quick spin

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 ...

Honda lifted the covers off its refreshed Civic Coupe at SEMA earlier this month, showing off its updated styling and redesigned 18-inch wheels, but didn't unveil its interior or mechanical upgrades until today at the LA Auto Show. Eager to show off its latest arrival, Honda allowed me to check ...

We don't often come into contact with the Toyota Crown Hybrid, especially in colors other than pink. But when Toyota offered us the keys and a half-hour window to test out the Japanese version of the Lexus GS on US soil not long ago, we had to accept. Driving Notes: We'll start with the ...

"Ooh, this looks fun!" my otherwise car-ignorant friend said as we walked up to the 2014 Lexus IS 250 F Sport. And yeah, it does look fun. In fact, despite my initial strong negative reaction to the design, I've really warmed up to this new IS, especially with the flashier F Sport package found ...

Honda invited us to its Southern California North American headquarters last week to take a spin in a very special CR-Z – one modified with a full complement of Honda Performance Development (HPD) components. While the company has been racing with HPD parts for years, this is the first time ...

There I was, standing next to this 1984 Audi Sport Quattro painted Malachite Green – one of only 15 units ever delivered in said color – in the northern Italian mountain town of Merano. I was about to be encouraged to tear-ass over a few famous high altitude passes in this ...

If you've been keeping up with our long-term 2013 Nissan Pathfinder coverage, you already know that, generally speaking, we dig it. After racking up 21,000 miles (and climbing!) on our dear Sweet Brown, we've become very, very familiar with the Pathfinder package as a whole, and many of us ...

Michigan is one of those places where we can sub-divide the seasons into good and bad portions, with each producing a noticeable shift. The week prior to my time in the 2014 Nissan 370Z Nismo, it was 65 to 70 degrees and sunny, all week long. Anyone care to guess what the following week was ...