Archive for June, 2010
Review: 2011 Toyota Sienna
Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by admin.
My in-laws live in an Arkansas county that only received its first traffic light in the late 1990s. So it goes without saying that there’s no major airport nearby. Pay airfare for six then still need to rent a three-row vehicle and drive for a few hours? We simply drive the full 800 miles. Extend [...]
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Review: 2011 Ford Mustang GT500
Posted on 28. Jun, 2010 by admin.
If you read my Mustang GT introduction and Performance Pack on-track test articles, you know that I am an unabashed fan of the 2011 Mustang GT. On a road course, it is very probably the fastest normally-aspirated ponycar in history; it’s certainly the best-conceived, best-assembled, and most satisfying ponycar I’ve ever had the pleasure of [...]
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Review: 2010 Acura MDX
Posted on 23. Jun, 2010 by admin.
The MDX was the first luxury brand crossover to offer three rows of seating, and Acura was rewarded accordingly. For its tenth model year the second-generation MDX has received a refresh. But is there enough here to maintain Acura’s position in an increasingly crowded segment?
Much of the Acura MDX’s exterior remains the same with the [...]
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Review: 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe
Posted on 21. Jun, 2010 by admin.
What is luxury? In the American car market, that question doesn’t have an easy answer. Driver-focused performers like BMW’s 3-series sell well here, but so do feature-loaded versions of mass market sedans, like the Lexus ES. Blinged-out baroque still has its adherents, but as the Napa Valley hotel where the Cadillac CTS Coupe was launched [...]
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Review: Ford Fusion Hybrid 2010
Posted on 16. Jun, 2010 by admin.
A year ago, with gas prices high and the survival of the domestic auto companies never more in doubt, the media settled on the Ford Fusion Hybrid as the best evidence that Detroit deserved to survive. Roomy, reliable, economical, and fairly affordable, the FFH seemed to tick off all of the boxes. But what about [...]
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Review: 2011 VW Polo 1.2 TSI
Posted on 14. Jun, 2010 by admin.
Polo players don’t drive German superminis, in the same way Dustin Hoffman never pulled over near a Hollywood studio in a Chevy Celebrity. So, who does drive a Polo? The same people who drive a Golf – only ten years younger, with a bank account ten grand shorter. And until last year, these people have [...]
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Capsule Review: 1985 Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas
Posted on 11. Jun, 2010 by admin.
I could bore you all with the long story of how I ended up in the check-cashing business — it involved an attack with a broomstick and a coffee mug — but instead we will simply join the action in medias res some time in 1996. I am standing on the used-car lot outside Welsh [...]
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Review: 2010 Buick LaCrosse CXS HiPer Strut
Posted on 09. Jun, 2010 by admin.
Even more than the Cadillac SRX reviewed last week, the 2010 Buick LaCrosse reflects Bob Lutz’s influence at GM. Soon after assuming responsibility for the corporation’s new product development in 2001, Lutz deemed the styling of the original Buick LaCrosse, recently approved for production, unfit for sale. The car was sent back to the designers [...]
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Review: 2010 Porsche Cayman S PDK
Posted on 07. Jun, 2010 by admin.
300 plus horsepower, mid-engine sportscars are a rare breed. It stands to reason then, that they should be reviewed by someone who can put them into their rarefied context. The kind of reviewer who can tell you the subtle handling differences between each generation of the 911, and whose keyboard is stained with the oil [...]
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Capsule Review: 1996 Ford Thunderbird and the Gigolo Skills
Posted on 07. Jun, 2010 by admin.
So where were we? Oh yes. After wandering the earth (and working in a call center) for the first few months of 1995, I ended up at a very small Ford dealership located in the heart of Columbus, Ohio. On my first day, I was paired with another fellow who was also starting out at [...]
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