The sporty 2013 Honda Civic Si only comes with a six-speed manual transmission.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

The Honda Civic has been a popular economy car choice for four decades. There’s nothing new about buying one for economy, quality, and an affordable price. However, since 1986, you have been able to get your Civic with a little something extra — more horsepower and better handling — with the Si. Today’s Si coupe and sedan continue the tradition.

Dropping a more powerful engine into a car to make it perform better is nothing new. Just think of the genius of the 1964 Pontiac GTO, which transformed the midsize Tempest into a rocket. It’s an inexpensive way to create a sports car.

In the case of the Civic Si, the engine grows from a 1.8-liter inline four with 140 horsepower and 128 lb.-ft. of torque to a 2.4-liter four with 201 horsepower and 170 lb.-ft. of torque. And, although garden-variety Civics come with a five-speed manual or an automatic, the Si is shift-it-yourself only — a six-speed manual with a leather and metal shift knob that falls nicely to your hand and moves through the gates with a flick of the wrist.

The Civic may have humble origins, but Honda has attempted to distinguish its performance by equipping it with four-wheel disc brakes, for example, and adding stabilizer bars to the suspension — 21 millimeters up front and 18 in back.

Of course, there are many other ways to upgrade the car, particularly in the seats, with their “Si” embroidered in the spot behind your shoulders, and Si badges prominently displayed. As the star at the top of the Civic lineup, all the goodies you’d want are included. The few options include a navigation system and summer tires, which together bring the price up to $24,995. The entry-level LX Civic Coupe with a five-speed manual starts at $18,755.

Part of the advantage of basing a sporty car on an economy one is that you get pretty decent fuel economy. Although the Si requires premium fuel, it’s rated at 22 City, 31 Highway and 25 combined. My Dyno Blue Pearl Civic Si Coupe tester averaged a respectable 27.3 miles per gallon during its weeklong stay. EPA numbers are 6 for both Smog and Greenhouse Gas. Honda enjoys a reputation as a clean vehicle company, so for them, this is just so-so. The regular Civic LX and EX score 8 on Greenhouse Gas, moving them into the coveted SmartWay category.

The downside of building your sporty car on an economy car platform is that, other than the storming engine, suspension tweaks, leather and special badging, the car is still a pretty modest ride.

The interior of the Civic is useful and comfortable but doesn’t feel especially upscale or exciting. The two-level stacked instrument panel feels oversized and comes off as cheap, although it’s hard to point to any one factor that makes it so. The door panels and center console move when you push on them. Honda’s recent low-rent interiors have been criticized by other automotive writers, and the company has been working to change that with revisions to the 2013 Civic.

Although the Civic Si is somewhat basic, it is significantly larger than the original one, which debuted in 1986. I owned one, and it was great fun to toss around. With its 90 horsepower and manual five-speed transmission, it also was economy-car based, but it was a hatchback, giving it more practicality but less pizzazz.

I took the test Si on a favorite back road, as it had spent most of its time with me on freeways and city streets. It acquitted itself nicely, but despite fairly communicative steering, an even keel on turns, and plenty of acceleration available in the straights, it left me wanting a little more. The Civic Si now weighs about 3,000 pounds. Has it lost some of its playfulness as it’s grown up?

The Civic has been a favorite of the tuner crowd, so perhaps today’s Si could benefit from a little aftermarket seasoning to make it really perform. But despite its flaws, Si remains a worthy competitor with the crop of hot compacts out there today, and, at 27, is already becoming a legend.

The 2014 Kia Sorento features a more sophisticated look.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

I recently spent a week with the heavily revised Kia Sorento crossover. Kia, one of the automotive success stories in the last several years, has given its five-passenger people and cargo hauler a thorough update.

The side body panels of the tall hauler look about the same as before, but the front and rear are restyled. Kia is taking full advantage of the fact that its leader, Peter Schreyer, is the former head of Audi design.

These cars, which not long ago looked like weak copies of mainstream Toyotas and Hondas, now have their own sophisticated look and feel. Up front, the tiger-nose grille has taken on a new, more smiley appearance as part of a sweep that includes the light pods. The lower panel shows another air intake and vertical fog lamps (if so equipped). The taillamps use LEDs so they glow prettily at night.

The interior is reshaped to accommodate a large eight-inch diagonal information screen. It displays a wealth of information, as expected in today’s data-rich mobile environment.

Materials look substantial, despite some implausible wood trim. The convex curves on the dash give it a substantial feel, and the matte surfaces and satin silver trim convey poshness. The subtle illumination along the door trim is a nice surprise.

As before, there are three ascending levels — LX, EX and SX — names that sound the same as those for many other brands. The new SX Limited model is just coming out. It offers upscale amenities hardly imaginable in Kias of yore — such things as 19-inch chrome alloy wheels with jaunty red brake calipers outside, and Nappa leather seats and a wood-trimmed steering wheel inside. Unlike Toyota, Nissan or Honda, Kia (and sister brand Hyundai) are not creating a separate upscale brand, such as Lexus or Infiniti, but are giving buyers a chance to acquire a super-fully-loaded version of an existing vehicle.

Bulletin: With the brand-new 2014 Cadenza sedan arriving now, Kia may be closer to the luxury market than you think.

My Wave Blue test car was a mid-range EX model, with all-wheel drive. This system, like most on the market, is not for off-roading but for safer on-roading, and works completely automatically. In the warm, dry week of my test, it was not called to duty, as far as I could tell.

You can select two engines, depending on model, for the Sorento. There’s a 2.4-liter, 191-horsepower inline four-cylinder, or a new 3.3-liter direct injection V6. My tester had the V6, and with 290 horsepower and 252 lb.-ft. of torque on tap, it propelled the Sorento along seemingly effortlessly. The new electrically powered steering is lighter and more efficient than the old hydraulic unit, and provides plenty of road feel.

