Black is back! After months of speculation and countless spy photographs, Mercedes-Benzhave officially revealed details for the new SL 65 AMG Black Series. With its sensationalgood looks, unbelievable performance, thisnew Bi Turbo V12 coupé is truly a supercar thoroughbred.
do you like small sporty fun to drive compact coupes well if you do just knowthat right this very second there are probably fewer of you than there wereabout ten minutes ago the segment is shrinking and everyone seems to beflocking to compact SUVs but Hyundai says not so fast there are still anumber of people that like to drive and like to drive small cars and for themthey’ve made this this is the new 201909 inside and out and if you like a good value and you like cars that arefun to drive you do need to check this out the changes from the 2018 to the2019 are subtle in terms of styling it looks very similar to the outgoing onebut it is a little bit different you’ve got a wider grille up front you havedifferent headlights standard LED running lights and optional LEDheadlights you have something in the front they call air curtains what aretheir curtains I don’t know what era curtains are I think it’s a word they’vemade up to now describe the fact that it’s got vertical slats in the frontbumper down the side you’ve got much more prominent fenders than you didbefore it gives it a longer look despite thefact that it really isn’t any longer than the old car the wheelbase isexactly the same you get 17-inch tires and wheels standard these are the 18inches you have three different kinds of 18-inch wheels as options depending onthe trim level that you have the velocity looks lower than before but theheight really isn’t any different it’s the same height as the outgoing carthey’ve achieved this through a little bit of a trick and design the rooflineslopes a little bit faster than it did before when that’s led to this smallerrear window and taillights that are up a little bit higher as well so they’vechanged the proportions of the car but it still has quite a bit of cargo roomback here you’ve got more cargo room behind the rear seats than you view in aJeep renegade or a chevy trax so it actually can carry quite a bit ofstuff and when you put this rear seat down even more while all of the stylingis subtly different there is one element that is exclusive to the Veloster thathas remained there still one door on the driver side and two doors on thepassenger side they’ve updated the Velocity’s interior as well as theexterior and they’ve really rearranged what it’s like in here it’s asymmetricallike the outside of the vehicle is wonder on the left two doors on theright one theme on the left different theme on the right front seat comfort isacceptable I’d say the seats are mostly supportive the backs a little supportivethere’s two different kinds of seats depending on what trim level you getsome have cloth some have leather some that power lumbar adjust like this onein the turbo ultimate some dunk but overall up front it’s not badHeadroom is a little bit limited when you get the sunroof but not bad at allwhen you don’t have the sunroof in back it’s tight there’s really not a lot ofheadroom back there it’s meant for sometimes bringing people along oroccasional friends or friends you don’t really like that you’re gonna take on along drive and hope to never see it again frankly either way it’s reallyjust meant for an occasional use the third door on the right side is moreabout convenience you could put things in a lot easier than you could in atwo-door it’s a cargo feature more I think than a passenger feature but it’sdefinitely unique and it’s a I think a selling point for the Veloster thisbeing Hyundai’s sporty coupe they’ve given it a sporty option you can stillget a manual transmission in the Veloster it comes in two of the modelsyou could either get it in the base model 2-liter or you can get it in the1. 6 litre turbo now if you do get into the turbo you can only get it in ther-spec which is the entry-level model for the turbo but that’s actually kindof a really neat deal for just under twenty four thousand dollars you get amanual transmission you get pilot sport for tiresyou get sports suspension you get all the racy details in here that’s a reallydecent price for that now the transmission itself the manual is prettygood it’s pretty Snicket e it’s very precise it’s actually a lot of fun toshift I only have a couple of issues with it it’s located on the centerconsole pretty far forward so anybody who’s taller who’s sitting back from thesteering wheel of a decent ways in order to be comfortable really has to stretchin order to get to fifth gear or even sixth gear I mean it’s it’s a bit of aways out there the other issue I have with it is thatthere’s not a whole lot of room in the footwell the pedal box area is actuallykind of small so I keep hitting my foot on the bottom of the instrument panelwhen I’m transitioning from the dead pedal to the clutch and back it’s aminor annoyance and if you don’t have size 12 like I do it