regfootball

9th place - Toyota RAV4 I didn't drive it, but it still takes 9th place regardless. The epitome of soul sucking, this practically offensive transport appliance with the nasty dashboard was going to take 9th regardless of whether I drove it or not. I hear some improvements are on the way for 2019, but who cares. 8th place - Subaru Forester What a dismal little pile of sht. I am sure it is manna for the true Subaru fans. But i didn't get it. I wanted to get out of that thing so badly. Felt heavy, numb steering, the suspension bounced and swayed unacceptably, almost to an unsafe level. Power was ok but you can tell its a boxer and not a straight four. It's like being held down on a table and given an Estrogen injection into the bloodstream. What a terrible pile. Felt like driving a school bus. The only positive to this vehicle is the large glass areas. You can see a lot out of the vehicle. The cargo area sucks so it is good with the new redesign coming that they are increasing the hatchback opening width 5 inches. 7th place - Chevy Equinox 1LT 1.5 AWD If you get the Equinox with the 2.0 and a better trim level, it will not be 7th place. That Chevy trots out this weak ass powertrain, cheap looking interior (in 1LT cloth trim) and touchscreen, narrow cabin, and tinny sounding doors when you close them. It even looked cheap and dorky on the outside. You can't really get past any of this in a setting with other competition around. And i don't get it. The 1.5t FWD 9 speed Terrain I drove actually did not feel so weak and grainy. The Equinox has the 6 speed and in this version the power sucking AWD. The Equinox still scores points for a spacious rear row, and not much else. The Terrain and Envision are good rides, and a correctly equipped Terrain may likely win this competition. A nicer Envision bests every one of these here also. Too bad this version of the Equinox made this poor showing here. Side note, no one was requesting to drive the Equinox. The 1.5 AWD Equinox really makes a terrible showing here. 5th place tie - Ford Escape SE 1.5 w appearance pkg Age is not the Escape's friend. It's feeling dated. The 1.5 is not super smooth and the ride and handling need an update. The interior still is interesting but this particular one was trimmed cheaper and so it dulled the overall feel. Although the special sport appearance package livened up the seat cloth a bit. Ford does need a new Escape. They need to improve cabin width and the rear seat area. Escapes do have nice cargo space with the rear seat up though. Even with all of that, Escapes are likable, and that's why they sell so many. 5th place tie - Honda CRV I didn't drive this either! But the estrogen vibe is extremely strong in the CRv. A large cargo hold and convenience of well laid out ergonomics I think give it some points. If i were to have driven it I may have moved it up, but all my Honda test drives the last few years have been loud interiors, CVT's, noise, uncomfortable seats, and weirdness.

you got that right. i felt any semblance of masculinity, and every ounce of auto enthusiasm get sucked out of my spirit for each step closer i got to this bunch. In particular the Subaru, Honda, and Toyota. Soul sucking machines! But this is what is being forced on the market and its being lapped out of the bowl like a dog drinks water on a hot summer day!

Local dealer had a sponsored event for a comparison drive opportunities for 9 2018 compact crossovers in one place. Free food and coffee as well! Wanting to sample some of these without spending time at the dealer (which is why you go, right?) I decided to spend part of a saturday checking out these contestants / soul sucking, testosterone elimination devices. I also want to make note of the really nice biffy's that were provided for the event. My impressions will get up a bit later but the contestants were. Chevy Equinox 1LT 1.5 AWD Ford Escape SE 1.5 w appearance pkg Nissan Rogue Subaru Forester Toyota RAV4 Honda CRv Volkswagen Tiguan Mazda CX5 Hyundai Tucson (Jeep Compass and Cherokee were missing, as were Mitsubishis)

Used current body CTS are out there for good prices. The XT5 feels a bit old timer to me. I bet the 19 CT6 with the revised shifter and CUE knob, and v8 option motor would be truly badass.

Can’t overstate the great ergonomics of the wheel, gauges, screen and shifter etc. the rotary switch for cue falls right to hand and makes screen selections easy Peazy. Screen operates lightning fast. Particularly when using the rotary wheel. GM is definitely on to something with dropping the gauges and screen lower and tilted a bit towards horizontal. And closer to the driver.

At least other interior colors are fairly available The sense of black wasn’t overly overwhelming So many cars are all black inside these days (that was why I was so glad to take another regal sportback test drive with the tan interior yesterday!) the black inside the XT4 is more like a ‘really dark gray’ the rear seat with the front in ghetto style for large me, was tight in the back. When I readjusted the front seat for a normal person or a chica I had pretty good knee clearance for fat ass me. Its larger than an encore in the back. Larger than an ATS. Maybe even comparable to the CTS. Tighter for leg room and a more upright backrest than a Terrain. Width wise I think it feels wider than an Equinox. I think the CGI’s and legroom numbers may be a bit misleading. It’s probably more comfy than an Escape in the back. Not sure about how it compares to say, a Jeep Compass. This would be a cool ocnblu ride though. Lots of swagger.