Of course, when you boost engine size and power you step away a bit from fuel economy. My tester was rated at 20 mpg combined by the EPA (18 City, 24 Highway). I averaged 21.5 mpg on my commute traffic-heavy week of driving. The environmental ratings are 5 for Greenhouse Gas and Smog.

This Korean vehicle is manufactured in West Point, Georgia, alongside the Optima sedan. It’s got 50 percent American parts, and the plant and its suppliers create about 10,000 jobs. This continues to blur the line between American and “foreign” companies.

Having tested many Kias, including three recently, I continue to be amazed at the quality and driving enjoyment they provide. The four colleagues I took to lunch in the Sorento had no complaints, and the road feel, steering response and supple suspension made driving the car a very satisfying experience.

Kias are not cheap anymore. This one had a base price of $31,700, and the $4,000 Touring Package added a host of desirable features, including a huge panoramic sunroof, navigation system, Infinity audio system, blind-spot detection, and power folding mirrors and liftgate. They even enhanced the driver’s seat with ventilation in addition to the heat. With all that, the price came to $36,550.

These cars are becoming Audis in more than just their design!

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

It’s natural that Acura, Honda’s upscale division, would introduce the ILX for 2013. When they jettisoned the RSX after the 2006 model year, they eliminated the crucial entry point for folks to become Acura owners. Since day one of the brand, way back in 1986, there had always been the Integra or RSX to attract folks for whom a plain Honda just wasn’t enough. You can’t ignore those Millennials. Now Acura has fixed that problem with a fresh premium sedan.

Meaningless alphanumeric names can hide a car’s personality, but the ILX, whose name starts with an I (is it a coincidence?) has plenty to offer. Based on the perennially best-selling compact Honda Civic, it’s cousin, it wears all the design cues that Acura has worked hard to build. Luckily for all of us, the division has chosen to soften up the sharply angled face that it featured on its cars recently. The new Acuras are much easier to take, if just a little less distinctive.

The ton-and-a-half car fits in nicely on today’s roads with its new styling. Most interesting is the crease that proceeds along the side and hops up over the rear wheel. A lot of lines meet there, creating slightly mysterious tension. The ILX does not look much like a Civic, though, which is the goal.

Inside, the car gets the full Acura treatment, with boldly defined dash, doors and console. The sweeping exuberance of the interior makes riding in the ILX feel energizing, and the tactile feeling of the controls adds perceived quality to the driving experience. Honda has been good about providing clear, straightforward gauges and controls, and you’ll find them here.

The garden-variety ILX, which I sampled last summer, came with a perfectly respectable 150-horsepower inline 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine that delivered good fuel economy through an automatic transmission. But my tester, in Silver Moon paint, makes good use of the Civic Si’s mightier 201-horsepower 2.4-liter engine, and runs 170 lb.-ft. of torque through a deeply satisfying six-speed manual transmission. This is a different animal from the plain Jane version, and it was a hoot to zip along through traffic.

I took the baby Acura out on some more exciting roads to see how well it would handle. It brought back pleasant memories of my little 1986 Honda Civic Si in its taut, communicative steering and suspension, and the happy whir of its four-cylinder engine. My 90-horsepower Si had 50 percent more oomph than the standard 60-horsepower Civic. Today, these numbers sound as silly as talking about four-cent first-class postage, but the lean, limber driving experience is still there.

There is a Hybrid version of the ILX, as there’s one for the Civic, and you can expect 38 miles per gallon in place of 25 — saving you about $800 a year in gas.

The ILX is built in Greensburg, Indiana, using a Japanese transmission and an American-built engine. Honda has assembled cars in the U.S. for more than three decades, and most of its cars sold here are from domestic plants.

The performance and look of the ILX make it a worthy playmate, but the Premium Package adds more goodies. These include leather seats, an upgraded seven-speaker audio system, XM satellite radio, an eight-way power driver’s seat, 17-inch alloy wheels, a rear-view camera and more. It amounts to a pretty loaded car.

Yes, it’ll cost you. The regular ILX, with its standard automatic, starts at $26,795. My tester, with no options, came to $30,095.

There are a few compromises. My tester didn’t have a navigation system, which is fine, but the screen in the center dash was pretty small for consulting the other features that use it. The elegant stitching on the doors is not continued onto the dash, a cost-cutting move.

Acura has just released the 2014 version of the ILX, with a few extra standard features. This might be a fine time to pick up a ’13 at a discount. Acura has stocked its showroom with a range of intriguing vehicles, so if they can entice you now, you will be more likely to visit them later — when you need more doors or seats. Good plan.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

The Rio is Kia’s entry-level car, but it is hardly plain or Spartan. You can choose either a five-door hatchback or a four-door sedan, depending on your needs, and pick the entry LX, midrange EX or top SX level. I recently tested the SX sedan, and I drove the 2012 SX hatchback last year.

My sedan tester, in Signal Red paint, got another upgrade, with the Premium Package, which is available only on the SX. Imagine, in the smallest car in the lineup, leather seats (heated in the front row), power sunroof, push-button start with a smart key, and a well-equipped navigation system. It’s mind-boggling how much Kia packs into their little car.

I call it little, but driving around in the Rio is anything but confining. The 101.2-inch wheelbase helps make this smallest of Kias a compact, not a subcompact, ride. The trunk holds almost 14 cubic feet, which is plenty for groceries and bass amplifiers. The rear seats have room for real people, too. There isn’t any feeling of sacrifice driving it.

The standard and only engine is a 1.6-liter four-cylinder unit that puts out 138 horsepower and 123 lb.-ft. or torque. You can order a manual six-speed in the LX level only. New for 2013, the SX offers paddle shifters on the steering column with its automatic, just like the expensive cars do, for a higher entertainment value. I only used them for a minute or two and they work fine, but it’s not the same as driving a true manual. In this case, I think Kia offers the manual only on the LX to allow them to advertise a car at a lower price point. Most American buyers certainly won’t go for it (but I would).

