Touring car driver turned Fifth Gear host has a chance to compare two lightweight convertibles that you wouldn’t normally put in the same category. He admits to liking the Mini Cooper S Convertible but he says that the Mazda MX-5 is much more fun. So which is quicker around their test circuit the Japanese roadster or the BMW owned Brits?
Given that we’re all living through one of the worst economic times since The Great Depression, it seems that money pinching and budget tightening has become the new fad these days.
So when the topic of purchasing a cheap car surfaces, there aren’t a lot of manufacturers that can offer more for less than the Tata Nano.
With a price tag that comes up to only $2,200 in India, including taxes and fees, the Tata Nano – not to be mistaken for the Macintosh MP3 player - is becoming the latest must-have car of the cash-strapped man.
While it doesn’t look the least bit imposing, the Nano is still less than a quarter of the next set of cheap cars you can find anywhere.
After all, when you strip down the essentials of a car, the most obvious need is for you to be able to get to Point B from Point A, which after all is what we’re all looking for, right?
The current economic crisis has resulted in the partnership of a number of unlikely car manufacturers. First there was Fiat and Chrysler. Then it was Saab and Koenigsegg
And now we have Toyota and Aston Martin.
While Toyota and Aston Martin’s alliance is not on the level of the other two, the Japanese auto giant is in the process of producing its iQ model for its more upscale colleague in the United Kingdom.
The partnership of the two manufacturers comes at a time when both are in desperate need for bold and revolutionary moves that can jumpstart a floundering industry that’s in dire need of some fresh blood.
As part of the agreement, Toyota will supply iQ cars, which, as a matter of fact, are built in Japan, to Aston Martin, which, in turn, will sell these vehicles under the brand under a pseudonym: the Cygnet.
We here at Top Speed have thoroughly enjoyed our run with the subcompact Toyota Yaris. Since we received the tiny five door, we have thoroughly tested the car both on highway and off. The VVT-i 1.5 Liter four cylinder works hard at higher speeds, but is able to chug along with the flow of traffic. Despite the car’s smaller footprint, the Yaris is extremely spacious on the interior, and the cloth seats were extremely comfortable on our two hour highway stint. The Yaris did quite well on the open road, the car was able to get up to speed quickly, there was minimal exterior noise in the cabin and the seating position kept the controls in easy reach while allowing you to relax for the duration of the trip.
The Yaris shines in a crowded urban environment. The way that the wheels are pushed out to the far corners, just like the original compact car the Mini, allows for many of the same benefits. There is maximum use of the interior space, weaving in and out of traffic is a breeze and finding a parking space has never been easier. For those reasons and many more, we don’t mind trading in massaging seatbacks and fancy hard drive based navigation units for a simpler, less-complicated automobile. However our favorite feature of the Yaris are all the storage compartments hidden in the dashboard.
The Toyota Yaris is not only a great first car; it is also a great second car. Save the 599 for the weekends, tell your wife that you’ll be taking the Yaris to the office today, you’ll just have to be selective about which clubs to bring to the driving range after work, because an entire golf bag definitely won’t fit in the trunk. But for around $15,000 you can’t go wrong with a Toyota Yaris, it also comes with one of the greatest guarantees in the world, it’s a Toyota.
This is not the first time that we have had a Toyota Yaris in the Top Speed test fleet. The last time we got to drive the Japanese automaker’s compact city car it was wearing a sporty red paint job as well as a few aggressive body pieces, like a rear wing and big mouth front bumper. Just like before, it was nice to enjoy some of the simpler things in life. Like a 1.5 Liter VVT-i four cylinder that makes 106 HP and 103 lb-ft of torque, this may not sound like a lot, but the satisfaction of driving an ultra low emissions vehicle should be enough to make up for it.
Like before, our Pacific Blue Metallic Yaris was of the 5 door variety. Despite the Yaris’s diminutive appearance from the outside, it is quite spacious on the inside thanks to the hatchback layout. The only part of the Yaris that kept with the compact theme was the trunk; don’t think about bringing along more than one set of golf clubs. It was hard enough to get one bag to fit between the car’s rear suspension towers.
The Yaris is definitely a good car for the money, especially when you factor in the outstanding Toyota reliability. Our car came with a few nice touches like the upgraded 14 inch rims as opposed to a set of hubcaps and there was a CD player in the center stack. The base Yaris starts at around $13,000, not bad for a new car. The power package that our Yaris came equipped with added about $2,000 worth of window motors and remote locks to the city car. The power locks are actually a big deal for a four door, this way you will never be sitting in a restaurant thinking: “Did I lock that back door?” Whereas with our Yaris, you could just hit the locking button the key to make sure.
