reviews

Living With Aftermarket Android Auto and Apple Carplay Pt.2

This entry was posted in cars infotainment reviews technology and tagged android auto apple carplay car audio car reviews pioneer avh-4100nex pioneer car audio review on by (updated 3281 days ago)
Apple Carplay running on the Pioneer AVH-4100NEX

Apple Carplay running on the Pioneer AVH-4100NEX

There are more than two billion smartphones in active use globally now with the vast majority of them running either Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS. People have access to all of the world’s information and entertainment almost anywhere they go and they’ve come to expect to be able to use it anytime they want, including in the car. Thus, 2014 brought the announcements of Apple Carplay and Android Auto.

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Living With Aftermarket Android Auto and Apple Carplay Pt.1

This entry was posted in cars infotainment reviews technology and tagged android auto apple carplay car reviews pioneer avh-4100nex pioneer car audio on by (updated 3281 days ago)

4100nex - 1 of 68When you stop to consider how complex the task of driving a vehicle actually is, it’s rather surprising that there aren’t a lot more accidents and fatalities than we already have. Despite this, we keep adding more things for the driver to do on the road and designers have struggled to find a way to integrate everything into the human machine interface (HMI). Having watched the struggles of automotive designers to develop a usable in-vehicle HMI, technology giants Apple and Google have now stepped into the breach with their own solutions to the problem in the form of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

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2016 Volvo XC90 – Thankfully, It’s Enjoyable to Drive

This entry was posted in active safety Carmakers cars crossover reviews technology Volvo and tagged 2016 volvo xc90 adas advanced driver assist system autonomous vehicles car review car reviews crossover volvo on by (updated 3281 days ago)

2016 Volvo XC90 T6 - 6 of 24When Alan Mulally took the reins as CEO of Ford Motor Company in 2006, a key element of his strategy to revive the struggling century-old automaker was to dispense with any brands under the corporate umbrella that didn’t carry the founder’s name. During his tenure he found buyers for all of the European luxury brands that his predecessors had acquired including Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo. Volvo was the last to go, with China’s Geely Group finally closing the deal in August 2010. While production was never interrupted, the brand’s rebirth really only began this year with the launch of its first all-new product, the second-generation XC90.

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2016 Honda Civic Sedan – A Great Starting Point for the Type-R 1

This entry was posted in Carmakers Honda reviews technology and tagged 2016 honda civic sedan car review car reviews civic first drive honda on by (updated 3281 days ago)

2016 Honda Civic first drive - 1 of 44

In recent years, many critics have accused Honda of losing its way. The lightweight, fun-to-drive cars that helped build the Honda reputation from the 1970s through the early 1990s had given way to increasingly bland cars devoid of character. Chief of among the models that seemed to suffer was the Civic. First launched in 1973, the Civic wasn’t Honda’s first American model, but it really gave the brand momentum that picked up significantly a few years later with the debut of the Accord. The most recent Civic which debuted in 2011 seemed to epitomize everything wrong with the brand. Honda heard the complaints and tried to address them for generation 10 that goes on sale in November. However, hearing complaints and adequately resolving them are two different things and only time behind the wheel would tell us if Honda has been successful.

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2016 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible – Plastic is Still Fantastic

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Chevrolet reviews and tagged 2016 2016 chevrolet corvette convertible car reviews chevrolet convertible corvette stingray on by (updated 3281 days ago)

2016 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible - 3 of 41

For more than 30 years, ever since the launch of the C4 Corvette, I’ve been hearing Chevrolet talk about America’s longest running sports car being ready to take on the best in the world. Unfortunately, while each subsequent edition was a significant advancement on what came before, Corvette never quite hit the mark. While the 2005-2013 C6 came tantalizingly close to fulfilling that promise, especially from a performance perspective, the interior continued to be a let down. Two years ago, Chevrolet brought us an all-new seventh-generation model and I just got to spend a week with a ragtop variant.