probably won’t bean issue but this really is a vehicle for someone who is smaller in statureHyundai is priced the Veloster to be what they call their entry-level halovehicle it’s a downward halo as they’re calling it which I don’t know whatthat’s the circling on the anatomy but still it’s something that’s supposed tobe aspirational for first-time buyers so if you can afford to get in somethingreally cool and desirable the base model has the 2-liter non turbocharged enginebut for a few dollars more you can get this turbocharged model which hasconsiderably more horsepower and a lot more scoop to it now for the price ofthis one this is the r-spec model it’s just under twenty four thousand dollarswhich is a pretty decent price for an entry-level sports coupe you’ve got themore powerful motor you’ve got the manual transmissionyou’ve got aggressive summer tires you’ve got all the looks and race eNOSthe seats actually look fantastic you’ve got standard apple carplay or Androidauto depending on which system that you have which personal piece of electronicsyou own that’s really an excellent deal quite frankly for a car that is a lot offun the driving position is actually quitegood you’ve got decent forward visibility theproblem is the visibility out back the low roofline means you’ve got a very lowrear window and frankly I don’t think I can see anything more than about ahundred feet beyond the back of the car most vehicles behind you you’re going tosee the bumper and that’s really pretty much it if there’s a cop coming up onyou from the horizon you’re not gonna see it until it’s actually on you thecar makes all the right noises too and it’s kind of interesting in terms of thenoise that it’s generating because you can adjust how it sounds now the enginenoise is piped into the interior but you can turn it off or you can turn it onyou can turn it louder if you really want to that’s there’s not many cars outthere that let you adjust just the noise usually that comes with adjusting theexhaust as well but it sounds pretty good and the reason they they pipe thesekinds of sounds in is because frankly these engines don’t make a whole lot ofnoise unless you put a great big exhaust on them there are two possible powertrains for the 2019 velocity first we’ve got the base model engine a 2-literfour-cylinder engine making 147 horsepower and the optional engine is a1. 6 liter turbocharged motor making 201 horsepower now that’s the one you wantthe biggest model engine is fine but the 201 horsepower turbo engine that isreally a lot more entertaining there are three possible transmissions the baseengine comes with either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic and theupgraded one comes with either that 6-speed manual or a 7-speed dual-clutchtransmission like we see in this one here Hyundai has thoroughly reworked thesuspension in the Veloster gone is the torsion beam in the back now there’s amulti-link suspension back there it really does create a much moreentertaining platform everything really very tight the suspension is firm butnot punishing the steering is actually very direct it’s got a very quick ratioas well so you get a lot of responsiveness when you’re changingdirection it’s also got an adjustable steering feel you’ve got three differentdrive modes in the automatic two in the manual transmission model the ride onthe more aggressive turbo model is firm I mean it’s a little bit bouncy but it’sreally not uncomfortable it is appropriate really to the sportiness ofthe vehicle the handling is really quite goodyou’ve got a multi-link rear suspension now instead of the torsion beam and thatreally has enabled them to open up some options in terms of balancing the rideon the handling this thing really is a proper little sports coupe when you putthis car on the Michelin Pilot Sport four tires that you get as part of ther-spec package that handling is even better it is a little bit loud thismodel does have quite a bit of road noise tire noise and out on the highwayyou’re gonna find yourself talking at louder than normal volumes but franklyit’s a sports coupe if you didn’t want a little bit of noise in the interior andyou should have bought something a little bit more cushy acceleration fromthat 1. 6 litre turbo is really quite enjoyable 201 horsepower is nothing tosneeze at and it makes a lot of its torque down low as well right around1,200 to 1,300 rpm which is really quite reasonable there isn’t really any turbolag at all and the DCT really ships quite quickly there’s no lag there’s nospringiness there’s no rubber band style feel that we saw in the original DCT inthe velociter they’ve really retuned this well they’ve created somethingthat’s frankly a lot of fun to drive I keep saying that the velocity er is funto drive and it really is it’s frankly a lot more entertaining than the previousmodel it’s more comfortable it handles better the steering feel is better thebrakes they’re firm they’re progressive we haven’t gotten too rough on them andI urban drive around Detroit and some of the suburbs but you know we have tothink that under the track to really see how they hold up under serious sport usebut overall this package especially for the money it seemed like a winnerso for all of you out there that still like to drive cars and a fineentertainment value in a small sports coupe you need to check out the 2019philosopher and Veloster Turbo they start at right around nineteen thousanddollars and fully loaded you’ll go up to just under thirty grand which is a heckof a lot of car for not much money these days if you’d like to learn more aboutthe Veloster look us up at cars calmyou
