2012 Acura TL Review

The 2012 Acura TL front view.

I am not a fan of plastic surgery. Too many botched jobs out there reminding us every day that the nose wasn't really that big or other bits weren't really that small. In the case of the 2012 Acura TL, however, I'm prepared to say that sometimes a nose job is really what the patient needed.

In case you don't remember the 2009, 2010 and 2011 TL, here's the "before" picture:

The 2009-2011 Acura TL front view.

If you think it's not so wonderful in pictures, trust me...that's a flattering angle. A change was needed...and now, we have one. The TL is, as it was before 2009, a conventionally handsome sport sedan.



The good news is that overall, the package as a whole has had a chance to jell, too. While not the canyon-carver that the TL with SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive) is, the TL holds its own quite nicely. Up front is a 3.5 liter V6 that makes 280 horsepower and it's hooked up to a six-speed automatic transmission with Sequential SportShift. There's also four wheel disc brakes, front double-wishbone suspension, a rear multi-link suspension, electric power-assisted rack and pinion steering, and a high-flow sport-tuned exhaust system.

Our tester was the Advance model...a package that includes a blind spot information system, ventilated front seats, 18-inch alloy wheels and all-season tires, as well as the Tech Package (navigation, backup camera, AcuraLink communication system with real-time traffic and weather, leather sport seats, push-button ignition, GPS-linked, dual-zone automatic climate control and keyless access with a security system...plus an AM/FM/CD/DVD-Audio/SiriusXM/Hard Disk Drive Dolby Pro Logic II ELS Surround Sound audio system, along with an auxilary jack and USB connection for your personal music player (as astonishing as the demo disc of the DVD Audio system sounds, it's a very nearly dead format, overtaken by the comparatively low-fi iPod).) in the base price of $41,535.

The 2012 Acura TL rear view.

Yes, I said GPS-linked climate control. No, I'm not kidding. Here's Acura's explanation:

The GPS-linked automatic climate control system further enhances occupants' comfort level by tracking the sun's position and intensity. The GPS positioning technology monitors the sun's location relative to the car's position while a sensor on the dash measures the sun's intensity. By knowing which part of the cabin is receiving the sun's rays, the system compensates to keep each side of the cabin at its designated temperature. The system is completely automatic and requires no manual adjustments, regardless of outside conditions.

Wow.

Base price is also bottom line in the case of our tester. Zero options, just the standard $885 destination and handling charge, which made the final tally $42,420. For that, in addition to what we've already mentioned, you get the full complement of airbags, Vehicle Stability Assist, anti-lock brakes, electronic brake distribution, active head restraints, tire pressure monitoring, a power moonroof, LED taillights and fog lamps.

The 2012 Acura TL interior.

Inside? Well, like most Honda products of the past few years, it's a gadget and button fest. But as other manufacturers have chased that particular rabbit, we've had a lot of opportunities to get used to it.

Other no-cost goodies: Driver recognition memory system, power seats (10-way for the driver, 8-way for the front passenger, both heated), HomeLink, Bluetooth, steering wheel-mounted controls for audio, phone, cruise and trip computer).

While 280 horsepower isn't epic power for a sport sedan in 2012, it is more than adequate to move the TL with some authority. And there's a bonus...better than typical gas mileage for its class. The EPA says 20 city/29 highway.

Overall, the TL is an attractive package. And more so than last year. Especially from the front.

2012 Acura TL

Base price: $41,535.

As tested: $42,420.

Likes: Balance, handling, a superb (if technically outmoded) audio system, new front styling.

Dislikes: If Honda can clean up the nose of the TL, they have to be able to get the button count in the cockpit down to three dozen or so.

EPA estimates: 20 city/29 highway.

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2011 Chrysler 300 Review

The 2011 Chrysler 300.

This is the second 2011 Chrysler 300 the press fleet folks have sent our way in the past few months. I wrote about the first one for High Gear Media's Carnewser.com a couple of weeks back.  That first car came option-free...sporting a price tag $7590 less than the 2011 Dodge Charger reviewed here on TireKicker in late September.

The Carnewser.com piece focused on my trying (and failing) to understand why Chrysler, working to set itself apart as an upscale brand would build and sell such reasonably priced examples of their flagship, the 300.

