2012 Chevrolet Impala

Behold the 2012 Chevrolet Impala facelift, meant to revitalize the car until it's replacement comes in the "near future". Basically, this is the facelift equivalent of shaving. Or growing stubble, if chrome mesh equates manliness.

Not fugly in the truest sense of the word, but if the automotive design world evolved at the same rate as the Impala cars would still have fenders separate from the body(no offense, Caterham). At least the car also gains some much needed improvements under the skin, including a more powerful and fuel efficient V6 3.6L engine that makes similar power to the previous V8 SS, and two extra gears in the automatic transmissions (bringing the number to a finally current 6 gears).

Drive one today at your nearest Hertz rent-a-car.

I bought a 2011 Elantra

So I ended up trading in my old 2004 Elantra GT for a new 2011 Elantra GL sedan. I'll miss my old hatchback fake Saab...

In Loving Memory

I thought this would be a good time to discuss how life with the new car has been thus far, given that I already gave my initial driving impressions.

The car I picked up is a model not available in the US. In Canada there's the bottom feeder L model, lacking A/C, yet still including power windows and locks, traction control, and a CD player with auxiliary inputs. The GL I picked up (with a 6 speed manual) ads to this heated front (cloth) seats, Bluetooth connectivity, steering wheel audio controls, trip computer, larger 16" steel wheels (with hubcaps), and a telescopic steering wheel. The latter I embarrassingly didn't realize my car had until now - thought that was a GLS feature. The GL lacks the GLS model's heated rear (cloth) seats, aluminum rims, fog lights, sunroof and other small details. The Limited ads to this leather, navigation, keyless entry, a chrome grille (I actually prefer the stock grille), amongst other details.

The hubcaps do a pretty good imitation of aluminum rims. The headlights are a bit large, sweeping back overtop of the front wheels. But they're beautifully detailed and the swept back look fits in with the character of the car.

First things first, I think it's safe to say I don't find this car fugly. Given it's extreme new looks, I'm sure there are others on the opposite side of the fence. I personally dig the evil smile the car has, and the design overall is very cohesive, but I went over that before. My only beef on the outside is the aforementioned lack of fog lights, although the black plastic fog light voids don't look too bad. The 16" wheels look a bit small, but at least the hubcaps manage to look convincingly like aluminum rims.

Controls in the centre stack are intuitive and well located, especially the stacked rotary climate controls shown on the right. The audio control can be a bit of a reach, but thankfully there are controls on the steering wheel.

Inside, the interior continues to impress. It's an attractive two tone layout, with soft touch materials (at least on the top most surfaces, and the ones you interact with most) and well damped controls. The stacked rotary climate control is as beautiful as it is easy to use. It's extremely intuitive - you need nothing more than a glance to adjust it. The 6 speaker stereo also has a good sound and has all the features you would now expect, with USB and auxilary inputs. These are hidden under a cover in the centre console with a power outlet so they're easily at hand by can be hidden from sight. Speaking of power outlets, there's also one for the front passenger, in a little pocket to hold their cell phone. The steering wheel controls are a god-send as well, saving you from having to fiddle with the main controls, which I find to be a bit a of a stretch to reach. However they are highly visible and mostly intuitive, and this display is large and easy to read. All in all, the swoopy design inside and out and a smaller diameter steering wheel give a sporty coupe type of impression, even though that's not really the feedback you get actually driving it. I've read of others complaining about lack of visibility and rear blind spots, but I find it no worse than my last daily driver. It's A-pillars are a bit thick, but I'm driven many cars far worse in this regard (cough-Caliber-cough).


Room inside the car is expansive, yet I can't vouch for rear seat passengers as I haven't had any. You do have to duck a bit to get in the rear doors because of the roofline however, and I imagine taller passengers might have a bit less headroom. The trunk is pretty huge, and the pass through when you fold the seats is quite large for a sedan. However the seatbelts do cross this void as mentioned before, and the trunk hinges are large goosenecks that cut a deep swath into your trunk space when it's closed.

There's a fair amount of room in back, and passengers get door mounted cup holders as well as two in the fold down armrest. Gooseneck hinges cutting into the trunk space are visible when viewed through the trunk pass through.

There are some interior quibbles though, starting with the stereo. For a stereo that allows so many options to play digital files, there is no folder browsing buttons on the steering wheel. You can browse between songs and adjust the volume, but if you want another folder you have to reach over to the dash. I have yet to find a "shuffle" option as well. Right now I have 2 Gigs worth of albums hooked up via a USB drive - if you have things sorted in folder by album, you have no choice but to listen to them straight through. The new interior is a lot larger than my old car, and although roomy I find that my elbows don't easily fall at hand with the armrests on the console and door as they're too far away (although at the right level). Telescoping the steering wheel some might help that... There's also less storage space than I'm used to in the dash. Possibly due to making more room for the front seat occupants (as the console looks narrow) but more likely a result of form following function. Oh - and the seat fabric feels and looks a little cheap. I'm not sure that it is, but I would have preferred more of a woven look.

