Recently, my brother moved from the Big Apple back to Pittsburgh for a new job. Since he would walk, take the subway, or catch a cab if he needed to go anywhere, he never needed a vehicle in Manhattan. However, the sprawling suburbs of the Steel City have not been blessed with an adequate public transportation system. So he is in the market for a new car.

The ideal car for him would be something small, four-door, and frugal on gas, but at the same time, fun to drive. There are plenty of vehicles that fit this niche, but after some initial searching and brand preferences, he narrowed it down to three choices: the 2008 Mazda3s Touring, 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, and the 2009 Toyota Corolla XRS. Each car was similarly equipped, with power everything, manual transmission, sunroof, upgraded stereo, sport-appearance packages, etc.

As my family’s resident car guru, I was invited along as a second opinion and to make sure he knew what to look for and how to feel each vehicle. So, I thought I would do a little comparison of each vehicle for you all to enjoy.

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Mitsubishi showcased the new 2009 Galant, Eclipse, and Eclipse Spyder today at the Chicago Auto Show. The 2009 Galant will come in 4 different trims; The top-of-the-line Ralliart with a 3.8L MIVEC V6 and 18″ wheels, the V6 Sport with 17″ wheels and a 3.8L V6 (not the MIVEC,) and the ES and Sport models, which has a 2.4L 4-cylinder. All models will come standard with Sportronic transmissions, 4-speed for the 4-cylinder models and 5-speed for the V6.

The 2009 Eclipse received a pretty serious facelift, with a lower and wider stance, a jet-fighter-inspired grille, and new xenon headlights. I personally don’t like the redesign, but to each his own. I mean, just look at it, it’s stub-nosed and has the headlight of a Jaguar instead of the sleek, high-tech headlights of the current generation: Continue Reading…

Here’s the second part of the 2007 Chicago Auto Show Update. Be sure and view Part 1 if you haven’t yet. Continuing on, here is an overview of the Auto Show. Don’t worry, only the coolest cars are listed here, nothing boring In Part 1, I went over some of the major concepts and unveilings that the manufacturers had for us. In Part 2 I would like to continue on, starting with this beautiful concept:

Mazda didn’t do much at this years show, other than showing off the Ryuga Concept at their display.

The Ryuga is really cool looking in person, but it’s really hard to see it’s nice curves in photos. The Ryuga is simply a design concept, meant to show you the direction Mazda is facing in the design of its new vehicles. The Ryuga shows this well with its curvy, nature-inspired lines.

Keep reading for more cars. Continue Reading…