Infiniti M56X: Infiniti’s new M56X sedan is the rich man’s Park Avenue, full of luxury and comfortable ride, but also an absolute blast to drive. Certainly it’s more spirited than many large luxury sedans, while looking as tame as, well, a Park Avenue. Yet there’s a growling 5.6-liter V8 under its hood that is just... Continue Reading →
2012 GMC Terrain
2012 GMC Terrain When I drove a GMC Terrain a couple years back I was impressed by its fit, finish and good value in the small sport-ute or crossover market. Not much has changed in a couple years and mostly that’s good. Terrain slots in above the many smaller SUVs and crossovers, but isn’t big... Continue Reading →
2012 Buick Verano
Buick Enters Compact Sedan Market: Buick moves into the compact sedan market with its new Verano based on a front-drive Opel platform from Europe. This has been a successful General Motors strategy of late, revamping its European models and offering the restyled versions in the North American market. Verano’s goal was to reach the entry-level... Continue Reading →
Lexus GS 350 AWD
Let the coddling begin! Luxury cars make you feel special; they coddle you. After a week in a gorgeous “mercury metallic (dark sparkling metallic blue)” 2013 Lexus GS350 I consider myself sufficiently coddled. The redesigned full-size GS comes as both a rear-drive and all-wheel-drive model, this being the latter. All come with a strong 3.5-liter... Continue Reading →
Kia Rio hatch delivers sporty feel
Last week I drove the Hyundai Accent and this week I drive its near twin, the 2012 Kia Rio SX, both fine small entry-level cars. But there are differences among the similarities. First, the test Rio was a 5-door or hatchback version, while last week’s Accent was a four-door sedan. Second, Rio has a much... Continue Reading →
Die-cast car: Greenlight 2010 Indy winner
Dario Franchitti’s Indy winner a nice model at a moderate price Greenlight Collectibles’ 1:18 casting of the 2010 Indianapolis 500 race winner’s bright red Target Chip Ganassi racer is a great display model, if Indy cars are your thing. IndyCar racing has regained much of its popularity the last few years as a new star... Continue Reading →
Slot cars: BBR’s Ferrari F430 looks great
The Ferrari F430 is a champ on the track and a popular racer in the American LeMans and FIA GT championship series, and also has raced at the 24 Hours of LeMans. Plus who the heck doesn’t like a Ferrari? So it’s natural enough that noted Italian die-cast car model maker BBR has jumped into... Continue Reading →
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee
With Hummer gone, Jeep is our resident Alpha male off-road vehicle and truth be told, it has been for 70+ years. Hummer was the upstart. While Wrangler is Jeep’s real Type A personality, it’s more sophisticated brother, the Grand Cherokee is no shy guy. Take the Limited model for example. Standard with a 290-horse Pentastar... Continue Reading →
2012 Hyundai Accent GLS
Hyundai is trying something few carmakers have of late, offer a small entry-level car with nice styling. No, the Accent isn’t as swoopy as the Sonata or even the Elantra, which is sandwiched between Accent and Sonata. But its lines are crisp and give the small car some flair. I drove a sparkling “marathon blue”... Continue Reading →
2013 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD
The world needs another compact sport-utility vehicle like it needs a few more politicians, but Mazda definitely needed a new compact SUV. It’s Tribute, which was based off Ford’s Escape, was aging and barely selling. Its CX-7 and CX-9 are larger and frankly, more expensive. So the 2013 (already) CX-5 comes along at just the... Continue Reading →