The Rio is the first non-hybrid vehicle outside the luxury segment to offer Idle Stop and Go (ISG) technology. I recently experienced this in a $120,000 BMW, and it’s normal for hybrids like the Toyota Prius. The technology automatically turns off the engine at stoplights, restarting instantly when the driver releases the brake pedal. It can be disconcerting if you don’t know it’s supposed to do that, but it does save gas.

The EPA awards the Rio with automatic transmission economy ratings of 28 City, 36 Highway, and 31 Combined. I averaged around 26 mpg. It was hard to run a long-term fuel economy number since the car resets the gauge with each fill-up; you need to do these often as the tank holds only 11.4 gallons. I was in the gas station every couple of days.

The car moves along fine in traffic, but if you need to accelerate on an incline, you’ll hear the automatic downshift, and a lot more sound will emanate from beneath the hood. I was able to keep up with traffic under these conditions but not accelerate significantly. That’s one place where the entry level role of the Rio is apparent.

The interior, however, does not give an entry-level appearance. The materials are good and fit together well. There is some metallic-looking trim, and, in the SX, you get metal pedals — a very sporty-looking feature. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes. In the attractive gauges, including a 140-mph speedometer, the needles do a dramatic sweep across their faces when you start up the car.

The seats are firm and flat, but I got used to them. The seat heaters work well. The only downside was a lack of height adjustment for the right-seat passenger. My wife felt like she was sitting too low over there.

The Rio SX with Premium Package surprises. Sitting on a leather chair and placing your hands on a leather wheel and shift knob in this size and level of car truly upgrades the experience. When you throw in Bluetooth, Satellite Radio, power windows, locks and mirrors, and the rest, it may feel a little close, but never cheap.

The Rio is meant for folks who value economy and likely are environmentally sensitive too. They will be happy to know that 85 percent of the Rio’s materials are recyclable at the end of its lifespan, and the car features seat foam material that uses 100-percent biodegradable and non-toxic castor oil. That goes hand in hand with the EPA’s SmartWay designation to appeal to green thinkers who can’t afford a hybrid.

Price? The LX with manual transmission starts at just $14,400. The SX begins at $18,500. My test car, with the Premium Package and a couple of other small items, came to $21,340. Considering the comfort, utility, perceived quality and attractive looks, it could be a deal. And don’t forget about that 10-year, 100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty. Kia’s 17 years of increased annual market share is no fluke.

The Pilot’s grille and front fascia feature a distinctive 3-bar horizontal design.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

In the middle of the last century, families traveled in station wagons. I can attest that my family had several. Moving up to the 1990s, Ford tapped into a new market with its Explorer sport utility vehicle. The tall, truck-based SUV grew to become America’s new station wagon.

The Honda Pilot owes its existence to this market. Honda began with tiny cars but today offers a three-row, eight-passenger highway cruiser that stands chrome-grilled nose-to-nose with the Explorer and every other SUV.

Today’s favorite family car is actually called a “crossover,” which reflects, in essence, that it’s not based on a pickup truck chassis, so it’s more like a car. Built on a unibody platform, it means greater comfort on the road. The Pilot offers plenty. Tall, wide, box-shaped and thoughtfully designed, it is ideal for transporting your brood.

Even with all three rows of seats up and occupied, the rear cargo area is as large as the trunk of a midsize car, so you don’t have to leave the baby stroller at home. Second-row passengers enjoy a video system with wireless headphones, if your Pilot comes so equipped.

The Pilot comes in four levels, all with typical Honda nomenclature. The LX starts the lineup, with the EX above it, and the Touring at the top. The EX also is presented as the EX-L, where L stands for “leather.” Each model offers two- or four-wheel drive.

My Touring model was the absolute pinnacle of Pilot configurations. It was quite impressive in a stunning Obsidian Blue Pearl (a new color for 2013), with its chrome three-bar grille and special six-spoke 18-inch alloy wheels. Inside, with leather seating, steering wheel and shifter, it’s all very top drawer. Observing it for week, I decided that the interior design, while straightforward and handsome, felt a little plain, and the matte-finish plastics reminded me just slightly of the sanitized reliability of Rubbermaid kitchen products.

You can tell this car is made for Americans. The massive and accommodating central console, complete with a sliding roll top, exactly fits a standard McDonalds food bag and large soda. There’s plenty more storage, with two levels of door pockets, a voluminous glovebox, and a hideaway compartment below the rear cargo hold.

Every Pilot gets its motivation from a 250-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 engine running through a five-speed automatic transmission. The EPA gives the four-wheel-drive model, like my test car, a cumulative score of 20 miles per gallon (17 City, 34 Highway). I averaged 17.1 mpg. Both the Smog and Greenhouse Gas numbers are at chart center with 5 for each.

The auto industry doesn’t really offer “stripped” cars anymore, and the Pilot is no exception. Even the lowliest LX two-wheel-drive model has three-zone automatic climate control and a high-resolution eight-inch view screen for audio, navigation and such. Power features are ubiquitous today in every car, and the Pilot goes further with the increasingly common Bluetooth for your phone, a seven-speaker audio system, and lots more. The EX, EX-L and Touring introduce additional power features, better lighting, and leather, of course. The list is long.

The Pilot is loaded with safety features, from a multitude of airbags to the ACE body structure, which absorbs crash energy and keeps it out of the passenger compartment.

A vehicle with this much on it and in it doesn’t come cheap. The entry price for a Pilot LX with two-wheel drive and no extras starts at $30,350. The Touring, like my loaded tester, starts at $42,100. Prices include shipping.

