The Hottest New Cars For 2013

The Hottest New Cars For 2013

If you’re one of the many thousands of motorists who plan on returning to new-car dealerships in the coming months to renew your rides you might be confronted with an assortment of never-before seen cars with what are unfamiliar nameplates. The auto business has undergone dramatic changes over the last few years, and if you haven’t gone car shopping since before the economy crashed you’ll find it to be the proverbial brave new world.
As they say, you can’t tell the players without a scorecard, so we’re highlighting the 15 hottest models that are brand-new for the 2013 model year, and which fresh elements each brings to the market. So let’s get ready to meet the freshman class of 2013.
For starters, you’ll find a greater emphasis on small cars these days, many of which now offer amenities like heated seats and advanced data connectivity features that were likely limited to luxury cars the last time you set foot on a showroom floor. Buyers are embracing the latest round of compact and subcompact cars with a passion these days, from empty nesters looking to downsize their rides but maintain desired levels of comfort and conveniences to younger motorists looking to minimize their carbon footprints and budget-conscious buyers looking for a lower sticker price and higher fuel economy.
The assortment of small cars expands for 2013 to include the economical Chevrolet Spark and Dodge Dart, the luxury-minded Acura ILX and the sporty Cadillac ATS.
Click here for the full gallery: Hottest New 2013 Cars.
The population of crossover SUVs, which have all but supplanted traditional truck-based SUVs in America’s driveways for their more car-like handling and improved fuel economy, has likewise grown exponentially. Small crossovers in particular have been booming, with most automakers now including a compact model in their lineups; subcompact crossovers are the next frontier, with two – the BMW X1 and Buick Encore – debuting for 2013. Additional new crossovers this year include the Audi Allroad, Infiniti JX, Mazda CX-5 and the Subaru XV Crosstrek.
What’s more, Cadillac debuts a new large front-drive sedan, the XTS, while Scion and Subaru bring excitement back to their showrooms with a pair of economical low slung sport coupes, the FR-S and BRZ, respectively. Among several new fuel-frugal electrified models for 2013, Ford pulls the wraps off the tall-roofed C-Max Hybrid and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid wagons. These join the luxury-oriented limited-production Tesla Model S all-electric and Fisker Karma extended-range electric sedans.
Of course you’ll also find an expansive assortment of models that have undergone significant redesigns for the 2013 model year. These include sedan stalwarts like the Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Lexus ES and GS, Nissan Altima and the Toyota Avalon. Redesigned crossover SUVs are likewise plentiful and include the Acura RDX, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, Ford Escape, GMC Acadia, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, Mitsubishi Outlander and – crossing over from truck-based SUV to car-like crossover – the Nissan Pathfinder.  An all-new version of the Ram 1500 full-size pickup helps create some excitement in an otherwise quiet truck segment for 2013. For the fast and furious crowd, there’s a revamped version of the Porsche Boxster roadster and the return of the snake, the rip-roaring Dodge SRT Viper sports coupe/roadster.
Click here for the full gallery: Hottest New 2013 Cars.
And for those keeping track of both sides of the scorecard, models being discontinued for 2013 include the Hyundai Veracruz, Jeep Liberty, Mazda CX-7 and Mercedes-Benz R-Class crossovers/SUVs, the Kia Sedona minivan, Lexus HS 250h hybrid and the Mitsubishi Eclipse sports coupe/convertible and Galant sedan.
Of course there’s a lot more to the above new models than just new names, fresh styling and updated powertrains. Check out this recent post for a look at some of the fanciful safety, convenience and connectivity features that are premiering among the cunning crop of model-year 2013 cars and crossovers.

Chevrolet Sonic - cheap new car

Base price: $14,185

Fuel economy: 26 City, 35 Hwy

Another win for the Detroit team, the Chevy Sonic, a size larger than the Spark, is a really good little car. With a smooth shifting transmission, well-tuned suspension and a surprisingly nice-sounding engine the Sonic is a pleasure to pilot. Its spunky design looks best in the hatchback version.

2013 Mazdaspeed3 vs. 2013 Ford Focus ST vs. 2013 Subaru WRX Special Edition

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Finally, there’s some cheese in that FDIC-insured fridge of yours. All those years of Taco Tuesdays and Top Ramen have paid off, and it’s time to hit up your local car dealer. You’ve decided that, above all, your next steed will be fun. It will also be stylish and packed with technology. You immediately think “coupe.” But then you remember that shuttling friends, family, and pets are your reality. And while you have a few Benjamins, you’re no Donald Trump. You need to stick to a budget. Buh-bye, Miss Curvaceous Coupe. Enter this speedy squad. The Mazdaspeed3, Ford Focus ST, and Subaru WRX Special Edition are tuned and tested for fun, fast, and practical deployment. Each has a turbocharged four-cylinder making at least 250 horsepower, a manual gearbox, and a capacious backseat and trunk. They’re stylish and relatively cheap, with base prices of around $25,000. Of course, there are other vehicles in this segment. A few – such as Hyundai’s Veloster and Mini’s JCW Cooper – are underpowered compared to this trio. Others, such as Volkswagen’s Golf R, have all the grunt, but cost around $10,000 more.

