Sure Woodward is a great place to see a lot of great cars spread out over miles of fun. But quite honestly it is information overload for those who truly take the time to enjoy each and every piece of factory stock that goes rolling past. That is why local car shows draw our attention. There is nothing better than to getting to spend a little time getting to know each car and its proud owner. Check out the shiny metal we found at the June 2010 edition of the Faith Missionary Church Car Show!! Read more…
Road Trip!
The peace and serenity of Monday morning was interrupted by Dye making an announcement that we had to drive to Asheville, NC, tonight! An Imola Red BMW M Coupe just hit Ebay and he had to have it. So before all productivity went flying out the window we grabbed the keys to the Volkswagen CC that just arrived and pointed the bow south. We then spent the next 10 hours of drive time thoroughly discussing the merits of adding an M Coupe to the personal fleet. Read more…
With Every Birthday Mazda’s Best-Selling Roadster Redefines Perfection
Those of us in this business have now been trying to explain the Miata’s magic for 20 years. We use poetic superlatives and proclamations like “thrilling!” and “unbeatable!” and even with a heaping helping of exclamation points we can’t always convey its awesomeness. You must simply experience the pure driving pleasure Mazda’s minimalist roadster continues to provide two decades after its debut to understand its enthralling charm. Our real job, then, is to keep you up to date on the little changes Mazda makes every few years to keep the MX-5 on top of its game. For 2009 Mazda made just enough tweaks to make a revisit worthwhile for the AT staff. Who are we kidding, a smile occupies our faces every time Mazda sends one our way. Here then is what’s new in the land of Miata. Read more…
It Lacks The Go Anywhere Ability Of Its Big Brother, But It’s Much More Fun To Drive
If you are planning on picking up a new Tiguan to serve as a smaller, more fuel-efficient alternative to your go-anywhere Touareg be prepared for a new experience: getting stuck. That’s because Volkswagen’s second SUV is far more Honda than Hummer. Yes, it can be equipped with all-wheel drive, but you’ll only have 6.9 inches of ground clearance to work with, same as our front-wheel drive tester. Exactly none of the more capable Touareg’s hardware (air suspension, three locking differentials, low-range transfer case) is passed down to the Tiguan. But that detail only irked us when the Tiguan got itself stuck—twice—during our late December test. That’s because the rest of the time we were driving the thing like it was a GTI in maternity clothes. A fact that took us by surprise even though Volkswagen’s own press materials refer to the Tiguan as the “GTI of compact sport utility vehicles”. Read more…
Does The Sexy New Sheetmetal Still Hide The Soul of a Sports Car?
In the interest of full-disclosure it should be noted that Senior Editor Muxlow’s daily driver is a first-gen Mazda6, and not just any old 6. His is an exceedingly rare 5-door with a manual transmission and it does a convincing impersonation of a sports sedan, even with its front-wheel drive handicap. Which is the main reason this publication, and many others, have raved about the smartly-sized 6. In our last review of Mazda’s mid-sizer we said, “the 6 drives and behaves like a responsively tuned sport sedan should.” But now there is an all-new 6 and it’s grown a bit to better match up with its mid-size competitors. Has it become dull and soft like the Camry and Accord too? Fortunately, no. Read more…
Years ago, new pickup trucks had incredibly long life cycles. Ford, Chevy and Dodge would come up with new designs, then let them age for nearly a decade before they made any major changes.
Truck makers don’t have that luxury anymore. Read more…
Bringing Value To Big Crossovers
We’ve already reported that the General struck close to the bulls-eye with its first two big crossovers out of the gate, (GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook) and we’re willing to go on record saying the Buick Enclave is currently the best looking crossover in production. Since the Chevrolet brand is far and away the volume leader it should have surprised nobody when the Traverse debuted with design cues from the successful Malibu and displayed a window sticker with an impressive spec list and a very reasonable number at the bottom. The good news for GM: that’s a recipe for success. Read more…
Well, now that you are all amped up on the details of this year’s NAIAS, take a few moments to re-charge your battery with our electrifying photography! Ok, so maybe the electric puns are a gigabit too much. My solution: just enjoy the cars!!
Read more…
A Lot of Electric Vehicles Add A Little Spark to the NAIAS
General Motors wanted everyone to know one thing when it kicked off the 2009 North American International Auto Show Sunday: they’re in it to win. A dramatically scaled down show display acknowledged the nearly fatal financial problems of the past year, but the product on display should convince even the most annoying Washington Bureaucrats (we’re looking at you Senator Shelby) that GM plans to win in every category it competes. Read more…
An Entry Level Wagon That Impresses
In the American Hierarchy of Transportation the station wagon ranks just above the moped in desirability, and the entry level station wagon: just above a riding lawnmower. Nevertheless, Volkswagen continues to be one of the few automakers brave enough to offer the unloved body style in its Jetta lineup. We recently spent a week in one and came away believing what we always have: wagons offer the people and cargo capacity to meet most people’s needs and drive better than any crossover/SUV. Read more…
