Driving the USA Pro Challenge, Day 5: Rock, row, top down

The drive from Salida to Colorado Springs, Colo., is only 100 miles. But the navigation system on my 2014 Lexus IS 350C detailed that it was a 2 1/2-hour drive. It didn’t make sense because the majority of the route to the start and finish of stage 4 of the USA Pro Challenge was on U.S 50 and then on state route 115. The reason it took so long is because the roads wind through the Rockies and along the Arkansas River. The roads weave past old towns, rafting rental equipment outfits, general stores and roadside cabins for rent. It

Read more

PREVIEW: 2015 Hyundai Tucson: More tech, new price

The 2015 Hyundai Tucson, which will feature an improve optional package, has a starting price of $21,500 is available now at dealerships nationwide. A Popular Equipment Package is now available on the 2015 Tucson GLS trim. It adds a rearview camera, 4.3-inch color touchscreen audio display, 8-way power driver seat with power lumbar support, leatherette seat bolsters with cloth insets and automatic headlight control for only $750. Tucson Limited models for 2015 now come with standard LED taillights. Hyundai added a choice of 2.0- and 2.4-liter GDI four-cylinder engines in 2014 and these options will also be available in 2015.

Read more

2014 Lexus IS 350C: Day 4 driving the USA Pro Challenge

The third stage of the USA Pro Challenge, my fourth day driving a 2014 Lexus IS 350C, took me from Mt. Crested Butte to Monarch, Colo. What a day for a drive. After a few-mile descent from Mt. Crest Butte (Elevation, 9,898 feet), Hwy. 135 South progressed through long stretches of rolling terrain. A canvas of large rock formations, broken down ranch buildings, and a bright blue ski dotted with pillow-like clouds took me 27 mile to Gunnison, the start of stage 3. The 96-mile stage, the race’s only mountaintop finish, began at 7,793 feet. From Gunnison, it was 50

Read more

2014 Lexus IS 350C: Day 3 driving the USA Pro Challenge

The navigation system in the 2014 Lexus IS 350C, my test vehicle during the USA Pro Challenge in Colorado, offered three options for driving from Aspen to Mt. Crested Butte during stage 2 of the weeklong pro bike race. The shortest route, about four hours, first took me about eight miles to Aspen, the start of stage 2 and the location of the finish of stage 1. Navigation system quality varies greatly, but the main priorities are intuitive, accurate directions, a crisp viewing screen, easy of getting instructions and prompt re-routing directions. Bike races often require closed roads in starting

Read more

2015 Hyundai Genesis: More car, less snob appeal

Would you prefer a well-known luxury car or saving thousands for a worthy but less-prestigious rival? The new, redesigned 2015 Hyundai Genesis is a fast, luxurious sedan designed to compete with foreign rivals (mainly German) that cost thousands more. This Genesis has slicker, more imposing styling. It’s highlighted by a new, very aggressive-looking hexagonal grille and dynamic rear design. The wheelbase is longer at 118.5 inches and there are shorter body overhangs than its predecessor. This big, imposing four-door is equipped with plenty of luxury and convenience equipment. It’s 196.5 inches long and weighs from 4,138 to 4,541 pounds. It’s

Read more

2014 Lexus IS 350C: Day 2, Driving the USA Pro Challenge

Retractable hardtop convertibles are the answer for car owners who like driving convertibles but who live in areas where ragtops can wear quickly or prove otherwise troublesome (like leaking or freezing) in inclement weather. The 2014 Lexus IS 350C hardtop convertible joined the increasing supply of retractable hardtops in 2010. The current 2014 edition is my vehicle for the weeklong USA Pro Challenge, a pro bike race from Aspen to Denver, Colorado. The mountain drive from Snowmass Resort to Aspen is only about 7.5 miles, but it was warm and sunny Monday morning, so after a nearly a five-hour ride

Read more

2014 Lexus IS 350C: Day 1 driving the USA Pro Challenge

, ,

The 2014 Lexus IS 350C, via the manufacturer’s description, is an entry level retractable hardtop offered by Toyota‘s upscale line. It’s hard to think of a $55,000 car as an entry level machine, but I’m not here to squabble. The two-seat V6, 306 horsepower automatic is The Weekly Driver’s test vehicle during the USA Pro Challenge, the weeklong professional bike race in Colorado. I’ve just finished a nearly five-hour stint in the car from the Denver International Airport to Snowmass Resort. The navigation system detailed a 203-mile route with a 3-hour, 38-minute journey involved. But my trek included a few

Read more

2014 Toyota Venza: Odd name, odd look, all good

Like reviewing a restaurant after only one visit, reviewing a car may be best after two test periods in the vehicle and at least separated by a few months. Welcome back to the 2014 Toyota Venza. Seven months after first driving the oddly named Venza solo for a week, I just completely another weekly test driving the Venza. This time, it was with a colleague. The Toyota Venza strikes many people in the same way. What is it? Just like I did, my colleague, who took the images for this review, had the same reaction. It’s neither a wagon nor