Now an update on driving dynamics... As I mentioned before the steering feels a bit overboosted, but not as bad as some car's I've driven lately. It's weighted pretty nicely though, but I still wish for more feedback. The 148hp 1.8L engine is standard across the lineup, and puts down pretty good power, although it prefers to hang out in the higher rpm - max hp arrives at 6500rpm, and max torque at 4700rpm. Although Hyundai boasted a pretty substantial weigh reduction compared to the previous model, this new car weighs about the same as my 2004 model. With only 10 more hp and 7 lb/feet less torque, there isn't much of a noticeable difference in performance. If anything, it feels slower due to the fact that there's less torque down low, and because of the tall gearing of the 6-speed manual.

Seats folded, but unfortunately the centre belt remains. The seats don't fold flat either, but the pass through is large for a sedan.

Speaking of the transmission, it's relatively easy to use with smooth shifter action, short throws and a well defined gate that makes it almost impossible to choose the wrong gear by mistake. But because of the taller gearing than I'm used to, I find I often shift too early (especially 1st to second) which sometimes results in little lag. Although clutch takeup is smooth, I feel it's difficult to feel where the sweet spot is. The gas pedal also conspires against you in this regard, as it's unlike the rest of the pedals in that it's floor mounted (possibly a reaction to Toyota's sticky gas pedals) and it has a little bit of a dead zone when you first step on it which can make 1st gear starts a little tricky until you're accustomed. That being said though, I just had to get used to the new driving style. Another Canadian tid-bit about the manual transmission - because there are more options packages in Canada, the manual is available with more features than the US. The manual is available in all but the Limited model, which means you can pretty much have loaded shift-for-yourself Elantra. Not with leather on anything but the steering wheel, unforunately.

The rear wheel arches look a bit bulbous from behind, but the indent on the bottom bumper does a good job of shading the lower portion of the bumper, reducing the visual height gained out back from the rakish greenhouse.

As for handling characteristics, I find them a bit hard to describe. The car is definately tuned to the softer side of life floating over minor bumps and imperfection - it feels a bit more mature than my last car. But at the same time, it seems to corner flatter than my old car (although pushing too hard results in understeer which starts to intrude a bit earlier). Although smaller road warts are taken with ease, the car seems to clomp through larger ones - some of them even upsetting the tracking of the car a bit.

Fuel economy so far has been great. Not near the posted EPA quotes, but better than some of the reviews I've read have gotten. For some reason, the car is rated more fuel efficient in Canada than in the US. Canadian models with the manual are rated at 6.8L/100km city, 4.9L/100km highway, with automatic models ranking 0.1L/100km higher. This works out to 34mpg city / 48mpg hwy. US cars are rated at 29mpg city /40mpg hwy regardless of transmission. On my first highway trip in the relatively virgin car (34kms on the odometer), I averaged 6L/100km driving 100km/h for most of the drive, with periods at 110km/h. My second trip taken a couple weeks ago I averaged 5.8L driving a steady 110km/h. Same roads, but opposite direction. I suppose this difference could be attributed to many factors, but it's possible the car will get better mileage with age. Oh - and to note, 5.8L/100km is 40.5mpg, meaning my car was getting slightly above the US average highway figure. In day to day driving however, I average 6.8-7.1L/100km (34-33mpg), depending on how much city driving I do. I've never seen it go above 7.3 though. My daily commute however contains a fair bit of highway driving mixed with 80km/h backroads and stop and go city traffic. So it's far from a good city driving estimate.

My final opinions thus-far? I'm satisfied in my purchase. It's a much more comfortable place to be than my last car, and at $18,000 CAD (before taxes and destination), it's also comfortable on my wallet. There are cheaper cars out there, but I found it difficult to find one with the same level of equipment, let alone the same level of interior finish. In the end most faults I've found tend to be relatively minor, and are overshadowed the car's better qualities.

Volkswagen Passé

The new for 2012 VW Passat also follows Volkswagen’s new North American strategy of offering more for less. While the Jetta is basically them same car they get overseas (with a much worse interior), the Americanized Passat is an entirely different beast. While they get a reworked version of the current Passat, we get a completely new supersize version - presumably for our supersized, McDonald’s feed American (and Canadian) asses.



