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Went the next county over to check out cars for mom today. I helped her wash up her Kia Forte because she wanted to see what it was worth. She ended up signing paperwork on a 2021 Kia Soul LX in Mars Orange with gray and black interior. For about $500 more MSRP v. a Hyundai Venue SE, she got a bigger, nicer car overall, and it's what she really wanted. She's tickled. I drove it back from the dealership, it's a nice driving little car. And since cost was of paramount concern, the fact that her lease payments are $2.00 LESS per month than her unloved Forte, it makes me feel better that she can comfortably afford it.

Since she turned her 2012 Soul in at the end of its lease, when I would visit her and go driving, she would point out EVERY SOUL SHE SAW. Here's a photo of another at the same dealer, this one has black interior, mom likes the lighter color:

DRIVEN: 2020 Chrysler Pacifica AWD Launch Edition: Well, the lease end is approaching soon and time to get into market to see what the newest is in the family haulers. We currently lease a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica and its been fantastic. But as you know, the market never stops. And, my curiosity was piqued, to find out that the 2021 Pacifica coming out soon was to arrive with an all wheel drive option! Not that is it always needed, but living in a snow state, all wheel drive can always be a benefit, especially on those really tough stormy days or when you need to get up a slick driveway and need the traction wherever you can get it. And best thing...no functional compromises for the all wheel drive...the Sto N Go seats into floor system that has made FCA vans famous remains in tact and fully functional with the all wheel drive. No sacrifices! Have we finally hit family hauler holy grail? (The Sienna all wheel drive has had run flat tires). So much to my surprise, one day, surfing my local Chrysler dealer who is 2 miles from home, I found something strange. They had listed some ---2020--- Pacificas with ALL WHEEL DRIVE. WUT? That's not supposed to be till 2021! Well, a trip to Chrysler.com confirmed....Chrysler snuck in a late end of model year trim package for what they are calling the all wheel drive 'launch edition' Pacifica. It will be a unicorn among Pacifica's with the 2020 design and not the upcoming refreshed body of the 2021. Well, figuring my wife has suggested that maybe she doesn't want another minivan (while full well admitting she loves the function and space), I figured I had to at least drive the all wheel drive Pacifica to see how it compares from a ride and drive standpoint to the current front drive only Pacifica, which is a great driving minivan. IS anything sacrificed in the ride and drive? Here's my prior review of the 2017 Pacifica for prior notes, so i won't go deep into the review other than just comparing the new all wheel drive vs the current: And the thread on the vehicle we lease currently, the 2018 Pacifica. soooooooo DRIVEN: 2020 Chrysler Pacifica AWD Launch Edition: HIGHS -The all wheel drive pricing is not expensive. Chrysler is keeping it within reach for budget conscious family buyers. A decked out Pacifica AWD still comes in less than similarly sized and decked out AWD crossovers. -eye catching looks still there, the "S" package of tested unit even looks sporty as heck, for any vehicle. Inside, as well. Our van has the tan interior, but this one with the black interior, makes it feel sporty inside as well. -no functional compromises. Chrysler has in fact pulled off a great effort here. The Sto N Go was not sacrificed to incorporate the all wheel drive. -Pentastar v6 remains strong, although it bit slower off the line...unless you stomp the gas. Then it snarls and takes off just as the current van. I imagine maybe 1/2 second is lost in 0-60 if i go on feel. -The transmission shifts the same / similar. So no noticeably different transmission behavior. -No changes to the seating floor or cargo floor, either. No one would suspect this car has a driveshaft going underneath to the back. No clues at all. LOWS -There is a 2-3 mpg hit on the fuel economy. But when gas is closer to 2 bucks a gallon, that is not a huge deal. Plus the gas mileage was great to begin with; when the snow flies, the minor loss of fuel economy is well worth the trade in traction on bad days in this case. -The extra weight of the AWD system can be felt. Probably not by most casual observers unless you mentioned to them on back to back test drives. Still, the Pacifica was car like....the AWD dulls the agility of the vehicle some. It doesn't feel ponderous or anything, though. -The addition of all wheel drive doesn't transform the van into a crossover (the cool group). It's still genuinely a van...maybe they should have added cladding. LOL. -Let's see if the newly engineered AWD system is reliable. Some folks avoid AWD vehicles due to their occasional penchant to break down and cause problems more often than their FWD counterparts. -New dual level full console with real armrest and place to put phone is only being made available on Pinnacle trim in the 2021 refresh. SUMMARY This is a full win for Chrysler here. They turned their successful Pacifica van into a better competitor to the crossover market by adding the all wheel drive option, and did so without a compromise to the core assets of what drivers look for in a van. All the function is preserved with no sacrifice, and the performance penalty is not much. Most drivers would never even know whether they are driving the all wheel drive version or the front drive only version, unless you told them. And with the plethora of trim and appearance packages Chrysler offers, it is possible to get a luxurious van with AWD, or a sporty looking van with AWD. Chrysler was supposed to die...maybe this keeps them on life support. Here's some photos...

