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.

The 2013 Acura MDX is powered by a 3.7-liter, all-aluminum, 24-valve, VTEC^® V-6 engine that produces 300 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

Acura was the first Japanese car company to offer a luxury line in the U.S. That’s right — Honda’s upscale division arrived before Toyota’s Lexus and Nissan’s Infiniti. However, they haven’t been the sales leader in the segment. The Acura MDX, now in its 2nd generation, is an attempt to remedy that, by competing feature-for-feature with its Japanese and German rivals for the upscale family SUV market.

Maybe it is a little nervy to declare your intentions versus, say, BMW or Mercedes-Benz, but that’s what the MDX does. Although it shares some structural elements with the more plebeian Honda Pilot, it boasts potent V6 power — 300 horsepower from 3.7 liters. Power flows through a sequential-shift automatic six-speed. It comes standard with numerous high-tech and pampering features, too.

Being a high-tech Honda at heart, the MDX offers variable valve timing and electronic lift control (VTEC), computerized fuel injection and a high-flow, sports-tuned exhaust system to get V8 power from six cylinders. Fuel economy for the 4,627-pound unit is rated at 16 City, 21 Highway (18 average), but I only averaged 16.0 mpg during my test.

Standing 5'10" tall, even with me, the MDX welcomes driver and passengers with a broad, spacious interior for five (and room for two more with the disappearing third-row seat). The Acura interior design template calls for a bold expression of motion flowing up the center console onto the dash and extending like a giant Aries symbol into the doors. The wood trim looks like it’s a solid two inches thick. The three-dimensional contouring makes the car feel energized yet as secure as a bank vault. A neat, silvery rolltop cover conceals the cupholders when you’re not using them.

I was surprised that this luxury vehicle still used a regular key. Although it did flip out from its case, switchblade style, it still needed to be inserted into a lock, unlike most medium- to high-level cars, which all use keyless entry. Also, the audio system doesn’t display the entire name of the artist and song, unless it’s short — an old-looking technology. But the steering wheel does electrically contract towards the dash for easy entry and exit, and the dash bristles with features.

The MDX is essentially one model with one engine and transmission combination. Where you can go to town is in adding packages. The Tech Package brings in fancier leather — perhaps it takes high technology to process it. The real attraction is the upgraded audio and navigation systems, which use an eight-inch,  high-resolution full VGA color display. The car’s rear-view camera provides three different views. The three-zone automatic climate control uses solar sensing and has air filtration and humidity control.

The Advance Package brings even higher quality leather — perforated this time, with ventilation as well as the standard heating. There’s a blind spot information system that illuminates if someone’s occupying the area next to the car that’s outside your mirror view. Put on your turn signal and it’ll warn you visually and noisily not to turn.

Even better, the Collision Mitigating Brake System will try to keep you from smashing into anyone. One day, while driving along, I passed someone who was waiting to turn, and because the road curved, the system attempted to stop me, thinking a crash was imminent. It not only threw on the binders but flashed “BRAKE” in red letters at the top of the dash. I drove meek as a lamb after that.

With either package, you can order up the Entertainment Package, which supplies a drop-down video screen for rear-seat passengers, along with two sets of headphones, which tuck neatly into pockets on the backs of the front seats. The headsets felt uncomfortable when I tried one on, with hard pads against my ears. The package also gives you a 115-volt power outlet on the dash and heats the window-facing rear seats.

All this adds up to a pretty enjoyable driving and riding environment. The V6 pulls along nicely, but the only downside was the 16-miles-per-gallon fuel economy. The EPA’s Air Pollution score is a decent 6 but the Greenhouse Gas number is a more modest 4. But this is not the car for environmentalists. Acura and Honda sell many smaller, lighter, and more efficient models for them. This is about a grand driving experience.

Prices start at $44,175 for the MDX. Add all the packages, and you will end up where my Palladium Metallic tester did, at $55,700.

