Lists

The arrival of summer signals the open season for open-air dining, open-air exercise, and of course, open-air driving. Who doesn't like head room limited only by the lower troposphere? There may be fewer convertibles on the road now than before but the thrill of droptop driving—and a 65-mph...Read More»

Consider this the summer in limbo, and not just because we have to bend over backwards to make any plans at all. With summer plans scrambled due to the coronavirus pandemic and more Americans wary of airline travel and hotel stays, it’s time to restore that timeless American adventure and hit...Read More»

Here at The Car Connection, we review more than 250 cars every year. We write those reviews with car buyers in mind. We consider several key criteria based on the six categories in our rating system: Design, Performance, Comfort and Quality, Safety, Features, and Fuel Economy. However, beyond those...Read More»

Though nearly every automaker offers a three-row crossover SUV, only a select few of these large family vehicles can be considered fuel efficient. Electrification raises expectations for efficiency without sacrificing performance or size. Just five years ago, when there were no plug-in hybrid or...Read More»

Death, taxes, and new crossovers. Few things are as certain as the deluge of tall-riding hatchbacks on the way this year for new-car shoppers. This year, many new crossovers from several automakers will make their way to dealer lots to give buyers even more decisions to make. Although crossovers...Read More»

Death is an inevitability for everything, even for the hearses made of the discontinued Lincoln MKT and Cadillac XTS. The list of vehicles that stopped production after 2019 is filled with sedans like the XTS that were sent to the great car lot in the sky—"manager’s special" window...Read More»

Crossovers SUVs make up nearly half of all new cars sold in America. And crossovers keep coming for 2020. Some are new, such as the Hyundai Venue and Cadillac XT6, while some are fresh takes on old standards, such as the Ford Escape Hybrid and Toyota Highlander. To be clear, crossovers are...Read More»

Free is in short supply and cheap is running out for new car shoppers nowadays. Occasional new-car shoppers might be surprised to see charges for items that once were included in the cost of a new car. In some cases, those charges are added because few shoppers ask for items that once seemed...Read More»

At The Car Connection our whiteboard is filled with family crossovers and their ratings. We have more than 30 crossovers on that board and everyone’s there: Atlas, Armada, Acadia, and Ascent—and those are just the A’s. Further down the board, we had to dry-erase marker in some new...Read More»

We the people of the carbuying public, in order to find a more perfect vehicle, shall be heard. Millions of our readers spoke last year and said: “We want a crossover.” We hear you. Last year, the most researched vehicles on The Car Connection—by a wide margin—were...Read More»

Punches were thrown. Names were taken. Integrity, honesty, and parentage were all called into question. The Car Connection’s best-performing cars draws deep divisions among our staff like whether a taco is technically a sandwich. (Eds note: It is and suggesting otherwise should be a felony if...Read More»

Safety isn’t usually the first priority on car buyers’ lists—until it is. Those of us lucky enough to escape a serious crash can’t forget how vital passenger protection can be in a crash. We seek out the safest new cars because we can’t imagine life without them. This...Read More»

Fuel efficiency is so last century. This year, we learned that energy efficiency is the new fuel efficiency, and not all electric cars are equal—even if they’re all zero emissions vehicles. Credit for that falls squarely on the Jaguar I-Pace’s broad shoulders because, although...Read More»

Bad things happen to the best among us. Just ask U2. Automakers are no strangers to bad compositions themselves. Although some of the lowest rated cars on our list for 2019 have withered over time, some were never fruitful in the first place. There’s no common denominator among our...Read More»

Beauty isn’t abstract, it’s a formula. For cars, beautiful is measured in the number of heads turned on the street, multiplied by the number of parking lot stares, divided by the number of right angles, which is added to the inverse of its general availability. It’s all very...Read More»

SUV showrooms today might not look much like they did 20 years ago, but the rugged names that tempt consumers with outdoorsy aspirations are surprisingly familiar. Automakers from Jeep to Honda to Land Rover have spent the last few years reviving discontinued SUV names we thought were written off...Read More»

Shopping for a compact crossover SUV is like looking through the menu at most popular chain restaurants: choices abound. The most popular crossover SUVs come in a few flavors that aren’t always easy to directly compare. To help out, we’ve put our shopping shoes on and picked the...Read More»

Labor Day is summer’s last gasp for warm-weather escapades. The final stand for top-down driving, ice-cold road slushies, sunscreen, shorts and T-shirts, the lot. The three-day weekend makes a great time to explore the country. Sure, you could find yourself waiting in line with the masses at...Read More»