quick spin

The standard Mini Countryman is a bit of an odd duck against the backdrop of 'normal' small crossovers like the Mazda CX-5 and the Ford Escape, but I sort of get it. Apply the same winning Mini formula to a CUV, and you get a smaller-than-average entry in the segment, one that is far more ...

There's a running joke among auto writers that the perfect car would be a diesel-powered, rear-drive wagon with manual transmission and no power accessories whatsoever. It would only be available in brown and would somehow be as fun to drive as a Mazda MX-5 Miata. Makes total sense, ...

If you're a frequent reader of car reviews (my money says you are), you've no doubt come across prose about how a car "checks all the right boxes." It's a common phrase – I'm guilty of using it myself. And I'm about to use it again. You see, I've just spent a week with the 2014 Audi A7 ...

Drivers are either droptop people or they're not. As most usually aren't – at least as far as the willingness to buy one is concerned – all convertibles tend to remain strictly niche cars. Thus, automakers must ask a noticeably higher price for them. The Audi S3 Cabriolet is about as ...

Automotive enthusiasts often wonder aloud – ourselves included – why General Motors would choose to keep GMC while sending Pontiac (and Saturn, and even Oldsmobile before it) into the great automotive graveyard in the sky. The answer, as is so often the case, is profit. It's much ...

Audi may only now be fully committing to the US compact car market with a range of A3 models, but it's got far more small car expertise than most Americans realize, and its offerings get even tinier, too. Back in 2010, Audi leapt into the subcompact premium fray – in all markets but the ...

I like the Land Rover LR4. A lot. My first experience with it was back in 2010, when I drove it on, over and around Colorado's San Juan mountain range. Since then, I've been hooked on the three-row British brute. I've always liked that, despite its leather lining, it has always come across as an ...

After their rented 2007 Hummer H3 failed them during the brutal Rallye Aicha des Gazelles in Morocco, Amy Lerner and her sister Tricia Reina were on a quest to find the most capable production off-roader for their next competition - they chose a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. Their next ...

I absolutely love to travel, but man, do I hate flying. Not the act of flying itself, but air travel in general – slogging through the airport, dealing with security, fighting with delays, only to finally be crammed like cattle into a too-small airplane seat where you're offered $8 ...

There's a coterie of six-figure professionals who have been waiting for this car, their dental office parking lots and showcase home driveways pining without end for the facelifted 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet. Mercedes lists the Cadillac CTS Coupe and Audi A5 among the competitive set in ...

In Europe, there are a number of strange powertrain combinations for each vehicle. A BMW 3 Series, which has a grand total of four engines in the US market (five if you count the ActiveHybrid), can be fitted with everything from the 3.0-liter, turbocharged six-cylinder we get here to a ...

When BMW switched its entry level 3 Series, the 328i, from a naturally aspirated, 3.0-liter six-cylinder to a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder, we weren't entirely sure what to think. Sure, from a pure numbers perspective, the new 2.0-liter cooked the old 3.0's goose, delivering more torque ...

The Toyota 4Runner has always held a special place in my heart for its boxy styling and off-road prowess, but until now, I never had the chance to drive its more luxurious cousin, the Lexus GX 460. Granted, the GX actually has more in common with the foreign-market Land Cruiser Prado, but all ...

A little more than a year ago, I drove an Audi A3 E-Tron prototype – an early concept electric vehicle built on the outgoing second-generation A3 platform. While I was impressed with the technology, its 3,800-pound weight, 10-second 0-60 time and 90-mile range will likely put it only ...

My younger brother bought a Dodge Dart earlier this summer. It's a basic SXT, in Maximum Steel Metallic, with the 2.0-liter engine, a six-speed automatic transmission and not a whole lot else. Unfortunately, at the time, the Dart was one of the few cars in the compact class I'd never driven. I ...

There will forever be a soft spot in my heart for the Jeep Wrangler. The last one I owned was red, and, as a 1990 model, had the square headlights derided by Jeep enthusiasts who grew up on the Civilian Jeeps that descended from their General Purpose military ancestors. As a teenager, I couldn't ...

Ferrari announced a panoramic roof option for its all-wheel drive FF at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, promising the new full-length glass panel would offer its well-heeled clientele "a genuine open-air driving feeling, while providing thermal and acoustic insulation." That statement was intriguing, ...

I've struggled with diesel technology. It's not that I have a problem with it or dislike it, but rather that I don't particularly understand what stops its wider-spread adoption. Sure, memories of rust-prone, smoky, sluggish and uneconomical Oldsmobile diesels aren't exactly easy to erase from ...

With a name like Earth Dreams, you'd be forgiven for assuming that Honda's new family of turbocharged VTEC engines is more about environmental credentials than performance. And to a large degree they are – particularly in 1.0- and 1.5-liter forms. But the 2.0 is another beast ...

The SEMA Show in Las Vegas is almost universally more show than go. The monster performance cars and unholy super-modified rides that line the show halls are undoubtedly impressive, but we journalists rarely have the chance to do much more than look at them while we're in town. So, it was a real ...