We put 20,378 miles on our 2019 Honda Insight in an eventful 377 days, a notable achievement given that the primary driver commutes less than 3 miles from home to work. This was very much a MotorTrend team effort that involved long commutes from Orange County to Los Angeles and back, and several road trips to the San Francisco Bay Area, Sierra Nevada mountains, and high deserts of California.
Our Insight saw rain, snow, and lots of hot, congested California freeways. It moved an entire apartment in two trips, carted surfboards to and from Manhattan Beach on countless occasions, and even chauffeured Top Gear America host Jethro Bovingdon—and maybe a Shiba Inu named Matcha.
Our Insight was always faithful and reliable, never complained or turned a wheel wrong. Was it perfect? No, but in the end there is a lot we loved and will definitely miss.
First is the cost of ownership. At approximately the [...]
There’s a long list of subcompact cars disappearing from the U.S. market this year. Despite declining sales, the 2020 Toyota Yaris presses on, essentially a rebadged version of the Mazda2 that’s not sold here. In a segment that breeds low expectations, the Yaris left us pleasantly surprised after a week.
With average new-vehicle transaction prices topping $36,000, it’s refreshing to know you can still get a well-equipped car for under $20,000. The 2020 Toyota Yaris LE hatchback is priced from $18,705, but our upgraded XLE rang out to $19,705. For that price, you get an attractive interior with plush leatherette seats, soft touch surfaces, and blue stitching on the dashboard. The layout will look very familiar if you’ve been inside a new Mazda, particularly the 7.0-inch screen enabled with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. When the Yaris is stationary, the screen responds to touch, but when moving, you have to use a pesky control knob [...]
You don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a car with a nice interior, the latest technologies, and solid performance. We already wrote about the cheapest new SUVs you can buy, and now we’re taking a look at the lowest-priced sedans on the market. Keep reading to learn about the cheapest new sedans available for the 2020 model year and which ones are worth the money.
2020 Toyota Corolla – $20,555
The Honda Civic might be the benchmark of the compact sedan segment, but the Corolla offers a lot of bang for the buck, whether that’s the $20,555 base model or the efficient $24,055 hybrid variant that delivers 52 mpg combined. Along with an impressive list of standard safety features, the popular sedan offers a well-balanced ride and good handling.
2020 Hyundai Elantra – $20,105
For 2020, Hyundai [...]
Once again, Polestar is taking aim at Tesla. The Volvo-owned car company has built a pure electric four-door grand tourer concept that shows off its new sustainable interior, latest digital interface, and eye-tracking technology. The Polestar Precept is making its official debut at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show.
Polestar announced a plan for its future interiors to feature sustainable, lightweight materials, and now we’re seeing the first fruits of this labor. A flax-based natural fiber composite used in the interior panels and seatbacks will yield a 50 percent savings in weight and an 80 percent reduction in plastic waste, Polestar says. The concept’s seat surfaces are 3D-knitted from recycled plastic bottles, the bolsters and headrests are made from recycled cork vinyl, and the carpets incorporate recycled fishing nets.
The Polestar features a somewhat Tesla-like interior setup. A 15.0-inch touchscreen sits in the center of the minimalist cabin, complemented by a 12.5-inch display in front of [...]
SUVs remain hotter than ever, with more models hitting the market seemingly every day. And as more offerings flood the market, fuel efficiency has become even more of a selling point, with consumers paying ever more attention to which SUVs and crossovers get the best gas mileage. Additionally, automakers have been under increasing regulatory pressure to improve the overall fuel efficiency of their SUV lineups as a whole, and as a result have made big strides in the mpg department.
So whether they’re powered by a hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or regular gasoline powertrain, today’s SUVs get far better gas mileage than they did just a few years ago. To give you a sense of what’s out there, we’ve rounded up the newest SUVs and crossovers on the market today with the best mpg ratings. (Note: All numbers are EPA combined estimates, with mpg-e denoting the miles per gallon equivalent for plug-in hybrid models. And yes, [...]
