Honest opinions – the good, bad and ugly.
If you go test-drive a new economy compact – any new economy compact – you will discover something the car industry would probably prefer to keep quiet: There are no latter-day Chevettes or Pintos. There’s nothing embarrassing about any of them and more than that – there’s nothing shitty about them, either. You might...
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For a good time, don’t call Jenny – call Mazda. Its cars – even its family cars – are almost always more fun to take for a spin than competitors’ cars, good-looking things and affordably priced, too. Now, if only they gave you best-in-class gas mileage… . Hey, wait – they just did! The...
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I’m often asked what car I would buy if I were shopping for a new car. I usually don’t have a specific answer because there are usually several equally appealing cars in a given class of cars. It’s just too close to call – and comes down to subjectives and intangibles. Which one looks...
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Relativity – it’s not just a concept in physics. It applies to horsepower (and performance) too. On the one hand, the just-updated 2012 Honda CR-V is still a bit underpowered and a bit slow relative to competitors because it still has nothing mightier than a 2.4 liter four-cylinder engine under its hood (same as...
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I’ve already reviewed the Fiat 500 coupe (see here). Now it’s time to look at the 500C with the folding soft-top (similar to the one offered by VW on the old Beetle – and Fiat – a long time ago, but now fully electronic and it doesn’t leak, either). I tested what might just...
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Hyundai thinks it has solved the Access Problem that’s always been a problem for sporty coupes. The 2012 Veloster doesn’t merely have three doors – that’s been done before. It has three different-sized doors. The functional problem is the third door might be on the wrong side (the passenger side) of the car. And...
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With the demise of the Ford Crown Vic (and its sister ship, the Lincoln Town Car) there’s only one choice left if you’re looking for a traditional American-style roller. You know, something substantial – a big (and heavy) sedan available with a big V-8 engine that comes standard with a big personality. And which...
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James Bond’s Walther PPK was a lot like the new Range Rover Evoque: Compact, elegant – but very capable when called upon. Ditto the Evoque. There’s a small but potent (and efficient) turbo’d four under the hood. Almost 30 MPG on the road – and 0-60 in seven seconds flat. Terrain-mapping AWD is at...
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Honda’s take on the old Chevy El Camino (and Ford Ranchero) probably came along a few years too soon. In 2006, when the first Ridgeline appeared, real trucks (body-on-frame, rear-wheel-drive with real 4WD, not AWD) were like the pre-Chicxulub crater T-Rexes of the late Cretaceous era: Abundant and dominant. Then came the asteroid –...
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For the first half of 2011, the updated Scion tC hatchback coupe was pretty much the only Scion model that was selling well – roughly doubling its monthly numbers relative to the same six-month period in 2010. But in July of ’11 it was as though someone flipped a switch. To “off.” From 2,053...
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