Comments by "Stephen Hendricks" (@stephenhendricks103) on "Kirk Kreifels" channel.

  1. I think self-styled automotive "enthusiasts" often underestimate the challenge of designing a vehicle like the Civic. An automobile that isn't necessarily the best on any one checkbox but is above average on almost every checkbox. Honda consistently meets that challenge better than any manufacturer.
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  2. THe MX-5. The golden retriever of cars. The last and in many ways the best British sports car even if it's built in Japan. The only car I know that DEMANDS a manual transmission. Full of flaws (not even a glove compartment) yet perfectly suited to its mission. If Mazda built no other vehicle worth owning the Miata would justify the automaker's existence. Few automobiles deserve to occupy a spot in an automotive Hall of Fame. The MX-5 is one that does.
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  3.  @paulholterhaus7084  I'm sure the millions of apartment dwellers would be interested in where they should build their garages.
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  4. Depending solely on "private enterprise" to build an infrastructure for EVs makes no sense and only invites the current hodgepodge of stations and limitations according to the brand of EV involved. That's why the current administration has proposed building a nationwide network of EV charging stations at over half a million locations by 2030. Furthermore, the spread of EVs will require a significant change in the tax structure supporting the building, repair, and maintenance of highways. Currently the lion's share of funding for those purposes come from taxes on gasoline at the pump. That makes no sense in the context of a transition to EVs. Vehicle taxes based on miles driven or street and highway funding from general revenue is inevitable.
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  5. If true, it's a sad though understandable decision. I was hopeful that the significantly improved GT-Line with the new 2.5L turbo and vastly better performance than the 2.0L 4 it had shared with the (still not updated) G70 would boost overall dismal sales. With the new engine, the GT-Lines 0-60 time was only about half a second slower than the twin turbo V6 trim levels. Combined with a significant weight savings and a bargain MSRP ($40,590 for a fully loaded AWD version) I'd hoped it would help the dismal to mediocre sales throughout the Stinger's life. In some ways I think the Stinger has been cursed since its introduction. Initial reviews were extremely positive but KIA dealers were obviously unprepared to sell a sedan with an MSRP that approached $50,000 or more. It's worth noting that the introduction of the Stinger preceded the Telluride where sticker shock proved not to be an obstacle. But the Stinger was a true GT in the European tradition and few KIA salespeople even understood that or were prepared to sell such a vehicle. (The same was true of the Cadenza and the K900) . Further, I think the Stinger's name compounded the problem. Rather than evoking the image of a European GT sedan, it made it seem a rival to a Dodge Charger or Challenger, American muscle cars with V8 engine options that shared little with the Stinger as a "Grand Touring" GT. Furthermore, Americans have little experience with "GTs" in the European tradition. Even the trim designations of GT-Line, GT1, and GT2 were more likely to evoke images of the Mustang than a vehicle designed to carry 4-5 passengers comfortably at high speeds for hours in the manner of a European GT. In any event it's not surprising to see the sun setting on the Stinger though I'd hoped it would last for at least another couple of years. KIA obviously believes the future of their high performance vehicles, at least in the US, lies in the K6 portfolio and I think they're right. One sign of that trend is that last month the Mustang Mach-E outsold all other Mustang models put together for the first time. And that's before the high performance version of the Mach-E is even available.
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  6. Sorry, Sarah. The notion that sales volume can be built on the appreciation of "enthusiasts" is simply ludicrous.
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  7. The problem faced by the Sonata N-Line as well as the KIA K5 GT is the absence of either AWD or any form of Limited Slip Differential (electronic or mechanical) in a FWD sedan with nearly 300 HP and over 300 ft lbs of torque. In effect the customer is paying for power that cannot be used without wheel hop, torque steer, and tire abuse. Though the N-Line offers far more power than the versions of the Sonata with the 1.6L turbo it's hardly useful if it cannot be accessed. Hyundai doesn't offer AWD in any Sonata while KIA offers it as an option on lower trims. But the elephant in the room isn't the N-Line Sonata. It's the existence of the Stinger GT-Line with the same engine as the Sonata N-Line and KIA5 GT, RWD or RWD-biased AWD and an MSRP for a fully loaded version ranging from less than $38K (RWD) to slightly over $40K (AWD) plus destination, tax, title, and license.
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  8.  @armandojuan64  Perhaps, but "shining" while sitting unsold on dealer lots isn't a viable business strategy.
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  9. I'll believe a new generation midsize sedan from Mazda when I see it in dealer showrooms. Unfortunately, Mazda has a well-earned reputation for leaking news or even making formal announcements about forthcoming products that end up being years late in actual production or don't show up at all. Remember the diesel version of the CX-5 that was promised for years and when it finally showed up lasted about six months before being withdrawn from the market? SkyActivX engines for the North American market? Still waiting. Inclusion of a rotary "helper" engine in a new ICE engine configuration? Cancelled. Now there are rumors about Mazda introducing a RWD (and RWD-biased AWD) new midsize sedan with an inline 6 cylinder engine, a market category that multiple automakers have abandoned altogether and the sales of which continue to shrink. I like the Mazda brand; so much so that I've owned four Mazdas over the years. And thankfully the Miata, an iconic vehicle, continues to be produced. But skepticism about Mazda's actual introduction of new products is strongly advised.
