You’d have to look far and wide to find something that has changed as drastically as in-car electronics in just ten years. OK, any number of Hollywood has-beens might fit the bill, but limit the context to cars and it’s the myriad entertainment, navigation, comfort, climate, and luxury features that have evolved at an astonishing pace. Read more…
Crusin’ In The King Of Cool
For some people, making an entrance is what it’s all about. After all, you only have one chance to make a first impression and how you arrive on the scene says a lot about you. Underwhelming the audience is not an option. Perhaps that is why so many people rely on the Cadillac Escalade’s confidently exaggerated design to announce their arrival. With a chrome grille the size of a Miata and Cadillac badges visible at 200 yards, it’s near impossible to miss someone exiting a ‘Sclade. Add in the newly optional 20” chrome wheels and there’s a money-back guarantee you’ll be hippest thing in the parking lot. Not even Bermuda shorts and flip-flops could damage your street cred. Read more…
When A6 Is Enough
On your personal list of vehicles most in need of a redesign, the 2004 Audi A6 was probably not in the top five, or even the top ten—actually, it likely wasn’t on the list at all. That’s because despite being introduced for the 1998 model year, the last generation A6 remains as elegant as ever. But Audi is in the process of revising the entire lineup from top to bottom and, as such, the A6 is all new for 2005. Read more…
Some Important Products Blow Into The Windy City
Below we’ve broken down what made news in the Windy City and why. Read more…
It’s generally not an ideal practice for any party when a journalist’s first exposure to a new vehicle is a drive in the hot-rodded, top-of-the-line model, because all of the lesser models will appear, well, lesser. Yet, this is exactly the scenario we found ourselves in with regards to Audi’s extensively revised A4 lineup. Our first test car was a fully optioned S4 with a sticker north of $55k. As you might expect, we used adjectives like, “hot” “gorgeous” and “astounding” to describe its V8, 18” rubber, and Recaro seats. So it surprised us as much as it will you, to report that those same praises kept creeping into our conversations during our week with the “base” A4 2.0T. It might have been the slick 6-speed, or the stunning Quartz Gray Metallic sheetmetal. Whatever it was, we liked it. A lot. Read more…
The (Rich) People’s Car
Who would have ever thought that in the same showroom as the iconic, smiling, affordable Beetle, would someday sit a behemoth luxury sedan casting a shadow of nearly 204 inches? And not only is this land yacht uncharacteristically big, it’s expensive too. Before the 2004 model year, a check in either of those two categories would disqualify a vehicle from wearing the Volkswagen badge flat out. But when the silk sheet dropped off the first Phaeton, all long-held stereotypes of what Volkswagens were, dropped with it. The Phaeton was charged with taking VW upscale, and way up scale, at that. To that end, it could be called a success. Volkswagen now offers a lineup that spans from $20k Golfs to $100k Phaetons. Unfortunately, for Volkswagen, it turns out nobody wants a six-figure car that shares a badge with Herbie. Actually, that’s not entirely true, they did sell 64 last month. But a report on subconscious buying habits, this is not. We’re all about the iron here. To that end, we loaned a Phaeton V8 for a week to see for ourselves where it ranks on the luxury sedan scale. Read more…
A Little Bit Of Everything
Following last year’s theme of “The Year of the Car”, automakers are preparing an even bigger wave of new products for the upcoming year but this time there is a bit of everything in the pipeline. This year’s show stoppers spanned all categories from two door two passenger glorified golf carts to car-like trucks and the ultimate in Detroit muscle cars. Below we’ve broken down what made news and why. Read more…
With so much new product being rolled out one can get overwhelmed pretty easily. So, we are going to do a little warm-up for this weekend’s main event, the 2005 North American International Auto Show. Do your best to keep up as we show you what LA has shown us thus far and what Detroit still has in store. Read more…
The 6 Gets A 6-Speed
The Mazda6 has been a shining example of what a sport sedan from a mainstream automaker should be. We’re not talking BMW or Infiniti here. This is Mazda, purveyor of increasingly desirable, affordable cars with sporting intentions. And the 6 has been near the top of our favorite sport sedans list since its debut as a 2003 model. Since then it has offered plenty to like, (sharp style, 220hp, available manual) all for around $25k. Luckily, Mazda knows not to let a good thing go bad. So for 2005 they’ve upped the ante in the midsize sport sedan market by including the segment’s first 6-speed automatic transmission. The only people not happy about this? Mazda’s competitors. Read more…
The Nicest Electric Shaver We’ve Ever Driven
GMC’s Envoy has been carrying cargo and towing trailers in its current form since the 2002 model year. During that time owners have come to like its smooth ride and responsive, fuel-efficient I6. But the competition is getting tougher all the time and more power and luxury never hurt any vehicle’s chances for continued success. To that end, GMC has applied the Denali touch to the Envoy lineup, including things like more power courtesy of a V8 and revised styling via a “Denali-style” grille insert. The changes are enough to get us curious about how well the Envoy is holding up 3 years into its model cycle. Read more…
