Review: 2009 Toyota Venza

Toyota wants the Venza to be something smaller than a RAV4 but not quite a station wagon, as station wagons are disliked in the United States. Regardless of what its genre is called the Venza is a very functional something, available with two different engines and two driveline configurations, all wrapped in a pretty package. Despite all bad press Toyota has received lately, the Venza just maybe a shining star amongst otherwise gray appliances we have come to expect from Toyota in recent years. … Continue Reading

Quick Look: 2011 Nissan Leaf

Presenting, the future of motoring, the 2011 Nissan Leaf. The Leaf is what Nissan calls “the world’s first affordable, zero-emission car”. It is a small, 5-passenger, plug-in electric vehicle with a maximum range of 100 miles. The vehicle is designed with a commuter in mind; 70% of commuters travel less than 70 miles per day. Let’s take a closer look at it. … Continue Reading

2010 Lexus RX350 – quick spin

Thanksgiving* may be the perfect holiday – it happens to be the longest weekend, has no religious connections, you don’t have to give gifts.  All you have to do is eat and watch football – perfect indeed. Thanksgiving is also a damn good reason to meet up with people you haven’t seen in a while and of course check out their new cars!

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A family friend, Mark who happens to be an MD bought this new RX350 based on my recommendation; he was looking for a solid, reliable, quiet and comfortable ride which he’d keep for some time. Just about any car enthusiast will tell you that almost all Lexus and Toyota cars are dull and boring to drive. Personally, I think of them as quiet and comfortable and that’s just what the RX350 is. It is something you slip into at the end of a hard day and drive yourself home at a leisurely pace and relax, almost oblivious to the 20-mile back up in front of you; the enthusiast next to you in the Z350 with lightened flywheel and a set of coilovers does not get that same calming feeling, and he isn’t moving any faster either. … Continue Reading

Quick Look: 2010 Ford Taurus SHO

I was still in high school when the original Taurus SHO came out and I liked it a lot. When in 1992, Ford gave the Taurus a facelift and enlarged the engine to 3.2 liters I was in love. I remember there was a girl in my high school whose parents let her drive their red SHO, I don’t remember if I liked her because of her or because of the car she was driving. But I digress; the original Taurus was a badass no matter what anyone says, it took everything that the Maxima was suppose to be  (4DSC) and turned it up at a notch, at least in my sixteen year-old-eyes. Seriously, even if you don’t like Fords, and you think that everything front-wheel-drive should die, you have got to admit that the intake manifold on that thing was as sexy as on any Ferrari. Well, almost.

In 1996 the bubbly all-new Taurus was launched. It was an awful vehicle; I know because I rented one. Ford was saying the car had a ton of safety features and was the safest vehicle in its class, and that’s a good thing as it handled so poorly that sooner or later you were going to crash into something. How bad did the second generation Taurus handle? In my opinion it was down-right dangerous in street driving. It was also damn ugly and the interior was just awful. It was bad, really bad. Anyway, you know the rest of the story of the restyling, the launch of the Ford Fivehundred which was the Taurus replacement that no one bought for some reason (I actually liked its looks, but never drove one). … Continue Reading

Quick Look: 2010 Cadillac SRX

Like the CTS, the new SRX appears to be another well designed and well made vehicle from GM. While the first SRX was a little bit of a miss with its wagon-y looks and general class-lagging in all categories, the new 2010 seem to aim at a target well, but will it be a hit?

With the first generation of the SRX, Cadillac was admittedly looking at the BMW X3 as its main competitor, and that right there was part of the problem. While the X3 is a very popular small SUV (SAV, whatever you want to call them), that car itself is not that great; for starters it is not that pretty, and its suspension is set up for proper BMW handling which gives it a ride that is kind of rough. I would bet a lot of money that if the X3 had any other badge on it, it would not sell as well, especially at the price that BMW is selling it for.

