Sun., Sept. 15, 2019, 1:33 p.m.
When Kia debuted its Telluride crossover last spring, you knew that a Hyundai version would be along shortly. Now, it’s here. Hyundai’s midsize, three-row Palisade arrived in showrooms this summer. Hewing to corporate strategy, the Kia presents as a more rugged crossover, while the Hyundai...
Mon., Aug. 26, 2019, 9:39 a.m.
There’s a sweet spot in the luxury crossover segment shaped just like the midsize Lexus RX 350. It’s a sizable sweet spot and Lexus populates it with four distinct models: the bread-and-butter five-passenger RX 350 ($43,820); the RX 450h ($46,245) hybrid; the three-row RX 350L...
Sun., Aug. 11, 2019, 9:15 a.m.
In 2017, the Toyota RAV4 made history by selling 408,000 units and displacing its Camry stablemate as the country’s top-selling non-pickup. Now, the RAV4 gets its first full makeover since 2012. The fifth-generation 2019 RAV is built on an all-new platform and gets a more...
Fri., July 26, 2019, 9:42 a.m.
I needed a little time to reset my perceptions and accept that the big crossover in my driveway was a Kia. A big, all-new three-row Kia. The 2020 Telluride ($31,690) is the largest vehicle Kia has ever built. And easily among the best. How good...
Fri., July 12, 2019, 8:41 a.m.
Lately, Mazda, the brand that added Zoom-Zoom to the automotive lexicon, has been quietly slipping upstream. In the past few years, its crisply designed interiors have grown quieter and more finely crafted. Ride quality has improved with each generation. Safety and driver-assist features are liberally...
Wed., June 26, 2019, 9:49 a.m.
Infiniti’s all-new 2019 QX50 crossover takes a deep dive into new technology. Its turbocharged four-cylinder engine is a ground-breaking effort that could alter the future of the internal combustion engine. As is often the case, though, it’s not the high-tech owners will appreciate most but...
Sun., May 26, 2019, 9:19 a.m.
Thanks to its uncanny Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive (SH-AWD) system, Acura’s MDX won our love on a white-knuckle drive over Snoqualmie Pass several Christmases ago. Like most crossovers, the MDX ($44,300) is built on a front-wheel-drive platform. But here in snow country its torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system...
Fri., May 17, 2019, 5:11 p.m.
In the years following the Great Recession, automakers discovered an appetite for luxury among small-car buyers. Never blind to an opportunity to boost profits, they began stuffing their compacts with leather seats, genuine wood trim, terrific audio and assorted driver-assist and accident-avoidance tech. This trend...
Fri., April 26, 2019, 2:59 p.m.
For 2019, Honda’s pint-sized HR-V receives a flurry of enticing updates. The HR-V ($20,520) is known for its solid build quality, frugal appetite and segment-busting utility. This year, it gets a mild facelift, adds two new trims and piles on a raft of new technology....
Fri., April 12, 2019, 2:09 p.m.
Last year, Mitsubishi introduced its first all-new vehicle since the launch of the Outlander Sport compact crossover in 2010. The 2019 Eclipse Cross ($23,595) is a small CUV that slips into the Mitsubishi lineup below the Outlander and above the subcompact Outlander Sport. This troika...
Sun., March 31, 2019, 8:04 a.m.
If there’s one three-row crossover that’s always welcome in our driveway, it’s Mazda’s CX-9. Regular readers know we like vehicles that are responsive rewarding to drive. And here is where the CX-9 burns brightest. Its well-tuned chassis and precise and communicative steering justify Mazda’s “Driving...
Fri., March 15, 2019, 10 a.m.
It’s not obvious at first blush but the 2019 Subaru Forester emerges from the crossover shop this year a fundamentally changed vehicle. It rides on a rigid and lightweight new platform that enhances ride quality, bolsters passenger safety and cuts noise, vibration and harshness. Its...
Sat., March 9, 2019, 9:21 a.m.
