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(Enlarge photo)
Pint-size haulers like these are a great alternative to a lumbering SUV. We tested six of the best.
(Photo by Scott Jacobs)
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Road Test: Comparison Test
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2002-2003 Compact Wagon Comparison Test
Size Doesn't Matter
By
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
Date posted: 03-18-2003
So you want a car to tool around the city in, preferably something small to spare you the bulk and expense of an SUV. You're young, or more importantly, young at heart, which means you're looking for something with a dash of sporty flavor. You don't have a whole lot of cash, which means you'd like something on the economical side. Every once in a while you spend more than you should at Target or for oversize plastic playthings at Toys "R" Us, meaning that you need more than just the conventional trunk that a sedan offers.
So what kind of car would you get? We'd highly suggest a compact wagon. Carmakers are realizing the usefulness of four-door cars with the addition of what is essentially a really big trunk. Wagons are on the rebound from their homely, dowdy image of the past few decades and are hip again, thanks to a slight backlash from the SUV glut. People are realizing that they can have a ride with almost as much cargo capacity but without the headaches associated with a truck-based vehicle, namely a rough ride, poor gas mileage and more mass than necessary.
An influx of sport wagons as rendered by luxury carmakers started the "cool wagon" trend: consider the Lexus IS 300 SportCross, the Audi A4 Avant, BMW 325i Sport Wagon and Mercedes-Benz C320 Sport Wagon. Well, the vast majority of consumers can't afford these fancy brands, so other carmakers are offering a number of fun, fast and easy-on-the-wallet wagons to carry you, your brood and your belongings to your destination.
The cars assembled here have all the functionality of a station wagon along with the personality of a sporty compact car. The group included the 2002 Ford Focus ZX5, 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser Limited, 2002 Mazda Protegé5, 2002 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, 2002 Suzuki Aerio SX and the 2003 Toyota Matrix XR FWD to compete in this comparison test.
As with other comparison tests we conduct, we asked our ever-willing editors to determine which car is the best. Each car was evaluated based on price, feature content, performance, a 23-point evaluation and subjective ratings — which cars our editors would put in their own garages and which ones they would recommend to others.
We drove them around town and on highways, up curvy mountain roads and around tight parking lots. We clambered aboard to see which offered the most rear-seat comfort, and judged which would allow the most thrills should you find a nicely banked decreasing-radius freeway on-ramp on your daily commute.
So sit back and allow us to take you on an enjoyable ride through the environs of Southern California in these stylish, affordable machines.
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