Built Borrowed Tough: Neighbor’s Ford F-250 XL

When it comes to pickups, brand loyalties can be intense.
There are Ford guys and Chevy guys, Toyota guys and Dodge guys. Even the occasional Nissan guy or International-Harvester guy.
I’m a borrowed guy.
I’ve never owned a pickup of my own, but I’ve never had a problem finding one when I needed one. When I lived near his home, I just borrowed my dad’s truck.
Now that I live several hours away, I turned to a neighbor recently when I needed to haul away the debris from a remodeling project.
I think I found the perfect truck.

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Review: 2010 Toyota Sienna

For most people, myself included, purchasing a minivan equates to throwing in a towel into your game of life.  The minivan has taken up the stigma of station wagons from decades past and it may be the vehicle most responsible for influencing the SUV trend, which gives young parents hopes of freedom they have once known.

For 2010 Toyota strives to change this unfavorable image with the all-new Sienna. It is marketed it with a comedic rap song performed by suburban parents who are clearly living the dream, in hopes that Generation-X will relate and accept the Swagger-Wagon as the family vehicle to have. … Continue Reading

Three Roadsters Not for Every Budget

Looking for a two-passenger sporty convertible? Perhaps something to compliment your Range Rover? Here are three best suggestions ranging in price from a lot to a lot more, surly one will appeal to you senses. … Continue Reading

Review: 2010 GMC Terrain SLT2

The once mighty General Motors is trying to reinvent itself after a near-collapse. Part of their revival approach is to produce bread & butter cars which sell in large volumes such as pickup trucks, sedans and smaller cross-over utility vehicles which have become modern day stationwagons. I have recently spent a weekend with one of those cross-overs, a mildly equipped GMC Terrain. … Continue Reading

2010 Lexus HS250h – Why It Makes Sense To Some

Forget anything you think you know about this car. Forget that it is a hybrid, forget the fact that is made by the same company which brought us the Prius. Forget for a second about the fact that you think you know anything about cars. They say ignorance is bliss and in this case you want to know less. … Continue Reading

2010 BMW 328i – An Inside Look

Until now my, exposure to the E90 chassis was rather limited; a quick drive in a friend’s 335i and a stint at the BMW Performance Driving School in an M3. Recently, however, I got to spend a weekend with a brand new 328i and I must say that it really frustrated me. It was the kind of maddening frustration that many teachers and few employers have expressed about me; I knew it could be so much more if it just tried a little harder, if it just paid attention to details and did not take the easy way out. … Continue Reading

2010 Honda Accord Crosstour – Q&A

I was not sure what to make of the Honda  Accord Crosstour when it was first introduced and judging by its facebook reveal neither did many other people. Having spent a long weekend with one, I finally understand it and I am able to answer some questions.

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Quick Drive: 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder

Despite almost buying a ’99 Boxster, I was never a big fan of the model. I never loved the original’s 996-based looks and its stigma of being a Porsche for people who could not afford a 911 always bothered me.  It grew on me when the first generation Boxster S came out in 2000, but performance-for-dollar it still could not compete with the Honda S2000, a roadster I have always been in love with.

However, everything I thought I knew about the Boxster went out the window when I got to drive a 2011 Boxster Spyder. This is definitely not a cheaper version of the 911, nor is it cheap. Over the years the Boxster has grown up and looks to have firmly established its own identity; confident and mature too. … Continue Reading

Mercedes SLS AMG review – Beauty in Function

Imagine meeting a famous actress, one who is so unbelievably hot that you sat through her crappy movies just because she is in them. For the sake of visualization let’s pick that actress to be Megan Fox. Now imagine having the opportunity to meet Megan and right away realizing that she is much hotter in real life than she is in pictures.

You compose yourself, keep your cool, and before you know it you’re making small talk. Very small talk, because next thing you know the talk is over and you find yourself gettin’ it on with Megan. At this point it doesn’t matter if you’re a man, woman, gay, straight or other; you are with Megan Fox, and let’s be honest here, no sane human on earth will refuse her. Wham, bam, just like that it’s over. Things get a little cloudy until you find yourself sitting at a bar, smoking a cigarette. Finally calm, you are trying to sort out exactly what the hell has just happened. And that is pretty much how I felt after a quick drive of the Mercedes SLS AMG. … Continue Reading

Review: 2010 Lincoln MKZ

Recently Ford Fusion has undergone a refresh and has since received a ton of accolades. I have not driven either the first or the second generation Fusion, but after Motor Trend named the Fusion its “Car of the Year”, my interests were piqued. The Lincoln MKZ is based on the Ford Fusion but is fancied up with leather this and electric that, so it could only be better, right? … Continue Reading

Review: 2010 Chevy Camaro RS 2LT

It was finally 4am on a Saturday morning. I have been waiting for this moment for a while: first, I was heading to New Jersey to bid farewell to my best friend who was moving to Atlanta. Second, I have really been looking to driving a sporty car with a proper manual transmission; something I have not done in quite a while. You see, lately I have been submerged in the world of cross-overs, SUVs, premium sedans and economy cars, all vehicles where the manual transmissions have become almost extinct.

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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 the bad press Toyota has received lately, the Venza just maybe the shining star amongst otherwise gray appliances we have come to expect from Toyota. … Continue Reading

Sunny-Side Up Niçoise Salad

A good recipe combines easy to obtain ingredients in unusual fashion, plays up the strengths of individual contributions, and results in something greater than a mere sum of its parts.  Sweet and sour, soft and crunchy, hot and cold; each flavor, texture, and temperature should play a role of contrasting, balancing, or enhancing the overall result. What follows, hopefully, is a good step-by-step recipe for a memorable rendezvous. … Continue Reading

Review: Dyson DC31 Vacuum Cleaner

Until now, if you wanted to properly vacuum your car you had two choices: go to a car wash and pay $0.50 per minute and hope that the vacuum you have chosen actually works (it’s a real crap shoot) or you bought your own shop vac, which was the size of a Saint Bernard and is as portable. Sure, there are small the cigarette lighter powered vacuum cleaners, but usually they are not worth the box they come in. … 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