2021

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2021 Volvo XC90: Safe, handsome, EV oddity

Volvo makes cars that encompass the compelling characteristics of Scandinavian design — simplicity, minimalism and functionality. The 2021 Volvo XC90 Recharge T8 Inscription oozes with automotive modernism. A three-row, midsized luxury SUV offered for two decades, the XC90 is available in T5, T6 or Recharge (T8) options. The powertrains are mated to trim levels with marketing wizards’ think session wordplay. Momentum (called Inscription Expression for the Recharge powertrain), R-Design and Inscription. The 2021 offerings are largely carryovers from last year, with a few keen changes, for the second edition that debuted in 2016. The T8 plug-in hybrid model is now known as Recharge. The standard features list throughout the lineup is further extensive. Every Volvo model now had front parking

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2021 BMW M3 Competition: worthy showoff, fat wallet needed

A guy in a gas station parking lot with a stern look that quickly turned to a big smile asked if we could switch cars. Another onlooker boasted he had the best BMW ever made but that mine looked pretty good. Unsolicited commenters hated the matted exterior color and split “kidney grilles.” Other onlookers couldn’t offer superlatives fast enough. Key Takeaways Sixth-generation M3 debuts with 503 hp and 479 lb-ft: A turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six paired with an eight-speed automatic and rear-wheel drive delivers a 3.5-second 0-60 mph run. Price escalates from $73,795 base to $104,245 as-tested: Carbon ceramic brakes alone add $8,150, with the M Carbon Exterior Package another $4,700 and the M Driver’s top-speed increase $2,500. Polarizing design draws

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2021 Toyota RAV4 expands SUV lead with EV boost

For several years, the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V have paced the keen competition at the front of the small, versatile sport utility vehicle pack. Toyota has further expanded its current lead with the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE. A plug-in hybrid option of the standard five-passenger, the Toyota RAV4 Prime is a small SUV offered in SE and XSE trims. Its 4-cylinder engine combines with a more powerful lithium-ion battery pack and three motors to produce 302 horsepower. Key Takeaways 302-hp plug-in hybrid is the quickest RAV4 ever: The Prime pairs a 2.5-liter four with three motors and a larger lithium-ion battery to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds. 42-mile all-electric range is genuinely usable: Too many

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2021 Honda Accord Hybrid: The best gets better

In its sixth decade, the Honda Accord is part of a small fraternity of vehicles that changed the automotive industry. Unveiled in 1976, the Accord was joined by the Toyota Camry six years later. The vehicles’ rivalry has continued since, with the carmakers’ healthy competition a constant in the always-in-flux family sedan segment. Key Takeaways Six decades of evolution pay off: The 2021 Accord Hybrid continues Honda’s rivalry with Toyota Camry, now in its 10th generation with refreshed styling and a sport sedan personality. 212-hp hybrid system erases stodgy reputation: The combined four-cylinder gas engine and electric motor deliver adequate power while achieving an estimated 43 mpg combined. Manual transmission is gone: Honda joined the growing manufacturer trend of eliminating

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2021 Hyundai Venue seeks home in crowded SUV family

Now in its second model year, the Hyundai Venue is the smallest sport utility vehicle and seventh sport or adventure offering in the company’s stable. It fills a niche the South Korean manufacturer has deemed important. But it’s hard to fathom. Since the carmaker already offers the Ioniq, Kona, Palisade, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe and Tucson, does it need the Venue? It’s marketed as a mini or sub-compact, entry-level SUV with a healthy chunk of features and superior gas mileage for its segment. It’s matched against more than dozen competitors, notably the Kia Soul, Mazda CX-30, MINI Cooper Countryman, Nissan Kick, Subaru Crosstrek and its Kona sibling. Hyundai‘s pedigree is constantly improving, but competition between two family members? Is it

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2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat reigns in SUV jungle

Being the biggest, baddest or fastest means a lot in the automotive industry. The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is the most powerful sport utility vehicle ever made. It has a few horsepower nod over the Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. What’s difficult to determine is why the designations are important. The SUV Hellcat is newly designed to join the other Hellcat sedan offerings. It’s aggressive-looking but not particularly handsome. But multiple badges (side views of an angered wildcat) vault it into a roadshow. The design derives from the name of the American Grumman F6F Hellcat, the main Navy fighter in the second half of World War II. A Hellcat also means “witch” or “a violently temperamental person.” If it’s an important

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2021 Cadillac Escalade: powerful, plush, pricey

A year after the Lincoln Navigator debuted, General Motors launched the Cadillac Escalade, the luxury brand’s first sport utility vehicle. It was 1998 and a quick rivalry began between the makers of gas-guzzling apartments on wheels. The behemoth auto segment has since expanded. A half-dozen others are in the mix, the GMC Yukon to the Chevrolet Suburban, the Toyota Sequoia to the Nissan Armada. Powerful and optimally comfortable, road giants largely get left alone. The new Escalade is 17 feet, 6 inches long, 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches wide and 6 feet, 4 inches tall. It weighs nearly 6,000 pounds. Some Escalades seat eight passengers; second-row captain’s chairs cut the capacity to seven in other models. Big and bad, there’s

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2021 Kia K5 outdoes outgoing Kia Optima

Just about the time the Kia Optima may have been absorbed into the public’s consciousness as a superior midsize sedan, it’s gone. It’s now the Kia K5. With 2021 models, the former Optima simultaneously arrived as a new generation with a new name. The Korean carmaker is trying to bring conformity to its cars’ names. The lineup has the K letter designation in international markets and now it also does in the U.S. The name is more robot-sounding than Optima, a stylized version of Optimum. But the newly named and newly designed sedan is far removed from the stiffness of many midsize sedans enduring their lives in rental car fleets. Instead, the Kia K5 offers more of what the Optima

