carcounsel.com |HID|

When a manufacturers lets their marketers tell the engineers what to do, the outcome stands to go poorly. This is especially true in an engineering led company with a unique vehicle genome like Subaru…

This quote echoes what most who are familiar with what made the WRX an icon are saying:

What I’m really hoping for is a driving experience that takes all the great bits of the old WRX – the beautifully judged ride/handling balance, the torque-laden, uniquely characterful engine – and builds on them. Within 500 yards of my first drive home, that hope is seriously dented. When I turn in to the first corner the nose feels soft and slow to react. When it does start to tuck in, there’s virtually no feel from the road, no sense of connection between steering rack and tyres and tarmac. Several weeks on, I’m still feeling underwhelmed by the WRX’s chassis. The ride’s consistently terrific, and traction out of corners is great whether the tarmac’s dry, damp or streaming wet. But the dearth of feedback, exaggerated roll and predisposition to understeer are a disappointment. – Peter Tomalin, evo

I wanted to like this Impreza… I’m a fan of 5 doors about this size and was relived to see Subaru had kept the car from gaining weight as it gained size. Even the move towards less lag and more torqe makes sense for all but those who will mod the engine anyway.

All the last gen of Impreza needed was a nicer interior and more room – the rear suspension should have helped with the later and given how little they spent on a new powertrain you’d think the interior could have been brought to the level of the current Legacy.

Yes, it now rides with the aplomb of E46 Xi but with a chintzy interior and a fair amount of wind and road noise that comes across as a bit of an anomaly.

Not that the Impreza is a bad car – in its class only the Rabbit and the Mazda 3 trump it dynamically. It’s just that when something’s called a WRX it should mean something other than ‘flat-4 turbocharged’. Perhaps we’d all like the car better if the name were Impreza. (Come to think of it, the car makes the most sense as an Outback Sport – you can forgive a squishy suspension in something that is labeled Outback).

It’s depressing to see a company – any company – forget what made them great and there’s perhaps no clearer example of this than Honda’s interior design these days.

The virus started with the Acura RL then spread to the MDX, but now its found its way into the Accord and even the Pilot. Not only are the controls arranged in a completely nonsensical manner, there’s a visual clutter – a hodgepodge of shapes that seems contrived to make the braindead feel they’re getting more for their money.

I can understand why you’ve gone to overly large and wide tires now that your cars are overly wide and large as well but please Honda, stop the madness. Sure, plastic is easy to mold into any shape you desire but that doesn’t mean you should. To paraphrase Chris Rock, “You can drive a car with your feet, but that doesn’t make it a good idea!”

Not even a Lexus is immune to the laws of physics…

As long as the road is smooth, it’s a serene ride, but sealed cracks and potholes in the pavement kill the serenity. Even in its soft setting, the adjustable suspension can’t compensate for the reinforced sidewalls of the Dunlop run-flat tires. – Car And Driver

The second generation is more evolutionary than revolutionary. And in the time following the Mini’s arrival, the GTI has arguably become king of this category, one we’re not sure the new Mini can dethrone. Many judges also feel ergonomics have taken a step back: neither the center-stack controls nor the Mini’s version of iDrive are intuitive. Offering go-kart fun in an incredibly charming package isn’t enough for the Mini to earn the title of Car of the Year, especially when some aspects of the car aren’t as good as those of the one it’s replaced. – Motor Trend

the ride – agitated, noisy and totally unable to deal with short, sharp bumps. Body control is good when you do decide to work the chassis hard, but you only discover its excellent neutral balance after ignoring all the signals that are screaming at you to slow down – at seven-tenths the 6 feels ragged and ill-sorted. The Sport package adds 19in wheels – and in combination with 35-profile run-flat tyres they really hobble the big coupe. It’s a confused and confusing car, reluctant to be driven like a sports car and without the sophistication of ride to be a true GT. – evo

A bigger, more mature experience than Aston’s V8 Vantage, yet sharper and more engaging than a DB9 or Bentley Conti GT, it manages to combine the edge and infectious enthusiasm of a sports car with the long-legged, refined and sophisticated demeanour of a great GT… disappointing is the steering’s lack of tactility and the Skyhook suspension’s fidgety damping, both of which could and should be better… as it stands there’s room for improvement. It’s a good car rather than a great one… – evo

what an engine [the normally aspirated 3 liter 6] is. Sweet-spinning, sonorous and powerful… [but] Sold on its sporting credentials, enthusiastic drivers might at first be a little disappointed at the way the 1-Series drives. Turn into a corner briskly and the nose is always a little too keen to wash wide. Despite the impressive weight distribution, this is not a BMW that likes to corner with a tail-out stance… That said, ease off the pace a little and the BMW is still a fine back road companion – and a very quick one at that. Accept the 1-Series… as more of an elegant… mini-GT rather than a sportscar and you won’t come away disappointed. – 4car

As I hinted at months ago, VW has officially announced the 7 speed version of it’s DSG tranny. One caveat: for now at least its available with the 1.4L TSI engine, not with larger, torquier motors which makes a lot of sense when you think about it: while marketers tend to add more ratios to larger engined models it’s the smaller, efficiency minded mills that need the extra cogs the most…

the Spectra’s tall roof and big windows create a bright, airy ambiance. Japanese cars used to have interiors like this: simple, mood-enhancing, with low cowls and easy sight-lines. While they’ve gotten somber and techy, Kia serves up the old cheery, pretense-free flavor.—TTAC

Carmakers like SUVs for the same reason they like coupes, and more so – convertibles: they can charge a lot more for ‘em. Same goes for all wheel drive (cost: a few hundred tops, retail cost: thousands) or larger displacement engine in the same family (Someone explain why a 3.0L 6 cylinder costs more than a 2.5L 6 cylinder when they have the same number of parts? Some companies command $5K+ for the privilege).

The latest moneymaker: third row seating, in many cases right where the crumple zone was meant to be and no airbags either.

When cars get bigger, marketers cite growing waistlines. But as award winning L.A. TImes writer Dan Neil cites:

If the average family size in the United States is 3.84—so sayeth the U.S. Census Bureau—and the average number of children younger than 18 in those families is holding steady at 1.86, well, why the sudden pressing need for more seats? ...The rise of third-row seating, it seems to me, is a classic case of a manufactured need. Most people who spend the extra money don’t actually need a sixth and seventh seat; it’s merely that they have been possessed with the anxiety of not having them. My God, one day we might have friends, and then what will we do?