23 Cheapest Cars of 2009

Thinking about buying a new cheap car? We haven’t just assembled a list of 2009’s cheapest cars, we’re going out of our way to review them first hand. There’s one thing we can say so far; the cheapest cars of our time have come a long way from the days of the Pinto, Vega, Gremlin, and Yugo.

Although we’ve only had the chance to put less then half of cars on the list through an exhaustive week-long test drive (so far), we aim to have most (if not all) of the cheapest cars reviewed by mid-2009. Properly reviewing cars – while producing video reports – is a rather time-intensive process (no matter whether the cars are cheap or not). Our goal isn’t to shower you with flowery words and the personal preferences of the reviewer … we’d rather put you in the driver’s seat with a real-world perspective of what it’s like to live with each car.

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Mini E Racing Series

What the world needs right now is a new kind of racing. Electric car racing … not in a straight line, but through the twisty bits. BMW would do well to follow Volkswagen’s lead (with their successful Jetta TDI Cup program) and create a racing series for the Mini E. Imagine a Mini E racing … Read more

Mini E Field Trial Application Filed!

When Mini sent the news about opening up the Mini E Field Trial application this morning, I jumped right on it. The email didn’t sit in my inbox for long. I immediately applied to become a Mini-E test driver. The honor of leasing a cutting-edge full-electric Mini E is only being extended to folks that live in the NY/NJ or LA metro areas. Chalk this up as yet another reason I’m glad I live in New Jersey (just don’t bring up the topic of taxes).

While I won’t share all the secrets of the Mini E Field Trial application process, I will say that it’s a Flash-based application that eats up all available monitor real estate. Needless to say, it was pretty cool to see the silver and yellow Mini E take over my iMac’s 24-inch screen. The application was fairly exhaustive (but fun), and took roughly an hour to complete.

I have my fingers crossed that we’ll be among the 500 people chosen to field test the Mini E for a year’s time. The Mini E is, without a doubt, one of the coolest transportation developments ever. This is a research project like no other and a remarkable chance to help make history.

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Suzuki SX4 Crossover MPG Review

Suzuki SX4 Crossover MPG-o-Matic 2009 Suzuki SX4 Review Summary: The 2009 Suzuki SX4 Crossover shined like a little gem in our week-long review, with a long list of features, AWD, plenty of character, and a entry-level price the budget-conscious will love.

The Suzuki SX4 Crossover competes primarily with the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe, along with a host of Subarus in the entry-level AWD market. The five-door hatchback SX4 Crossover is billed as the most affordable AWD in America.

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GM’s Opel/Vauxhall Insignia: 49 MPG Highway

When word slid over the transom that the Opel / Vauxhall Insignia had snatched the European Car of the Year (ECOTY) award from the Ford Fiesta by a single point, we had to go and do some digging.

Both the Insignia and Fiesta romped over the competition, with point tallies nearly 50% higher then the nearest competitor. It’s not hard to see why. The Insignia is a strikingly designed sedan (the body style is known as a “saloon” on the other side of the pond). The Times Online called the sedan “sleek, curvaceous and cleverly proportioned.”

vauxhall insignia

vauxhall insignia interior Credit crunch aside, GM is in dire straits due to an insufficient variety of fuel-efficient vehicles for the American market. The irony is that GM designs vehicles in Europe that could help rebuild sales here in America. While the trend is well underway to bring those vehicles to our shores, the pace must be hastened and significant tweaks must be made.

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