Most significant is the fun factor. This truly is an addicting car when the weather is nice. The six-speed manual is golden. It's truly an interactive, enthusiasts' car. Dropping down gears during turns with the top down and enjoying the grip from this tight chassis is an absolute riot. Steering is precise and rigid.
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR CHERYL BLAHNIK: After being in a wagon for more than a week, I thought this car would feel like a matchbox. To my surprise, it felt extremely roomy. I like the fact that it has four doors to make taking full advantage of the back seat easier. Last night, I picked up some rather large items from the store and when I first opened the back door, I wasn't sure they would fit, but they did and I was pleased.
Then there is the fact that this car is priced at less than $20,000 and comes with AWD. Inside and out, the car felt put together better than all of the previous Suzukis that I've been in. Maybe the quality of cars is now catching up to the motorcycles Suzuki makes. I thought the car looked good. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing more and more of these little cars on the road.
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Like any SVT vehicle, the Raptor is capable of mundane tasks such as flying to the grocery store or winging through commuter traffic.
But this SVT truck is at its best when it's swooping down the desert floor at full speed, dodging rocks and sailing over whoop-de-dos.
Based on the F-150 pickup, the Raptor body is widened by seven inches to accommodate honking 35-inch-tall desert tires and extra wheel travel--11.2 inches front and 13.4 inches rear. From the A-pillar forward, it gets all-new SMC body panels that wrap around the stock three-valve, 310-hp, 365-lb-ft, 5.4-liter Triton V8 (320 hp and 390 lb-ft on E85, if they sell it in your part of the Mojave). The black Raptor grille is wider than the stock F-150 grille, and the skid plate angled below the bumper replaces the stock air-dam lower panels.
The Tribeca drives well. It's quiet and it feels much lighter than its 4,250 pounds. That's nearly 1,000 pounds less than General Motors' crossovers and the Subaru is a more fun, more flingable ride as a result.
The power is decent and the transmission is mated well to this engine. For the most part, the interior is good though a few materials could use an upgrade for the price.
That price is quite ambitious, and I'm trying to be nice here. GM's crossovers start at roughly the same price, and the Toyota 4Runner, the Honda Pilot, the Hyundai Veracruz, the Jeep Commander, the Mazda CX-9, and the Toyota Highlander all start at less.
All the same, the car is a fun runner, clipping through the gears and winding up nicely to redline. That combined with the taut Z suspension and precise steering means the car remains a lot of fun, but with a quiet, nicely upholstered side that might almost allow someone to make a phone call while driving. In a Z, that just should not be a consideration, but in this one, it is. Sad.
INTERACTIVE EDITOR DALE JEWETT: We've sung praises for the Mercedes-Benz C-class before, and this example does nothing to change that tune.
The 3.0-liter V6 is powerful and smooth, capable of rocketing away from an intersection or getting you up to speed quickly on the freeway on ramp. The seven-speed auto snaps off crisp shifts, even in the Comfort setting. The chassis is rock solid, a real benefit as nearly every street in my neighborhood seems to be under construction right now.
The power driver's seat and power tilt and telescope for the steering column make it easy to find a comfortable driving position. And the seat heater is strong and soothing on a back that was tired from a weekend of yard work, digging and planting.
This brings me to a note about the C-class trunk--it can hold a bunch of stuff. I filled it with six bags of mulch, two bags of decorative rock, some edging, weed block and a few paving bricks with no hassle.
On the down side, setting the driver's seat for a full-size adult leaves very little leg room for the rear passenger, unless the driver is kind enough to scrunch up a bit.
SENIOR EDITOR FOR NEWS BOB GRITZINGER: It's hard to bitch about a drive in any Porsche, but this Cayman somehow left me wanting for more. Don't get me wrong, the car is spectacular in many ways--steering, handling, styling, braking--but somehow, it falls just short of my expectations, especially at this sticker price. Start with the power, which is strong but runs out of punch before I expected, and it doesn't provide the same accompanying symphony as other Porsches, or what you'd hear in a Boxster S, top up or down. I kept looking for the Sport button, but it's not there in this model, so the engine always felt a little underwhelming compared with what I knew was possible.
The interior and comfort and convenience features also seemed lacking at this price, with what seems like little attention paid to the driver interface. The controls are there, but punching up the right button while concentrating on driving isn't as intuitive as one might like. Steering-wheel-mounted redundant buttons would help.
All that said, again, it's hard to complain about any Porsche. At the same time, when a company sets a high mark, it needs to meet or exceed it every time. This Cayman may not.
