As I eagerly await some more new vehicles to review (models I have not tested in the past couple of years) I will update you on some familiar fascias that have arrived in the test driveway recently. We first looked at the new Jeep Cherokee two years ago and the recent Trailhawk tester featured a couple of updates.
What is the longest-running nameplate in the automotive industry? If you said Suburban you would be correct. Now in its 81st production year, the Chevrolet Suburban Carryall offers all of the latest safety and infotainment technology available while still being the mother of modern land yachts to transport families and their stuff.
Quite honestly I did not realize the Jeep Patriot was the lowest priced compact utility vehicle on the market. At under 18 grand it offers value along with the on and off-road capability folks have come to know with the Jeep name. Sure, you won’t be doing any rock crawling with this unibody vehicle but Patriot can go everywhere else!
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a living legend, and for 2016 that legend continues. Land Cruiser has been sold in the U.S. market for nearly 60 years now and this year it sees some significant upgrades including new interior and exterior design features, as well as getting some of Toyota’s newest safety technology.
BMW has launched the next chapter in its EffecientDynamics initiative and it arrives in the form of a plug-in hybrid on the X5 Sports Activity Vehicle. Arriving in showrooms is the X5 xDrive40e that mates the TwinPower turbo 2.0-liter I-4 gas engine to a synchronous electric motor powered by a high-voltage lithium-ion battery pack.
One of the most polarizing vehicles since its original launch has been the Nissan Murano crossover utility vehicle. While it practically invented the midsize crossover segment its unique styling has always pitted consumers against one another and for the new third-generation model things are no different, and it introduced the world to Nissan’s new V-motion design direction.
The ‘teens appear to be banner years for Mazda. Not only did it just garner a new overall brand award but the automaker has been introducing stylish, fuel-conscious vehicles that are meeting and exceeding the needs of the next generation of drivers and families. Among those is this all-new subcompact crossover utility vehicle dubbed CX-3.
While stopping short of calling the 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander all new, the automaker has given its flagship vehicle more than 100 improvements to engineering and design while also updating technology and safety. And it was done with a small price reduction as well as the new three-row crossover racks up honors as being one of the best values out there.
‘Twas not even a year ago that I last drove the Yukon XL Denali from GMC, yet here I am behind the wheel of the 2016 model year schooner. I am not afraid to say that I like the size and heft of this vehicle, although I do feel a bit guilty when riding in it all by my lonesome.
It looks like Honda has done it again. Without asking permission or begging any pardon, the automaker has brought a vehicle to market that is most likely going to dominate its segment. I am speaking of the all-new HR-V compact crossover utility vehicle and I predict that Honda is going to sell a boatload of them.
If this 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport looks familiar it is done so by design, literally. Hyundai employs the “Fluidic Sculpture” theme in all its vehicles and our recent Santa Fe Sport CUV tester had us feeling a bit of déjà vu all week back to the all-new Tucson we recently visited with.
Hyundai (rhymes with fun-day) is launching an all-new 2016 Tucson Compact Crossover Utility Vehicle and this third generation model is hands down the best yet. The new ride is longer and wider and is stretched between the wheels and features an all-new array of powertrains (including a turbo) making the new Tucson one of the best compact crossovers period.
We told you about Ford upgrading the 2015 Expedition SUV last year and we gave you first drive impressions on it’s Lincoln counterpart. Recently we spent time with the long wheelbase version of Ford’s largest land yacht and put the EcoBoosted Expedition EL Limited through its paces and we can tell you wholeheartedly it is grandbaby tested and grandbaby approved.
When the 2015 Honda CR-V compact crossover utility vehicle arrived a while back I realized it has been quite some time since I had tested this model. The vehicle itself has been around for 17 years and has become the best-selling model in its class. For 2015 the CR-V receives some significant mid-cycle upgrades, most notably under the hood.
Nissan introduced the Juke compact vehicle several years ago that, for all intents and purposes, is one difficult vehicle to define. I call it a CrossHatch as it is part crossover utility vehicle and part hatchback. Throw some performance mods from Nissan Motorsports into the mix and we have the fun and funky 2015 Juke NISMO.
When Ford first introduced the Edge crossover nearly a decade ago, it quickly became one of the most popular vehicles in its class. As the field grew more crowded, consumers continued to drive the Edge off dealer lots with greater frequency than the competition. As Ford rolls out the all-new 2015 Edge, that trend should continue.
Lexus, the luxury division for Toyota Motor Corporation, has been around since 1989 yet it has never released a turbocharged vehicle…until now. And the automaker delivers it in a totally new vehicle, a compact luxury crossover known as NX. Lexus has launched the model line in the form of the NX 200t turbo gas crossover and the NX 300h hybrid.
When Mazda first launched its flagship crossover utility, dubbed CX-9, it took what was then a radical approach to designing CUVs by adding, of all things, a third row. This quickly helped the CX-9 garner such high honors as North American Truck/Utility of the Year and Motor Trend Sport Utility of the Year and has helped it remain popular today.
Volvo again? It certainly seems I am on Volvo’s preferred reviewers list or something as the brand populates this test driveway quite often. In the past year or so I reviewed all the new models of the automaker’s middle class in the form of S60, V60 and XC60 and now I add to that 2015.5 versions of S60 and XC60.
Infiniti brings luxury back to the middle class – the mid-size crossover utility class that is. The QX that shares its architecture with the Nissan Pathfinder has returned to the Infiniti lineup after a 10-year hiatus and it arrived as a three-row, seven-passenger unibody crossover surviving a couple rounds of renaming strategy sessions and offering a choice of power trains.
Grand Cherokee owners, have you ever sat around wishing you could have paid more for your SUV? Now you can, thanks to the new Summit California package offered on the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee model line. Still not as pricey as luxury badged SUVs, the Grand Cherokee Summit adds a new level of refinement to the most awarded SUV ever.