Mazda’s CX-5 is Mazda’s best-selling vehicle in the USA. It’s a solid, mid-pack seller in the country’s hardest-fought segment and tops more than its share of the year-end Top 10 lists. This is not a big surprise; the people who write best-of lists tend to…
Expect construction delays on both local roads and interstate highways every summer.
For a segment supposedly on life support, family sedans are showing impressive signs of life. The Crossover Era has clobbered sedan sales. So dire have been its effects that domestic makers have largely abandoned the segment, leaving it wide open to foreign makers. Makers like…
The best irritation-avoidance tactic is to not actually be in a hurry.
Two people live in this household. Both have opinions, but only one is compensated for committing them to the page. Where’s the justice? Turns out that the person whose opinions normally go unpublished has strong ones about today’s tester. Midway through our week-long test of…
I think that being ever-watchful for driver screw-ups will make you a better driver.
For 2020, Toyota offers a Clark Kent edition of its full-size Avalon sedan. You know: mild-mannered four-door steps into a phone booth, emerges with a snarl. So it is with the 2020 Avalon TRD. The aggressive new high-end trim stretches the Avalon’s performance metrics in…
…keep your conversations casual and delay serious ones until the car is stopped.
Lexus invented the luxury crossover in 1998, when it debuted the midsize RX CUV. Seven years later, in 2005, Lexus dropped its gas-electric hybrid system into the RX, producing the world’s first electrified luxury vehicle. Lexus’s aggressive strategy has stood the test of time. Today,…
You can’t control other drivers’ aggression, but you can and should regulate your own.
Honda is a lower-case automaker in an all-caps world. Better known for its engineering prowess than its marketing chops, it tends to do things quietly. In its understated way, Honda has set some big energy-efficiency goals for itself. By 2030, it plans to be selling…
Many drivers waste fuel by excessively idling their vehicles before takeoff.
There’s a new flagship in the Audi fleet, a flagship crossover. The 2019 Q8 is a midsize, five-passenger crossover that embodies the key attributes of the Audi brand. It has a fashionable, coupe-like profile, cutting-edge tech and an elegantly appointed cabin with room for five…
News reports remind us that road rage is an impetus for collisions, fights and even death.
Honda’s Ridgeline pickup poses this question: How much truck does a person really need? And the follow-up question: What is a truck, anyway? The Ridgeline is a compact light-duty pickup just like any other. Except that it’s not. It is to other pickups what crossovers…
Some call it a right, and others call it a privilege.
Not all that long ago, most of us thought we’d have to suffer to be frugal. You know; hair-shirt stuff. Tinny cars, noisy cabins, weakling powertrains. But once again the auto industry has proven us wrong. Our tester, the 2020 Lexus LS 500h, is the…
May we all learn from our mistakes without major consequences.
Thanks to a lineup rich in affordable sedans, Hyundai survived the Great Recession in fine shape. But when the Recession ended, buyers switched their loyalties en masse to crossovers. Overnight, Hyundai’s sedan-centric strategy lost its steam. As it has proven over the years, Hyundai is…
Drowsiness holds its own when compared to drunkenness, inattention and distraction as a cause of traffic accidents.
In this Era of the Ascendant Crossover, it’s a big deal when a major manufacturer releases a new sedan. Domestic brands are especially bearish on sedans. In the past few years, they all have reduced their four-door portfolios, investing instead in crossovers, SUVs and trucks.…
The official March equinox for 2020 is on the 20th of the month.
The more things change at Subaru, the more they stay the same. Yes, it’s an old cliche, but it’s worthy. It pertains in spades to the all-new 2020 Subaru Outback. The sixth-generation wagon ($26,645) moves to a stronger, more modern platform this year and gets…
It’s important to know where roundabouts are and how to use them when you encounter them.
Toyota sweetens its subcompact Yaris lineup this year, with the all-new 2020 Yaris Hatchback. The new hatch ($18,750) joins the existing Yaris sedan ($17,750), with which it shares a platform, a powertrain and cabin electronics. In the process, the hatch ditches its mundane driving dynamics…
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