Hi I’m Jonathan Lee from paultan. org and we’re here in sunny Portugal withthe brand-new BMW X2 – essentially an X1 coupe. So it’s got asportier, more dynamic look, aimed more at hipsters rather than young families. So, is this X2 just a marketing trick or is there actually some substanceunderneath? We’re taking it for a spin to find out. Let’s start with what’s under the bonnet. At launch there’s the sDrive20i, the xDrive20dand the xDrive25d. This one is the xDrive20dmaking 190 hp and 400 Nm of torque. The one we are gettingis the sDrive20i with a 2 litre petrol engine making 182 hpand 280 Nm of torque. This here has an 8-speed automatictransmission, the one we are getting has a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission andwhile this is four-wheel drive, the sDrive20iis front-wheel drive only. The styling is the main differentiatorsbetween this and the X1, so it’s a good job that this looks very different fromthe outside. There’s not a single piece here that is shared with the X1. At the front youhave these trapezoidal double kidney grilles which give it greater roadpresence – it’s actually a first for BMW. And then along here you have these hexagonalCorona-ring daytime running lights and full LED headlights. On the side thesewheels they measure up to 20 inches like you see here and the squared off wheelarches have an angled look to them which BMW says makes it look like it’s moving while it’sstill standing still. Then you have this roof line which is stretched andfairly low slung giving it that sort of a coupe look. You’ve got slim windows for a moredynamic look. The badges you see here they hark back to the classic BMW coupeslike the 2000 CS, the 3000 CSL and so on. On the back you havethese L-shaped LED taillights which are classically BMWthere’s a small rear window which makes it seem like it’s quite difficult to seeout of. These tailpipes they are 90 millimeters in diameterwhich BMW says is about the same size as an X6 M. Now let’s talkabout the models on offer unlike other BMWs you don’t get theSport Line or the Luxury Line. This just has the base model, and it goes straight to theM Sport pack which adds more aggressive front and rear bumpers and differentalloy wheels. There’s also for the first time on the BMW the M Sport X which isthe car that you see here with these grey highlights on the front the sideand the rear. This is not the one that we are getting, we’re getting the mid-rangeM Sport. The X2 won’t be cheap when it comes to Malaysia with an estimatedprice tag of RM320k. To put that into perspective the Mercedes-BenzGLA 250 is priced at RM270kand that’s with a more powerful engine and all-wheel drive. At least it’ll havemore kit a standard such as keyless entry, head-up display, a large touchscreen and dual zone automatic climate contro,l none of which are offered on theGLA. There are also LED headlights foglights and tail lights, hands-freepowered tailgate, powered seats with driver side memory and a reverse cameraunfortunately however you don’t get autonomous emergency braking which isunacceptable at this price range. Inside it’s kind of the same as X1 in terms ofthe design of the dashboard and so on There are a few changes though, thisdashboard is wrapped in Sensatec, which is basically BMW’s idea offake leather. There’s now an electronic gear lever thatgoes back to the same position whether it’s in reverse or drive, just like in otherBMWs. The infotainment system is the same as you’d find in the BMW 5-seriesThere is a tiled interface and live information on thehomescreen. The one that you see here is the one that we’ll be getting – it’s an8. 8-inch screen for the professional navigation system withtouch function. As with most BMWs the basics are well taken care of – the seatingposition is excellent and there’s plenty of support from the seats. There’s alsogreat visibility at the front, although the small rear window does meanthat rear visibility is impaired slightly. There’s also plenty of legroomand even though there’s a panoramic sunroof that is still enough headroomhere. Now let’s look at the back shall we?It’s in the back here where the BMW X2 struggles a bit. Headroom is actuallypretty tight and this high sill means that it feels quite claustrophobic inhere so it’s not the best if you have childrenHowever there’s plenty of legroom even with the front seat set to my drivingposition and you get air con vents and a rear armrest with dual cupholders. Open the tailgate, powered on this one you get 470 litres which is 35 litersless than the X1. However it’s still plenty big enough for all your luggageand remember if you want a more practical car there’s always the X1. Now let’s go for a drive shall we?So let’s talk about performance first. The car we are driving is an xDrive20dThe 2. 