Automotive Trends

Suzuki Shoots for the Stars…Hits a Passing Comet

      In its press material Suzuki cites comparisons against the Nissan Altima and the Honda Accord. Good candidates to measure oneself against considering that the Accord has ruled the midsize sedan segment along side the Toyota Camry for some time now. But reading further we find that Suzuki not only laid the Kizashi and Volkswagen CC spec sheets side by side, they also openly challenged perspective buyers of Audi A4 and Acura TSX’s to test drive the Kizashi first. A challenge that culminated with the challengee receiving a $100 check card from Suzuki if after 10 days they decided that the Audi or Acura was right car for them instead. Bold… Read more…

      Dye navigates the 2006 Mazda MX-5 through a slight chicane during our comparison of it versus the Pontiac Solstice.

      When we launched the redesigned Automotive Trends a few months back we promised you big improvements. We’ve already rolled out seriously slick photo galleries and insightful design critiques, but now we’re ready to debut our biggest improvement yet. Welcome to Episode 1 of the Automotive Trends Podcast! Since most of our day is already spent chatting about Everything Automotive we figured why not flip on some mics and let our dear readers join in around the office watercooler. Episode 1 topics range from how Hyundai stole the New York Auto Show to what we’ve been driving recently. So join us for a bit of fun conversation and let us know what you think in the comments section. We want to keep the big improvements coming! To start listening just click “Read more” and follow the directions.

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      The 2006 Mitsubishi Raider was identical to the Dodge Dakota in everyway except form, yet it always struggled to carve out a niche for itself. Nevertheless it did carve its way off the beaten path pretty well, and stood up to the rigors of the fall corn harvest.

      The 2011 Ford Focus is a stylish little bugger and confirms for us that there is still energy left in the Blue Oval! Here the Focus display is prepped for its public debut at the 2010 NAIAS.

      There’s nothing like spending a summer day down by the lake. So we booked a First Class flight on a 2007 Audi Q7 and pointed the nose east to Lake Huron.

      The Hyundai Genesis Coupe shown here at the 2009 NAIAS is a good start, but as Exec Dye pointed out in his review, it is going to need a little more honing to really be called a sports car. We look for more automotive goodness to roll out of the oft-forgotten Korean automaker in the years to come!

      To test Ford’s claims we took the 2005 F-350 Super Duty back home to the Muxlow Dairy Farm and put it to work. Shoot, we probably showed this truck more mud in a weekend than it will see in its entire life as a press fleet vehicle.

      We found plenty of Cobra replicas down at the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, but not so much as a single authentic artifact could be found. Maybe next year.

      As if it wasn’t cold enough (outside) already for the 2007 NAIAS, Mercedes-Benz decided that they would setup an ice rink (inside) to showcase that nearly all of their models would be available with 4MATIC all-wheel drive.