David E. Davis Jr. Rejoins Car And Driver

Car and Driver's new editor-in-chief Eddie Alterman is on issue number two of his tenure...and he's continuing to hit all the right notes.At his invitation, David E. Davis, Jr., who held that office twice in the 60s, 70s and 80s (both tenures widely considered to be the golden years of C/D) has returned as a columnist. Davis is the father of modern automotive journalism, a true giant whose talents and instincts not only propelled Car and Driver to the top while he was at the helm, but provided sufficient momentum to keep C/D there for the 23 years since his departure to launch Automobile. His most recent venture was the online magazine Winding...

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Ford F-150 Supercrew Lariat Review

If you were wondering why Lincoln chose to discontinue building the Mark LT pickup this year, meet the reason:The Ford F-150 4X4 Supercrew Lariat. A fact fewer and fewer people seem to know: Full-size pickup trucks can be fairly cheap. A base Ford F-150 XL standard cab starts at $20,815. But not this one. Base price: $37,990. And the Ford PR folks slathered on more than eight grand worth of options (special color metallic paint, limited slip axle, navigation, a chrome step bar, moonroof, the Lariat Plus package, 20 inch aluminum wheels, a trailer brake controller and heated and cooled leather captain's chairs) for a bottom line before discounts...

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How It Happened

The once inconceivable is now reality. General Motors, rebuffed by bondholders, appears headed to bankruptcy court and a future we can only guess at. Peter DeLorenzo's piece on Autoextremist today is the best analysis of how the mightiest corporation ever managed to fa...

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Mercury Mariner Premier Review

Somewhat lost in the hype over the Ford Escape Hybrid is how good a vehicle that is even without the super-green powertrain.Its fraternal twin, the Mercury Mariner Premier came to TireKicker Villa for a week's stay recently and made its case for the traditional good life.You see, the Escape Hybrid I tested last summer was a base model with just one option...Ford and Microsoft's SYNC audio system.The Premier came loaded...nearly six grand worth of options including heated mirrors and seats, 17 inch painted aluminum wheels, moonroof, a mini-overhead console with map light, the rear cargo convenience package, a navigation and audiophile music system,...

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And Miles To Go...

Whether the fuel economy standards announced by President Obama yesterday are a good thing or not is a matter of opinion (or perhaps ideology). But, as Peter DeLorenzo notes in today's Autoextremist, it is what it is...and now the work begins. So how far from the targets are the cars we drive now? Jalopnik did the math, and found that not a single automaker is there yet.UPDATE: But then, Los Jalops learned more about the nuts, bolts and...um...air conditioning...behind the figures. Turns out the bar's a lot lower than the headlines sugge...

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Nissan 370Z Review

Oh, man, I hope the Nissan dealers have sold all the leftover 350Zs already.Because once you drive the new 370Z, there is no going back.The 350Z was nice and all...apart from a seriously cheap interior...but this...well, wow.332 horsepower. 270 pounds per foot of torque.A six-speed manual transmission. 18 inch wheels.An interior someone spent time and money on.That's the standard stuff...that comes with the $29,930 base price.The one I drove for a week (and seriously considered hiding when Nissan came around to pick it up) had Chicane Yellow paint ($500: see photo above), carpeted floor mats ($115) and the Sport Package (SynchroRev Match manual...

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Lincoln MKS Review

Do something enough times and people can assume it's true again, even when it's not. Case in point: Lincoln has spent the last few years taking Fords and dressing them up with Lincoln grilles, badges and logos (Expedition becomes Navigator; Explorer becomes Aviator; F-150 becomes Mark LT; Fusion becomes MKZ, Edge becomes MXK) that when I saw the new MKS on a stand at the Auto Show in November 2007, I assumed that it was a gussied-up Taurus.I was wrong.Sure, the MKS and Taurus are built of the same platform (shared with the Volvo S80), but Lincoln has shaken off the doldrums and built its own car here...and one that actually deserves the Lincoln...

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Cadillac CTS Review

Welcome to exhibit A in the argument that Americans can still (or maybe "again") build world-class, exciting, involving cars.Two true stories: The first from about six or seven years ago, when my boyhood race driver hero, Bob Bondurant, swapped his fleet of Mustangs at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving near Phoenix, Arizona for the first-gen Cadillac CTS. Was he kidding, I asked?Bob himself tossed me the keys to a leftover Mustang and told me to take the slalom course (my favorite) for as long as I wanted and get my best time...and then take a CTS.It took about four tries to get it with the Mustang.In the CTS, I blew the best Mustang...