Cadillac dealer had a couple new XT4's! Couldn't drive, and the particular ones they had were more pricey. But I sat in the one and got some pics. I like that it has back some of the Art and Science Edginess and more youthful swagger to it. The cabin in the front row is a very nice width for a compact, the seats way very comfy, and the ergonomics of the screen, wheel, shifter, and especially the selector wheel for the screen were very well thought out. Rear leg room depends on how the front seat is set. For a 'compact' its adequate space. But the rear row has a short seat back, and if the front seat is back far, then leg room for taller folks is tight. Rear backrest i don't think reclines either. Overall i would say for driver and passenger there is not really space issues. Cargo hold is small, but your impression of the size of the cargo area is consistent with the published cargo area numbers. This is a nice size vehicle for a single person, empty nester, urbanites, people who don't need or want too huge a vehicle to park. I anticipate it will be a nice drive. Looking in and out the vehicle seems pretty nice. Kinda seems to make the XT5 feel moldy and crusty.

"MKT can fill that role profitably for the company and will for the time being. We don't think it negatively impacts the brand," said Parker. "It has a place. Just like a long snapper on a football team. Nobody knows their name, or cares, but if he screws up a snap, it's a bad day." so the MKt is like a kicker that is supposed to make kicks

so much confusion for me.... https://www.pollstar.com/

i don't think Caddy thinks they are competing in the 'same space' as 'Genesis' but i think you are right to a fair degree. I just wonder if Cadillac just flat out avoids competing. ALthough, the Genesis becomes the new 'challenged credit' luxury car king. And some Sonata buyers will get shifted / moved to these when the inventories swell if that is what happens. Hyundai will have enough leeway with easy credit and big discounts to move these eventually if they don't catch right away. I mean, luxury has become fairly faceless in the car biz anyways. BMW and MB stay strong with long term uppity identity but I doubt too many Infiniti buyers or even a subset of Lexus buyers who may be fickle, for example are that snobbish about it that they wouldn't switch to Genesis in a drop of a hat if they saved a few grand. As long as it is still a 'luxury brand'. And 'Asian'. But i would say this, if one is looking for luxury then why not just go find a deeply discounted Alfa Romeo>?

i don't think Caddy thinks they are competing in the 'same space' as 'Genesis' but i think you are right to a fair degree. ALthough, the Genesis becomes the new 'challenged credit' luxury car king. And some Sonata buyers will get shifted / moved to these when the inventories swell if that is what happens. Hyundai will have enough leeway with easy credit and big discounts to move these eventually if they don't catch right away. I mean, luxury has become fairly faceless in the car biz anyways. BMW and MB stay strong with long term uppity identity but I doubt too many Infiniti buyers or even a subset of Lexus buyers who may be fickle, for example are that snobbish about it that they wouldn't switch to Genesis in a drop of a hat if they saved a few grand. As long as it is still a 'luxury brand'. And 'Asian'. But i would say this, if one is looking for luxury then why not just go find a deeply discounted Alfa Romeo>?

that would be a cool ride. I would even go for just 30-40 more hp and torque vs what is listed, but the XT4 actually has pretty good combined mpg for a 2.0 litre and a crossover and word is it uses 87 octane just fine. Evidently the NVH is much better on the new 2.0. I want to see how the CT5 turns out now.

i would get rid of dodge. keep the chrysler name. but that would be under the premise of an all new 3 row crossover, a new sedan, and maybe another product or two. glad i leased my pacifica. its a fantastic vehicle but used vehicle values of a brand with one model are going to tank big time.

I like C3PO myself Cadillac has so many kickass concept names too bad they don't use them. Honestly too, I still like STS, CTS, XLR, DTS, etc its just that the offerings became twisted. The CTS got larger. The STS became underwhelming.

fun to play with Opel's configurator. I wish the AGR seats without the stupid track back was available here..... or custom colors

Whatever vehicles the v6 goes away, i sure hope the replacement is as good. pentastar in our pacfica is so good, way better than the GMv6. i would love someday to have a turbo six.

spontaneous side thought, when is the next Hyundai Vercruz hitting the market? Cx9 to me has been a laggy little bitch. At least when i test drove it couple times when the turbo 4 first came out. Plus its intrusive console, a no go. Again, Mazda getting too much love from whomever is writing about it IMO. Sometimes I wish Mazda would just go away (toyota too). CX9 is compromised in function too. Unless its the DINK scenario like you mentioned earlier. I liked the Atlas, but that was the 6, and the Atlas 6 is a gas hog. And while not turbo / lag, it's slow for a v6. I should try the turbo 4. In the end why even waste the time. Skip em both and just go get a friggin Enclave and be done with it. Or a Traverse. They are both really good!

CX5 is nice, but in the end most of the time Mazda doesn't do it for me. But the blandness of the VW..... I can't fathom how these two could be construed as best in class. Must be a pretty sad and sorry 'class'.....

side note, lots of first drive review of the XT4 up on the net now. Car and Driver in particular, was almost quite complimentary... they liked the new 2.0. Bodes well if that new 2.0 is going into the new CT5....

that were the golden years my friend WHITE FACE GAUGES

useless backseat can't see out of it / no windows / loooowwwwww roof can't see over the gauge hood no trunk transformers styling has run its course it's not a usable daily transportation device. not enough people who buy cars like this as a spare toy car. only people who can afford em are getting my age and older and they don't wanna bend so far down to get into cars anymore either. Camaro XUV

NOW THIS! IS EXCITEMENT!!!! WHY DIDN'T THE RS MALIBU GET WHITE FACE GAUGES FOR THE CVT?????

mine was the green color in the bottom photo. wish i would have had those wheels!

Yet Subaru keeps selling, the frumpy weirdness is becoming mainstream. 5" wider hatch opening. Is the outback doomed? 76 cubic feet, that's a lot. Agree, needs the turbo. i saw the Ascent last weekend. That's a nice package.