SENIOR EDITOR FOR NEWS BOB GRITZINGER: The New GM should make some effort to find a place for cars like this. This one is especially painful, because the car is almost stillborn, getting just one model year before its division and its chassis head for the scrap heap.
That's too bad, because despite some shortcomings (see later) this is one fun little ride. There's just enough fiberglass smell emanating from the removable roof panel, and just enough crease in the fenders, and just enough zip to the engine, and just enough responsiveness to the chassis, to make this feel every bit like a poor man's Corvette.
I think the coupe's styling runs circles around the Solstice roadster's chopped look, while its hatch-under-glass storage provides some reasonable room for cargo. The interior is nothing special, with a little too much ugly plastic covering large unbroken swaths of dashboard and center console, but the seats are good and the driving position is excellent.
We've driven faster cars before. Heck, we've driven faster Ford Mustangs before, but few cars, no matter their make, model or country of origin, have bested the all-out balance--and fun--of Roush's latest creation, the 2010 427R Mustang.
With 435 horses on tap and a full 400 lb-ft of torque twisting the tires via a
supercharged and intercooled 4.6-liter V8, the 427R certainly makes exhilarating off-the-line starts. Power is prodigious and nearly endless, the car showing only a bit of lag before launching in a glorious roar at every twitch of the right pedal. As you let the revs build, the supercharger screams to life, its climbing wail joining the Roush exhaust's growling, spitting, bubbling rumble in a cackling mélange of sound.
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT JONATHAN WONG: Most of the time, it's sad to see a car grow up and become more mature and accommodating to the masses. More often than not it means a car loses its original identity that set it apart from the crowd. Thankfully, the new Mazda 6 has retained many of the traits that made it such an enjoyable driving midsize sedan during the previous generation.
Dimensions have grown in every direction for a larger interior space and trunk. There is a clear jump in interior quality with a more stylish layout and soft-touch materials on major surfaces. Seating position is comfortable and the backseat appears to be more accommodating for passengers compared to the last car.
The new car is good looking on the outside as well with a fuller, more distinctive appearance, while the flared front fenders styled after the RX-8's keep it sporty.
You see, Americans, fickle as they come, have never warmed up to hatchbacks. Sure, we bought VW Golfs and Honda Civics, but those were entry-level cars. Granted, this is no econobox hatch, and BMW's two-piece tailgate separates the car from all others, although right now the GT is the only player in this particular segment. The tailgate can operate as a hatch, opening up the entire rear of the car, or simply open a small trunk-like opening.
The V looks sharp and sounds impressive, even at idle, but it doesn’t really jump out as something as special as it is--which in my book is a great thing. No need to alert the authorities, or the competition, of your true capabilities.
There is a huge amount of legroom. I generally like to sit up close to the steering wheel, and, well, being short, I need to be close to reach the pedals. Even so, I felt like it was spacious; I could be close without feeling like I was kissing the windshield. Another plus was the large trunk.
Or we should say the modern Spyker has been lurking. Spyker started building coaches in 1875 and cars in 1898. It built cars and airplanes until 1925 when it went on hiatus for 75 years. In the late '90s Dutch lawyer and businessman Victor Muller started thinking he could make a better supercar than what he saw out there. He asked the Spyker family if he could use the name, then designed and built a car that he showed at the British Motor Show in 2000. He and Spyker have been going ever since.
Not too many people are aware that Spykers have been certified for sale in the United States since 2005. Now Spyker is launching a nationwide marketing push to let select customers of its 18 U.S. dealers know what a great couple of cars they have.
Clutch, brakes, shifter and steering are all top-notch, though the speed-sensitive steering leans toward the light side, at times feeling over assisted. Just about my only gripe. I have a suspicion this car will understeer a bit much on a track, but the balance allows for plenty of public-road-fun.
Aston Martin understands: When weather permits, aural delights this pure shouldn't be stifled behind layers of aluminum and glass and lacquer. The majestic notes of its 6.0-liter V12--a rumbling basso lifting the throaty tenors, a chorus of sopranos erupting in full song as the throttle opens wide--should flow freely, to drift on the air and bounce off the trees and dance merrily around the ears, mingling with the warmth of a summer wind and basking in the rays of a setting sun.
So Aston removed the roof of the DBS and envelopes the Volante's occupants in the full sensory experience that 510 hp delivers: those majestic sounds, the blur of the road, skin prickling in the open air. Speed is no longer something simply read on a dial; it fills the lungs.
If driving the 2009 Aston Martin DBS Volante, or convertible, sounds magical, it might very well be. But it's a magic that only a lucky 500 or so well-heeled types will be able to indulge in, starting this fall.
