TESTED Two Accord generations ago, Honda offered a hybrid powertrain in its mainstream sedan. But it was a performance-oriented V-6 hybrid that never achieved the lofty fuel-economy numbers that eco buyers crave. Now, Honda is jumping back in the game with a new, efficiency-oriented Accord hybrid, and its mileage is impressive. It’s rated by the [...]
MARC URBANO AND THE MANUFACTURER TESTED After years of diluting its fabled SS badge, Chevrolet has sworn off applying it to models that are unworthy and unfun. But hold the applause, as there’s another letter sequence that wears the double-sided sticky tape: RS. This less-fondly remembered moniker, which is “a throwback to ‘Rally Sport,’ ” according [...]
TESTED Note to luxury automobile manufacturers interested in entering the performance market: The world’s strategic reserve of performance-signifying alpha characters is dwindling fast. BMW has M locked up, Audi claimed RS, Cadillac took V, and greedy old Mercedes-Benz, acting with characteristic disregard for its Bavarian comrades, took A, M, and G. Thank heaven the letter [...]
TESTED To car classicists, the Chevrolet Impala is a tale of squandered potential as, with each passing year, the exuberant jet-age styling of the original 1958 model morphed into the amorphous last generation. To enthusiasts, recent Impalas have been nothing more than rental-lot punishment and a punchline. But to Chevrolet, the car is serious business. [...]
TESTED We’ve been singing the virtues of Mazda’s CX-5 crossover since our first drive, and very little, if any, of its initial charm has worn off. Built from the ground up from almost entirely new components, the CX-5 won us over with an appealing combination of original styling, excellent damping, and a dynamic personality that [...]
With the redesigned 2014 IS sport sedan, Lexus is trying hard to appeal to buyers intent on getting a compact luxury car that’s not only luxurious and well put-together, but also fun to drive. So focused is Lexus on this goal that it’s holding regional media drive events at racetracks around the country for [...]
TESTED The modern Mini can thank corporate progenitor BMW for its alert steering and agile charms, but the British brand appears to be taking cues from Porsche as well. How else to explain the 2013 Mini John Cooper Works GP, which applies Porsche’s proven formula of limiting production and stripping out equipment to crank up [...]
TESTED As recently as five years ago, the Toyota Avalon still came with a standard cassette player, and it was little more than a gilded, slab-sided Camry luring near-septuagenarians with soft seats, an even softer ride, easy ingress/egress, and Jitterbug-esque switchgear. It’s been your great uncle’s Toyota for as long as it’s existed, a car [...]
TESTED We’re quite the fanboys for Honda’s Fit. It’s won comparo after comparo, and it’s been named to our 10Best list every year since 2007. Why? It rations fossil fuel with some of the best in the subcompact class while displaying the ability to swallow people and gear like a Shriner car ingurgitates circus clowns. [...]
The Tuatara has been in the works for a few years now, but unlike other manufacturers, SSC has chosen the closed doors approach to its development. Now, though, according to Gizmag, the V8-powered hypercar is close to being finished, and deliveries may commence as early as the end of this year or in the beginning [...]
MICHAEL SIMARI AND MARC URBANO TESTED Ponder this 2014 Kia Cadenza’s as-tested price, browse its list of features and upper-crust options, gaze upon its handsome body, and one might naturally infer that it’s a luxury car. We’d agree—but after testing the Cadenza, it’s more complicated than that. Consider, if you will, Kia’s startlingly ambitious plan [...]
Everyone has seen “Gangnam Style’s” wacky dance moves, frolicking girls, and strange costumes—if you haven’t, you might be the last person on earth—but underneath the low-budget-seeming window dressing is a tongue-in-cheek poke at the poseurs who aspire to live the wealthy lifestyle of the Gangnam district of Seoul. Celebrating the “Gangnam lifestyle” in a decidedly [...]
MICHAEL SIMARI AND MARC URBANO TESTED Buick’s new Encore sub-micro hatchback/crossover invites a lot of questions. First of all, what is it? Well, it’s an answer to a question asked by buyers in China, where Buick thrives. It shares major mechanical pieces with the Chevrolet Sonic, which might, in the eye of a bigger-is-better American [...]
TESTED The Subaru Forester accounted for about 25 percent of Subaru’s total U.S. sales in 2012. But while impressive as a component of Subaru’s total picture, those Forester sales are less than a third of the numbers racked up by the Honda CR-V and Ford Escape, and that disparity, plus the arrival of a redesigned [...]
TESTED Whether you walk into a bar and order a double, or double down at the blackjack table, or, for those opposed to vice, play a friendly game of mixed doubles tennis, doubling is a call to action. It’s a catalyst for excitement and proof that you’re packing more into your day. Why else would [...]