The MDX, assembled in Alliston, Ontario, contains 25 percent Japanese materials, including the transmission. But it is quintessentially American, stressing size, comfort and choice. While not the darling of the Sierra Club, it provides, in the second decade of the 21st century, a level of pampering that makes luxury wagons of a generation ago seem, well… like cars.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

The new, third-generation Ford Escape is a great departure from the original model. The first Escape, which debuted in 2000 as a 2001, was a junior version of Ford’s Explorer, which was hugely popular at the time. It seemed to need a companion for folks who wanted a smaller SUV. In its two iterations, the Escape has competed with models such as Honda’s CR-V and Toyota’s RAV4.

The original car was based on the Mazda Tribute platform; Ford sold off its interests in the Japanese brand years ago, so the new Escape is based on the European Ford Kuga. So, much like the Focus, Fiesta and Fusion, the Escape is now a world car. U.S. market Escapes are assembled in Louisville, Kentucky.

While the original Escape followed the “two-box” model, with an upright windshield, flat hood, blunt nose and squared-off cargo hold in back, the new model is much more edgy. It’s really the ultimate crossover. That means a larger, longer windshield (the new Escape’s is like a minivan’s), and any hint of truck is banished. The “utility” part remains, with folding rear seats and a rear liftback.

The new Escape offers an optional foot-activated rear hatch. Although my Deep Impact Blue Metallic tester did not have one, it’s great for those times when you arrive at your car with your arms full and don’t have a third hand for keys.

The inside of the new crossover carries over the European design theme. No surface is plain or simple. The dash and doors are built of angles and interactions, so your eye doesn’t settle anywhere easily. The look is interesting, and even exciting. Ford’s interiors in the recent past were more likely to be plain and subtle.

As usual, there is a hierarchy of models, from S to SE to SEL to Titanium. You can get a fairly straightforward family hauler or load it up as a Titanium with pretty much every option imaginable. Go to ford.com to configure the one you want and price it out before visiting a dealership.

My test car was an SE. That meant 17-inch alloy wheels outside, cloth seats inside, and the equipment most crossover buyers would want, including air conditioning with climate control, a sound system with satellite radio, remote keyless entry and all the airbags you could imagine. A couple of modest packages added things like black roof rails with crossbars and the MyFordTouch system.

MyFordTouch lets you configure what you’re looking at on the dash, and access your phone and car controls with voice commands. You can make hands-free phone calls, change audio programming, and adjust the climate control with a flick of a switch on the steering wheel and some clearly enunciated words. With practice, I got the system to work fairly well, but there is a learning curve and it’s not perfect.

Ford offers three four-cylinder engines. The standard one is a carryover 2.5-liter unit that puts out 168 horsepower and 170 lb.-ft. of torque. But the excitement is around the two EcoBoost powerplants, including a 1.6-liter and a 2.0-liter. The 1.6-liter serves up 178 horsepower and 184 lb.-ft. of torque. The 2.0-liter unit is the sporty one, with 240 horsepower and 270 lb.-ft. of torque.

My tester had the 1.6-liter, and it did a decent job on moving the 3,500-lb. car down the road. It was not a rocket going uphill, however. I’d like to see how the 2.0-liter unit would pull. In any case, I averaged 22 miles per gallon, which is not the 26 average that the sticker claims (23 City, 33 Highway). I may have skewed it with too much bumper-to-bumper commuting, but I’d like to do better with such a small engine. Sadly, both EcoBoost engines require premium fuel.

All Escapes use a six-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive is available. In this application, four-wheel traction is intended as a safety feature and is not really meant for any serious off-roading. Ford makes other vehicles to help you with that.

Like other new Fords, this car drives well, with taut handling, a firm suspension, comfortable, supportive seats, and some feedback to your hands through the wheel of what’s going on below. This really is the family wagon of the 21st century, and Ford surely hopes that this radically different Escape will continue to be a bestseller.

Prices start at $23,295 for an S and move up to $31,195 for the Titanium. My SE, with options and delivery, came to $28,335. All prices include shipping.

Expect to see more crossover vehicles like this new Escape and the hybrid C-Max in showrooms and on the road. The EcoBoost engines, which deliver “next-size-up” power with more efficiency, will proliferate. And sharing a platform worldwide will keep Ford’s costs down.

