Continuing in the “then and now” theme begun last week in the Grinding Gears Garage Volkswagen sent us a 2014 Beetle Convertible, along with a week’s worth of sunny weather. Our last look at the Vee Dub droptop saw seven days of stormy weather so we did not get the total experience of just how enjoyable this car is.
While I reject the argument that anyone is FORCED into piracy by … well, anything – I do recognize that some people want to see the latest movie as soon as it comes available for home viewing. The problem is sometimes they cannot rent or buy that movie digitally, and as a result choose to pirate rather than not watch. A new site called PiracyData.org takes the latest Bittorrent data on the most pirated films, and matches that up with the availability information from Canistream.it – which is an awesome site to check movie availability in a single location, by…
Funny how memories are jogged sometimes. Could be from a scent, a sound or a sight. Spending a week with the new Nissan Sentra compact sedan brought back memories of the launch program a year ago in northern California including all the great roads, good food and wonderful wine we were treated to during our time there.
The first Kia Soul model was sold in 2010. Since then, the Soul has become a favorite of everyone from urban dwellers looking for a fuel-efficient compact with personality, to those who appreciate its low profile with easy trunk and rider access. 2014 brings its first major redesign since 2010, and it quite the transformation. The Soul is known for its funky boxy design; Kia’s priority was to stay true to that while making their 2014 model unique and special but obviously evolved. They succeeded. The 2014 Kia has improved dynamics; it draws inspiration from a wild boar, as seen by its…
News broke this week that a Tesla Model S caught fire after hitting a piece of debris on the highway. People buzzed about safety, and Elon Musk posted a letter explaining why the Model S is actually safer than most gas-powered vehicles. My reaction, however, wasn’t fear about Teslas – I was happy someone had a weirder “exploding car” story than me! Several years ago, I drove a 2000 Nissan Altima. It had been my grandmother’s, and since she barely drove it before I used it, it had the original battery. Fast forward several years and several thousand miles, and…
While some automakers have abandoned the minivan segment, Honda is out to prove its leadership in this arena yet again with the release of the 2014 Odyssey Touring Elite. The new model has already begun an interesting marketing campaign in the quest to prove the Honda minivan doesn’t suck with the launch of an all-new feature that, well, truly sucks. I don’t really know why it took an automaker four decades to introduce a built-in vacuum in a minivan, as kids have been dropping stuff on the carpeted floors since they were first strapped in the second or third rows….
Toyota has been in the hybrid automobile business longer than just about anyone. Both Honda and Toyota have been offering hybrid gas/electric vehicles more than a decade, but only Toyota and its Prius line, including the new Prius v, has grown so much it not only outsells mainstream models, but has evolved into a family all its own: Prii. The Prii family consists of the original Prius (which is now in its third-generation model line in the States), and Toyota has added three more models to the genus: Prius v (the “green” family truckster), Prius c (the cute little city…
Nissan North America has just announced that it has signed an exclusive partnership deal with Apple and its new iTunes Radio. From now until the end of 2013, Nissan will be the first automaker offering iTunes Radio in its vehicles in the upcoming 2014 Nissan Rogue, the new 2014 Versa Note and the LEAF electric vehicle. Citing the Nissan brand as also being known for its innovation, Nissan North America Vice President of Marketing Jon Brancheau said in a press release the company is proud to support iTunes Radio from the very beginning and they see it as a huge…
Competition in the pickup world does not end at the light duty segment, far from it. Truck makers constantly work to improve their heavy-duty consumer models as well and for 2013 the Chrysler Group has made significant improvements in the HD lineup of Ram trucks in the areas of powertrains, suspensions, technology and content. Ram, the truck division over at the Chrysler Group (formerly known as Dodge Ram), has been busy making improvements to its consumer pickup models for 2013. Highlighting the upgrades in the Heavy Duty lineup is the power bump in the Cummins turbodiesel engines that now has…
General Motors has finally taken the wraps off its next-generation full-size SUVs as they introduce the all-new 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and 2015 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL in a trio of events Thursday. Designed to demonstrate the automaker’s leadership in the segment, the new models show off new styling, new technologies and new powertrains. While GM held separate events on each coast to introduce its newest Chevrolet and GMC full-size SUV models, they brought the family together for a global family launch party in Dallas, Texas, not 20 miles from the Arlington Assembly Plant where they will be…
‘New from hood to hitch.’ What a way to begin a marketing campaign but that is how Chevrolet leads in for the 2014 Silverado 1500 pickup, a truck they claim to be stronger, smarter and more capable than any before it thanks to new engines, new styling, new interiors and revised steering, suspension and brakes. These 55 words pretty much sum up all one needs to know about the 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 pickup, but what fun would it be if I did not wane on for another 600 or so words going into a bit more detail on all…