Honda has studied its competition for decades and they know that including something like the pop-open glass rear window in the tailgate, which lets you drop in items without opening the entire hatch, could be the deciding factor in a purchase.

The Pilot is a little oversized for one guy driving back and forth to work, but if you’re ferrying a load of kids, friends and their stuff, they’ll be glad you went for it.

The wheelbase of the new 2013 Lexus ES 300h has been lengthened by 1.8 inches, while the overall length of the vehicle has grown by one inch, resulting in shorter overhangs and a more spacious interior.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

Many drivers are searching for the compromise between comfort for five and fuel economy. Often, they opt for a Toyota Prius — the most efficient and well known of the numerous hybrid options on wheels. But what if you want a more luxurious ride? Well, Lexus is more than happy to offer their newly redesigned 2013 ES 300h.

Although Lexus has offered a range of hybrids over the last several years, this is the first time a gas engine and electric motor have joined forces in an ES. The ES was one of the two founding models of the brand, way back in 1989.

This sixth-generation car comes as the ES 350, with a powerful six-cylinder engine under the hood. But my Silver Lining Metallic hybrid tester combines a 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine with a high output permanent magnet motor to generate a total of 200 horsepower. It moves the 3,660-pound sedan along very quietly and smoothly.

How quickly? Lexus gives an 8.1-second 0-to-60 time and a 16.8-second quarter mile. Top speed is electronically limited to 112, but that should be plenty.

The new design uses Lexus’ “spindle” grille treatment, which is more handsome than beautiful. It is certainly more emotional than the subdued styling that typifies previous Lexus models; they were modeled after Mercedes-Benz products of the time.

The new ES is slightly longer. Not that your eye would know, but your knees will appreciate the extra room in back. I occupied the driver’s chair the entire test time, and it definitely feels roomy there. The new dash panel is a little more dramatically styled, but is still a bit restrained.

The materials, as always in a Lexus, are top drawer and the places where they meet are perfectly rendered. My tester had the Ultra Luxury package, which brought “semi-aniline” leather (is this only half as nice as “full-aniline” I wondered). That $2,435 package adds heating and ventilation to the seats, a trick power sunshade for the rear window (manual shades on the sides), ambient lighting, and bamboo wood trim. The newly configured seats were a splendid place to be on my daily grinding commutes.

Also a pleasure in traffic was the optional Mark Levinson Premium Audio Package. With 15 speakers and 835 watts of power, it could make you want to simply move into the car. It’s certainly better than what’s in my house.

The ES 300h drives like a normal car, like a good hybrid should. Besides the larger center-dash view that is familiar to Prius owners, there’s a tiny, simplified graphic in the center of the gauge cluster that shows you where the power is coming from and where it’s going.

Fuel economy numbers are lower than those of the Prius. The EPA says 40 Combined, made up of 40 City and 39 Highway. I got 34.5 mpg. The Smog rating is a 7 while the Greenhouse Gas is a perfect 10.

You can select how your ES drives with a simple console dial. Driver Mode Select gives you a choice between Normal, Eco and Sport. Normal is fine, but Eco keeps the revs down to reduce fuel consumption. The opposite is the Sport mode. If you’re out on some attractive back road, Sport’s fine, but better to keep it in Eco and save fuel if you’re just commuting or running errands.

The ES dash has Toyota’s big screen with the Remote Touch Interface controller. While BMW and others like dials and buttons, this device is more like a joystick with an armrest. You move the cursor around onto different squares for a range of features. When you approach a screen object, the cursor is attracted to it and grabs it. It gets to be fairly natural with practice.

My tester had the App Suite, so I had detailed traffic and weather information, stock market reports, and much more. You really have to try to avoid getting excited and looking away from the road.

The ES has been a big part of Lexus’ success during its long lifetime, and it is somewhere in the lower range of the brand’s pricing. The base price is $38,850, but you don’t have to stop there. My tester, with goodies like a power trunk closer ($400), rain-sensing wipers with a de-icer ($500), leather shift knob and very fancy wood/leather steering wheel ($450), as well as the aforementioned packages, came to $48,114.

Not really a true midsize sports sedan (let the IS take care of that), this Lexus offers subcompact car fuel economy with midsize luxury sedan accommodations, as well as Toyota’s nearly perfect record for reliability and safety, and a wealth of entertainment and performance equipment. If a Prius leaves you cold, let Lexus warm you up.

Included with each 2013 Fiat 500c Abarth is the opportunity for new owners to attend a segment-exclusive driving experience at no additional charge. The Abarth Driving Experience is an entire day of full-throttle training, guided by professional instructors from the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

The 500 is the first Fiat sold in the U.S. for a long time. It’s making its way onto American roads now courtesy of the Fiat acquisition of Chrysler back in the bad old days of late last decade. The cute little bug-like hatchbacks are fun, but not what anyone would consider a sports car.

That is, until the Fiat 500 Abarth came along.

Since the late 1950s, Karl Abarth and his company have turned modest little European cars into rockets and racecars. The 500 is based on a classic tiny 500 from those days, so bringing back the go-fast treatment for the new 500 makes a lot of sense.

Thanks to turbocharging and intercooling, the little American-built 1.4-liter MultiAir engine under the pug-nosed hood is good for 160 horsepower and 170 lb.-ft. of torque — big numbers when you’re talking about one of the smallest cars on the road. Doing the math, that’s 117 horsepower per liter!

To support all that extra oomph, the entire suspension is upgraded, with 40 percent stiffer springs and a lower ride height. Other suspension pieces make the car ride and perform unlike the garden-variety models. That firmness is sporty, it’s true, but might make for less smiling if you choose to travel across country on freeways that have not been recently repaved.

The Abarth comes with an Italian-built five-speed manual transmission, that’s already been proven in European racing. With its leather-wrapped knob, it sits in a little projection from the cute little dashboard. It definitely adds to the amusement.

