Volkswagen (New?) Beetle Review

After 10 years, Volkswagen is still calling it the New Beetle. Apparently, it will go out that way, because next year, there will be a new New Beetle...probably a 2011 model.

So should you wait? My knee-jerk reaction would normally be to say yes...but after a refresher in the existing Beetle, I'm not so sure.

18 months or more ago, I'd have written the Beetle off as tired and way overdue to be put out to pasture. But I drove one recently with the new realities firmly in my brain and you know what?

It's got a lot going for it.

I mean, just look at the basics: $18,540 base price...20 mpg city, 29 highway. Yes, the Jetta and Golf (a previous generation of which the Beetle is based on) are a few hundred dollars cheaper and get an extra mile per gallon or so, but the incredible feeling of space inside the Beetle (thanks to that arching roofline) is hard to beat.

If you're looking for unassuming, economical transportation without feeling cramped and invisible, the Beetle may be exactly the right call.

Read more »

New for 2010: The 1993 Ford Taurus

The folks at the news satire site The Onion have done it again. Funny and depressing at the same time:

Read more »

Car and Driver's Redesign

Good news in the December issue of Car and Driver. Editor Eddie Alterman lets us know that come January, there'll be a new look...a redesign of the once (and hopefully future) king of the car mags.

Alterman discusses the disastrous last redesign three years ago, which he rightly describes as making C/D look "like a comic book".

And it was worse inside, with a jumble of fonts and a graphic look that was universally hated by readers, who were told "we ain't going back."...which Alterman describes as a public relations move roughly as successful as the docking of the Hindenburg.

To his credit, each issue of C/D since Alterman's arrival has been cleaner-looking than the last. Here's what he inherited early this year:



And here's September's cover:




The January 2010 redesign is expected to draw heavily on the sense of style from C/D's glory days. We can't wait.

Read more »

Scion tC Review

Here's a question I've never asked:

"If Darth Vader were a college student and drove a Scion, what would it look like?"

See above.

Okay, that's probably a bit harsh...but I was more than a bit bugged by the Scion tC.

Not the car itself, which I have always liked a lot...but by the way it was optioned.

The tC, for the uninitiated, is a smart, tight, fun little coupe...with a base price of just $17,000, an EPA estimate of 20 city/27 highway, more handling capability than most vehicles with a Toyota pedigree, and an impressive list of standard features (17 inch alloy wheels, moonroof, 160-watt Pioneer audio system with subwoofer)for the price.

Hard to beat.

But the tester came with $4000 of options that made absolutely no difference. $1083 for ground effects. $430 for a rear pedestal spoiler. $65 for a different shift knob. A metal one. In Phoenix. In summer (okay, that's worse for me than for a lot of folks). $1999 for 18" black wheels and Toyo tires. And $389 to upgrade the Pioneer audio system...though it doesn't specify what the upgrade was, exactly and it sounded about as good as the stock one (at least according to memory).

So $17,000 becomes $21,000...the performance of the car isn't improved (arguably, the 18 inch wheels hurt the ride) and the all-black menacing look....well, c'mon...it's a Scion. It's just not that menacing.

Still love the tC. Great car. Just buy it as-is, bone stock and you've got something. But jacking up the price by more than 20 percent for this stuff? Pass.

Read more »

Lexus GS 460 Review

Think you've seen that car before? Well, you're right. The Lexus GS460 has been around quite a while now.

Want proof? Look on the instrument panel.

There...where the audio controls are.

Volume knob...tuning knob....memory buttons...CD slot.

Cassette deck.

Yes, cassette deck. There. Behind the gear shift.



Actually, it's kind of cool...made me want to dust off the old mix tapes during the week I had the car...but it's a serious indicator that it's time for some freshening.

There's nothing wrong with the GS, which is now in its fifth year since its last redesign...but it plays in a segment where innovation is a selling point. The base price of the GS 460 is $53,470. The tester I drove, with Mark Levison audio, Navigation, rear camera,/ rear spoiler (why?), power rear sunshade, trunk mat, Illuminated door sills (again, why?), XM Satellite Radio and delivery charges, bottom-lined at $59,443.

These days $557 shy of 60 large fairly demands compelling reasons for the expenditure...and while the GS is a nice ride, it's so quiet and so familiar that its sales strategy seems to be just hoping you'll just decide you like it that much all on your own.

And like every perfectly nice guy who wanted the prom queen to fall in love with him, that trick rarely works.

EPA estimate: 17 city/24 highway.

UPDATE: A night's sleep (okay, 3 hours) tells me I'm damning with faint praise here. Let me clarify.

The GS 460 is one of the nicest sedans I've driven in a long time. Smooth, quick, comfortable and confidence-inspiring. It made me feel like a better driver, and kept me fresher longer than most.

My concern (especially given that there's not a ton of promotion for it) is that it's going to get passed by...that five seasons without a significant re-do makes it invisible on the street and that anachronisms like the cassette player could brand it as last century's car for the few buyers out there still looking to spend $60,000 on a sedan.

It's well worth the test drive. I'd be perfectly happy with one in my driveway for the next five years. And my cassettes would feel less neglected.

Read more »

Ford Raptor

Thanks to Randall Bohl and Joe Sage of Arizona Driver Magazine for snapping and posting this shot of yours truly behind the wheel of the 2010 Ford Raptor.

Yes, I'm wearing a tie. TV and all that.

Anyway, this was at a special Ford event this past Tuesday (10/6) at Firebird Raceway south of Phoenix...a ride and drive for members of the Phoenix Automotive Press Association to get familiar with hot new FoMoCo product all in one place.

Some of them were vehicles already tested and posted here on TireKicker (Ford Taurus, Mercury Milan Hybrid), but we got a couple of fresh rides, too...including the Raptor.

A full review is coming, but I'll say this much in advance: The Raptor is going to be a huge and deserved hit among the serious off-road crowd, and is so well engineered and so civilized in everyday on-pavement driving that I believe it will sell to an even larger pool of drivers.

There's no denying the visual impact. And the way Ford's guys sweated every detail...well, that's a story for the full review.

Read more »

This Time It's Real: The Caprice Is Back...For Police

Well, forget that stuff about GM importing the Pontiac G8 as a cop car.

The real deal, according to Jalopnik, is a revival of the Caprice.

Read more »