Small Car

Text by Tom Appel 2026 Nissan Leaf Platinum+ Review Base price: $38,990 As Tested Price: $41,930 (incl. $1,495 inland freight & handing)  Review The Nissan Leaf, which was one of the first mainstream electric cars on the market, was always a bit of an odd duck. Stylistically, the Leaf always looked like a negative caricature […]

I’m a bad journalist. Or, perhaps more accurately, I am a journalist with a bad memory. Here’s the deal: I always remember liking the Forester, but I never recall quite why. Subaru’s deservedly popular compact crossover has earned a fine reputation for satisfying the needs of singles, small families, and empty nesters, but how it does so isn’t entirely obvious. In the case of the Wilderness, there are several things—little things—that are worth noting—things that, considered in toto, combine to form vehicle that is so much more than the sum of its parts.

Offered between 1982 and 1989, the heavily chromed and stubbornly dated looking Fifth Avenue midsize luxury sedan found an audience of aging and technology averse car buyers for whom the car’s cranky stoicism was a virtue, and a vote against smaller, modern, more efficient offerings.

The VR6 was a clever engineering solution that gave compact front-drive cars real six-cylinder character and is still respected by brand enthusiasts. The engine was also the building block for a family of luxury and performance engines,  seeing use in such brands as Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Bugatti.

We’re generally impressed by the Traverse, and appreciate its class-leading passenger and cargo space. The handsome exterior design hide’s the Chevy’s mass well, and all the room comes in handy on road trips or on moving day.