With nearly every manufacturer offering at least one mid-size sedan, buyers have more choices than ever to haul a family from A to B with varying levels of cost. Some are luxurious and comfortable, while others are sporty, and most lie somewhere in between. With the popularity of SUVs waning, buyers need the wide range of choices to fit their family’s lifestyle.

To get an idea of the marketplace, the 2009 Chrysler Sebring sedan is in direct competition with superstars like the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, and Chevy Malibu, among others. How does it stand up against the competition? Continue Reading…

Now that small crossovers have become the best selling SUVs, GM seems to be in a difficult position. They’ve always excelled at producing big, heavy trucks and SUVs, but the Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda are where it’s at for the smaller stuff. The Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V have a stranglehold on the small SUV market, and Chevy’s offering - the Equinox - was lost in the rest of the crowd due to its lack of personality, originality, and quality.

For 2010, however, Chevy intends to change that. They completely redesigned the Equinox this year inside and out, and gave it more options and standard features, different engines, a (gasp) refined interior, and above all, a bit of personality. Does the new 2010 Chevy Equinox have what it takes to stand up against the market leaders? Continue Reading…

When asked the age-old question “Is the glass half-empty or half-full?” I tend to lean towards the latter half of that question, trying to find the positives in live, especially in the direst of situations. If you need help feeling better about things, I am your man.

However, a certain vehicle has me a bit confused and contemplating a change to the other side of the spectrum. This car in question, the 2009 Dodge Caliber SRT4, promises to offer a quick and sporty drive for not much money. In general, it follows through on that promise, but the little hatchback has some flaws which make me think I need to add a bit more water to my glass.

What makes it even harder is the fact that Chrysler recently announced the SRT4 will be gone after this model year. Continue Reading…

Have you ever seen the South Park episode “Smug Alert,” in which the whole town of South Park buys hybrid cars? Despite the car’s zero emissions, the hybrid owners are so smug about their cars, they end up spewing out tons of emissions in the form of “self-satisfied garbage” which rivals that of San Francisco. This seems to be the general consensus of non-hybrid owners. Hybrid owners are cocky, smug, and slow drivers that think they’re better than everyone else on the road - I’ve heard it a hundred times.

Here’s the thing - in the past, there’s always been some truth to that. The original Honda Insight and Toyota Prius were too small, too unlike “regular cars,” had little versatility, and didn’t get fuel economy that was any better than driving a small diesel-powered car economically. Celebrities and many others bought the car for the trendy green image, so it looked like they cared about the environment, and this is where the smug-factor began.

As Toyota and Honda are making their hybrids better, however, this image may start to dissipate. Why you ask? Because as the hybrids get better, they become more like your regular cars. Other than the overall lack of power, there is no longer a sacrifice to buying a hybrid - they will have just as much room (or more) than their gasoline-only counterparts, the transition between electric and gas engine becomes less noticeable, and their everyday drivability will rival that of a gas-powered car. In short, they’re becoming more like the cars that we’re accustomed to, and less about the image. Does the all-new 2010 Toyota Prius accomplish this? Toyota worked hard on making the new Prius better in every way. We drive the new Prius for a week to find out. Continue Reading…

The release of the new 2010 Chevy Camaro marks a momentous occasion. Not because it brings back a beloved musclecar, or because it completes the Big Three’s modern muscle car offerings, but because it is the first Chevrolet product that I’ve ever considered buying. This is a big deal!

I’m just gonna put it out there - the 2010 Chevy Camaro is a Rock Star. Nowhere else can you buy a car for under $25K that gets so much attention, so many thumbs-ups, so many people waving and yelling at you. Before Chevy dropped off our Rally Yellow Camaro to review, the rep warned me - “Add 20 minutes to each trip you make, Chris. People will stop you to talk about the car, take pictures, and it will take at least 20 minutes of your time each trip.” “That’s funny,” I thought, not realizing that he wasn’t exaggerating. Within the first hour of having the car, our Photographer Christine got stopped by a police officer just to talk about the Camaro, which took about 10 minutes.

The amazing thing here is that the new Camaro deserves 100% of this attention. Not only is it (in my opinion) the best looking car to sit on Chevy showrooms for at least 30 years, but it’s actually a great car. It’s as if GM officials held a meeting in 2006 in which they said “Alright guys, we had a good run. Now we need to start making good cars again. Let’s start it off with a bang.” And that they did… Continue Reading…

There is just something special about old muscle. It was a simpler time, when Mopar ruled, cars had true personality, and when you raced it was in a straight line. For 2008, Dodge gave enthusiasts an early pick up on the new retro-designed Challenger, available only as the high-performance SRT8 model. This fire-breathing, 6.1-liter 425 horsepower V8-wielding beast wowed much of the automotive community. So now that Dodge has our attention, what’s in store for 2009?

First thing they did for 2009 was fix some issues on the SRT8, which only had a 5-speed automatic transmission. Blasphemy, I know. They took the 6-speed manual transmission from the Viper, tweaked it a bit, and stuck it in the SRT8. They also now offer two more trim levels - a 250 hp, 3.5-liter V6 SE model, and a 372 hp, 5.7-liter V8 R/T. We got to drive around the R/T model for a week to find out if the new Challenger is a true contender to the new Mustangs and Camaros… Continue Reading…