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  10.  @superglue46  If an automaker's aim is to be the smallest mainstream manufacturer on the planet, Mazda is an excellent model to follow. In 2021 the Mazda3 ranks 8th in sales in the US among compact sedans with 31K sales compared to 217K sales of the Corolla. The recently discontinued Mazda6 has managed to sell 14K units making it #18 in midsize sedan sales, trailing even the Passat (also discontinued) and far, far behind the category leader, the Camry, with 257K sales. Among SUVs the picture is a little brighter. The CX-5, Mazda's compact SUV ranks 5th with 137K sales. It's by far Mazda's best selling vehicle but the RAV4 has racked up 313K sales and the CR-V 290K sales so far in 2021. With 34K sales the subcompact CX-30 ranks 8th, trailing, among others, the Hyundai Kona, Chevy Trailblazer, and Chevy Trax. The most dismal sales performance comes from the midsize CX-9. It ranks dead last among 18 mainstream 3 row SUVs with 29K sales and trails five luxury 3 row SUVs. Even the slow selling Subaru Ascent has managed to outsell the CX-9 with 43K sales. Other than the CX-5, the brightest spot in Mazda's lineup is the iconic MX5 Miata. Ranking 4th among sports and muscle cars with 9.6K sales. Fortunately, the deal with Fiat to build the 124 Spider alongside the Miata prevented it from going extinct but there's no guarantee Mazda can find the resources for another generation. Let's hope they do. The bottom line is that "character and soul" are risky attributes for an automaker that depends on mass market appeal. Last year Mazda was forced to seek billions of dollars in loans from Japanese banks to survive the pandemic. And its future increasingly depends on a partnership with Toyota to produce vehicles. Rumors abound that Mazda will try to enter the alternative fuels market with a revival of their rotary engine in conjunction with electrification. But Mazda has shown itself repeatedly to be more adept at rumors and promises of future plans than production of real vehicles that appeal to a mass market.
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  11. A considerable number of misconceptions and errors in this video and comments. For example... () "JD Power is a PR firm." No, it's not. JDP is a firm that runs scientifically drawn quasi-random samples of owners from lists provided by manufacturers of many kinds of consumer products (from automobiles to dishwashers to clothes dryers to kitchen blenders, etc). The "top line" results discussed here are not JDP's major product. Instead, JDP sells the detailed results of their surveys to those same manufacturers and derives its revenue from those sales. Why do manufacturers spend $$$ for such results? Because they recognize the old adage that "You never get a second chance to make a good first impression." Manufacturers use the JDP results to get an initial read on customer satisfaction with various features and overall impressions by those who have recently purchased those products. Manufacturers recognize that future product sales are heavily dependent on "word of mouth" from existing customers. JDP's "initial quality" surveys are designed to elicit the strengths and weaknesses of those products during a period when consumers are most likely to praise or complain about them to their friends and neighbors. (It's worth noting, by the way, that the reason Tesla is not included is because Tesla does not disclose the names and contact information of their customers as other manufacturers do. Why that's the case may well be the result of the widespread perception that fit and finish of Tesla products is a long standing and continuing complaint about their products.) Neither the manufacturers nor JDP has any incentive to a bias the results. Doing so would make the results useless for an individual manufacturer and discourage other manufacturers who don't "bribe" JDP from supplying the lists of vehicle owners to JDP and undermining the overall value of their product. There is a "PR" component to JDP's release of their top line results free of charge to the public, of course. It's designed to promote JDP's overall brand recognition and in the process to encourage owners selected for their surveys to respond. (Note that owners don't "volunteer" for JDP's surveys. Like any valid survey the participants are selected in a quasi-random manner. Thus, the higher the response rate the more reliable the results.) () "Comparing brands with one another is invalid since the demographics and expectations of various brands' customers differ." This critique is not entirely without merit but it misses the point that the survey is meant to inform individual manufacturers about the strengths and weaknesses of their own products not primarily to compare one brand with another when they're aimed at different market segments. The fact that FCA brands (e.g. Dodge, RAM) and Korean brands rank so much higher than German brands suggests the former manufacturers are doing a much better job of meeting their customers' overall expectations than the latter brands. The fact that Mercedes Benz purchasers have different and (likely) higher expectations is simply a fact of life. () "It's unfair to rank 'budget' brands with fewer standard features beside 'luxury' brands with more and better standard features." Again, from a manufacturer's point of view (the intended audience for the detailed results of the survey), this is a nonsensical criticism. And it's noteworthy that Genesis ranks so high among luxury brands. Apparently, Hyundai does an excellent job of satisfying their customers' expectations across the range of features included in the survey. Perhaps because Genesis buyers are much more satisfied than Mercedes owners with the features that define a luxury vehicle at a substantial savings. () "Consumer Reports is a better/worse source of owner satisfaction than JDP." In fact, the approaches of CR and JDP are radically different. CR surveys far more (claimed) owners than JDP and CR's annual surveys capture data on a wider range and longer period of ownership than the IQS survey of JDP. But the number of responses volunteered by CR cannot compensate for the fact that those responses are not from verified owners and the universe of respondents is limited to CR subscribers, a highly skewed sample compared to that of JDP. The bottom line is that both CR and JDP are useful reference points for different audiences and neither should be viewed as authoritative.
