Mazda implemented more of their flowing design style. This makes the 5 appear smaller than it actually is. So as you stand outside of it thinking, how am I going to fit anyone into that third row, it’s easy to doubt this cars appeal.

Slide the rear doors open like you were getting into a van and step inside this car and it’s a whole new story. The seating arrangement goes by twos. You have the driver and passenger in front, two more passengers behind them, and two more seats behind that. The middle seats can more forward and back to adjust the legroom needed and all the seats can fold flat to give this car an enormous amount of room.

Our tester was decked out in GT trim which gave us leather seats and 17” alloy wheels. The interior reminded us a lot of the Mazda 6 we drove a few months back, which is a good thing. Driving this car down the road was much like driving the Mazda 3 and there is a good reason for that. The Mazda 5 is a bigger body put on the Mazda 3’s platform. This means that it actually feels well balance and stable. The 2.5 liter engine is shared as well and when you don’t have the family packed in the car, the 157 horsepower can make this car even feel peppy. The engine is matched up to a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic which makes this family hauler good for 21 mpg city and 28 mpg highway. During our time testing the Mazda 5 we were able to average a very respectable 26 mpg.

The outside of this “mini-mini-van” isn’t that awful either. You get the same aggressive, yet playful, front fascia as the rest of Mazda’s lineup. You also get some nice flowing lines down the body that help give this a sport look. It is a Mazda so you should expect a little zoom-zoom. The back of this car is big and bloated and not as attractive as the rest of the car, but everyone has to sacrifice a little for the kids.

So it all sounds good and well, but you’re still thinking you’ll just go with a bigger 3-row SUV or traditional mini-van, right? I can’t say that I blame you and the Chrysler Town and Country sold as many units per month as the Mazda 5 did for all of 2010. But with a starting price of $19,345, it’s hard to argue that you’ll find more room for you’re money. Our GT spec’d tester tipped the scales at just under $25,000 and after shopping around, it’s a price that just can’t be beat.

Ford is hoping that more people are seeing the light as they are bringing the C-Max to America next year. The C-Max is, and has been, a popular car overseas and is based on the same framework as the Mazda 5. So is the American family ready to move past the big SUV and settle down in a European style people carrier? I’m not quite convinced of that just yet; especially here in Texas. Driving the Mazda 5 worked out well for me and my family. I actually have the real need for a vehicle like the Mazda 5 and it handled everything I threw at it during our week of testing. Still, I can’t get myself to actually go out and buy one.

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2012 Honda Civic Coupe reviewed by txGarage

We had a chance to do a Quick Drive review of this 2012 Honda Civic Coupe back during the Texas Auto Roundup where to be quite honest, we were fairly unimpressed at that time. It didn’t help that just before driving the Honda Civic Coupe we took the Kia Forte 5 out and thought it was everything we wanted the Civic to be. We now have this car for an extended period where we can really check it out and let you know what we think.

Exterior
At first glance it doesn’t seem like the 2012 Civic is much different looking than the 2011 model. Take a closer look though and you’ll see the lines are much cleaner and more swoopy. It’s more wedged and has a more aggressive stance making it look more sporty. After spending some time really studying the lines and design of the car I actually quite liked it.

Interior
Inside the car is laid out much like the older Civic. We were testing the EX-L model with navigation, a sunroof, and leather seats. Although this is a good combination it didn’t all work out right. The plastic panels all over the dash, the doors, and the center console where cheap and hard. The leather was also cheap and not as comfortable as leather seats we’ve tested in much cheaper cars.
The double stacked gauge cluster was cool when it was first released and the tachometer is big and right in front of the driver giving you a sporty feel. Still, it just didn’t work for me. You had dials that would change color depending on how economical you drove the car. You have a Prius-like display that shows how economical you are driving. And you have a big green button to the left of the steering wheel that will make sure you’re driving is economical. As sporty as this car tries to look, you quickly figure out it’s all about economy.

Engine
Equipped in this sporty coupe is a 1.8 liter, 140 horsepower engine hooked up to a 5-speed transmission. This results in a pretty slow approach to a sporty coupe. Take this car out of eco-mode, turn the traction control off, and put the transmission into the lowest gear aloud by the automatic transmission, then put your foot on the brake and slam on the accelerator peddle. In most cars this results in some tire-spinning and a jolt of power propelling you forward. In this Civic coupe it resulted in no drama and a slow puttering down the road.