The interior is straightforward, as befits a sporting machine, but it also feels a bit cheap. That’s because the basic 500, despite its retro flair, is not an expensive vehicle. The surfaces are all hard black plastic and the instrumentation is simple. However, the dash does feature a leather hood over the instrument panel, with red stitching. The fat steering wheel, an Abarth design, wears grippy leather and has a flat bottom and a big Abarth logo in the center. The word “Abarth” and the brand’s logo are spread out all over the little car’s small body and interior.

Driving the Abarth is always entertaining. Besides the push forward you get when you step on the aluminum right pedal, the exhaust note lets you know you’re not in any ordinary Fiat. It reminded me of the time when my 1986 Honda Civic’s muffler rusted off. They call the sound, “menacing,” but it could become annoying, too.

The accommodations are compact inside, of course, but not uncomfortable (at least in front). The sporty one-piece buckets are appropriately leather covered and offer serious bolstering to hold you in place. They have racing harness pass-throughs, too, since it’s not at all unlikely that you might take the little beast out on the racetrack.

To keep you somewhat responsible, there’s an upshift light on the left side of the dash. It tells you when to shift up to get maximum fuel economy. Ironically, it sits in the middle of the turbo boost gauge, which encourages you to drive more aggressively. For more fun, push the Sport button, and the throttle opens up and the steering gets tauter. Even better, pressing the Sport button makes the shifting nanny disappear, replacing it with a red-line reminder light.

You’d think a small car wouldn’t be very practical, but as a hatchback, it’s easy to stuff the 500 with a week’s worth of groceries for the family — and it even fits an upright bass. The tiny shelflet that keeps prying eyes out of the storage area in back pops off in a split second, the seats fold, and you’ve got serious schlepping capacity.

The little 1.4 turbo gets a Smog rating of 5 and Greenhouse Gas number of 8. Fuel economy, per the EPA, is 31 Average (28 City, 34 Highway) — I averaged 26.6 mpg.

There are cheaper cars of this size, including the 500 in its regular garb, which lists at $16,700. This one starts at $22,700, but with a few nice add-ons, such as automatic air conditioning and upgraded 17-inch white-painted alloy wheels, the tab can hit $25,000 (my Rosso Red test car was $100 over). All prices include shipping.

It’s a pretty loaded vehicle. You get Satellite radio inside, an electronic vehicle information system, Alpine Premium audio, BLUE&ME hands-free communication system, a cool rear spoiler, fog lamps and lots more. I received a nice thumbs-up from a guy driving a “regular” 500. It was part solidarity and part admiration, I think.

Not a silent cruiser, the Fiat 500 Abarth, built in Toluca, Mexico, is in-your-face motoring, and if you order the 500c, you can roll back the top and cop a better listen to the menacing sound while getting an old-fashioned racer suntan.

PHOTO BY VICTOR LLANA, BOUNDLESS CAPTURES PHOTOGRAPHY

The 2013 BMW M6 Convertible marks the 1,000th car Auto Editor Steve Schaefer has reviewed for the Times. The car below (March, 1992) was delivered by the same press fleet supplier.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

Cars, at their essence, are about mobility — transporting yourself, your family, your friends and your stuff around. Of course, you want some comfort, some entertainment and some functionality, but beyond that, it’s all gravy. From a humble Kia Rio hatchback to an opulent Rolls-Royce Phantom, they all basically serve the same purpose.

While no BMW is considered an inexpensive economy car, the M6 sits high in the upscale lineup. Based on the midsize 5-series chassis, it’s a low-slung coupe with a set of rear seats that are mostly for show and grocery bags. The driver and front-seat passenger, once they lower themselves in, are treated royally.

The M designation comes from BMW’s Motorsports program. Various M cars have been high-performance racecars and upgraded road cars since 1972. The first M6 goes back to 2005.

The M6 has a 4.4-liter V8, with twin scroll turbochargers, that puts out a whopping 560 horsepower and 502 lb.-ft. of torque. This vortex of power applies itself to the road through a seven-speed automatic and standard 19-inch alloy wheels. You can order 20-inchers if that’s not enough for you. The automatic comes with paddles on the steering column for manual gear selection.

It’s easy to find yourself moving much too fast, so the head-up display shows your speed as two (or three) digits floating somewhere ahead of you on the road. The gauges themselves are classic circles on a flat panel — a no-nonsense approach appropriate to a sports car. The speedometer goes up to 200 mph. I didn’t even get halfway there during my test, although you could certainly make it well into the second hundred given enough closed-road or racetrack opportunities.

The car sounds great as you roll along and push that handsome right pedal, but it’s not overwhelming or distracting. I found that I used the accelerator carefully so as not to jump ahead in the typical in-town and freeway commute traffic I got stuck in much of the time.

The official 0-60 time from BMW is 4.3 seconds. A test in the May 2013 issue of Car and Driver recorded 3.8 seconds. That’s mighty quick.

Besides this stunning acceleration, you can also alter the way your car performs using little buttons along the wide center console, next to the panel below the shifter. Adjust the steering feel and the suspension to Comfort, Sport or Sport Plus. The acceleration you can set in Sport, Sport Plus or Efficient.

For freeway travel and around town, Sport, the default setting, was fine. When I traversed gorgeous Highway 84, snaking across the San Francisco Peninsula, I dialed in Sport Plus and it tightened up the steering to make a small effort move the car more quickly, with more feedback and firmer effort needed.

As a BMW, the M6 is not frilly or fussy, but the materials are fine and well crafted, and the design shows a strong hand. You can feel the value and worth in the car, but unlike in some other brands, the car’s design is not swirly or overdone.

My tester’s interior, in place of wood, featured genuine carbon fiber, a silvery fabric weave, presented behind a thick coat of protective plastic. It toned in perfectly with the black and gray interior scheme.