0 litre turbodiesel making 190 hp and 400 Nm oftorque. There’s an 8-speed automatic transmission driving all four wheels. With all that, 0-100is done in 7. 7 seconds and it’ll go all the way to 221 km/hIt also has a combined fuel consumption figure of between 4. 6 and4. 8 litres per 100 km. But what’s it like in thereal world? Not too bad actually. There’s a little bit of turbo lag when you’regoing down low, when it gets going it pulls cleaning all the way to theredline. Being a typical BMW turbodiesel that’s a little bit of rattle at idle, but once youget going it’s smooth and quiet. However there’s quite a lot of roadnoise and wind noise at speed so it’s not exactly the most refined car out thereWe won’t be getting this engine however. Instead we’re getting the sDrive20iwhich uses a 2. 0 litre turbo petrol engine making 192 hp and 280 Nm oftorque driving the front wheels through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmissionNow Malaysians are quite skeptical when it comes to double clutch transmissions tosay the least so we’ll have to try it out in Malaysia to see if it’s any goodMechanically the X2 rides on the same UKL platform as the X1 but with numerouschanges to make this a sportier car to drive. The body for example is 10%stiffer than the X1 and the springs dampers and anti-roll bars have beenadjusted to suit. BMW has also increased the front camber to reduce understeerThis car is also fitted with the M Sport suspension which is 10 mmlower than standard and it comes with pre-loaded bushings for bettercontrol of body movements. There’s also sports steering which has a quickerratio. Put all that together and the result is a car that really does feelquite sporty. Sure the steering may be lacking in feel but it’s quick accurateit allows you to place it exactly where you want it to be. And despite thetall ride height being that this is a crossover, there’s very little body roll, andowing to the fact that this is a four-wheel drive car, there’s very little understeerOne thing I have to say is that the ride is fairly firm. It’s not uncomfortable butyou do feel the bumps on the road even on these fairly smooth Portuguese roadsWe’ll have to try them on our pockmarked Malaysian roads to see how itfares over our potholes. So there you have it, the BMW X2. It’s certainly a capable carand while it does have a few niggles here and there that’s not such a badthing on a niche vehicle. What do you think of the looks, the specs andespecially the price? Leave your thoughts in the comment section. I’m Jonathan Lee frompaultan. org signing off, thanks for watching.
somewhere along the line to sub compact SUVs a few automakers tried to pass offa little more than tall hatchbacks as these sort of go anywhere crossover IIthings and the ladies of example is what you see here the all-new Nissan kicksnow the kick shares its platform with the Nissan Versa subcompact and itdoesn’t offer all-wheel drive which does call into question any of its sort ofSUV ish credentials but either way it’s a small one smaller than Nissan’s roguessport by about three inches but about six inches longer than the Juke Nissan’sreally tiny SUV and certainly more conventional looking here you’ve gotNissan’s kind of plunging vmotion grille here a little bit of a kink here inthese headlights to give them something of a boomerang shape certainly more ofthat going around in back interesting interior here there’s a very horizontaldashboard with kind of a nice ribbon of stitched material here in this car atthe Auto Show a standard seven inch screen with actual knobs nothingcapacitive touch about it and apple carplay and android auto are availablenow nissan says upper trim levels can have what it calls prima text this iskind of a leather like material actually very convincing it’ll seem like leatherfor most people even though it’s technically vinyl probably easy to cleanbut you know if your friend owned a Kix and lent it to you and you ate somechildren’s puffed corn cereal and spilled it and then sent him maybe ahalf dozen photos of it you might still tell you that your six kicks picks andhis kicks really takes him off now the kicks should have a certain valuepotential here starting price south of nineteen thousand dollars with anautomatic transmission Nissan says though it’s not quite clear if thatincludes destination or not another important standard feature automaticemergency braking with forward collision warning every kick will have that andthe pint-sized 4-cylinder engine makes an estimated 33 miles per galloncombined according to Nissan stay tuned for a lot more information the new kicksgoes on sale in June of 2018you