Ride
In most slow cars the lack of power can be forgiven by a sporty chassis with good handling so we stop trying to spin the tires and took this Civic into some corners. Just a few weeks before we test drove the Acura TSX Sportwagon and fell in love with it’s handling, could this Civic coupe be as good? Sadly no. The feel from the steering wheel and the stance on the road just never felt sporty. You always felt as if you were disconnected to maximize economy and minimize driving fun.

Economy
So without sportiness and power and with a large intrusion of eco-ness, this car should get great gas mileage, right? Well yes, and it dose. The EPA ratings on this coupe are 28 city and 39 highway. Keeping the car out of eco-mode doesn’t hurt your numbers either. We were averaging in the low 30’s without being in eco-mode. When we finally broke down and pushed the big green button we saw numbers from 37 up into the 40’s on fuel economy.

The almost sad part is that you should be able to get even better fuel economy. As I stated earlier this car is equipped with Honda’s older 5-speed transmission instead of a more economical 6-speed. Mainly this is because of cost. Our tester already tipped the scale at $24,225 and as I said, it doesn’t feel all that expensive. Others have said they believe that Honda did this so that the Civic wouldn’t beat out their CR-Z in fuel economy. This leaves you feeling like you could have done better in the fuel economy stance as well.

Granted I’ve been talking a lot about sportiness and that’s not really what this car is all about. Honda does have the Civic Si, a more performance driven model if you’re looking for a sport coupe. The problem with that is there is so much competition these days for sporty, cheap, fuel efficient coupes. I have yet to drive the Si Civic but am looking forward to it. But if the interior is still a mess, and the handling and steering feel are even half as dead I’ll be looking at other cars. Cars like the Scion tC, the Kia Forte, the Hyundai Genesis, the Hyundai Veloster, and soon enough Scion will release the FR-S and Subaru the BRZ. These are all great new cars that are more focused on keeping it sporty and still get decent fuel economy. If you are just seeking a nice looking coupe that will get you back and forth with good gas mileage, this may be your car. But for me, Honda has a lot of work to accomplish before I become a fanboy and turn away from Hyundai and all the great new cars coming.

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2011 Ford Explorer reviewed by txGarage

In the time leading up to us reviewing the 2011 Ford Explorer, I was already quite excited about it. All Ford products we’ve driven in the last few years have been getting better and better and there is no getting away from the fact that this is one nice looking SUV.

Back in the mid 90’s, the Explorer was all the rage and the SUV market was really taking off. Living in Texas, it’s almost guaranteed that you owned one or directly knew someone who owned one. This all seemed to come to a crashing halt when the Firestone Tire scandal started to surface. Moreover, the SUV market was changing. No longer were big gas guzzling SUV’s as practical or popular as they once were. When Ford set out to bring the Explorer back, they had to take all of these changes into mind.

Ford first tried their hand swinging and missing with the Ford Flex. As nice and capable as this SUV was, the styling never really caught on in a major way. The new Explorer is built on the same platform as the Flex, but with a radically different design. The new Explorer borrows from the welcomed styling of the Ford Edge. It shares a more crossover SUV look while incorporating a muscular and modern shape. The three-bar grille has been toned down with paint matching bars and much smaller chrome bars. I’m not the biggest fan of large chrome bits, so to me, it looks really done right. The new Explorer sits lower due to being built on a car and crossover platform rather than being built on a truck platform, but it still has a big and capable appearance.

Inside, like many new Fords, just takes the cake. Our tester was fitted with the LTD trim packing lots of leather and nice features. It also was packed with a 3rd row. Unlike some three row SUVs, namely the Outlander GT we test drove a few weeks back, the Explorer has a very nice set of seats in the back. We are not advocating that they are the most comfortable for adults on long journeys, but for children, they are just right. The seats also had a power folding option. Walk to the rear of the Explorer, hit the power liftgate opener on the keyfob, reach in and push the power folding seat button, and walk away. Not having to dealing with straps or leavers trying to get the seats up and down is a great convenience that you only normally see on much more expensive SUV’s.

