Car Review: Kia Soul

Last week I had a KIA Soul for a long trip to the UP (Upper Michigan).
MSRP: $13,900 Starting $18,145 as tested
MPG: 29-36

My trip took me 750 Miles in a mix of weather from heavy storms and 65F to Sunny and 90F. I was able to manage an average MPG of 30.

First off let's not go much further until we discuss this vehicles first decision maker. The styling. If you hate it, no reason to read further, as it's a love / hate thing. If you don't hate it, lets look deeper that that mug.

Acceleration

In this department, it's ample. I was able to pass when needed without too much worry. The acceleration was ample, and smooth throughout the power band. I didn't detect the dreaded "dead" spots some new small vehicles are showing. Good job KIA.

Handling

Again, nicely done. Don't get me wrong, it's not going to turn on a dime without some groaning. It's not a sports car you know. But it's size does give it the ability to "buzz" around town and corners smoothly and quickly.

Versatility

Again scoring high on this mark. The rear fold down seats are easy to work with, and the rear cargo area is nice and wide. Plenty of room for work stuff (as you can see here). 

Comfort & Gadgets:

Up front you'll find ample space for all of your gear, and plenty of charging and aux inputs for the stereo. My unit also had blue-tooth which was a breeze to setup.

 I was prepared for the seats to be annoying and uncomfortable on such a long drive, however I was surprised with how I felt five hours in. Still doing well, not really needing a break other than to stretch out, no annoying pains or sore spots. The interior is what I would call responsive and well laid out.

I'm actually currently in the market for a smallish 20K or less new ride with good MPG, a bit of fun, and decent looks. I have to admit about half way through the week I started asking myself if the looks were an issue or not. It was growing on me.

The layout of the dash is also appealing, and simple.

The glove box is ample. 

simple well placed controls.

Front door arrangement allows for medium but not large water bottles etc...

The rear door layout. (Same story with the water bottles)

In summary:

$:18,145

MPG: 30

Power Plant: I-4 DOHC w/138-164 HP & 123-148 Torque

Cabin noise: 80dB at 60 MPH

We like:

• Zippy feel & low end acceleration
• Loads of nooks to store my stuff
• ample room

Not so great:

• A bit much cabin noise
• Style (for me)
• The large fake "speaker" in the middle of the dash.

Over all I'd give it a four out of five. Surprisingly good KIA!

Car Spy Photos: Ford C-Max 5 and 3 Door & Fiesta based SUV or Escape?

During a recent vacation to Colorado Springs, we took a drive up Pikes Peak for some amazing views. The total elevation is just over 14,000 ft. and it is some times used by car makers for high altitude testing on vehicles. I was in luck, as Ford had chosen the same day to test five upcoming models!

Here are the photos (All copyright of Travis Taylor)

First the group as a whole:

So you can see right off the bat that were looking at three small cars (C-Max) and two small SUV's (new or next Escape)

So let's take a closer look at the ones we know, the C-Max:

So, what's interesting about this little guy? How about the sliding rear door? That would be a new idea!

Upon closer inspection, I also noted that two of the vehicles had air hose like connectors protruding from the rear end. I'm not sure if this points to propane power, or something else entirely.

For now, at least in the testing phase, you can see that the interior is stock Fiesta or Focus, albeit right hand drive on this one. I get a kick out of the sign stating that the airbag is not working.

On this model, we can see it's a coupe, with rear hatch, and there defiantly hiding something on the top edge of the hatch... new spoiler design?

You can see most of the front fascia is plum fake, catching only a glimpse of the underpinnings through the fog light hole.

This is a slightly better shot of the runner for the sliding rear door.

Alright, now let's move on to this new to me small SUV:

You can see the air or propane connector coming out of the undercarriage on this one again. Also just to the upper right of the spare is a gap in the body work that looks intentional, not sure of the purpose though.

You can see here pretty clearly here the matching interior.

I didn't notice it at the time but just to the bottom left of the main grill is a strange opening can't guess at its possible use.

Again with the strange air or propane hook up, and no tail pipe, must be propane then. Also badge placement would indicate that they actually plan on having the spare mounted on the rear as it is here.

This one at least appears to be a manual with a five speed, also takes regular fuel.

We also managed a shot of them on their descent.

So what do we know?

• C-Max is being tested 3 and 5 door.
• A possible new small SUV or a redesign on the Escape
• They can handle 14,000 ft of elevation.

If you would like to re-post or publish these photos you must first contact me at: miltrucker@gmail.com

-Thank you.

Car Review: Dodge Charger

We took this Dodge Charger out for a week long spin during a little vacation time. (finally)

The Chargers page can be found here.

It's models range in price from 25K ish to 47K ish. As tested was around 26K (some options included)

We ran it 684 miles and managed to return an average of 28.6 MPG.

Now, before I move on further, I MUST explain that the MPG would have been higher (something like 30) however we did some serious mountain climbing (Pikes Peek at 14,000 FT elevation) which I'm sure takes things out of the "norm".

Here is a rough map of our travels:

We wanted a full size car, that would be comfortable so how did it do on a week long trip?

In short quite well.

