ArcaMax

Kia's forte is undercutting its rivals (and then some) on price -- without cheaping out. If anything, the new K4 sedan -- which replaces the Forte as Kia's most affordable offering -- looks expensive.

Even though it's the least expensive new sedan you can buy.

What It Is

The K4 is a compact, entry-level sedan that competes ...Read more

Practically every car company has been trying to maintain the power/performance of the smaller engines that have been replacing larger engines -- in order to comply with federal fuel efficiency and emissions regulations -- by turbocharging these smaller engines.

Nissan has been doing that too. But it has also been doing something else.

Have ...Read more

If you are looking for a small car, there are just a few left to choose among -- and only one that's instantly recognizable and like none of the rest.

It's the Mini.

What It Is

The Mini is the iconically British three-door hatchback made by BMW. The modern -- BMW-built -- iteration is actually a larger car than the original Mini ...Read more

Finding a new car that comes standard with a manual transmission is almost as unusual as finding a new car that still comes standard with a manual, grab-handle emergency brake.

How about one that comes standard with both?

What It Is

The WRX is the street-legal iteration of the World Rally Cup Experimental race cars that Subaru racing teams ...Read more

A couple of months ago, I reviewed the plug-in hybrid version of the Kia Sorento crossover and compared it with its Hyundai-badged fraternal twin, the Sante Fe.

This week, the comparison's with the non-hybrid version of the Sorento.

What It Is

The Sorento is one of just three small crossovers that has room for seven rather than just five ...Read more

The Nissan Rogue is an unassuming small crossover that is also Nissan's bestselling model. More finely, Nissan sells so many of these unassuming small crossovers -- around 270,000 per year -- that it makes up for Nissan's other models that aren't selling well.

So it's really important -- to Nissan -- that lots of people keep on buying new ...Read more

When something is replaced by a new thing, it is assumed the new thing is an improved or otherwise better thing. A good way to find out is to compare the thing that was replaced with its replacement.

The 2025 Ram 1500 pickup used to be available with a 5.7-liter (and 6.2-liter) V8. Those V8s have been replaced with a pair of ...Read more

There's a Volvo you may be very interested in if you're looking for something like a Porsche Macan GTS that looks like a Volvo.

A Volvo with close to twice the standard power -- and for about $15,000 less to start than what comes standard in the Macan GTS.

What It Is

The Volvo XC60 is a compact crossover made by the Swedish brand ...Read more

"Economical" is not usually what you get when you buy a luxury-brand car, but there are some that are. Perhaps the most famous example of the species is the Mercedes 300D sedan of the '80s. It was a luxury car that was almost as economical to drive as many economy cars of its time, because it had a diesel engine under its hood.

Diesel engines ...Read more

Remember when what was once commonly referred to as a standard -- that is, a manual -- transmission was ... commonly standard? And automatics were generally optional, with the exception of luxury-brand (and "loaded") vehicles?

Fast-forward to the present. It isn't easy to find a manual transmission as an option -- in anything. Even the...Read more

The Honda Prologue isn't really a Honda -- in that it's based on the Chevy Blazer EV -- but it is different in a couple of ways that may make it worth a look if you're wanting an electric vehicle sold by Honda.

What It Is

The Prologue is a midsize/two-row electric crossover based on the Chevy Blazer EV.

It differs from its ...Read more

It's not easy to pick a crossover from among all the other crossovers because so many of them are more or less the same.

One that's different in a big way is the Mazda CX-90 -- because it comes standard with an inline six-cylinder engine. This bucks two trends. The first is the one that's been trending toward the replacement of six-...Read more

You have probably heard that Dodge has stopped selling V8-powered Chargers and Challengers. And you may know that Ram 1500 trucks (and Jeeps) are no longer available with V8s either.

But there is one new Dodge vehicle still available with the V8s -- plural -- you can no longer get in other Dodge (or Jeep/Ram) vehicles.

It's the 2025 ...Read more