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2021 BMW 530e masters driving tasks

The Grapeville technically extends on Interstate 5 only from Fort Tejon five miles north to the bottom of a six percent and 1,600-foot ascent. More realistically, the challenging driving stretch covers 40 miles from just north of Castaic over the Tehachapi Mountains from northern Los Angeles County to the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County. It’s an ideal location to test drive a car, notably a recent 850-mile trip in a 2021 BMW 530e. The south-to-north Grapevine route seems more arduous than the north-to-south route. Eighteen-wheel trucks often form long, tightly packed convoys in the right two lanes. Speed limit followers travel in the third lane from the right. Drivers for whom rules don’t apply often opt for the far

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Consumer Reports: 2021 Jeep, Honda only recommended trucks

Pickup trucks continue to dominate sales in the United States. But the volume doesn’t impress Consumer Reports. Among the 17 pickup trucks tested by the leading consumer organization, only the Honda Ridgeline and the Jeep Gladiator were recommended. The Ridgeline achieved a score of 65, the highest mark among all trucks tested. Consumer Reports conducts about 50 different tests on the vehicles it evaluates. It evaluates braking to handling, comfort to safety and as fuel economy. Predicted reliability, owner satisfaction, safety technology and crash test results are also factored into overall results. Consumer Reports slams most pickup trucks The Gladiator and Ridgeline are both mid-sized trucks. No full-sized truck were recommended. The Ridgeline scored average or better in every category.

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2021 Mercedes-AMG GLB 35: Fills niche, who knew?

Mercedes-Benz doesn’t make it easy for luxury crossover and sport utility vehicle buyers. It’s not because the German automaker doesn’t offer quality vehicles. It does. But where does a shopper start with three levels of offerings, including the brand’s AMG and Maybach relationships. The 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLB 35, is a small entry-level luxury sport utility vehicle, and it’s a worthy choice. For drivers with a penchant for sportiness in their SUVs, the AMG GLB 35 is optimal. It expands on its GLB 250 siblings’ 2-liter, 221-horsepower, 4-cylinder engine. It’s matched with an eight-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel drive or 4Matic, the all-wheel-drive option. 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLB 35: Sensitive sensors Seating for five is standard in two rows. An optional third

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#175, 2021 LA Auto Show virtual media preview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:42 — 64.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | More After a postponement and cancellation because of the COVID-19 pandemic, LA AutoMobility and the LA Auto Show will be back later this year at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Collectively, the automotive industry can’t wait. Plenty of other auto shows didn’t occur last year and won’t until later this year. But organizers of the Los Angeles show, the first major industry event of the season, decided to offer a glimpse into the future. A virtual media gathering with representatives from many carmakers was recently held, and The Weekly Driver Podcast was part of it. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia listened to several

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2021 Kia Niro PHEV: worthy but not royalty

Unveiled by the South Korean manufacturer five years ago, the Kia Niro debuted in the United States in 2018. The five-door subcompact joins the list of unheralded vehicles offered as gas-powered crossovers, hybrid plug-in electric vehicles (PHEV) and electric-only options. Many of the little SUVs seem much the same. The 2021 Niro has the identical platform as close automotive relatives, the Kia Seltos and Hyundai Ioniq. (Hyundai owns about one-third of Kia.) The Niro revisits last year’s model with a few updates. The front grille has a new diamond shape. The headlamps are also new and the wheels have been redesigned. What remains from previous models is the best of what PHEVs offer. For newbie buyers, range anxiety isn’t an

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2021 Aston Martin Vantage: stunning, fast, flawed

There’s no way around it. Something’s not right with the 2021 Aston Martin Vantage. And what would James Bond have to say about it? Sean Connery as Agent 007 was often portrayed escaping from criminals and saving the world while driving an Aston Martin. But how could anything but perfection be the vehicle of choice for the epitome of espionage elegance? Bond film aficionados know the secret agent often drove an Aston Martin DB5 in films, although the tuxedo-wearing purveyor of cool drove other models, including the Vantage. 2021 Aston Martin Vantage: Pricey Options As awkward as it may read, the Vantage is the British carmaker’s entry-level vehicle with a top-line price of about $200,000. The MSRP is $147,000 and

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2021 Mercedes-AMG, Maybach SUVs boast opulence

How far will manufacturers extend their obsessions with sport utility vehicles to possibly find an untapped market niche? Mercedes seems to know its plans. With its various higher luxury brand relationships, the German-American stalwart is all in. Who knew the combination of upscale, utility and performance was a thing? And who knew any manufacturer offering more than one $100,000-plus SUV was necessary? Mercedes-Benz offers eight 2021 models SUVs. The high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, AMG, has a fleet of SUVs, including the GLE 63. And now Maybach, the ultra-luxurious subsidiary of Mercedes, is back. Its ostentatious new beast is the 2021 GLS 600. Except for the new Maybach, the AMG GLE 63 is about as far removed from the SUV stereotype

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2021 Rolls-Royce: behold the new Ghost of the present

The 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost was parked in front of Roxie Deli in Sacramento. It’s old-school, defined by robust sandwiches, barbecue, brisket, homemade sides and an intoxicating aroma permeating the immediate neighborhood. A teenage boy who witnessed a friend and me exit the opulent luxury sedan approached us in line at lunch. He looked at my colleague and said: “Excuse me, sir. What kind of job do I need to get to afford a car like that?” A few hours later while waiting in the Ghost at a stoplight two men in the battered vehicle to my right caught my attention. Before the light changed, they uncorked a jubilant dance of synchronized hand signs and body gestures. I didn’t know what

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