More Pictures Of The Civic Type-R

Anyone willing to take bets we'll see something like this on our shores? I'm thinking we'll see the same powertrain but in a sedan or coupe. A Civic hatchback seems like a longshot, but with the Focus, Mazda3 and Golf offering them, perhaps there's an opportunity for a revival?

 

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The Supercars, the Parties, and More: Follow Our Geneva Motor Show Livestream Here!

The Geneva Motor Show is generally regarded as the world's ritziest, taking place as it does in one of the world's richest cities. We're there now—live!—covering the 2015 edition of the show, and you can follow the stream below to read news as we learn it and see the hottest debuts as the sheets come off. The feed is filled with items from the official C/D Twitter and Instagram accounts, as well as those of our editors on location in Switzerland.

Want to be part of the conversation? Include the hashtag #CDGeneva in your tweets and Instagram posts and your message could show up in the stream!

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Junkyard Find: 1981 Datsun 200SX Coupe

The S110 Nissan Silvia, sold in the United States as the Datsun 200SX for the 1979 through 1983 model years, has all but disappeared from American roads by now. We've seen a couple of the S110's successor, the S12, in this series: this '86 200SX and this '86 200SX Turbo, and that's it. Late last week, I spotted this faded but unrusty two-tone '81 at a Northern California wrecking yard.
A mere 158,000 miles on the clock.
This switch is the tipoff that there's a phonograph-based Voice Annunciator System box somewhere in the car, but I couldn't reach it with the screwdrivers-and-a-needlenose toolkit I had on me at the time. Anyway, I've got at least four of the things in my hoard at this point.
No CONELRAD stations indicated on this AM/FM radio, but it does have an analog signal-strength meter and an exquisitely early-1980s equalizer.
You could get these cars in beige-and-brown two-tone, though this one is a more subdued blue-on-blue.

The US-market ads for this car were a little boring, but such was not the case in Japan.

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Bark’s Bites: Some Internet Truths Aren’t So True

One of the best worst things about the Internet is how many "experts" there are on every single subject under the sun. Among the easiest subjects for anybody to obtain indisputable guru-like status on, based on what I see around the web, is finance.

And, boy, do they love to share their expertise, solicited or not.

Among the widely held financial "truths" that are held as "indisputably true" among Internet guys:

• Buying used is always better than buying new
• Buying is better than leasing
• Financing cars is a terrible idea

Now, let me tell you what I believe:

• I almost exclusively buy new
• I've now leased four cars
• I would never, ever, ever pay cash for a car

I've already written one post debunking the used > new myth that upset some commonly held precepts. But there's more to be said on this subject—so let's say it.

• Yes, there is no doubt that new cars depreciate at a more rapid pace than used cars do. But if that's all you're taking into account when making the decision to go new or used, then you're missing huge pieces of the pie. First of all, if you plan to finance a car, understand that finance rates are always much better on a new car than on a used one—sometimes as little as zero percent. Used car finance rates are tough to get under four percent, even with excellent credit. With the average new car in this country costing right around $30k, that is a difference of $3300 or so over sixty months, or just about eleven percent of that car's overall value. If your credit is only so-so, don't worry on a new car—the financial arms of Ford, Ally, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, and others are happy to give great finance rates to 650 and above. Not so on used—you're now looking at 6 or 7 percent, which equals almost six grand, or twenty percent!  And you were worried about depreciation that whole time, stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. Silly Internet guy. Turns out that you are going to pay just as much for a used car as a new one.
• Leasing makes PERFECT sense if you don't plan to keep a car for very long. If the market value of the car is, at any time, greater than the residual amount owed on the car, you can sell it and profit. If it's less, you simply walk away from the car at the end of your term. Too many people seem to take everything Dave Ramsey says as financial gospel, but in this case, at least, he's dead wrong. Like, super dead wrong. In his example that everybody likes to quote, Ramsey uses outlandish numbers. Nobody leases a car for sixty months. Finance companies aren't charging any more interest on leases than they are on purchases. My Fiesta lease had a money factor of zero, for example. And yes, car dealers make more money from leases than they do from cash purchases. SHOCKER. If you aren't smart enough to negotiate a lease, then you aren't smart enough to negotiate a purchase, either.  I know, I know, Mr. Internet Guy, you buy all of your cars with the intention of keeping them for fifteen years. Good for you. That's not what anybody in the real world does. I keep cars for three years or less. So does everybody else I know who actually likes cars and doesn't view them simply as an appliance.
• Virtually every investment you can make on the market is going to pay you a better return than the zero or 1.9% percent promotional financing being offered by every single lender right now. Why on Earth would I pay thirty thousand dollars in 2015 dollars for a car when I could pay that money over time at no penalty? Every single day, my money can be earning interest and/or gaining returns. Plus, every dollar I pay in 2020 is worth approximately ten percent less than a dollar I spend in 2015. I will never understand why people act like debt is this horrible thing. Debt is only a horrible thing if you A) can't afford to pay it or B) you negotiated hideous terms for  yourself. Corporations take on debt. Billionaires take on debt. It allows them to leverage the cash they have to make other investments. It allows them, as noted TTAC contributor Domestic Hearse says, to bet on themselves, to do things they couldn't otherwise. My 401(k), for example, has been yielding an average return of nearly eleven percent. Which would be smarter—to take my 17K a year to continue to max that out? Or to take my cash and buy a depreciating asset? If you chose Option B, I advise enrolling in a finance class—and not one taught by Dave Ramsey.

