Finally GM has developed a real hybrid – not a “mild” hybrid like they tried with the Saturn Vue Green Line – a real Toyota style hybrid. A hybrid that gets 49 miles per gallon in the city and 43 on the highway. A hybrid that gets better mileage than the Toyota Camry (the largest […]
2016 Toyota Prius – Truth in Advertising
If you’ve been watching TV the last several months you may have noticed the ads for the latest generation of the Toyota Prius. The ones where they show a Prius out maneuvering the police or where a Prius is “heck on wheels” (which I can’t watch without thinking of the Offspring’s “Pretty Fly (For a White […]
The New Green SUVs
Can SUVs and Green go together? Until recently SUVs had a well deserved reputation as gas guzzling road hogs. Vehicles such as the Ford Expedition were expensive, inefficient and unnecessary. Thanks to the higher gas prices (which until recently were as inescapable as death and taxes) manufacturers were forced to move back into the small […]
2015 Jeep Renegade Preview
Can a Jeep be “green?” Historically the answer has been “No.” While it’s true Jeep has a long tradition of producing rugged off-road vehicles fuel economy has never been one of its strengths. The only Jeep to average as high as 26 miles per gallon (combined City/Highway) is the affordable but unloved Patriot/Compass twins and […]
2015 Chevy Trax Preview
With the success of the Buick Encore it was as certain as night follows day that GM would create a knock-off version for Chevrolet. Perhaps the Chevy version should have been named the Sequel, not the Trax, because that’s what it is … a 2nd version of the Buick original. Of course the key to […]
2015 Honda HR-V Preview
Almost twenty years ago Toyota introduced the first of the “Cute Utes” to the United States with the RAV4.* In those days the RAV4 was one of the smallest SUVs on the market. Well, actually it wasn’t an SUV in the traditional sense, but it had optional all-wheel drive (which Toyota misleading labeled “4-wheel drive”) and […]
2015 Honda Fit Preview – A Better Fit
Its hard to believe the Fit has been kicking around for over 13 years (of course if you live in the United States you might not realize the first Fit was sold in 2001 in Japan – it wasn’t until 2006 that the Fit reached the U.S. and Canada). Even harder to believe is that […]
Two Very Small Cars – The Chevy Spark an
It seems like every major auto manufacturer has released a sub-compact car within the last few years; some under the their nameplate, others under a new or re-established name. BMW was one of the first with the MINI Cooper, soon to be followed by Mercedes Benz with the Smart car, and soon after by Toyota’s […]
2014 VW Beetle – Better MPG Means a Bett
It was back in 2011 when Volkswagen finally released an updated version of the “New Beetle”. The 2012 model corrected many of the missteps of the earlier version – which after 14 years was really starting to show its age. The greenhouse windshield was removed, as was the bud vase and the plastic flower it […]
2014 Fiat 500L – The MINI Countryman Has
Is the Fiat 500L just a MINI Countryman wanna be or is it a good car in it’s own right? For 2014 Fiat has released their first 4-door to the American market, the 500L. It’s bigger, better and, of course, more expensive than the 500C. And when I say more expensive, I mean a lot […]