reviews

2015 Ford Fusion 1.5 EcoBoost

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Ford reviews and tagged 2015 2015 ford fiesta ecoboost 2015 ford fusion car review car reviews ecoboost ford fusion review on by (updated 3619 days ago)

2015 ford fusion se 01Americans love their trucks, SUVs and crossovers with combined sales of all light duty trucks accounting for 52% of sales in 2014. Despite that seeming preference for high-riding vehicles, nearly eight million new cars hit the road last year and among those midsize sedans continue to the biggest share of sales. For more than a quarter of a century, the top-selling car in America has been either the Ford Taurus, Honda Accord and of course the Toyota Camry which has led the way since 1997. Ford launched the second-generation Fusion Into that fray in late 2012 in the hopes of grabbing a larger piece of this lucrative pie. Now approaching the mid-way point of its lifecycle I recently spent a week with Fusion to see if it’s still a strong contender in the segment.

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2015 Ford Expedition EL King Ranch – It’s Kind of Huge!

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Ford reviews and tagged 2015 ford expedition car reviews ecoboost expedition ford king ranch suburban suv on by (updated 3619 days ago)

2015 Expedition ELKR 01At 18.4-feet long and well over three tons of mass, the 2015 Ford Expedition EL King Ranch is not a vehicle that says downsizing. In fact, as Ford’s largest SUV, the only aspect of the substantially updated Expedition that has shrunk is the powerplant, the twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6. Everything else about this beast is as huge as the home state of the eponymous ranch it is named for.

The EL is the longer of two Expedition variants that have been available since the heavy-duty Excursion was discontinued in 2005 after a six-year run. While the current Expedition is related to the mid-2000s era F-150 pickup, it’s actually pretty substantially different and can really considered a distinct platform. Unlike Ford’s pickup trucks that continue to support solid rear axles on leaf springs, the Expedition utilizes a multi-link independent rear suspension which gives it an important advantage over the segment leading Chevrolet Suburban in third-row room, but I’ll come back to that later.

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2015 Mazda3 s Grand Touring – It’s great fun

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Mazda reviews and tagged 2015 car review car reviews manual transmission mazda mazda3 review on by (updated 3619 days ago)
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2015 Mazda3 s Grand Touring

As someone that is terribly fond of driving, especially in fun cars, I’m not terribly enthusiastic about the prospect of human-driven cars becoming obsolete some day. Then again, I’m old enough and there are enough technical, legal and ethical problems to overcome that the fully autonomous car may not arrive in my lifetime. Alternatively, if all cars were as enjoyable as the 2015 Mazda3 s Grand Touring, there might not be any customer desire for cars that handle the driving.

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2015 Kia Sedona SX-L – A First-Class People Mover

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Kia reviews and tagged 2015 car reviews kia minivan sedona on by (updated 3619 days ago)

2015 kia sedona sx-l 01If you have a family with more than two youngsters, chances are better than even that the best vehicle for you is not actually an SUV or a crossover, but a minivan. Sadly, despite the fact that minivans are among the most useful vehicles ever created, they just don’t have that cool image that even the hopelessly uncool among us strive for. That’s really a shame because the current generation of minivans including the 2015 Kia Sedona are really great vehicles.

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2015 Toyota Camry XSE – It’s Not So Beige Anymore

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars reviews Toyota and tagged 2015 camry car car review car reviews review reviews toyota on by (updated 3619 days ago)

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Over the years certain brands of cars have become inexorably associated with colors. Regardless of what is sprayed on in the paint shop, a Ferrari is always a deep scarlet red at heart. Anything built on the north side of the English Channel should be a dark green. High performance cars wearing a three-pointed star or four rings are silver arrows. The Toyota Camry? Beige through and through.

Beige is not an offensive hue. Quite the opposite in fact, it may well be the best camouflage color in the known universe. Instead of garish swirlies that are guaranteed to attract attention, automakers should just paint all their prototypes beige and spy photographers would never even see them.

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2015 Honda Fit EX-L – It’s Bigger On the Inside

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Honda reviews and tagged 2015 car review car reviews fit honda review on by (updated 3619 days ago)

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Given my work in the auto industry over the years, I frequently get asked for car buying advice. If I determine that the person asking the question is need of a new small car, my goto response for the past half dozen years has consistently been to get a Honda Fit. Last year, Honda introduced an all-new third-generation Fit and I just spent a week driving one and unsurprisingly, it will continue to be the small car I’m most likely to recommend.

When my daughter was in the market for her first new car seven years ago, she checked out all of the small cars available and quickly dismissed the Chevy Aveo, Toyota Echo and Scion xA and xB. At the time, the Fit was a revelation in the segment. A few years earlier MINI had demonstrated that Americans would pay a premium price for a well-built, fun-to-drive small car. As fun as the MINI was, it’s back seat was too tight to be useful and it was a bit pricey. The first-gen Fit on the other hand, could be had starting at just over $14,000 and even a loaded Fit Sport was less than $18,000.

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2015 Hyundai Sonata Eco – You’ve Come a Long Way

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Hyundai reviews and tagged 2015 hyundai sonata eco car reviews cars hyundai midsize sedan review turbocharged on by (updated 3619 days ago)

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Growing up in Canada in the 1970s and 1980s was a bit peculiar for someone that would ultimately become a gearhead like me. In those days, automotive emissions and safety regulations were not as stringent as the corresponding American rules. The Canadian auto market has long been about one-tenth the size of the south of the border and in those days it took on something of the flavor of the minor leagues.

Sure we had access to all the major league players like Ford, Chrysler, GM, Toyota, Datsun and the Europeans but we also had some up and coming players that were honing their skills in a less demanding league, others that were in their waning years and on the way out, and some just plain oddballs like TVR. We even had access to 12-cylinder Ferraris and Lamborghinis that were only available via the grey market in the U.S.

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2015 Acura TLX – Nice, But Not Special

This entry was posted in Acura Carmakers cars reviews and tagged 2015 2015 acura tlx acura car reviews review tlx on by (updated 3619 days ago)

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It’s been nearly three decades since Honda became the first Japanese automaker to launch a separate premium brand. The original Acura Integra and Legend hit the streets four years before the first Lexus and Infiniti dealers opened their doors for business. Yet, despite that head start, Acura has never quite managed to define itself as a brand. I recently spent a week with the all-new 2015 TLX sedan to see if it provides any additional clarity.

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2015 Kia K900 V8 VIP – Who Woulda’ Thunk It?

This entry was posted in cars Kia reviews and tagged 2015 Kia K900 car review car reviews k900 kia luxury car review on by (updated 3619 days ago)

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Twenty-seven years ago, the first Kia-built cars arrived on American shores badged as the Ford Festiva. At the time, it was hard to imagine that barely a quarter century later, the manufacturer of those low-budget, minicars would be producing a full-size luxury sedan could credibly be compared to some of the best cars in the world. After spending a week with the 2015 Kia K900 V8 VIP, I’ve come to some conclusions about whether the South Korean automaker has succeeded.

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2015 Lexus RX450h – The Luxury CUV Pioneer Stays Calm and Carries On

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Hybrid Lexus reviews and tagged 2015 2015 lexus rx450h car review car reviews hybrid lexus review rx450h on by (updated 3619 days ago)

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Scan the model lineups of every premium automotive brand available today and it would be hard to fathom that as recently as 1997, the luxury crossover utility vehicle didn’t exist.  That was the year that Toyota’s premium Lexus brand launched the original RX300 into what marketers like to call a white-space segment and spawned a revolution. The RX is now into the waning years of its third-generation but it remains a segment leader and I recently spent a week driving one.

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