Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4X4 Review

A Sequoia is one of the largest trees you'll ever see. A great name for a vehicle meant to do battle with the Chevy Tahoe...since Sequoias (the tree) tower over Tahoe (the lake). You really can't knock the Sequoia on merit...it's a Toyota...solid, rugged, with a reputation that fairly screams reliability.But what seemed like a great idea at the time ("Let's make the Tahoe look small!") seems like an iffy-ish proposition now. There are people for whom this size SUV is not only a good match but nearly a necessity. Those folks just need to figure out whether the Sequoia Platinum 4X4 (it would take forever to list what is standard...just surf to...

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Infiniti G37 Sedan AWD Review

It's been three years since my last seat time in an Infiniti G sedan. It was the G35 then, and it was my mode of transportation for an up-on-Monday, back-on-Wednesday run to Las Vegas (280 miles each way) for a broadcasting convention. Powerful, great handling, luxurious without being soft. I loved it.What's the difference between 2006 and 2009? In a word, more.Certainly more power. 280 horses back then have been bumped to 328 now...nearly 50 more. More gears. The G35 I drove had a six-speed manual. The G37 I handed back a couple of weeks ago had a seven-speed automatic...which bumps EPA estimated fuel economy up to 18 city/25 highway.More features...including...

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Toyota Tacoma Double Cab Review

"...maybe it's time we got back to the basics of trucks...."---Waylon Jennings, "Luckenbach, Texas" (1976)Okay, hold the e-mails. I know Waylon sang "love", not "trucks". Sure would make a great TV spot for the Toyota Tacoma, though. Especially one equipped like our tester.If you're a TireKicker regular, you know I have a soft spot for the basic...and that all too many manufacturers send out press fleet vehicles loaded to the gills with every conceivable option.Well, Toyota did the unusual: They built, and then sent to automotive journalists, a Toyota Tacoma (their midsize truck) Double Cab 4X4 with a manual transmission, cloth interior and useful...

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Laptops in class

From updating Facebook statuses to chatting on AIM, wireless Internet provides plenty of opportunities to do anything other than pay attention in class. Because of the growing number of students bringing laptops to lecture in recent years, many professors across the nation have started banning laptops from their classrooms in order to ensure student participation and discussion. In 2003, Cornell researchers Prof. Geri Gay, communication, and Helene Hembrooke ’83 conducted a study examining the effects of multi-tasking on a laptop during a lecture. Two groups of students watched the exact same lecture and took a memory test immediately after. One group of students was allowed to use their laptops and browse the Internet during lecture, while the other group was banned from using their laptops....

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Acura TL SH-AWD (with Technology Package) Review

There must be a car in there somewhere. Darned if I can find it.Acura has apparently shifted somewhere along the way from being the near-luxury division of Honda (maker of wonderful vehicles like the original Acura Legend) to being the technology division of Honda...a company that already has entirely too much of a fascination with tiny backlit buttons everywhere it can fit them.On the Hondas, it's just this side of annoying...because, well...because there's a Honda in there...bringing with it value, reliability and generally attractive cars. And the Honda price point keeps the tech from getting out of control.But the new Acura TL? First, the...

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Nissan Pathfinder LE 4X4 Review

As the carpocalypse continues, weeklong tests of vehicles take on a new feeling...each one making its case for why it should be around, still in the manufacturer's lineup when things finally get better.The Nissan Pathfinder makes a strong case. Like the smaller XTerra and most of Nissan's truck products, it sends a message of rugged reliability. There's plenty of space, loads of utility and more than a little sport.The LE comes with a 4-liter V6 making 266 horsepower, teamed with a 5-speed automatic transmission, 18 inch alloy wheels, leather-appointed first and second row seats, a serious Bose 10-speaker AM/FM/XM/mp3 6-disc changer with dual...