Besides the convenience of having a 3rd row, the Explorer is also packed with technology. Our tester was equipped with Ford’s SYNC system, active park assist, a Sony audio system with HD radio, heated and cooled seats, navigation, push-button start, a blindspot alert on the side mirror, collision warning system with brake support, a rear-view camera, and rain-sensing wipers. All this technology coupled together with nice leather and soft-touch materials made this Explorer feel upscale. Not just upscale for an Explorer, but upscale even for a Lincoln, Lexus, or Cadillac.

One of the things Ford knew they had to do is make this new Explorer competitive with it’s fuel economy, but keep the power needed to push around a serious SUV. There has been many discussions on the best powertrain for the big Explorer including the 3.7 twin-turbo’d EcoBoost out of the Taurus SHO. In 2012, Ford will be selling the Explorer with an EcoBoost engine but not the 3.7 V6. Instead they will be offering the 2.0 turbo EcoBoost engine.

No matter what you think about that, for 2011 you only have one option and that’s the 3.5 V6. This engine produces 290 horsepower and 255 lb-ft or torque through a 6-speed automatic transmission while allowing the Explorer to claim best-in-class fuel economy of 25 highway mpg. During our time with the Explorer we easily averaged in the 21-22 mpg range, which was incredibly good in our opinion.

If you’re one of many Texans who need to tow around a trailer or take your boat to the dock, the people at Ford haven’t forgotten about you either. Although you lose some towing abilities thanks to the car platform, they have still given you a 5,000 pound towing ability. They have also thought about things like placement of the rear-view camera allowing you to backup and hookup to your trailer easier. You also have hill start assist and hill descent control systems at your fingertips.

One thing we didn’t get to play with as much as we really wanted to is the Range Rover like terrain management system. This system allows you to shift on the fly from one setting to the next giving you the proper grip, torque, and throttle response needed to tackle the terrain that lay ahead. Your options are normal, mud/ruts, sand, and grass/gravel/snow.

No matter the terrain you find yourself in, the Explorer should give you a comfortable ride. Highway driving is a breeze and the engine really puts out just enough power to give you proper overtaking control. Although you lose some towing abilities the platform gives the Explorer a car-like driving experience and puts it’s comfort up there with the top of its class.

All this technology, comfort, and capability does come at a price though. Our decked out Explorer smashes your pocketbook with an MSRP of $45,475. This to many we talked to was a deal breaker for buying a Ford. After driving it though, I really think the price is well deserved in this marketplace as you look at the cost of even cheap SUV’s these days. A base Explorer starts out at $28,995 and it’s just as nice to look at and drive. Stepping up with the luxury will cost you but I really think the interior is nicer than some way more expensive SUV’s I’ve driven. I really think the new Explorer hit every mark it needed to hit. It’s great looking, has great fuel economy, still has the power you need, has the room you need, and has one of the best interiors for the money. Now all Ford needs to do is stay away from recalls.

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2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon reviewed by txGarage

I’ll admit, after selling my Acura Integra in 2002, I really didn’t pay much attention to the Acura brand. Their styling seemed to go from bad to downright ugly. Their performance seemed to run away after letting the Integra go and featuring the RSX. At the Main Street in Motion event, I test drove the new Acura TSX in comparison to the Buick Regal turbo and was quite shocked at how well I liked it. Then I drove the 2012 Acura TL around the infield track at Texas Motor Speedway. Again, I was shocked at how well the car handled, how balanced it was, how nice the steering was, and how good the paddle shifters on the automatic transmission were.

After seeing the commercials for the new TSX Sport Wagon, my first impression was amazement that they’d bring this to America. My next impression was that it couldn’t be as good as the TSX was. Of course now we have the chance to test it out and see what’s really what.

Let’s take a look at the styling first. As I said earlier, Acura has gone through some bad styling. So much so that they have lost sales and customers have attributed that to the new styling. The front-end styling of the 2012 TL seems to have gotten the point and Acura toned it down a little. The TSX still needs some work in my opinion, but it’s good that Acura is getting the message. Other than the front beak-like grille, the rest of the lines on the TSX are sharp and almost aggressive. When adding the wagon to the rear, Acura took the time to make it more stylish and sporty rather than optimize interior space. So the back end cuts a little forward and the spoiler hangs over the rear windshield giving it a constant in-motion look.