Hyundai has long campaigned two crossovers under a single nameplate, the compact, five-passenger Santa Fe Sport and the midsize, three-row Santa Fe. This year, Hyundai hopes to reduce confusion by renaming them. For 2019, the Santa Fe Sport is rebadged Santa Fe ($22,750), while the...
Sun., Feb. 24, 2019, 9:04 a.m.
Toyota came out of the gate early in the great three-row crossover race. It launched its Highlander in 2001, setting off a wave of seven- and eight-passenger CUVs. In 2005, Toyota added a hybrid powerplant to the mix, making the Highlander the first electrified seven-passenger...
Sun., Feb. 17, 2019, 9:11 a.m.
The Outlander was last made-over in 2013 and though a series of updates have kept it in the hunt, it’s one of the segment’s senior members. It isn’t as refined — or as capable — as the segment leaders. Still, it offers budget-minded buyers a...
Sun., Feb. 10, 2019, 7:37 a.m.
Automakers angling for profits in the midsize crossover segment can’t rest on past glories. The segment changes so quickly and has so many capable players, that just keeping up is a full-time job. Take Honda’s three-row, eight-passenger Pilot. The Pilot debuted in 2003 and has...
Sun., Jan. 27, 2019, 10:28 a.m.
Last year, Lexus debuted a long-wheelbase, three-row version of its RX midsize crossover. These new “L” models give Lexus an efficient alternative to the company’s two truck-based, three-row SUVs, the midsize GX and full-size LX. They expand the RX’s lineup to five models: the RX350...
Sun., Jan. 13, 2019, 9:32 a.m.
Acura’s three-row MDX luxury crossover seems to land in our driveway at opportune times. One year, it carted us safely over a snow-choked Snoqualmie Pass. Once, we carefully made our way up a Sunset Hill so slick the roadside was littered with cars in ditches....
Sun., Jan. 6, 2019, 8:07 a.m.
Volvo continues to release intriguing new products. This time, it’s the company’s first-ever subcompact crossover. The all-new 2019 XC40 slips into a segment that emerged, post-recession, when automakers discovered buyers would pay a premium for little rigs with luxury chops. Like the other builders already...
Sun., Dec. 30, 2018, 2:51 p.m.
Following a full makeover in 2018, Chevy’s three-row Traverse crossover ($30,460) enters the new year with more horsepower and trim-level revisions that offer buyers greater flexibility. Last year’s Traverse marked a major departure for the big crossover. Planted on a new lightweight chassis, it lost...
Sun., Nov. 18, 2018, 7:54 a.m.
Subaru plugs a big gap in its lineup this year with the debut of the new Ascent crossover. A three-row gap to be precise. The midsize 2019 Ascent ($31,995) is Subaru’s largest vehicle and its second attempt to crash the three-row party. A previous effort,...
Sun., Nov. 4, 2018, 6:41 a.m.
Last year, GMC reinvented its Terrain crossover. When it debuted in 2010, the Terrain was a ‘tweener — bigger than a compact crossover and smaller than a midsize CUV. For 2018, GMC planted the Terrain on an all-new, lightweight chassis and shrank it to compact...
Sun., Oct. 28, 2018, 9:30 a.m.
Before Toyota shuttered its youth-focused Scion brand in 2016, it had built up a pipeline of cars too good to abandon. So they grew up and became Toyotas. The last of these Scion orphans, the C-HR subcompact crossover, arrived last year. Arguably, because it’s available...
Sun., Sept. 9, 2018, 7:23 a.m.
Having shouldered its way into the fraternity of mainstream automakers, Kia is acting like one. For four consecutive years, the upstart Korean company has earned the No. One spot among non-premium makers in J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study (fewest quality problems in the first 100...
Sun., Aug. 26, 2018, 11:47 a.m.
When it launched the RDX compact crossover in 2006, Acura paved the way for the coming wave of small luxury CUVs. But, while the RDX anticipated the Next Big Thing, its taut suspension and peaky turbocharged four-cylinder engine limited its appeal largely to enthusiasts. In...
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