For 2010, GM has given up at the “small sporty SUV Caddy” and has instead looked into making a “comfortable small SUV Caddy”, and that is a great thing! While the idea of a sporty SUV is good in theory, it hardly ever translates well, at the end of the day this is the vehicle that will haul kids and stuff, and not ass, so why not make it comfortable? That is what Cadillac designers thought too, setting the new SRX to go directly against the Lexus RX. Yes, I know what you are thinking now, the RX is a snooze but the answer is in the numbers. RX is a sales leader by a very wide margin and many of its buyers are repeat customers! Cadillac wants a piece of that pie, and with this new 2010 SRX it may get it! … Continue Reading

Quick Look: Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon

You hear all this stuff about GM going into and out of bankruptcy, closing down plants, Congressional hearings, and all that other business/lawyer mambo-jumbo. With all that going on, evidently everyone is missing the fact that GM, along with Ford, has recently introduced a number of really nice products. For a brief minute, let’s ignore all those politics and let’s just look at the damn cars!

To some, The CTS Sport Wagon maybe an answer to a question that no one asked, but is it really? After all, the market for such vehicle is very slim and historically cars such as the 2002-2005 Lexus IS300 SportCross have never really taken off. When asked about the predicted sales of the Sport Wagon, Cadillac representative gave a range of 5000-6000 and while that may not seem like a lot, there is a but. This sales figure is for the U.S. market only and the CTS is a global platform. In other parts of the world where smaller station wagons are preferred over bigger SUVs the Cadillac may do very well as it has a lot going for it. … Continue Reading

The Last Jaguar XJ

Today, an all-new Jaguar XJ was introduced, and you may want to head over to some other websites to check out all the details, press release and all fancy photos. However, here you will find something different, a look at one of the last of the X358 generation XJ’s in all its beauty. I was saving these pictures for future use, but since I am on the Jaguar theme here, why not continue it for little longer. … Continue Reading

Driving Jaguar’s new XFR, on the Road and on the Track

I have recently had the opportunity to drive the new Jaguar XFR on the road and on a race track. With the XFR competing directly against the BMW M5, which I have also had the opportunity to drive on the track and on the street, it only made sense to evaluate the XFR while using the M5 as a measuring stick. Due to the large amount of BMW content on this site, some may call me a BMW fanatic, but the truth is that so much of the automotive industry does in fact look to and follow the BMW concept. Below is a look at what makes the M5 unique and what Jaguar is trying to capture with the XFR, does it work? … Continue Reading

‘68-’72 Fiat 850 Sport Spider

At first glace I was not sure what it is; could have been anything, an obscure Frenchman or Briton living on an empty lot in Long Island. Admittedly, even upon closer look I still did not know what it was until I saw the badges. … Continue Reading

BMW X6 M – First Street Pictures and Ride

Some time ago I wrote about the new BMW X6-M that I had an opportunity to check out. What I was not allowed to do until now however, was show the pictures I have taken that day and write about the very brief ride I had in the vehicle. … Continue Reading

Experiencing The New Diesel-Powered BMWs.

While you may have already read a thing or two about BMW’s new compression ignition offerings, you may not have heard all the details, and you may have some questions. I sure did, and I did my best to answer them here. Get coffee, go read, see huge gallery. … Continue Reading

BMW Tool Kit: 1990 vs 2010

What you see here is twenty years of automotive revolution. … Continue Reading

2010 Subaru Legacy, sedan and Outback

I’m pretty sure that these are the first non-show, non-media pictures of Subaru’s new 2010 Legacy.  And just look at those pictures*… More details and hi-res when you click…

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BMW X6 M – Tech Review and Opinion

You’ve seen the BMW mini-site, you kind of know the details. Here is my quick take on the vehicle, having seen it in person. E30 M3 owners and other M-faithful, fasten your seat belts.

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Ownership Experience: 2005 Mazda RX-8

I have to admit, I had some pre-conceived notions about Mazda’s current rotary ship.  First there was the media-blitz about them not making the HP figures they were advertised with, then of course there is the big fat question mark of how you can classify this car? With technically 4-doors, is it really a  sports car or a sports sedan?  Perhaps it’s neither, but does it really matter what it is? It’s a Mazda RX-8. It’s fun, it’s quick, and it’s for the vehicularly-focused to fully appreciate, and live with it. … Continue Reading