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SENIOR WEB REPORTER GREG MIGLIORE: This is a decent little car. Very useful, with the hatch and solid fuel economy. Surprisingly good steering and interior. I guess when you creep into the $20,000 range, things should get a little nicer, but this car beat my expectations in overall packaging. Elegant wheels, good touch points inside and a radio whose face I can read easily--all smart things in my book.Acceleration was OK; I mean, it's a 2.0-liter four-banger. But it's a fairly lithe ride considering it's still a hatch. Hyundai has done a nice job of upgrading its product line from econoboxes to relatively classy rides.
Also, I liked the headlights and the styling. The shape isn't my cup of coffee, but the subtleties are well done. I didn't get much roll in corners or all that much wind resistance on the expressway. This is a solid effort overall, though not my preference for future wheels.
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Though they are increasingly fewer and farther between, there are still places in the world where you can drive full speed across the desert, foot to the floor, dodging rocks and wailing on whoop-de-dos the whole way. It's a fleeting form of freedom and if you like it, better to act sooner rather than later.
To fully enjoy these places at these speeds, Ford has made the Raptor.
Based on the F-150 pickup, the Raptor is widened by seven inches to accommodate big, honking desert tires and extra wheel travel--11.2 inches front and 12.1 inches rear. From the A-pillar forward, it gets all-new SMC body panels that wrap around the stock three-valve, 320-hp, 5.4-liter Triton V8. The black Raptor grille is wider than the stock F-150 grille, and the skid plate angled below the bumper replaces the stock air dam lower panels.
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''What a cute butt!"
Turning around to look, we had to agree, it was a cute butt. Soft and round but still muscular and altogether very purposeful-looking. We smiled.
Our 370Z roadster test car sat outside the bagel shop, on full display through the large plate-glass window. Passersby paused to look, sipping their morning coffees, admiring its wide rear stance, the curvature of the trunk line where it hugs the wheel flares, the dual rear cowls tucked in behind the fixed roll hoops--less mechanized and cold than its predecessor overall and entirely more sensuous in effect. We'd like to think that we brightened a few folks' mornings. Or, rather, that the car did.
Just a year after the 370Z coupe supplanted the fantastic 350Z, the roadster is set to do the same this September. And while it largely carries over the mechanicals from the coupe, the roadster has its own styling--and lifestyle--statements to make.
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Take an everyday Corvette, beef up its bod with wider fenders front and rear, throw on a cool-looking functional front splitter and rear spoiler, dress up the corners with unique wheels (we particularly like them in Competition Gray), then add some zing with a pair of stylized fender vents and you're halfway to Chevy's latest offering, the Corvette Grand Sport.
Slotted between the base model and the Z06, the Grand Sport is essentially an LS3-powered Z06 Light, if you will, using some of the mechanicals of the zoomier car to give folks seeking the ease of an entry-level Corvette with an extra dose of performance and visual appeal.
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The plane is waiting in Cologne, Germany, and we're late. The autobahn clears, and the Audi TTRS gets whipped back to third gear.
The thump in the back is instant and brutal, with basically no turbo lag. The five-cylinder burble gets deeper, the turbo whistle convinces you it's working hard, and the Audi launches past the commuters. Fourth gear rips it past 125 mph, fifth doesn't seem any less urgent, and it's just a seamless, dieselesque flat surge toward ever more speed.
When a distant van moves into the fast lane, forcing us onto the best Audi brakes this side of the R8, the TTRS is still hurling itself forward, even with 178 mph on the speedo.
But that's not the whole story. The surprising thing is that the car sits flat, comfortably soaking up the bumps and expansion joints without flinching, jinking or feeling nervous, ignoring crosswinds, arrowing straight ahead and feeling absolutely at home at very high speed.
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We've always liked the Mazda Mazdaspeed 3, always thought it a fine little road blaster. When we ran a long-termer a few years ago, we were sad to see it go.
So, back at the New York auto show, when Mazda told us that its new 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 would blow us away, we couldn't wait to get behind the wheel. Now, having just finished winging our way up the California coast in one, we can say unequivocally that Mazda has improved the recipe.
To start with, there is oodles of power from the turbocharged, direct-injected, 2.3-liter four-cylinder. It produces 263 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. We thought the power delivery was nice and smooth. Mazda says it smoothed things out with better breathing and taller gearing. Mazda also says that to cut torque steer, it fiddled with the torque-management system, which adjusts power based on steering position and gear. It works. This is a terrific engine.
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Is it possible that Kia's new Forte Koup can single-handedly reignite an auto industry's dilapidated sales?