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  12. Question: There are about a dozen mainstream midsize 3 row unibody SUVs for sale in the US. What do the two worst selling vehicles have in common that nearly every other vehicle in the category does not share? Answer: The Subaru Ascent and the even slower selling Mazda CX-9 each has a single engine offering, a turbo 4 cylinder powerplant. That's not to say that the engine offerings are inadequate for most consumers but they're both long-in-the-tooth and lacking power compared to rivals. It's true that the latest KIA Sorento has dropped its V6 engine in favor of a 2.5L turbo 4. But the Sorento is 7" less in length than the Ascent and 10" shorter than the CX-9. And (in top trim) it weighs at least 300 lbs less than either the Ascent or the CX-9 All in all, while the Sorento is technically a "midsize" SUV many consumers apparently see it as a rival to compact vehicles like the RAV4 and the VW Tiguan. In short, both the Ascent and the CX-9 are no longer competitive in the midsize unibody SUV segment and their weak sales demonstrate it.
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  13. You're right. The Civic Si and the Jetta GLI resemble one another. To the benefit of each. Want a vehicle that looks like it was designed to resemble a Mattel "Hot Wheels" toy? There's always the Civic Type R.
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  14.  @superglue46  You haven't seen me dance with a lampshade on my head. 😁
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  15.  @ThePilotGear  Each of Mazda's SUVs suffers from the same problem, most obvious in the CX-9. A lack of interior space resulting from the design decision with an elongated distance from the front bumper to the "A" pillar. The CX-9, for example, has less overall cargo space than a Honda CR-V. The long hood coupled with an abbreviated rear end is a design trick employed by sports car designers for almost a century to suggest potency and performance but it sacrifices utility, a feature that's presumably the strength of an SUV.
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  16. Not in my (recent) experience. I was looking for a used car for my 17 y/o daughter. I found that KBB estimated sale prices to be as much as 25% below the asking prices of cars in the $10K to $15K range.
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  17. As noted in the video the CX-5 is a tremendously important vehicle for Mazda. Not only is it the best selling Mazda vehicle in the US, it outsells all other models put together! It's an appealing vehicle in many ways but it does have one glaring weakness -- the cramped interior space especially for cargo. At 179" long it's firmly in the "compact" SUV category, only 3" inches shorter than a CR-V. Yet the CX-5 has 37.6 cubic ft of cargo space behind the second row and 75.8 cf overall. The CX-5 counters with 30.9 cf behind the rear seats and only 59.6 cf overall. In fact, not only does the CX-5 rank at the bottom of all "compact" SUVs, it offers less cargo space than several SUVs in the "subcompact" category. (e.g. Kia Seltos, VW Taos). Even telling is that the CX-5's cargo capacity barely exceeds that of a GTI (54 cf), a vehicle that's nearly a foot shorter than the Mazda.
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  18. With the CX-50 Mazda will be the only mainstream automaker with TWO compact SUVs and only ONE midsize SUV. Recall what happened to the CX-3 when the CX-30 was introduced in the US? The CX-5 is by far the best selling model in Mazda's North American portfolio and perhaps Mazda believes there's room for a closely related model but I'm somewhat skeptical.
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  19. Though Mazda managed to sell a "record number of CX-9s last year," it was a very low bar to meet. As has been the case ever since its introduction in the US, it was the WORST selling mainstream 3 row SUV in the US. In fact, it trailed 5 luxury SUVs in sales and ranked 29th among all midsize SUVs. Why? Well, to begin with it's huge. Only the Dodge Durango, Chevy Traverse, and for 2022 the 3 row version of the Grand Cherokee exceed the CX-9's 199" length. Ironically, the Mazda has the least interior space of any midsize 3 row crossover. Its overall cargo space is less than a Honda CR-V! The 4cylinder turbo engine and aged 6 speed transmission is adequate at best, but far better suited to the much smaller CX-5, Mazda CX-30, and even the Mazda 3, each of which offers the same engine/transmission combination. It's certainly true that the CX-9 is good looking. That's the result of the extremely long hood designed to suggest power and potency. A design trick used by sports car designers for the last 100 years, or so. Unfortunately, the stylishness doesn't translate into "utility," presumably an important feature of a sports UTILITY vehicle.