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To find out which of these three turbo transports best fits the bill, we put them through our usual program of instrumented and real-world tests, and, as a bonus, lapped them around the 1.55-mile Streets of Willow Raceway with our favorite racing driver, Randy Pobst, behind the wheel. Few cars draw as many eyeballs as a rumbling orange sedan with a 5000-point font on its flanks. This WRX’s striking scheme comes courtesy of its Special Edition designation. Aside from the funky paint, the package adds black-tinged wheels, exterior mirrors, a headliner, and some matching orange interior. Executive editor Ron Kiino liked the look-at-me color, but made note of the dated interior, which hasn’t really changed since 2008. Associate online editor Benson Kong agreed. “It’s some very odd equipment packaging: You get a shift knob from the base Impreza, a sunroof, and an archaic-looking head unit.”

2013 Honda Accord Sport vs. Toyota Camry SE vs. 2014 Mazda6 Grand Touring

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Believe it or not, some midsize sedan buyers view these four- doors as exciting signs of hope, evidence that the fun isn’t over just because kids and jobs now consume 23 hours of the day. Despite their prevalence—at least that of the Accord and Camry, which sold more than 300,000 and 400,000 units in 2012, respectively—the three family sedans here are injected with a shot of sport aimed at enlivening the daily doldrums of commuting, errand running, and passenger hauling. If you can zip from light to light a little quicker or take the freeway on-ramp a bit more aggressively—anything to brighten your day—why not, right? With that in mind, we gathered the all-new Mazda6 and Honda Accord Sport, as well as the best-selling veteran, the Toyota Camry SE, to see which one delivered the most effective spoonful of sport medicine. Each boasts a stout four-cylinder, a seamless automatic, an athletic body kit, and a sport-tuned chassis, designed to collectively stimulate the senses and soothe the soul. We tried to get a Fusion SE, but Ford claimed it couldn’t source one. And the top-dog VW Passat? With the new EA888 turbo I-4 poised for 2014 duty and a dedicated sport trim still a distinct possibility (see the Passat Performance Concept from this year’s Detroit auto show), the Chattanooga champ was relegated to Round 2 and a face-off with this test’s winner. But let’s focus on Round 1…

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Toyota Camry SE

The SE accounts for about 40 percent of Camry sales, which equates to around 160,000 units annually. That’s nearly five times as many 6s as Mazda sold last year. SE drivers are treated to the same 2.5-liter, 178-hp, 170-lb-ft I-4 that powers most Camrys not wearing V-6 or Hybrid badging, but the six-speed automatic (the only tranny offered) comes with paddle shifters and an S mode that delivers quicker shifts and downshift throttle blips. Nice. The chassis receives firmer springs and dampers, stiffer lower front-control arms, strut tower and trunk-mounted braces, and 17-inch alloys wearing 215/55 rubber. Outside, there are SE-specific side skirts, mesh upper grille, black headlamp bezels, and rear spoiler. Inside, a three-spoke steering wheel and thicker bolstered sport seats round out the package. Problem is, the aesthetic parts are more appealing than the finished product. Styling, inside and out, was deemed dated, with the slab-sided exterior and ’80s-esque interior drawing criticism.

Volkswagen CrossBlue Coupe Concept First Look

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Prepare for confusion: The Volkswagen CrossBlue Coupe concept isn't a coupe -- it's a four-door crossover. And it isn't even blue -- it's metallic orange. Clearly some product planners at VW have an interesting sense of humor. Instead of focusing on what the CrossBlue Coupe concept isn't, though, we'll focus on what it is: an innovative plug-in hybrid, wrapped in attractive sheetmetal. Like the CrossBlue concept from the Detroit auto show, the CrossBlue Coupe concept from the Shanghai motor show is built on VW's MQB architecture and powered by a gas engine paired with twin electric motors. The system consists of a transverse 3.6-liter turbocharged V-6 making 295 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque, a front electric motor making 54 hp, and a rear motor making 114 hp. The system's combined output is an impressive 415 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. A six-speed dual-clutch gearbox and center tunnel-mounted 9.8 kW-hr lithium-ion battery pack bring the plug-in powertrain together. Volkswagen estimates a 0-62 mph time of 5.9 seconds and a top speed of 147 mph, giving the CrossBlue Coupe some scoot to back up the sporty bodywork. Sportiness is only half of the CrossBlue Coupe's MO. Efficiency is the other half. On that front, the CrossBlue Coupe can operate as a pure EV for as many as 21 miles up to a top speed of 75 mph, when the engine will presumably start up. While in EV mode, the rear motor powers the CrossBlue Coupe, while the front motor and engine are decoupled from the drivetrain for efficiency's sake. When the battery's juice runs dry, the crossover switches to its default hybrid mode, where VW expects the vehicle to get 79 mpg combined on the new European driving cycle. If it hasn't been plugged in and is running on gas, the CrossBlue Coupe is reportedly capable of 34.1 mpg combined. Thanks to a 21.2-gallon gas tank, VW estimates the Coupe's range to be around 720 miles.