Probably not, but there is so much going for the Koup that when consumer confidence returns, it should have buyers lining up to take test drives. The Koup is that much of a what-to-watch-for winner.
It has everything smart buyers want--style, comfort and high-content standard features. If only we could get over its ill-fitting name.
Looking past the name to the car, you immediately note the Koup's exterior design. It was not long ago that when you saw a Korean car, its Blandness Gone Wrong captured your attention. But that was then, and this is wow!
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When Bugatti launched the Veyron, the world was a very different place. More people had money, for sure, and far more moneyed folk were happy to show the world what they could afford.
Into a very different world marches the convertible version of the Veyron, the nearly $2 million Grand Sport. Even those people who have money are finding it prudent not to demonstrably splash it around, even if this car is--almost certainly--the most astonishing convertible ever built.
Other things have changed, too.
When Bugatti launched the Veyron, there was no public consciousness about it. It was just another oddly shaped machine that barely drew a look. That's all gone. Even in car-hating France, people know what the Veyron is. And they love it. They cheer for it. They raise their thumbs for it. They take photos on raised Nokias. When it parks, they call their friends, who all come down to take their own photos.
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Ford has launched its Transit Connect in the United States, and about time, too. It's one of the coolest vehicles coming out this year. And at a starting price of $21,475, it's a bargain, too.
The Transit Connect isn't new. In fact, it's been on sale around the world since 2003, and Ford has moved 600,000 of them. But it's new to the States, and everyone from small-business owners to bicyclists to kayakers to race teams should be grateful. It's perfect for you.
Ford's 2.0-liter Duratec four powers the Transit Connect, producing 136 hp and 128 lb-ft of torque. With that engine coupled to a four-speed automatic transmission, the van gets 22 mpg city and 25 mpg on the highway.
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Because of its sleek styling and beautiful interior, the 2010 Buick LaCrosse rolling into showrooms now has a chance of significantly lowering the brand's age demographic, if General Motors can somehow coax younger buyers into the dealership.
For years, Buick has been big among senior citizens in the United States--Buick's rep in China also is terrific, making it a top seller in the country--and the styling of the brand's offerings could best be described as having a nice personality. Big V8s, a lumbering suspension and Barcalounger-like seats made for cars with bland styling that appealed to--well, we're not sure whom they appealed to. But you usually saw gray-haired folks driving them.
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Audi was late to the luxury-SUV ranks, watching for almost a decade as BMW and Mercedes-Benz took the initiative with the popular U.S.-built X5 and M-class.
But since the Q7 launch in 2006, Audi has made quite an impression. In three years, the Q7, which shares mechanicals with the Porsche Cayenne and the Volkswagen Touareg, has had sales of almost 230,000 worldwide. Not bad.
Now, with the global credit crunch, Audi is introducing a facelifted Q7, which, at prices similar to those charged until now, is claimed to offer greater value while providing the choice of a frugal new 3.0-liter V6 diesel. This pitches the Q7 against BMW's X5 xDrive 35d and the ML350 CDI Bluetec from Mercedes.
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The 2010 Range Rover might look the same, but there are so many changes under the skin that it's as if Land Rover jacked up the body and slid a new car underneath.
The exterior changes are subtle. There's a new grille, new headlamps and a new front bumper. The styling changes have softened the car a wee bit, though it's still a gorgeous ute.
The interior design stays roughly the same (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) but materials were upgraded--there's more leather, more wood, more of what Range Rover owners expect. The main dials have been replaced by a really cool TFT screen projecting virtual dials.
Two new direct-injection 5.0-liter V8s are available, normally aspirated and supercharged, both Jaguar/Land Rover developed. The naturally aspirated engine produces 375 hp and 375 lb-ft of torque. That horsepower figure is just 25 hp less than the outgoing supercharged model. Meanwhile, the new supercharged version now cranks out 510 hp and 461 lb-ft. Both engines are mated to a ZF six-speed automatic transmission. The supercharged version will hit 60 mph in 5.9 seconds, more than a second quicker than before.
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The task: Take on two of the most popular small SUVs, the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V.
The result: The 2010 Chevrolet Equinox.
Say again? The Equinox?
That's right. General Motors expects its all-new, 2010 Equinox to put a serious dent in the draw of the traditional best-selling compact crossovers. That's a tall order. Chevy has moved just 21,000 of the little utes so far this year, compared with Toyota selling 52,000 RAV4s and Honda selling 65,000 CR-Vs. But now that we've driven the new Equinox, we'd say it has a shot.
