Making 400 Horsepower Feel Slow
When the current generation of Range Rover debuted back in 2002 it was embraced by wealthy suburbanites and praised by the media as the greatest luxury vehicle since the S-Class. Ok, maybe nobody stood in front of a banner declaring such, but that seemed like the general tone to us. Its distinctive retroish body shared the same unimaginative upright greenhouse and short wheelbase that Range Rovers have always shared. But the only real important part of the exterior was the large Range Rover lettering just above the grille that let everyone know this was an expensive SUV far above the realm of mere Escalades and Navigators. In our opinion the contemporary interior was the crowning achievement, although BMW power and plenty of luxury features didn’t hurt the vehicle’s prospects for success. But all that can be gleaned from the glossy brochure photos and slick television commercials. We recently spent a week with a nearly six figure fully loaded Range Rover Supercharged model, and we have to admit we were disappointed. Read more…
The Ultimate Plebianmobile
Sometimes you just have to get out of the office for a few days and take a trip, change the scenery, and breathe some fresh air. But as an auto scribe you could hardly say I leave my work behind me. Oh I was on leave, but not on vacation. The good folks from Kia had a Sportage 4×4 ready and waiting for my critique as soon as my plane hit the tarmac at the Atlanta, Georgia airport. Read more…
More Power Than A Corvette, And More Room Too!
Everyone expected the new Escalade to be good, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear us proclaim that, indeed, it is good. The bigger question we have to answer is this: is the new Cadillac $15k better than the fully loaded Tahoe we drove a few weeks before this stylish new ‘Slade showed up? That’s tougher to answer than you may think. Read more…
Acura TSX, BMW 3-series, Cadillac CTS. Excellent cars? Yes. Luxury cars? Hardly.
I’ve taken the time to contemplate the subject of luxury manufacturers recently. More specifically, I have been considering the ultimate value of the entry-level “luxury car”. Two very different cars started my mind’s wheels turning. One was a result of a brief conversation I had about the value of the Cayenne to Porsche. Read more…
The Auto For Outings
This is a motivated little SUV for sure. The driving point behind the Outlander is its desire to meet the needs of those driven individuals who need more than just basic transportation. With the blurred lines the crossover designation has created it is little wonder that the Mitsubishi Web site calls the Outlander both an SUV and a crossover. I prefer to call it a cute-ute for a number of reasons, one of which I will get to at the end of our story. A case of mistaken identity? I shall have to ponder on this a while. Read more…
Driving an off-road vehicle feels like piloting a giant concrete block.
They’re unweildy, heavy, bouncy, unresponsive and generally uncomfortable on the road. Vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler and Nissan XTerra might be great on the Rubicon Trail, but who cares about off-road ability when a trip to the Home Depot sends you to the chiropractor? Read more…
Exceeding Even Our Lowest Expectations
In the interest of full disclosure we must confess we weren’t expecting a lot from the yellow H3 that GM sent our way. It didn’t help that our colleagues were reporting that the H3’s 220-hp I5 engine made for a seriously slow vehicle. We’re talking getting passed by a Chevrolet Aveo with an automatic transmission going uphill into a stiff headwind slow. Read more…
Slow and Stylish Wins The Race
Can’t you just imagine a Thanksgiving dinner, perhaps three or four years ago, where all the car companies gathered together for the annual tradition to give thanks for their blessings.
“I’m most thankful for my luxury SUV,” Cadillac said. “It’s keeping the lights on in Detroit.”
“I second that,” Porsche said. “Who knew there were so many people willing to pay crazy money for a 5,000-pound brick—and an ugly one at that!”
Of course, it would be about this time that Audi realized it had seriously missed the boat on the whole giant-SUV craze.
“I’m thankful for Grandma’s health,” Audi blurted, trying to change the subject. Read more…
The Bigger They Are…
The more petroleum they burn. But GM is working hard to change that, just as they have been hard at work preparing the new GMT900 full-size utilities for primetime. And determined to get feedback on their handiwork, GM hooked us up with back-to-back samplings of the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon. Here’s how they fared. Read more…
Categories: Reviews Tags: 2007, 4x4, Chevrolet, fullsize, GMC, LTZ, SLT, SUV, Tahoe, V8, Yukon
Second Time’s A Charm
Last winter we had the chance to sample the Luxury version of the Grand Vitara. It was then we said that Suzuki finally had a serious contender in the small-SUV game. Considering how impressed we were with this little runt the last time around we didn’t expect anything less from a so called “lesser” model, and so we welcomed the Grand V for a second round in AT’s fleet. Read more…
