reviews

Squirrelling Away In Motown With British Royalty As far as unexpected encounters with wild animals go, squirrels don't normally rate. The furry little nut-smugglers are omnipresent fixtures in my neck of the woods – literally – so a chance meeting doesn't warrant caution the way a ...

Chevy's More Manageable Micro Machine Minicars have yet to really catch on in the US, and while the reason for that is probably at least partially because of our addiction to big crossovers and SUVs, we have a feeling that some of the indifference toward these tiny cars is the lack of functional ...

Secretary Trim, Evolved There was a time not so long ago when opting for a base Ford Mustang meant getting little more than some sheetmetal, an anemic four-cylinder engine and what may very well have been the world's most disappointing automatic transmission. During the Fox Body years, Ford ...

Refreshed, Not Refreshing I'm probably ill-suited to accurately and fairly take the full measure of a vehicle like the 2013 GMC Acadia Denali. This is a machine conjured around the express notion of corralling and then herding a brood of rafter-swinging hatchlings to and fro in relative comfort, ...

GT Stands For "Generous Trunk" If ever there were an award for the most bastardized label in the automotive world, the Gran Turismo/Grand Touring/GT moniker would be an easy frontrunner. Once reserved solely for sporty coupes, the GT letters have taken a big hit over the years, but things got ...

BMW's Best 1 Series Gives Back What You Put In Every once in a while, I find myself, despite my solitary leanings and inherent modesty, working out in some kind of class setting. The tone and tenor of these classes ranges wildly – from the quiet, follow-the-leader variety, to those with a ...

Diet Abarth Try as I might, I just can't bring myself to stick to a routine of drinking diet soda. Nevermind the fact that I'm trying to cut soda out of my life altogether – every now and then, I just want the high-octane stuff, and diet simply won't do. If I'm already going to subject ...

Reincarnated With A Smaller And Less Passionate Soul Mention the name "Allroad" to most automotive enthusiasts, and it's likely to conjure up images of the Audi A6 Allroad Quattro, first introduced in 1999. That car-like alternative to a sport utility vehicle was based on the German automaker's ...

Power Doesn't Come Cheap When Subaru first offered a turbocharged Forester XT model to US customers for the 2004 model year, the shoe-shaped second-gen model fell into a ready-made competitive set of small, V6-powered crossovers and SUVs. The XT might have been more of a raucous shopping-trip ...

No Prius Killer As much as we enthusiasts like to rail on the lowly Toyota Prius as the harbinger of death for all we hold dear, there's no denying the machine's absolute and interminable grip on the hybrid market in the United States. Toyota has so thoroughly sunk its teeth into the segment ...

Enjoying The Romance, Not Yet Convinced About A Commitment I imagine spending time with a sexy sports coupe is similar to a first date with a supermodel. Before she arrives, there's a buildup of excitement mixed with nervous anticipation. Even though the background work is done, there are many ...

Location, Location, Location Back in February, Mini invited me to come try out its brand-new Paceman coupe-crossover-hatchback thing in Puerto Rico, and not long after, I spit out a Quick Spin detailing my impressions of the little-big two-door. But here's what I didn't tell you: Mini also let ...

Revisiting The Runabout Of Record The current Honda Fit has been around the block a few times. The subcompact hatch has soldiered on without significant revision since its first update for US customers in 2009, and while Honda is on the verge of launching a third generation, we thought we'd take ...

A Tasty Bit Of Old School For The New School Against the backdrop of fervent hand-wringing from brand purists, BMW is on the cusp of finally offering front-wheel-drive vehicles. While that's a shock to the constitution, many are pointing to the company's fine-handling Mini offerings as an ...

Gary Approved There's a guy that goes to my gym who can't get enough of the Lexus LS – let's call him Gary. Gary's the guy – you've probably got one at your gym, or coffee shop, or some other public but quasi-social location – who talks to everyone he meets. Sit next to him on ...

The Crossover For The Kardashians Of 1895 My wife and I are holdouts among our friends and family in the offspring department. Our heir-free lifestyle, however, affords us the opportunity to travel this great land, and road trips are our favorite. So while I'm unqualified to remark on how well ...

A Nicer View Than Ever Of Middle Of The Road

Legendary, Iconic... And Improved? It is an undeniable reality that there are only so many adjectives to choose from when describing a given vehicle. Here are two that tend to be both overused and misused perhaps more than any other: legendary and iconic. Forgive us for regaling you with these ...

Less Flower, More Power Pardon our political incorrectness for a moment, but the Volkswagen New Beetle was, undeniably, a "chick car." There was almost nothing that the New Beetle offered to enthusiasts (of either gender), and by the end of its run, VW had even stripped all of the exciting ...

An Unlikely Star in the Lexus Stable Think about Lexus for a second. Odds are your gray matter is busy regurgitating images of the company's middle-aged RX crossover or possibly the midsize ES sedan. As the volume movers for Toyota's luxury fleet, the two are the default ambassadors for ...