While I’ve posted about Dodge Chargers quite a bit, I’ve never reviewed one. I once reviewed a Chrysler 300 because I rented one for a day for an abnormally low price. I’ve had Chargers as rentals. The last rented Charger featured the current roofline, but had the last bulbous Ram-like grille. Just recently, I had drove a 2020 Charger for 6 days via an upgrade. I was supposed to get a Hyundai Elantra (or similar). They didn’t have intermediates, so I was directed to the full-size aisle. The Dodge Charger is often one step up from full-sizes in rental fleets. So I asked the Cuban gentleman working on the lot if I could have the one Charger in the full-size row and he told me to help myself! With the bags already in the trunk, an approaching elderly couple was eyeing it. Get out of here ... take one of the Altimas or Camrys. The car was white with a black leather interior. I was not looking forward to leather seats in a hot climate, but the A/C was very effective in quickly cooling down the interior. It had the base 3.6 L Pentastar V6 making 292 horses, an 8 speed Torqueflite automatic transmission, and rear wheel drive. It also had a more compact shift lever I’ve not seen before. I’ve come to like the Dodge Charger more and more. At first, I didn’t like the new, more horizontal grille because it was shared with less expensive Dodge products. Now, I think it works well, especially with the adjacent headlamps. Similarly, I like this last thinner and curved rear light assembly that seems to show some “camber.” As you drive off, the initial feel at low speeds may seem floaty and overassisted. I’m comparing this to my car, in that GM W-bodies with hydraulic power steering require more effort in parking lots and at slow speeds. However, the Charger’s apparent speed sensitive electric power steering is actually convenient and it’s great at highway speeds, where maneuvers are agile yet still communicative. Tire thum and wind noise are also minimal, as is engine noise under normal throttle and particularly when on the interstate. The Pentastar V6 moves this 4,000 pound car well in all speed ranges. The 8 speed automatic transmission changes gears smoothly and quietly. Beyond the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts, the subsequent ones are almost imperceptible. As for the Charger interior, the cabin features a nice cabin environment. I really liked the articulation of the bucket seats, meaning they’re nice to look at. The bolsters are comfortably shaped, the lumbar area feels right, and the front headrests sort of slot in as opposed to popping up way above. The same goes for the rear seats. The headrests are integral. With the rake of the C-pillar and the integral headrests, visibility is good and a combination of turning one’s head and using the mirrors makes lane changes easy. (The last-gen Impala, albeit with a similar roofline, had marginal rear visibility because of its thicker pillar and more obtrusive rear headrests.) The Charger also has a wide stance and feels very stable. In my car, I can reach and open the passenger door manually. In the Charger, I could not. The dashboard is nicely shaped, with an integral infotainment center that is housed under the cowl. This looks more appealing than the “laptop left open” look now often seen in domestic and import vehicles. The controls for the audio and climate control systems are logically laid out and easy to use. The steering wheel control buttons are sensibly sized, with information functions to the left and cruise control settings to the right. Once a person gets used to them, they are easy to toggle through and show a lot of useful information. The main instrument panel dials have orange accents but are principally white. (That’s a good thing because I never cared for Pontiac’s orange illumination phase.) The compact shifter, instead of a gate, is nice to the touch and the shifter itself lights up with which gear it’s in. The are two cup holders, a big bin In the console, and air vents and USB ports at the rear of the console for rear seat passengers. The air conditioning vents up front are nicely positioned and distribute conditioned air effectively. While it all sounds good, there are a few demerits. Compared to the version prior to this last refresh, the cluster between the two main IP gauges is less user friendly in some ways. The transmission gear display is stacked right atop the fuel gauge, almost running into each other. It used to be that round analog gauges were inset at the bottom of the larger speedo and tach and that freed up that central square info area. On the plus side, right below the D indicator is the number of the gear you are in. Now that’s cool! Another oversight is that, unless I missed something in the settings, the clock is not displayed unless the infotainment system is on. However, the outside temperature is always displayed in the main instrument cluster and, when turned on, in the infotainment screen as well. Additionally, the digital clock display is smallish. Even an old fashioned chronometer would be nice, as long as the time is continuously displayed somewhere. The biggest negative is the lack of a remote fuel door release latch. If the base Hyundai Accent has an interior fuel release door, so should a Dodge Charger ... no “ifs, ors, ands, or buts” about it. Previous Chargers had the release in the driver’s door, near the map pocket slots. Initially, I thought I had missed it. As I walked outside the car, I casually pushed on the fuel door and it opened. Surprise. There are a few more things to mention about the driving experience. While the base 3.6 L V6 moves the car well, if one is already at highway speeds and wants to pass, flooring the gas pedal causes to RPMs to spool highly and quickly and, then, with a slight lag, the car moves quickly to the task. One past review over the years somewhere complained the car is too quiet. I think that’s a plus, especially in the more conventional and/or luxury oriented base models. While the transmission works well, between 55 mph and 65 mph, I noticed that the gear indicator between the main IP dials showed that it hunted for a gear at times. One would prefer to be in gear 8 at those speeds but, sometimes, it stayed in 7 until it either sensed more speed or that that speed would be held. Part of it is that an electronic chip is doing the thinking. With the talk of highway speeds and gears comes a discussion of gas mileage. The car gets commendable gas mileage, more so for mixed highway-urban than city driving. On a pure highway jaunt, the mileage is excellent. In the 8th gear and at about 65 mph, the V6 spins at a very low 1,400 rpm. In one point to point - pancake flat - cruise control - light traffic - gas station to gas station jaunt of over 100 miles, I got about 35 mpg. If old Impalas with 3400 V6s and 4 speed automatics could pull in 33 or 34 mpg on the highway, this is credible. Clearly, the conditions had to have been optimal. Many are wondering what the next Charger will bring. The current one has so many good features and aspects, and is well liked. I suspect the next one will be marginally smaller, lighter, and more nimble. I hope they fix some of the readouts that are fussy, cramped, and/or not shown. And that, irrespective of the tight capless fuel system, an interior fuel door release returns. And, true to its muscular and imposing Charger stance, please keep the infotainment system under the cowl rather than the “laptop left open” style that looks fragile and is not appealing. The best thing about the 2020 Dodge Charger is its mixing of the best of old school greatness we miss and the currents norms in automotive technology. Not only that, rear wheel drive makes the car feel more balanced and planted. The driving experience is commanding, comfortable, and inspires confidence. I wanted to take the car home with me.

