Subcompact Nissan Versa sedan has lots to love

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- I have several friends who are Nissan Versa owners, and they represent a wide range of incomes and interests.

What they have in common is that they all LOVE their Versa.  Love it, I tell you.

OK, I get it.  What's not to love?  You get attractive, super-affordable, subcompact transportation with lots of standard features and exceptional gas mileage.  A car for the 21st century?  Sounds like it to me.

After spending a recent week in a 2020 Nissan Versa SR sedan with a continuously variable transmission, I had nothing to offer my friends but absolute agreement with their ardor for the Versa.

OK, the 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine is rated at only 122 horsepower.  But I knew going in that this was not a Corvette.  That's another review, and another planet altogether.  I will note that those 122 ponies moved my tester around quite nicely, and the fuel mileage ratings of 32 miles per gallon in the city and 40 mpg on the highway looked pretty good too.

The 2020 Versa is the model's third generation, and there are tweaks, design improvements and new touches bumper to bumper.  The exterior look of my ride had a friendly, sporty appeal.  Thankfully, the designers applied subtle changes and resisted temptation to go utterly wild.  If you've seen the size of some of the wildly oversize grilles on newly reworked subcompacts recently, you know what I'm talking about.

Inside my Versa, everything was just right, and well within reach of my hands.  The back seat area is tight, but again, that kind of goes with the whole subcompact experience.  The tester was stuffed with scores of perks, and even with some $3,000 in options -- heated front seats, intelligent cruise control and special lighting packages among them -- the bottom line on the sticker came to decidedly reasonable $21,490.

Nissan stressed that sedans remain popular among "Gen X, Millennials and multicultural customers" in the United States.  Well, for my money, I think this Versa's appeal goes well beyond that.  How about retired empty nesters needing a solid, affordable vehicle for their lifestyle?  Or maybe a good second car for 40-something suburbanites?  Or perhaps a nearly ideal car to purchase for your college-bound high school senior?

I think the Versa fills the bill for all these customers.  I would venture to speculate that all would end up loving their subcompact.

Corolla XSE adds sporty touch to reliable package

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- Nearly 50 million Toyota Corollas have been sold worldwide since 1966, a mind-blowing number that all but screams one thing: Toyota has given buyers what they want.

That continues in 2020 with a reconfigured Corolla. And in my recent week with the 2020 Toyota Corolla XSE, I quickly learned that the automaker has added a pinch of spice.

The four-door ride was decidedly sculpted for a sporty look, with fancy, machined, 16-inch alloy wheels; in-your-face front fascia; and LED headlamps that seem to wrap around the entire grille.  Yes, you can see it coming.

And you can hear it coming too, with a profoundly noisy note coming from the 2-liter, four-cylinder engine.  Alas, with a maximum of 169 horsepower at your command, the sound outweighs the rubber-to-the-road fury.  Even so, the power plant moved the XSE around nicely.

While the XSE was not a hot rod, its handling characteristics were excellent.  Zipping into tight spots and rounding sharp corners could be done one-handed.

Another plus: The four-cylinder engine produces good fuel mileage at 31 miles per gallon in the city and 38 mpg on the highway.

Everything else on the 2020 tester was a reminder of why this venerable model has sold so well for so long.  Excellent fit and finish.  A comfortable interior.  From the cockpit, good vision all around the car.  A generous lineup of safety, comfort and convenience features -- all easily mastered.

This Corolla has one of the more thoughtfully positioned center stack/control layouts on the market. The high-resolution, eight-inch, color touchscreen was an especially notable plus -- easy to see, and I didn't need a master's degree in engineering to use it.

One oddity in the tester: The back seat has technology sounding a beeping alarm if one of the passengers is not buckled in.  Thing was, the beeping continued for the center back seat spot, even though I had just two passengers in the rear seats.  I finally buckled the center seat belt, sans passenger, to get the beeping to stop.

The bottom line on this Corolla was appealing, at nearly a grand less than $30,000.  And this being a Toyota, I expect it will run virtually trouble-free for a very long time.

If I had to break it down, I'd say the perfect 2020 Toyota Corolla XSE buyer is a value-seeker looking for a loaded, affordable, reliable sedan with a helping of sporty flash thrown in.

Sienna has all the charms of a modern minivan

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- I can remember a time when the prospect of getting a minivan filled my heart with happy anticipation.

