Drew Dowdell

For reference, the Soul with the 1.6T and 7-speed DCT is $28k. So I don't see it showing up in a Venue for that price.

Would you say the same about the C-Class with the base 4-cylinder? 241hp at 5500 RPM. The Q60, with a 208 hp Turbo-4? The XTS V-Sport with 410hp and AWD? Just because they're rear-wheel drive doesn't make them a sport sedan. The Maxima is faster and has FWD and a CVT. The K900 is rear wheel drive and is a boat. So I guess what I'm asking is... what about the Alpha makes it a sport sedan? (I'm not taking Dfelt's side here on the application of it on the CT5, I haven't driven it yet). Suspension tuning is changeable and not platform specific.

Have to look at these things with price in mind, it's an adjustment I have to make when I literally step out of a Corsair and then into a Venue. Compared to the Kicks and Ecosport, this has a superior interior. The Soul and Renegade (which is meant to get muddy) are about on the same level. The Renegade has some better engine choices and AWD available. The Ecosport... well... here's how a conversation with my Aunt who was renting one went: "I see you got an Ecosport as your rental. How do you like it?".... "Well.... I don't". Her daily is a '16 Outback. The 90s shifter looks very Saab-like.

Lots of things are called sport sedans that aren't. Toyota has been referring to the Avalon as a sport sedan for a number of years now. The term gets over-used.

Recession-era design.

As soon as the Edge moves to the new Explorer platform, so maybe not for another year or so. MKC got a one year only makeover, so if Ford really wants to push the models out, they could have the new Edge and Nautilus waiting in the wings (cough) already.

Arguably, one of the most important reveals at the New York Auto Show is the Hyundai Venue. The Venue is Hyundai’s smallest crossover slotting in just below the Kona. With a price starting somewhere in the $17k - $18k range, it will also likely be the most prolific of the cars unveiled this week. The Venue’s main competition is the Nissan Kicks, Kia Soul, Jeep Renegade, and Ford EcoSport. Outside, the Venue sits perky and upright, it will be the shortest length crossover on the market when it goes on sale in the fall. In spite of its diminutive size, it manages to look more premium than it is. It’s about 5 inches shorter than the Hyundai Kona which sits just above it in Hyundai’s lineup. It has a deep set grill with a complex crosshatch pattern that gives an expensive look. The split light clusters add visual height to the front, making it look more truck-like. There are a contrasting color roof and mirror covers. I like the looks of the alloy wheels too. In back, a good size hatch opens to 19 cubic feet of cargo room that expands to 32 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. Hyundai even put some work into making the tail lamps display a unique Z pattern. Inside, the Venue really shines. The upright dash is covered in a soft rubberized material. The seats have a denim-like look to them and they offer a good seating position for the driver. There are options on the upper trim to have the front and rear seats heated. Front legroom seemed a little tight, and I would need to move the seat back far enough that an adult probably couldn’t sit behind me. Rear seat legroom is tight, and I struggled slightly to get in and out. The rear seat is rather flat and park-bench-like. It is unlikely that if you are any taller than my 5’10” that you will be comfortable with the headroom. All of the controls are in easy reach. The primary HVAC controls are three large simple round dials. An 8-inch touch screen sits high on the center stack and only pops up about an inch over the dash. My experience with Hyundai’s infotainment systems has been mixed, but the car was off when I visited, so I didn’t get the chance to try it. Either way, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay come standard, so as long as you’re happy with those, it should just work. Hyundai is offering the Venue in just two trims, SE and SEL, and a single engine option, a 1.6 liter 4-cylinder. This engine will produce an estimated 121 horsepower and 113 lb-ft of torque. Like the Soul and Kicks, there is no all-wheel-drive option offered. Power is sent to the front wheels either via a CVT or a six-speed manual transmission. Hyundai is hoping to get an EPA combined rating of 33 mpg. Tiny crossovers have become the 1990's hatchback of the twenty-teens. The Venue, Kicks, Soul, Renegade, and others offer crossover versatility in a city-sized package. Unlike those old hatchbacks which could be penalty boxes, my overall impression is that the Venue isn’t a car you buy just because it is cheap, but because you actually like it. It is a handsome, perky little package that looks more premium than it really is and offers a host of standard and optional safety features that some lack in the segment. Given that the Venue is likely to take the title of the most affordable crossover and do it while looking this good puts Hyundai in a great position. Read our other First Impressions from the New York International Auto Show below: First Impressions: 2020 Lincoln Corsair First Impressions: 2020 Ford Escape View full article