My tester wore a stunning, limited-edition paint called Frozen Silver Metallic. It’s one of a special category of flat, matte-finish coatings that you normally see on show cars. It is mighty impressive, but beware: you can’t apply normal wax or rub out imperfections, so you have to baby-sit the paint diligently.

You wouldn’t expect a 4,500-pound car with a huge engine to be economical. In fact, the M6 is hit with a $1,300 Gas Guzzler tax on top of its jaw-dropping price. However, in my several hundred test miles, I averaged 19.3 miles per gallon. The EPA says 14 City, 20 Highway, 16 Combined. The EPA Green Vehicle ratings show a Smog number of 5 and a Greenhouse Gas figure of just 3. If you order up the manual transmission, you’ll improve the Greenhouse Gas number to a 4 and add 1 mpg to the fuel economy numbers.

As with any upscale convertible, you just hold down a tiny switch on the console to stow the top. The windows drop, the rear cover opens, the soft fabric top unlatches from the windshield header and gently folds into the space below the rear seats, the cover settles down over it, and the system beeps when it’s done.

The base price of the M6 Convertible, with delivery and Gas Guzzler penalty, comes to $116,845. The M6 can be further enhanced with options. See your banker before you visit the dealer.

This BMW was my 1,000th test car, and my week with it — a celebration.

To further exude a fluid design form, the chrome strikes beyond the grille to continue into the eagle-eye shaped headlamps.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

For any mainstream automaker, the midsize sedan market is crucial to success in America. For a long time now, the leaders have been Toyota’s Camry and Honda’s Accord. They offer plenty of room, proven reliability, and reasonable efficiency, but until recently, not a lot of style.

Style is where it’s at in the car business today, and Mazda wants a larger piece of the action. That’s why the new 2014 Mazda6 is a real looker.

Tired of also-ran status, Mazda completely redid the new 6, and it shows. It sports the Kodo design philosophy that also helps Mazda’s CX-5 compact crossover stand out from the crowd. Kodo, which they say means Soul in Motion, means you get a carefully rendered, rounded shape that features edges that emerge and then recede back into the flow. You see this throughout the car, inside and out, from the front fenders to the dash to the door handles. The face is alert, and the proportions are assertive but not overtly aggressive.

In a world of more and more visual bling, the new Mazda6 takes its cues from the revered Miata/MX-5 sports car, with a sophisticated, relaxed cockpit for the driver and a smooth transition to the passenger side. Piano black trim with brushed nickel accents connote elegance without resorting to artificial wood. The gauges are purposeful and also clearly visible in daytime glare and at night.

Despite owing its looks to a glamorous concept car, the new Mazda6 is much more than just a pretty face and body. The SkyActiv technology underneath is meant to get more efficiency from the engine, drivetrain, suspension and structure. That comes from reducing unnecessary weight through more use of high-tensile steel, for example. It also means that the 184-horsepower 2.5-liter engine in the new 6 provides eight percent more horsepower and 11 percent more torque than the same-size unit it replaces.

The SkyActiv improvements create a stronger structure, which adds safety. The new Mazda6 recently earned a Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This is the first Mazda vehicle to earn the new, more demanding designation.

SkyActiv incorporates new technologies. For example, i-ELOOP, its name derived from “Intelligent Energy Loop,” is the world’s first capacitor-based brake energy regeneration system to provide power for all the electrical mechanisms in a vehicle. Energy regeneration is a familiar component from hybrid cars, but in the Mazda6 it provides electricity without the added weight or complexity of a dedicated electric motor or battery.

The Mazda6 comes in three levels: Sport, Touring and Grand Touring. The Sport is notable for offering a rarity — a manual six-speed transmission. As perhaps a nod to its Miata/MX-5 sibling, this is good news for drivers who want more interaction with their cars. As usual, the highly intelligent automatic, which is standard in the Touring and Grand Touring, gets one mile per gallon better fuel economy than the manual, at 26 City, 38 Highway, 30 combined. I averaged 26.7 mpg.

My Soul Red Grand Touring tester boasted a long list of everything you’d want in a family sedan — or even in a luxury car. The Sport comes pretty well equipped, too, but my upscale tester had leather-trimmed seats, a power moonroof, Sirius Satellite Radio and, outside, Platinum Silver 19-inch rims. The mid-level Touring model actually adds many of the upgrades from the Sport, with niceties such as blind-spot monitoring for safety and dual automatic climate control for comfort. I expect that the Touring is the one most buyers will drive home.

There are a few surprises. My tester offered Pandora through the audio system, as long as you have it set up on your smart phone. We’ve come a long way from cassettes and FM radio. Of course you can use Bluetooth for your phone, and a USB port makes it easy to plug in your iPod. Something you may not realize is that this midsize car, unlike its competitors, is built in Japan.

Prices start at a reasonable $21,675 for the manual-equipped Sport and rise to $30,290 for the Grand Touring. The Touring sits right in between. These prices include shipping.

Coming later in 2013 is a SkyActiv 2.2-liter clean diesel engine. Like other modern oil burners, it promises prodigious power from small displacement, stellar miles-per-gallon numbers and a lack of diesel aroma, thanks to today’s cleaner fuels.

Driving the Mazda6 is pleasant and satisfying. The new engine provides enough power for passing and hill climbing — and you can barely hear it inside the cabin. The leather aroma adds a luxury touch. The samurai-like focus on technical perfection and design sophistication is evident. In a crowded market, Mazda has given its all, hoping you’ll give its cars some more attention.

Signature cues of the 2013 Buick Encore include a waterfall grille, chrome accents and surrounds, portholes on the hood, and painted lower panels.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

The Buick Encore is something new for the brand — a compact crossover — but it is not the first small Buick. Following in the footsteps (wheels?) of the Special from the 1960s, Apollo from the 1970s and Skyhawk from the 1980s, this new small car is a carefully devised strategy to bring down the average age of Buick shoppers.

