Want to pick the right car for next year? This article covers all cars, whether you’re looking for high-end performance cars or a simple commuter car.
No matter what car brand you choose, the more fuel-efficient car is always going to be the smallest car. The smallest, non-hybrid, most reasonable car, and also the most famous small car, is one of the Smart cars (33 mpg city / 41 mpg highway). Another excellent choice is the Honda Civic (28 mpg city / 39 mpg highway).
Many people want powerful cars called muscle cars. The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro is powered by a new 6.2 liter, supercharged V8, expected to be able to reach 550 horsepower, and you can harness all that power with a 6-speed manual transmission. Just behind the Camaro, in terms of power, is the 2012 Dodge Charger, which is powered by 6.4 liter Hemi V8, producing 465 horsepower. Last, but most certainly not least is Ford’s 2012 Mustang. The Mustang, leading the pack in engine choices, can produce 550 horsepower, with a supercharged, 5.4 liter V8, as their top-end engine.
Or perhaps you want a car that is fuel efficient, yet has an exceptional amount of power? The 2012 Dodge Avenger comes with a 3.6 liter Pentastar V6 engine, capable of producing 283 horsepower while getting 19 mpg in the city, and 29 mpg on the highway. Ford has three engine choices for their 2012 Fusion, the ideal engine pick for this car, is to be the 3.0 liter Duratec V6. It is able to produce 240 horsepower while getting 20 mpg in the city, and 26 mpg on the highway. Chevy is redoing their Impala for 2012 and putting in a 3.6 liter V6 engine, which can make 287 horsepower, and is eco-friendly with 19 mpg in the city, and 29 mpg on the highway. The Impala is also getting a new 6-speed automatic transmission along with their new V6 engine.
Luxury cars are a growing market these days, and the cars keep improving. Luxury cars come in many different shapes, sizes, and brands. They can range in prices from $30k-$80k, so I’ll explain the general differences between some of the luxury brands.
-Lincoln is a great luxury brand, most of their cars are priced within $30k-$40k, and Lincoln has sedans, crossovers and SUV’s for any consumer. Lincoln believes luxury shouldn’t be at the cost of the environment, and costly at the gas pump, so they have a hybrid car, and are designed to get as much power as possible from each drop of gas. Just because Lincoln is a luxury car brand doesn’t mean they don’t consider safety, so they have a “Blind Spot Information System” which uses sensors to detect if cars are in your blind spot.
-Toyota has one luxury car, the Toyota Avalon, a comfortable size sedan. Now Toyota isn’t a luxury brand, so their Avalon is like any other car, but with a leather interior, heated and ventilated seats, and a backup camera, which most cars have these days.
-One of the most famous luxury brands is Lexus, which is Toyota’s luxury brand. Lexus, like Lincoln has sedans, and SUV’s. Lexus has decently powerful engines with exceptional fuel economy. Featured in all of Lexus’ options is a GPS navigation system, a Lexus Enform® with Safety Connect® emergency system where the touch of a button can connect you to emergency assistance. The gauges that Lexus puts in all of their cars are gorgeous electroluminescent gauges and a TFT color display that makes it easy to read. And Lexus did not forget about entertainment, as you can also get a DVD entertainment system in most models.
-BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are probably the most luxurious, famous, and sharpest looking luxury cars. Although some models from those three makers could be more expensive than other brands, they make up for that. BMW has the exclusive kidney shaped grilles, and the remarkable lines on the body of the car. The LED daytime running lights that Audi includes on all models are breathtaking, and the famous curves can’t be replicated on any other car. Mercedes-Benz, like BMW has the plain and simple, yet famous and beautiful grille, and the Mercedes-Benz logo pops out at anyone looking at the car, and lets everyone know your driving a high-end luxury car.
There are many parents, and future parents out there that need a bigger car to drive around children, or groceries, and that’s where minivans come in. Dodge’s Grand Caravan, or Chrysler’s Town and Country is great in looks and comfort, and is powered by a 3.6 liter Pentastar V6 engine that gives it 286 horsepower, at the same time of getting a good fuel efficiency (17 mpg city / 25 mpg highway). The seats also can turn around and face backwards, or even be folded down for more storage room. The Toyota Sienna is the minivan you always see on the highway, its looks are futuristic and the power is average. There are two engine options, the fuel saving, 2.7 liter V6 engine with lower power, and the 3.5 liter V6 engine with higher power for higher performance. The other reputable minivan in the market is the Honda Odyssey. The Honda Odyssey features a 3.5 liter engine that makes 248 horsepower with getting an eco-friendly 19 mpg in the city, and 28 mpg on the highway.
