Topic: James' 9 Car Test Drive (Warning LONG).....

[Corey]

Interesting read, James. I too, would choose the Mazda 3 of those you reviewed. I'm really curious to see what Honda brings to the table with the next Civic. If they maintain or improve the current fuel economy it just might be our second car in a couple years. Alternatively, the way the 3 is selling we could probably pick up a nice one coming off a 3 year lease.

On a related note, my wife and I were on holiday for the month of July and managed to rent two cars during that period: a Mitsubishi Lancer followed by a Hyundai Elantra, both firsts for me. While the Lancer (MSRP $15998) was just okay, we were very impressed with the Elantra VE 4-door Auto (MSRP $18365). The Hyundai was quiet on the highway, fully loaded (air, cruise, power everything, CD), comfortable, had a large trunk that easily fit all our luggage and had decent fuel economy. I believe that it was only doing about 2600 rpm @ 120km/h. The only negative would be a lack of power but that's not really what this car is all about. I wonder how it would rate in your comparison?

[Kelefe]

Great review James! I was a little surprised how high you actually ranked the HHR given how most of what you said in the review is negative, but the rankings still make sense.  

I would be very interested to see where the new Civic would rank in this comparo, as well as the new Echo HB.

[Shnak]

Hey James, it'd be nice if you could review the PT Cruiser, Neon, Imprezza, Elantra and Spectra and add those to this review. It would then give a very complete overview of the compact entry level market. Might also want to add the Lancer in there just for fun.

Btw, are you trying to impress Grant with your reviews?

[Barrie1]

I believe the Cobalt SS would move this model up the ladder somewhat as the seats are a different kind. They are Ricarro seats I believe in that model altho the price does increase for this model well over the set limit that you had. A very Good Review Jamesbe. Thank You.

[Shnak]

The Cobalt SS would have to be compared with the Corolla XRS, Ion Redline, Focus SVT, Mazdaspeed 3 (whenever that one comes out), Sentra SE-R Spec-V and Civic SiR (which doesn't exist anymore, so I guess the base RSX if its priced similarily to the other entries). In the company of those cars, I'm not so sure if the Cobalt would improve its ranking...

[wing]

Grant doesn't read the forums.

[Bullet Blue]

Interesting how Hyundai didn't bother with the comparo. Is there some snobbery starting with their development of higher quality products of late like Honda and Toyota?

[Eax]

but Paul Williams certainly does if he got you in on his comparison test...;-)

[wing]

I don't believe he does either, I asked to be in on it

[Davidm]

Jamesbe,

While the Audi was out with damage, my wife had an 05 Corolla CE (automatic).  Two things you didn't comment on that I found (and I curious if you found the same):

1) super touchy throttle.  I guess good throttle response would be the positive spin, but I found the car impossible to get off the line smoothly.  Especially with the remarkably peppy engine.

2) mushy, uninspired brakes.  With that engine getting you up to speed faster than expected, I found the brakes required a lot of effort, with a very disconcerting mushy/never-ending brake pedal feel.

Overall, totally agree on fabulous appliance.

Thoughts?

[Claudster]

My girlfriend drives the same generation Corolla and I found those exact same faults the very first time she let me drive it.Brakes felt like car was in need of a brake job.
Overall a very good review,and a good place to start when compareing those cars.

[wing]

Interesting, the brakes felt fine on my tester, it was a manual tranny.

[S60]

Well done Jamesbe, when can we expect some more reviews.

[chrischasescars]

Davidm, you wrote: "1) super touchy throttle. I guess good throttle response would be the positive spin, but I found the car impossible to get off the line smoothly. Especially with the remarkably peppy engine."  

I found the same thing. I was in a 2006 Corolla w/ manual transmission for a few days, and the touchy throttle made it really hard to pull away smoothly from a stop. Toyota made a switch to an electronic throttle for 2005, which I think is the difference. My dad has a 2004 Corolla, also a manual tranny, and it's not as touchy as the newer ones. I don't know why, but every current-generation Corolla I've driven idles at close to 2,000 rpm until the engine warms up. It's really annoying - you don't even need to touch the gas pedal to motor around at parking lot speeds.

As for the brakes, I don't find them to be too bad. A little lacking in pedal feel, but they stopped the car just fine and without drama.

And James - whenever did you get the time to test drive all those cars?

[sleepyzippy]

Same goes with the Vibe. There's dead zone when applying gas, and then the engine will suddenly come alive. It needs a lot of practice to get the car start to move smoothly. Maybe the Matrix is the same?

[Sir Osis of Liver]

They've (Corolla/Matrix/Vibe) gone with throttle-by-wire for 2005. It does take getting used to because the response doesn't seem linear, and seems to change with engine and environmental parameters.
It does take some getting used to, though now I find other cars seem difficult to drive smoothly.

[safristi]

GRANT CAN READ....Damn I'm in trouble NOW ...!!!!

[Avtoller]

Ah, but you can't write, so you are safe.

[safristi]

Aaahh SAVED BY THE BULL....!!!!!!

[Rucain]

Nissan sentra 1991, fuel gauge works for a minute and then the needle drops down to zero.....even when the fuel tank is full....Some times fuel gauge does not work at all...