2013 Hyundai Santa Fe (Sport): New design, quiet ride

The Weekly Driver recently had an opportunity for an extended review, a nearly 2,000-mile, two-week trek in the newly designed, six-passenger 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe (Limited). This week, it’s back to standard procedure. My weekly driver was the 2013 Santa Fe Sport edition. It’s the smaller (in several ways) five-passenger edition in Hyundai’s restyled Santa Fe lineup. The larger Santa Fe replaced the poor-selling Veracruz. In addition to one less passenger and a smaller engine, the Sport is eight inches shorter than the Limited. But there are also interior and exterior similarities among the siblings, with the SUVs both offering

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2014 Lexus LX570: Comfort, style, luxury

Some folks just gotta have a big, roomy vehicle. The 2014 Lexus LX570 SUV is a big fella, with room for eight in a luxurious cabin and all-terrain mobility. It’s plenty rugged, being based on the durable, upscale, go-anywhere Toyota Land Cruiser. Car-based crossover vehicles are capturing much of the old traditional SUV market, but the big, handsome four-wheel-drive LX570 is a reminder that some folks want–or need–a big vehicle with lots of room. With this Lexus, they get 8-passenger seating and typical Lexus luxury. A large SUV such as the four-door LX570 lets occupants sit high, with good all-around

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Never mind Tesla, Prius, Elio. Buy the Flatula Backfire

Forget the Tesla. Forget the pending Elio. Don’t even consider a Toyota Prius. The most efficient, least expensive and environmentally ideal car is the new Flatula Backfire. The Flatula Backfire runs on natural gas, much like the Honda Civic CNG. But it runs on the natural gas its passengers provide. The manufacturers are marketing the car with catchy slogans that make a lot of sense. “It runs like the wind, but it is your wind,” is clever. But more cleaver is the closing line of the video make to debut the cat to the world: “It’s not just a SmartCar,

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Lexus signs on as USA Pro Challenge official vehicle

Automobile manufacturers have long been associated with bicycle racing sponsorship. The latest carmaker to join list is Lexus. The luxury brand has been named as the official vehicle of the USA Pro Challenge. The two-year arrangement with the fourth-year race will include several components. Through the Lexus Champion Giveaway, the brand will provide the overall race winner with a three-year lease for a CT 200h hybrid. Additionally, Lexus will be the presenting partner for the Sprint Jersey, which has been worn by some of the top sprinters in the world, including Cannondale’s Peter Sagan. The USA Pro Challenge, August 18-24,

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REVIEW: Maturity arrives for 2014 Kia Soul

Nearly a decade after the Honda Element debuted, the Kia Soul joined a few other brands in the car-in-a-box lineup in 2010. The niche group gained a lot of attention, good and bad, for their uniquely styled exteriors. But the 2014 Kia Soul is now maturely immersed in the auto scene. It’s no longer a novelty item, especially since gaining its first redesign. New this year is increased attention to the quality of the materials used in the interior as well as improved cargo space, now 61 cubic feet. The Kia Soul has always offered a hefty list of standard

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Review: Kia Soul 2013: funky, efficient car in a box

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When the Honda Element debuted in 2001 it generated immediate fans and detractors with its auto industry shocker — a box on wheels. But more than a decade later, with the influx of vehicles like the Scion xB, Nissan Cube and Kia Soul, the Element has morphed into the mainstream. The Soul, meanwhile, has assumed the front-runner’s perch in the car-in-a-box mold. The Soul debuted at the Paris Motor Show in 2008 and was unveiled in March 2009 to North America. Now in its fourth year, the Soul still gets a fair share of looks because is doesn’t look like

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2015 Toyota Yaris debuts as Euro-styled entry level sedan

The 2015 Toyota Yaris has debuted with a new European-themed design, several new additional interior and exterior features and a manufacturer’s suggested retail price range from $14,485 to $17,620. The price range extends from three-door L with a manual transmission ($14,485) to the five-door SE with a four-speed automatic ($17,620). Like like the previous-generations, the 2015 Toyota Yaris comes in 3-door and 5-door liftback configurations. It features an aggressive new look with a horizontal chrome grill treatment that appears to continue into the headlamp. The 1.5-liter, 16-valve, four-cylinder DOHC engine equipped with variable valve timing with intelligence (VVT-i) produces 106

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REVIEW: 2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport . . . prestige

Owners of the new 2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport sedan could compete with the fairly common Audi, BMW and Mercedes mid-size sedans owned by neighbors—although most would know little or nothing about the Vsport. Oops, there goes the “foreign prestige” factor for Vsport owners. Well, bunk. The $59,995 Vsport four-door (not to be confused with the Cadillac CTS-V) can match prestigious foreign rivals. It’s little known that, while Cadillac virtually dominated the American luxury car market by 1950, an independently entered stock 1950 Caddy finished tenth in the 24-hour race at Le Mans, France, competing against the world’s top sports cars.