Sport utility vehicles are all-around vehicles, you can tow with them, bring around your kids, they have big interior spaces, and they have lots of power and a feeling like your driving a truck. The Toyota Sequoia is a good SUV for around $40k, it has an available 5.7 liter V8 (14 mpg city / 19 mpg highway) engine producing 381 horsepower, and can tow 7400 pounds, and don’t forget about the independent rear suspension. Dodge’s Durango is a competitor like nobody else. The Dodge Durango has a 5.7 liter HEMI V8 (13 mpg city / 20 mpg highway) that produces 360 horsepower and can tow 7400 pounds, sport suspension, fog lamps, a killer sound system, a best in class driving range of 500 miles, and many more features all for $35k. The $37k Ford Expedition is a big SUV for big situations. The Ford Expedition boasts a 5.4 liter Flex Fuel V8 (14 mpg city / 40 mpg highway) that is capable of producing 310 horsepower, and can tow 9200 pounds with a towing package and 6000 without the towing package. The Expedition also has an SOS Post-Crash Alert SystemTM that initiates the horn and emergency lights to let help know where you are, and it also has rain-sensing wipers in case if anything gets on your windshield and the wipers automatically changes speed when needed. There is another major SUV on the roads today, that is the Chevrolet Suburban. The Suburban comes with a 5.3 liter engine (15 mpg city / 21 mpg highway) that pumps out 320 horsepower, and can tow 8100 pounds. This SUV also comes with a Bose® sound system, and a hands-free navigation system.
Full-size pickup trucks are a must for many Americans, and there are a few different options. (I will use highest edition trucks, and diesel options for ease of comparison, each truck is approx. $45k in this comparison). The Ram 3500, as with all Ram edition trucks, can come in a regular, sport, offroad, or luxury package. The Ram 3500 has a Cummins turbo diesel inline-6 engine, that produces 350 horsepower with 650 ft/lbs of torque with a manual 6-speed transmission, and 350 horsepower with an incredible 800 ft/lbs of torque with a automatic transmission, and can tow 22,750 pounds! The Laramie Longhorn Edition of the Ram is truly incredible, the interior looks like an scene from a old cowboy movie, and stitched leather on the seats to create old western type decals. The Ford F350 comes with a 6.7 liter Power StrokeTM V8 engine that produces 400 horsepower, and 800 ft/lbs of torque, and tows 17,500 pounds with an automatic transmission, and like the Ram, it comes with different trim and interior styles. The F350’s luxury edition is the King Ranch, and the name fits it because when your in it you feel like the king of a ranch. Chevrolet has their edition of a full-size truck, the Silverado. The Silverado 3500HD with the 6.6 liter Duramax diesel engine produces 397 horsepower with 765 ft/lbs of torque, and can tow 21,700 pounds. Chevy doesn’t have a luxury edition of this truck (the luxury Chevrolet truck is the Chevrolet Avalanche), but the interior is still pretty good looking, and when you see the exterior of the truck, all you think is that’s big tough truck. Although Toyota does not have a diesel option on their trucks, I’ll still include them. The Toyota Tundra is equipped with a 5.7 liter V8 engine that creates 381 horsepower, and 401 ft/lbs of torque, and can tow 8100 pounds. The Toyota Tundra also comes with a luxurious interior, which is actually pretty nice, but doesn’t meet up with the cool cowboy interiors of the Ram and F350. The exterior of the Tundra is more of a futuristic look, still looks tough, but not as much as the Big Three’s trucks.
Now for the compact sized trucks. (Again for this comparison I am using the highest edition of these trucks). Compact size trucks are better on fuel, they are less expensive, and takes up less space. The Ford Ranger is a famous compact pickup truck for many reasons. It contains a 4.0 liter V6 engine (16 mpg city / 21 mpg highway) that can handle 207 horsepower and 238 ft/lbs of torque. When you see this truck, it speaks off-road and versatility, and it also tows up to 5800 pounds! The Ram Dakota is an overall good compact pickup truck for its power and fuel economy. The Dakota is powered by a 4.7 liter V8 engine (14 mpg city/ 19 mpg highway) that makes 302 horsepower and 329 ft/lbs of torque. The Dakota looks new and defined as a compact truck, another plus of the Dakota is the incredible towing capacity of 7250 pounds. The Toyota Tacoma holds a 4.0 liter V6 engine (16 mpg city/ 20 mpg highway) and creates 236 horsepower and 266 ft/lbs of torque, and can tows 6500 pounds. Chevrolet’s third truck is their compact truck, the Colorado. The Colorado 3LT harness’ a incredible 5.3 liter V8 engine (14 mpg city / 20 mpg highway) that makes an unfair 300 horsepower and 320 ft/lbs of torque, and also has a towing capacity of 6000 pounds. The Colorado is a really original design, and looks like a sport pickup truck. The Colorado has the highest horsepower-to-fuel economy ratio out of the compact size pickup trucks. All of these compact trucks are around the same price ($25k-$26k), so whichever one you go for you aren’t spending that much more or less money.