Here's a little financial tip from your Uncle Bark: your money is getting worth less and less Every. Single. Day. It's called inflation. Every day that you aren't enjoying your money is a day that you're wasting it. Every single day, I have a Boss 302 and a Fiesta ST in my garage. They make me happy every day. Do you know why? Because I love cars.

I'm guessing that if you're here, you obviously love cars, maybe even more than I do. Do yourself a favor—don't keep yourself from buying a car that will make you happy because you're worried about following some financial advice that's being distributed by people who don't know anything about finance. It's easy to say that debt is bad, because debt might scare some simple-minded people.  Debt has never scared me for one second. I bet on myself every day, and every day, I win. So should you.

I'm going to die someday. We all are. Do you want to spend another day driving something that you don't love? If you love cars, do yourself a favor. Go get a car that you love. Screw the "experts." Don't listen to them. Their advice is based on fear. Mine is based on love. Love of life. Love of cars. I bet you share that love with me. Don't box your love up in an '06 Corolla. Let it shine. If you want to buy new, buy new. If you want to lease it, then lease it.

Who cares what the prevailing wisdom is? I'm more interested in prevailing.

 

 

 

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Capsule Review: 2015 Ford Mustang V6

This is easy. We can skip the introduction. You know what this is, right?

Just in case, let's be clear. This is a V6-engined, sixth-generation Ford Mustang. Newly released for the 2015 model year, all Mustangs have fled their truck-like ways in favour of an independent rear suspension. That's just one of a number of factors that cause the new Mustang to feel more like a sports car than a traditional American muscle car, even in this basic form.

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• USD Price As-Tested: $27,505

• Horsepower: 300 @ 6500 rpm

• Torque: 280 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm

• Observed Fuel Economy: 19 mpg

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Much of the discussion surrounding the arrival of a new Mustang related to the availability of a mid-level four-cylinder EcoBoost engine, a turbocharged 2.3L with 310 horsepower and 320 lb-ft of torque which, when attached to a 6-speed automatic and drinking premium fuel, travels 21 miles per gallon in the city; 32 on the highway. This is not that car.

This 3.7L V6-powered car makes 10 fewer horsepower and generates 40 fewer lb-ft of torque. On regular fuel, it travels 19 miles per gallon in the city and 28 on the highway. In the U.S., upgrading from this engine to the EcoBoost costs $1500. The automatic transmission is an $1195 option.

Besides the 6-speed auto shifter, this car, loaned to us for a week by Ford Canada, was fitted with a couple grand in options: 18-inch wheels, a power driver's seat with power lumbar support, a block heater, a security package, and backup sensors. At USD $27,505  as tested, it's $5620 less than the least costly V8-engined Mustang GT.

In other words, a big monetary leap is required to earn the coveted 5.0 badge, enough of an increase in the initial outlay alone to think that the two ends of the Mustang spectrum – at least until special editions and Shelby models arrive – are scarcely geared toward the same buyer.

Therefore, resign yourself, as I did, to the fact that the car which showed up to replace a $50,000 minivan and $65,000 Audi in my driveway wasn't a $40,000 Mustang but rather a $30,000 Mustang.

Was I better off as a result? I won't go nearly that far, but the basic Mustang has a certain charm, a real-world affability, that rarely left me wanting more. Aside from, you know, a 5.0 badge, the accompanying 135 extra horsepower, and a 6-speed manual transmission.

But only on occasion. When did 300 horsepower become inadequate? A decade ago, one of my first reviews for my local paper's Wheels section concerned a 4.6L, V8-powered Mustang with, you guessed it, 300 horsepower. Both this V6 and the decade-old V8 accelerate to 60 mph in slightly more than 5 seconds. The new V6 Mustang is less than 50 pounds heavier than that early fifth-gen car, puts its power down more effectively, and makes a fairly decent noise of its own.

Everything else about the latest Mustang? Also better. And there's a part of me that wonders whether much of what makes the new Mustang so outstanding to drive is enhanced in this V6 car. It weighs nearly 200 pounds less than the V8, with much of that weight loss occurring at the front end. Would steering this delicious be so sweet when saddled with extra heft up front? I doubt it.