Read more

Concours d’Elegance embraces rare, expensive cars

After a week of event overdrive, Pebble Beach Automotive Week will conclude, as per tradition, with the 64th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It’s the Sunday finale to the yearly homage to automobile and motorcycle history. The full-day affair will begin at dawn when an estimated 225 vehicles, including eight featured car and motorcycle marques, begin to assemble on the 18th hole fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Judging begins at 9 a.m. and the Concours is open to spectators beginning at 10:30 a.m. The award presentation will begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 5 p.m. Each year, Concours d’Elegance

Read more

Rare Ruxton gets spotlight at Concours d’Elegance

Like other early automotive experiments, the Ruxton emerged via innovators and investors with big ideas and bigger egos. The marriages were creative, the cars extraordinary and failure quick. The short life of the exotic Ruxton, however, had more than its share of intrigue, resentment, failed financing and multiple layers of lawsuits. The result: the vehicle was named after New York stockbroker William Ruxton who was a friend of Archie Andrews, who owned the prototype. But the duo’s friendship ended when Ruxton, the project’s pending financier, scrapped the funding. He also sued Andrews to accentuate his lack of support for his

Read more

Concept cars have long history at Pebble Beach

Concept vehicles, sometimes with variant names like show cars, prototypes and dream cars, are made by manufacturers for two related reasons. Car enthusiasts thrive on viewing new cars, the more outrageous the better. Carmakers also rely on concept cars to gauge the public interest in a new vehicle. Can it potentially advance from the bright lights of auto shows to dealership showrooms to public driveways? General Motors designer Harley Earl is generally credited with inventing the first concept, the Buick Y-Job, in the late 1930s. Earl took his increasingly popular concept on the road in the 1950s in Motorama shows

Read more

Oldest Indy 500 car set to race at Monterey Historics

Forty years after it debuted as a gathering of old friends in old cars, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will again offer its yearly reverence to racing i n the Monterey Historics. This year’s edition, the fourth year with its new sanction and title sponsor, will likely feature the enduring event’s most diverse field. About 550 cars from nine countries and spanning 81 production years will participate April 14-17. Cars from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States are entered. Vehicles are accepted based on the car’s authenticity, race provenance and period correctness.

Read more

Jaguar global scoop: Project 7 spy photos

The much-touted F-Type Project 7, the fastest and most powerful car ever manufactured by Jaguar Land Rover, is debuting this week, but The Weekly Driver caught an early glimpse. One day before its launch during, we noted the 575-horsepower, supercharged five-liter V8 with a eight-speed automatic. It was the subject of test shoot along the Pacific Ocean in Pacific Grove. A film crew from Long Beach, California, and Great Britain equipped with a video drone, filmed the Project 7 on repeat loops on the curved back roads of the quaint town. The backdrop was ideal: blue skies, no wind and

Read more

Concours on the Avenue: rare cars, rare owners

Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar and Woodys, the classic surf cars, were featured among the rare cars  and unheralded automobiles Tuesday during the Concours on the Avenue on the streets of downtown Carmel. The first major showcase in the weeklong celebration of automobiles on the Monterey Peninsula progressed August 12 as it has throughout its now eight-year tenure. The crowd of humans and dogs was well behaved . . . perhaps only outdone by the enthusiasm of car owners. They polished their cars, revved their machines’ engines and eagerly talked about their prized possessions. Plenty of pristine Porsche 911 and 356s lined

Read more

Tony Stewart accident: Manslaughter or mistake?

The death of Kevin Ward, Jr., on Saturday night Aug. 9 at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York immediately brought further attention to the increasing tension involving the aggressive habits and tempers of drivers like Tony Stewart. Ward, 20, was fatally injured when he was struck by a sprint car driven by Stewart. The incident occurred after the cars of Stewart and Ward cars collided on the track. Ward spun out into the outer wall of the track, but within seconds he climbed out of his car and looked for Stewart’s car to express anger.  The race had continued

Read more

2014 Mazda MX-­5 Miata: Racy, fun, agile

Nobody ever seems to get tired of sports cars. The Mazda MX-5 Miata didn’t look exotic when it arrived for the 1990 model year. But it turned lots of heads because it was the first modern-looking small sports car in years, complete with retractable headlights. Once-popular affordable sports cars such as the dated British MG and Triumph were long gone. The Miata actually was a clever copy of the 1960s-1970s British Lotus Elan sports car. Both were a blast to drive. But, while the low-volume Elan was troublesome and known to few Americans, the heavily promoted, high-volume Japanese Miata was

Read more