Under $20K Sedan Tournament! Bracket #1: 2013 Chevrolet Cruze, 2013 Ford Focus, and 2013 Dodge Dart

The sub-$20K passenger sedan market is incredibly overcrowded, so I've decided to start a bracketed tournament to choose the overall winner.  Each bracket will consist of three or four cars each and the winner will move onto the next round.  I'm going to limit selections to trims with manual transmissions (because that is what I like) and it has to be a sedan under $20,000 MSRP.  Currently that leaves me with 20 something models to sort through, so there are going to be 6 quarter-final rounds, then the winners from those 6 rounds will compete in two semi-final rounds of 3 cars each.  Then the two finalists will be compared to each and a final victor will be decided.  I will set no priorities during this tournament, as I want to see an all-around winner, not a winner in a particular category.

First up in bracket #1 I'm going to pick a selection of American brands and see how they fare against each other using my site, The Vehicle For Me.  While the Ford Focus has been around for years, the Chevy Cruze and Dodge Dart are relative newcomers.

Here are the results:

Link to Comparison Page

It is fairly close between the three cars but the Chevrolet Cruze 1LT takes the victory thanks mostly to it's excellent MPG and range.  None of the cars here is especially better than the others all-around, but each one seems to offer its own way of shining.  For the Cruze it is fuel economy and range (570 miles!), for the Dodge Dart it is passenger volume (which comes at the cost of being the largest car here), and for the Ford Focus, it is power-to-weight ratio (it is the lightest by a large margin).

Quarterfinal Bracket #1 Winner: 2013 Chevrolet Cruze 1LT Manual

All-Wheel Drive SUV's over $50,000

This is a segment that I'm not altogether familiar with, so I'm expecting this to be an interesting and enlightening look at AWD SUV's over $50,000.  Of course I'll be using my trusty side-kick, The Vehicle For Me, which let's me filter down to just the vehicles I want to look at.

For this test, since there are so many vehicles available above the $50K price point, I'm going to use my filters until I get down to about ten.  If I'm spending that kind of money I will expect built-in navigation and some sweet HID headlights.  That leaves us with ten vehicles, of which there is a good mix of makes, including Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Lincoln, Jeep, Infiniti, and Porsche.  My priorities are of course going to include power and torque, as well as tow rating, cargo space, and ground clearance.

Link to Comparison Page

There is a lot to take in here, but I think the one thing we can all agree on is that the Porsche Cayenne is the clear winner.  Which is great up until you factor in the sticker shock.  The 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is our 2nd place finisher and it isn't too shabby, especially for almost $50,000 less than the Porsche.  The Porsche wins or comes in close on just about every priority we care about, including power, torque, ground clearance, tow rating, and surprisingly, even fuel economy (which was not listed as a priority).  The only downside is of course the cost.

The Jeep comes in at 70% to the Porsche's 87% (this is one of the highest scores I've seen yet), and comes close in terms of power-to-weight ratio and even cargo space (which it wins), but has a surprisingly low ground clearance, not a whole lot of interior room, and pretty poor fuel economy.  It is the value pick for this group though, available for a low low price of $60K, so if you're looking for a reasonably priced and insanely powerful SUV this one might fit the bill.

The Cadillac Escalade comes in at a distant third (58%) and seems to focus more on passenger volume and interior space more than anything else.  However, it has the highest tow rating out of all ten vehicles, which is surprising given how much less torque it has than the Porsche (100 ft-lbs less!).  It also is the highest rated car to seat seven, rather than five.  So if you have more than a few kids or need to haul around your giant yacht, then this is probably the truck for you.

1st - 2013 Porsche Cayenne

2nd - 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 4x4

3rd - 2013 Cadillac Escalade Luxury AWD

Crossovers under $20,000

I'm more of a wagon guy, myself, but I was curious what the budget crossover market looked like these days.  It turns out, it isn't looking like a whole lot.  Using my site, The Vehicle For Me, I was able to do a search for all crossovers under $20,000, and it came up with five possibilities:  The 2013 Nissan Juke, 2013 Toyota Matrix, 2012 Dodge Caliber, 2012 Suzuki SX4 Crossover, and 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport.  So only two out of the five vehicles listed have a current model year available, the other three have either been discontinued or the pricing is now above $20K.

But let's see what happens when we compare these vehicles using some priorities that budget-minded crossover shoppers would be thinking about.  First of all, I think many people in this market are either folks who want a higher clearance AWD vehicle for offroading or folks who want a wagon-like experience with a bit more utility.  With that said, I'm going to focus on cargo space, ground clearance, passenger volume, and low-end torque.

Link to Comparison Page

The 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport looks to be miles ahead of the competition here, scoring a 74% compared to the 2013 Nissan Juke at 59%.  At the top of the comparison table, the Nissan Juke looks to be the clear winner with its massively better power and low-end torque, which decimates the competition.  Unfortunately, what the Juke has in power and torque it gives up in passenger space and cargo volume, where it comes in last.  Interestingly, despite having the most power, the Juke also has the best fuel economy.