The new 4-cylinder engine in the 2013 BMW 328i is available as a standard six-speed manual or new eight-speed automatic with steering-wheel-mounted shifter paddles.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

The BMW 3 Series has become so identified with its role as “the” sports sedan (or coupe or wagon) that it defines the segment. Automotive buff magazines rate the car in their top-ten favorite lists, year after year.

To redesign the sixth-generation car, which came out as a 2012 model, BMW made it slightly larger and a bit more fuel efficient. The sedan now stretches 3.66 inches longer and has a wider track (1.46 inches front, 1.85 inches rear). And the car looks bigger now, too, thanks to horizontal body lines and tricks like linking the flattened twin-kidney grille to the headlamp pods with a chrome bridge. Despite its grander dimensions, the new car weighs almost 100 pounds less than the old one.

To make the 3 Series more fuel efficient, BMW again offers a four-cylinder engine, after many years of selling only the inline six. This latest model uses Twin-Power Turbo technology to get 240 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque out of just 2.0 liters of displacement in the 328i. The entry 320i model offers 180 horsepower from the same displacement. With a 5.7-second zero-to-sixty time, the four in the 328i is no slouch. It just sounds less like the BMWs we’re accustomed to.

I recently drove a 2013 328i for a week. With the four-cylinder engine, you can choose the standard six-speed manual or a remarkable new eight-speed automatic. The manual, in my opinion, is more fun, but here in the United States, the automatic is king. Eight gears allow some precise and efficient gear selection. For an extra $500, the Sport version of the eight-speed provides handsome steering wheel paddles for racecar style quick shifts. My tester had that Sport version.

Order an xDrive model if you want your 3 Series with all-wheel-drive traction. Or, opt for a convertible for a refreshing open-air experience.

The EPA awards the four-cylinder 328i with automatic an average of 26 miles per gallon (23 City, 33 Highway). In my Alpine White test car, I achieved 25.7 mpg; that essentially matches the EPA, for a change. The manual-equipped car gives up one mile per gallon in the city but gains it back on the highway, earning the same 26 mpg. The Green numbers are pretty good, at 7 for Greenhouse Gas and a 6 or an 8 for Smog.

Driving a 3 Series is always a joy, even on the freeway, but hours of commute traffic make it feel like it’s all cooped up. I took it onto a favorite back road and it stretched out and ran. The carefully tuned independent suspension provides quick reflexes and sufficient comfort, while the floating-caliper disc brakes on all four wheels stop the car in a hurry. As a BMW, it flaunts an ideal 50/50 front/rear balance, and it uses rear-wheel drive — a fairly rare but highly touted platform for a sports sedan.

You can customize your experience using the Driving Dynamics Control to select one of four settings. Besides “normal,” choose the Sport or Sport + setting. Or, set it to ECO PRO and the car will tailor the throttle mapping to burn less fuel. My tester actually shut down at lights to save gas — an unexpected sensation.

The newest 3 Series interiors have more curves, trim pieces and richness than their predecessors. My tester featured leather bucket seats in Dakota Coral Red and black. Select from four trim levels: Sport, Luxury, Modern and M Sport. In shorthand, think rich black trim for the Sport, chrome for the Luxury, and satin aluminum trim for the Modern. The M Sport offers even more, including especially nice 19-inch wheels.

BMW hides the cup holders under a removable tray. You can pop it out and store it in the glovebox. Another interesting hidden feature is the control for playing the satellite radio. You have to push the main iDrive controller to the left to expose the selection. You’d never see it on the dash.

Will the BMW faithful go for this new and powerful four-cylinder engine? The sixth car I ever tested (and my first BMW) was a 3 series with the 1.8-liter four of its day. It had a lighter touch than the more common straight six.

Pricing for 3 Series cars starts at $33,445 for the 320i with automatic transmission and 180-horsepower inline four. My 2013 328i test car, with the 240-horsepower engine, top M Sport package, the Dynamic Handling Package, the Cold Weather package and variable sport steering, came to $47,295.

That 3 Series I drove in 1992 was a 318i, and put out just 113 horsepower. It still felt wonderful, and the 3 Series continues to please its constituency. It’s just a bit bigger now — in every way.