I’m here with the all-new 2019 Corolla hatchback now the reason that I say thiscar is all-new is because it really doesn’t share anything in common withthe Corolla sedan that’s currently on sale here in the United States theCorolla hatchback is based on the European version of the car which Toyotacalls the Auris and it rides on a brand new platform it rides on Toyotas globalarchitecture and it’s an improvement in pretty much every single way over thecurrent Corolla sedan now under the hood of the Corolla hatchback is a new2-liter four-cylinder and it makes a 168 horsepower that’s a 31 horsepowerimprovement over the outgoing Corolla I am in that car felt a bit sluggish butthis car doesn’t the bigger changes to the powertrain for me actually come withthe transmissions there will be two available transmissions on the hatchbacka CVT or a 6-speed manual and both get changes that make them a bit moredrivable and a bit easier to live with starting with a CVT it is a CVT but atthe bottom of it is what we call a fixed gear so essentially what it has is afirst gear that behaves like a normal first gear in an automatic wood and thatgives it better off the line acceleration one of the big complaintsabout CVT is that you have that rubber band you feel and they’re really badfrom the stop however in the Kuril at hatchbacks is it has a fixed first gearacceleration from a stop feels more linear and it makes the whole car feelmuch more responsive now the bigger change for me comes from the 6-speedmanual in the Corolla I am you were also offered a 6-speed manual but it was nota good one the clutch action was sloppy the throws were long the gates weren’tvery good it was so bad that it actually made me prefer the automatic version inthis case it’s been cleaned up the clutch action is a little bit morelinear and the gates are more well defined it’s an easier manual to driveand it comes with two features that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from myToyota manual the first one is downshift rev-matching so when you’re going fromlike 3rd to 2nd gear or even 4th to 2nd gear the engine will rev up to match thenew gear and it makes it smoother when you’re down shifting services it alsohas some fuel benefits but we don’t have actual fueleconomy numbers for the Kuril a hatchback yet so we’ll have to see ifthat’s true the second feature which will be very welcome for some people isan anti stall feature essentially what happens is if it feels the car is goingto stall in first gear it will actually bump up the revs on the engine slightlyso you don’t stall and this is kind of perfect for those who are learning howto drive manual and the Corolla hatchback might be the most friendly carfor beginners that I’ve ever drivennow how does the Corolla hatchback do in corners it does okay you can drivecircles around the Corolla sedan but it doesn’t quite live up to sporty membersof this class like the Mazda 3 and I think the Civic is a little bit sharperoverall but on the right kind of road you can have fun pushing the Corollahatchback now the hatchback also comes with some new suspension technologycalled active cornering assist and what that will do is it will actually use thethe brakes on the inside front wheel when you’re coming into a corner to helpgive you a better approach angle and will actually help to keep the carflatter and prevent understeer as wellnow another string for the Corolla hatchback would be styling because I amwasn’t a bad looking car but the Kohler hatchbackkind of takes it to the next level I especially like the treatment of thefront grille where there’s this floating body color piece on the bottom thathelps to give the front dimension the whole package looks more aggressiveoverall and even the big wing spoiler found on the XS II it doesn’t overdo itit actually matches the overall aesthetic of the car quite well now theCorolla hatchback also gets a few interior upgrades as well an 8-inchmultimedia touchscreen is standard across both trim levels that would bethe SC and X SE and it does come with engine 3. 0 – whether it is newmultimedia system that includes apple carplay and Amazon Alexa connectivityand those are two features that we’ve been clamoring for for a long time inToyotas one other thing that I appreciate about the Corolla hatchbackis the actual placement of the screen it’s pretty high in the dash so it’seasy for you to look at briefly while driving without taking your eyes too faroff the road and you can reach it from the driver’s seat without having to leantoo far forward so I can just reach out and touch the far right side of thescreen without having to lean forward the dashboard design is very clean andI’m a big fan of it there aren’t too many controls I want Toyota has done isthey’ve pluster them all up pretty high so there’s nothing you have to reallyreach for down low besides the heat warmers all your climate controls areright here and your multimedia controls are here X se models also add a 7-inchdigital display in the instrument panel and it’s high resolution and easy to seeeven in bright conditions like the ones that we have