The Chevy Cruze uses fabrics all over the interior and dashboard. It looks better than cheap plastic.

Fabric here.

Fabric there.

Its the first competitive compact car from GM in… ever?

The Cruze gets 38mpg. A Smart car gets 34mpg. Smart should leave the US market completely.

No one cares about the Impala. It looks like someone parked their rental car on the show floor.

Very cheap, hard plastic.

More crappy plastic.

The Malibu is still an attractive, nicely made car.

Nice color scheme with piping on the seats and contrasting inserts.

My one gripe is that the arm rests on the doors feel a bit cheap.

Nice swept back center stack.

This steering wheel looks heavily inspired by the BMW E46 3-series, a good thing.

The Chevy Volt

It looks odd in white. GM did a good job of keeping it from looking too boring, so they get credit for that.

Stupid center stack with touch-sensitive buttons.

Dashboard feels okay, seems well made.

Door panels have too much hard plastic.

Seating for four.

Acceptable cargo space.

Its decent inside, but hopefully it improves.

The second-gen Cadillac SRX.

Its nice enough, but it lacks the first generation’s performance credentials. The last SRX, with RWD and a 320hp V8, was masculine. Think of this SRX has a rolling Coach bag.

The SRX’s interior is okay, if not spectacular.

An odd design with a weird mix of surfaces, colors, and styles.

That center stack with silver “ears” is hideous.

They seem to sell a lot of them.

The Cadillac CTS-V wagon in metallic grey — a stunning, world-beating, brutally awesome machine.

I could put my dog there, but he’d be up against the glass around corners.

Suede inserts.

CTS-V sedan.

CTS-V coupe.

Suede/alcantara everywhere.

Feels nice.

Steering wheel is grippy, thick, and satisfying.

Oh and there’s the Escalade.

Corvette ZR1. The fastest car America has ever produced. Like the Empire State building, Mount Rushmore, and the Golden Gate bridge, it’s an icon of art, design and engineering, something we can all be proud of.

Fast Tube by Casper

LS9 OHV V8
638 hp
604 lb-ft
Eaton supercharger with water-air intercooler
3340 lbs
0-60 in 3.4 seconds
1.1g skidpad
21 mpg
Heavily revised interior
$111,525

I WANT ONE.

The Escalade

The Platinum trim has beautifully detailed wood, fine stitching, and upgraded headlights.

I’m not crazy about the hard plastic on the bottom half of the door panel, however.

I’m not a fan of the CTS coupe’s high belt like and stubby appearance, but red certainly helps.

Buick Lacrosse

New Buick Verano. Built on the Delta platform shared with the Cruze and Volt with styling that looks much like the more expensive Lacrosse and Regal. It’s more or less in a category of its own as a plush luxury compact.

Manual seats for the passenger? Lame.

Nice interior. The driver has power seat adjustments but the rake is still manual.

Buick waterfall grille on the Verano.

It looks sharp in person, like a car that costs $35,000 or more. Verano starts at $23k.

Manual seat rake adjustment. How unfortunate.

The “brows” on the rear tail lights add some visual expense to the look.

Buick Regal.

Buick Regal.

Buick Regal.

Buick Regal.

Buick Enclave. It still sells well despite being near the end of its life cycle. The Enclave started Buick’s renaissance.

Enclave.

Weird Nissan Juke.

Turbo I4.

It’s like a compact car for people who want to ride up high.

Scan the QR code, watch a video.

It’s still ugly to me, but the overall package is good, and a good value.

Oh god, the Nissan Murano Crosscabriolet. I unfortunately left my blow torch in the car.

This aging pudgy ginger LOVES it.

Room for a few purses.

The interior is actually pretty nice.

Attractive wood.

The door panels borrowed inspiration from the Infiniti M45.

The steering wheel is adorned in white leather. It was a comfortable place to be, and if anyone saw me driving it I’d hang myself.

Finally, a chance to get up close with the Nissan Leaf.

It promises a range 105 miles. You can expect 60-80 in the real world.

The interior is quite pleasant.

Shift knob.

No charging stations found in Phoenix. Uh oh.

The Leaf sends usage data to Nissan.

Nice door panels.

Decent space in the back.

Attractive gauges look futuristic without being wacky.

Nissan Quest minivan. The best interior of any minivan on the market.

Storage underneath.

This is the new Nissan Versa sedan.

It’s ugly.

And it’s miserably cheap.

If you buy one, you’re an idiot.

Part 5