Eunos_Cosmo's epic [new car - NA market] daily driver search!

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I'm not really going to elaborate on the decision to go with a new car. I just am.

I set for myself these criteria:

Small
Fun to drive
Fuel Efficient (in this case 32mpg+ combined)
Good looking
Affordable (in this case well under 20k)
Manual Transmission (under no circumstances will I tolerate a small engine with an Auto or CVT)

So with that being established, I've made myself a list of cars to go look at, chat up the dealerships about, and most importantly, drive.

-Ford Fiesta
-Mazda2 (Driven 3_30, post 1)
-Kia Soul
-Nissan Juke
-Fiat 500 (Driven 3_30, post 1)
-Mazda3 skyactiv
-Mazda5 skyactiv

I'm going to add to the list as I think of them. I will be posting mostly test drive notes and a sort of cursory summary of each car. Partially for my benefit, partially for everyone's. Therefore, some of the information will be subjective.

So, onto the first two candidates I drove today, 3_30_2012. The Mazda2 and the Fiat 500. I'll start with the Fiat.

Fiat 500

+Fantastic Styling, inside and out. It's just a good looking thing. Awesome gauge cluster.
+More practical than I would have guessed. Fairly large trunk/boot area and the rear seats fold down.
+"Sport Mode"
+Great stereo

-Inane ergonomics
-Flat powerband, uninspiring engine
-Sloppy steering
-Sloppy gear-change
-Questionable build quality
-Too high seating position
-Essentially unusable rear seats

$18,5xx as tested. Sport model, with no options

Overall I was pretty disappointed with the Fiat. I really wanted to like it, and I did until I sat inside it. The seating position is just dumb. I felt way too upright and high, like I was driving a van. Even after only a few minutes, my left leg and ankle started to hurt from the position required of them to actuate the clutch pedal. Forget heel and toe, it's not going to happen easily. Even more so when the engine is nearly mute, and doesn't really give you any feedback. Off idle torque is good, but after 3,500rpm it just feels pointless to rev it any higher. The body control when not in sport mode is strangely vague, as is the steering response. Why isn't the car just always in sport mode? I don't understand it. The clutch is very, very soft, and the engagement point is, again, vague. Gear-shift is adequate, but not really rewarding. Dynamically, the Fiat is just not a very good car. Worryingly, I don't see how the Abarth could correct some of these very fundamental issues either. If you want a cruiser that will look good in downtown, and you prefer an automatic, I can see how this car would be appealing. But I had no fun with it.


Mazda2:

+Willing engine
+Willing, tossable chassis
+Mazda!
+Solid gearbox
+Good driving position
+Responsive in general
+Decent back seat room

-BLAND
-Decade-old looking interior

$15,5xx as tested. Almost no options

I preferred the Mazda2 to the Fiat, which is something I was not expecting. Even with a very American-sized salesman (300lbs easy) in the car with me, the car seemed to feel quicker than the Fiat. Everything felt very connected and communicative. It felt like an early 90s hatchback instead of a contemporary thing, which, to me, is great. All the controls were nicely weighted and feedback was provided just fine. I feel like I could get between the steering, engine, and gearbox much easier than in the Fiat. I was also able to heel and toe quite easily, perhaps even easier than in my Integra. The engine has 'acceptable' off-idle torque, but it actually likes to rev. Above 4,000rpm it was pretty damn fun, which surprised me a lot. However, the exterior design is just mediocrity at it's worst, and the interior is pretty low rent and uninspiring. The stereo is also pretty average in the base model. So of the 2, the Mazda is definitely the "better" car objectively. Quite a bit cheaper too. I just wish it was better looking. Shame really.


Next time I go driving, I think I'm going to drive a Fiesta. It should deliver everything I liked about the Mazda, but it looks better and it seems to have a nicer interior. Will update this continuously. By all means, you guys can make suggestions of cars to drive. I am very sad that our selection of hatchbacks in the USA is so limited. I'd really love to drive a Renault Twingo, Suzuki Swift, and Citroen DS3



[cross-posted from Finalgear.com]

 

[motortrend]

Those all seem like nice cars, What about the Honda fit? Somebody I know owns a manual transmission base model and it is a VERY good car. It is quite practical and spacious, and relatively sporty. I sat in the fiat and had that same reaction, haven't seen the Mazda in person but it looks like a really nice little car. Like I was saying, though, the fit has a reasonably modern interior, pretty good exterior styling and drives well

 

[Cale]

Sonic 1.4T? Can gain some good power with a tune

 

[MedigoFlame]

Possibly a Chevrolet Cruze? They're actually quite nice and well rounded in specs. Unfortunately the one my friend and I tested was the top spec RS spec Cruze, so I'm not sure how the base models are...

What I can sort of think of at the top of my head:
Kia Rio
Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai Veloster

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I can't bring myself to buy anything from Government Motors. Not until they are fully privatized again.

After watching quite a few reviews, I think next on the list of cars to drive is the Fit. It looks like the next most fun after the Mazda2, or possibly more fun. It's just amazing how fun a truly lighweight (Mazda2 is only 1000kg/2200lbs) can be. Even with 100hp it didn't feel slow.

