Quick Drive: 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S

400hp? Yep. Rear-wheel-drive? Yep. Back country roads and perfect driving weather? Oh yes. This is the wider, lower, longer, and damn fast 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S.

Every Tuesday night during the summer time, I get the chance to help run a local car show. We’ve had varieties of muscle cars, exotics, and hot rods show up to dazzle all of us car fanatics. This past week, a good friend of mine brought out a brand new 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S, and I got to take it on a quick drive throughout some of Wisconsin’s best rural back roads.

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Review: 2012 Buick Verano

It’s no secret that Buick is looking to capture the affections (and dollars) of a younger demographic. The automaker has been hard at work refining its existing lineup, while also bringing new models into the fold. As it stands, Buick offers up the requisite blend of premium choices that range from a bulky but quite comfortable crossover and full-size sedan down to a somewhat sporty mid-size. Now, the automaker is also offering up a compact sedan, and we just so happen to have the keys to an example wearing White Diamond Tricoat paint.

 The 2012 Buick Verano could be easily dismissed as a Chevrolet Cruze that’s traded it’s GAP t-shirt for a button-down from Banana Republic. After spending a week with the premium machine, however, we’ve found that there’s a whole lot more to like about the Verano than it’s stylish exterior duds. … Continue Reading

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Pictorial Review: 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit

As far off road as most grand cherokees will go

By now we’ve all seen the current generation of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Last November I briefly drove this very Jeep and came away very impressed. Now, however, I’ve spent a long weekend with it and… remained equally impressed, except for one thing (keep reading). This time, in lieu of writing just another review, I chose to focus on the little details that are often omitted from general vehicle reviews.

There are no bad cars today. Pick any one, because all of them are good. They’re all safe, reliable, long lasting, and perform their functions well. It is the execution of these everyday functions; the ergonomics and the easy of entry and use for instance, which separate the good vehicles from the great vehicles. Here is a look at some of those details, good and bad, on the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

And that one thing that I didn’t like.

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Review: 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport

To write a story about the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport, I have to find the proper place to allow the vehicle a small chance to stretch its capable legs. I have to go to a place where the road is made of mud or dirt, not asphalt. A place where traction is earned not given. The problem is that I live in a beach town in Southern California, and the most treacherous part of my commute is caused by light rain on the 405 or a dangerously uncaffeinated crowd attempting to maneuver around the lot in front my local Starbucks. I need to venture inland.

Still, simply driving away from the siren-song provided by the crashing waves of the beach might not be enough to satiate the needs of the Wrangler, nor my desire to push the vehicle. Regardless, it was time to find out.

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First Drive: 2013 Infiniti JX35

The concept of a brand is a funny thing. There’s a starting point, where a new brand begins to find its way. From there, it evolves and morphs into a position that is appreciated by a certain group or audience. Over time, the people behind the brand will work hard to maintain its position with the core audience that’s grown to love whatever it is the brand stands for, but there still needs to be a continual evolution to reach new buyers or fans.

There’s no doubt that it’s tricky work pushing a brand to grow. Sometimes it can turn out exciting new products, while other times it might lead to a divergence from the core values. This concept is easily seen in the world of automakers and their wares.

The 2013 Infiniti JX35 is the latest product from Nissan’s luxury arm, and it has to hit a few major points if the automaker wants to make sure fans of the brand will recognize it as a true part of the family they’ve come to love. Quite simply, the JX35 needs to be a stand-out in the style department, provide a level of luxury and tech features that make sure the Germans are paying attention, and offer up an engaging experience for the driver that puts key fob in the pocket of their upper-class-income jeans.

Will two out of three cut it? Keep reading to learn more…

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Review: 2012 Range Rover HSE

This here is a $90,000 vehicle that was introduced a decade ago. It was designed by BMW in the 1990s. Its parent company, Land Rover, was then sold to Ford. Eight years later Ford sold it to Tata, where is merged again with Jaguar. Over that time the vehicle was powered by at least half dozen different engines and received updates both substantial and minor. This would typically be a recipe for disaster, yet this here Range Rover is enjoying some its best sales. More so, after spending a weekend with this HSE LUX version of the big-boy Range Rover I must admit that I really want one of my own, consequences be damned.

