Friday Fleet Notes: 10.12.07

They may not be the sexiest of test vehicles, but a few of us got to check out two important entries for their respective brands. One other staffer also discovered why the Mini Cooper S is so beloved when it returned to our fleet for a short time after topping our Top 10 Urban Cars list.

Suzuki SX4 Sport

• I’d driven the SX4 Crossover before with the automatic transmission and thought it was OK, but not great. The SX4 Sport with a manual transmission was a lot more fun to drive. I didn’t push it, but it was reasonably peppy away from stop signs and, given its small size, decent over rough pavement. The large A-pillar didn’t bother me, but it did bother Mike Hanley when he had the car for a much longer time than I did, so it’s something to check out. (I really liked the little window in the A-pillar, though it’s more of a decorative than functional thing. It’d be even better if it were an old-fashioned vent window.) Sedans aren’t my thing, but I left the SX4 Sport hoping I’d get the chance to put its Crossover brother, with a manual, to the Weekend Athlete test. — William Jackson, Buying Guides editor

• I just reviewed the Nissan Versa sedan and was looking forward to comparing the two since they’re so similar. I immediately found the front seats of the SX4 more comfortable than the Versa’s. They both have similar interior room and quality materials. The SX4 loses out to the Versa in the engine department; they’re similarly powered, but the Versa manages to feel more peppy. The SX4 also doesn’t have folding rear seats, like the Versa does, but I would take the looks of the SX4 and its standard 17-inch wheels over the Versa’s funky exterior any day. It would be a close call for me between the two. Oh, as for the funky portal windows, I’m kind of between Bill and Mike on the issue. I think you’d get used to them over time, but at first they’re distracting. — David Thomas, KickingTires editor

I drove the Taurus X a couple weeks before the Taurus sedan, which gave me a chance to weigh some of the finer differences between the two.  A couple of thoughts: First, the Taurus’ interior feels a step above that of the Taurus X. The X has some interesting design elements, but it replaces the sedan’s soft-touch surfaces with hard plastic, and, as Joe noted in his review, a few panels – like the cover for the airbag and glove compartment — seemed crooked. The Taurus sedan loses points for style — this dashboard looks circa 2000 — but the materials and build quality seem appreciably better.

Second, Ford’s upsized V-6 loses some gusto in the Taurus X. The sedan pulls its weight around without skipping a beat, but the X can still run out of breath on the highway – more than its roughly 280 extra pounds of weight when compared to the Taurus would suggest. At times the six-speed automatic feels like a four-speed, resisting downshifts until the pedal is halfway to the floor. I never drove the Freestyle, which had a smaller V-6, but I can only imagine how pokey it must have felt. Not that all is bad: The second and third rows have tons of room, and the crossover’s safety record is impeccable. Bah, who are we kidding? It’s a wagon, plain and simple. — Kelsey Mays, Cars.com reviewer

When I lived on the North Side of Chicago, I routinely spent at least 20 minutes driving up and down streets in a half-mile radius around my apartment every time I came home in my Honda Civic, trying to find a place to leave the little guy — a little less on good days, a lot more on bad ones.

Granted, I could park my Civic coupe in places many cars couldn’t fit, but before I found one of those spots I would invariably pass one that made me say, “If I had a Mini, I could park there.” So when we had a Cooper S in the fleet, I figured I’d go test my theory.

I headed up north and quickly found one of those spots, pulled up in front of it and backed right in. What? Way too easy. So I pulled out in search of a smaller one. Ditto. I got out to make sure this wasn’t a case of my poor spatial estimation skills tricking me into thinking an average spot was a small one, but nope; this car is just tiny.

Happily, though, it doesn’t feel tiny from the driver’s seat. There’s plenty of room, and visibility was good. Really, though, the best part of the Cooper S is the S: This car is fun to drive. There’s a six-speed manual transmission, a turbocharged engine and very precise steering. Rapid acceleration in this car — in those rare times when traffic clears up enough to allow it — is a blast.

There are some goofy things, like the power window and lock buttons being placed in the center console (hey, Mini, if it ain’t broke…), and some user-unfriendly/Mini-expected things, like the tiniest cargo space I’ve ever seen under a hatch and a backseat only the shortest of adults will be comfortable in. But hey, if you’re looking for practicality, just think of all the extra parking spaces that will suddenly become available to you. You’ll be king of the urban jungle — that is, until Smart ForTwos start flooding the streets. — Beth Palmer, copy editor

Related
2008 Suzuki SX4 Sport Expert Review (Cars.com)
More Suzuki News (KickingTires)
2008 Ford Taurus X Expert Review (Cars.com)
More Ford News (KickingTires)
2007 Mini Cooper S Expert Review (Cars.com)
More Mini News (KickingTires)
Top 10 Urban Cars (Cars.com)