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  20. For years Toyota has argued that their strategy of offering hybrids with smaller regenerative batteries (a technology that not coincidentally was a Toyota leader) was a superior way to combat climate change than full fledged EVs. Their argument being that they could build and sell 10 of their hybrids with limited battery capacity for every fully electrified vehicle. Now that they've tossed that argument into the wastebasket will they cease lobbying Congress to eliminate funds to build out the infrastructure for EVs?
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  21.  @pedrosaucedo1027  Mazda's desperate attempt to get loans from Japanese banks during the pandemic suggests otherwise.
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  22. Nice to see you turning attention to the Korean brands, Kirk. Have to say, though, that you missed the biggest difference between the K5 and the Sonata -- the availability of AWD in the LXS and GT-Line trims of the KIA while the Sonata fails to offer AWD at all. Perhaps you consider that irrelevant on the suburban streets of South Florida but I can assure you it's highly relevant here in the Pacific Northwest and not only in the inland areas where winters can be especially challenging but here in the Seattle metro area where messy winter weather with lots of rain and occasional icy roads make AWD a welcome feature. Unfortunately but understandably, the GT version of the K5 (comparable to the Sonata N-Line trim level) doesn't offer an AWD option. (Neither Toyota nor Nissan offer AWD on the "high performance" versions of their midsize sedans, either. The take rate for high performance midsize "family" sedans is simply too low to make the additional cost of AWD a profitable investment.) And the absence of either AWD or a limited slip differential of some kind on the K5 GT is a significant black mark. Still, the fact that it's available on the GT-Line with its less powerful engine is a major plus compared to the Sonata and most other mainstream midsize sedans. As for the question posed by the title of the video, I'd have to say the K5 is not the "BEST Korean sedan." Not even the "BEST" sedan from KIA. That title goes, I think, to the Stinger. And from a value perspective to the GT-Line trim with the same 2.5L engine (and slightly more HP) found in the K5 GT wins easily . With an MSRP of slightly over $38,000 for a fully loaded GT-Line Stinger with RWD and about $40,500 with RWD-biased AWD, it's a short jump from a fully loaded FWD-only K5 GT at $35.7K that lacks both . For the price difference the Stinger also comes with a far superior interior and amenities and an innovative and highly versatile liftback sedan design the K5 lacks. The Stinger GT1 and GT2 with its twin turbo V6 grabs the attention of automotive journalists and internet fanboys but the GT-Line Stinger with the 2.5L turbo 4 is only about half a second slower from 0-60 mph and up to $15,000 less (MSRP) than the V6 turbo version. In short, the Stinger GT-Line is a screaming bargain and a vehicle that deserves the attention of anyone considering a K5 GT or from anyone interested in saving thousands of dollars on a true GT sedan in the European mold. P.S. Count me as a vote against devoting attention in your videos to key fobs. Usually stuffed in my pocket or in my bag the only attention I ever pay to a key fob for either my GTI or my Sorento is when I've left it on the table in the hall and my vehicle annoyingly reminds me of that fact by failing to start.
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  23.  @KirkKreifels  The lack of AWD and/or LSD is most obvious in strong acceleration from a dead stop or in a curve calling for acceleration for an exit. I'm not surprised to see the absence of AWD in the Sonata N-Line and KIA5 GT. It follows a pattern set with performance versions of the Camry and the Altima. High performance midsize "family" sedans are a minuscule market segment. Their slim profit margins aren't big incentive for automakers to add expensive features like AWD (For example, Toyota says fewer than 5% of all Camrys are sold with the V6 engine.) On the other hand the absence of an LSD to a sedan with 300 HP and ft lbs of torque is inexcusable. My GTI with far less power provides it. It appears that Hyundai and KIA are banking on profiting from consumers who think performance consists exclusively of straight line 0-60 acceleration time on a flat surface. That may be enough to sell cars to a significant segment of American consumers but it certainly isn't a plus in terms of the brands' reputation.