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Cars of the Tour de France, old and new

Bugatti, Citroën, Peugeot and Renault are current major car automakers in France. And with the exception of Bugatti, the French highways and country roads are often crowded with offerings from the other three carmakers now all more than 100 years old. Skoda, the Czechoslovakian carmaker, is the official car supplier of the Tour de France. But other than official race vehicles, Skoda models are scarce in the country, although, of course, not as scarce as Bugatti models. In the early years of the Tour de France, cars traveling with riders were loaded down with spare parts, not only for cyclists’

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Ratan Tata: Profile Of India’s Tata Motors’ Chairman

Ratan Naval Tata is Chairman of the Tata Group, India’s largest conglomerate recently in the global automotive and global business spotlight for its debut of the world’s least expensive car its purchased of Lexus and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company.

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Mercury rising: Rachel Veitch and her 600,000-mile love affair with a ’64 Comet Caliente

The story of Rachel Veitch and her love affair with a 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente first received media attention in 2007. Nearly three years later, Veitch is still extending her three-level statistical marvel.

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BMW joins massive airbag recall list

More than 1.5 BMW 3 Series vehicles from 2000 to 2006 are being recalled to replace passenger-side front airbags, the luxury carmaker announced. The manufacturer said the recall is a “voluntary precautionary measure” aimed at minimizing the risk of faulty airbag activation. This issue is airbag supplied to BMW by Tokyo-based Takata Corporation. The airbag could rupture under certain circumstances, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. If the rupture occurs, shards could fly out and cause injury. Several other automakers since 2009, including Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota, have recalled 10 million vehicles affected by

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PREVIEW: 2015 Aston Martin, more power, more luxury

Aston Martin, the luxurious British sports car manufacturer  long associated with James Bond films, has unveiled the 2015 V12 Vantage S Roadster. The new sports car, available globally at dealerships later this year, will become the luxury British marque’s most potent, fastest and fastest-accelerating series production roadster. Equipped with the latest 565 horsepower Aston Martin AM28 6.0-liter V12 engine, featuring state-of-the-art Bosch engine management, the car is capable of reaching 201 mph and sprinting from rest to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. The car’s new car’s gearbox, the Sportshift™III ASM (auto-shift manual) transmission, is engineered to exploit the full sporting

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REVIEW: 2014 Porsche Cayman S lighter, faster

The new Porsche Cayman S edges even closer to the venerable Porsche 911. The first Porsche Cayman model blew me away when I drove it during a media preview through twisting mountain roads in northern Italy in late 2005. Now the lighter, faster third-generation Cayman is here as a redesigned 2014 model with features including sleeker styling, a longer wheelbase, classier interior and power gains. The new mid-engine, rear-drive Cayman looks significantly different than the Boxster and the last-generation Cayman. Precise lines and sculpted edges complement the lowered, lengthened profile. There’s a 2.4-inch longer wheelbase (97.4 inches) for greater high-speed

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REVIEW: 2015 Lexus NX has wild, fun new look

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The 2015 Lexus NX, the new entry level sport utility vehicle from the upscale division of Toyota, will debut in the United States in December in two versions. The NX stands for “Nimble Crossover.” It fits. The NX 200t has a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. The NX 300h hybrid will features a new transmission that splits the hybrid battery into two pods for better weight distribution. The result: a more efficient use of cabin space. Built on a Toyota RAV4 platform, the Lexus NX more resembles a sports car more than an SUV and both models of all-weather drive (AWD).

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Rare Corvair once deemed unsafe now collectors’ car

The Chevrolet Corvair has a unique status in automotive history. It was named car of the year. It was once defined as unsafe at any speed. And it was the first American-designed, mass-produced passenger car to feature a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. Produced in model years 1960 to 1969 and featuring an air-cooled rear-mounted flat-six engine, the Corvair was available in several trims including a two-door coupe, convertible, four-door sedan and four-door station wagon. The Corvair was also available as a passenger van, commercial van and a pickup truck. Tom Davenport of Sacramento, California, owns a 1964 Corvair convertible couple. He

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