Times are changing, gone are the ways of the oversized thirsty automobile in favor of leaner more efficient machines. Compact cars with sports inspired attitudes are where the future of fun to drive vehicles is going. The Japanese automaker well known for making fuel-efficient compacts, Toyota, is continuing the trend with their upcoming compact sports car, based on the small city-car, the iQ. The next generation sport compact is expected to make its auto show debut sometime next year.
According to the automaker, the new model will be a "fun to drive" car, created for younger new car buyers. The vehicle will combine a six speed manual transmission with Toyota’s new 1.3 Liter engine, the combination should be good for a very Prius-like 55 MPG. When it goes on sale, the vehicle should retail for around 200 Million yen, or around $20,000 if it ever comes to the U.S.
In a recent interview with Automotive News Europe, Renault’s CEO, Patrick Pelata announced that the French automaker is preparing a new compact city car to compete head to head with vehicles like the Smart ForTwo, Toyota iQ, Fiat Topolino and future Volkswagen Up!
There is no concrete information about the future petite Renault, but rumors say that it will be built on the same platform as the company’s current Twingo model. There is also a possibility that Renault will produce an electric version inspired by the Kangoo BeBopZ.E. An electrified city car would be all the more feasible due to the European automaker’s ties to the Nissan-NEC next generation lithium ion battery pack.
You can expect to see something along the lines of a concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. A production version should follow shortly after.
The designers at Nissan were on to something when they came up with the Altima Coupe. By taking a relatively attractive Altima, loosing two doors, tightening the back glass and stretching the rear sheet metal to pronounce a metal step over the rear wheels, they have created a very stylish sports coupe, a package that looks like something that would normally cost much more to own. When you choose the tried and true VQ35 engine, a power plant that Nissan used in everything from the 350Z to the FX35, you also get a sport tuned suspension and 18 inch split five spoke rims standard. The sleek two door profile and rear over fenders make the Altima Coupe a vehicle that would make Inifiniti owners jealous.
Our Nissan Altima Coupe 3.5 SE came with a $3,200 Premium Package that will definitely help when it comes time to impress the ladies. The package upgraded the Coupe with luxury comforts like soft leather, 7 speaker Bose audio system and HID headlamps. This bumped the $26,890 base price of a V6 powered Altima Coupe up to $31,560.
Did we mention that our SE came with another acronym, CVT, continuously variable transmission? Top Speed recently had a four door Altima equipped with the same transmission not too long ago, but this time the Coupe came with Nissan’s Xtronic version that allows the driver to shift manually. However, the 270 HP from the V6 and excellent coupe styling, make this Altima an entirely different kind of animal.
To be honest, when we received Korea’s newest box car, the Kia Soul, in the Top Speed press fleet my feelings were far from joy, the Kia Soul concept was such a cool idea, so it was a shame when the Asian automaker left out a few things: like the roof mounted CD player, in dash computer and storage compartment in the rear hatch. However, that was the concept, an example intended to generate the most buzz and attract the most interest possible. Concepts almost never translate directly into a production model, and Soul was no different.
After all, our Soul kept the same body lines that were attractive on the concept, and look even better in real life. The Soul truly is like nothing you will see on the road. The designers at Kia have managed to blends a playful exterior with a little bit of aggressive attitude.
You have to get behind the wheel in order to fully appreciate the Soul. The seats are wrapped in a funky design, the driving position is comfortable, the large windshield makes for a spacious cabin, the car handles great and the sound system is fantastic. However, it wasn’t until I found the switch to activate the speaker lights that Soul truly won me over.
After only a day of driving I now understand what those hamsters in the commercial were so happy about.
First launched in 1975, the Polo is now officially in its fifth generation. With the official launched made at the Geneva Motor Show, the new generation Polo will go on sale in Europe this June, with the other continents to follow shortly.
For its fifth generation, Volkswagen prepared a new design, new TDI and TSI engines, new 7-speed dual clutch transmission (DSG), but also new technologies and standard equipments.
The seven engine develop from 60 to 105 hp. Among them the BlueMotion version delivers 90 hp and has a fuel consumption of 3,8liter/100km and a CO2 emission of 96 g/km.
The new Polo will be offered in three different versions: “Trendline” continues to represent the entry-level variant, and “Comfortline” still refers to the mid equipment level. New to the lineup – and bringing the Polo in line with the Golf here – is the top version called “Highline”.
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