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  24. Good advice, Kirk. Especially to scour private party sources rather than dealers. Here's my story. A couple of months ago I needed to find a used car. Primarily for my 17 y/o daughter as a daily driver. We're a family of three drivers with two cars and though it was far from a desperate situation I'd found that the miles were piling up on our 2018 KIA Sorento (her mom's daily driver) and my beloved Mk 7.5 GTI, a car I used 3-4 days a week and treat like a first born. I hadn't purchased a used car in years and I knew it was a terrible time to be shopping but I figured (naively) that I could find a reliable, relatively low mileage (less than 100K miles on the clock) car she could drive for a couple of years as she went off to college for, say, $5K-$6K. And being a parent I wanted it to have as many modern safety and driver assistance features as possible. She would have been happy with anything with four wheels but she expressed a hope that it would be a "stick." (I suspect that was an effort to impress her boyfriend but having owned many MT vehicles over the years, I agreed that would be a great idea for a first car of her own.) I agreed to look for a car that came close to both her and my expectations. So off I went to dealers around the Seattle metro area and scoured Facebook, Autotrader, and other internet sites for candidates. It didn't take long to discover that my original budget and expectations were stuck back in the 20th century. Not only were MT vehicles few and far between but any hope of finding a car with fewer than 100K miles, service records, and a clean title for less than $10K was a pipe dream. What I did find weren't vehicles I'd want my daughter to drive. (I'm a dad, after all.) Still, I stuck with the search and after a month or so I happened across a 2012 VW CC from a private party about 90 miles away with 44K miles and (amazingly) a manual transmission. Asking price was $11K. That was about $3000 less (or even more) than comparable versions of the CC I found within a 500 mile radius, each of which had over 100K miles on the clock. When I drove to see it I found it was owned by an engineer who purchased it new, never drove it in the winter and kept it garaged year round. The only external blemish was a quarter inch curb rash on one wheel. The interior was like new. And he had every service record including oil changes in a fat folder he provided. I paid his asking price and drove it home on the condition that my mechanic could give it a thorough inspection. An oil and filter change and a new set of tires to replace the 9 year old originals were the result. (The tires had good tread but rubber gets old.) My daughter learned to drive a "stick" in a couple of weeks. Her reputation among her peers, especially the males, mushroomed. Now, rather than being pestered repeatedly to borrow my GTI, I have the great pleasure of pestering my daughter to borrow "her" car. And as a result of the low mileage I'm confident my daughter will be able to put 50K miles or more on the car over the next several years or replace it with only a moderate depreciation penalty. Lessons learned? Persistence pays off. If possible, keep looking for that rare well treated vehicle. Dealers have to make a profit on the cars they sell. Better deals are likely from private parties. If possible know the seller or get an impression of how they have treated the car they're selling. (Engineers are often a picky lot with a passion for details. Twenty-something Mustang GT owners rate at least a caution flag.) Nearly all modern cars will provide well over 100K miles of service without major issues but proof of regular maintenance from a seller, especially if they're the original owner, is a good sign. An immaculate interior is another sign of an owner's commitment to a vehicle. Yeah, it's a lousy time to be shopping for a vehicle. If you can hold off for a year or more, do so. But if you cannot, my experience suggests there are reasonable (if not fantastic) deals out there.
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  25. I suspect that Hyundai will think long and hard before trying to make still another Hyundai model into a separate brand. The transition from the Hyundai Genesis models to the standalone Genesis brand was a painful one that involved successful lawsuits filed by Hyundai dealers against the automakers. I doubt seriously that Hyundai would risk going through that again.
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  26. The problem with an analysis based solely on percentage changes in the last year for Mazda vehicles is that it fails to account for two factors. First, the 2020 calendar year had the worst sales for the brand in years. So bad, in fact, that Mazda borrowed over $2 billion from Japanese banks just to survive the pandemic. Second, percentage improvements (or small declines) in 2021 still reflect the extremely low volumes of sales for Mazda vehicles compared to 2020 . Of the entire Mazda portfolio of vehicles sold in the US only the CX-5 and CX-30 have sales of over 50,000 units over the first 9 months of 2021. And its most expensive (and profitable) vehicle, the CX-9, remains mired dead last in sales among mainstream 3 row SUVs.
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  27. That's not the worst of the treatment (actually the non-treatment) of the G70. While the base engine of the GV70 is the new 2.5L turbo 4 found in at least 8(!) KIA, Hyundai, and Genesis vehicles the G70 was ignored completely. Its engine is unchanged from the relatively mediocre 2.0L turbo that's been there since the G70 was introduced. Compare that to the closely related KIA Stinger that received the new 2.5L engine in the base GT-Line. Despite strong reviews sales of the G70 have been dismal and declining ever since its introduction and failing to upgrade it significantly will definitely not help.