The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport looks to be a general all-around good solution for a budget crossover.  While it is one of the least powerful vehicles here, it makes up for that in livability, with best-in-class ground clearance and cargo space, and is nearly the best in passenger space.  Indeed, it wins in most categories where interior space is concerned, though to be fair it is also the largest (in exterior volume) of the vehicles here.

Coming in third and fourth are the 2012 Dodge Caliber and 2012 Suzuki SX4 Crossover respectively, which are actually not that far behind the Juke in terms of points.  Indeed, the Caliber actually beats out the Juke in terms of points per dollar, due to it's slightly smaller MSRP.  It also is very similar to the Outlander Sport in terms of focusing more on interior space than power, though it doesn't really shine in either category.  It also has the worst fuel economy by far.  The Suzuki SX4, aside from being the least expensive option, doesn't have a whole lot to offer aside from a good deal of passenger space, which it offsets by losing some cargo space.

Coming in last place, the Toyota Matrix can really only very generously be considered a crossover.  It has a significantly lower ground clearance and weight than the other vehicles here, and while it is definitely competitive in most of our priorities, it does lose out on power, which it severely lacks.  But if that isn't as important to you then this quickly becomes a more attractive option.

1st - 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport

2nd - 2013 Nissan Juke

3rd - 2012 Dodge Caliber

A look at some custom priorities

In doing these posts and in working on The Vehicle For Me, I've found a need for more than just the basic specs to use as priorities.  Horsepower and MPG and front legroom are extremely useful factors in understanding a set of vehicles, but sometimes I want to get a more complete picture.  That's why I have added some "calculated" priorities.  As of today these are total exterior volume, percent passenger to exterior volume, and mpg & power.  I'll go over each of these now.

Total Exterior Volume
We already have the Passenger Volume spec, which is all the available volume inside a car minus trunk/cargo space.  Total Exterior Volume is calculated by multiplying the exterior length, width, and height of the car.  This is a good way to find out which cars are smaller than others, or larger if that's what you're looking for.  This volume is measured in cubic feet.

Percent Passenger to Exterior Volume
I thought it would be an interesting thing to see the ratio of passenger volume to total exterior volume as a percentage, and that is what this is.  I am interested in this mostly in an academic sense as a way of measure efficiency of design.  A higher percentage here shows that the manufacturer was able to eke out more interior space from a smaller exterior volume, and that seems like a good thing to me.

MPG & Power
There is a perpetual battle between horsepower, weight, and fuel economy, and that push and pull is what I'm trying to capture in this metric.  I generate this by multiplying power-to-weight ratio and city and highway fuel economy, where a higher number is better.  For cars from different segments and body styles, this may not be a great way of comparing, but when you're looking at similar vehicles, it can be useful to see which ones have struck the best balance between MPG and power.

Are there any other calculated metrics you guys are interested in?  I'm always open to suggestions.

A minivan for us all

In this entry I will be looking for the best minivan a soccer mom (or dad) could want.  For my search I will filter out anything with less than seating for seven.  And I of course will be using my website, The Vehicle For Me for comparison help.

So let's see what I get with the Minivan segment and seating for seven.  There is the 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan, the 2013 Nissan Quest, the 2013 Toyota Sienna, the 2013 Honda Odyssey, the 2013 Chrysler Town & Country, and the 2012 Volkswagen Routan.  I chose low to mid-level trims for each vehicle.

My priorities for this comparison are cargo space, passenger volume, city/highway mpg, maximum range, power-to-weight ratio, and total exterior volume, because I want the maximum space, fuel economy and power in the smallest package.

Link to Comparison Page

And the Toyota Sienna wins by a large margin!  Let's dig into it and see where its strengths lie.  Interestingly, while the Sienna does have the most cargo space by a large margin, it actually doesn't win in any other category.  But it does well enough (usually placing 2nd or 3rd) that it is able to overcome it's less even competitors.  Indeed, the Sienna seems to be a good all-around vehicle.  Not the best at anything really, but very competent regardless of how you look at it.

The Honda Odyssey comes in second at 73%, and while most of it's attributes lag behind the Sienna, it makes up for it in fuel economy and maximum range, where it tops all competitors with a close to 600 mile range!  It also sports a pretty decent amount of cargo space and interior volume, but is one of the lower power vehicles in the comparison.

The Volkswagon Routan comes in third, just behind the Odyssey in points, and also the most expensive of the top three.  Overall, it is the smallest of all the vehicles here, but ironically one of the heaviest, so it doesn't do as well as it could in either fuel economy or power-to-weight numbers.  And compared to the prices of the other models here, it is one of the worst values.

The Dodge Grand Caravan and Nissan Quest get honorable mentions here.  The Grand Caravan is the cheapest vehicle here, and also the one with the most power, while the Nissan really shines with interior passenger volume and city mpg.

