Monthly Archives: May 2014
2014 Nissan Xterra: Power Packed Off Roader
The changing times have made crossover SUVs the most sensible choice for today’s shoppers, but the craze for traditional truck based SUVs it still not over and that becomes clearly evident with the popularity of 2014 Nissan Xterra, which excellently qualifies to become a function over form midsized five seat SUV. The all new 2014 Nissan Xterra is designed specifically keeping in mind the requirements of buyers who love to enjoy great outdoor travels especially while travelling on beaten tough path and can also make a good drive to handle daily chores. For the out goers, Xterra has simple and easy to go interiors with compartments for muddy gears, it’s quite a bit off road capability is because of its rugged suspension and an all wheel drive feature.
For out and out dirt and snow trail kind of buyers, the 2014 Nissan Xterra comes with a pretty good and appealing package. Its comfortable and more civilized ride is an exception especially when you are comparing it with other off road themed body SUVs. A standard 4.0 liter V6 engine of 2014 Nissan Xterra is certainly enough to blow your mind away only if you do not drive it along any other modern crossover SUV falling under this price range as it may make you feel a little rudimentary or even crude. Talking about the negatives, you will find that turns in tight spaces are clumsy and from inside you will find a lot of hard plastic surfaces which are actually the part of its interior and also quite common with Nissan. The addition of Bluetooth across this line is a welcome change from Nissan and is also highly appreciated by many of the reviewers. If you take a step ahead and move up to 2014 Xterra Pro 4X you will also be blessed to enjoy features like Pandora and iHeartRadio, making song streaming like a dream come true, but this facility can only be availed if you smartphone has cell service even in the remote locations.
If you are looking for some serious kind of four wheel drive SUV, then there are some other considerable options falling under Nissan Xterra’s price range. The toughest competition is coming from 2014 Jeep Wrangler which is even more capable in it’s off road abilities and also boasts off a vast section of aftermarket additional performance parts. But the Wrangler is not meant for your daily use and it is where the 2014 Nissan Xterra becomes an ideal off roader. Another competition is coming from 2014 Toyota FJ Cruiser, which is still in its final production year and is speculated to be as off road capable as the Wrangler with the only drawback of reverse opening rear doors, which can become quit a headache if dealing with kids on the backseat.
Meanwhile, of an off roader is a complete no-no for your list and you are in search of peaceful SUV, then you can go for any of the current generation all wheel drive SUV like Jeep Cherokee or Subaru Forester as they both are light duty and easy to handle offering better driving manners. But for off roaders, 2014 Nissan Xterra deserves at least one deep look.
2014 Jeep Wrangler: Old Wine in New Bottle
With 2014 becoming the year of small to midsized SUVS, the emergence of 2014 Jeep Wrangler seems like a welcome relief. To begin with, it is a complete no nonsense vehicle and remains at its best to keep its tradition even when the pavement ends. The classic SUV from Jeep is powerful enough to climb rocks, frolic in sand dunes or even cross streams whenever required just to please its passengers. Its standard four wheel drive feature and excellent ground clearance makes it a complete off road vehicle for those who love adventure.
The only thing that you cannot expect from a Jeep Wrangler is comfort, even though the 2014 version is being talked highly as the most civilized version from the lot, the Wrangler is noisy and rough which are absolutely not the features of a midsized SUV falling in this price range. However, if you are among those who love to spend weekends off road then surely 2014 Jeep Wrangler is your best bet. It is undoubtedly the most versatile kind of SUV you can find in the market because it gives you complete liberty to choose between its two and four doors, along with detachable roof, doors and even a windshield if you want to make your ride a little airy from all sides. It is arguable that whether you would like to drive Wrangler on road without these special features, but it is recommended to choose soft top cover over its heavy hardtop covers if you will be driving it al fresco for your daily chores. This will only make your 2014 Jeep Wrangler more vulnerable to thieves as removing and reinstalling these features can take a hell lot of time as well as patience. Now it’s up to you how you take these additional features because for some they are charming while for others they are unnecessary and complete waste of time.