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Suzuki Equator Review

Gee, stranger...you look familiar.Welcome to our brave new world...where badge engineering is no longer something that happens between divisions of the same automaker. Nope, now competing companies are swapping product and slapping nameplates on them.Okay, it's not really new. Honda and Isuzu had the same kind of deal 15 years ago with the Rodeo and Passport SUVs and Oasis and Odyssey minivans. In that particular deal, Honda provided the Odyssey for rebadging as the Oasis and Isuzu shipped some Rodeos over to Honda to be rechristened as Passports. Why buy one instead of the other? Well, Isuzu actually had the edge, even with the Honda-made product,...

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Nissan Murano Review

Murano. The name conjures up images of the sleek and stylish. And Nissan's mid-size crossover SUV has lived up to that name.For 2009, Murano gets a makeover. That's tricky stuff. New is not always better. But Nissan did it right...keeping everything good about the first-generation Murano and making it better.Fit and finish, materials and appointments and overall luxury are dialed up, noise, vibration and harshness (never a problem in the first place) are dialed even further down.Styling changes are subtle enough that you really need to park an '09 next to an '08 to get the full effect...but once you do, there's no way you'd choose the older one.And...

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Nissan 350Z Roadster GT Review

There's a lot to be said for buying the final year of any design. The main point is that the bugs have all been ironed out. So, as much as I'm waiting with great anticipation for the new Nissan 370Z, the final-year 350Z Roadster is looking mighty good.I was among those disappointed with Nissan's execution of the new Z when it first landed. Way-too-cheap materials (especially in the interior) marred what could have been an incredible bargain. To Nissan's credit, they've worked on the Z continuously over the past five or so years, to the point where it's hard to find fault with the outgoing Z.I recently spent a week in the Roadster GT, and thoroughly...

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Suzuki Grand Vitara Review

The past three years or so have seen Suzuki really blossom in terms of product, limited as it is. The SX4 is a quirky but fun machine and the Grand Vitara has gone from an overreaching spawn of the Samurai to a solid player in the small SUV field.The high points are price ($18,499 for a no-frills base model, $25,299 for the nicely equipped XSport V6 four-wheel drive I drove) and solid gas mileage (EPA says 17 city/23 highway) for an engine making 230 horsepower, driving four wheels and carrying 5 people and their stuff. Once a bargain-basement automaker, Suzuki has stepped up to the good stuff of late. The XSport level brings a sunroof, climate...

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Mazda 6 Grand Touring Review

Automotive journalists, yours truly included, have shouted ourselves hoarse over the years about the merits of the Mazda 6...without much influence on the sales charts. It's not a stiff, but it's not any threat to Accords, Camrys or even Altimas when they total up units sold at the end of each month.The new Mazda 6 is every bit as good as the last one...and manages to pull off that trick (difficult because so much of what we like in the 6 is its sporting character) while getting quite a bit larger (in an effort to attract Accord, Camry and Altima cross-shoppers).$24,910 buys a 2.5 liter 16-valve four-cylinder with 170 horsepower. Doesn't sound...

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Lexus ES350 Review

Okay, so the Lexus ES was the butt of the joke in Audi's Super Bowl commercial "Chase" this weekend. But that was a 90s ES. A lot has changed.No, this is still not the car you'd want to take up autocross with, but the ES has grown well beyond its gussied-up Toyota Camry roots. Buying an ES 350 now gets you 272 horsepower from a 3.5 liter, four-cam, 24-valve V6, a six-speed automatic transmission, dual exhausts, a four-wheel independent suspension with gas pressurized shocks and front and rear stabilizer bars.Drive an ES and a Camry back to back now and you'll be convinced you're driving two different vehicles...and really, you are.Beyond performance,...

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Infiniti QX56 Review

The folly of the "bigger is better" mantra as regards SUVs gets laid on Detroit's doorstep, but it's worth remembering that the Japanese drank that particular batch of Kool-Aid, too (save Honda). The Infiniti QX56 is a whopper...built on the platform for the Nissan Titan pickup and Armada SUV. In fact, the QX56 is really just an upscale Armada.So what is it besides huge? Well, fairly powerful (320 horsepower from a 5.6 liter V8), well-equipped (20-inch wheels, power and heated everything, Bluetooth, a 12-speaker Bose audio system with hard drive and flash drive slot) and thirsty...at an EPA estimated 12 city/17 highway miles per gallon (see "fairly...

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