Consumer Reports lists its ‘Top Picks’ for 2008
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CL Community Team
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Lexus Champion
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Yeah, generally high end British cars have some of the finest high quality softest leather available. Some of the leather is so nice I would almost buy the car just for the leather, that is what high end British cars do best especially the soft Connelly leather. Some of the older Ferraris have some really nice soft leather too. One of the things I remember about being in an older Jaguar when I was younger was the smell and soft leather which I will never forget. I sat in the latest Rolls Royce Phantom and it had really nice leather too as well as nice thick carpeting. I believe Bugatti cars use super high quality leather too. Compared to the better British cars leathers most Japanese and German cars leather feel like sandpaper or cheap vinyl and you can barely smell the leather after a while.
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Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, and even some non-luxury Japanese makes generally have pretty nice leather inside, but I am not impressed with the leather I have seen in many BMWs and other German-designed cars. DASHOCKER has argued, though, perhaps with some merit, that, while the BMW Dakota and Navaho leather may look and feel cheap like vinyl, it actually is thicker and more durable than the leather in Japanese cars.
I'll be spending the next couple weeks poking in it.
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Hyundai's improvement pace is unprecedented. Looking at the last 15 years, Hyundai has made more developmental progress than any car company in history. I don't know how they're doing it.
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So according to CR, Honda makes the best cars overall sold in the US. At the same time, CR's 'top picks' of 2008 only has ONE Honda on the list. It has several Toyotas on the list. This does nothing but lower CR's credibility. If Honda makes the best cars overall according to CR, then there should have been several Hondas on this CR list.
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If we assume that best 'overall' means 'on average for ALL models' than *surely* Honda would have at least a few of the market segments covered.
We can even break it down car-by-car, segment-by-segment:
CR list --> market segment Honda equivalent:
Green Car: Civic Hybrid
Small Sedan: Civic
Family Sedan: Honda Accord
Upscale Sedan: Acura TL
Luxury Sedan: Acura RL
Fun to Drive: S2000
Small SUV: CR-V
Midsized SUV: Pilot
Minivan: Odyssey
Pickup Truck: Ridgeline
With the exception of the Element and Fit, I just listed the ENTIRE Honda USA lineup and a chunk of Acura's lineup. Only ONE Honda out of ALL of these vehicles made CR's list.
Originally Posted by Consumer Reports
Influential magazine Consumer Reports has come out with this year’s ‘Top Picks’ comparo, picking the best cars from ten different categories in a field that included over 260 vehicles.
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Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, and even some non-luxury Japanese makes generally have pretty nice leather inside, but I am not impressed with the leather I have seen in many BMWs and other German-designed cars. DASHOCKER has argued, though, perhaps with some merit, that, while the BMW Dakota and Navaho leather may look and feel cheap like vinyl, it actually is thicker and more durable than the leather in Japanese cars.
Overall for all the extremely poor reliability and shotty quality of most British cars I do have to say they have the nicest highest quality leather interiors and usaully very good wood finishes too, that is where most of their charm is. Some Italian vehicles also feature really expensive high quality leather too especially some of the older Ferraris and a few of the newer ones. Japanese leathers are usaully decent but sometimes dissapointing and just not as nice as what they put in higher end British cars like Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Bently, Aston Martin.
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Consumer Reports 11 worst cars of 2008
Yesterday Consumer Reports released its annual ‘Top Picks’ list of the best cars of 2008 and now we have a list of the worst contenders. Judges compared over 260 vehicles in this year’s evaluation and once again American SUVs dominated the field although there were a number of Toyota models, usually the strong players, at the bottom of the field as well.
The worst cars are as follows:
• Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
The Wrangler Unlimited was characterised by its poor ride and handling as well as its subpar fuel-economy, fit and finish.
• Hummer H3 five-cylinder
Poor performance and fuel-economy as well as a low rating for handling and reliability ensured the Hummer H3 was at the bottom.
• Jeep Liberty Sport
Rated poorly for fuel-economy, NVH levels and fit and finish.
• Chevrolet Aveo5
The Aveo5 only suffered from poor acceleration and handling but compared to its rivals the South Korean hatch was the worst performer.
• Dodge Nitro SLT
One of the worst cars in the field, the Dodge Nitro SLT was rated as having poor ride, handling, braking, NVH levels and fuel-economy.
