2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn Pickup – All-American Hemi Muscle! – The Car Exam

2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn Pickup – The Car Exam

2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn Pickup: Hemi Muscle! – The Car Exam

Good Grades: This crew cab pickup truck has gobs of horsepower: 395 hp and 410 ft. lbs. of torque, and it can tow up to 10,600 pounds. Step on the gas even a bit too hard, and you’ll light up the rear tires something fierce–wow! The engine/transmission combo works well together. It accelerates very quickly, and passing attempts won’t be too difficult speed-wise. The brakes work nicely, too. There is a good amount of interior room (and storage space) in this truck, although the back seats don’t seem quite as roomy as you’d figure they would be. The styling is classic Ram, which makes you think of 18 wheelers when you look at one. The front seats are indeed comfortable, though, the gauges are easy to read, and interior materials quality is good. The stereo system sounds great, and the view out from the driver’s seat is good. A nice touch: the power-sliding rear window–every pickup truck should have that.

2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn Pickup – Hemi Muscle! – The Car Exam

2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn Pickup – Hemi Muscle! – The Car Exam

Bad Grades: Fuel economy, as you would expect, is poor. EPA city mileage is rated at 15 mpg, and it seems that’s the best Consumer and Car Exam could do round trip with mixed city and highway driving. The Ram drives too much like a car, which is to say the ride is too softly sprung, and changing lanes or turning corners results into some white knuckle moments. Also, the UConnect Stereo system seem more difficult to deal with on the Ram for some reason. Finally, the dial knob automatic transmission shifter/selector seems totally out of place on this truck.

2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn Pickup – The Car Exam

2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn Pickup – Hemi Muscle! – The Car Exam

2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn Pickup – Hemi Muscle! – The Car Exam

Final Grade: B/B+ The Ram 1500 Big Horn model is a good, multipurpose, luxurious, fast, powerful, workhorse of a truck. Its previously mentioned shortcomings are the only things holding it back from getting an “A” grade from The Car Exam.

MSRP: $46,215

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Kia Optima – 2015 Extended Test Revisited – Consumer and Car Exam

2015 Kia Optima

2015 Kia Optima SX and LX…revisiting one of Consumer and Car Exam’s most popular reviews

Plusses: The 2015 Kia Optima SX Limited is a nice, well-balanced car. The Optima’s ride is near-perfect, the interior is comfortable (and roomy), interior materials feel upscale, and the dash design is superb. Cloth materials in the base Optima LX are acceptable, as well. The 2.0 liter, Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI), 274 horsepower, turbocharged four cylinder engine is powerful, slick, and very smooth–no turbo lag was detected at all–this is the smoothest turbocharged engine Consumer and Car Exam Has ever tested. Braking feels good as well. The brakes also stop promptly in the Optima LX.

The non-turbo engine in our recent extended test base model Optima accelerated very well, too; it puts out a strong 192 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque. Acceleration is not lacking in either model tested. The trunk is large—cavernous, and it can hold a lot of items. The base suspension on the Optima LX is softer, so it doesn’t handle with the same vigor as the sport-tuned suspension on the SX Limited. Nevertheless, the base LX suspension does a great job of soaking up bumps in the road—it definitely serves its purpose for typical driving here.

2015 Kia Optima

This fully-loaded test model had navigation, rear camera, blind spot detection and much more; the safety features on the Optima are impressive. 34 mpg on the highway also impresses, and the six-speed automatic transmission will not disappoint most drivers; however, there is another caveat about rearward visibility in the upcoming minuses section…The stereo in the Kia Optima LX also has a good sound, with very strong bass tones to spice up the sound if you want to.

2015 Kia Optima

Minuses: The c-pillar design on the roof creates a blind spot, but the blind spot detection system can help compensate for that. Now, the other rearward visibility caveat: the high rear deck lid (and steeply-sloping rear window) makes rear visibility difficult; on the extended test base model Optima LX recently driven, two of the three rear headrests had to be removed to improve the rearward view. The high deck lid could be a problem for short drivers. Any kind of moderately-spirited driving means poor gas mileage (at least in the base LX, fuel economy tanks badly), so one needs to be careful when driving the Optima.

2015 Kia Optima

Final Grade: This is one of the best all-around, mid-sized sedans on the market today–and most worthy of Consumer and Car Exam’s final grade of “A/A+”…Well done, Kia–well done, and the all-new 2016 Kia Optima will hopefully be a winner, too.

2015 Kia Optima

Honda Fit – The Car Exam

Honda Fit – The Car Exam

2015 Honda Fit: Somewhat Better…But Far From Perfect

Good Grades: The styling on the 2015 Honda Fit is an improvement. It looks sleeker and more up-to-date. No longer available in Base/Sport Trims, they are designated as: LX, EX, EX-L, and EX-L/with Navigation. The new base model is the LX, which The Car Exam tested. It now packs 130 horsepower, 13 more than the 2013 model. It’s mated to a CVT automatic transmission, which gives the Fit all around better fuel economy in the city and on the highway (33 CITY 41 HWY, 2015 vs. 28 CITY 35 HWY, 2013). Braking and steering in the 2015 Honda Fit are also just fine. The interior quality is better than the 2009-13 Fit–it looks more upscale. The Magic Seats in the 2015 Honda Fit are still there, which is a great thing–and the load floor to the rear hatch is still nice and flat. Those qualities keep cargo hauling easier than every other car in its class. There’s an outside temperature gauge now, something sorely missing from the last generation Fit, and the USB auxiliary input is now exposed in a convenient place close to the driver.