As far as wagons go, I think it looks good. It still looks young and sporty, but wagons haven’t ever really caught back on here in America. We have been seeing more consumers warming up to the fact that wagons are coming back though. This is evident in the Dodge Magnum, the Cadillac Sport Wagon, and now the Acura TSX Sport Wagon. Still, most people I talked to and I’d have to agree, if it was my money, I’d just go for the sedan.

One thing a wagon can offer is more room inside. I never really had the need to fill it up, but there was a ton of space in the back. The rear seats, though, suffered on the roominess front. They were actually quite tight. Up front though, the leather seats were not just roomy, they were incredibly comfortable. The dash seemed sort of plain and Acura admits that this being it’s bottom line car isn’t equipped with as many goodies as others. Our tester was equpped with navigation, Bluetooth, power tailgate, voice recognition, a backup camera, and a decent stereo with 15 GB hard disk and 10-speaker surround. The navigation system and stereo where all controlled by a joystick like knob on the dash and the screen was set back further out of reach. It took a little playing with, but was actually a nice change to touch screen systems. Compared to others like Buick or even Hyundai and Kia, it just didn’t seem as luxurious as I expected from an Acura. That doesn’t mean, though, that it was a bad place to be.

Under the hood sits a 2.4 liter 4 cylinder engine. This is your only option in the sport wagon while the sedan offers a V6. One of my first concerns with this car was would it be sporty enough with the added mass and no optional V6. This question was quickly answered after a few minutes of driving around. Yes, they can lay claim to it being a sports wagon. Although the 2.4 liter engine only pushes out 201 horsepower and 170 foot-pounds of torque, it rev’s up to 7,000 rpm and feels quite peppy. Your only transmission option is the sequential sportsift automatic 5-speed. You can put this in manual mode and shift with the paddles on the steering-wheel, and it actually works quite well. It seems a little disappointing that you only have 5-speeds instead of the 6-speed transmission you get in the TL. It doesn’t really hinder the sportiness that much, but seems that you could achieve better fuel efficiency that way, not that it’s necessarily bad on fuel economy. During our daily driving, we were averaging 26.3 mpg; so surprising that we posted the picture up on our Facebook page.

It really all makes sense after driving the TSX and the TL for short but enthusiastic drives. This is why they did so well. Even in the wagon, you felt like this car was nimble and sporty. Acura throws words around like coil springs, balanced chassis, independent double-wishbone suspension, independent multi-link rear, and thicker rear stabilizer bar. All these equate to a great driving experience. It’s quiet and comfortable as it should be, but it also feels light and direct. This is what sets this car above cars like the Buick Regal, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima. This would be my main reason for spending my hard earned money on an Acura today.

How much exactly do we need to spend though? Well the base TSX starts at $29,610. For the sport wagon you’ll need to shell out at least $30,960. To get one equipped with the technology package and all the goodies we had, then you’re tipping the scales at $35,970. This seems like a lot for a car with less technology and luxury than we expected, but it makes up for everything when you’re driving a back country road with enthusiasm and a smile on your face.

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The 2012 Ford Focus Titanium Sedan by txGarage

The Ford Focus has never been that strong of a competitor in the U.S. market. Although having great success with the Focus, and growing the platform, over seas Ford neglected the Focus brand here in their home market keeping a cheaper and older platform. The enthusiast community, including us here at txGarage, have cried for years for Ford to bring the Euro market Focus here to the United States. We’ve talked about cars like the Mazda 3 and the Volvo C30 which share the Euro Focus platform and how that makes them better than the American Focus.

Well you can forget about all of that now. In 2010 Ford announced that the new Focus would be the same in the Euro market and the American market. Finally they are bringing the enthusiast car into America, but does it live up to they hype? How does the 2012 Ford Focus handle Texas and our great terrain?

Ride/Handling:

Let’s start out with the big thing that set the last two Focus’ apart, the suspension and handling. The suspension is set up for a European feel. You get sharp handling and great steering feel in this Focus. The steering is electrically assisted which usually takes away feel from the steering wheel, yet you still get a great feel for what the wheels are doing underneath you. The new Focus also has torque vectoring control. What is that? It’s a system that helps distribute torque to the front wheels to suit driving conditions and road surface to keep traction. This means you can push this Focus harder and faster than ever before, even hard and faster than most anything else in it’s segment with front-wheel-drive.

