Automotive News, Car Reviews, and Podcast
NHTSA denied a petition over Acura SH-AWD spline failures in 2021-2023 TLX and 2022-2023 MDX. It confirmed the failure, and the dash that keeps hiding it.
Read moreJesse Colin Young wrote the song “Ridgetop” 50 years ago. It’s a love story about nature and his home in Marin County located down a road with a steep hill and marked with granite, ruts, pine needles and chert. To celebrate the milestone, Ford should hire the co-founder of the 1960s rock band The Youngbloods as a spokesperson or at least use his music in commercials. Key Takeaways Test vehicle: the 2022 Ford Bronco Everglades, a four-door with the Sasquatch package, front and rear locking differentials and 35-inch mud-terrain tires. Engine: a 2.3-liter, 300-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder with a 10-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. 18 mpg city, 17 highway for the Everglades trim. Just under $55,000 MSRP. Off-road kit: an
Read moreFor car buyers not interested in value, practicality, economy or environmental concerns, consider the 2022 Mercedes-Maybach S580. It’s an ultra-luxury sedan purchased because the buyer can. It’s plush and modern and pretentious. It has champagne flutes and an energizing warning notification that results in soft music and a multi-position driver’s massage. Available in the S580 and S680 trims, the former and reviewed model features a twin-turbocharged V8 with 496 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. The S680 is equipped with a twin-turbo V12 with 621 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque. Both versions are all-wheel-drive and are propelled by a nine-speed automatic transmission. Gas mileage averages are 15 miles per gallon in city driving, 24 mpg on the highway. Acceleration
Read moreNew for 2022, the Lexus LX 600 replaces its lackluster LX 570 stablemate and beams anew as the manufacturer’s latest, biggest and most luxurious sport utility vehicle. Debuting the vehicle’s fourth generation, The LX 600 is equipped with a 3.4-liter, turbocharged V6 with 409 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque. It’s an impressive leap. Last year’s V8 with 382 horsepower. The new Lexus advances on a new chassis the carmakers said is 20 percent more rigid and with lower overall weight. The combination substantially changes the SUV‘s dynamics. It hasn’t transitioned into a sports car, but it is more sporty. Key Takeaways Test vehicle: the 2022 Lexus LX 600 F Sport Handling, with a 3.4-liter turbocharged V6 (409 horsepower, 479
Read moreVolvo may hold an unofficial title. It’s the manufacturer with the most improved vehicles, appearance to performance, including the 2022 XC90. Once boxy, plain slow and staid, Volvo remains unheralded in the United States. But its market share in 2021 was 4.2 percent, its best since the manufacturer began selling cars in the U.S. in 1959. Sales increased by 12.6 percent from 2020 to 2021. The major reasons include the carmaker’s complete transition. Its fleet, paced by the XC90 sport utility vehicle, is upscale, inside and outside. Top-level materials, a smooth, handsome design and continued top safety ranking pushed Volvo to three straight years of U.S. sales of more than 100,000 vehicles. Prior to 2019, Volvo hadn’t reached six-figure sales
Read moreSelecting the cars of the year helps celebrate another year reviewing new cars and trucks, visiting auto shows and talking with vintage car owners, book authors and industry experts about their cars of the year. There are always great and not-so-great moments driving vehicles. The industry is always abuzz. There are always changes, oddball statistics, recalls and new models and makes. What has Elon Musk done now? Will autonomous driving and EVs ever make a significant difference? Will low-profile tires stop blowing while negotiating small divots in the road? Will Audi ever change its front-grille design? As much as the automotive industry changes, sometimes not much happens. In 2007, the year the iPhone debuted, the starting price of the Toyota
Read moreThe 2022 Lexus LC 500h, now in its seventh year, provides a superior example of one vehicle with complementary multiple personalities. The mesh of traits results in a car greater than its individual strengths combined. A hybrid-electric coupe, the LC 500h features two electric motors with a 3.5-liter V6 producing 354 horsepower and a manufacturer-estimated 4.7-second effort from 0 to 60 miles per hour. It’s propelled with a 10-speed automatic transmission. The top speed is 155 miles per hour. Key Takeaways Powertrain: a 3.5-liter V6 with two electric motors, 354 horsepower and a 10-speed automatic. 0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds, a manufacturer estimate, with a top speed of 155 mph. 26 mpg city and 34 highway. MSRP just under $100,000,
Read moreThe recently concluded 2022 LA Auto Show featured its annual array of new cars with new colors and plenty of innovation as the industry moves toward all-electric mandates. As always, there were automotive surprises: some good, others awful. A smaller show welcomed the media and the public for 10 days at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The absence of recent mainstays, Rivian and Tesla, as examples, was part of the show’s smaller stature. Manufacturers had more room to display their new editions. Subaru presented its usual lineup of utilitarian, all-wheel-drive sedans and SUVs. And the manufacturer, which markets its vehicles for owners who have dogs, again created a national park-type setting with a few dogs on site to attract potential