That was especially true on family road trip vacations.  I could look forward to sitting up high in the cockpit, with a clear view of the highway ahead.  There would be plenty of room for all the luggage and lots of comfort and convenience features within easy reach.

In short, the minivan back in the day was a treasure -- a large, comfortable traveling machine.

Today, things have changed. Minivans have fallen into the niche of public derision, right there with eight-track tapes and VHS players. Saying you're looking forward to a minivan now is like saying you spend your weekends listening to disco ... on your eight-track tapes.

Alas, there are still some reasons to feel good about the minivan.  Case in point: the 2020 Toyota Sienna SE Premium.  My eight-passenger tester included all the good ol' things that appealed to me years ago, with many a modern bonus thrown in.

First off, it looked good wearing "Silver Metallica" paint and riding on 19-inch, fast-black wheels. The automaker's "Nightshade Edition" package also included a black sport mesh grille. If a minivan can look like a hot rod, this Sienna comes pretty close.

The ride was smooth and quiet, with the 3.5-liter V-6 -- rated at nearly 300 horsepower -- easily handling all conditions.  Steering was secure and comfortable, with just the right amount of firmness.  Despite its minivan architecture, handling was pleasingly agile.

Fuel mileage was decidedly minivan-like, getting just 19 miles per gallon in the city and a fair 26 mpg on the highway.

Oh, to have had all the in-vehicle entertainment goodies of the current Sienna back when my family was young!  My ride had multiple audio options and media/charge ports scattered throughout.  Beyond that, there are numerous safety/driving-enhancement features on the 2020 Sienna.

The number of modern-day perks is reflected in the owner's manual, which was a massive 584-page tome.

Also note: all the perks add up.  The bottom line on my tester was $46,388.  For that kind of money, I'd suggest buying a Sienna for the long-term.  And who knows?  Maybe minivans will recapture some of that past stylish mojo in a few years.

Four doors don't diminish Panamera's prowess

This review first appeared in the October 2019 edition of the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News published out of Folsom, California – mg

   

Sacramento, California – I recently jumped at a chance to take a 2019 Porsche Panamera GTS for a spin, having not been in a Panamera in three years.

I just wanted to once again experience the thrill of those four doors on a Porsche high-performance car.

Right ... I actually wanted the thrill of feeling 453 horsepower unfold from a finely tuned machine at my command.  It was totally worth it.

Of course, the Panamera is shunned by some ultra-Porsche purists because it does have four doors.  They cry: "How can a Porsche luxury sports car with all that horsepower really call itself a Porsche with four doors built into it?"

I won't even go there, because my all-too-brief ride in this Panamera was a heart-pumping blast.

Accelerations off the line were exceptional, and even with the twin-turbo, 4-liter V-8 humming along easily at 70 miles per hour, reaching for more produced a satisfying press of my body deep into the driver's seat.  A deep, angry-sounding note from the engine was a bonus to my ears.

The zero-to-60 mph run is advertised at 3.9 seconds with the sport-tuned package, and I completely believe that number.  This was fast company, so fast that I had to be careful not to overdo it. You can hit 90 mph in this ride in the blink of an eye.

Some of my auto-reviewing colleagues don't like the wide stance of the Panamera GTS, but I had no problem with that.  I thought the nearly 77-inch width contributed to its stability.  Top-tier performance brakes added to the feeling of security.

My tester tore into an admittedly modest slalom course with monorail-like stability.  Nary a wiggle even at high speeds.

  

I watched another auto reviewer put the same GTS through its paces, and I was impressed with the vehicle's classic aerodynamic lines as it cut through the air.  I was an adoring audience of one.

This being a Porsche, there was no shortage of luxury and comfort in the interior cabin.  Everything was within easy reach, although I did have to do some squirming around in the driver's seat to get a good all-around view of my surroundings.

Black leather throughout was comfortable, although hot at first on a sultry California day.

Fuel mileage came in at a fair 19 miles per gallon in the city and 23 mpg on the highway.

Alas, this was a short Fantasy Island trip as the starting fare for this beauty was in the $130,000 ballpark.  Understandably, Porsche wanted its machine back and out of the hands of a lowly car tester.  Can't say that I blame them for that.

All in all, the Panamera impresses on nearly every level.  If you have a problem about its four doors, well ... I feel sorry for you.