Since then, though, word has come that Chrysler's dropping the ax on the Dodge Grand Caravan. Come 2013, they'll only be selling the Chrysler Town and Country, setting off speculation that once Fiats, Alfa Romeos and Lancia-sourced Chryslers begin appearing in showrooms, the product mix between those brands, Dodge and Jeep may be very different from what we see now.

So let's assume a plan is in the works and assess the 300 on its own merits, absent percieved price crowding with its cousin, the Dodge Charger.

The 2011 Chrysler 300 rear view.

First of all, even in base form. the 2011 Chrysler 300 is drop-dead gorgeous. It's a completely different design from the last generation, relying on subtle cues to tie the two together. The details are superb and the effect sets the 300 apart as the only big American sedan of its kind.

The new Chrysler Pentastar V6 is a revelation...strong, smooth and economical. Even with a five-speed automatic (an 8-speed is on tap for 2012), the EPA says 18 city, 27 highway, and we saw a rock-steady 20 miles per gallon in a week of nothing but city streets.

The 2011 Chrysler 300 interior.

Like example number one, this 300 was the base model, with a base price of $27,170. Unlike the first car, this one had options...but just two. $295 for Deep Cherry Red Crystal Pearl Coat exterior paint, and another $295 for Customer Preferred Package 27E...Chrysler's Uconnect voice command with Bluetooth.

Fold that in with the standard equipment (4-wheel anti-lock disc brakes, stability and traction control, brake assist, hill start assist, all the airbags a car can hold, power locks, keyless entry and pushbutton start, 8-way power driver's seat, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, an AM/FM/Sirius/CD/mp3 audio system with 6 speakers and USB and auxilary connections, and dual-zone climate control and while you don't have the pinnacle in luxury, you do have a remarkably equipped, very quiet, comfortable and reasonably quick big sedan for $28,585 with destination charges.

I've decided to stop worrying about why Chrysler offers this car for so little money. There are people who will be very glad they do.

2011 Chrysler 300

Base price: $27,170.

As tested: $28,585.

Likes: Room, quiet, fuel economy for its class.

Dislikes: Pairing and connecting phones with the Bluetooth system is a lengthy, hit-and-miss proposition.

EPA estimate: 18 mpg city/27 mpg highway.

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2011 GMC Terrain Review

The 2011 GMC Terrain.

As easy as it is to take potshots at badge engineering (taking one vehicle, putting a different grille, taillights and nameplate on it and calling it something else), think about what it must be like to be a corporate cousin of a big volume brand like Chevrolet. You need product or your brand won't survive, and the fact, even prior to the great recession and Carpocalypse, is that the bucks aren't there to build unique vehicles for each brand. Platform sharing...and the more blatant badge engineering...are the only way to go.



That's GMC's lot in life and has been for decades. They finesse it by positioning themselves as more upscale...a good play for Acadia, Yukon and Yukon XL..a mixed bag when it comes to Sierra pickups, and for the Terrain? Well, it's gotta be a tough sell.  Or so you'd think. The Terrain actually sells mid-pack among 12 compact crossovers (the other 11 being the Ford Escape, Chevrolet Equinox, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, Toyota RAV4, Subaru Forester, Jeep Patriot, Jeep Compass, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, Mazda CX-7).

The 2011 GMC Terrain rear view.

Not that there's anything wrong with the Terrain. It's just that in the small crossover segment, there's only so much you can do to differentiate it from its sister under the skin, the Chevrolet Equinox.

GMC sent us a loaded Terrain SLT-2 AWD (all wheel drive). $31,650 base price, and after $6,435 worth of cargo management packages, navigation, audio system upgrades, swapping the 2.4 liter 4-cylinder for the 3.0 liter V6, the rear seat entertainment system, 19-inch wheels and trailering equipment, the bottom line (with $810 destination charge) was $38,895.

That's $2,010 more than the similarly equipped 2010 model we tested last year, and also a couple grand less than loading up a 2011 Equinox in similar fashion would cost you.

The 2011 GMC Terrain interior.

And there's the trouble. It really is an Equinox. Is the GMC nameplate or the blockier, arguably more masculine stying of the Terrain worth $2,000?  For a few thousand people a month, the answer is yes.


2011 GMC Terrain AWD SLT-2

Base price: $31,650.

As tested:   $38,895.

Likes: Room, comfort.

Dislikes: High price as tested, low-ish gas mileage.

EPA estimates: 16 mpg city/22 mpg highway.

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2011 Kia Optima Hybrid Review

The 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid.