2012 BMW 328i Sport car

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If you haven't been reading our Car Salesman Confidential series, I recommend it. It's a fascinating look behind the scenes at a dealership and shows how slim the profit margin can be on a new car. The service department, though, is where there's money to be made. I discovered this firsthand when the 328 recently suffered a flat tire while out on a video shoot. The video producer who was driving it had it shipped down to South Bay BMW in Torrance, California, via BMW Roadside Assistance, because the fix-a-flat in the trunk wasn't going to cut it. That's where the trouble started. The car was "lost" for approximately five hours at the dealer -- the tow truck driver had apparently dropped it in a corner somewhere the dealer didn't think to look. Once found, the dealer determined it didn't have an OEM Pirelli Cinturato tire in stock and would have to order one, which meant it wouldn't be fixed on the same day. Never mind that the 3 Series is far and away BMW's best-selling model. A follow-up call to the dealer a day later revealed the car had been "lost" again, but this time for only an hour. Two days later, the dealer announced it had successfully installed a new tire. The charge for this service? $500.93. A quick Internet search on my phone showed the retail price for that tire at a place like TireRack.com was just $289. Being a very large dealer, it's unlikely the service department was paying retail price rather than wholesale, but a look at the invoice showed the same tire with a list price of $428.40, a $139.40 markup over bricks-and-mortar retail. After fees and labor were added, it came to $437 before tax. I argued this point with the service consultant, who at first insisted that the service manager set the prices and he had no control over it. When I refused to pay that price, he disappeared for 10 minutes, then returned with a bill for $342.82. The fees for balancing, a valve stem, old tire disposal and a state fee were all still present, but now the tire list price showed $340, and he'd knocked the price down even further to $306 (a supposed loss, based on the numbers presented) and waived the $25 labor charge. (The sales tax went down to $27.32.) Sensing that

2012 Nissan Frontier 4X4 PRO4X

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Another month gone and another month with nearly 2000 more miles added to our midsize hauler. With so many miles under our lightweights' belt, staffers have noted the manual transmission is starting to whine more. Associate editor Scott Evans took our Nissan Frontier home for the weekend: "There are really only two things I'd change about this truck. First, they've got to tone-down the gear noise. I realize it's a truck, but I've heard race cars with straight-cut gears that didn't make as much racket as the transmission in this truck." "Second, they've got to update the styling of the dash, console, and door panels. It looks straight out of 2003 and is desperately in need of a refresh." Evans continues, "They can use the same materials, all the same mounting points and dimensions, keep the seats and the rest. Just make it look new like they do to the grille every few years. Everything else can stay." "This truck feels right-size to me. Full-size trucks have gotten so tall and so large they're impractical if you live any place denser than a suburb. This one feels nimble enough to get around a city and still rugged enough to tackle a trail. The tall seating position, manual transmission and 4x4 stickers on the bed make me want to prerun it on the nearest dirt road. It certainly feels robust enough to take the abuse. It's got good power, good clearance and it's not too big or too heavy for moderate obstacles." After a Vegas road trip and daily commutes, our Frontier is nearing its 15000-mile checkup. We'll have more on that update next month when we take it into our local dealer for its second routine maintenance service.

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2012 Nissan Frontier 4X4 PRO4X
Service life:	6 mo/13,732 mi
Avg CO2:	1.11 lb/mi
Energy cons:	194 kW-hr/100mi
Unresolved problems:	None
Maintenance cost:	$173.63 (oil change, rotate tires, inspection)
Normal-wear cost:	$0
EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ:	15/20/17 mpg
Average Fuel Econ:	17.4 mpg

new vista d90 - new car

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Variants	LS/GLS	LX/GLX	VX/GVX	D90 VX	D90 ZX+
Alloy wheels
Fog Lamps			Front and Rear
Infinity Contrast Roof				With Spice Red Body Color Only
Stylish Triple Barrel Headlamps
Full wheel caps (For Quadrajet and Safire Engines only)
Internally Adjustable ORVM	Manual		Electric
Follow-Me-Home Headlamps
Body Coloured Bumpers
Body Coloured ORVM and Door Handles
Chrome Hood Strip
Premium Chrome Weather Strip
Chrome Lining on Bumper, Door Handles and Around Fog Lamps
Body Coloured Rubrails with Chrome Lining