 

Honda Fit – The Car Exam

Bad Grades: The 2015 Honda Fit comes up short in a number of areas: handling is not as crisp as it is in the 2013 model; it provides a softer ride, but cornering ability suffers. The 2009-13 feels like a taut and fun–the 2015 Fit doesn’t. The new Fit has more engine horsepower, but it still strains and it’s loud and booming, worse than the old Fit. What happened to the additional sound insulation, Honda? It’s inexcusable for the new Fit to be so noisy.

Honda Fit

The new Fit loses about 4 cubic feet in cargo room to help allow for more rear leg room, and it’s a noticeable trade-off. The Fit LX gets a stereo with a volume control knob–great–but every other trim has an odd touch control for the volume, and it works poorly. Most drivers will need to adjust the volume from the steering wheel to do it safely. What’s worse, Honda is using that same flawed volume control on more of its new cars–a very bad thing. The 2015 Fit also loses the top storage in the dash, which is too bad.

Honda Fit – The Car Exam

Final Grade: The Fit earns a “B” grade–there’s definitely much room for improvement. There are more than enough fixable flaws with the 2015 Fit to prevent it from earning a better grade. It’s better in some areas, but it can be a lot better in others. If you go with the Fit, know what you’re getting–take an extended test drive before you decide.

Honda Fit – The Car Exam

 

2015 Honda Fit LX (as tested, MSRP): $16,450.00

 

Kia Sedona Quick Test – The Car Exam

Kia Sedona

Good Grades: the Sedona has nice styling (inside and out); this easily blows away every other Kia Sedona minivan built before this one. Kia has made terrific strides over the years in every phase of its operations, and this 2015 Sedona shows just how far Kia has come–even in the last 10 years. The 2015 Sedona has a cavernous, comfortable interior, decent braking/handling, a smooth-shifting six-speed automatic transmission, fair mpg (18 city, 24 hwy), and nice safety features help the Sedona shine.

Kia Sedona

Kia Sedona Limited

Bad Grades: For some reason, the 2015 Kia Sedona fells a bit slow and underpowered. Having driven a Kia Optima before this, the Sedona felt like it could have used at least an extra 15 horsepower. It doesn’t feel like it’s packing a 3.3 liter, DOHC 24-valve, 276 hp V6 under the hood. The 248 lbs. ft. of torque feels taxed, too. The Limited model The Car Exam tested was north of $40,000, which is pricey for a minivan–potential buyers may wisely choose to opt for an L or LX model (the “L” starts at $26,000, while the LX starts at $28,300).

Kia Sedona

Final Grade: The Car Exam gives the 2015 Kia Sedona Limited a solid “B” grade. The Sedona, in spite of its flaws, is yet another impressive effort from Kia. The Sedona can easily give Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Dodge and Chrysler some tough competition, and look very good doing it.

Kia Sedona Limited

Kia Forte LX – 2015 Extended Test

Kia Forte LX

Kia Forte LX – 2015 Extended Test – Consumer and Car Exam

Plusses: Comfortable seats (front and rear), front and rear leg room is excellent, a comfortable ride–the suspension soaks up most bumps easily; the interior ergonomics are on target–the radio and H/VAC controls are close to the driver and easy to read. The gauges are easy to read as well. The Forte has good trunk room. The stereo has good sound overall, and once you learn how to navigate it and play mp3/wma files, it is quite simple to use.

Kia Forte – Dash

Also, the 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engine has good low end power, the six-speed transmission shifts smoothly, and the brakes do a good job of stopping the Forte without hassle. The sun visors actually work–both for the windshield and the side windows–they are long and just the right length, unlike a lot of cars today. The exterior styling isn’t ground-breaking, but it doesn’t offend. It’s a decent looking car.

Minuses: The Kia’s acceleration seems to lag at higher speeds; by comparison, the 2014 Toyota Corolla tested just before the Forte did a far better job–with less horsepower. The CVT in the Corolla takes better advantage of its engine’s power band than the Kia’s engine/transmission combo. It required more shifting climbing steep grades than the Corolla, which handles that task with precision. The high rear deck lid cuts some rearward visibility, but the visibility out of the other windows in the car is just fine.

The soft suspension makes for a comfortable ride, but it isn’t sporty enough to go around twisty roads vigorously. In other words, it doesn’t feel “athletic.” Fuel economy is acceptable; slower driving is rewarded with better gas mileage. If you have a lead foot, it will drink gas as fast a thirsty dog drinks cool water on a hot summer day. It read color of the stereo display is a somewhat of a turn-off, just as they are in the Kia Soul and other Kia models.

Final Grade: it earns a solid “A-/B+” grade. The 2015 Kia Forte LX is a good commuter car that will work just a nicely as a long road trip car. The Car Exam’s extended test of the Forte was a good one–it was a solid feeling, comfortable car. It put many other compact (and mid-sized cars) to shame. The only thing missing was a sunroof, which can be had on higher-end Forte models. It lacks the “herky-jerky” transmission found in the Ford Focus, and the “cinder block in-your-face” dashboard found in the Toyota Corolla.

Kia Forte

If the Forte is reliable, then it will be money well-spent by consumers choosing to purchase it. If it were more fun to drive, and the engine had better high end acceleration, it would score even higher. The Kia Forte is just as good as its platform mate, the Hyundai Elantra, and worth consideration to buy for anyone looking for an affordable sedan (or even hatchback–the Forte 5).

Kia Forte – 2015

Kia Forte