As impressed as we were with the 2011 Kia Optima just a month ago, nothing could have prepared us for the Kia Optima Hybrid.

Here's the recipe: Take everything that makes the Optima a winner, and add a hybrid powerplant. But make it a hybrid powerplant that delivers the mileage. 24 mpg city/34 highway in the gasoline Optima becomes 35 city/40 highway in the Optima Hybrid...good enough to vault into 7th place on TireKicker's Top 10 Fuel Savers, ahead of smaller, lesser-performing cars like the Honda CR-Z and Lexus HS 250h.

The 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid rear view.

Best part of it all? The price spread between gasoline and hybrid is small as such things go...$4,005.  Now, admittedly, that's the difference between $22,495 and $26,500. But if your priorities include using less gasoline and putting fewer pollutants into the air, there are higher prices to pay.

Much like the gasoline version from a month ago, this Optima Hybrid was loaded. You might remember the $22,495 wound up being $27,440. Well, in this case, a single option, the $5,000 Premium Technology Package (Nav system with backup camera, Sirius Traffic, an Infinity audio system, panoramic sunroof, auto-dimming rearview mirror with Homelink and compass, upgraded 17-inch tires with alloy wheels, auto-leveling HID headlamps, leather seat trim, driver's seat memory, heated and cooled front seats, heated outboard rear seats, a heated steering wheel and power front passenger's seat) ran the price with $750 freight and handling to $32,250.

Yeah, that's a pricey Kia. But again, it's less than five grand above the loaded gasoline version.

The 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid gauge cluster.

So...the big question: How's the mileage? Well, we did 225 miles of purely city street driving over the course of a week, and got 31.0 miles per gallon. Yes, the EPA estimate is 35 city, but the small print under that number says "expected range for most drivers 29 to 41 mpg". So we're in the ballpark. As always, your mileage may vary. I'd bet on having hit 35 had we done our usual amount of freeway driving...and on a roadtrip, 40's probably realistic.

Bottom line: Kia's on a roll, and the Optima is a contender not just among family sedans, but among alternative-energy vehicles as well.


2011 Kia Optima Hybrid

Base price: $26,500

As tested: $32,250

Likes: Styling, smooth power, impressive mileage for its size.

Dislikes: Overly sensitive tire pressure monitoring system.

EPA estimates: 35 mpg city/40 mpg highway.

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2012 Fiat 500C Review

The 2012 Fiat 500C.

Regular TireKicker readers know I am hype-averse. The more something gets promoted, plugged, built-up, the more skeptical I am about it.

So, a dumb commercial featuring J. Lo and the Fiat 500C is a great way to turn me all the way off:

And, I'll admit...even before that started airing, I had my doubts about the Fiat 500. It looked like another super-sized re-creation (the original 500 could probably fit in the passenger space of the new one) of a cute car from 50 years ago that almost no one in North America has ever seen, much less driven. And the changes required by government regulation and consumer preferences in the intervening half-century insured that, despite a distinctive appearance, this would very likely be just another contemporary small car.

But, as Brock Yates once said about driving a Yugo for Car and Driver, "It's a car magazine. We drive the sunsabitches." So I did.

It went back to Fiat 24 hours ago after a week and 250 miles with me.

I miss it.

The 2012 Fiat 500C front and side view.

While still waiting for our time in a 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, I can tell you this: The Fiat 500 is a terrific little car. The styling is a mood elevator and conversation starter. You'll make a lot of friends just getting out of the car to run into the grocery store. Its 1.4 liter four-cylinder and 6-speed automatic provide a good blend of performance and fuel economy. It cruises at 80 on the freeway without the least bit of drama and with a surprising lack of noise and vibration.  You sit upright and tall in the car, aided by the arching roof. I'm six feet even, and I had headroom to spare. And the seats might be the most comfortable chairs we've been in since TireKicker launched more than three years ago.

It is, as I thought it might be, a contemporary small car...but in the best possible way.

The charm factor was amplified by the fact that our tester was the 500C...the convertible. Or giant canvas sunroof model. Whatever. Just look at the photo at the top of this review and know that it opens to three positions...just back of the front seats, just behind the rear seats, or all the way down. And since it doesn't raise into the air or fold, you can open or close it while driving.

In the first two positions, wind noise and the feeling of a breeze through the cabin are muted. This is a convertible you can drive without mussing your hair. All the way back, and you get the sensation of the breeze circulating through the cockpit, but you still can carry on a conversation without raising your voice.

