Looks matter. One look of the brown grass, parched hillsides, and depleted reservoirs of California’s Napa Valley shows me something. One look at the redesigned 2022 Infiniti QX60 shows me something else, specifically, how it differs from its cheaper sibling, the Nissan Pathfinder. Infiniti...Read More»
The advantage of aging is you are more comfortable with what you are and care less about what you are not. The refreshed 2022 Lexus ES is comfortable in its role as a quiet, comfy mid-size sedan that doesn’t care to be on the cutting edge of technology, even though it adds a touchscreen this...Read More»
The Jeep Grand Cherokee finally comes with a third row. Dubbed L as in large and in charge, the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L offers more space without sacrificing the style that has helped it define the SUV segment since its 1993 launch. Stylish and rugged, sophisticated yet brutish, the timeless...Read More»
It has been said that love endures all things, even the switch from a manual transmission to an automatic. In the 2021 Hyundai Veloster N, the new 8-speed dual-clutch transmission enhances the driving experience, and bolsters the love. The last time I drove the quirky hatchback with one rear door...Read More»
Pack it in, pack it out. This camper’s maxim can be embraced by Jeep when it comes to tailpipe emissions in the great outdoors. The 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid allows for 22 miles of all-electric range and the equivalent of 49 mpg, more than double the next most efficient Wrangler...Read More»
The prospect of testing the redesigned 2022 Honda Civic excited me, given its outsized importance to Honda and domination of the compact car market. But it also gave me pause, because I have a lot of familiarity with the car. Not only do I come from a family of Civic owners (a 1997 and a 2009), I...Read More»
At a recent press event at Toyota Motors North America's headquarters in Plano, Texas, the most popular vehicle to test drive was not the gorgeous six-figure Lexus LC500 sports coupe, nor was it the Toyota Land Cruiser leaving American shores. Instead media members lined up to test the redesigned...Read More»
The redesigned 2022 Nissan Pathfinder doesn’t pretend to be a performance SUV or aspire to be an electric tech dynamo. Instead, it excels at what it’s meant to be: a roomy three-row SUV with enough seating flexibility and towing capability to stand out in a crowded class. The base...Read More»
Lexus’s Teammate driver-assistance system flashed red at me and grew impatient. As I ignored its alerts to take control of the steering wheel, it rang audible alerts in increasing levels of alarm. I wanted to see if I could game the hands-free driving system, but Teammate wouldn’t have...Read More»
A teenager at the drive-thru said he liked my car. I lowered my sunglasses; he was sincere. Later, a couple stopped me in the Costco parking lot. “What is that?” “It’s a Kia.” I explained how the new badge with futuristic script replaced the circle on the liftgate...Read More»
The new 2022 Volkswagen Taos puts the “good things come in threes” saying to the test, becoming the company’s third compact SUV alongside the Tiguan and the all-electric ID.4. Though the trio might all be in roughly the same class, there’s enough that’s different to...Read More»
It feels like the 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness was constructed out of the fever dreams of a cooped-up adventurer. Which means that the Wilderness arrives at exactly the right time (and the right price) to become the weapon of choice for Outback buyers who are looking to really get away. This is...Read More»
When I was a kid on family road trips, and I wasn’t getting yelled at to stop playing with the damn door lock, I’d daydream of a vehicle that could handle all the terrain passing by my window. One that could trundle through dale and dell, shred the roadside cornfields, launch over hills...Read More»
The 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 is a good car that needs a better interface and minor controls. It and the forthcoming dual-motor all-wheel-drive ID.4 need to work out the kinks before the arrival of other electric compact crossovers, such as the Nissan Ariya, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and many more...Read More»
Automakers, like humans, are creatures of habit. If we find something that works, we tend to stick with it until it doesn’t anymore. Hyundai has done exactly that with the redesigned 2022 Tucson. After the Elantra’s successful update in 2021 that garnered the compact sedan a TCC Best...Read More»
Though the 2022 Volkswagen Taos is named after a town in New Mexico, I find myself in the middle of the desert outside of Phoenix at Volkswagen’s proving grounds. “Proving grounds” are the two words that excite me more than “free food,” but I’m not sure what it...Read More»
The 2021 Mazda CX-9 defies conventional judgement. Sure, it's a three-row, seven-seat crossover like a Honda Pilot or a Ford Explorer, but with its tailored outfit and its other luxury trappings, it doesn't have much time to worry about fitting kids in its skimpy third-row seat, and it doesn't...Read More»
The 2021 Lincoln Nautilus has finally come around. The refreshed interior finally shed the vestiges of its MKX skin with an interior befitting Lincoln’s upward class mobility. This poses a problem for me. My dad likes Lincolns. Even since the Town Cars of our youth, my brother and I have...Read More»
When we first drove it on the track, we wondered out loud whether a car like the 2021 Toyota Avalon really needed the TRD sport-sedan treatment. The Avalon's prime directive has always been to coddle its passengers in a cocoon of sound deadening and sensory deprivation, without costing them too...Read More»