todaynow the Corolla hatchbacks interior has one weakness it would be the backseatToyota actually hasn’t released official specs and dimensions for the backseatarea yet but I can tell you that there isn’t much legroom if I set up the seathere where I want to drive and I’m 511 I can actually can’t fit in the backseatwithout putting my knees into the back of the front seat Headroom is goodthough there’s a some cutouts in the hood and the overall shape of the cargives you a lot of air so you won’t feel claustrophobic but there are no visibleair vents in the backseat either so the back of the center console just has asmall storage bin but no air vents no USB ports there’s only two USB portsone found up here under the dash and the other one here in the central storagebin so there’s no way if you’re in the backseat for you to get air or to reallycharge your devices and for someone like me who has a tendency to get kind ofmotion sick that would make riding in the backdifficult now the Corolla hatchback also carries with it a few important safetyupdates and that includes both new technology and updates to existingsafety technology Toyota has done a very good job of making safety featuresstandard across their whole lineup of vehicles so the last generation of coralthat did have standard features like adaptive cruise control automaticforward emergency braking and lane keep assist but those technologies have beenrefined in the Corolla hatchback and it would be the first Toyota to come withwhat they’re calling Toyota’s safety sense 2. 0 so two of those technologiesthat are worth highlighting are updates to the adaptive cruise control andupdates to the lane cue system so the lane cue system before would keep you inthe lane but it didn’t have any centering now it has centering soinstead of ping pong in from lane line to lane line it actually keeps youfirmly in the middle of that lane now the second innovation is the one thatI’m excited about is someone who lives in Los Angeles where stop and go trafficis a norm the exact of cruise control will now take you all the way down to astop before it turned off at around 15 miles an hour which got annoying whentraffic got slow but in CVT foot models of the Corolla hatchback it’ll take youall the way down to zero now if you do opt for the manual it will still only godown to fifteen because if you drop below that you’ll need to change gearsanyway however it has one helpful feature and that is if you downshiftlet’s say you’re on a hill and you’re using the cruise control it will stillhold your speed but just do so at a lower gear now no official word yet onpricing or fuel economy for the Corolla hatch but we assume that we’ll get thosenumbers closer to the cars on sale date in July of 2018you
Volvo’s new XC40 is the brand’s entry in the red-hot market for luxury compactSUVs but the newest smallest Volvo SUV is not just a downsized version of thexc60 or xc90 it brings its own streetwise sense of style and it’s funto drive the SC 40 has good cabin isolation it’s quiet and the ride isvery compliant it’s very good on imperfect city streets where we are nowand that is the environment that Volvo has designed it for the turbo 2 literand the XC 40 puts out 248 horsepower it’s very peppy around town it’s morethan adequate on the highway for passing and freeway on-ramps the XC 40 is ourdesign model is sporty R it has a sport-tuned suspension that rides alittle bit firmer but both it and the standard suspension corner reasonablyflat they feel composed and neither punishes you with a harsh ride the8-speed transmission in the XC 40 has well spaced gears it shifts positivelyif sometimes a little rough but I’ll forgive that because it willingly downshifts at the touch of a throttle when you want more powerI like the XC forties transmission I can’t say the same for the electronicshift lever there’s a learning curve and I haven’t mastered it yet I still havetrouble getting it in the right gear at the right time both using it in manualmode and in trying to just get it into drive when I’m partnering the new XC 40is the smallest of all those SUVs but they haven’t downsized the tech in itfrom the bigger xc60 on xc90 you still get a standard 9 inch display for themultimedia system you still get a configurable digital instrument screenthat’s twelve point three inches wide you also get a standard forwardcollision system with automatic emergency braking the same city safesystem that’s in the bigger SUVs Volvo has created an interior with thoughtfuldetails and lots of storage spaces it’s probably the most practical interiorthis side of a minivan among the features in it are in the consolegood-size bin but also a slot made just right to holda Kleenex box and keep it out of the way and still have storage there’s aflip-top wastebasket for all the little wrappersand things that end up in the cup holder in most cars then it comes out foremptying in front of the cup holders is a large device bin with a soft floor andoptional wireless charging with a wireless pad that is big enough