Interior of the 2012 Fiat 500C.

Our tester was the top-of-the-line Fiat 500C Lounge. Base price of $23,500, bringing with it leather seats, the six-speed automatic, a full batch of airbags and reactive head restraints, along with a driver's side knee airbag. There's also electronic stability control, hill start assist, rear park assist (a good idea, since the rear window is smallish with the top up and with it folded, the resulting stack blocks some of your rearward view), four wheel antilock disc brakes, speed control, power door locks, a security alarm, remote keyless entry, tire pressure monitoring, intermittent wipers, automatic climate control with micron filter, driver seat memory, power windows, a Bose premium AM/FM/Sirius/CD/mp3 audio system with USB and auxilary jacks, Bluetooth, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, tilt steering column, and a vehicle information center.

Options? Our car had two...Customer Preferred Package 22J, the Luxury Leather Package...leather-trimmed heated front bucket seats and an auto-dimming rearview mirror for $1,250...and $300 to upgrade the 15-inch aluminum wheels. With destination charge of $500, the bottom line is $25,550.

No, that's not cheap for a small car...but the Fiat 500C isn't meant to be cheap (although you can buy a base hardtop with a manual transmission for $15,500 and a less lavishly-equipped convertible, the Fiat 500C Pop, for $19,500). It's a premium small car. A Mini Cooper convertible can't be had for less than $25,650 base...$100 more than our 500C's as-tested price. Yes, the Fiat has 20 horsepower less than the Mini...but it weighs 100 pounds less.

So does Fiat beat the Mini? Maybe. It's been years since BMW has sent a Mini our way (save the high-performance, high-pricetage Mini John Cooper Works Convertible we reviewed a year and a half ago),  so, as with the 2012 Beetle, we can't make a direct comparison yet. But we will say this much: The Fiat is a very strong contender. Underestimate it at your own risk.


2012 Fiat 500C Lounge

Base price: $23,500.

As tested: $25,550.

Likes: Interior room, 3-position convertible top, great seats.

Dislikes: Vehicle information center confusing. The trip computer in ours either didn't work or we couldn't understand it in a week. Neither of those is a good thing.

EPA estimates: 27 mpg city/32 mpg highway.




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2011 Hyundai Elantra Review

The 2011 Hyundai Elantra.

It's the one-two punch the Japanese have been dreading.

A little over two months ago, we reviewed the 2011 Hyundai Sonata...the upshot being that Hyundai, for 20 years the Korean underdog, had now built a credible competitor to the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord (and everything else in the family sedan segment too...Focus, Malibu, Passat...).

Well, just as Accord has Civic and Camry has Corolla...Sonata has Elantra...but it's better than that. The Elantra, the smaller of the two, is as good in its class as the Sonata in its and maybe better. It's reminiscent of the days when Accord and Civic were so good you couldn't begin to come up with a reason to buy anything else.

Rear and side view of the 2011 Hyundai Elantra.

The fact is, the Elantra is every bit as good a car as the Sonata...it's just smaller and gets significantly better gas mileage (29 city/40 highway to the Sonata's 22/35...both equipped with automatic transmissions).

Now that paragraph above is a big deal, because I don't believe the Civic is as every bit as good a car as the Accord (though we haven't had a 2012 Civic at TireKicker World Headquarters yet), nor that the Corolla is every bit as good a car as the Camry. Once upon a time, they were, but it's been more than 10 years since I would have put my name anywhere near that assertion.

But the Elantra is. There are no penalties to be paid for its junior status. The styling is fluid and exciting, the power, like the Sonata's, more than adequate, the ride and handling ditto.

The one we tested was the top-of-the-line Limited with the Premium Package. You may remember, our Sonata was a one rung up from the bottom SE with only one option: Floor mats.

As a result, far from being an econobox torture chamber, this is what the interior of our Hyundai Elantra Limited test vehicle looked like:

The 2011 Hyundai Elantra Limited interior.

The Limited starts at $19,980, with ESC, traction control, ABS, four-wheel disc brakes, Electronic Brake Force Distribution and Brake Assist, a full complement of airbags and a tire pressure monitoring system standard.

Oh, yeah...and 17-inch alloy wheels, a power sunroof, fog lights, air, a six-speaker AM/FM/XM/CD/mp3 audio system with iPod/USB and auxilary jack, power windows, locks and heated mirrors, remote keyless entry with alarm, Bluetooth, steering wheel-mounted audio, cruise and phone controls, a tilt and telescoping steering column, trip computer, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, leather seating surfaces with heated front and rear seats and a full tank of gas.