Although you get a more sporty suspension setup and our Titanium Focus with the handling package and 18” wheels running Pilot sport tires, you still get a decent everyday ride. Rough roads and even a little off-roading is handled well in the 2012 Focus.

Engine/Transmission:

So what’s under the hood of our new Focus? As for now all 2012 Ford Focus’ come with a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engine pushing 160 horsepower and 146 ft-lbs of torque. The Focus is front-wheel-drive only with no all-wheel-drive options and is available in either a 6-speed automatic or a 5-speed manual. We were stuck with an automatic transmission in our test car, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The automatic is dubbed by Ford to be a “Powershift” transmission which is essentially a dual-clutch auto-manual transmission. As such the transmission was pretty responsive for an automatic. You could leave it in full auto mode and toss the Focus around some corners without getting much lag from the transmission trying to figure out the best gear to power you out.

The biggest thing lacking by the Focus to really make this a “sporty” car was the power output. Pushing 160 hp out of a 2.0 liter engine is’t that big of a deal and with the weight of this car it just didn’t seem like it was really enough. Great handing and a great transmission left us wanting more from the engine. We’ve had the opportunity to talk to some people within Ford who reassure us that we’ll be seeing an ST packaged Focus here in America giving an even more sporty edge to the new Focus. They wouldn’t say however what type of engine setup it would have. Will we get a turbo’d Focus here? We’ll just have to see.

Exterior Styling:

Most cars we test with all new styling usually have people that love the style and people that dont care for it much, but in this Focus we couldn’t find anyone during our time with the car that didn’t really like the new body style. Driving down Swiss Ave. in Dallas I was even waved down by a cop who began to tell me how great this car looked. After the initial shock of being waved down by a police man while breaking no laws we began to look over the car as I told him all about this new Focus. Needless to say, it draws attention.

We were really hoping for the Hatchback version of the Focus as I always thought they looked better, but I really like the styling of the sedan. Both versions use the latest evolution of Ford’s kinetic design language. It’s more aggressive and more aerodynamic than the previous Euro Focus and hundreds of times better than the previous American modle. It’s really elegant, muscular, and beautiful all at the same time.

Interior/Technology

If you think the exterior is something just sit down inside the new 2012 Focus. This is by far the best interior in it’s class. Our test car was equipped with two-tone leather – Black and Arctic White – and not just on the seats; we’re talking about the dash, doors, steering wheel. The contrast and colors made this car look premium and it really felt that way too.

Another thing that stands out inside this Focus is their focus on technology. Our Titanium Premium package adds rear parking sensors, push button start, automatic wipers, auto-dimming rearview mirror, and a six-way power driver seat. Our car was also equipped with the newest MyFord Touch infotainment system with a big touch-screen in the middle of the dash. The system took a little playing with to get used to but once you learned the quick ways to get to where you needed, it was really easy and intuitive. Voice commands and hands free features worked well to help program our destination into the GPS while driving.
Ford has had a few problems with the new SYNC software and we did experience an issue on our 2nd day with the car. The system froze while playing from my iPhone and while it continued to play no buttons or functions would work. I couldn’t turn the music down, couldn’t change songs, and couldn’t even turn it off. I literally had to shut the whole car down and restart it to fix the problem. Luckily I was close to home and it want that big of a deal.

Other technology available in this compact car that you would be hard pressed to find in it’s competition is the Parking Technology. When equipped with this package – and our car was not – the Focus can parallel park itself using the same technology found in much more expensive cars like the Lincoln MKS. The Focus can also be had with Ford’s MyKey feature which allows parents to give children a special key then restrict a number of things while that key is driving the car.

Pricing and Competition:

Although Ford has been lacking a serious competitor in the compact car class for years now that doesn’t mean the American market has been lacking. There is a plethora of stiff competition out there for the new Focus. The all new Chevrolet Cruze is much more upscale than the previous offering from Chevrolet. The all new Hyundai Elantra is stylish and enjoyable. The Mazda 3 is and always has been a great choice in this market. Although we have lots of great choices I think the Focus really stands out with it’s styling and features. It’s more sporty and enjoyable to drive than it’s competition.

You do pay for this though. Our Titanium packaged sedan cost upwards of $25,000. Throw in a few other features and you can get that price close to $30,000 in no time. That’s asking a lot of a Ford Focus even if it is one of the nicest cars you can get in it’s class. People are paying for them though. The Focus is selling well for Ford and the average price of a Focus sold in the US has gone up, meaning people are buying them and going for the higher priced ones.

