Comparison and Review of the cars I drove on my vacation.

[NavalLacrosse]

So this is random, but hey; as my car forum I guess this is the right place for a simple review of a handful of random cars I drove while on vacation... but whatever.

Backstory/TLDR; Vacation in Brazil. Drove some Global Cars. returned. Left my car keys in Brazil. Rented a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross to make the 10hr round trip drive to Detroit to get my spare keys. 

 

Car #1 2020 Fiat Uno.

It's a sub-sub-sub compact  4door hatch. 90 hp. 5sp manual. Shit for power while running Ethanol.  Noisey engine+wind noise, transmission whine the WHOLE time on the highway. Comfy and small back seats.  Oozes cheapness. pretty good MPG both city and freeway.

Number of times nearly killed while attempting to pass Semi while on a two lane due to lack of power? 4. 

5/10, wouldn't recommend for international mischief.

 

Car #2 2020 Chevrolet Onix.

It's a sub compact, larger than the Uno. Spent the most time in this one. Wife likes it. Base model ("Joy") oozes cheapness again.
basically it had power steering, AC, 6sp, and power locks. and power front windows. that's the end of the features.
Great city Fuel economy on Ethanol. Pretty quiet while on the highway compared to the Uno. 110 hp? 

We took this car though some sketchy undeveloped farming roads to get to the city we were visiting. The road was the type with sand, mudd, and sharp small rocks. also we did three suspicious two-wooden plank bridge crossing over a river, and passed two abandoned VW bus in the ditch. 

Times nearly getting stuck in the mud? 2.  

6/10, would recommend over the Fiat Uno. for $15 USD/day out-the-door. you really can't go wrong with this car. good for rental fleet car use.

Car #3 2004 Fiat Marea.

It's a small/midsize sedan. It's reputation of being a rolling explosion defiantly is a popular joke in the car communities in brazil. 
What's good: Powerful, decent features... good car... except it's riddled with flaws.
One in particular: from what my father-in-law tells me, "If you rev it too much, it can backfire... and if you do it too much while driving and it will send pressure back into the intake manifold, causing a small explosion." Heat from the engine had melted many of the plastic engine shields, and covers. clearly FIAT didn't have a clue when they did reliability testing on this car. Father-In law has two: one for driving, and one for parts. No one else drives this car because of it's reputation for breaking and exploding engine parts. He keeps it, and daily's it as almost a "just to spite the car community" when people see it. 

2/10 No parts available in the shops. 

 

 

Car #4 2003 Ford Focus. 

Yes, same as our american one, just with some other features- and was build in Brazil.

Probably one of the best of the cars I drove on the trip. had a failing thermostat, so the engine wouldn't get warm. (but who needs heat, it's Brazil in the summer)
Quiet, refined, easy to comprehend by my narrow-minded american brain. 

7/10 Would recommend.

 

Car #5 2015 Ford Focus  Titanium. 

Oh look, we have a friend who's a 'high roller' [Eyeroll] he's got himself a Titanium Focus. good.

10/10. "baller on a budget", get yourself one of these.

 

Car #6 Ford Troller. (JEEP clone)

It's a ford powered Jeep wrangler competitor.  isn't sold in USA because it's clearly a infringement lawsuit waiting to happen.

Rides like a jeep. People there claim it's better than the wrangler. It's probably true, it has a turbo diesel and is meant for undeveloped / developing  counties with broken infrastructure. 

9/10 fake 'I cant afford a real jeep' vibe, but still wish we had it in the USA.

 

Bonus Car: 2010? Chevrolet Montana. (Mini Truck/ Unibody Truck/ Ute ) (I didn't Drive it)

It's rare you see a car, and it's so obviously perfect utility-in-a-city car.... with its LOW bed, it made loading super easy. I noticed all the mini-trucks had boat-style rope anchors along the bed. made tie-down a breeze. It makes me ask why? Why are these highly efficient 4wd truck/sedans not sold in the us. My theory is that companies know Americans can afford to buy high-margin trucks, and mini-trucks would pull sales from the  profitable full size trucks. (at least in the long run). 8/10

 

Bonus Car#2 2019? Ford Ranger. Brazilians love this thing just like american's love the F-150. it was everywhere. Probably a 11/10 desirability on this list. Heck- I'd get one, and I work for GM! haha

 

---- Then back to the USA! ---

 

Car #7 2020 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

First impression: Wow this looks cooler than I thought.

Later impression: The switches and buttons for radio/window/hvac/seat adjustment are all in hard to reach areas. probably my biggest dislike is that the radio is a long reach for me to change the tuner.

turbo engine delivers 140hp. which is great in the city... weak on the freeway. 

Weird split rear window easy hides headlines of cars directly behind you, meaning at night you might not see someone is behind you if they are exactly the right distance away.

fuel economy SUCKED on the Highway. City was really good 30 mpg. at 80mph it made only 22mpg.

4/10 This is a good car, but for me it's just a polished turd. There's a reason Mitsu' isn't a leader in the US market. 

 

 

and finally:

 

Car #8 2011 Dodge Journey

after getting home I drove my DJ around for the first time:

Thoughts: wow, This car is so much bigger than the sub-compacts. I can stretch my arms and legs even while driving.

The Fuel economy is about equal to the Eclipse-Cross. considering I have twice the power, I'd take the Pentastar any day.

Interior is very simple. Not anything to show off.... but EVERY Button is exactly withing easy reach. 
WHISPER QUIET compared to all the other cars (excluding the titanium focus) on the freeway.  Steering is heavy and soft responsiveness means jittery inputs yield smooth  outputs. Radio sounds amazing!
11/10. lol jk. 9/10. It's pretty good, but exterior lacks modern interior and exterior styling. comfort thru the roof.

 

 

That's all

 

[Armando G]

Interesting. I like testing out cars while on vacation too, just haven't had the 'opportunity' to drive completely foreign cars like you listed. 

Good read.  ?

[jkeaton]

Good info!

[larryl]

The Ranger does look nice....better than the GM's

[NavalLacrosse]

1 hour ago, larryl said:

The Ranger does look nice....better than the GM's

Yeah, 
Like I said, I work at GM in Detroit, and it's really the saddest thing. I'm a big fan of Ford's design language- which is why I spend all of my day making our [GM's] future cars better than theirs from a stylistic standpoint! haha.