for aphablet sized phone other storage spaces are there’s another slot for anotherdevice should you have another one next to your leg on the driver’s side in thedashboard for spare credit cards parking passes and the like there are two cardslots next to the driver on the left side and a hidden one down with thedevice bin underneath here in the glovebox which is good size in itselfthere’s a flip-out hook hang a purse and your takeout bag holds four and a halfpounds the doors are probably the most striking feature because they have verylarge bins big enough for a 15-inch laptop and a water bottle and they werecreated by taking back space that was lost in the shell of the door Volvo didthat by working with farm and garden to create a woofer that is behind the dashboard up here and eliminated the large speakers that are usually at the bottomof the door that created space for this large bin with its recent new modelsVolvo has become known for a Scandinavian design inspired by naturewith muted colors and a lot of natural materials like swaths of open for woodwith the XC 40 aimed at a younger Herman buyer has taken a different philosophystill Scandinavian but maybe more IKEA than nature it came up with some newmaterials new colors gives the interior a wholenew personality but still a premium upscale feel seats are still leather andit’s standard in all XE 40s that’s not common among premium small SUVs in thedoors however it came up with a whole new material made from 97% recycledwater bottles that has a felt like feel and it’s also used to line the footwells Volvo came up with some interesting embossed metal trim for theXC 40 and it is metal they made a point of telling us that if it looks like itis that’s true of the leather seats it’s true of the trim the door handles looklike aluminum however but they are aluminum coated with a plastic substrateso that’s not entirely true overall the level of fit and finish is high there’sstill some plastic below your elbow to be expected in this size and price classbut generally there’s a lot of soft touch material there are some nicepremium details like fabric draft pillars and the interior does have anupscale and premium feel the EXCI 40 will be a dealers in a few weeks with towatch models both mid-range trim levels with all-wheel drive a less expensivebase model will be available this summer and a more expensive top-of-the-linemodel will come later this year down the road Volvo plans on electric and aplug-in hybrid for more information on the XC 40 go to cars calmyou
compact SUVs are all the rage right now and Subaru looks to capitalize on thatwith the redesign of its Forester a vehicle that changes a little bit on theoutside but a lot on the inside now if one of these drove by you quickly itmight be easy to mistaken it for the previous generation of the Forester sosimilarly shaped very tall headlights here the grille still a six sided unitkind of sits in front and center here lots of cladding down low and it kind ofsnakes around the entire vehicle but it’s a functional appearance eight pointseven inches of ground clearance Subaru says on this generation of the Foresterthat’s still an inch or two more than many small SUVs big changes on theinside of the forest or really improved materials quality I got to say in thiscar at the Auto Show versus the previous generation which was really hit and misslots of soft stuff with your arms and your elbows and your knees land there’snice detailing here with this sort of metal trim here that divides kind of theupper and lower portions of the dashboard some of this sort ofwraparound stitching here very good attention to detail still lots ofeasy-to-use controls nice storage spaces and excellent visibility now that was ahallmark of the previous generation Foresterappears to still be the case here look behind you I mean there’s just a nicebig rear window big rear quarter windows Subaru who didn’t mess with a good thingnow wheelbase is up more than an inch in the redesign which helps add an inch anda half to rear legroom in the new forester legroom in the old Forester wasfine this is just a ton now I’m 6 feet tall that’s where I’d sit to drive asyou can see lots of room left over a nice high seating position relativelyspeaking and not too bad Headroom left over so just a comfortable place backhere for adults now cargo room up a little bit versus the previousgeneration but Subaru says that actually the width of the opening at the liftgate on this forester up 5. 3 inches versus before that makes it one of thewidest cargo openings in the segment so go to Home Depot and have at itall-wheel-drive will of course be standard and so now for this redesignwill Subarus package of driver assistance features called eyesightincluding the must-have automatic emergency braking the previousgenerations turbocharged four-cylinder option though no longer available thatleaves one engine a 2. 5 liter boxer four-cylinder that’ll go in everyforester stay tuned we should have driving impressions foryou closer to its date later in 2018you