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  28. Very good review, Kirk. I've spent many hours on those roads and if you can find a time when the RVs and looky-loos aren't clogging them, they offer a great driving experience. (Try just after sunrise on a Sunday.) Some comments... () As far as backseat legroom is concerned you might want to consider the fact that only about 1 out of 7 adult males in the US is 6' tall or more. The figure for females is 1 out of 100. That means that only about 4% of all adults are six feet tall or more (i.e. 1 out of 25). I realize you might well feel cramped in the backseat of the Santa Cruz but it's unlikely to be a problem for the vast majority of "normal" adults even if the tall folks find it so. Those figures may seem especially low but that's probably because the freakishly tall six footers stand out in crowds. 😁 () The concept of an offspring resulting from a one night stand between a sedan and a pickup may seem avant-garde but it's not. Ford introduced the Ranchero in 1957 and Chevy followed suit with the El Camino in 1959. Each took a station wagon's front end ahead of the rear seat and grafted it onto a pickup bed. Neither was a strong seller but the Ranchero remained in production until 1979 and the El Camino struggled on until 1987. A major weakness of the Ranchero and El Camino was the absence of a rear seat and 4 doors. That matched the design of pickups in the early years but by the time the Ranchero and El Camino went to vehicle heaven 4 door pickups with bucket seats up front and a backseat were already becoming a thing . In 2002 Subaru tried its hand with the Baja with a backseat and 4 doors. Didn't help much. The Baja disappeared in 2006. Even today, though a four door combination of a sedan and a short bed pickup exists in some international markets. For some reason Australians find the VW Amarok appealing. It strongly resembles the Santa Cruz with a slightly longer bed (5 ft) and more off-road chops than the Santa Cruz. In view of the fact that Australia is a major market for Hyundai the Korean brand may have thought that the Santa Cruz was worth trying in America. They put their design studio in California on the case and the Santa Cruz is the result. That may have been a good choice but Hyundai should remember that surfers looking for a way to transport their boards is a tiny niche market. () All in all, combining vehicles from significantly different product categories is risky. Designed to appeal to those who want a single vehicle that meets multiple mission requirements and are willing to compromise each. Unfortunately, such vehicles often fail to satisfy those who lean heavily one way or the other. Time will tell if Hyundai has found the formula that predecessors failed to perfect. () the option of the 2.5L Turbo engine for the Santa Cruz looks like a good choice. By my count it is now standard or optional in at least 8(!) Hyundai, KIA, and Genesis models (from the Kona N to the Genesis G80) and combines strong performance and good fuel economy. In the Santa Cruz it's combined with an 8 speed DCT, a transmission that has received strong reviews, as well. The tow rating of up to 5000 lbs is impressive. Though I remain somewhat skeptical given that the Santa Fe and the Sorento with the same drivetrains top out at 3500 lbs. Probably a minor point since I doubt many Santa Cruz owners will be towing anything more challenging than a couple of motorcycles or jet skis.
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  29.  @chezzyperson3339  Yes, I realize that technically the Sorento (189" in length) is a "midsize" SUV but KIA has found that it's frequently cross shopped against top trim versions of larger vehicles in the compact category. The Sorento's unique feature is the fact that it offers three rows of seats compared both to compact SUVs and the two row vehicles you cite. In fact, the Atlas Cross Sport is an especially large 2 row SUV at 195.5" in length. That's slightly larger than a Toyota Highlander. All in all, the most accurate description of the Sorento is as a "tweener" vehicle that falls between the compact and midsize categories.
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  30. Scalding performance in a midsize 3 row SUV ranks about 25th among customers' top 10 priorities. That's not the Ascent's problem.
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  31. The CX-9 is very, very large. Only the Dodge Durango and the bus-like Chevy Traverse are longer among all midsize SUVs. Larger than a Telluride or Palisade. Larger than a VW Atlas. At nearly 200" in length the CX-9 is huge. So how is that it has the LEAST interior passenger and cargo space among ALL 3 row SUVs available in the US? The answer is simple. That long, long hood that automotive designers have used for nearly a century to imply potency and performance consumers so much of the CX-9's length that the interior packaging is woefully inefficient. It not only has less passenger and cargo space than a KIA Sorento, the smallest midsize SUV at 189", the CX-9 has less total cargo space than a Honda CR-V or a VW Tiguan and barely more than a RAV4. Add to that an aging four cylinder engine and an equally long-in-the-tooth six speed transmission, each of which is better suited to the CX-5 or CX-30, and it's not surprising that the CX-9 ranks dead last among all mainstream midsize SUVs in terms of sales and is even outsold by several luxury brand competitors. The CX-9 has some strengths. It looks good. Considering its massive size it handles well. Mazda has clearly done what they can to freshen its interior bells and whistles. But the fact remains that if it is ever to climb out of last place in sales among mainstream SUVs a radical remodel is called for.
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  32. Some great promises from Mazda but I'll believe them when I see the new models show up on showroom floors here in the US. And if the wait is another couple of years, I'm skeptical they'll appear before Mazda ceases to be the smallest independent mainstream automotive manufacturer on the planet and turns into a division of Toyota. Other than the CX-5 the sales of Mazda's entire lineup are in the toilet and unlikely to improve anytime soon. The CX-9 has been by far the worst selling mainstream midsize crossover both in 2019 and in the first half of 2020. Its 2019 calendar year sales amounted to 27,000 vehicles compared to the combined sales of the Telluride and Palisade of over 87,000, neither of which were available for the full 2019 year. The "good" news, such as it is, is that sales of the CX-9 were flat in the first half of 2020. Compared to other Mazda models, that's a real bright spot. Sales of the Mazda6 are minuscule. Down to slightly over 8000 vehicles in the first half of 2020. That's a drop of 38% compared to 2019 which were significantly down (30%) compared to 2018. Sales of the Mazda3 (sedan and hatchback) are down 43% in 2020 to 16,000 units. The 17,000 sales of the new CX-30 look good in comparison to most other models until one realizes those sales have meant the competing CX-3 has dropped out of sight nearly out of sight, down 30% to fewer than 4800 units. I like the Mazda brand. I've owned 4 Mazdas over the years. And it has a well earned reputation for innovative engineering. But it also has a reputation for failing to meet its announced schedules for new models and for not having the resources to remain competitive with rivals. Another two to three years of dismal sales and I'm seriously skeptical about Mazda's future.