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Range Rover Supercharged Review

Sometimes the photos just nail it. It's tempting to write as little as possible and let the image do the talking. To me, the shot of the Range Rover Supercharged above says "There are no other vehicles." "I'm it." If that were the case, we'd need to carpool. The Range Rover Supercharged costs $93,325. That's without California emissions or transportation charges. Which means it really costs $94,225. If you could find one without options. The one Land Rover sent over for a weeklong test had black wood, a six disc DVD system with dual headrest displays, remote control and a 4-zone climate control.Which cost $97,775.I'm sure there's something you...

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A New Day Dawns at Car and Driver

(Graphic originally created and posted by Jalopnik.)Do you know this man? You will. It will be on his watch, most likely, that America's best car magazine (and once upon a time...say 1982-1985...I'd argue, America's best magazine, period) will either fade away or enter a new golden era.I'm betting on the latter.His name is Eddie Alterman. Never met him, never exchanged a single phone call or e-mail...but I've read his stuff over the years (MPG, Jalopnik) and he's good. Really good. He's the new editor-in-chief at Car and Driver, replacing Csaba Csere after a very long run.It wasn't Csaba's fault, but a tremendous amount of decline occurred in...

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Toyota Venza Review

I get a laugh reading some of the reviews my fellow automotive journalists post sometimes. All too often, they review the concept or idea of the car and leave me wondering if they ever actually stuck the key in the ignition and...you know...drove it.The prevailing bad rap on the Toyota Venza is "Oh, another crossover based on the Camry." Okay, there is the Lexus RX 350, the Highlander and even arguably the Sienna minivan. And on paper, you'd be excused for thinking they were trying to cram vehicles into paper-thin niches.But that's not the reality for the Venza, at least not as I see it. My view says you have to put the Venza up against its competitors...

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Scion xD Review

As small sedans go, the Scion xD strikes me mainly as okay. There are a bunch I can think of that are more fun to drive, better looking.....but the price points ($15,450 base, equipped with stability control, floor and cargo mats and a security system for $17,394) are within bounds, crash tests (four-star frontal, five star side-impact) are great for a small car, reliability appears to be a strong suit...and it's hard to argue with the EPA numbers here:26 city/32 highway. Sure, I know gas is half the price it was last summer. But even if it stays in the $2 per gallon range, in an uncertain economy, just how much of your money do you want going...

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Toyota Camry Hybrid Review

There are some cars that make so much sense it's difficult to discuss them. You can really get by with just mentioning their name. It becomes its own concept. Like:Toyota Camry Hybrid.Well, there ya go, right? A family sedan with a reputation for bulletproof reliability with a hybrid engine...making it an even bigger gas-saver. End of story.Popping the hybrid powerplant under the hood of the Camry does wonders for the gas mileage, launching it into the upper regions of the TireKicker Top 10 Fuel Savers list (EPA says 33 city/34 highway).What's remarkable about the Camry Hybrid is that you can buy one for Prius money (give or take $500), even...

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Scion xB Review

Want to kill some time? Try to find someone with no opinion either way about the styling of the Scion xB. It's pretty much love it or hate it.Me? I preferred the looks of the first-generation xB, but overall, the second-gen is the better vehicle to live with.Light enough that the 158-horsepower 4-cylinder engine isn't overwhelmed, designed with room for people and their things, able to score four stars in frontal crash tests for driver and passenger (five stars for side impact) and getting 22 miles per gallon in the city and 28 on the highway, according to the EPA.All this with a base price of $16,700. The tester I drove had only floor and cargo...

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Chrysler 300C SRT8 Review

When the bad times subside (and they will) and we're looking back at the cars from before it all went sideways, this is one we'll look back fondly upon.It's hard to remember right now, with the streets clogged with V6 versions owned by rental car companies, but the Chrysler 300C was a game-changer, an earth-shaking revelation of an automobile just five years ago...a sign that, after years of focusing on trucks and SUVs, the great American performance sedan was back.The 300C SRT8 is the ultimate expression of that concept. A big, brawny, well-sculpted sedan (the SRT8 has enough unique styling cues that it almost doesn't need the refresh that the...

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Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ 4WD Review

Timing is everything. Especially when it comes to money and demand.So, as the economy as a whole, car sales in general and the SUV market in particular comes crashing down, it's more than a little disconcerting to walk out to the freshly-delivered Chevrolet Tahoe, reach in the glovebox, pull out the photocopied Monroney (the price sticker found in the window of all new cars) and find an as-equipped price of:$58,635.For a Chevy.One that doesn't say "Corvette" on it.Regular TireKicker readers know that I believe there is a legitimate need and place for fullsize SUVs and that the Suburban and Tahoe (really a shortened 'Burban) should be granted...

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