The 2010 Hyundai Elantra is a nice, competitive sedan, worthy of consideration against the Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, or even the Honda Civic or Mazda3 among stalwarts of the compact class because of its inexpensive price sticker and impressive warranty. However, as seems to be the case in recent Hyundai philosophy, why stay with competitive when superlatives can be attained? For 2011, the totally renovated Elantra is, in a word, …
Land Rover’s LR4 was impressive, but the larger Range Rover Supercharged is a beast – in good and not so good ways. For starters, the dark gray test truck would set you back $101,975 as equipped. But the Supercharged Rover has some oomph, like a sport sedan. With a six-speed automatic transmission, it uses the power well. If you want to take charge of your own shift points, it offers …
You say you want the driving excitement of a high-performance car, but have a family to haul around? Then you’re in the bull’s-eye of Dodge’s target market for its stock-car-wannabe Charger. If you have the disposable income to add a Hemi, step on up to the Charger SRT8. This is the top-line Charger, a muscle sedan, which means it has four doors so a family of four can travel in …
Medium-sized sport-utility trucks seem to get bigger and heavier each year. I tested a silver Toyota 4Runner SR5 4×4 V6 and it felt and looked big and brawny. Years ago this started as a Ford Explorer competitor, but it is a more serious truck these days. It rides on a 109.8-inch wheelbase, weighs 4,675 pounds and will tow 5,000 pounds of trailer and whatever you fancy on top of it. …
Today’s most stylish sports coupes are increasingly being turned into hardtop convertibles – sport coupes with hard roofs that fold and stow electronically beneath a rear tonneau. Gone are the days when most convertibles were canvas tops. Electricity is now the chosen power to lower the roof. So long to those clumsy latches with mom and dad folding the car’s top down manually. Into this new hardtop convertible market roars …
I was expecting much less than I got with the 2010 Dodge Avenger Express, the economy model of this handsome, yet smaller, Dodge Charger clone. The Avenger and its Chrysler cousin, the Sebring, have managed to stay under everyone’s radar for years, being among the weakest entries in the highly competitive midsize market. Both have garnered the label of cheap cars, but not in a good sense. So I expected …
Seven years has elapsed since I last tested a Honda Element, and not much has changed, except that the rest of the car world has improved. The Element is a Coleman cooler on wheels, and it feels dated and unrefined. Never a mainstream car, with its quirky plastic box look, Element has its devotees – folks who like simple, uncluttered wagons or SUVs. The tested EX model came in a …
Got an itch to feel like James Bond and yearn for the panache of a slinky European model, but don’t want to pay the six-digit price tag? Jaguar has a stunning answer with its XFR, a sporty sedan that hints at Aston Martin styling and delivers a supercharged V8 with 510 horsepower. This R model is a guided missile, though one with British refinement and class. I had driven the …