By Steve Schaefer

San Leandro Times

There are a lot of compact cars on the market today. They are perfect for most automotive tasks. The differences are in how they look and feel — and what they cost.

The Sentra has been Nissan’s compact competitor for three decades. It originated when the Datsun brand started being called Nissan — the company’s real name — in the early 1980s.

The 2013 Sentra takes a step up, borrowing its looks, inside and out, from the brand-new midsize Altima. That means the bold trapezoidal chrome grille that Nissan has decided is today’s look, more sculpted sides, and the cut-out taillamps that grace not only these two cars but originate with the latest Z sports car. There are even LEDs added to the headlight and taillight pods, definitely an upscale touch. The goal is to give this modest vehicle some of the visual heft of a larger model — what Nissan dubs, “class-above style.”

Nissan was able to take 150 pounds out of the new car versus the last-generation model, even though it has about a cubic foot more interior space. My little Magnetic Gray four-door test car had remarkable knee room in back, and when I looked at the car in my driveway, it really did evoke the larger Altima, with whom I had recently spent a test week. The new car is a couple of inches longer, a half inch lower and about an inch and a half narrower than its predecessor.

Nissan uses a new 1.8-liter dual-overhead-cam inline four under the curvy new hood to power all Sentras. It puts out a class-competitive 130 horsepower and 128 lb.-ft. of torque. Most Sentras come with a continuously variable automatic — except for the base model, the S. I had one, which was more than satisfactory. With the smooth-shifting six-speed manual, the 2,800-pound car felt spunky in town and had no trouble zooming into fast-moving freeway traffic.

The EPA gives the manual-equipped Sentra ratings of 27 City, 36 Highway and 30 Combined. I earned a pleasing 34.8 mpg overall. The EPA green numbers, courtesy of fueleconomy.gov, say 5 for Smog and 8 for Greenhouse Gas — enough for SmartWay status.

The Sentra not only looks more expensive than it is, but it feels that way inside, too. The dash and door styling include some padded surfaces and the materials feel high-quality. Even though the steering wheel is plastic, it’s grained and proportioned to look and feel good. The center air vents for the standard air conditioning mimic the shape of the grille — they are not just circles or rectangles cut out of the plastic.

The Sentra is definitely not a luxury car, particularly in S guise, but there is no sense of deprivation driving it. It sealed out road noise effectively, so I could hear the standard four-speaker AM/FM/CD sound system. The seats are well-proportioned and comfortable. The steering wheel is adjustable for height and telescopes for a perfect placement, and the Fine Vision gauges are attractively backlit.

Even base cars today offer things that were luxuries years ago. I flipped door-mounted levers for the power windows, locks and mirrors. What was missing in my base S was Bluetooth for the phone, seat heaters and Satellite Radio. But for a week, I enjoyed the FM radio instead, and it wasn’t so cold that I couldn’t do without bun warmers. Bluetooth, though, should probably be standard, to prevent hand-held phone use — something that’s illegal in California (and a bad idea anywhere).

Above the S model, the SV adds cruise control, two additional speakers, higher-quality interior cloth, steering wheel audio controls, and a security system. The SR adds sporty touches, including 17-inch alloy wheels, more aggressive front and rear fascias, and a different grille. On the inside, silvery trim and upgraded seats do their job to differentiate the SR. The SL is the luxury model, with extra-fancy alloy wheels, fog lamps, heated outside mirrors, Bluetooth, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, automatic climate control and more. There are also two FE+ versions of the S and SV that use clever technology to earn the holy grail of 40 mpg highway.

Testing a base car is always intriguing, because the price is so reasonable. My tester came to just $16,770. That’s low by today’s price standards. If you really want to get a car for less, the true entry point Nissan, the Versa, starts at just $12,800. Sentra prices move up through the levels, with an SL coming in at $20,600. All prices shown include shipping.

It’s good news for compact car buyers today. There are lots of choices, and the vehicles won’t make you feel like you had to sacrifice looks, comfort or performance. With this complete redo, the Sentra is right in the thick of it.