Smart has been an interesting experiment in urban mobility. On paper, these tiny runabouts are an ideal transportation option for residents of densely packed megalopolises around the world. But reality is often strikingly different from theory. In practical terms, these cars haven’t been all...
There’s nothing quite like a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. It’s big and brooding, like a large luxury car should be, yet brings with it a level of sophistication and refinement that’s hard to match — and indeed, the Sonderklasse (which roughly translates to ‘special class’) has...
Twenty-sixteen is an important milestone for the humble Toyota Corolla, which is celebrating its 50th birthday. It’s hard to believe, but the first examples of this world-famous nameplate were assembled in the fall of 1966. Of course, much has changed over the last five decades and countless...
There’s something almost sacrilegious about slapping a “sport” badge on an economy car. Like bestowing a nickname upon oneself, it simply shouldn’t be done for fear of disparagement and ridicule. Unless, of course, it actually is sporty. Which puts the 2017 Honda Civic Sport...
There are some things in life you just don’t do. Wearing sweatpants to a white-tie dinner would be a major faux pas (we don’t care that your favorite pair has something sassy printed on the backside). Likewise, you’d never tell parents their newborn baby resembles Iggy Pop. Similarly,...
To use a tired analogy, traditional body-on-frame SUVs are, in many ways, like dinosaurs. They’re heavy, lumbering behemoths that are oversized in both dimension and appetite. Just like their reptilian counterparts, they’re also going extinct, though not in a flash by some interstellar...
Following its recent global success, Buick is plugging the holes in its lineup. The LaCrosse has emerged as a real premium sedan, and now between the small Encore and big Enclave comes the new just-right-sized Envision crossover. The thing is, there are already a lot of premium crossovers,...
There’s a new Nissan Titan in town, but the story isn’t quite as simple as that. In late 2015, the all-new Nissan Titan XD burst onto the scene, claiming to be a heavy half-ton pickup, a truck that could fill the gap between the traditional half-ton pickup and the heavy duty. Nissan was...
To Lincoln, the word Continental means something. It’s an iconic nameplate that should be held in high regard alongside other nameplates within Ford, like F-150 and Mustang. To Lincoln, it means the best that Ford and Lincoln have to offer. How do you showcase that without a unique platform?...
I hate sunroofs. They blind me with unwanted glare, heat up a vehicle’s cabin unnecessarily in the summer and detract from handling prowess by putting a whole bunch of mass in the worst possible place. These glass-covered roof holes certainly get my dander up but I find convertibles even...
The most important remark I heard when driving people around in the Nissan Pathfinder was, “Wow, this is comfortable.” People who remember Nissan Pathfinders from back in the day remember the truck-based SUV that, while capable off-road, was a brute and not at all easy to drive...
When embellished with the available F Sport package, Lexus’s RC 200t coupe is something of a bait-and-switch. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but when optioned accordingly, this luxury two-door provides essentially the same in-your-face visual drama as the high-performance RC F, but...
You don’t have to opt for the hedonistic Hellcat to have fun in a Dodge Challenger. Not that there’s anything wrong with having 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque underfoot, but all that muscle isn’t mandatory. It’s also a quick way to star in the next viral...
Count me among the embittered, my frustration growing with each passing year as another European sports wagon or hot hatch fails to make it to this side of the Atlantic. But the tide is slowly turning, and with it, my feelings from frustration to jubilation, as more and more bubble-backed...
In the perpetual renaissance city of Detroit, Chevrolet has introduced a car it hopes will spark a five-door renaissance in North America: the 2017 Cruze Hatchback. This marks the first time North American shoppers are offered the Cruze in multiple body shapes, and Chevrolet is hoping the...