We’ve spent some serious quality time in the 2019 Honda Insight, a hybrid sedan that competes head to head with the Toyota Prius and Hyundai Ioniq. In EX trim, our Insight retails for $25,229, which is quite affordable given the advanced driver-assistance systems included in that price.
Here are three quick insights on these active safety systems and another two on what it’s like to daily drive the Insight.
Smooth Adaptive Cruise
Under the Honda Sensing banner, the Insight is equipped with numerous driving safety and support features. Two of the best are adaptive cruise control (ACC) and Lane Keep Assist (LKA).
ACC is a more a sophisticated version of regular cruise control that monitors the relative position of the vehicle directly ahead and automatically adjusts the Insight’s following speed to create and maintain a safe gap. LKA uses the Insight’s forward-looking cameras to read road lines and [...]
It’s been close to six months since the 2018 Nissan Kicks joined the MotorTrend long-term fleet, and it’s proven to be a great daily driver in the mean streets of Los Angeles. Since then, we’ve found plenty to like about the smallest vehicle in the MT Garage. Here are seven key details that make the Kicks stylish yet familiar.
Small Footprint, Big Interior
The Nissan Kicks’ interior packaging wins it plenty of brownie points. Five passengers can easily fit without feeling snug, and generous cargo capacity gives it the flexibility to haul big items like check-in bags and Ikea furniture. For those with plenty of small items or mobile devices, there are cubbies galore.
Tech-Savvy Urbanite
All Nissan Kicks trims come standard with a 7.0-inch touchscreen and three USB ports, ensuring your devices never die on long road trips. Moving up [...]
In the same way that water is wet, the Porsche 911 Carrera is a performance car. Opt for the S version, and things get even quicker and sportier. Go for the GTS, and the car becomes spicier. Enter the GT3. Built by Porsche Motorsports, the same folks who develop and construct the race cars, the GT3 is truly a next-level performer. Hate the 3.0-liter turbocharged flat-six and bunched-up seven-speed manual on the “regular” 911? So, too, does Andy Preuninger and the rest of his Flacht-based crew. That’s why the GT3 has a screaming mimi of a 9,000-rpm 4.0-liter naturally aspirated boxer-six that makes more than 500 horsepower and a race-derived, brass-bushing six-speed manual. Andy and his team feel the GT3 can barely cross the street by itself, so they built the GT3 RS.
Lighter, with 20 more horsepower, a PDK (seven-speed dual-clutch) only, more grip, more downforce, more noise—and, just generally speaking, more—the RS version [...]
Ford will invest $500 million in Rivian, aligning the maker of the industry-leading F-Series pickup line with an upstart that’s electrifying gas-guzzling trucks and sport utility vehicles.
The second-biggest U.S. automaker also is forming a partnership with Rivian, which Amazon.com backed with an investment announced in February. Ford will build a vehicle using the platform that Rivian founder R.J. Scaringe said last week he plans to share with several companies.
Ford plans to bring a gas-electric hybrid version of its top-selling F-150 truck to market next year and has said it will also bring out an all-electric version of the truck. It now will add a vehicle that company officials declined to describe in detail that will be built off the truck-size platform Rivian refers to as its “skateboard.” This will be on top of the $11 billion Ford is plowing into bringing 40 electrified vehicles to market by 2022, including a Mustang-inspired battery powered [...]
The all-new European-spec 2019 Ford Fiesta ST is the answer to questions few Americans seem to be asking. Like, “What’s the best car for shredding a narrow, crowned, potholed country lane?” Or, “Which car is easiest to squeeze through ancient alleys and street-park in small villages?”
Even, “Which car sips gas while delivering a rousing, muffler-bypassed exhaust note?”
If these were critical factors in the U.S., home of wide-open spaces, wide roads, and typically available parking, then perhaps this 2019 Ford Fiesta ST would be offered for sale here. But they aren’t, and it’s not. Ford has deemed that Americans want SUVs, not hatchbacks. The folks in Dearborn are correct, and it’s a shame because there are still a decent number of us hot-hatch fanboys who would cherish having the latest Fiesta ST in American dealerships.