For starters, it looks good inside and out. The front has what Chevy calls its signature global face: the two-tier grille and gi-normous gold bow tie. The little ute has strong fenders and good-looking wraparound headlamps. The wheels are pushed out to the corners so the overhangs are nice and short. The overall look is a bit like a mini-Traverse, and that's a good thing.
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They're mixing some strong Kool-Aid at Alfa Romeo these days, and we hope you don't mind that we took a mongo swig of it.
As part of the Fiat umbrella, Alfa represents some of the best stuff enthusiasts will get from the Fiat-Chrysler partnership, and the boys from Turin rolled out some of their top toys during our visit earlier this week. The lineup included the Alfa 159 (in diesel and gasoline versions), the MiTo, the Brera and Brera Spider, a historic 1931 8C 2300 Le Mans racer (if you were at Goodwood this year, you saw it), and the topper: the 2009 8C Spider.
The 8C Spider follows the first flag-bearer for Alfa's return to North America (the company bowed out of the States in 1994), the 8C Competizione, which sold out its entire 500-car run by last December (only 50 came to the United States).
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Badges, we don't need to see no badges to separate Nissan's Nismo 370Z from its cult-car predecessor or a stock 370Z. Just toss it into turn two at Willow Springs International Raceway, and the difference--along with the tail--will quickly come forward.
During our walk-around tour of the 2009 Nissan Nismo 370Z, we spotted plenty of visible evidence, besides all the badges, to erase any notion of it being merely a badge-engineered special 370Z.
Clues also reveal it to be a more seriously track-oriented machine than the previous limited-edition (1,500 units from 2007 to 2008) Nismo 350Z. Most obvious is that rather than simply resculpting the front-end styling to achieve more downforce and enhance airflow, Nissan North America's Special-ty Vehicles Group, with conversion partner Autech Japan, grafted on a new nose that slopes down lower and about six inches farther. It contributes to an overall length of 174.3 inches, nearly seven inches longer than a 370Z (the wheelbase remains at 100.4 inches).
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Even without the sparkly green paint we took to calling metallic Kermit, the Ford Fiesta would have turned heads. Its shape jolts a conservative American sensibility, which, for the most part, equates tiny vehicles with cheap, bland and throwaway. Recently, cars such as the Mini Cooper have done much to chip away at that perception, but eons of crap are hard to overcome. Think infamous, such as the Yugo, or utterly forgettable, such as Ford's own Aspire--if you can remember it.
The Fiesta instead celebrates the possible in the B-segment, without succumbing to lowest-common-denominator assumptions. Europeans have long understood that small doesn't have to mean bad; they bank on it, in fact, many paying a premium for tiny cars packed to the gills with goodness and fun. And style.
A car for every purse and purpose was once a famous mantra of General Motors, and on a much smaller scale, Subaru is adopting that principle with its redesign of the 2010 Legacy.
The sedan is bigger, roomier, has an updated engine lineup and looks a bit sharper than its predecessor. And it's got a little something for everyone: a base model with solid fuel economy, a turbo for enthusiasts and a bigger displacement six-cylinder unit that’s paired with an automatic transmission for ease of driving.
The goal is to make the Legacy more mainstream and more of an option for consumers outside of its historic base--which despite being avid, is relatively small. The redesign is significant because it positions the Legacy to better compete with sedans from Mazda, Nissan, Volkswagen and to a lesser extent, Toyota and Honda.
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After four years of development, countless scoop photos and a grandiose unveiling atop a skyscraper in China, we finally have the key to the 2010 Porsche Panamera in hand.
As with the Cayenne launched in 2002, the big four-door sedan represents a bold break from tradition for the German carmaker. As is usually the case when a new Porsche model is in the offing, expectations are running high. Zuffenhausen officials lurk ominously as we close the driver's door and insert the key, styled to look like the car itself, into the ignition mounted--in keeping with Porsche tradition--to the left of the steering wheel.
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Ford Motor Co.'s success with its sixth-generation Taurus lies not in the quality of the vehicle--it may prove to be the best sedan the company has ever produced--but in the company's ability to convince customers that this is a Taurus.
When the Taurus was unveiled in 1985 as an '86 model, it was a sensation stylistically and set the mark for American full-size sedans for a couple of decades. Ford sold 200,000 of the aerodynamically styled four-doors the first year, and the Taurus name was forever burned into the car-buying public's consciousness.
More than 7 million Tauruses have been sold since then, and 4 million remain on the road. Growing families bought them and then handed them down to new drivers. The cars were passed along to college students. Salespeople rolled up hundreds of thousands of miles on their Tauruses and then bought new ones. They became the car du jour at car-rental agencies.
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