Vehicles & Gear

Volt, Leaf, the EPA and the Future

It is almost time to pack a bag to head down to Austin, Texas for a full evaluation of the new Chevy Volt (recently named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year) and in doing a little prep work online I notice EPA fuel economy ratings for it and the Nissan Leaf EV have been released along with new stickers and classifications by the governing body. The two vehicles are similar in size but vary in styling and technology. Leaf will only run on electric power ¬ once the battery pack is done, you’re done until you can get to a…


2011 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon all hat, no rodeo

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Poetic words meant for lovers and lyricists. In the real world things don’t always go accordingly. My situation refers to the Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon that I recently spent a week with. Here are the words I penned last year during my first experience with the new Caddy: “The vehicle we enjoyed at this stopover (of the Cadillac Culinary Tour) was the new wagon from Cadillac, the CTS Sport Wagon. Wagons have not gotten much love over the past few decades and Chevy Chase did not do them any favors in his vacation movie….


2011 Ford Edge Sport Fresher and Hipper

The Ford Edge crossover utility vehicle paved the way to a new segment for Big Blue Oval to compete. We recently got familiar with a 2011 Edge Sport model, aimed at customers who want a fresher, hipper crossover and this year Ford has updated styling AND technology. The Edge Sport rolls on up to 22-inch polished aluminum wheels, a first for this segment. The Edge Sport 22-inch wheel/tire handling package elevates the already “sporty” crossover to a new level of handling and control. It feels at home on a road course or twisty mountain road, but still delivers a ride…


Lexus CT200h Sporty New Hybrid CrossTourer

Lexus has a new hybrid vehicle being readied for market and let me begin by saying I wish them more luck with this CT200h hybrid sportwagon than they saw with the HS250h hybrid sedan that debuted last year. Lexus’ last sporty wagon was on the inaugural IS300 platform and was dubbed SportCross. I was assured the CT200h is not intended to be the next SportCross but the two do share bloodlines and driving dynamics. We spent some time with Lexus and the new CT200h in New Orleans recently and I was left with the impression that the CT should see…


2011 Toyota Sienna Is All About the ‘Swagger’

While minivans have reserved a place in automotive history for themselves they are rarely the first (or second or third) type vehicle most folks think about when dreaming of a new car. Not to mention the minivan segment has shrunk considerably over recent years in response to that line of thinking (and buying). Toyota is one of a handful of automakers that has remained loyal to the segment and has given its 2011 model Sienna a significant makeover, along with quite the marketing campaign. Dubbed the “Swagger Wagon” the new Sienna has been given life in primetime thanks to entertaining…


G Coupe or M Sedan, Infiniti’s Class of 37s Offer Driving Nirvana

Most of you have probably seen the Nissan commercial where a new father-to-be laments his ownership of a Z sports coupe after hearing the news his family is growing. He is suddenly struck with the brilliant idea to stretch the Z to a four-door sports car in the form of the Maxima. Flip this same scenario to an Infiniti family and that is exactly the case as we went from G37 coupe to M37 sport sedan recently. No, the rabbit did not die over here at our household but I was treated to the bookends of the 37 series of…


2011 Mazda MX-5 Miata

A few years back, the good folks at Mazda chose to drop the Miata tagline on the most popular two-seat convertible sports car in the world, instead going only with the MX-5 designation. I guess this gave the cute little bugger more of a “macho” image as many consumers have thought of Miata as more a “chick’s” car. Masculinity intact, I thoroughly enjoyed my week in the Mazda MX-5 Miata, which I dubbed “Miazda” purely to enhance the confusion. In 2006, Mazda launched the third-generation of the fun little roadster and it did not share a single component with previous…


2011 Kia Sportage: I like you fine, thanks

I really don’t know much about those sock puppets featured in the new Kia Sportage commercials and I am no expert in marketing but I do know a good thing when I see one, and the completely new-for-2011 Sportage compact CUV is a good thing. I recognize the Kia marketing team’s efforts and believe they have done wonders for the brand. That is not to take away from designers and engineers at the automaker, though, far from it. A clever commercial or two on national television is still not going to insure corporate success if the product does not stand…


Fun around every corner in Honda Civic Si

Bold would be an adequate way to describe some of Honda’s design choices in recent years. Ridgeline? Bold. Element? Bold. Civic? You guessed it – bold. Honda took a giant leap of faith when redesigning their popular small vehicle lineup a short while back, but that is what the automaker has been doing well over the past couple of decades – taking giant leaps of faith followed by success of nearly all of those choices. As energy prices soared ever higher, droves of consumers headed down the model lines to units they probably once sought to intimidate from behind the…


2011 Suzuki Kizashi SLS Sport: Something great is coming?

Something great is coming, that is what Suzuki is telling me with the arrival of its all-new sport sedan Kizashi (pronounced Kee-Zah-Shee) model. So let me get this straight, this new vehicle is the something great or this car is the messenger telling us something great is coming? Either way, in my opinion something great is already here – the 2011 Suzuki Kizashi SLS Sport. Many hold strong to the “first impressions are usually right” theory and my first impressions of this car are very positive. I remember Kizashi arriving in concept form a couple of years ago and looked…