Congrats to her! I happen to like the Soul a lot, one reason is because it was a unique original design and they have kept that VIBE. One of the best survivors from that PT Cruiser, Cube, HHR, Element, unique box sort of club. One of the few Kia's I would Konsider in my garage. this thread is useless without pictures BTW

Dammit it's not going well. The transmission had other issues before the shuddering started that I was hoping would be magically eliminated alongside, but no, and they are more pronounced now. First cold 3-4 shift on light throttle, it feels like it goes into neutral between the shift, then lunges into 4th. It still stumbles/acts clueless on which gear it wants when resuming throttle after a coast situation. It still has a miniature shudder on hills/won't downshift to keep the engine happy. It feels different and overall worse since GM's "fix" was performed. As far as driving the truck, you'd think before signing for a $37k truck I'd test drive it long enough to make sure I'm comfortable. Just like my 2015 Colorado, the seat puts pressure on my left thigh and causes pain after some miles of driving, and even though I have my seat raised off the floor because of my shortness, the steering column does not adjust low enough for longterm driving comfort. With my elbow resting on the left armrest, I can barely reach the 10:00 position on the wheel, I have to stretch just enough that it causes discomfort after driving for a while. Waaaahhhh..... sorry, just trying to be real.

Car & Driver :

Got out of the Malibu next to this toyoter. Boy does this look like cheap, glued-on crap.

GTX :

Actually I think the Roman face looks Badass. In some ways I like it better than the Gladiator, and am crushing hard on the Gladiator at the moment.

PHOTOS - Exterior and mechanical Here's a sleek looking Dodge Charger with the Tampa Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the background, taken from Fort De Soto An angled rear three quarter view of the Dodge Charger Great lines ... and the latest rear light bar is the best design to come along The latest grille looks clean, sort of merges with the headlamps, and works well blacked out An "aerial view" of the Dodge Charger Engine bay: 3.5 Pentastar V6 - 292 hp - in RWD set up ... big air intake, small battery area (unless they've stashed it elsewhere), strut towers (with black grommets at the top) ... more or less symmetrically laid out, with room to reach things Driver's side view of the engine bay - oil fill cap, coolant recovery bottle, brake fluid (and master cylinder?) under the black rubber lid (at the right) ... but I couldn't find the transmission fluid dipstick (not sure if this is a sealed unit) Passenger's side view of the engine bay ... looks like 3 direct injection ports on this side of the engine bank, battery hookups here, up front (but the battery may be elsewhere since it looks shallow, just like they did with the last-gen Pontiac Bonneville) ... what was surprising was that the engine sat higher and more forward than in old school RWD cars ... maybe that is because of the rack and pinion system (not sure) Touche'. Just in case you don't know the brand and model of car whose hood you were raising up ... - - - - - End of exterior and mechanical photos

time for a Silverado my friend! A nice turbo 4.....or the work truck with the v6.....

Short-lived compact division of NASCAR :

Same truck; before : After. Hauk Machines-built :