MotorWeek face-off: Prius, Insight, Fusion, Jetta TDI, A3 TDI & Smart

[mmarshall]

Originally Posted by 1SICKLEX

WHO CARES???? It is a Corolla, it is the best selling vehicle of all time. It is BASIC TRANSPORTATION. You want sportier, you buy a MAZDA 3, you don't buy a Corolla or a Jetta.

The Hyundai Elantra is also a nice basic-transporation car in that class, and, IMO, has a nicer interior than the Corolla, a better warranty, and equals or undercuts the Corolla's price as well. It doesn't quite equal the Corolla's reliability or smooth drivetrain, but is considered better than average in reliability. If I had to choose betwen the Corolla and Elantra, it would be a tough choice.

Though I've heard decent things about the Corolla XRS but it still does not get my heart pumping.

The reason the XRS doesn't get many hearts pumping, in normal, day-to-day driving, is that it uses an extremely high-revving VVT-i 1.8L four (essentially the same engine as in the old Celica GT-S), that, like the Honda VTEC fours it is pattered after, has very little torque at low RPMs in normal driving. Its HP and torque peaks are both way up there (from 6800 to 7600 RPM), and below 6000 RPM, response is quite flat. To be honest, the average American driver simply doesn't want to drive his or her Corolla around with the tach pegged all the time. That's one reason why the XRS model didn't sell well, and most Corolla buyers who wanted a little more sportiness chose the 5-speed S model instead.

[SLegacy99]

Originally Posted by 1SICKLEX

WTF makes a Jetta fun to drive? I've never read ANYTHING saying is some fun vehicle.
Its a good car but damn its not some Ferrari you make it out to be.

My roomate had a last gen. Jetta. What a car. A 2.0L, 115 HP vehicle that was slow as balls, yet somehow only managed 27 MPG Hwy. Terrible engineering. It was a low mileage vehicle yet everything from the speedo to the A/C was broken. And people laud the Jetta TDI like it will last for years and years. The engine might. The rest will be lucky to crack 50k miles.

I would be more inclined to get a Civic for a decent handling vehicle than a Jetta.

[Nextourer]

Originally Posted by SLegacy99

My roomate had a last gen. Jetta. What a car. A 2.0L, 115 HP vehicle that was slow as balls, yet somehow only managed 27 MPG Hwy. Terrible engineering. It was a low mileage vehicle yet everything from the speedo to the A/C was broken. And people laud the Jetta TDI like it will last for years and years. The engine might. The rest will be lucky to crack 50k miles.

I would be more inclined to get a Civic for a decent handling vehicle than a Jetta.

You do realise that is the worst engine in the entire VW lineup, right? 115hp from a 2.0 litre is pathetic even for 2000 and it sucks a lot of fuel for a 2.0 litre engine but I'm guessing it was cheap to make that's why it was offered. I'd say the 2.0T (or 1.8T back then) would be more fun to drive. Even the current Jetta's 2.5L uses quite a bit of fuel (my friend's complaining about it and they moved from a 15 year old Cherokee!)

[nthach]

I'll say this - the Corolla steers like a dream compared to the Cobalt, Caliber or Accent.