Almost A Sports Sedan
Ah yes, finally something to whet the enthusiast spirit. The winter was a long and cold one, as it always is here in Michigan. Especially because those of us living in the Great Lakes State have to put our toys away for the winter. So early this spring the GM boys dropped off a Cadillac STS-V for me to exercise my aching right foot. Sadly, our story ends with me asking “Is that it?” But rest assured, it is mostly my high-octane fueled blood that is to blame. Read more…
Still A Contender
When the SRX debuted at the 2003 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, we were ecstatic. After decades of being so far behind the state of the art they weren’t even in the country of the art anymore, Cadillac was finally going to be selling a product that could legitimately take on competitors like the Lexus RX, Acura MDX and Lincoln Aviator. It was sitting on a modern rear-drive (or optional all-wheel drive) architecture, offered the smooth Northstar V8, a standard 5-speed automatic and looked clean and contemporary from all angles. The only downfall we could see was an interior that shared almost everything with the CTS sedan—not exactly the stuff dreams are made of, unless you own a plastic factory. Read more…
If you ever need proof that money doesn’t buy happiness, look to the Middle East.
Fifty years ago, this region was little more than sand and camels punctuated by a few ramshackle tents that housed people who hadn’t changed their standard of living in 1,000 years. Read more…
Audi Gets Serious About Its Smallest Sedan
There’s good news and bad news regarding our review of the hottest Audi to hit these shores since the RS 6 discovered exactly how limited “limited production” is when Ingolstadt stopped turbocharging the daylights out of its midsize sedan in 2003.
The good news is we got our anxious little driving-gloved hands on an example, and not just any example. This was an Imola Yellow screamer so shockingly noticeable area cops were planning Hawaiian vacations on their lunch hours. A radar detector or cleavage should come standard. Read more…
Nearly Puuurfect
Forgive the corny subtitle but it accurately sums up our feelings for the completely redesigned and sexy-as-ever XK Coupe. In fact, Coventry’s latest cat melted our cold, cold hearts so much if we picked a Car of the Year there’s no doubt the XK would be a strong contender. Sure its annual production is about one zillionth of Camry sales, but no Toyota looks like this or sounds so glorious. 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
Hoping To Raid The Midsize Truck Market
“Sure thing, drop it off, gotta go!” I exclaim to the Mitsubishi PR guy as quickly as I can while trying to hammer out the final details of an important business meeting as I am walking into it with two colleagues.
“What was that all about?” one colleague inquires.
“We get a Mitsu Raider for the weekend, so if we…” Read more…
The Best F-150 Ever Isn’t Even A Ford
That’s right. The best F-150 you can buy wears a Lincoln badge, and, for some reason, is called the Mark LT. Actually, the Lincoln folks won’t like that statement, but we call ‘em as we see ‘em here. If it looks like an F-150, sounds like an F-150 and drives like an F-150, then logic would dictate it must be Ford’s bread-and-butter pickup. But logic doesn’t always find a home in the automobile business, and that’s why Lincoln can add a little chrome—ok, a lot of chrome—to an F-150, and charge a premium for it. Neglecting the fact that you and I both know this is little more than a trim level on the work-a-day F-150, how did Lincoln’s second attempt to crack the luxury truck code turnout? Read on for that answer. Read more…
Har(d)ley-A-Davidson F-150
There is a hitch about special-edition vehicles: They have to keep getting more special or the latest attempt risks being showed up by an earlier version. This commonsense lesson is taught on the first day of Special-Edition Vehicles 101, but Ford must have been asleep in the back row, or at the very least, sketching GTs instead of notes. All of this is relevant because it explains our disappointment with the 2006 Harley-Davidson F-150. In short, we’d rather have a pre-owned 2003 edition in our garage than this latest “greatest” version. Let us explain. Read more…
