2013 Kia Rio SX Arrival

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Does this Motor Trend Garage introduction qualify as one of those "that awkward moment" Internet posts? Our last subcompact hatchback comparison's final draft order made the Kia Rio the automotive proxy for Mr. Irrelevant ("Shiftbox Revolution," April 2012). We aired grievances ranging from driving dynamics to the lack of features onboard. But that was a stripped-out LX, picked to the bone and devoid of power door locks, electric-crank windows, and cruise control for the sake of low pricing. The Rio SX furnishes all three, plus automatic headlights, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, power-folding side mirrors, and backup camera. The SX-specific sport suspension has higher-rate rear springs, specially valved shock absorbers, and a 2 mm-thicker front anti-roll bar. Despite the LX's poor showing, our new long-termer is the kind of car embraced by car buffs. Not because it's crazy powerful -- the direct-injection, 1.6-liter I-4 makes 138 hp, "beating" the 140-hp VW Passat TDI for least amount of pony power in the Garage. It's the transmission. A limited run of just 459 SX five-doors with six-speed manuals were built and sent to Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Miami, four East Coast markets, and Southern California.

Behold the only long-term garage vehicle named after a city. Or a river. Or a restaurant? It couldn't be the kid-friendly movie...

Further tickling the car aficionado gene is a calculated purloining of equipment from the auto SX's $2350 Premium Package. The single-spec manual SX nabs the keyless entry with push-button ignition and 7-inch audio/video/nav touchscreen display at no extra cost. What didn't make the cut: a sunroof, leather seating, and heated front seats. We'll examine how the car behaves around town and far away from home base. We'll even see how it engages the enthusiast driver, and we'll sneak a peek at the chassis beneath the well-dressed sheetmetal. Nope, there won't be anything awkward about any of this at all.

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2013 Kia Rio SX
BASE PRICE	$18,650
PRICE AS TESTED	$18,794
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door hatchback
ENGINE	1.6L/138-hp/123-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4
TRANSMISSION	6-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST)	2522 lb (61/39%)
WHEELBASE	101.2 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT	159.3 x 67.7 x 57.3 in
0-60 MPH	8.2 sec
QUARTER MILE	16.5 sec @ 83.1 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH	123.5
LATERAL ACCELERATION	0.80 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT	27.9 sec @ 0.60 g (avg)
EPA CITY/HWY FUEL ECON	29/37 mpg
ENERGY CONS., CITY/HWY	116/91 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS	0.60 lb/mile
TOTAL MILEAGE	1442 mi
AVERAGE FUEL ECON	30.9 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

BMW X1

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The BMW X1 is a compact luxury crossover SUV developed by BMW, and manufactured by BMW and

BMW Brilliance, and marketed worldwide in rear-wheel (sDrive) and all-wheel-drive (xDrive)

configurations. Production followed the debut of a concept version at the 2008 Paris Motor

Show. with series manufacture beginning at the BMW Leipzig plant in October 2009 — followed

by production in Chennai, India (from knock-down kits (CDK)), Shenyang, China, (by BMW-

Brilliance Automotive Ltd) and Kaliningrad, Russia (CDK,with local partner Avtotor).

The X1 shares a similar platform with the BMW X3, based on the platform of the BMW 3 Series

(E91) Touring (wagon). The EPA classifies the vehicle under the Midsize Cars category.

The X1 introduced BMW's N20 engine in its xDrive28i model. The X1 is slightly smaller and

more affordable than the X3.

X1 sDrive20d EfficientDynamics Edition (2011-)

The vehicle was unveiled in International Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA 2011).

X1 sDrive 16d (2012-)

It is a version with reduced engine power.

The vehicle was unveiled in 21st Auto Mobil International Leipzig 2012.
Equipment

The X1 offers a 420 litre cargo volume, which can increase up to 1350 litres of storage

space with the seats folded. For comparison, the 3-Series Touring (E91) has 460 and the X3

(E83) has 480 litres. The backrest in the rear is adjustable in 11 steps and can be divided

in the ratio 40:20:40. The vehicle offers adaptive cruise control, seating positions with

modestly raised H-point seating (marketed as Semi Command Sitting position) and Performance

Control.
Engines

All sDrive models are rear-wheel drive, while xDrive models are all-wheel drive.

