Compact Cars

Sam from ‘Sam CarLegion’ uploaded a video of an Audi S3 taking on a Mercedes-AMG A35 on his YouTube channel. Both the cars feature a four-pot turbo engine and an all-wheel-drive system, but the A35 is slightly more powerful on paper. Do you think this will play a role in the end result, or will the S3 be able to take down the A35?

Just as Christmas is finally ready to descend on our weary but grateful souls, automakers left and right have been on a commercial rampage, touting their models in TVCs with the hope of getting some Youtube love. Mercedes-Benz isn’t immune to such strategies and the company proved as much by releasing the “Silent Night” commercial promoting the C350 e Plug-In Hybrid’s ability to balance its gas engine and electric motor.

The commercial starts off in a snowy landscape, capturing a downtrodden man pulling a recently cut-down Christmas tree. Before any of us can feel bad for the poor dude, the scene immediately shifts to the C 350 e Plug-In Hybrid speeding along and lugging its own tree, while rock music starts blaring. Care to guess where this is going? A few quality angles go by and the hybrid sedan passes a sign that says “Elektra”. Just as quickly, the music stops and the car goes eerily quiet as the lights go up in a surprisingly desolate Christmas village. This is Mercedes’ way of showcasing the aforementioned hybrid technology on the sedan, because as soon as the C 350 e Plug-In Hybrid exits the village, it roars back to life as it speeds past a rock band playing a rock version of “Silent Night”.

It’s not the best car commercial I’ve seen this holiday season, but for the purposes of getting its message across, I’d say that Mercedes accomplished that.

Note: This article was originally posted for Christmas 2015, but we stumbled across it in our archives and wanted to share it again. Enjoy!

Being the most compact VW SUV you can buy right now, we are genuinely surprised by how good the Taos is. While the Tiguan was the most compact till now, the Taos, being the smallest, is surprisingly comfy in the rear which, in our opinion, is quite rare in this segment. It is decently powerful, packs a good amount of cabin and driver assistance features while holding a cheap price tag of $22,995. So, what do you get for that price?

You probably know by now Toyota’s electric vehicle (EV) plans for the future, which includes 16 new EVs in the near term. By 2030, Toyota (including Lexus) will have a total of 30 EVs, and that includes this interesting concept that looks like an electric FJ Cruiser.

The Subaru XV/Crosstrek is arguably one of the pioneers of the small SUV segment. Back then, the Impreza-based crossover SUV was ahead of its time with barely any other vehicle competing in this segment. It eventually became one of Subaru’s best-sellers in this crossover-hungry world. Fast forward to 2021, and Subaru is already celebrating 10 years of the XV/Crosstrek nameplate by unveiling a special edition model exclusive to the Japanese market.

The first generation of the Subaru Impreza debuted in 1992, which means that the compact all-wheel drive (AWD) car will be in its 30th year in 2022. As a way to celebrate, Subaru is unveiling the new Impreza Black Accent Edition that’s limited to Japan.

You probably don’t remember the Kia Carens. It was last sold in August 2010 due to MPVs being unpopular in the United States. The Carens still went on sale as the Rondo in Canada, but only until the 2017 model year, yet again a victim of SUVs and crossovers.

Toyota and Lexus recently unveiled 16 upcoming electric vehicles (EVs), and this includes the RZ. As a reminder, the Lexus RZ is not the company’s first EV. That would be the UX 300e, but this will be the first Lexus model to ride on a dedicated EV platform,

When you think of 1980s Mercedes-Benz cars, you probably think of the bulletproof W124-generation or maybe its smaller brother, the 190E (W201), also known as the “Baby Benz”. But what you probably didn’t know is that, in the 1990s, a tuning company called Schulz took a Mercedes 190E and turned it into the first Mercedes hatchback, way before the A-Class and BMW 1 Series. It’s called the Mercedes 190E Stadt (City).

The 2021 season of Formula 1 recently concluded with a new champion. Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing Honda effectively ended the streak of Mercedes-AMG Petronas’ Lewis Hamilton, albeit in a controversial fashion. But that’s a story for another day. What we have here is a chance for you to own his Honda Civic Type R.

The guys at Edmunds recently had a chance to pit the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance against the popular Tesla Model Y Performance in a series of quarter-mile drag races and a roll race.

The Audi SQ5 is already a significant upgrade over the base Q5. For example, customers in the States will get a significant upgrade of an extra 100 horsepower when choosing the SQ5 over the base Q5. In Europe, though, there are a lot of tuners that will find ways to make this difference even bigger. The last one to do so is ABT Sportsline, who is offering an upgrade kit for the SQ5 TDI - both standard and Sportback versions.