Compact Car Reviews

At first glance, the Patriot looks like it's about six years late to its own party, because it's such a faithful evolution of Jeep's Cherokee. It even shares the Cherokee's boxy bluffness, a big part of that vehicle's charm. But back in 2001, the Cherokee was more

The Escape gets a face-lift that would make Joan Rivers proud. more

You don't really want to know how bad the first Smart was. What counts today is that its replacement--which will be sold by Roger Penske's UnitedAuto Group when it arrives in the States in early 2008--is dynamically superior in almost all respects. It rides we more

Brussels When Snow White and her clan hit the road, they must always roll out two Volvo C30 coupes--that's the only way they can accommodate all seven dwarfs. We bring up Snow White because the design of the new Volvo C30 pays homage to the 1971 Volvo 1800ES, more

Japan sends us our first European-style people mover, and it moves us. more

Generation by generation, a car usually evolves slowly as the technology under the nameplate gradually improves. But in a single stroke, the new Hyundai Elantra has leapt ahead, and now it's right in the mix with small sedans such as the Honda Civic and the To more

Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote that: "For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." What a shame it is that he didn't live long enough to buy himself something with a heap of torque so that he more

As Chevy's iconic Corvette has passed through each successive generation, it has transformed into a bona fide supercar, a ride that can step into the ring with the world's best and leave un-bowed. But that transformation has come at a price--literally. A base more

I, assistant editor Sam Smith, claim publicly that the Hyundai Accent SE is more fun than a Honda Fit! The Fit may have torque and sheer horsepower on the Hyundai, but the Honda's chassis falls flat under aggressive cornering--and ultimately fails to provide t more

Portland, Oregon Originally, Jeep was going to create one new entry-level model, but when the final two contenders were sent to consumer clinics, the M&M-munching, highly focused groups were split. Men and confirmed Jeep people went for the Patriot, while wome more

I've had a recurring dream of a beastly, rally-bred SUV that devours Toyota RAV4s whole and burps up bits of Honda CR-Vs. But the sporty SUV of my dreams wouldn't cost $90,000 like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo; instead, it would be no more than a family sedan. Ca more

Philadelphia Europeans think we're crazy. American buyers snap up the Volkswagen Jetta sedan over its hatchback Golf sibling ten to one. This is especially galling to those who know that the Golf offers more space for large items and is as good as the Jetta fo more

Adria, Italy As a send-off for the current Mini Cooper, Mini is offering the Cooper S with the John Cooper Works GP kit, a stripped-down, pumped-up version for 415 of the hard-core faithful. The GP dumps its rear seats and rear wiper and forgoes options such a more

Ann Arbor The Pontiac Solstice has been the rare ray of sunshine in General Motors' winter of discontent. The Wilmington, Delaware, plant is working three shifts and Saturdays keeping up with Kappa-car demand, now stretching beyond Pontiac and Saturn (Sky) to more

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