Of course, Wrangler has its own share of issues which cannot be brushed aside, wherein its long braking distance is a prominent one it’s handling on paved roads is not as steady as you may find in other refined SUVs of this class. Still, driving 2014 Jeep Wrangler is fun because its short wheel base makes it quite easy to maneuver in tight spaces if you are completely fine with slowing down the steering. The powerful V6 engine of 2014 Jeep Wrangler is efficient enough and it comes with a host of factory options list to choose from along with easy availability of aftermarket parts supplied by several independent companies.
If you are not completely satisfied with the rugged off road capabilities of Jeep Wrangler, then it will be good for you to actually take a long test drive of the vehicle because without that it will be difficult for you to understand how cool this compact cross over is despite being almost the same as the earlier versions, the few tweaks have made it better than other livable crossovers like Nissan Xterra or Toyota FJ Cruiser, which are also a good option only if you want to drive them on regular basis. If you want to get back to basics and nature as well then surely 2014 Jeep Wrangler is a perfect bet.
2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport: Improving Standards
Ever since Hyundai announced its 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, there has been a lot of buzz going around it. The first and the foremost thing that most of the reviewers noticed about Santa Fe Sport is its sharp styling along with the availability of plenty of advanced, standard and optional features. The pleasantly roomy and quiet interior of Santa Fe is like an icing on the cake, which is beautifully contributed by its acceleration and handling abilities that have been taken as a parameter enough to satisfy the expectations of the customers. But, because the competition is too tough to handle in the market especially among the small and midsized SUV segment for 2014, there is no doubt that 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is good enough to measure up to its rivals in the market.
If you check the reality, you will find out that the Santa Fe Sport does more than just measuring up its rivals and in literal terms, it can be described as the smaller sibling of last year introduced Santa Fe, which is a three row seven seat SUV. The five passenger Santa Fe Sport has ditched the third row seating option and comes with five passenger seat measuring around 8.5 inches if measured from bumper to bumper. Because of all these alterations, driving the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is a more engaging experience and it also navigates easily through tight confines and shows great ease in handling small areas. To make it even more competitive, Hyundai has introduced two engine option for its customers wherein the base engine is of 2.4 liter with four cylinders which is powerful enough and the livelier turbocharged 2.0liter option for more refined driving.
Despite being the smaller version of Santa Fe, the Sports’ version is still roomier and provided excellent comfort to the adults. Ample cargo space is enough to handle routine luggage and also accommodate daily errands of a family. To keep the pace with the current tradition of Hyundai, Santa Fe Sport also offers appealing convenience options and excellent luxury features for the competitive price it comes at. To top it off the generous warranty coverage offered by Hyundai can be considered an icing on the cake.
Additionally, the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport matches to almost every top ranked small sized crossover in terms of features, convenience and comfort especially with the likes of Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4. Like any other SUV, Santa Fe Sport falls short in fuel economy department and that is the only major drawback that can make you step back from buying it. If you compare it with other small crossover SUVs, you will find that Santa Fe Sport trails by 3 to 4 mpg in the combined driving feature department. Even with these few drawbacks, 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport makes an excellent recommendation for your short list of consider buying SUVs in 2014 as it comes with class, comfort, luxury and elegance packed in a single packet excellently.
2014 Nissan Rogue: Fully Redesigned
With all the big names hitting on the small crossover market, the newly launched 2014 Nissan Rogue seems like a newcomer to many. The original model of Rogue is introduced by Nissan way back in 2008 and to make it competitive for 2014 market, Nissan has launched its 2.0 version of Rogue, which can easily be qualified as a first generation Nissan Rogue. Appealing style, excellent driving dynamics and improved cabin quality are some of the highlighted features of Rogue that can give its competitors a run for their money. Nissan, also is keeping its hopes high with the newly redesigned model and has made all possible efforts to make it the best among the class starting from its improved fuel economy, to third row seats and additional advanced technology features which have actual remedied some of the deficiencies of its old original model.
