Reviews : Car News And Reviews

You might think that the car I was most looking forward to driving this year might be a supercar, or some luxo barge, but the vehicle I’ve been most anticipating since it broke cover is the Chevrolet Bolt EV.

The BMW 5 Series may not be the brand’s most popular sedan, but it may be its most important. Having a mid-size sedan that 3 Series buyers can move up to is critical to keeping young couples in the brand as their families grow.

Before I get into this review, I want to state that I generally am not a fan of Scandinavian things. ABBA makes me beg for silence. IKEA means an all-day battle with allen wrenches, missing parts and impossible directions.

With recent luxury-performance releases like the RC F, GS F, and LC 500, it’s easy to forget that Lexus’ bread and butter is still its SUV lineup. While its best-seller is still the RX, there’s also the sporty NX, the limo-like LX, and the surprisingly rugged GX.

There’s nothing quite like a proper rear-wheel drive sports coupe. The way they push you down the road, and have a tendency to oversteer, they’re almost always more fun than their front-wheel drive (and often all-wheel drive) counterparts.

Kia boasted a record sales year for 2016. Most of the 3.5% increase in sales volume can be chalked up to their smaller cars including the Forte and Soul. This leaves my tester this week, largely overlooked – sadly.

Not that long ago, Mazda changed its tagline to “Driving Matters,” and in a rare case of a product living up to its marketing message, I think Mazda has truly delivered on that promise. I can’t name another full-line manufacturer whose entire line-up has such consistent concern for the driving experience.

A couple of years back, I had the opportunity to test drive the car then known as the Hyundai Genesis, and I thought it was an absolutely brilliant premium mid-size sedan. Hyundai had such confidence in the new Genesis that it recently spun it off into its own brand, focused exclusively on luxury vehicles.

Who doesn’t love a parade? Whether it’s for a holiday or a homecoming, they’re something special. And they require a special car too. I was asked to try to find a convertible to drive students from my daughter’s high school in their Homecoming Parade.

When you redesign a top-selling vehicle, you’re taking a big chance. Honda is a company not known as a risk taker. So, while it has long been planned to update and redo the Honda CR-V for 2017, it’s still a big risk for Honda.

My tester this week is the new 2017 Cadillac XT, which replaces the SRX, a boring and outdated SUV, despite being a top-seller for GM’s luxury brand. I love the direction Cadillac is going with their new and refreshed lineup of vehicles, however I dislike their latest naming convention.

Let me start out this review by saying I am most definitely an old soul. You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but I can name for you more songs by Rosemary Clooney than is publicly acceptable.

The late great Arlo Guthrie’s classic song Alice’s Restaurant had the chorus of “You can get anything you want.” And perhaps the same applies to the new Honda Civic. Honda has made the Civic available as a sedan, a coupe, and now a hatchback.

Don’t get me started on vehicle names. Between crazy numbers, nonsensical letter combinations and just weird names, I can never make rhyme or reason of why a vehicle gets tagged with a certain name. So when Chrysler unveiled their new upgraded minivan at the Detroit Auto Show, I was excited to see the new Town & Country.

For many years, Volvo has made vehicles which are well built, and extremely safe. However, while they excel at practicality and safety, they haven’t really been objects of desire. That’s all changed in the last couple of years, with beautifully designed and luxurious rides like the award-winning XC90, and now the new 2017 S90.