Las Vegas—
The same unconventional thinking that spawned the Pontiac Aztek has suddenly and dramatically redeemed itself. The Pontiac Vibe—a tall sedan/truncated wagon/ mini-SUV—is far and away the best small car from General Motors.
Much of the credit, however, belongs to Toyota, which engineered the Vibe alongside the Toyota Matrix, much in the same way Toyota developed the Geo/Chevrolet Prizm as a version of the Corolla. The Vibe and the Matrix both use the new Corolla's platform, the powertrains from the Toyota Celica, and the same interior. They differ only in their sheetmetal and their corporate logos.
We initially gravitated to the sporty Vibe GT, which replaces the standard 130-horsepower four with a 180-hp, Yamaha-modified engine. The GT rips from 0 to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds, the 1.8-liter shrieking with delight as the variable valve timing engages at 6000 rpm.... Read full article