While the interior doesn’t suffer the same air of cheapness of the Jetta, the exterior does share a family resemblance. And in doing so, this is a very generic looking car. It’s not hideous, but there aren’t many positive adjectives that can be used to describe it either. From it’s vaguely Accord looking face to it’s vaguely Chevrolet Impala looking greenhouse, the look comes off as inoffensive (and a bit dated) looking clone hoping to gain sales by looking enough like the big sellers. Plus they might be trying to morph this apple strudel into looking enough like an apple pie to warm over some of the more jaded buyers that tend to only buy American.



Still though, it’s classy in a very retrained way and far from fugly. Had the 2008 Accord looked like this when it debuted instead of having it’s quasi-Bangle-butt, it would have been commended.

Volkslaggin'

Volkswagen has a new strategy for North America, a strategy it hopes will generate eine Eimer of new sales. Previously known for quality German automobiles for the masses (yet at a slightly higher cost than the typical American and Japanese car), they’ve now taken a very “American” supersized McDonald value meal approach – offering more car for less money (and less substance).

At the same time, they seem to have adopted a Japanese sense of automotive styling, as their new exteriors have a Camry-like absence of style.


The first result of this was the new for 2011 Volkswagen Jetta. While not extensively larger than the last model, the Americanized version was treated to a bargain basement price with matching bargain basement interior trim. While the European version got the high-lux interior we’re accustomed to, American versions are trimmed in hard plastics not befitting of a Chevy Cobalt. Perhaps most embarrassingly, the VW Golf has a much higher level of quality inside, given that it was released prior to VW’s new strategy.


Its new exterior curves are inoffensive, but also unremarkable. It's far from fugly, but from a distance it blends into it’s surroundings as if it has active camouflage. It’s only saving grace are some interesting details when seen up close, like the beautiful Audi-like detailing of a the tail lights. Is the new look worse than the chrome plastered faux Audi (faudi?) mug of the previous generation? In my opinion it fares better, but it’s definitely not a knockout.

If there’s a silver lining to this dark cloud, it’s that the Volkwagen’s driving dynamics remain German. The cars suspenders are still able to pull off some fancy moves, but unfortunately it may take more effort to achieve them now that the 2.slow returns as the base engine in the Jetta lineup.


Ironically, this new way of thinking comes just as everyone else has kicked it up a notch. Ford and Chevy both raise the bar with fancy-pants interiors, aggressive exteriors, and higher price tags. The new Hyundai Elantra even manages to eclipse them in many ways with it’s luxurious interior duds and swoopy curves, while managing a price LOWER than last year’s model. It seems everyone else is realizing that smaller cars are the future and that people just might be willing to spend a bit more on them for something they might drive every day...

Denim Destruction

Lapo Elkann is the grandson of the late Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli. So it’s safe to say he has money, and possible connections to Ferrari. And little taste. Channeling AMC, Ferrari created this demin lined Ferrari 599 for him, with matching two-tone matte blue paint. I'm usually a fan of matte paint, but this colour makes it look as if it's made of Play Doh. And using Denim for anything other than clothes was a bad idea 40 years ago.

Omega Romeo

Smart ForTwo + Alfa Romeo x (Bad Taste + Too Much Time) = This.

Bittersweet

The return of Bitter cars in 2007 – a series of German sports/luxury coupes and sedans made in the 70’s and 80’s – was bittersweet. It was sweet because a brand I liked was returning, but bitter because the new car called the Vero was a warmed over Holden Caprice that was beaten with an ugly stick. Actually, reviving a brand to destroy it isn’t very sweet, come to think of it. Bittersour might be more appropriate.

Toyota MR-2 Mustake

Usually when you’re provided a cheap mid-engine car and you have delusions of grandeur, you turn it into same slightly odd-looking Ferrari or Lamborghini. So I’m sure what to call the disorder that would cause you to turn your Toyota MR-2 into an imitation Mustang – a car that isn’t exactly the hardest to come by. Reverse Redneckism?

OK – these are trying to look like Shelby Mustangs, which are rarer and more expensive that your run-of-the-mill Mustang. But wouldn’t it be easier to by an ACTUAL Mustang and make it look like a Shelby? You can probably buy one for the same price as an MR2, and it wouldn’t look like an abomination.

Bentley Gets Porsche Envy

Bentley's new Continental Supersports ISR (also notable for having an extremely long 32 character name) appears to be emulating the world's most bloated Porsche GT3.

Tirrito Ayrton R

The Tirrito Ayrton R looks like the unholy bastard child of a Pagani Zonda and a Lamborghini Reventon. Although it looks home made, it's surprisingly a boutique car maker that's apparently made multiple cars.