It seems like only yesterday that Nissan was bragging about its stylish new Altima. Sales were hot when it was introduced in 2002, but they’ve cooled somewhat in the face of new competition, especially the ever-present Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.
But fear not, Nissan fans. An updated Altima is already on the way for 2005. Read more…
A Touring Sedan Fit For Seville
Well, I can say this for certain, that is GM has managed to move light-years ahead with the new STS over the previous generation model. No longer is the STS’s sole boasting point a sweet engine. Accompanying the now longitudinally-mounted Northstar is a new performance oriented tranny, chassis, and rear-wheel drive to boot. Finally, the company that once called itself the standard of the world is willing to step back up to the plate with a serious ballplayer for the major league. 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…
Ever since Infiniti introduced the G35 a few years ago, the luxury brand has been on the rebound.
The midsize G35 has not only been a hot seller thanks to its stellar performance and stunning body, but it also served as a statement to the world that Infiniti wasn’t willing to play backup quarterback while Lexus got the starting job. In essence, it moved Infiniti from JV to varsity. Read more…
There’s a renaissance going on at Nissan.
After teetering on the brink of obliteration in the late 1990s, the company is coming back in a big way with amazing cars like the 350Z and impressive trucks like the Titan and Armada. The change couldn’t have been more dramatic.
And now the turnaround is showing more than ever in a variation on Nissan’s venerable, bread-and-butter Altima, a four-door sedan that has played second fiddle for years to the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. 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…
Blueberries In My Lunchbox
Like kids on recess we scramble out to the garage to collect our toys. My latest being a little blueberry-hued Mazda. Sliding the shift lever into D, I scoot off for the weekend. Did I win or did I lose; considering the prized H1 Alpha was now in the hands of Exec Dye who was already rolling over all manner of boulders and compacts in his path. It’s the sandbox for me, my little ride possessing neither the clearance nor the desire to hop more than the Meijer parking lot curb. Read more…
Ever since the Japanese earned a reputation for building top-quality cars, American automakers have been copycats.
In fact, today’s American cars are in many ways hard to tell apart from their Japanese rivals after decades of copying the technology, construction, materials and even styling of their competitors from the Far East. 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…