Fresh from bankruptcy recovery and newfound corporate leadership, Dodge is slowly clawing its way back into the automotive market with new and improved product and it has even resurrected another well-known name from the past and given it new life (a la Alfa Romeo) in the form of the all-new 2013 Dodge Dart compact sedan. No sooner had the ink dried on the corporate restructuring papers did Dodge begin work to bring an all-new compact vehicle to the U.S. market. Hoping to rekindle success it found in the Neon a couple decades ago it was decided to source the architecture…
The Toyota Corolla has been the best-selling car on the planet since its inception in 1966 but lately it has been playing second fiddle to the compact car from Ford. Toyota needs a change and they need it now. Introducing the all-new 2014 Corolla that is on sale now and arriving in showrooms very soon. Over the past five decades Toyota has built a solid global reputation for reliability, efficiency and function with its compact model, so when the call came for a complete overhaul of what is already a very good vehicle it appears the designers and engineers on…
We’re shopping for a new vehicle, and with just a very basic bit of research from Cars.com, I learned that a salesman lied to our faces today. Needless to say, we won’t be shopping there for this or any future vehicle… Sarah and I have a bit of a dilemma. We need a bigger car. See, if we want to go somewhere with just our son, no problem. Sarah’s Jetta is a bit tight but can hold us just fine, and my Prius is quite roomy for two adults and an infant. The problem is that when you add our…
For years we’ve had a routine – get a new car when we’ve exhausted the current one, donating that one to charity. Our oldest car was a 10 year-old Subaru we donated it and got my now 7 year-old Escape Hybrid. But apparently these cars are fairly young, as the average age of a car is now 11.4 years old. Hanging on to older cars has become a trend, with this year marking the highest average age since data collection started! The average age has increased nearly a year just over the last few years! And at the same time…
For those of you who have not yet heard, Toyota makes trucks, and they want to make more of them. In order to do that they have to sell more, and to do that they need to bring to market a truck that more people will want to buy. That’s their goal with the 2014 Tundra. Full-size pickup trucks dominate sales charts in North America – but only for the domestic automakers. Ford and its F-series is tops with Chevy close behind in the Silverado. Way, way behind is the Toyota Tundra that only (arguably) began coming into its own recently….
I have a 32 mile, 50 minute commute to work. Even the slightest delay on the roads, will cause me to be late. What could improve my commute, you ask? Well, the answer is a flying car! Terrafugia, a Massachusetts company, created the TF-X which is described as a cross between a Google self-driving car, a helicopter, and a plane. Supposedly, I only need to wait another eight years until I can pay a projected $270,000 for a brand new TF-X. When the flying car concept was first founded by MIT in 2006, developers announced that we would be driving…
While Lexus has been giving the European luxury sedan segment fits for the past couple of decades, they have won many battles, but the automaker overall continued falling short of winning the war. Lexus has been toying with the sport sedan segment since introducing IS to North America more than a decade ago, and with the latest generation IS 350 they give the Bavarians a real run for their money. And in response to those factory hotrods coming from the German heartland, Lexus engineers answered with a shot right to the midsection – IS F. Built on the second-generation IS…
Acura has quietly introduced a new flagship sedan that it calls RLX. It qualifies as a midsize car by EPA standards but sports all the accoutrements expected in a large luxury cruiser and delivers it with a luxo-barge pricetag in the mid-$50s. The luxury division of Honda brings the new 2014 RLX premium sedan to market with a whisper, and at some of the biggest auto shows this year it was relegated to a side stage rather than “front and center.” Odd, really, as the automaker touts numerous new technologies and systems in the new car that also sees the…
Before I had time to unpack from my trip to Dearborn, Michigan to experience Ford’s 2014 product lineup (the one without any Mustang representation), I got a phone call from the local PR office for Big Blue Oval asking if they could deliver a shiny new 2014 Pony car for the week. Uh, yeah… Ford’s Mustang sports car first appeared as the Mustang 1 Concept in 1962. April 17, 2014 will mark the 50th birthday of the iconic production sport coupe, and Ford has begun a “Mustang Countdown” online with a weekly video series that kicked off with a look…
There are certain words that are almost never used in automotive reviews of the best-selling sedan in America, the Toyota Camry. Those words include sexy, sporty, dynamic, titillating or fun. Apparently no one cares, especially consumers as Camry has led sedan sales here in the States for 14 out of the past 15 years and this past month Toyota sold its 10 millionth model since introducing Camry here some 30 years ago. Not bad Camry, not bad. In May of 1988, Toyota brought production of the car to its plant in Georgetown, Kentucky and in 2006 it began producing hybrid…