2005 Honda Cr-v Lx Sport Utility 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Best sport sedans for 2022 and 2023

SUVs dominate the car industry at every size and price level, but some people still prefer the looks, and more importantly, the performance and comfort, of the traditional sedan. With a lower ride height, lighter weight and generally smaller size, they often are much more fun to drive, and can even be more comfortable. Sport sedans of course lean harder on the performance side of things, and are among the best options for sheer speed and fun, thanks to those inherent characteristics. We've rounded up the ones in the segment that do the sporty dance better than any others in 2024 to give you a handy guide when you're shopping for one of your own. You'll find a wide array of cars here including gas, electric and hybrid powertrains. They'll have manual and automatic transmissions and drive the front, rear or all four wheels. Technically a few hatchbacks have slipped in, but they're close enough in look and feel that we wanted to include them. And excluding them means you might miss out on some of the best-driving options available. You wouldn't want that, would you? Alfa Romeo Giulia Why it stands out: Punchy four-cylinder; astounding power from Quadrifoglio; light and nimble character; awesome shift paddlesCould be better: Clunky infotainment; sub-par switchgear Read our Alfa Romeo Giulia review We start this list with one of the most predictable inclusions: the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Yes, it's a stereotype that the Italian sport sedan is fun to drive, but the fact is, well, it is. The Giulia comes standard with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 280 horsepower, making it one of the most powerful four-cylinders in the segment. It's paired with a snappy and smooth eight-speed transmission and either rear-wheel or all-wheel drive.  The engine is lively and torquey, if a little short of revs, and the chassis feels super-light. The steering is eager and the car jumps into corners. We also highly recommend getting a version with the enormous and superb aluminum paddle shifters that make clicking through gears much more entertaining. And on the topic of the interior, it's attractive, but the various switches and knobs feels a little cheap, and the infotainment system is clunky. Of course there's also the incredible Giulia Quadrifoglio at the high end. It gets a Ferrari-derived twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 making 505 hp, and it's rear-wheel drive only.

2016 Honda HR-V scores class-leading 35 mpg

Smaller cars generally net better fuel economy ratings, and while crossovers aren't generally as efficient as hatchbacks and small sedans, smaller crossovers are getting better EPA ratings all the time. The latest to join the pack is the new 2016 Honda HR-V. The US Environmental Protection Agency has just released its ratings for the littlest Honda crossover, and the figures are pretty impressive. In front-wheel-drive form with the optional continuously variable transmission, the HR-V is rated at 28 miles per gallon in the city, 35 on the highway and 31 combined. Those figures make it the most economical conventionally powered SUV on the market. (The EPA doesn't distinguish between truck-based sport-utes and car-based crossovers) Among crossovers, the FWD HR-V outperforms the Nissan Juke, Kia Soul, Chevrolet Trax, Buick Encore... the whole lot. Only the Mazda CX-5 matches it on the highway rating, which is noteworthy since it's a much bigger vehicle. Along with the forthcoming Fiat 500X and Jeep Renegade, Mazda's nearly here CX-3 hasn't been rated yet (we predict it will score better than the HR-V, if only to improve on the fuel economy ratings of its larger CX-5 counterpart). Of course, there are hybrids that get better ratings than the Honda, but comparing a hybrid to a conventional vehicle is like comparing apples to electrically charged oranges. Naturally, the picture changes a bit if you go for all-wheel drive or the available six-speed manual. In AWD spec (only available with the CVT), the HR-V gets 27 city, 32 highway and 29 combined. The front-driver with the six-speed suffers a worse fate at 25 city, 34 highway and 28 combined. No matter which way you slice it, of course, the Fit hatchback upon which the HR-V is based, with its CVT hooked up to a smaller engine and with less weight to motivate, still sips fuel more lightly than the HR-V. But as far as crossovers go, Honda's new HR-V is looking pretty frugal. Featured Gallery 2016 Honda HR-V View 25 Photos News Source: EPAImage Credit: Honda Green Honda Crossover honda hr-v

New Land Rover Defender aces Euro crash tests

While the 2020 Land Rover Defender has not yet been crash-test by U.S. safety agencies such as NHTSA or IIHS, we do now have results for Europe's NCAP crash tests and accident-avoidance tests, where the Defender earned the top rating of five stars. The Defender model used for NCAP testing was the 110 variant with right-hand drive. The NCAP regimen includes several different crash tests: an offset front crash test into a moveable barrier with both the vehicle and the barrier traveling at 50 km/hr (31 mph), a front crash test into a full-width fixed barrier at 50 km/hr (31 mph), a side-impact crash test with a barrier traveling at 60 km/hr (37 mph) hitting the driver's door, and a side-impact test where the car strikes a pole at 32 km/hr (20 mph). The Defender's scores for the adult occupant and for a child occupant were both 85%. Additionally, the agency looks at the severity of injuries of the vehicle striking a pedestrian, taking data for a pedestrian's head hitting the hood, and their upper and lower leg being hit by the front of the vehicle. There is also testing of the vehicle's automatic emergency braking system's ability to avoiding hitting a pedestrian and a cyclist under various scenarios. The efficacy of active-safety systems for avoiding collisions with other vehicles is also tested. The Defender's score for protecting pedestrians and cyclists was 71%. The driver assists scored 79%. Results for several European-market cars were released together with those for the Defender, the most noteworthy of which was for the Honda E. The electric city car fared less well than the big Land Rover, garnering a score of four stars overall. In the same battery of test, the Honda E scored 76% for adult occupant protection, 82% for a child occupant, 62% for protecting pedestrians and cyclists, and 65% for its driver assists. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.