It is, to me, impossible to put in writing why I love this vehicle so much. It’s a big square box on wheels, it’s expensive, it’s inefficient, and in the days of record high gasoline prices and animated animosity toward the people who can afford one, it makes no sense at all. Add to that the fact that no one will actually use it off-pavement and the fact that SUVs with similar abilities can be had for half the price, Jeep Grand Cherokee being one, why would anyone buy this?

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A quick look at some new members of the Volkswagen lineup

Volkswagen is working hard to become the largest automaker in the world. It’s a quest that demands strong sales figures from all parts of the Volkswagen Group family, with most of the pressure placed on Audi and VW itself. An internal goal was announced last year, which pegged the VW sales target at 800,000 units per year in the United States.

The automaker wants to hit that goal by 2018. To reach that target, Volkswagen sales will need to climb 14 percent per year, every year from here on out (thanks for that number Forbes, we’re not good at the maths). That’s rather ambitious, but dealers around the country are getting help thanks to the Volkswagen product planning department.

The current lineup features a family of cars that’ve been refreshed, updated, or are all-new. Let’s take a closer look at a handful of them.

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Used Car Reviews – 1987 Mitsubishi Galant E15

I recently had to lead a Mitsubishi-free life for a while, as my 1990 Sapporo spent over a month in an auto shop due to difficulties with parts availability. But instead of taking a holiday from Mitsus, I decided to get to know the humbler Galant version of the same basic architecture slightly better. It’s about perspective, as the Sapporo is basically a fully loaded luxury version of the Galant, and as I’ve tried to rectify the Sapporo’s imperfections for over a year now it might well be that I can’t see its virtues that clearly any more. For a while it felt like a cumbersome square peg in a round hole, when this frosty town showed me I could do with a less complicated car.

The exact models I had in my sights were two 1987 Galants with the 1600cc base engine and entry-level GL trim. I wanted to see if a simpler car was a more satisfying choice. Here I had a sand-coloured sedan seen on the street and a denim blue one I took for a drive.

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Quick Drive: 2012 Buick Regal GS

General Motors has been carefully reworking the Buick brand name in order to attract a younger crowd. The Regal fits in between the new small Verano and the bigger LaCrosse, and in the new GS guise is designed to appeal to the younger, usually-import-driving, enthusiast. With images of the badass Grand National and the awesome sounds of its whirling turbo in mind, let’s take a quick look at this new turbocharged Buick.

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Review: 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8

Opinions vary on exactly when the muscle car era began. Some believe this time period got underway with the 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88, while others feel that true muscle cars sprang to life starting in the mid 1960s after the Pontiac GTO hit the streets. Regardless, it all went south when the 1-2 punch of an OPEC-strangled nation that couldn’t afford to fill up their thirsty machines was also fighting against choked-out engines defeated by new emissions regulations.

Muscle cars, as we know them, faded into the setting sun. Funny thing about the sun though, is that it always rises again. 

We’ve entered a new era of muscle machines, and they’re not just two-door, straight-line all-stars. In fact, modern muscle cars aren’t even stuck in the box of being a purely American or Australian notion. For example, Mercedes-Benz is building ridiculously powerful two and four-door vehicles that growl more aggressively than anything Detroit ever rolled out.

Still, the idea of the muscle car is a concept that is American at its core. A great classic example is the original Dodge Charger. Like other muscle cars, it too lost its way as we marched into the future. The damn thing eventually came back to life with four doors. That first-generation modern Charger did a major disservice to the legacy behind the moniker. Chrysler is looking to right that wrong, and the automaker is hoping to accomplish this with the 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8.

It still has four doors… but it might just be modern muscle done right.

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