Reviews : Car News And Reviews

Lexus really wants America to shake-off those nagging sedan slumpin’ blues. But this task has proved far more daunting than previously expected. Despite releasing turbocharged powerplants and brilliant offerings like the insatiable GS F sport sedan, consumer interest in classically styled four-door vehicles has remained tepid at best.

Occasionally, going out on a limb and trying the unbranded version of a particular product pays off in spades. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does the feeling you get can often be both of surprise and satisfaction.

The Toyota Land Cruiser has been around since the 1950s in one form or another, but it’s a decidedly different vehicle from when it first burst onto the scene as a rugged, 2-door off-roader. The first real ancestor of today’s comfy, yet capable SUV came on the scene as the Land Cruiser J50 in 1967, but much has changed in these last 50 years in the realm of full-size SUVs.

It’s a familiar playbook that Hyundai has been following. It’s quite similar to the approach that Honda followed when they launched in the U.S. market in the late ’70s. Build a bare-bones car. Offer a killer warranty to back up the car.

Despite its wild popularity and success since first launching in 1982, the Toyota Camry has long been the car you go with if you want something safe, reliable, and… ordinary. But we live in an era where car buyers demand something more when it comes to styling and performance from their vehicles.

There’s a very common cliché that people use that I usually dislike: “It is what it is.” This time it’s rather apropos for my tester this week. The 2017 Honda CR-V is what it is. That may sound negative, but I’m using this in a positive light.

Toyota has done a lot in recent years to distance itself from the old stigma that it only makes bland automobiles. Hell, even Akio Toyoda publicly announced that they weren’t going to be building boring cars under his watch, a bold claim for a company that has long benefited from the perks of designing safe, unassuming vehicles.

To be completely honest, I was rather looking forward to revisiting Mazda’s micro-sized CX-3 crossover. It had been about a year and a half since I last reviewed a Touring model, and was overjoyed when I saw the “Dynamic Blue Mica” GT version roll into my drive. 

Jeep’s brand identity is entangled with the Wrangler. While the Jeep name has certainly become synonymous with that off-roader, just as you Xerox something, or fill your Thermos, or blow your nose with a Kleenex, that’s not a bad thing.

Honda fanboys need to put down their energy drinks and take a big step back, because all of their bitching about the all-new Honda Civic Si being a disappointment is about as off-base as it gets.

Station wagons have become quite the anomaly here in America, and for damn good reason. The minivan surprise attack of the 1980s was quickly followed by an SUV punch, and once crossover and hybrid sales began to climb, the quintessential family mover of yesteryear appeared to be on its last leg at the turn of the millennium.

For a site that likes to feature interesting and exciting cars, is there a car more against that philosophy than the Toyota Camry? Car people shun it regularly as an appliance for getting from one place to another, and surely can’t be any fun.

For decades, I have animatedly emphasized that all of the piston-pumping action packed within my skull can been derived directly from playing with LEGO kits. From age four forward, these microscopic Scandinavian slices of engineering genius and late night pediatric agony were an ingrained aspect of my mental development.

Sitting at a stoplight, smoothie in hand and eyes upon the interstate, I prepare myself for the inevitable on-ramp agony that was surely about to occur. I felt bad for the M3 owner behind me, who was halfheartedly revving his engine, passive aggressively pushing forward with an approach that said, “Stupid hybrid.

When you think about it, a car is nothing more than a means to get from Point A to Point B. There are hundreds of choices and certainly personal preferences play the largest role in the consumer demand for cars.