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2010 Toyota Prius

This week on txGarage we are testing the all new 2010 Toyota Prius. In all honesty, I’ll have to say none of us were too thrilled about driving the Prius for the week, Hybrid cars just are not our style. Let’s start out with our preconceived notions about the Prius itself. Although I have never driven the 1st gen or 2nd gen Prius, I’ve always heard the same; they are slow, they are heavy and handle horribly, and they cost too much to make up the benefit of the gas savings. Not to mention that it’s not much of a looker. So, why buy a Prius then? Easy, either you are a rich person needing an image car or you are an eco-freak that image means more than actual impact on the environment. The thing is though, that the Prius is now in it’s 3rd generation and has sold 1.6 million units world wide. Most of the critics and industry gurus predicted that the Prius would be a flop, boy were they wrong. So there must be a bigger appeal to this car than just the eco population out there, we’re here to figure out what that might be.

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The 3rd gen Prius is a complete rework of the old modle. The body has been reworked making it even more aerodynamic and having only a 0.25 coefficient of drag. You can be doing 50 to 80 mph and never feel wind resistance, it gives the impression that you are going slower than it feels. The looks are a little better with the 3rd gen too, although I still wouldn’t call it a pretty car. The shape does serve it’s purpose though. The next major thing changed with this Prius is the power-train itself. Obviously the Prius is still a hybrid car with gas and electric motors powering the wheels, but now that gas engine is a 1.8 liter not the old 1.5 liter. This give the engine 24 more horsepower over the previous generation as well as more lowdown torque. This low torque allows the car to feel more peppy and still retain high fuel economy. As a matter of fact the Prius is rated as the most fuel efficient cas sold in america. So it does that right. Next the interior has been reworked and made a little more high quality than its predecessor. You also have slew of available and standard features including touch screen navigation and infotainment system, 4 driving modes (we’ll get into later), hands free command inputs, lane keep assist (LKA), adaptive cruse control, solar pannel roof, and a energy monitoring system. All this technology packed into this car really gives it the edge up on the competition. The interior as a whole isn’t that bad, it’s comfortable and the touch points have been done right but it’s still cheaply made. This is very apparent in high winds or hard terrain. The plastics all sway and move making those annoying creeks and rattles that you just are not used to when spending over 30k on a car.

I want to say that the dive in this car was really impressive. Not because it was great, but because it wasn’t horrible. The package we got with this 2010 Prius included the 17″ wheels, this is important because I was told by a friend that when you get a Prius with 17″ wheels you also get some special equipment like quicker steering rack, firmer dampers and less efficiency oriented tires that you don’t get in the standard Prius. I’m told it makes a world of difference, so don’t bother buying one without this package. Whatever they have done here, though, has done the trick as it feels very poised and precise in the corners – you still don’t really get the power to pull you out of the corners but at least it’s not heavy and wobbly. You get 4 different driving options with this new Prius including EV mode, Eco mode, Power mode, and normal mode. Obviously the EV mode is an all electric mode that allows you to cruze up to 25 mph on battery power only. The Eco mode is all about fuel economy. If you enjoy living I wouldn’t use this mode much. What it does is take away throttle input and does everything possible to not allow you to use too much power. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s dangerous, with a deadened response you don’t have the power to get out of other peoples way. Ether that or someone is bound to shoot you for taking 15 minutes to go from a stop at a red light up to the speed limit. Power mode is the mode to keep the car in, although it almost negates the reasoning for buying the Prius in the first place. The car, with the upgraded steering and suspension, feels like a peppy Japanese or European hatch. Normal mode falls in between the power and Eco modes and is the mode you are in automatically when you start the car. Throughout the week driving both highway and city streets using the A/C – we are in Texas – we averaged 51 mpg, and that’s with the car almost never being in Eco mode.