Read morePodcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:49 — 43.7MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreCharge Cars was founded in 2016 and its first project is now available. Without the manufacturer mentioned, the London-based company has for order 499 of its bespoke “The ’67 By Charge Car.” Created individually and built like the original Ford Mustang but electric and built from the “ground up,” the ’67 is on display during the LA Auto Show. Bill Morse, a marketing spokesperson for the London-based company is the first of my three guests during the opening day of the 2022 LA Auto Show. While co-host Bruce Aldrich remained in Sacramento to produce the episode, I traveled to Southern California for the first
Read moreIntroduced 19 months ago as a 2022 model, the Kia EV6 is the South Korean manufacturer’s debut as it transitions from internal combustion engines to battery-electric vehicles. The launch has been an unqualified success. The spacious five-passenger utility vehicle also further blurs the definition of car segments. The EV6, part of Kia‘s EV1 through EV9 lineup plans, is simultaneously a station wagon, hatchback and crossover utility vehicle. Kia marketed the EV6 toward first-time electric vehicle buyers. Available in Light, Wind and GT-Line trims, the EV6 starts with a base price of $40,990 and continues to $51,200. It also further erases KIA’s formerly maligned quality. It’s now a fast climber in overall brand rankings, including from J.D. Power, the respected Michigan-based
Read moreThe Los Angeles Auto Show has lots of bright lights and bling, concept cars and customized cruisers from yesteryear. It’s the annual first major industry showcase uniquely held at the end of the calendar year. Global debuts of the newest Aston Martin, Hummer and Porsche are fine. Concept cars are great, although many may never be made for consumers. The latest electric vehicle innovation are the industry’s future. But much was made of the Bollinger, Byton, Canoo and Elio and none have been manufactured. The 115th Los Angeles Auto Show will be held Nov. 18-26 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Charge Cars, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, ElectraMeccanica, Fiat, Genesis, GMC, Hummer, Hyundai, INDI EV, Jaguar, Kia,
Read moreConsumers purchase vehicles for nearly as many reasons and varieties of cars and trucks. Budget, fuel economy, brand preference, dependability and an intangible like status are priorities. The 2022 AMG EQS has qualities from several categories, it’s also a vehicle purchased simply because a buyer who doesn’t need justification wants it. Introduced about a year ago, the full-size luxury sedan is the first electric offered by the AMG line, the separate but connected, performance-oriented lineup of vehicles affiliated with Mercedes. It’s not marketed so directly, but it’s the German manufacturer’s response to Tesla. It has many features also available in the Tesla lineup, but it’s offered by a nearly 100-year-old carmaker and without the controversy of the polarizing e-machines introduced
Read moreSubaru first capitalized on the usefulness of its symmetrical all-wheel-drive system a few decades ago. In a television commercial, the men’s Olympic ski teams from Italy and France were featured pushing their team cars stuck in the snow. The U.S. team men’s drives through the drifts in a wagon with ease and without stopping. The Subaru then passes the Swedish women’s team, also stuck. In about a second, the Subaru driver stops, backs up the car and the women’s team gets in. A man in a passenger seat wearing a cowboy hat says, “Howdy, ma’am!” Key Takeaways Wilderness trim: turbocharged 2.4-liter engine with 260 horsepower and 9.5 inches of ground clearance. $36,995 as priced with no package options; $38,120 with
Read moreSeven years ago, Mercedes-Benz changed the name of its mid-size sport utility vehicles from M-Class to GLE. It aligned the vehicles with the badges of the manufacturer’s most closely related sedans. The SUVs are offered in five trims, including the AMG GLE 53, and they remain among the carmaker’s most versatile luxury wheels. With the AMG GLE 63, the two siblings feature the subsidiary’s suite of high-performance engines and superior interior accouterments that can elevate the offerings to six-figure vehicles. Key Takeaways Test car: 2022 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE 53 with a turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder, 429 horsepower and a nine-speed automatic. $73,550 MSRP and $101,080 with options. 0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds. 18 mpg city, 22 highway. Technology: twin 12.3-inch infotainment
Read moreBuying car insurance may be the least enjoyable component of automobile ownership. It’s a huge industry ripe with misinformation, high-profit margins and small print. CarInsurance.com, self-defined as “a one-stop online destination for car insurance information,” does its part to give consumers the basics and the details. Owned and operated by QuinStreet, Inc., a “pioneer in delivering online marketplace solutions to match searchers with brands in digital media” the website offers a good launching point for those seeking car insurance. It recently published a list of the cheapest and most expensive 2022 vehicles to insure. The site’s editors looked at the insurance rates for more than 3,000 vehicles to determine how much policyholders pay. Laura Longero, executive editor for CarInsurance.com, is
Read moreLand Rover decided 2022 was the ideal time to introduce the most expensive vehicle in the multi-national manufacturer’s nearly 75-year history. It’s called the Range Rover SV LWB. The rig is powerful. It features a 4.4-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 with 523 horsepower and a top speed of 155 miles per hour. Its vastness and power also result in impressive versatility. The Range Rover has an 8,000-pound towing capacity and it can also accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in five seconds. Key Takeaways Test car: the 2022 Range Rover SV LWB, with a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 producing 523 horsepower and a top speed of 155 miles per hour. $208,800 MSRP and $255,590 with options. 0-60 mph in five seconds. 16 mpg
Read more