The new little Buick is just 168 inches nose to tail, and weighs about 3,200 pounds. Based on a car made in Korea (by the Daewoo company that GM quietly acquired a number of years ago), it is nothing like any Buick you’ve seen recently.

Powered by a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine through a six-speed automatic, the Encore exhibits surprising spunkiness, accelerating uphill on freeways and dashing determinedly around crowded city streets. There are only 138 horses under the hood, with 148 lb.-ft. of torque, but with the right gearing, you get off quickly in first and save gas while cruising with a tall sixth gear. All-wheel drive is available.

EPA fuel economy numbers are 25 City, 33 Highway and 28 Combined. I averaged 25.4 mpg. Green numbers are 6 for Smog and 7 for Greenhouse Gas, putting the Encore in the desirable SmartWay category.

The Encore’s short length makes parking easier in town, and the high 65-inch stance makes you feel more in control. Four people will be comfortable in the car, although a center rider in back might not be happy for long.

The little Buick gives you 48 cubic feet of hauling room behind the front seats — and room for six grocery bags (or my two amplifier bags) behind the second-row seats when they’re up. They fold down neatly after you pull up the bottom cushions to provide a nice carpeted load floor. Even the front passenger seat folds, so you can carry that surfboard or ladder. There’s lots of storage for small items, too, including two gloveboxes, a small bin to the left of the steering wheel, a console bin and two cubbies in each door.

The styling, inside and out, is definitely aimed at premium buyers, and the materials are rather nice. The boldly stitched leather steering wheel, carefully fitted metallic accents, attractive gauges and designer color combinations keep the mood lavish.

One way to make a car feel luxurious is to make it quiet, a Buick specialty. The brand’s QuietTuning not only keeps noise out but counteracts it with Buick’s first application of Bose noise-cancelling technology. Microphones in the car detect the wavelength of noise and send the opposite waves to speakers.

Baby Buicks come in the plain but well equipped Encore model, ascending through Convenience, Leather and Premium. My top-level Premium tester, in a handsome Cocoa Silver Metallic, had a Saddle interior with Cocoa accents that mixed warm reds and browns on the seats and doors with matte black in the control areas in a way that seemed well suited to an upscale brand. The wide swaths of plastic artificial wood resemble the ones from a LeSabre or Electra sedan from days of yore.

As the top-level model, my car had a premium Bose seven-speaker audio system, Rainsense automatic wipers, lane departure warning and a Forward Collision Warning system. The latter sounded a repeated tone and flashed a message if I appeared to be closing in too fast on a car in front (even if I was driving attentively). One other little warning told me when I left my turn signal on too long; this is surely a Buick feature from the list designed for the elderly, although I did find it useful.

The Encore has lots of electronic goodies, accessible from dash buttons and a seven-inch color display. The home screen’s five selections help you zero in on music now playing, navigation, phone, music tone and other “quick info.” However, the Intellilink system, which uses voice commands, didn’t always understand me, and incoming phone calls sometimes got dropped.

Of course, there are lots of electronic safety features in this car of today. Blind spot warning is very handy, especially with the fat window pillars, and Stabilitrak keeps the four wheels going where you intend them.

Pricing begins at $24,950 for the Encore and runs up to $28,940 for the Premium. My tester, a front-wheel-drive Premium model with optional chromed 18-inch wheels and navigation system, came to $30,730.

Buick is taking a chance presenting such a small car to its customers, but the MINI and Fiat brands have pioneered the idea of a premium small hatchback in the U.S., so perhaps the timing is right. The biggest challenge is going to be getting prospects to step into a Buick dealership in the first place.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

Mazda may be best known for its now iconic Miata two-seater sports car. Fashioned like a highly efficient and reliable version of the British sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s, it has sold almost a million units since its debut nearly 25 years ago.

What Mazda hasn’t done effectively is sell lots of its other cars in the United States. The company now is planning to remedy that with a thorough upgrade of its model line. The CX-5, along with the all-new midsize Mazda6 sedan, is showing the way.

The CX-5, as a compact crossover (SUV), could have gone the way of vehicles such as the popular Ford Escape, Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4. All of these models are fresh designs and boast up-to-the-minute looks with lots of curves and angles inside and out.

The CX-5 treads a more subtle path, using something called Kodo design. Mazda likes to create a theme and spread it over its cars, and Kodo, which means “Soul in Motion,” uses gently rounded surfaces from which edges extend gradually. A sharp line on, say, the hood or the dashboard, resolves into a flat surface. Overall, the shapes are relaxing and substantial, but have surface interest to keep from being plain vanilla.

Mazda used to be part of Ford, to whom it contributed its Tribute small crossover, with a slight restyle, as Ford’s popular Escape. The current Escape, based on one of Ford of Europe’s Kuga, is very different from the Mazda. The CX-5, unlike many Japanese-brand vehicles sold in the U.S., is actually built in Japan.

The new CX-5 is a true crossover, based on car, not a truck platform. It sits high, seats five, and will carry nearly 65 cubic feet of cargo with the second seat folded. It can fit an upright bass, without extending the long fingerboard between the front seats. The seats drop with the pull of convenient levers located near the tailgate.

The CX-5’s interior borrows Miata features such as the three-gauge instrument panel tucked behind the three-spoke steering wheel, the center stack and console, and the handsome, deeply bolstered seats.

You can order up two engines in the CX-5, depending on level. The base Sport features a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, which was the only engine available when the car debuted for 2013. It puts out 155 horsepower and 150 lb.-ft. of torque, which is OK but hardly exciting.

