2016 Chevrolet Cruze vs. 2016 Honda Civic, 2017 Hyundai Elantra, 2016 Mazda 3, 2016 Nissan Sentra
Car and Driver
By Eric Tingwall
Some people will tell you that every modern vehicle is a winner, yet some cars still haven't mastered the basics.
The auto press' Mazda fetish continues:
From the July 2016 issue
There’s a popular myth that, outside of sports cars and exotics, all modern cars are essentially the same. Believers claim that quality, safety, and equipment levels have reached a plateau that makes the differences between a Honda and a Hyundai somewhat moot. It’s a simplified view of the world, kind of like those early grade-school report cards where you were satisfactory at best or needed improvement at worst, but either way, everyone was moving on to the next grade.
In recent years, the automotive compact class has advanced into a fleet of mini mid-sizers. Almost universally, these cars have grown in interior dimensions, inherited upscale features, and adopted prices that top out north of $30,000. But we don’t buy into the notion that similarity means homogeneity. There’s a distinction between satisfactory and great, just as there’s a difference between the first grader who understands subatomic particles and the mouth breather who can’t stop eating all the delicious, free paste. A car can go 100,000 miles without fault and spot a vehicle in its blind spot and still have deficiencies in the most elementary aspects of steering, braking, and accelerating. To sort out which small cars are at the head of the class and which need to be held back, we gathered five of the newest small entries, all *sensibly equipped and priced right in the middle of the range.
Full story at link above
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The Cruze was the quickest, 0-60 in 7.6, the fastest, 1/4 trap in 15.9 @89, highest top speed at 132, the shortest braking 70-0 in 168ft, the quietest 68 dba, the most efficient, observed 33 mpg, and finished mid-pack at third, proving, unequivocally, that Mazda and Honda are far superior.
Car and Driver
By Eric Tingwall
Some people will tell you that every modern vehicle is a winner, yet some cars still haven't mastered the basics.
The auto press' Mazda fetish continues:
From the July 2016 issue
There’s a popular myth that, outside of sports cars and exotics, all modern cars are essentially the same. Believers claim that quality, safety, and equipment levels have reached a plateau that makes the differences between a Honda and a Hyundai somewhat moot. It’s a simplified view of the world, kind of like those early grade-school report cards where you were satisfactory at best or needed improvement at worst, but either way, everyone was moving on to the next grade.
In recent years, the automotive compact class has advanced into a fleet of mini mid-sizers. Almost universally, these cars have grown in interior dimensions, inherited upscale features, and adopted prices that top out north of $30,000. But we don’t buy into the notion that similarity means homogeneity. There’s a distinction between satisfactory and great, just as there’s a difference between the first grader who understands subatomic particles and the mouth breather who can’t stop eating all the delicious, free paste. A car can go 100,000 miles without fault and spot a vehicle in its blind spot and still have deficiencies in the most elementary aspects of steering, braking, and accelerating. To sort out which small cars are at the head of the class and which need to be held back, we gathered five of the newest small entries, all *sensibly equipped and priced right in the middle of the range.
Full story at link above
--------------------------------
The Cruze was the quickest, 0-60 in 7.6, the fastest, 1/4 trap in 15.9 @89, highest top speed at 132, the shortest braking 70-0 in 168ft, the quietest 68 dba, the most efficient, observed 33 mpg, and finished mid-pack at third, proving, unequivocally, that Mazda and Honda are far superior.