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  33. I know the road in the video well. It's rare that even the short space of unencumbered driving without traffic was available for the video. It's a gorgeous drive but best experienced just after sunrise on a Sunday morning. As far as the Kona N is concerned it appears to be an excellent track toy but much like it's predecessor, the Veloster N, not a vehicle that would make a good partner day after day on public roads. And since my track days are spent on two wheels rather than four, I'll pass and stick with my GTI.
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  34.  @twillias4714  It's not a question of whether it makes sense to offer a variety of SUVs. As noted, Mazda has a hole in their SUV portfolio in the midsize category. But the CX-50 doesn't fill that hole. Instead Mazda is offering what amounts to a competitor to their own CX-5, just as the brought out the CX-30 that cannibalized sales of the CX-3. What happened? The CX-3 disappeared from the North American market due to terrible sales.
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  35. Hear, Hear. It was such a raging sales success in the past. :(
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  36.  @ascott2168  Reviving either the "Millenia" or the "929" moniker would be roughly equivalent to a cruise ship dubbed the Titanic. Neither name is something that Mazda wants to recall.
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  37. The Turbo w/ AWD will generate a lot of buzz especially since Mazda will offer AWD along with the turbo engine option. That's a departure from Toyota, Nissan, and KIA with their midsize sedans where AWD is offered only with the base engine/drive train. The other manufacturers' decision is apparently based on the recognition that "performance" versions of their vehicles account for so few sales and adding AWD would raise the MSRP by at least $2000 and likely not improve sales by much. Mazda, on the other hand, has to do something about the utterly dismal sales of the Mazda3 in North America. In the first half of 2020 Mazda3 sales (sedan and hatch) amounted to 16,228 vehicles. That's down an astounding 43% (!) compared to the first half of 2019. And even worse, 2019 annual sales were down 21% (50,741) compared to 2018. If Mazda manages to sell 30,000 Mazda3's in the US in 2020 (not at all certain given economic conditions) it will amount to a 53.5% drop in sales in two years! And if that weren't bad enough, the sales of Mazda's entire lineup ranges from mediocre to awful. Adding the same turbo available in the Mazda6, CX-5, and CX-9 in the Mazda3 strikes me as a desperation move to create buzz for the brand. It will probably accomplish that among internet fan boys but I seriously doubt it will do much if anything for the Mazda3 sales.
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  38. The Calligraphy trim of the Santa Fe is undeniably impressive. But it's worth comparing it to its closely related sibling, the X-Line trim of the KIA Sorento. Doing so illustrates that despite the numerous shared features and components and almost identical MSRPs the two Korean brands lean in different directions with the Santa Fe and the Sorento. The Santa Fe, like the Pallisade, projects a "budget luxury" vibe. The X-Line Sorento, like the Telluride, projects a more "rugged" impression with off-road cues (if not major aspirations in that direction) . Though the Santa Fe and Sorento share nearly all major features and components there are some differences. The new Sorento lacks driver seat memory and an extending thigh cushion that the top trim Santa Fe provides. (A plus for the Santa Fe and an inexplicable deletion from the last version of the Sorento.) The KIA retains a traditional transmission lever in place of the pushbutton in the Santa Fe. (A plus for the KIA imo.) And the Santa Fe's "smart park" party trick isn't offered on the Sorento. (Not something I'd miss.) Overall, however, the most obvious difference between the top trim Santa Fe and Sorento is the latter's standard third row seats. It's not generous, of course, and in a rare example of marketing speak honesty KIA describes it as "Plus 2" seating. But it is roomier than, for example, the third row of the Toyota Highlander. And even if it's not often used it's a huge convenience on occasions when the need arises to transport 5 or more passengers on a local trip and the alternative is using two vehicles. On the other hand, the X-Line KIA (as well as other trims except the lowest) provides only captain chairs in the second row while the Santa Fe out of necessity provides a second row bench even in the Calligraphy edition. (Without a third row, captain chairs in the Santa Fe's second row would leave the passenger capacity limited to four.) This leaves someone like me, an owner of the last generation top trim Sorento, with a dilemma. Our family of four (two adults, a teenager, and a big dog) need a third row of seats only very occasionally. But the bench second row is a near necessity. Our dog doesn't have a body suitable for a captain chair and the cargo hold is his space only when he returns dirty and muddy from the beach or a romp in the woods. If we replace our Sorento do we give up a third row of seats or consign the dog permanently to the cargo hold?