All in all, I can’t say that this is a bad car. It debunked pretty much all of our preconceived notions we had about the Prius when this week began. There are some things we really liked about this car including the keyless entry system which has touch points on the door handle that locks and unlocks the doors, we liked all the gadgetry packed inside the car – although there was no USB hookup which seemed strange to us, and we liked the way the car drove and handled overall. So the question lingers, as with every review, would we spend our money on this car? No. This optioned out Prius, that wasn’t even top spec, weighed in at $32k. I understand that the technology is still new and limited and I understand that the technology in the car is good, but I can’t justify spending that kind of money on this car. If it was my money, I’d be getting something more along the lines of a Fiesta, Mazda 2, or a Golf that will get you an average in the 30′s and cost you almost half as much. This way you get a better looking, better driving, cheaper car that still gets good gas mileage. If you are still looking for that “image car” though, at least you know that driving this hybrid won’t drive you absolutely crazy.

We had the 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid for a few weeks during the Christmas break and really enjoyed our time in it. This is our video showing a little bit of what we thought about the new Milan. For a full review check out our post here, or hit the jump to see the video.

Feel free to let us know what you think about the video in our coments here on txGarage or on our YouTube page.

2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid

Driving on icy highways is no fun anywhere, but in Central Texas it becomes downright dangerous. A large percentage of Texans drive trucks, rear-wheel-drive with no traction. Couple that with the fact that we never seem to be prepared for ice or snow and it really gets dangerous. Heading home from visiting family for Christmas Eve, we hit the worst part of a bad snow day. A two hour long journey would be turned into a five hour marathon as we crept along the icy highways. We hit an enormous amount of traffic and hardship along the roads. Trucks would spin their tires desperately trying to climb hills; 18-wheelers would jackknife or would be unable to gain traction; Mustangs and 350Zs littered the ditches and medians; and mangled vehicles crept down the highway trying to get home. All I could think of, after the safety of my family of course, was not hurting this new press vehicle loaned to me by Ford. Surprisingly though, this 2010 Mercury Milan handled the snow and ice with ease, never did I think I would be happy that I was driving a front-wheel-drive car.

There have been quite a few rumors floating around for years now that “next year” is the year that Ford will dump its Mercury brand. Although the entry level luxury Marquee has been around since 1939, the brand hasn’t been a sales contender in any class for as far back as I can recall. The 2010 line-up consists of only three vehicles, the Milan, Mariner, and Mountaineer – you can also still buy a Grand Marquis, but only by special order now. So seemingly the skeptics are right. Ford isn’t investing much into Mercury and has been starving it for years.

I personally, after seeing and driving this new 2010 Milan, hope the rumors are not true. Although the Milan is still nothing more than a Ford Fusion with elegant sheet metal, at least it’s a big step in the right direction from previous generations. With the new looks and standard equipment on this car, it really does have enough to distinguish itself apart from the Fusion. For the money, I believe that the Milan is a much nicer and better looking than almost any other car in its class right now. I say “right now” because the upcoming Hyundai Sonata will be a fabulous car, not to mention the new Buick Regal that is going to hit the auto shows soon. With Ford absolving itself of Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin, you would think that in the coming years Ford would be able to put more R&D into the Mercury brand giving them a new life-line.

So why is this Milan so important and so much better than its predecessor? Well just look at it! Mercury was really allowed to break from the Fusion body design and produce something drastically different in looks to the Fusion. Starting with the trademark “waterfall” grille the Milan has a curvy and lustful appeal to the front end. The headlights are more squished and stretched to curve up into the hood with the flowing body lines. The rear of the vehicle is more of the same with a more rounded rear end and tear drop tail lights with a beautiful new lighting design.

The interior of the car, although not distinguished much at all from the Fusion, is still one of my favorite interiors to be in for a car in this class. By far one of my favorite things about the interior is what’s not there as much as what is, namely fake wood grain. Why car makers connect wood grain interior with luxury is beyond me, but Mercury opted for a darker grainy material that looks better and really gives the car an upscale feel. The second best thing about the interior is the seats. The two-tone leather with exposed stitching looks wonderful and the bolstering and eight-way power adjustable seats make it incredibly comfortable, even on a five hour drive. You also get creature comforts like heated seats, dual climate control, ambient lighting, and steering wheel mounted controls. The next best thing about this Milan’s interior is Ford’s SYNC system. It’s a system you have to play with to understand how great and easy it is, although do it before you take off otherwise you will crash your new car. The menus are easy to read and understand, you get lots of information at your fingertips. You also have a great voice interactive system that allows you to hook up a phone or a USB device (i.e. iPod). It didn’t take long before I had my iPhone hooked up and playing my playlists, and when a call came in I could simply answer it via Bluetooth with a touch of a button on my steering wheel. The SYNC system has been hailed as one of the best infotainment systems, even over Mercedes and BMW, and is now being copied by many manufacturers. The only real gripes I would have with the interior firstly would be the extra storage compartment on the top of the dash. It makes good use of the space, but is the only part of the car made of cheap plastic and didn’t look like it fit well. Secondly, my daughter’s car seat had a hard time fitting well in the back seat; it just wasn’t wide enough from seatbelt to seatbelt buckle. Lastly, would be a radio mute button. It is always nicer to be able to hit one button to mute the audio and hit it again to bring it back to the volume you had it, instead of turning a dial or holding the volume button down on the steering wheel. That’s it, my three complaints of the car and they are nitpicks.