Upon pick up and heading out of the Denver airport the first thing I noted was again noise level. This time it was the lack of noise. My Handy App tells me that at 75MPH the cabin was experiencing 70dB of road noise. Very noticeably quiet. 

Acceleration was smooth, although at times it seemed a little under-powered, I found that I simply needed to be a little more liberal with my foot. It is a lot of car to move for the 3.6L 292HP but again, if you put your foot into it, the little 6 does perform well.

Design and looks, let's be short and sweet here, its looks are aggressive and bold. You either love it's nose, and taillights or you hate them. I find the design AMAZING! They took the last iteration of body style and cranked it up to eleven.

Room? Well it's ample. plenty of luggage space.

There are also some nice touches. In the trunk on both sides, lights and hooks for bags.

The lights don't stop there, on the underside of each door there is a similar light. Also of note, is the smart design of the door which allows for large water bottle storage in each door.

(something very lacking in the Jeep Compass)

 Interior impressions, great job! I already mentioned the quiet nature of the cabin, however it doesn't stop there. The instrument panel is really useful, and has plenty of menu options and display settings to tweak  for us tech types.

The center console is simple and well thought out. The Uconnect Touch Media Center screen is capable and smart. Not to much, not boring either. I'm not 100% sold on the CD placement being so much lower than the media center, but I could live with it. Climate control is also simple, but the controls have a good feel when used, and don't have the cheap fall apart feeling of the past. More upgraded models will have temperature control modules. This model also had push button start with a key fob you just keep in your pocket. I have to say, it's something I enjoyed and got very used to. When we dropped it off, I nearly forgot I had the key in my pocket.

Inside of the arm rest area you can see it's ample space, good storage, and as you can see 12V charger, and iPod, and line in options as well.

This model had auto lights, as seen here.

The rear seats had ample leg and head room and were actually comfortable as well.

There was also a pull down arm rest / cup holder in the back seat.

Additionally, the rear seats get another 12V power plug and some vents.

In summary:

$: 26,000.00

MPG: 28.6

Power Plant: 3.6L V6

Cabin noise: 70dB at 75MPH

We like:

• Quiet cabin
• great design inside and out
• ample room

Not so great:

• A little sluggish until you put your foot down
• CD tray placement
• Slight thinning of trunk space due to wheel wells

Over all I'd give it a four out of five. Good job Dodge, keep it up!

Car Review: Jeep Compass

I had this Jeep recently on a trip to New Orleans.
I drove about 135 miles in the 2012 4cyl, 2.4L 4WD CVT automatic Jeep Compass. The weather was great, about 75-80 all week.
We had some rain, but not much.
Here is a rough map of my travels that week:

So, I was excited by the thought of a small Jeep, with better gas mileage, and hopefully an interior and handling just as refined as the Grand Cherokee I had a few weeks prior. I was.... well... not going to be all that impressed. Immediately upon driving out of the rental facility and hitting 70 on the highway, I was sort of appalled at the amount of road noise I was hearing. Now to be fair, I had high expectations, and no test equipment. However, I was so shocked, that I now have an app for measuring sound and will include idle, and highway speed measurements in upcoming tests.

The instrument panel isn't bad per-say, plenty of info on hand. I know in a more optioned out version more info will be displayed on the left under the speedometer.

The center console is clean and tidy. The climate controls have a good high-end feel. The radio does seem a bit old to me though. This brings me to one of the point's I'm not sold on yet. CVT. I know it's the way of the future for smaller vehicles, and some day perhaps all of them. But... But... I miss my shift points. When I'm on the on-ramp and my vehicle simply hums (read whines) a steady, constant, droning noise, I don't "feel" the acceleration. I know it's there because I can see the speedometer, however it just feels wrong. Someone did a commercial touting this as a good thing because you won't spill your coffee, OK, clever, and good, but I still miss the shift points.

Seen above is the lower center stack with two poorly placed storage nooks. The one below the emergency break shouldn't need any explanation. The other is also a well for your hand as you engage / disengage the 4-wheel lock. It looks well placed in this photo, however what you can't see is the arm rest towering over the space rendering it again useless.

The passenger has a nice storage space directly in front of them.

You can also see an in door storage area here. It could be better setup to accept bottles, but it does work.

Pictured here is a redeeming quality of the little Ute. Plenty of space in this guy. and with a little push, you get loads more by folding the rear seats down. It truly does haul well.

I did have some passengers during the week, and heard zero complaints about the seats or amount of room.

OK, now let's talk style. I LOVE the front end, it's tough looking and sprightly. The side view is also looking good, however for some reason, even after the face-lift given recently the tail just doesn't do it for me. I realize this is a highly subjective area to "test", but it is after all my blog. I think it has something to do with the way it seems to squat; getting wider as you go down. The taillight placement does nothing to help remedy this situation.

I was able to squeak out 20 MPG overall which is good, but still falls short of competitors.

So in summary:

The good: Front end looks great, along with some improved touch points in the cabin. Plenty of room for a small Ute. 

The bad: Noise level, MPG, that tail still looks a little off to me.

Three of five from me. I know after seeing the Grand Cherokee that they can do better.