And Then There Were Two
It’s hard to believe but there are now two good-looking Saturns on the road. The first was the Sky, which debuted last year to a collective, “That’s a Saturn?” by the automotive press. The suits promised there would be more to come from the reinvigorated brand. Apparently the GM guys just dropped off the “more to come” part because the type of descriptive words that keep coming to mind for the car I’m looking at include handsome, European, taut, expensive looking and refined. Excuse me if I am a little excited, but these are not words I’ve been able to use lately when talking about GM cars—let alone the Playskool-cars-for-grownups Saturn brand. But there it is, the midsize Saturn Aura and its tasteful chrome trim sparkling like jewelry on the Midnight Blue steel body. The days of the function-before-form Saturns are over. From now on, Saturns are going to be stylish. Read more…
Top Down Fun…For Some
Nine times out of 10, convertibles do not make a good primary car. By their very nature they are a compromise; from wiggly windshields with the top down to Buick-blocking blind spots with the top up. Their trunks are small, their prices are big, and unless you live in the Southwest your year is marred with weather you’d rather tackle in anything but a convertible. After a few days in a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder we can tell you it suffers from all of these compromises and more, but it looks so good you might not care. 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…
GM Arrives On The Crossover Scene In A Big Way
In case you’ve been out of the new vehicle market for the past few years, allow us to catch you up. SUVs are dying; sent to their graves by rising gas prices and fickle consumers who demand better ride and handling quality than the big, lumbering body-on-frame workhorses can ever hope to provide. 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…
When I first drove the Infiniti M sedan late last year, I got the brutal M45 with a big, brawny V8 under the hood.
That car was a monster. It felt almost like an American muscle car, with a heavy, deliberate driving feel and a relatively soft suspension that made it seem like you were riding on bowls of Cream of Wheat. It was a great car, but it was more of a grand tourer than a true sports sedan. Read more…
What Is The Technical Term For Quirky?
Someone once describe Saab engineering to me like this: When the Germans do it, it is an engineering wonder, but when the Swedes do it, it is just plain quirky. After spending a couple of days behind the wheel of a Saab 9-3 Aero Convertible I must say that the Swedish engineers are clever, but a few of their ideas left me scratching my head. Read more…
A Strawberry Shake at a Vanilla Price
This is the ultimate compromise vehicle. It’s to be expected then that auto giant General Motors finds a way for you to have your cake and eat it too. It is the car for when you want something, she wants another. You want the wind in your hair, she just did her hair. You say ta-mato, I say to-moto. Read more…
At Least It Looks The Part
To most people that is. Maybe it’s the old age, maybe it’s the lack of coffee, or maybe it is the fact that this is the base model, but whatever the case was, the Eclipse did not impress me as I had hoped. That does not mean that the Eclipse is not worth your attention, on the contrary, I am convinced the Eclipse is a player. The visual appeal is there, but the substance simply lacks. Read more…
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…