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  39.  @josiahstearns9615 Correct in all respects as far as I know, Josiah. In terms of our priorities we're disappointed by the loss of 4 way lumbar support, the elimination of seat memory and extended thigh support for the driver and most importantly the absence of a bench second row option in all but the lowest trims. The other features you mention are "nice to have" as far as we're concerned (and we have several on our current Sorento) but not major issues. As my original comment suggested, the loss of a 2nd row bench in the higher trims is more or less a deal breaker. In any event I'd have to pry my wife's cold dead fingers from the steering wheel of her beloved 2018 Sorento to convince her to replace it anytime soon. So it's primarily an academic discussion from our standpoint.
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  40. As someone who owned an RX-8 for five years, there are some major flaws that Mazda would have to remedy in an RX-9.
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  41. And not likely to provide anything like what Hyundai is looking for in terms of profit.
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  42.  @bikebudha01  Oddly enough, Hyundai doesn't check with Ford to determine how much profit they're entitled to make. Furthermore, Ford is literally a truck-only automaker with substantial excess capacity, especially considering their dismal sales this year. Thus, they're able to produce as many Mavericks as demand requires. And volume (especially the volume of fleet sales) means cost savings for every vehicle built. Hyundai, on the other hand has a much wider range of vehicles vying for far less production capacity than Ford, and virtually no fleet sales. No matter how much they strip a Santa Cruz to provide a base model they'll never produce nearly as many Santa Cruz vehicles as Ford builds Mavericks. And if they can build a $40,000 fully loaded model and sell it, why would Hyundai produce a $20,000 model with significantly less profit instead? One of the uncomfortable aspects of a capitalist economy is that the law of supply and demand is very difficult to repeal.
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  43. I'm sorry to say that I think the 2021 Mazda6 updates are too little too late. Despite its strong points the Mazda6 has never been a strong seller but its sales in 2019 and 2020 are less than dismal. In the first half of 2020 Mazda sold only 8085 Mazda6's, down 38% compared to the first half of 2019. And the total 2019 sales in the US were down 30% compared to 2018. Sales in the midsize sedan category are soft; they have been declining for nearly six years. But no other vehicle has seen the decline suffered by the "6." And what's in store for 2021? Nothing that's likely to boost sales. No word on the rumored inline six cylinder engine. No updated transmission. A new color or two and upgrades to the bells and whistles of the higher trims is VERY unlikely to help.
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  44. I'm SHOCKED! A Mazda promise/rumor turns out to be a fantasy? When has this ever happened???? At least when has it happened in the last month?
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  45. Good news but I won't hold my breath. Mazda has a well earned reputation for failing to deliver on their promises and leaks on anything like a realistic timeline. Remember the repeated promises of bringing SKYACTIV X to the US several years ago? Remember the long-promised diesel CX-5 that finally showed up in the US and disappeared about six months later? I hope there's some more than smoke and mirrors from Mazda marketing but I remain skeptical.
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  46. I've owned four Mazdas over the years including a 626 coupe, an AWD MPV van, and a significantly flawed but much loved RX-8. Unfortunately, I think its days as the smallest mainstream manufacturer on the planet are numbered as a result of its well earned reputation for overpromising via rumors and underdelivering in terms of actual products, especially in the North American market. (SkyActivX, diesel CX-5) Its future, I fear is as a division of Toyota.
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  47. Worth noting that prior to the introduction of the new Venza Toyota and Mazda were the only two mainstream manufacturers not to offer two midsize unibody SUVs in the North American marketplace. Every other automaker offered a three row vehicle and a smaller two row vehicle. (KIA is the only exception in that both the Telluride and smaller Sorento have three rows of seats.) Now Mazda stands alone in not having a two row midsize SUV in the US market. (Mazda does have CX-8 in some markets where the CX-9 isn't sold but it's not available in North America.) Other manufacturers followed one of two strategies with their midsize offerings. Either they chopped some inches off the overall length of their three row vehicle to make a two row version (e.g. Honda Pilot vs Passport, VW Atlas vs Crossport, etc.) or they built two largely different SUVs (e.g. Explorer vs Edge, Traverse vs Blazer, Pathfinder vs Murano, Palisade vs Santa Fe, etc.) Toyota could have followed one of those strategies. But if there is anything Toyota is better at than building good, reliable vehicles, it's making a profit on everything they sell. With that in mind, inserting the existing Harrier with a new badge into the North American portfolio was a slam dunk. Virtually no expensive design or major production costs. Further savings by limiting the drivetrain to the extremely popular hybrid version. The Versa is hardly a top tier, versatile SUV; it's more a modern version of a stylish station wagon. (Not that anyone from Toyota would use that forbidden term to describe the Venza.) But for the purpose of filling a hole in Toyota's lineup the Venza is an economical solution for Toyota.
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  48. No matter what the vehicle, Hyundai designers can't resist adding creases and bulges here, there, and everywhere.
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  49. As noted in a comment on an earlier review, it's best to wait to see a major new powerplant or model from Mazda until it appears in a showroom. The company is infamous for failing to meet its announcements and leaked rumors.
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  50.  @ekgcanadianenthusiast9961  That was the claim about the Telluride. "Who would pay $50K for a KIA?"
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