Car Reviews 5 Point Inspection

Bleary eyed and nauseous, I woke up to an alarm chirping long before sunrise. For a moment, my knotted stomach teetered on the brink of convulsion as I drew deep, slow breaths. The sick feeling started to fade and I swore never to smoke cigars and sip scotch again. So it was a normal Sunday.

With a new house, in a new development, why not make the move in a brand new way?

One of the most anxiously anticipated vehicles of the past few years is Alfa Romeo’s sultry new 4C sports car. Since the first concept version bowed in 2011 this product has seemingly whipped all of automotive journalism into a froth that’s stiffer than the peaks of a baked meringue. This much-hyped and oft-delayed product is set to launch this fall and we had a brief opportunity to sample it.

Cadillac’s CTS sports sedan is new for 2014. The car gains expressive new design, cutting-edge technology and a luxurious cabin with all the latest features.

Whether it’s a base model small car or a flagship luxury sedan, every modern automobile is chockablock with high-end features, some of which seemed like impossibilities just a few years ago.

Kia is a brand that’s going places. Just a few years ago their cars were the equivalent of latex gloves; you’d use them once and throw ‘em away. But now the South Korean company is building some truly impressive, even class-leading products.

Rolls-Royce is one of the most famous automakers in the world. This storied British brand is best known for building obscenely lavish cars, motoring vehicles that scream “expensive,” but in a well-mannered, genteel way.

Starting at $15,455, the Hyundai Accent has long been a value proposition in the sub-compact segment and for 2014, the car gets a few more standard features.

Like all Buicks, the Enclave is easy to overlook. General Motors’ alternative luxury brand currently sells five models in the U.S. and is almost entirely supported by its sales in China. In spite of that, the products it offers probably deserve more credit than they get.

The Toyota Yaris is generally a pretty lamentable little car. This sub-compact hatchback is about as stylish as the grease-disposal bin behind your local truck stop.

The 2015 Subaru WRX STI is the real deal. Ignore the detractors who have yet to drive the new car; it’s not at all a mildly updated carryover.

Overshadowed by other more recent compacts including the Civic, Mazda3 and Corolla, it’s easy to forget about the Dodge Dart. We set out to determine if it’s worth remembering.

What should you do if a regular Tahoe isn’t enough, but the Cadillac Escalade is a bit over the top?

We are on the cusp of a minor revolution at Volvo. A set of new Drive-E powertrains, updated models and all-new offerings are almost here. Despite the new technology, increased efficiency and updated styling, one key pillar of Volvo will remain: safety.

It’s a fact: the manual transmission is on its deathbed. Long absent from most family vehicles, one the last bastions of the manual transmission are compact crossovers. These however are becoming harder and harder to find. Most mainstream manufacturers in America have abandoned offering a stick-shift in compact CUVs and only minor players in the segment, like Jeep, Mazda, Subaru and Volkswagen, still allow owners to row their own gears.

Although the Mazda6 won AutoGuide.com’s huge midsize-sedan comparison there are some buyers that want extra power from a four-door car without having to pay a lot more, or sacrifice fuel efficiency. The Altima 3.5 deserves the attention of these people.

After winning awards and having praise heaped onto it, it was hard to approach the Corvette Stingray convertible with an open mind.

In decades past, automakers produced more powerful engines by adding cylinders. As the old saying goes, there’s no replacement for displacement… Or is there? 

Reese’s Puffs might be the single greatest invention since beer, the automobile or YouTube.

Looking to cash in on one of the most profitable product niches in the market right now, Toyota has put together a new south-western themed Tundra trim level it calls the 1794 Edition.

We were more excited than a Walmart shopper on Black Friday after hearing that Ford planned to bring the Fiesta ST over to America.

There are all sorts of creative ways to transform something boring into something exciting – here’s one: adding grizzly bears to baseball! Sadly,  Toyota didn’t really capitalize when it comes to sprucing up its Corolla S, which is advertised as the sportier model of the affordable Japanese compact car, but really isn’t.

How does one define excess? Well, aside from “Googling” the word or grabbing one of those ancient, paper-bound things called dictionaries, I would offer the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S as a suggestion.

I am a bit of a Camaro guy. As the previous owner of a 1996 Camaro, I still have visions of once again owning a Chevrolet pony car.

So you’ve already read all there is to know about the new Porsche 911 Carrera 4S and its seven-speed manual transmission? We’d like to challenge that notion.

In North America Toyota is known for a couple signature vehicles. Over the decades they’ve sold legions of Camrys and more Prius hybrids than you might expect. Beyond these core products the company also offers a host of other models, from the full-size Tundra pickup truck to the FJ Cruiser sport utility.

In case you didn’t know, the Panamera is heavily revised for 2014. Porsche claims that this is now the second generation of the Panamera model lineup and it includes a host of changes inside and out. 

The fourth generation Acura TL has had a hard time fitting in during its short lifetime. Sized closer to a mid-size luxury sedan, the TL is powered, optioned and priced more like a compact luxury sedan. In fact, at a base $36,030, the TL is actually cheaper than the BMW 328i.

Diesel engines are creeping into well-known vehicles you might never have expected to see harboring an oil burner.

Plenty of great vehicles around the world skip American showrooms. For various reasons the business decision is made that selling vehicle “x” in the U.S. doesn’t make sense and it’s never offered.