New for 2014, you can step up to the Touring or Grand Touring level and get the 2.5-liter four. It boasts 184 horsepower and 185 lb.-ft. of torque and makes the car much more responsive on the road. EPA ratings are 25 City, 32 Highway, and 27 Combined. I averaged 26.2 mpg. Amazingly, the smaller 2.0-liter engine’s numbers are nearly identical. The EPA Green Vehicle numbers are 7 for Greenhouse Gas and a mid-range 5 for Smog.

The upper models come only with a six-speed automatic, but the Sport offers a manual as well, which I’d like to sample — it’s more in the spirit of the Miata/MX-5. You can add all-wheel drive to any CX-5.

My Soul Red Grand Touring tester had the full-boat treatment, which included dramatic 19-inch wheels on the outside and perforated leather seats inside, along with a full complement of entertainment and performance features. The audio system had the first Pandora tab I’ve seen. If my iPhone was set up with it, I would be able to use it in the car.

Mazda is proud if its SkyActiv technology. In brief, the name implies that the company took many steps to make its current engines, transmissions, bodies and chassis as efficient as possible while continuing to explore future technologies. This means everything from using more high-tensile steel in the body to a control module that improves the efficiency of the automatic transmission. The CX-5 is the first Mazda to feature the full menu of SkyActiv features. See mazdausa.com for more details.

You can add the Tech Package to your CX-5 and get “necessities” such as a navigation system, HID headlamps and the Smart City Brake Support system, which can stop the car for you in a low-speed emergency faster than you can yourself.

The crossover segment is highly competitive, so Mazda offers three levels and a range of prices. You can opt for the Sport with front-wheel drive and a manual transmission for $21,990. My Grand Touring tester, with two-wheel drive and the Tech package, came to $30,640. Both prices include shipping.

The compact crossover is today’s station wagon for small families, and Mazda is doing its utmost to field a very attractive player. If you can appreciate the subtle beauty and refinement of Kodo design, it could be ideal… and fun.

Elantra GT’s widespread use of high-strength steel provides a 37-percent increase in body stiffness at a lower body weight when compared to the outgoing Touring model.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

Each time Hyundai introduces the next generation of a model, it’s notably better than the previous one.

The GT is the third member of Hyundai’s compact Elantra lineup. Elantras now come not only as a four-door sedan, but you can order a two-door coupe as well, while the GT takes the place of the previous Touring model, which was more a station wagon design.

The GT, like other Elantras, now flaunts the company’s “Fluidic Sculpture” design motif. This dramatic look has helped make the midsize Sonata a huge success, and has given more charm to the modest Accent and other new Hyundais, including the Tucson and Santa Fe crossovers.

The car is very much in the thick of the marketplace, with plenty of competition. Compact contenders include the Toyota Matrix, Mazda3, Ford Focus, Subaru Impreza and Volkswagen Golf. In pretty much every category, the Elantra is equal to or better than the others. This Korean brand wants to be seen as a direct competitor to the mainstream companies — not a bargain version.

The GT, despite a name that sounds like it could be on a Ford Mustang V8 or even an Italian exotic sports car, is a five-door hatchback. But that’s just fine. It offers more interior space than most of its competitors (at least last year’s versions) and is lighter than the others, at 2,784 pounds. That means that its 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, one of the smaller ones of the aforementioned comparative vehicles, gets the most power per liter of displacement (82.2). The GT is at least 100 pounds lighter than the other cars, thanks to greater use of high-tensile steel among other things.

The 1.8-liter mill puts out 148 horsepower and 131 lb.-ft. of torque. That’s enough to permit some spirited driving. My Black Noir Pearl tester had the six-speed automatic, but a six-speed manual is also available, and I expect would be even more fun.

Fuel economy figures are class-competitive, at 27 City, 37 Highway (30 Combined) for the automatic version. The EPA numbers are very good, too — Elantras have been near the top of the list for a while now. For cars sold in California, the Smog score is 6 and the Greenhouse Gas number is 8, and there’s a PZEV model of the automatic version that gets a 9 for its Smog score. Those are hybrid-level numbers. All Elantras receive SmartWay designation from the EPA.

Like most cars in its category, the Elantra GT employs MacPherson struts up front with coil springs and gas shock absorbers, and torsion beam and monotube struts in back. Compared to the sedan version, the GT’s higher spring rates and other tuning give it a more athletic performance. The GT’s optional 17-inch wheels impart a sportier look and receive special sport tuning to dial in even more of the fun factor.

Like all the new Hyundais, the high-energy personality isn’t reserved for just the body styling. The interior is lively, with exuberant swirls along the dash and doors. The door-mounted window controls are at a 45-degree angle, for example, not on the straight horizontal. Shiny trim and handsome double gauges give a surprisingly upscale appearance. I was impressed that the fully featured audio system displayed the entire artist name and song title. Some more expensive cars I’ve tested don’t.

The Elantra is not an expensive car, but you can boost its price by about 25 percent by adding the Style and Tech packages. My tester had them. The Style package adds the 17-inch wheels and sport suspension, as well as a panoramic sunroof and leather seats, steering wheel and shift knob. The driver’s seat has power adjustments, including lumbar. You get racy looking aluminum pedals, too, and the convenience of an automatic-up driver’s side window (handy for sprinting away from toll booths).

The Tech package adds a navigation system, something that’s nearly as common today as a radio was a generation ago. You also get dual automatic temperature control, keyless entry and a neat hidden rearview camera.

The car’s versatility, with folding seats and handy rear hatch, make it a good choice for active lifestyles and small families looking for economy without boredom.

Prices start at $19,160 for the manual-equipped model. Add in the automatic transmission, the Style package ($2,750) and Tech package ($2,350), and you get my tester, at $25,365 (including floormats). All prices shown include shipping.

The Elantra GT blows away the old Touring wagon, which was nice but didn’t have much pizzazz. With its looks and youthful driving personality, it should continue to boost the brand. You can get one for barely more than a commute mobile or spice it up for a real hot hatch.