• Toyota FJ Cruiser
A work horse SUV that requires premium fuel and suffers from poor fit and finish and subpar ride and handling.
• Toyota Yaris
The Yaris is one of the most popular subcompacts in the world but its poor acceleration and vague steering meant it was one of the worst cars in this year’s compare.
• Suzuki Forenza
The Suzuki Forenza was rated poorly because of its inadequate acceleration, fuel economy, ride, and low results in the IIHS sidecrash result.
• Jeep Patriot Limited
Another Jeep model made the list of worst performance, once again for poor acceleration, engine noise, driving position, visibility, front-seat comfort and fit and finish.
• Chevrolet TrailBlazer LT
Poor handling, braking and fuel-economy ensure the Chevrolet TrailBlazer is at the bottom of the list.
• Mercury Grand Marquis
The ageing Grand Marquis rounds out the list of the 11 worst cars of 2008, and was picked because of its rough sounding engine, poor ride and fuel-economy and low IIHS side-crash result.
The worst cars are as follows:
• Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
The Wrangler Unlimited was characterised by its poor ride and handling as well as its subpar fuel-economy, fit and finish.
• Hummer H3 five-cylinder
Poor performance and fuel-economy as well as a low rating for handling and reliability ensured the Hummer H3 was at the bottom.
• Jeep Liberty Sport
Rated poorly for fuel-economy, NVH levels and fit and finish.
• Chevrolet Aveo5
The Aveo5 only suffered from poor acceleration and handling but compared to its rivals the South Korean hatch was the worst performer.
• Dodge Nitro SLT
One of the worst cars in the field, the Dodge Nitro SLT was rated as having poor ride, handling, braking, NVH levels and fuel-economy.
• Toyota FJ Cruiser
A work horse SUV that requires premium fuel and suffers from poor fit and finish and subpar ride and handling.
• Toyota Yaris
The Yaris is one of the most popular subcompacts in the world but its poor acceleration and vague steering meant it was one of the worst cars in this year’s compare.
• Suzuki Forenza
The Suzuki Forenza was rated poorly because of its inadequate acceleration, fuel economy, ride, and low results in the IIHS sidecrash result.
• Jeep Patriot Limited
Another Jeep model made the list of worst performance, once again for poor acceleration, engine noise, driving position, visibility, front-seat comfort and fit and finish.
• Chevrolet TrailBlazer LT
Poor handling, braking and fuel-economy ensure the Chevrolet TrailBlazer is at the bottom of the list.
• Mercury Grand Marquis
The ageing Grand Marquis rounds out the list of the 11 worst cars of 2008, and was picked because of its rough sounding engine, poor ride and fuel-economy and low IIHS side-crash result.
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• Toyota Yaris
The Yaris is one of the most popular subcompacts in the world but its poor acceleration and vague steering meant it was one of the worst cars in this year’s compare.
The Yaris is one of the most popular subcompacts in the world but its poor acceleration and vague steering meant it was one of the worst cars in this year’s compare.
I love how so many auto journalists and other performance loving drivers put down cars that can achieve 40 MPG's (only a few cars can do it and the Yaris is one) because they have "poor" acceleration. They're fogetting what the car is set out to do. If you want to race, get a gas guzzler and pay the price. They seem to forget that it's FASTER than the Honda Fit that everyone seems to like though.
I've never heard Yaris and "one of the worse cars" in the same sentence before either. I guess when tester's drive premium cars all day, a $12K car is going to seem poor.
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I love how so many auto journalists and other performance loving drivers put down cars that can achieve 40 MPG's (only a few cars can do it and the Yaris is one) because they have "poor" acceleration. They're fogetting what the car is set out to do. If you want to race, get a gas guzzler and pay the price. They seem to forget that it's FASTER than the Honda Fit that everyone seems to like though.
I've never heard Yaris and "one of the worse cars" in the same sentence before either. I guess when tester's drive premium cars all day, a $12K car is going to seem poor.
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The Yaris is an EXTREMELY well-built small car that would be ideal if not for those idiotic center-stack gauges that are put on simply for ease and low-cost doing both left and right-hand drive versions on the assembly line....despite Toyota's denial that it is just a simple cost-cutting move.
I've read hundred's of consumer reviews (as a perspective shopper) and 95% of owners say they now prefer the gauges in the center and say it's easier to view. Even those that didn't like it innitially.