MotorMouths

The Eco version of the Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan is the fuel-mileage special, with space, style, satisfaction and strong mpg for a modest price. Watch out, hybrids.

The Chevy Cruze test car had its issues, but there’s plenty to like. It’s styling is sweeping enough to avoid dorkiness, normal enough to avoid exhibitionism. Stewed together, Cruze’s attributes support Chevy’s ad claim it can match or best the likes of Civic.

It’s hardly a stretch to call the 2013 Malibu the best modern Chevy. Styling is crisp and restrained. Interior is roomy and quiet, outfitted with classy trim. Engine’s strong.

Sonic is a good car: useful, easy to drive, a good value. It’s just not the high-class, scintillating little scooter we were expecting. For many buyers, though, it could hit the sweet spot.

Most of the time, you drive the Volt on battery power only. Some of the time, you burn gas to keep the juice flowing. No place to plug in to recharge? No problem. Fill the gas tank and drive on. How, exactly, is that anything but genius?

Maybe all you need to know about the 200 drop-top is that it’s derived from the Sebring, and the overhaul had to be done quickly and on a tight budget.

The Chrysler 300 is an evocative and exciting alternative to Detroit rivals Lincoln and Buick and maybe Cadillac. That’s a compliment. Detroit DNA and chemistry are lures, not drawbacks.

The 2012 Charger easily triumphs on its strong points: 31 mpg on the highway, a smoothness that’ll trump fancy German brands, and a level of driving satisfaction that is almost unbelievable in a big Detroit sedan.

It has the distinct advantages of being roomier and more powerful than rivals. In fact, among open-minded shoppers, we’d bet that it’ll be hard to justify a Corolla or Civic or Elantra after driving a Dart.

Durango’s back, transformed and stunningly good. It’s a stylish, satisfying, sporty machine that would be high on our shopping list.

The Journey has a lot of room, comfort and convenience for the price of a less-useful small or midsize sedan — if you keep your mitts off the options list.

If we’re going to save the planet by taking less space and using less fuel, let’s do it in Fiat 500s — almost impossibly stylish, and graced with an engine that loves to run hard and doesn’t use a lot of fuel doing so.