New Vehicle Reviews (Page 52)

The 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk offers the greatest off-roading capabilities in the model lineup, a cabin loaded with premium features and room for five for under $50,000 – making it one of the best options on the market for someone shopping for a luxury SUV that can be taken off-road with confidence.

The all-new 2017 Land Rover Discovery has a much sleeker, softer look than the boxy Discovery from the previous five generations, but this sportier look is achieved without diminishing any of the offroading capabilities which you would expect from a proper Land Rover.

It’s not unusual for a sub-premium compact sedan to run a bit noisy in the cabin. Such is the case with Mazda’s top-trim 3 series touring sedan. In the case of 2017 Mazda3, running Bridgestone Blizzak Winter Tires exponentially increased cabin noise.

Like many large SUVs, the GMC Yukon Denali is often accused of being a mall crawler – the kind of vehicle that never does any real work while in the hands of “soccer moms” – so with the help of my wife and her champion horses, I spent a weekend putting the plush GMC SUV through the paces of a grueling horse show weekend.

Like an old friends that shows up for a long weekend, “with just a little work done,” the notable changes for 2017 Acura MDX Advance are subtle, but welcomed. “Good looking and capable” pretty much sums it up for me.

We spend a week in the seat of Honda’s reinvented compact SUV, and walk away with a lesson in segment refinement, and how to produce measurable engine performance through turbocharging, while preserving exceptional fuel efficiency.

It’s that crazy thing that happens in the blink of an eye while driving through a torrential downpour. The jackass in the right lane just a made a lane change without signalling at 70 MPH. Deadly! 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander S-AWC just saved my life!

I recently had a chance to submit the Toyota Tundra Limited to one of the most tougher tests I have in my new truck testing repertoire - the horse show - and today I look at how well the Double Cab Toyota pickup served as our mission control for a weekend at the show grounds.

Positioned slightly above the entry level Civic Hatchback LX, the not so bare-bones Civic Hatchback Sport returns us to the age of the manually shifted Honda performance hatchback of yesteryear, with a twist, it’s civilized, full efficient, comfortable, and you can have it all for under $22K.

I recently spent a week driving the 2017 Ford Fusion Sport and while this car doesn’t have any affiliation with Ford’s high performance SVT group, this roomy mid-sized sedan is like a modern day interpretation of the Ford SVT Contour from the late 1990s – except with far more power and standard all-wheel drive.

That headline took me several attempts to land on. Archimoto’s founder Mark Frohnmayer’s unique take on electrified personal transportation, may look simple enough. But once behind the handlebars, my imagination took over as to the “what if” of this equation. Arcimoto SRK Trike brings motorcycle inspired adventure to the EV segment.

Volvo’s Hybrid SUV flagship comes standard with a steep learning curve, and it’s pricey. Granted while not for everyone, even the well heeled of Volvo’s discriminating loyal, may find that this hybrid fails to meet individual "superior hybrid" expectations.

I recently had the fortune of spending a week behind the wheel of the Cadillac CT6 Platinum and having loved everything about it, I believe that this big Caddy sedan is the next great American luxury sedan – rivaling the best that the European and Japanese luxury brands have to offer.

The Nissan Armada is large and is aptly named after the massive Spanish Armada ship that sailed in 1588.

The Lexus RX lineup has long been the bestselling luxury SUV in America, but with the newest generation of the RX350 arriving for the 2016 model year, the RX is better appointed and roomier than ever – and it offers all of this for a relatively low price in the luxury world.

I recently had a chance to spend a day driving the 2017 Dodge Challenger GT – America’s first 2-door muscle car with all-wheel drive – around snowy New England to see if FCA could really build an AWD muscle car that maintains the properties which has made the brawny Mopar muscle car so popular.

I recently spent a week driving the Ram 1500 Rebel with the Mopar 16 package on the roughest roads in my area, in hard snow, and after this, I believe that the Rebel package makes this Ram 1500 the best full size pickup the Ram brand has offered in the modern era – combining a premium cabin, Hemi power and impressive off-road capabilities into one fantastic package.

I recently spent a week driving the 2016 GMC Sierra 1500 All Terrain X and in addition to having a list of functional features which make this Sierra among the most capable off-road trucks in the half ton market – the exterior features of the All-Terrain X package makes this the coolest half ton truck GM has offered in the modern era.

Having grown up in a “Volvo household" while having a passion for American muscle cars, I really wasn’t all that excited to spend a week driving the 2017 Volvo XC90 T6 Inscription, but after that week in the T6 – I have to admit that I have become smitten with the high tech Swedish SUV.

The 2017 Toyota 86 sports coupe gets a few tweaks to retain it’s status as the best sports cars for the money. What upgrades make it an even better value?

I recently spent a week driving the 2016 Toyota Corolla S Plus, which paired a premium interior spread with a manual transmissions – leading to a small sedan that is fun to drive and heavily appointed for a vehicle that costs just over $22,000.

I recently had the pleasure of spending a week driving the 2016 Dodge Challenger 392 Hemi Scat Pack Shaker, which has the longest name of any modern Mopar muscle car and the best collection of features for the price – making this the coolest late model Dodge Challenger shy of the supercharged Hellcat.

I recently spent a week driving the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze Premium and while I really liked the previous generation of GM’s hot-selling compact sedan – this new Cruze is at least a little better in every way.

I drove Honda’s next best seller from Monterey, California to San Francisco, and frankly, although the 2-row crossover was branded CR-V, my brain told me that I was driving a midsize luxury SUV.

Picking up our 2017 Volvo XC90 loaner at Los Angeles International Airport was a challenge; so I thought, until I transitioned into the busiest traffic patterns in North America. 2017 Volvo XC90 T6 Inscription effectively conquered the streets of Los Angeles.

While the 2016 Lexus GX460 Luxury would classify as being “very expensive” to the average driver, anyone shopping for a large SUV that will seat six in a plush cabin chock full of premium amenities should find this big Japanese people-mover to be one of the best bargains in the segment.

I recently used a 2016 Cadillac Escalade Platinum in place of my half ton pickup to get my wife and her horses to a horse show, and after three days of being worked like a farm truck including pulling the trailer to and from the show – the Escalade proved to be every bit as capable as a pickup.

The new 2017 Subaru Outback goes upscale. It gets a new Touring trim that will impress your valet.

Undoubtedly, 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback is Honda’s greatest compact car manifested to date. It’s surprisingly refined and comfortable. I just took one out for romp and am just a bit blown away by how good this Civic truly is.

The Toyota Avalon is often overshadowed by the bestselling Camry, but for someone shopping for a full sized sedan with luxury features like a Lexus sedan combined with a price that is only slightly above the Camry, the 2016 Avalon Limited is a great option.