I know what you’re saying, yes it looks good and yes it has a nice interior but how does it drive? This is an enthusiast site after all. Well for a simi-luxuries, hybrid, sedan it’s not that bad. The driving dynamics match directly with the Ford Fusion, as it shares the chassis and steering, and we really liked the Fusion. There is not a lot of body roll, although it does exist, and the steering is tight and gives good feedback. This isn’t a car you’re going to buy to take to the track or even drive enthusiastically, but it’s not the boring slush-mobiles of the past.

My test car had the hybrid system in it, with a 2.5 liter four cylinder motor and an electric motor under the hood. The battery pack is stuck back in the trunk taking away some of your space but I still found the room plentiful. You can also get this car with the standard 2.5 liter Duratec four cylinder engine pushing 175 hp and 172 lb.-ft. of torque, or the 3.0 liter Duratec V6 engine with 240 hp and 223 lb.-ft. of torque. No matter what engine you get, Ford says that the Milan and the Fusion are “America’s most fuel-efficient midsize sedan” thanks to the Duratec technology. Of course we got the most fuel-efficient option with the hybrid system that Ford says will do 41 MPG in the city and 38 MPG on the highway, they say you can get 700 miles per tank, and that you can run the car in electric mode up to 47 mph. Let’s start with the mileage statistic because most MPG ratings on cars seem to be inflated. When I first got the car I reset the miles per gallon recorded in the information display, then drove the car like I would any normal day. My normal day of driving consist of two minutes of country road to the highway, then thirty-five minutes of highway driving to my exit, then about 2 more minutes of city roads to my office. So let’s just call that highway driving. My average, normal driving, on the highway was just at 38 MPG, astonishingly right at the advertised number. My next task was to reset the MPG again and take some time to drive some city streets. After a day roaming around Dallas wasting gas, I came away with 42 MPG. Thats 1 MPG higher than the advertised figure! What a great system this is! So I set out another task, two birds with one stone kind of task, where I would drive the car hard and see what kind of fuel economy I would get. This is a two bird with one stone approach because I was determined to prove to other drivers that hybrid drivers don’t have to be slow, pain in the neck, hyper mileage drivers. So after a few days of thinking not about fuel economy and jamming the right pedal to the floor, I came out with an average of 34 MPG. Most cars couldn’t get that if they tried their hardest. I was actually impressed. Of course all this great gas mileage comes at a price, almost $4,000. It is a hefty price for a great new technology, and living in a state where most commuters are like me – having a mostly highway driven round trip – won’t really get the benefit of the gas savings. We also have new technologies coming out with diesel engines and even Ford’s own EcoBoost engines that deliver great gas mileage without stripping an extra four grand from your pocket book. It would be more of a determination of your commute and where you live on if it would be worth it for you, although 34 MPG average is nothing to sneeze at.

All in all, I was pretty happy and impressed with the new Milan. It has a great new body that sets it apart from the Fusion. It has a fantastic interior, and it has fuel-efficient new powertrains. Ford still has a long way to go though to bring the Mercury brand up to a level above everyday Ford vehicles. They need to continue to differentiate their models with nice bodywork and upgraded interiors. They need to focus on competing with brands like Buick, Acura, and even Infinity, not with Honda, Toyota and Chevrolet. More exciting refreshes like the Milan will allow Mercury to compete with these brands if only Ford will give them the opportunity. Otherwise the rumors we all have heard may bring Mercury to the same fate as many other, now non-existent brands.