The rear-mounted hot tub required the addition of another pair of wheels. It also comes with a detachable roof, so it can operate in convertible mode or in covered mode for transporting the contents without sloshing water all over the 405.
The MINI XXL made the rounds at the Summer Games, and now it's on tour around Europe and Asia. If you really want one of your own, Ultra Limousines might be able to help with the mechanicals. The therapy? You're on your own.
Drive Time: Kia Spectra5
What comes from South Korea, is more fun than a barrel full of kimchi and is about as cheap as you can get and still have fun? Wrong to everyone who said, "Margaret Cho!" We're talking about the Kia Spectra5, a chunky, spunky five-door that shares little more with the all-American girl than a significantly improved rear end.
Kia is appending the Spectra lineup with the new five-door because it's proven to be smart business for other car companies. Look at Mazda: the Protege5 basically carried its performance creds for a few years while the Miata stuck with the hairdresser set and the RX-8 was still a year or two away from crowning out of the product-development womb. (That explains all the sticky stuff on the floor of the last one we tested.) Suzuki brought out the Aerio SX and brought a few more tuner-minded guys and gals into the store. And the five-door to beat all, the Scion xB, continues to attract hordes of shoppers because of-not in spite of-its functionally homely shape.
Other than the growth hanging off its back, the Spectra5 isn't radically different from the new Spectra four-door, which is a good thing. The newest version of Kia's compact sedan is stouter, safer (with six standard airbags and occupant sensors), and better looking, with a sharp crease down its flanks that somehow gives a BMW impression to the $12,620 Spectra sedan.
The 5 not only takes its name from the Mazda Protege5, it takes just about everything else, including inspiration, right down to its name. As the Protege5 was the sportiest cheap Mazda, the Spectra5 is Kia's sportiest offering yet. Versus the base four-door, the five-door hatch gets a sport-tuned independent suspension, 16-inch wheels and tires, and a strut-tower brace to reinforce the front end. Since it's based on the current Hyundai Elantra, it's inherited good driving dynamics.The Spectra5 does stick with the sedan's capable but not yet thrilling (that part's up to you) powertrain. With variable valve timing and double overhead cams, the 2.0-liter four-cylinder turns out 138 hp and 135 lb-ft of torque-a decent amount for a five-door when it's just you behind the wheel. For carrying five adults or scorching your favorite lightly patrolled section of highway, you'll want to have early designs on the engine.
The five-speed gearbox isn't enchanting, but it's geared decently to keep the Spectra5's motor revving high where you need to, to extract the power. The four-five shift in particular could use some work, but the clutch effort is light and direct and so are the brakes, for that matter. Even though all the driver inputs feel more mature than in the last Spectra, it doesn't mean they're Toyota-geriatric.