1st - 2013 Toyota Sienna LE FWD V6

2nd - 2013 Honda Odyssey EX

3rd - 2012 Volkswagen Routan SE

2013 Honda Accord vs. 2013 Toyota Camry

Today I'll be comparing two of the most popular small cars available.  Just like my previous comparison between the 2013 Honda Civic and 2013 Toyota Corolla, this entry will look at the competing offerings Toyota and Honda have just above that sub-compact segment.  Full disclosure here, I have owned both a Honda Civic and a Honda Accord in the past, and right now I own a Honda Fit.  However, while there may be a bit of a bias on my part between the two manufacturers, I promise the numbers will not lie.

So let's move on to the competition!  Of course for this I will be using my trusty website, The Vehicle For Me, and instead of just choosing one trim for each model, I will choose a base trim, a mid-level trim, and the most premium trim, which will leave me with six trims to compare.  Regarding priorities, these will be similar as in the Civic vs. Corolla entry: cargo space, power, fuel economy, legroom, and passenger volume

Link to Comparison Page

The results here are pretty interesting, so what I'll do is look at the results for each trim level.

Base Trim

Toyota's base trim, the Camry L, runs a fairly close second to Honda's LX Sedan MT, with 79% and 83% scores respectively.  Comparing the two, the Accord wins in cargo space, power-to-weight ratio, passenger volume and front legroom, while the Camry wins in city and highway mpg and rear legroom, which is just enough for the Accord to squeak by.  Interestingly, you can see the choices each manufacturer made here.  The Accord at this level has slightly more power and space at the expense of some fuel economy, whereas the Camry makes the opposite choice, going for fuel economy above all else.  The differences are fairly minor between the two cars, but you may want to think about what is really important to you, but the Accord is also about $500 cheaper at this trim level.

Mid-Level Trim

It is much the same story at this trim level.  The Accord EX CVT gets a score of 81% whereas the Camry XLE gets a score of 74%.  These are about as premium a trim as you can get before jumping up to the much more expensive V6 engines.  At these trim levels, the Accord wins in cargo space, front legroom, and city and highway mpg (most likely thanks to the CVT transmission).  The Camry wins in passenger volume and rear legroom, and ties the Accord in power-to-weight ratio.  The picture here is a little bit muddier than at the lower level trim, and again it is very dependent on what your actual priorities are.  It is close enough here that I might actually lean towards the Camry for it's $500 lower price, despite the fact that it loses in total points to the Accord.

V6 Premium Trim

Here I've chosen the top-level V6 trims, and here the Camry starts to shine a little, just barely outdoing it's competitor in total points.  Indeed, the Camry earns 1714 total points and the Accord earns 1711 total points, which is really quite close.  Here, the Camry wins in power-to-weight ratio, passenger volume, and rear legroom, while the Accord wins in cargo space, front legroom, and highway mpg.  You end up paying an extra three grand for the privilege of driving the Accord though, so I really do have to give it up to the Camry here for achieving the same numbers for a lower price.  Both vehicles have similar horsepower and torque, with the Accord edging it out, but the Camry is light enough to make up the difference and then some.

Overall this is a much closer race than with the Civic and Corolla, and I'll leave it to you to make your own decision about which is better.  What are your priorities?

A look at luxury wagons

This post is part of a series of entries looking at one particular segment and body style, and seeing what the state of the market is by using The Vehicle For Me.  This entry is looking at the luxury wagon market.

This is the segment for folks who need the practicality of a wagon but still want a fun and luxurious car to drive.  Looking at our options in the filter, there really isn't a whole lot to choose from, especially if you rule out the defunct Saab 9-3 SportCombi and Audi A4 Avant.  What we're left with is the 2013 Cadlilac CTS Sport Wagon, 2013 Audi allroad, 2013 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Wagon, and 2013 BMW 3-Series Sports Wagon.  I've picked a variety of trims ranging from around $39K to $57K.

I've chosen what I think are the priorities someone in this segment would have, including cargo space, power, passenger volume, front/rear legroom, and fuel economy.  Let's see what we have.

Link to Comparison Page

The Cadillac takes a decisive win here, mostly due to its excellent power to weight ratio and interior space.  While the Caddy is the heaviest of the four vehicles here, it also has the most power and torque, enough to give it the victory for power-to-weight ratio.  It also does well with front and legroom, as well as passenger volume and cargo space.

In second place comes the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Wagon, which seems to be going for the same market as the Cadillac, but doesn't seem to be doing as well a job, and even then charges quite a premium.  The Audi, coming in third place, seems like a good option for those that don't need all that crazy power but still want a good amount of cargo space and fuel economy.  The BMW 3-Series seems a little out of place here, being sized a bit more like a hatchback.  It is the smallest and lightest vehicle here, but it just doesn't have enough horsepower to bring it up to the power-to-weight ratios of the Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz.  Indeed, you would need about 265hp in the BMW to close in on the power-to-weight ratios of the aforementioned wagons.

The Cadillac is the obvious winner here (unless you can't stomach the idea of a domestic), and even comes in cheaper trims that still out-do the rest of the vehicles!