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2015 Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTec 4Matic –

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Diesel Mercedes-Benz reviews and tagged car review car reviews diesel mercedes-benz mercedes-benz e-class mercedes-benze e250 bluetec mercedesbenz on by (updated 3281 days ago)

2015 Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTec AWD - 2 of 28

Mercedes-Benz is a brand that has been associated with firsts throughout its long history which of course began with the very first car, Karl Benz’s 1886 Patent Motorwagen. Along the way, Mercedes has launched gasoline direct-fuel injection, anti-lock brakes and many other technologies including the compression ignition cycle developed by Dr. Rudolph Diesel. As we approach the 80th anniversary of the 1936 260D, Mercedes-Benz currently offers diesel engines in several of its current U.S.-market models including the midsize E-class sedan. I recently spent a week with the diesel-powered E250 BlueTec AWD just before the news broke about the big Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal.

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2015 Jaguar XJL Portfolio AWD – The Big Cat Still Roars

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Jaguar reviews and tagged 2015 jaguar xj car review car reviews jaguar luxury sedan xj on by (updated 3281 days ago)

2015 Jaguar XJL - 3 of 39The Jaguar brand-name is 80 years old in 2015 and over that time, the British luxury automaker has built some of the most beautiful and iconic machines in the history of the automobile. The single longest running nameplate from the Coventry-based company is the XJ sedan which is rapidly approaching its own 50th anniversary in 2018. The original XJ is still considered one of the most attractive sedans of all time. By the time the current-generation XJ debuted in 2009, just a year after Tata Motors bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, the old-school XJ was definitely looking long in the tooth. Fortunately, Jaguar was ready to begin its new era with something dramatically different and six years later I’ve finally had an opportunity to drive one.

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2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris First Drive

This entry was posted in Carmakers Mercedes-Benz reviews Vans and tagged car review car reviews cargo van commercial vehicle mercedes benz metris midsize van passenger van van on by (updated 3281 days ago)

metris first drive - 7I never thought I would see the day when a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson stood in front a group of media to compare the brand’s latest product to the long dead Chevrolet Astro. For those who don’t recall the Astro, it and its GMC-badged twin the Safari, were rear-wheel-drive midsize vans built from 1985 to 2005. Since the end of the Astro’s production run, no manufacturer has offered a similarly sized van in the U.S. market, until now. Starting in the first week of October, roughly 270 Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner dealers will begin selling the Metris which has been available in Europe as the Vito.

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2015 Chevrolet Trax LT – A Little Crossover With Room for Friends

This entry was posted in Carmakers Chevrolet crossover General Motors reviews and tagged 2015 chevrolet trax b-segment car review car reviews crossover subcompact crossover trax on by (updated 3281 days ago)

2015 Chevrolet Trax - 5 of 28

Last year Chevrolet decided to join the rapidly burgeoning B-segment (aka subcompact) crossover utility field with an entry called the Trax. The Trax joins GM’s other similarly sized and surprisingly successful crossover the Buick Encore at a more affordable price point to challenge the likes of the Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade, Fiat 500X and Nissan Juke. In a segment expected to spawn several more entries from the likes of Ford, Hyundai and Toyota in the next couple of years, does the Trax have what it takes?

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General Motors Launching 2nd-Gen “Bring Your Own Media” Infotainment for 2016

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Chevrolet General Motors reviews technology and tagged android auto apple carplay bring your own media byom car reviews chevrolet general motors infotainment mylink on by (updated 3281 days ago)

BYOM - 1

As we roll into the 2016 model year, General Motors is finally about ready to put its 2009 bankruptcy behind it as it completes the launch of a full lineup of post-reorganization vehicles. In addition to all-new vehicles designed and developed in this decade, GM is also rationalizing its in-vehicle infotainment options which had become fragmented over the past four years. For Chevrolet, that means there will basically be two levels of infotainment under the MyLink brand.

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