Last years’ Rogue was highly criticized for its compromised cargo space, which was around 59.7 cubic foot, but this time 2014 Nissan Rogue comes with 70 cubes of cargo space, which makes it competitive for the class, additional divide-n-hide configurable rear storage system is an advantage. The earlier Nissan Rogue versions don’t come with second row seat reclines and slide feature which has been added in the 2014 Nissan Rogue with the useful 40/20/40-split configuration to make the measures good for the vehicle. To make it even better, Nissan added optional third row seat feature, which has been taken as a shrewd move from the maker because its toughest competitor Toyota RAV4 has discontinued this feature. Remarkable thing about all these changes is that, Rogue offers all these features without adding anything to its weight and size.
Once we start looking under the hood of the 2014 Nissan Rogue, we found that things are more or less same in this department. Rogue carries on with 2.5 liter four cylinder engine which is capable of generating 170 horsepower along with revised and variable transmission. The powertrain is capable enough to offer satisfactory performance along with improved fuel economy. Combined 28 mpg EPA with four wheel drive makes Rogue one of the most economical non hybrid SUVs to spend on.
Despite all the glittery and obviously appealing improvement, Nissan’s Rogue still fails to outdo its rivals in some areas and this where it lacks to match the competition. If you are looking for more power, then 2014 Nissan Rogue is absolutely of no good, instead you can look up to Kia Sorento which boasts off robust V6 engine with third row seats to give Rogue tough competition. Softened suspension of Rogue is a bit disappointing, which makes its handling tepid if compared to other smarter and fuel efficient SUVs like 2014 Mazda CX-5. 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport can also be a good option if looking for smart performance with a unique sense of style.
You may not find 2014 Nissan Rogue to be the best at everything but its quite extensive range of talents seems to attract more people towards it especially the ones looking for compact crossovers with modest price.
2014 Mitsubishi Outlander: The Underdog
To beat the competition in 2014, Mitsubishi has reintroduced its 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander with extensive redesigning and inclusion of several notable features like improved mileage, third row seat, nice and luxurious interior along with use of advanced technology in several features. Every SUV loves likes to root for an underdog SUV but to an extent only and undoubtedly 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander is an underdog for the thriving small SUV segment. Despite some significant improvements which it has shown this year, you will not find Outlander as your first choice to buy an SUV when the market is flourished with fully loaded feature packed options. Although, market reviewers are considering 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander a solid entry still it has its own drawbacks if we take a close at it moneywise as well as feature wise.
Consumers who are in constant search for a different kind of small crossover, the third generation Outlander by Mitsubishi have a number of things that make it fall under this different category. To start with, the tweaked powertrain with improved aerodynamic styling amalgamated by improved EPA fuel economy are some of the features that add value to the Outlander. The 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander is now capable of providing 31 mpg highway, which is an above average number for a seven seat crossover. If you look at the combined mpg for Outlander which is altogether a more important criteria, it goes up to 2 mpg for four cylinder as well as V6 engine. This year Mitsubishi has done some welcome changes in the interior of Outlander to make it more overhauled. Improved material quality, stylish design and high tech telescoping steering wheel, which is good for driver’s comfort and sturdy third row seating have become standard across all trim levels of Outlander.
Optional features like collision avoidance, adaptive cruise control, and lane departure warning system have surely added an advantage in Outlander over its competitors, additionally Mitsubishi has announced to plug in its hybrid model as well later this year to increase its market probability. But unlike any other seven seat crossover, 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander also has its share of drawbacks which negatively affect its changes in the market among which some of the prominent ones are its conventional lack luster engine which is very uncommon for this class, cramped third row seats which make it ideal for kids only and Mitsubishi’s small dealer network is another major drawback that can reduce its chances in the market to a large extent.
Keeping all such factors in mind, it’s actually better to look for 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander’s alternatives and in this case even five seats passenger crossovers can be a competition for Outlander. Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4 are some of the most convenient and prominent options to look for. However, in seven seat segment there are some other options like the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe, which obviously are far better than Outlander in every possible manner. Although, Outlander has a tough competition to face in 2014 SUV market, but the underdog is still worth a look in compact crossover segment.