2011 Ford F-150: The Power of Four

The Ford F-Series pickup has led the sales chart for what seems like forever and is still the top-selling truck and top-selling vehicle in North America. So one might think the automaker is taking a huge gamble by totally revamping the powertrain lineup in a single strike. This is the first time any manufacturer has ever completely replaced every engine and Ford is going “all-in” with a pair of sixes and a pair of eights. Ford F150 team members hosted media from all over the country to introduce the automotive press to the new powertrains. An entire day was devoted…


Good is as good does, and good is the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

“So – what’s good?” Oh, don’t I wish I had a nickel for every time I am asked this question about new cars. And “good” can mean so many things to so many folks. A quick check over at thesaurus.com gave me some 250-plus ways to describe “good.” I would add to the list the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It’s good – darned good. I guess good minds think alike in Detroit these days as both Jeep and Ford are delivering completely new vehicles carrying each automaker’s iconic SUV moniker. Ford is readying a new Explorer later this fall and…


Ford celebrating Vans and 8-Tracks

Ford Motor Company is celebrating a couple of milestones this week. The first is the 50th anniversary of the E-Series fullsize van, originally called Econoline. Second, and more importantly to some of us, is the 45th anniversary of its first offering of an 8-track tape player option in its vehicles. In 1965, car buyers were given a new option for factory sound systems. An 8-track stereo tape player was being offered in new 1966 model Mustangs, T-Birds and Lincolns. This new recorded music format was developed by Lear Jet along with the assistance of Ampex, Ford, General Motors, Motorola and…


2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe: Concept to Reality

all images by author The best-kept secret at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show was the unveiling of the CTS Coupe Concept from Cadillac. No pre-show hype or buildup surrounding this baby, all the drool during the reveal was real. And in less than three years this hot little number is rolling off production lines nearly unchanged from the original concept. The 2011 CTS Coupe arrived in August as the new focal point of the Cadillac product lineup and is offered in base (as if any Caddy could be called a base model) and supercharged V race trim. While based on…


2011 Jaguar XKR convertible

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Jaguar, a luxury British automobile company that saw life when William Lyons was seeking a name for a new sports car he had built. In 1935, the SS 100 became the world’s first Jaguar. Since then the brand has become synonymous with a blend of grace, elegance, power and agility.


OnStar celebrating 15 years of driver assistance, safety

“You can always trust your car to the man who wears the (On)Star…” OK, I took a little poetic license with the catchy marketing tune from decades ago but full service gas stations where a driver can simply pull into and find directions or get a quick check under the hood have long disappeared from the American motoring landscape. Filling some of that void over the past 15 years has been OnStar, the driver assistance technology included in most (and now all) new GM vehicles driven off the lot.


First Drive: 2011 HD trucks from General Motors

This past winter we got our first experience with the new Heavy Duty trucks from Ram. Spring brought a new Super Duty from Ford (along with more HD Rams) and finally, summer 2010 put us in the driver seat of the newest big rigs from General Motors, wearing Silverado and Sierra badging. Along the way I noticed one thing different about the way marketing folks presented information from their colleagues pitching cars and SUVs – customer conquests. It seems truck buyers, especially heavy duty truck buyers, remain very brand loyal. Three-quarter- and one-ton pickups account for about 30 percent of…


First Drive: 2011 Scion tC

The freshman class of the Scion tC proved to be quite successful for the “garage band” division of Toyota. In fact, since its launch as a 2005 model, the little coupe has accounted for more than a third of Scions sales despite having the shortest production run (when combining xA and xD units). This is the best selling model in its showroom so for the model makeover one thing is painfully clear – don’t screw it up. Stick to your roots, stick to what brung ya’ here and stick it to the competition. And that is what Scion is doing….


First Drive: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze

I was invited down to San Antonio, Texas recently to get my first experience with this new compact vehicle from Chevrolet that is replacing the Cobalt model. The new vehicle, set to arrive in dealerships in September, is called Cruze. One of my first questions during a marketing presentation was “What is the origin of the name Cruze?” Seems I stumped the panel. No one could give me an answer. Here in front of my computer I search the interwebs and discover that Cruze has been used by GM since 2001 and this “all-new” vehicle is actually the second-generation of…


2011 Subaru Outback: Swiss Army Knife on Wheels

If I were told today that I would have to choose only one vehicle that I would drive for the rest of my life, not knowing what the rest of my life would entail, that vehicle might very well be a Subaru. And tempted as I would be to pick something like the WRX, in the end my decision would probably be the Outback.


Eruption to Evolution: 2011 Buick Regal

I was excited to see Buick resurrecting the Regal model this year. My first real experience with the badge dates to my car cruising years of the mid-1980s and the popular scene on Cooper Street in Arlington, Texas. Those were also my ear-shattering car stereo years where us early adopters were tearing out complete interiors to accommodate our rolling sound systems. I drove a 1983 Olds Cutlass and had been hearing about a fella out there in Arlington who drove a maroon Regal nicknamed “Eruption” as an homage to Eddie Van Halen.