See, this is my experience too in my Encore. The A/C seems to be causing more drag on the engine than in other cars. Using A/C is the difference between up to a 4mpg difference for me. I just did a Pittsburgh - DC - NJ - NYC - Philly - Pittsburgh trip. On some of the legs, it was cool enough outside that I was able to just use the vents and manually turn off the A/C. My fuel economy went up to 34mpg on those legs. When I had to use A/C, it would drop to around 30. This is off the DIC of course. I kept it at the speed limit pretty much the whole trip as I already know that my MPGs drop a lot above 70 mph.

This is pretty disappointing, but glad they still did it. It would be too high a price for me.

One of the most anticipated releases of the New York International Auto Show was the 2020 Lincoln Corsair. The Corsair is the replacement for the Lincoln MKC, and with that, Lincoln has only two MK vehicles left in production, the MKT which is surprisingly still in production, and the MKZ which may go away once the Ford Fusion dies out. Lincoln upgraded the MKX to Nautilus for 2019. That same year, the MKC got a refresh to look more like the rest of the Lincoln lineup for the 2019 model year only and that was an evolutionary step to the Corsair we see today. To say that the Corsair is a step up from the MKC is probably an understatement. Though similar in exterior form, the Corsair wears its styling in a much more confident fashion. It is more upright and assertive a look than the outgoing MKC. While the Corsair shares a platform with the 2020 Ford Escape (My first impressions of the 2020 Escape here), this isn’t a simple badge job as all the sheet metal is different, and though they share the same wheelbase, the Lincoln is longer and wider than the Ford. While originally derided as derivative, the big Lincoln grille is really coming into its own as a signature look. I’m glad that Lincoln has kept at it and not listened to critics of the look. The full-width tail lamps also are a continued improvement, this time reminding me of the Lincoln Continental. The overall look is a much more cohesive design than the MKC which could look like a design compromise from some angles. The Corsair deserves the award for “Most Improved Interior”. While the MKC was never a bad design, it hasn't aged well and still had some recession-era components. This new interior looks well above its class. While I detected some areas of cost-cutting on door panels and lower trim, nothing seemed out of line for the class and the excellence of the styling will let most people overlook it. I am a big fan of Lincoln’s interior styling direction and they are greatly outpacing crosstown rival Cadillac in that department. There is the “stuck on iPad” look of the infotainment system, but such is life in most vehicles these days. The infotainment system runs Sync3 which I’ve had good experiences with in the past. Lincoln’s toggle button shift control and the pod of buttons that reaches out from the dash feels almost like a 1950’s steampunk spaceship (that is a compliment). Front seating position seems just right and the leg room in the 2nd row is what I would expect from this class. It’s adjustable too, as the second row can slide 6 inches fore and aft to give more cargo room or more legroom as needed. I clock in at 5’10” and found there to be more than enough headroom. Lincoln’s 24-way adjustable seats take a while to get set up, but once you do, they feel great. Both the 2.0T and 2.3T from the MKC carry over, though the 2.3 has been tweaked slightly to add a bit more torque (Now 280 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque) and both come with an 8-speed automatic. Neither engine is a bad choice and should move the Corsair along with zest. A plug-in hybrid variant is coming. All-Wheel drive is optional on the 2.0 and standard on the 2.3. The AWD system is able to decouple the rear axle in order to save fuel and recouple it when traction is needed. Up to 100% of the torque can be directed to the rear. Hopefully, the 8-speed automatic and decoupling AWD will improve the only average fuel economy of 20/27 city/highway that the MKC gets, but if not, at least there will be better performance. Corsair will likely start around $35,000, which makes it a better value than the smaller and less powerful Cadillac XT4 that starts around the same price. It will also likely be a better value than anything coming from Europe. The most direct competition, in both size and price, will come from the Acura RDX, Infiniti QX50, and Lexus NX. I expect the Corsair to do well against them. The Corsair will be in dealerships by the Fall. The Lincoln Corsair Gallery has been updated with shots from the show floor. View full article

Does anyone else notice a big drop in fuel economy when using the air conditioning? For people with automatic climate control do you ever manually turn off the air conditioner?

You have a point there.

You're mixing things up. I prefer larger displacement engines to small ones of similar output. 5-10 lbft here and there don't really matter.