Also, they look pretty cool with the Mazdaspeed kit and graphics, although I'm not sure they are available for street cars:

The Hyundai's are far too ugly. I might try the Veloster, but I just can't stand the way those cars look. The Kias are not bad though. I will try a Soul and a Rio probably.

 

[Cale]

Don't forget the Dodge Dart. Whenever that's being released. Looks very promising.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

Possibly a Chevrolet Cruze? They're actually quite nice and well rounded in specs. Unfortunately the one my friend and I tested was the top spec RS spec Cruze, so I'm not sure how the base models are...

What I can sort of think of at the top of my head:
Kia Rio
Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai Veloster

The Elantra is extremely comfortable but not very sporty, and you'll have a hard time finding a manual. The Veloster is nice but very, very loud inside. Have you looked at the Honda Fit? Also, I'd recommend taking a look at the Chevy Sonic, Hyundai Accent, and Toyota Yaris. Of course, I can see where the Fit wouldn't fit the criteria of 'good looking.' The new Yaris is nice, though.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Drove 2 more cars today:

Ford Fiesta
+Good looking body
+Quality feel inside and out
+Very usable
+Lots of nice features
+Good steering
+Good body control
+40mpg

-Terrible dealership experience
-Not quite as good to drive as the Mazda
-Expensive
-Tacky, gaudy, overstyled interior
-Interior auxiliary controls are a mess
-Engine sounds industrial

$19,8xx(!) as tested. Lots of options.

The thing that sticks out in my mind most about the Fiesta was the rather poor dealership experience. I was walking around in the showroom for a few minutes before anyone even bothered to talk to me. When I finally did get ahold of a salesman, he made me sit around and fill out paperwork for a good 30 minutes before even going to look at the car. His speal about the dealership being 'different' and 'no haggle' made the experience altogether more ironic and annoying. In the end he was trying to convince me a 10% APR was a good deal that a fully optioned car was cheaper than a base model, and I was looking at paying something near $400 a month, for a Fiesta! Absurd! Aside from the ridiculous experience (which caused me to arrive at the Honda dealership after they closed, see below) the Fiesta is basically a pretty good car. It looks good and drives good. But it doesn't drive quite as good as the Mazda (feels heavier, feels less precise and seems to not have quite the responsiveness) and the interior is really, really bad. The materials are nice, but I don't think I could live with the star trek scheme for very long. The engine also sounded a bit weezy. In the end, the car was just too expensive (approaching $20,000 before TT&L and such) and not as good as I was hoping.

As a side note, and another thing to add to the list of annoyances with the dealer, the salesman tried to tell me that the rubber engine mount was something very special. I should have showed him my 20 year old Integra.

Honda Fit Sport
+Fun
+Willing Engine (with a proper Honda 4 cylinder sound)
+Chuckable Chassis with good steering
+Nice interior
+I like the styling

-Auto-tragic
-Not very good fuel economy
-Too-cavernous interior (does the dashboard EVER end??)
-Expensive comparatively speaking
-Questionable quality and materials

$19,xxx as tested. Essentially fully loaded.

I liked the Fit. The engine makes a good noise, the chassis works well, and the overall styling is pretty good to my eyes. This is the only one of the four that I've driven that was an automatic, and ironically, it was the only one I was able to drive on a decent road. In the twisty sections the chassis felt pretty good. Turn-in is keen and it has good grip. I wasn't really approaching the limit, but there was definitely some body roll. The seats aren't that supportive, but it's an economy car after all. The steering is weighted very well and is as precise as any modern car, but it seems to lack feel. The engine revs up with typical Honda wreckless abandon and probably makes more noise than any of the other cars I've driven. It felt about equal to the Ford in terms of speed, and perhaps a bit slower than the Mazda. It's just a shame the engine was paired to a rather dull automatic transmission. It isn't the worst auto I've driven, but it just deadens the experience. From the driver seat, the interior of the Fit seems pretty large. This is good and bad to me. I feel like in the summer, all of the glass would really make the interior hard to keep cool. Also, I feel so far away from the windshield in the fit, that it's almost like being the captain on the bridge. I like to be part of the experience, not feel like a proxy to the experience. The seating position is also rather high, and combined with the tall greenhouse, I felt somehow conspicuous and vulnerable. That sounds dumb, but that's what I thought. This was a sport model with nearly every option, so the price tag was pretty damn high. More than I'm willing to spend. I told the guy to call me if they get a base model with a manual transmission and I'll come back and talk business.

In contrast to the Ford dealer, the Honda dealer was very cool. I walked in 30 minutes after they technically closed, but were more than willing to show me the car. Not after I filled out some paper work and sat in a cubicle, but on my own time, which was nice. So far all of the dealerships apart from Ford have been pretty good, which is counter to what I would have expected.


At this point, the Mazda is tugging at me the most. Perhaps it's partly due to my inner-fanboy, but I really liked that car. Tomorrow I'm going to try to test out the Kia Rio 5 and see how that goes.