Automotive Trends

Big Ol’ Honking Pickup Truck

     We tried to lead with something more insightful, but that is pretty much the best way to describe the third-generation Toyota Tundra. It’s big. Very big. Every aspect of it seems purposely designed to out-scale the domestic competition once and for all. In fact, I don’t think the pictures do it justice (and I took the pictures!) It almost has the look and feel of a three-quarter-ton Ford Super Duty. It’s as if Toyota overshot the half-ton class and landed in a five-eighths-ton class of one. Clearly this Tundra makes up for Toyota’s last two half-hearted foray’s into the full-size pickup realm with girth to spare. But there is more to being a successful pickup truck than size. Has Toyota done their homework? Read more…

      Well, that didn’t take long. Less than 48 hours after nabbing some shots of a caravan of Grand Caravans out for a shakedown cruise, Dodge proliferated the cybernets with specs and glamor photos of its latest family hauler. Curiously, Dodge contracted a man (and only a man) and his surfboard for these photos. Sport van? Someone tried that one already. Man van?   Read more…

     If you think the 2011 Dodge Avenger looks a lot like the 2010 model, you are mostly correct. Aside from a new split-crosshair grille and lower fascia, the exterior visage is essentially the same. But with this Avenger, Dodge was a little more concerned about your driving experience. Read more…

      Chrysler has yet to release the details on the 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan, but it would appear they aren’t too concerned about them being seen. Now, as you can see from these pictures, camouflage wouldn’t hide much more than new tail lamps, headlamps, and a front fascia and grille. Still, no official press release usually means no uncovering of the goods. Apparently this caravan of Grand Caravans didn’t get that memo. What we can’t see is what is under the hood and all our money is riding on the new 3.6L V6, which it will share with the Town & Country, as well as most of Chrysler’s refreshed lineup. Now we just need to spot the the Grand Caravan and the Town & Country’s German-engineered counterpart (the Volkswagen Routan) and the set will be complete. Click through to see the rest of the pictures we nabbed! Read more…

      Twelve makes a dozen, and while we aren’t serving up a box of donuts here, your favorite trio of trouble are back behind the mics to discuss the very latest in autodom. Can your car run on E15 without a hiccup? Will the Chrysler 200 be little more than last year’s Sebring with new headlights? Just how much did Hyundai price its potent turbocharged Sonata for? Where did we leave the key to the Nissan Versa? The answers to these questions and more are just two clicks away! Read more…

Zoom, Zooming Beyond Expectations

     When the Mazda CX-7 made its debut in 2006, my initial reaction was an automotive yawn. I dismissed it as another crossover that promised to combine all the worst light duty attributes of a car with the disadvantage of the high center of gravity of traditional truck-based SUVs. Then Mazda went one step further and gave us the disservice of revealing pictures of the poor thing. The only reason public reaction to the grinning clown-face didn’t amount to outright ridicule was because vehicles like the Pontiac Aztek, Honda Element, and Scion xB had already numbed America’s sense of good taste. Read more…

Down In Power, But Still A Contender For The Sports Sedan Crown

     In case you haven’t noticed, horsepower numbers are ballooning like Al Gore after public office and the new threshold for contenders in the sports sedan race is something north of 300 horses. Competitors from Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti and Lexus all offer up power ratings starting with a three, and even though Audi’s standard A4 can’t play with the big boys you can step up to the supercharged S4, which is available for about a grand more than the C350 that is the subject of this review and could certainly be considered a competitor. The problem for Mercedes is that their class entrant only puts out 268 hp, so even before delivery we were preparing to treat it as an entry-level luxury car instead of a true sports sedan. But when our baby Benz showed up wearing bright red paint, AMG wheels and cross-drilled brakes we knew the boys in Stuttgart weren’t going to let a horsepower deficit keep them on the bench. Read more…

28 Year Old Males Rejoice! The Cool Scion Just Got Better

     Graphic artists, computer programmers and aspiring music industry professionals turn down your iPods and pay attention. Scion has some big news for you and your spiky haired twenty-something friends. The handsome tC coupe that debuted in 2004 and has since brought Scion more than 40% of its sales is finally getting a well deserved redesign that focuses on improved fuel efficiency, overall refinement and, here’s where we get interested, increased performance. Scion recently invited us to a college campus teeming with its target buyers to get some seat time in the vehicle that officials hope will rejuvenate the brand’s stalled sales and lead the company into a new dimension of success. Read more…

      There was little doubt that as BMW finished out the millennium with updated 3 and 5 series lineups, that the Bavarian automaker’s design language was beginning to look a bit stale. Rather than introduce yet another attractively conservative redesign, the 2002 7-series turned BMW’s design language from cautiously good looking to garishly daring. The revived 2003 6-series coupe followed closely to the 7’s bold new themes.  Read more…

      In Episode 11 we try to focus our admittedly short attention spans on the exciting new 2011 models coming from Chrysler plus all the news leaking out ahead of this year’s Paris Auto Show, but along the way we somehow managed to pick up a few trivial topics to keep things unpredictable. Or our ADHD flared up and we’re simply trying to convince you everything discussed during our podcasts is intentional. Either way, did you know Chrysler has marketed three unibody pickups over the years? Well you will learn that and much more if you can focus your attention on the 55 minutes and 4 seconds of auto-related conversation that is available after the jump. Read more…