car reviews

2016 Scion iA First Drive – Just Walk Up From Behind and Get In

This entry was posted in cars reviews scion and tagged 2016 scion iA car review car reviews mazda scion toyota on by (updated 3181 days ago)

2016 Scion iA - 4 of 23

A dozen years after Toyota launched the Scion brand as a way to attract younger customers into the fold, the world’s largest automaker is hitting the reboot switch. After some initial success with the first-generation xA and xB, the second-generation xB and the xD that replaced the xA never really caught fire with consumers. While the tC coupe and the FR-S have done reasonably well for their segments, Scion is about two launch two new bread and butter models, the C-segment iM and the B-segment iA which I’ll discuss here.

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2016 Hyundai Tucson Quick Spin – A Stylish New Compact Crossover 1

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars crossover Hyundai reviews and tagged 2016 hyundai tucson car review car reviews crossover tucson on by (updated 3181 days ago)

2016 Hyundai Tucson First Drive - 8 of 23Smaller crossover utilities are the fastest growing segment of the American auto market in the last few years and Hyundai America CEO Dave Zuckowski hopes that the all-new 2016 Tucson will take advantage of that and rekindle the brand’s growth. The first batch of some 9,000 Tucsons has arrived in port from South Korea and are currently going through final quality checks before being shipped out to dealers across America for sale starting August 15. While those are being inspected, I got the chance to spend a couple of hours in a pre-production model on rural roads west of Ann Arbor.

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2015 Hyundai Sante Fe Sport – Plenty of Utility, Not So Much Sport

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2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2.0T - 4 of 31

It should come as no surprise when you check Hyundai’s monthly sales report to find the midsize Santa Fe crossover as the brand’s third-best selling model trailing only the Elantra and Sonata. Americans have fallen head over heels in love with crossovers with the segment seemingly absorbing the station wagon and taking more and more of the minivan’s sales. Now in its third-generation, the Santa Fe has grown from the compact original to a midsizer and it’s now made in two sizes. A larger three-row variant has replaced the defunct Veracruz while the shorter two-row version now has a Sport suffix. I recently spent a week with a 2015 Santa Fe Sport learning whether the badge fits.

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2015 Lexus LS460 AWD – No Longer Just a Pretender to the Throne

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Lexus reviews and tagged 2015 lexus ls 460 awd car review car reviews lexus ls luxury on by (updated 3181 days ago)

2015 Lexus LS460 AWD - 1 of 31

Through the 1970s and early-1980s, three Japanese companies, Toyota, Nissan and Honda upended the American automotive industry. With the help of lower manufacturing costs in Japan and favorable exchange rates, they entered at the low end of the market and offered consumers, affordable, higher-quality and more efficient cars than they could get from Detroit. After gradually filling in their lineups from the bottom up, by the end of the decade, all three were ready to expand into more premium offerings.  After Honda launched Acura in 1986, Toyota and Nissan brought us Lexus and Infiniti three years later. Thanks mainly to the flagship Lexus LS sedan, the premium car market has never been the same and I recently spent a week with the latest edition of the LS460 AWD to see how it has progressed in 25 years.

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2015 Kia Soul+ EV – The Most Electric Range You Can Get for Less Than a Tesla

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars electric Kia reviews technology and tagged 2015 2015 kia soul ev car reviews electric car electric vehicle kia lithium ion on by (updated 3181 days ago)

2015 Kia Soul EV - 2 of 32If the mainstream media in America talks about battery electric cars at all, it usually has something to do with the latest outrageous pronouncement from Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk. However, unless you live in the wealthy enclaves of Silicon Valley or southern California, chances are pretty good that you’ve never even seen a Tesla Model S much less driven one. Most of the rest of us will never be able to afford a Model S even we could find a place to buy one. For the rest of us that want to drive emissions-free there are a number of very good and increasingly affordable options including South Korea’s first entry into the segment, the Kia Soul EV.

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2015 Lexus NX300h – A Surprisingly Dynamic Hybrid Crossover

This entry was posted in Carmakers Hybrid Lexus reviews technology and tagged 2015 lexus nx300h car review car reviews crossover hybrid lexus luxury crossover on by (updated 3181 days ago)

2015 Lexus NX300h - 1 of 27In the mid-1990s the original Lexus RX kicked off the wave of luxury utility vehicles that has now infected pretty much every premium brand short of Ferrari and McLaren. In time, Lexus added rebadged versions of the Toyota Sequoia and Land Cruiser large SUVs and has now fleshed out the lineup with the compact NX crossover. The addition of the NX has inflated Lexus utility sales to the point where they have nearly overtaken car sales, a promise that will likely be completed when the new RX hits the streets this fall. While we wait on the 2016 RX, I got to spend a week driving it’s little brother, the hybrid electric NX300h.

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2016 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD – It’s the Crossover With Zoom-Zoom

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars crossover Mazda reviews and tagged 2016 Mazda CX-5 car reviews crossover ford escape honda cr-v mazda review on by (updated 3181 days ago)

2016 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring - 1 of 24The typical American car buyer is a fickle beast, constantly evolving and chasing the latest fashion. You might think that as the second biggest purchase that most people make after their home, selecting a vehicle would be a more rational decision, but in reality it is often far more emotional. That’s probably why the crossover utility vehicle has become one of the hottest segments in the market with the Honda CR-V and Ford Escape each selling more than 300,000 units in 2014 and numerous other models in the segment topping 200,000. For Mazda, the compact CX-5 is the brand’s second best seller, just behind the Mazda3 and selling nearly twice as fast as the midsize Mazda6 sedan. I recently got to spend a week with the 2016 CX-5 Grand Touring AWD to see if it lives up to the brand’s fun-to-drive philosophy and came away impressed.

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2015 Lexus RC350 F-Sport

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2015 Lexus RC350 F-Sport - 23 of 28

After debuting in 1989 with two sedans, the Camry-based ES250 and the big rear-wheel drive LS400, Lexus began to grow its lineup in 1991 with the sleek and stylish SC400. The original SC had a nine-year run before being replaced by a the bloated and lifeless second-generation model which is best forgotten. Now, after a suitable cooling off period, Lexus has returned to its roots with a new coupe more in keeping with the original and it gets a new RC badge. Does the 2015 RC350 F-Sport take Lexus in a new direction? Read on.

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2016 Acura ILX Premium A-Spec

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2016 Acura ILX - 4 of 28

As Honda Motor Company’s premium Acura brand comes up on its 30th anniversary next year, it continues to have a bit of an identity crisis not dramatically different from that suffered by Lincoln. Honda has never really had a clear idea about what the brand was supposed to represent, in fact when it debuted in 1986, there wasn’t even a logo. While a stylized pair of calipers have long since represented the “A,” Acura remains as indistinct as ever. Following the launch of the new midsize TLX sedan, last year, the entry ILX got a mid-cycle revamp earlier this year. Does it finally have the character it deserves?

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2016 Nissan Maxima Quick Drive – 4-Door Sports Car?

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2016 nissan maxima first drive - 4

This week, the eighth-generation of Nissan’s so-called “4-Door Sports Car,” the Maxima goes on sale at dealerships across North America. Having originally debuted as a 1981 model, the Maxima is Nissan’s longest running continuous nameplate, the Z having gone away for several years in the 1990s. I got a chance to take a quick spin in the all-new sedan recently and came away fairly impressed, but does it really deserve the sports car nomenclature? Read on to find out.

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