Keep in mind, the Mustang permits three different steering modes. The lightest Comfort setting is not in keeping with the car's twisty road capability and the weightiest Sport setting seemed slightly unnatural to me.

Normal mode, on the other hand, is anything but normal: most other modern cars simply don't offer up this level of connectivity, and while often precise and quick, they rarely allow your hands to comprehend just how precise and how quick their racks really are.

So the V6 is likely sufficient and the steering sets the Mustang apart, but does the car live up to its sporty billing? Undeniably. The Mustang V6 may even be aided by its dearth of performance add-ons – the performance packages available for the EcoBoost and GT aren't even on the options sheet here. The potential degradation of ride quality caused by track-oriented equipment never crops up. Oh, it's firm, but it's not busy or crashy or beholden to its unsprung weight. Moreover, the soft 235/50R18 Michelin X-Ice tires are of an aspect ratio too pillowy to cause any harm to the Mustang V6's ride.

Tied to a stiff structure, this is a suspension that copes with all that a road throws its way while also being tuned to accept inconsistent and even ham-fisted inputs from the driver. This basic Mustang isn't a track bruiser, but driven in a semi-aggressive style on a great road, it's engaging and capable enough to encourage further advancement toward its limits.

Dynamically, it's a positively European-feeling car; not unlike Ford's Fusion, Focus, and Fiesta in that respect. But there are undertones of American muscle that link this car to its predecessors and its most direct rival from Chevrolet. I give it credit on both accounts.

The 2015 Mustang isn't perfect. Although the rear seat is decent for a car of this type (we threw in a front-facing Diono Radian RXT child seat with little difficulty) and the driver's seat sits pleasantly low and is well-bolstered, front seat passengers couldn't get comfortable because of the bolstering (their arms aren't extended to a steering wheel but rather squeezed in the wrong places) and the small footwell. This basic Mustang's SYNC system, while relatively straightforward, doesn't use a touchscreen and isn't a paragon of modernity. The screen for the backup camera is tiny. The overall interior design that earned so much initial applause is less whelming in this lesser guise.

Worst of all, the downshift paddle was literally coming apart at the seams. I was the first auto writer this Mustang visited on its press tour and I hardly used the paddles. After all, they only serve to control a 6-speed automatic transmission that doesn't shift with the swiftness a sporty car deserves. Nevertheless, there it is, splitting in two. The upshift paddle remained in one piece but isn't made of high quality plastic. I can't imagine it will last.

Yet by a measure of many miles, I'd prefer to spend time in this Mustang than in a better-built Chevrolet Camaro, if in fact Camaros are more solidly constructed. The Mustang doesn't have visibility issues; visibility is the Camaro's achilles heel. The Mustang feels like it totes around 500 fewer pounds; it's closer to a 200-pound differential. The Camaro handles with grip and sheer force as though handling is work, like a 9-to-5 job. The Mustang handles with the kind of effervescence we typically encounter in lightweight cars with two-thirds the power, as though handling is Friday night fun.

With added refinement and improved dynamics, it's hard to imagine many ways in which the Mustang's appeal could be broadened. I suppose they could add all-wheel-drive availability – gasp – but after spending much of my time with the 2015 Mustang V6 on snow-covered roads, I sincerely hope that the Mustang owner base takes advantage of every opportunity for on-demand tail-out action. Eschew traction. Embrace oversteer.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.

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Has Toyota's Styling Gone Too Far?

Hey Toyota, I'm very happy for you and Imma let you finish, but we need to talk about where the styling is going on some of your mainstream models. Perhaps it all started with the updated Camry, with its unfinished-looking grille, and we became slightly concerned. Maybe it was just a one time thing.

Related: How New Is the New 2016 Toyota Avalon?

Then the refreshed Prius c and Prius v showed up late last year, and we wondered about the Prius v's new nose job ... to say it was aesthetically challenging might be a little kind. But then, right around the Los Angeles Auto Show, we saw what had happened: The hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai was unveiled, and we realized that somehow this abomination had either infected the rest of the lineup with seriously unpleasant sheet-metal angles or it was the culmination of all those other designs.

What is it that gets our goat? It's the new vertical slats on the front of the 2016 Toyota Avalon, the Prius v, Prius c (above) and Camry. This element is permeating the lineup, and it needs to halt right where it is before things go too far over to the Mirai look, which is an utter mess.

Perhaps you're trying to prove that you can sell a lot of cars regardless of their aesthetic unpleasantness, in which case the road you're on is likely to end up at that destination. But the Avalon looked just fine the way it was, as did the Prius v — changing styling to ape the Mirai hasn't helped them in the slightest.

And hey, there's nothing wrong with the looks of your big sellers named Corolla, RAV4 and Highlander.

If you're really looking for inspiration for the rest of the lineup, may we instead suggest the FT-1 concept car? That has gaping grilles done right!

Cars.com photos by Evan Sears, Cars.com photo illustration by Paul Dolan

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