HUMMER H2

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The Hummer H2 is an SUV and SUT that was marketed by General Motors under the Hummer brand. It is a large truck (slimmer than the Hummer H1), while longer, heavier (~6600 lbs.), and taller with room for six passengers (including driver), seven passengers in some models. The rearmost part of the H2 SUV was modified to a pickup truck bed for the 2005 H2 SUT ("Sport Utility Truck"). The Hummer H2 was the only one of the trucks to have the letters HUMMER between the grille. The H2 SUT is considered a pick-up truck for its abilities to haul cargo with an extendable box to reach 6 feet in length. This makes the SUT able to haul the same cargo most trucks can haul. The H2 was built under contract by AM General at a specially constructed plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, USA. The H2's final frame assembly is made up of 3 sections: The front uses a modified GM 2500-Series utility frame, the midsection is all new and is completely boxed, and the rear section uses a modified GM 1500-Series frame which is upgraded for the 8,600 pounds (3,900 kg) gross vehicle weight. The H2 was nominated for the North American Truck of the Year award for 2003. Hummer launched a special 2009 Black Chrome Limited Edition version of the truck. Rod Hall racing have won their class several times in Hummer H3 and H2 in the Baja 1000. The H2 has a light duty truck frame and has a wider-than-average track firm that may offer stability against overturning compared to some of the more common light truck SUVs, although objective tests have not been performed by the government or other outside parties due to its specialized vehicle class. It was marketed as both a general purpose vehicle and as an off-road vehicle. The objective of GM's mass marketing was to maximize sales, and the H2 is primarily used as a passenger vehicle on typical roads. Along with the Ford Excursion the H2 was also the base for a limousine conversion. Under the United States income tax code, the cost of vehicles over 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) can be deducted from specific forms of income. This deduction was enacted decades ago to assist self-employed people in purchasing a vehicle for business use. The weight minimum was intended to limit the deduction to commercial-type trucks. For many years, the deduction remained below the average cost of a new vehicle, since large trucks were relatively inexpensive. Since it is a reduction in taxable income, the actual value of this deduction averages 30% of the price of the vehicle in question. The increasing popularity of these commercial vehicles in the last decade, however, pushed their average price to nearly double the average passenger car cost. In response, the 2002 Tax Act increased this "Section 179 depreciation deduction" to US$75,000, and it rose again to US$102,000 for the 2004 tax year. This is more than three times the current average cost of a passenger car in the United States and covers a large number of luxury models, including the Hummer H2. In late 2006, the deduction was again reduced to US$25,000 for vehicles with GVWR between 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) and 14,000 lb (6,400 kg). Base price MSRP in 2008 for the H2 is $53,286.

HONDA NEW CAR

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Honda Motor Company, Ltd. is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.

Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. In 2001, Honda became the second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer. Honda was the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind General Motors, Volkswagen Group, Toyota, Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, Nissan, and PSA in 2011.

Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators, amongst others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet, scheduled to be released in 2012. Honda invests about 5% of its revenues in research and development.

From a young age, Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda ( Honda Soichiro) (17 November 1906 – 5 August 1991) had an interest in automobiles. He worked as a mechanic at the Art Shokai garage, where he tuned cars and entered them in races. In 1937, with financing from an acquaintance, Kato Shichiro, Honda founded Tokai Seiki (Eastern Sea Precision Machine Company) to make piston rings working out of the Art Shokai garage. After initial failures, Tokai Seiki won a contract to supply piston rings to Toyota, but lost the contract due to the poor quality of their products. After attending engineering school, without graduating, and visiting factories around Japan to better understand Toyota's quality control processes, Honda was able, by 1941, to mass produce piston rings acceptable to Toyota, using an automated process that could employ even unskilled wartime laborers.

Tokai Seiki was placed under control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (called the Ministry of Munitions after 1943) at the start of World War II, and Soichiro Honda was demoted from president to senior managing director after Toyota took a 40% stake in the company.Honda also aided the war effort by assisting other companies in automating the production of military aircraft propellers. The relationships Honda cultivated with personnel at Toyota, Nakajima Aircraft Company and the Imperial Japanese Navy would be instrumental in the postwar period. A US B-29 bomber attack destroyed Tokai Seiki's Yamashita plant in 1944, and the Itawa plant collapsed in the 1945 Mikawa earthquake, and Soichiro Honda sold the salvageable remains of the company to Toyota after the war for ¥450,000, and used the proceeds to found the Honda Technical Research Institute in October 1946.With a staff of 12 men working in a 172-square-foot (16.0 m2) shack, they built and sold improvised motorized bicycles, using a supply of 500 two-stroke 50 cc Tohatsu war surplus radio generator engines. When the engines ran out, Honda began building their own copy of the Tohatsu engine, and supplying these to customers to attach their bicycles.This was the Honda Model A, nicknamed the Bata Bata for the sound the engine made. The first complete motorcycle, with the both frame and engine made by Honda, was the 1949 Model D, the first Honda to go by the name Dream.Honda Motor Company grew in a short time to become the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles by 1964.