That Premium Package we mentioned above adds $2,000 for a nav system with a high-resolution 7-inch touchscreen, a backup camera, a premium audio system with external amp, automatic headlights and proximity key entry with pushbutton start.

$95 for floormats, $35 for an iPod cable, and we're done at $22,110.

Yes, I know that's only $1,305 less than the Sonata we tested. I'm fine with that. Seriously. Look at it another way. It's only $1,620 more than the Chevrolet Cruze ECO, gets 1 mile per gallon more in the city and two less on the highway (in our testing, we saw 26.9 in 80/20 city street and freeway driving in the Elantra versus 29.2 in the Cruze ECO).

If I was playing with my own money, I'd make the choice between the Sonata and Elantra based on size and room needed. And the Elantra is remarkably roomy inside for its size class, with a surprising amount of trunk space.

Pity Honda and Toyota. It's gotta be rough to have Hyundai make a strong showing in one segment this year. But two?

2011 Hyundai Elantra Limited

Base price: $19,980

As tested: $22,110

Likes: Styling, features, fuel economy.

Dislikes: Can I get back to you...or not?

EPA estimate: 29 mpg city/40 mpg highway.

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze ECO Review

The 2012 Chevrolet Cruze ECO.

Comes now our third test of a Chevrolet Cruze in the past five months. Each one has been a different flavor. We started out with the loaded Chevrolet Cruze LTZ. Loved it, but for $24,000 and change as tested, we'd better have.

Then just about two months ago, it was almost the opposite end of the spectrum...the Chevrolet Cruze 1LT (one level up from the base Cruze).  Also a thumbs-up, and at a more reasonable $18,995.

Now it's the Chevrolet Cruze ECO. What makes an ECO an ECO? Well, mostly it's the 1.4 liter ECOTEC engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission with ECO overdrive. But to tell it apart from the other Cruzes in traffic, you'll probably have to look at the trunklid.

The lone giveaway...the discreet "eco" badge on the trunklid of the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze ECO.

If the ECO otherwise looks like a well-equipped Cruze, that's because it is. The base price of $19,245 brings with it the expected practicalities (stability control, ABS, multiple airbags) and some uplevel niceties that the ECO name doesn't imply (security system, keyless entry, OnStar, tire pressure monitor, deluxe cloth seat trim, USB, Bluetooth, XM, a tilting, telescoping, leather-wrapped steering wheel, 17 inch alloy wheels and an Aero Performance Package...lower front grille air shutter, mid-body aero panels and front fascia air dam).

Now, that Aero package, while making the Cruze ECO look sporty, is actually there in service of the ECO's primary mission...fuel economy. Through aids like that, the substitution of a tire sealant and inflator kit for a spare tire, a smaller gas tank (12.6 gallons instead of the 15.6 gallons in other Cruze models), economy-minded gearing and the marvels of computers working to squeeze every mile out of every drop of fuel, the ECO takes the same 138-horsepower 1.4-liter turbocharged four cylinder and gets an EPA estimated 28 city/42 highway miles per gallon. It's 24/36 in the 1LT and LTZ.

The 2012 Chevrolet Cruze ECO interior.

Of course, as the EPA says "your mileage may vary", and as my Dad used to say "it's all about the nut holding the wheel". Our friend and colleague Nina Russin at Carspondent got 44.8 miles per gallon driving it like she stole it. A week later, it was in my hands and in 300 miles (about 20% urban freeway and the rest city streets), I only managed 29.2.

Still, that's in the ballpark for the EPA city estimate, and not a lot of cars get there. In fact, most don't. And overall, the ECO is our favorite Cruze. It looks good, is well equipped, has a nice interior and one of the best manual shifters we've found in a domestic car (not Honda-level, but close).  Ours had one option, the Driver Convenience Package, which gives the driver a six-way power-adjustable seat and rear parking assist for $495. So with a $750 destination charge, the bottom line was $20,490.  That's a sweet spot for a car in this class and with this level of equipment.


2012 Chevrolet Cruze ECO

Base price: $19,245

As tested: $20,490

Likes: Styling, comfort, economy, slick manual shifter.

Dislikes: USB not fully compatible with iPhone.

EPA estimate: 28 mpg city/42 mpg highway.

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