Today in Chicago it’s freezing cold and old man winter is about to punish us with snow. Naturally, driving is not the most fun right now. However, give me a Fiesta WRC to drive in these conditions and I would happily change my tune. Tearing up the streets with flames shooting out the back while SUVs are stuck in the snow is my picture of heaven.
If you’re also being pimp-slapped by the cold, take a look at the footage of Ford putting their new Fiesta WRC contender through its paces in Spain and imagine for yourself how awesome that car would be when the snow comes.
And Ford, Monte Carlo? Seriously? It’s too warm there. I know the WRC race there is coming up, but maybe hand over the keys to me for a bit. I’ll put the car through a real test here in the Windy City. No take backs though, sorry.
Scion, the “Youth Brand” of Toyota, has priced their newest car for the American market, the iQ. The Scion IQ is set to hit our shores with a price tag of $15,995. The iQ is Scion’s version of the Toyota iQ sold in foreign markets.
Personally, like the Smart car, I don’t really see the point of this car at all. People buy city cars for style and/or frugality. The iQ posses none of these traits.
First, the iQ looks like the design they threw away while making the Toyota Yaris, which is no looker itself. Short, squat, and wide, the iQ is the exact opposite of how to make a pretty car. In addition, it is a Scion. This may be a plus if you consume bucketfuls of energy drinks per day, and wear flat-brimmed baseball caps, but if you are an actual adult, the Scion badge is a detriment. The iQ’s Quasimodo looks especially come to light when sat alongside the Mini Cooper and Fiat 500, its European competition, who have won a case full of international design awards.
Secondly, it is not frugal in the slightest. At $15,995 it is nearly the most expensive in its segment outside the better equipped and better looking Ford Fiesta hatch (the Fiesta sedan is cheaper than the iQ). The Mazda2, Hyundai Accent, and Fiat 500 all undercut it in price and all offer either looks (Fiat), value (Hyundai with its 10 year warranty), or driving performance (Mazda). Not to mention all these cars are larger and will not be mistaken for windup toys when pulling up to someone’s house for a first date. The most glaring flaw is that across the sales floor, Toyota offers the Yaris for around 13K, which is also larger and at least boring to look at instead of outright atrocious.
Finally, you may think that it gets fantastic gas mileage because of its small size and light weight (around 2100 pounds). Wrong again. The iQ gets only 37mpg highway. All of the mentioned competition, except the Yaris, gets more miles out of a drop of gas. Plus, The Yaris only gives up one mpg on the highway to the iQ while also being larger.
At the end of the day, there is no point to the iQ. It is a three year old, warmed over Toyota with a Scion badge that is not cheap, not frugal, and not pretty. The urban commuters the iQ wants to attract are too focused on fashion and badge snobbery to even make a passing glance at a Scion. Fuel misers will go right for more efficient offerings, and people shopping on price won’t buy it either. In fact, Scion’s targeted youth clientele may not buy it either since nothing about a rebadged Toyota that looks like a melted ice cream scoop screams youthful exuberance. The iQ is just another sign that the Scion brand is floundering for life. The car enthusiast’s only hope for the Scion brand is the upcoming FT-86.
GM has its new Chevrolet Cruze rolling off the assembly line and before you see the first commercial they might have dropped the ball. They have the sedan heading to dealer lots in the U.S. but where is the five door hatchback? AutoNews has pointed this out and I totally agree for a few reasons. First, you have a hatchback going on sale in other markets across the globe so why not sell it here? Your competitors in the likes of Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2, Nissan Versa and many others are selling well. Secondly, GM is touting the Cruze as one of its most important launches for the survival of this company and they don’t give customers a choice with a hatchback? I can’t see Mulally, Ghosn or Marchionne leaving a big hole in the center of a huge launch like this? Could you?
I also feel the look of the hatchback takes the Cruze further away from looking like a reduced Malibu and with that it stands on its own more. Let’s hope that the sedan sells well but even with solid sales let’s pray that the suits at Chevrolet wake up and get the hatchback here in the U.S. in showrooms asap. The Cruze might be the best small car that GM has built but that doesn’t mean customers considering a Fiesta, Corolla or Civic will think it’s one of the best to choose from in a very competitive field.
Ford Fiesta goes head to head with the Lamborghini Gallardo? This is a real ad and it’s actually pretty funny. I still can’t believe the Fiesta smoked the Gallardo in a quarter mile…(just kidding) But according to Ford the Fiesta did win on the track in another test!
From Motorcrave.com:
In one of the oddest, most mismatched head-to-heads since Mike Tyson’s “hard” road back, the Ford Fiesta recently went mano a mano with the Lamborghini Gallardo. I know exactly what you’re thinking: “Why??” Well, while testing the new Fiesta, Ford welcomed public input as to what tests it performs. And some wisenheimer threw out the idea of a test against the Lamborghini Gallardo. He may have meant it as a joke, but Ford took it seriously and went to work.
Motor Trend’s full throttle coverage of the LA Show. We’ll be commenting on some of the notables going forward. They have some great galleries for you to check out so let us know what you like or dislike!
What’s good for Mini is good for Ford, right? Hold on. While the 2011 Ford Fiesta on sale this spring won’t range from $20,000 to $30,000+, it easily will stretch into four-cylinder Fusion territory thanks to a long list of gee-whiz features that don’t come with the base model.
To get costs down for North American-market prices, Ford has scrapped the European Fiesta’s “cheap and cheerful” interior, with its techy two-tone seats and matching dashboard-top colors. The North American Fiesta has black-on-black dashboard tops with contrasting plastic grains, although top-of-the-range the SES and SEL do come with different-colored lower dashes and door inserts and are available with supple leather seats with contrasting piping and stitching.
