Archive for January, 2010

Palm Springs – Crossovers make a lot of sense because they take the best parts of two or three kinds of vehicles, blend them together and then fold in with some innovations to make them better than the original products.  It’s like taking different ingredients and making some sort of dish that has a greater appeal than the original, like with a good soup, pasta dish or casserole.

The Outlander hasn’t been the best selling crossovers on the market because Mitsubishi hasn’t had the marketing budgets like some of the bigger brands to entice people into their vehicles.  Nevertheless, it’s a very good vehicle that has ranked very high on some of the ratings.  For example, U.S. News and World Report ranks the Outlander fourth of 24 compact crossovers just behind some big names.  Consumer Reports gives it a good review and a “Recommended” rating. Read the rest of this entry »

Palo Alto, Calif. — A Volkswagen representative met me at the airport and rather than being driven to the hotel, I was dropped into the driver’s seat of the new GTI and handed directions to the hotel – the long way.

What a great way to be introduced to Volkswagen’s latest iteration of the hot hatchback.  Pulling south onto the infamous Highway 101 is always a challenge with five lanes of traffic moving up to about 75 mph  – it’s organized chaos.   Read the rest of this entry »

She – Competing in the category of personal size SUVs, compact crossovers, or whatever group Acura RDX aspires to is, like choosing sides for playground basketball game from a group of NBA all stars – there are so many great vehicles available  in this group, choosing a favorite is totally subjective.

New to the Acura lineup in 2007, the RDX broke ground for the premium Honda brand by being the first of the brand to embrace turbocharging and the first Acura SUV outfitted with innovative Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD).  Combined with strong design elements and Acura’s full features, the RDX is one of those all-stars.

He – For the first three years, the RDX had only one option, other than colors — the technology package.  The RDX had everything including Acura’s innovative SH-AWD.  For 2009, options were increased by 200 percent to two.  Now the RDX is available with front-wheel drive or SH-AWD.  While the FWD model loses some degree of handling and traction prowess, it does have some advantages.  The FWD RDX weighs 188 pounds less, accelerates to 60 mph 0.3 seconds faster, gets an average two miles per gallon better fuel economy and costs $2,000 less. Read the rest of this entry »

The Scion brand has somewhat fallen through the cracks in the face of all the big things going on in the economy and at Toyota.  That’s unfortunate, because the three cars Scion builds are impressive and proven.  Consumer Reports even gives the Scion tC, xB and xD all “Recommended” checkmark  and the top reliability ratings of “much better than average.” Read the rest of this entry »

When an automotive writers group we belong to started an annual SUV competition a dozen years ago, one of the anomalies of the competitors was the Suzuki Grand Vitara.  In a field loaded with Jeeps, Explorers and Land Rovers, the little Suzuki seemed out of place, but it turned out to be one of most fun competitors because of its great agility and maneuverability.

Since that time, the Grand Vitara has developed into a more powerful and sophisticated SUV, still maintaining the desirable traits.  The market has also moved toward the Suzuki, too with a cluster of SUVs taking on a smaller is better philosophy. Read the rest of this entry »

Fuel prices stung the large SUV sales, but there is still a significant notch in the market for the all-weather, luxury people haulers with the ability to pull a trailer.

For pure comfort, it’s hard to beat the Infiniti QX56 with its smooth, quiet ride and posh interior.  Inside there’s room for the starting lineup of a six-man football team and two coaches when equipped with the rear bench seats.  If cargo capacity is needed, flop the two rows of seats down and there’s room enough for a Boy Scout troop’s camping equipment in the 97.1 cubic feet of cargo space and on the heavy-duty luggage rack. Read the rest of this entry »