New Vehicle Reviews (Page 69)

The second day of the Rocky Mountain Driving Experience found us in the lap of luxury, comfort and ease of handling provided by the heavenly ambience of the 2011 Jaguar XJL. We had the pleasure of driving the reps for Jaguar and Range Rover, namely Ree Hartwell, Tom Collins, and Kim Daniel to the Evergreen parking area in Colorado’s foothills.

A significant aspect of the Rocky Mountain Driving Experience held June 15-16 is the opportunity to drive the latest models from numerous manufacturers on the open highways of Colorado’s high plains as well as venturing up the highest paved road in North America, often in the company of a brand representatives. This adds a real world component to the significant if less common experience provided by the off-road and track aspects of the two-day event.

The 2011 Toyota Yaris, in any of its variations, is the essence of the modern commuter – efficient, easy to drive, technologically up to date, inexpensive to operate and far safer than small cars were just a few years ago.

While the 2011 Dodge Avenger Heat features a revised interior and a subtly altered exterior, the biggest news for the new midsized Dodge sedan is the improved suspension system and the new premium engine option.

I recently had the pleasure of spending a week behind the wheel of the 2011 Dodge Avenger Heat, which included a nice long road trip to the Mecum Indy Spring Classic along with the duties of daily driving tasks – all of which clearly displayed the improvements made to the Avenger compared to the previous model year.

Ford Explorer 2011 is an exciting car and its advanced technology may appeal to younger drivers and families, but the tech features require good review before one drives it.

Normally when one looks at the reported MPG of a new car the expectation is that the numbers reflect the best driving scenario, but the 2011 Ford Explorer MPG seems to deliver more than announced by EPA.

Toyota's 2012 Prius v (v for versatility) goes on sale this fall as the consummate fuel-efficient midsize hybrid, with room for five people.

I will never own one, I will never be able to touch one, and chances are, I will never even get to see one. All I have is a picture of it on my computer screen and that alone is enough to instill a blank, starry-eyed look on my face as I stare longingly at it. This car has instantly spun the world backwards in time and turned me back into a 10 year old boy.

For over 70 years the Jeep has been an icon for rugged capability. During that time it evolved from a butt-busting, no frills military vehicle to a modern 4-wheeler. Also during that time the brand has gone through many owners, starting in 1941 with Willys

From a pure driving standpoint of getting from A to B, there is little that is going to excite you about the 2011 Ford Explorer. What is probably going to get you to sign on the dotted line is new technology that helped make the Explorer the 2011 North American Truck of the Year.

The 2011 Cadillac SRX Turbo AWD Premium package includes pretty much everything that you could possibly want including the monstrous dual panel sunroof and monitors in the rear of the seatbacks.

In the early days of the sport utility vehicle, the companies who built them focused so much on utility that there was never any suggestion of luxury but even those with the means to purchase a high end vehicle can desire the roominess and capability of a SUV – enter the 2011 Cadillac SRX Turbo AWD Premium.

The 2011 Audi A8, now in its third generation, continues to be a standout luxury sedan in a field crowded with competition from BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, and to a minor extent, even Hyundai with its Equus.

What do the last 33 NASCAR champions (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Camping World Trucks) over 11 years, the 9-second stock-motor Evolution Performance 2011 Mustang GT, the world’s fastest prop-driven boat (209mph), 3 time NMRA Pro 5.0 Champion Donny Walsh, 7-time American Le Mans Series Champion Pratt & Miller, 3-time FIA Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren, 4- time NMRA Hot Street Champion Charlie Booze and every modern Ford Cobra Jet Mustang all have in common?

The 2011 Ford Fusion SE certainly looks the part of a sporty mid-sized sedan and as one of the more efficient and less expensive cars in the segment, the 2.5L 4-cylinder engine packs a surprising amount of punch – thanks in part to the 6-speed manual transmission.

Over the past year, the 2011 Ford Fusion has been one of the bestselling cars in the US market with both standard gas and hybrid variants taking on the best of what Japan has to offer, helping Ford Motor Company to become the sales leader in the US and recently, I had a chance to spend some time in a 2011 Fusion.

Simply put, the 2011 Lexus ES 350 is one of the most satisfying sports sedans this writer has had the privilege of driving. It is an endearing cocktail mixing a luxuriously appointed interior, state of the art technology, gratifying handling and exhilarating performance into a deeply satisfying vehicular libation.

The 2012 Ford Focus Hatchback is a world-class compact car that is going to satisfy the need of almost every family of four or less.

The largest Rolls-Royce showroom, with enough space to park five automobiles, all of them Rolls-Royces has just been opened. And of course, you make it possible every time you fill your tank. The new state-of-the-art facility is located in Abu Dhabi, of the United Arab Emirates.

If you have a modern car with GPS, emergency call service, computerized starting, braking and so on, the possibility is quite real criminals are now learning to circumvent your security and take control of such systems, open doors, start it up without a key and disable locator signals as they go for a joy ride to your friendly neighborhood chop shop.

Fox Channel 11 in Tuscon reported this evening auto legalization shops along the border, that verify title and ownership of vehicles going into Mexico, are seeing increased traffic recently as Mexicano laborers pack up their vehicles and head home.

If you’re shopping for a car without many preconceptions, one of the first things you’ll notice is how many choices exist. Over 40 different manufacturers provide so many models to choose from. A new Swedish iPhone app allows users to snap a picture of a car’s license plate and instantly get the price and specs for that model.

The notion that Toyota's damaged reputation is simply the result of growing “too big too fast” must have come from the Recall King's marketing department. Defective products - in and of themselves - cannot possibly account for the barrage of government fines, criminal charges, lawsuits, and investigations.

Thanks to a unique plug-in product called CarCheckup, you now have access to all that on-board diagnostics (OBD) data that was once available only to professional mechanics, but with the added benefit of recording trip information.

While Neil Cavuto of Your World on FOX wants the government to apologize to Toyota, I say sit back and consider the situation in its totality.

One auto recall is bad enough, but four in two years is a bit much for any auto owner. So, you get a little experience with handling the process.

Every profit-hungry automaker has compromised maximizing the efficiency of the internal combustion engine to serve the politically expedient, more-expensive EV agenda.

Typically when you think about a 355 horsepower Lincoln, the first aspect that comes to mind isn’t its ideal performance in the snow but thanks to the storm that has pummeled nearly the entire country for the past few days, I got to spend the day after the “Blizzard of 2011” in a 2011 Lincoln MKS EcoBoost – with fantastic results.

The 2012 Ford Focus is part of the Motor Company’s “One Ford” plan to offer the same vehicles around the world and recently TorqueNews had a chance to drive the newest C-segment sedan and hatchback before they hit showrooms later this year.