2007 Dodge Caliber: A Crossover Hit

DaimlerChrysler sure did a 180 when they filled the happy-go-lucky little Neon’s slot in the corporate roster with the all-new 2007 Caliber. In case the commercials haven’t hammered the point home, the Dodge Boys’ new compact couldn’t be more differentiated from the “hi!”-mobile if they’d made it into a motorcycle. [...]

The 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe Is King of the Middle of the Road

Par for the course, Hyundai tucked a 7/8ths-scale 3rd row in the new Santa Fe, and a folding mechanism to form a flat load floor when the kiddies aren’t along for the ride. Adding the 7-passenger configuration was a no-brainer–what isn’t so average is the actual amount of room at [...]

2006 Mercedes-Benz ML500: Four by Fifty (Grand)

We finally got some real seat time in the all-new M-Class–and it was worth the wait. The new Mercedes truck is everything the old ML wasn’t, beginning from bare metal. Where the old M was a body-on-frame, overweight truck with a leather-and-wood wrapper over sturdy but plebian mechanicals, the new [...]

2007 Mazda CX-7 First Drive

At first, we weren’t particularly interested in the announcement of an all-new crossover SUV–the 2007 Mazda CX-7. A new car-based ‘ute is about as rare as a Hollywood wedding. Mostly, they’re ungainly, unexciting vehicles that trade the stability and light weight of a car for extra cargo room and [...]

2006 Mercedes-Benz R500: Six Passengers and a Six-Figure Income

Soccer moms never had it so good. Introducing the all new Mercedes R500. We just spent a week hauling people and stuff around in the slickest six-passenger vehicle on the market, and we figure this vehicle should be on everyone’s shopping list once baby number three is on the way.

The [...]

2007 Mazda CX-7-First Look

Mazda has released details on the new CX-7 crossover SUV, a 2007 model which should be in dealerships this spring. Production of the CX-7 began last week in Hiroshima, Japan. Pricing will start at $23,750, making the curvaceous newcomer a quite comely competitor in the small SUV segment—where style [...]

2006 Mercedes-Benz R500: A People-Hauler for the Other Half

The people at Mercedes Benz must be working overtime. In the last couple years alone, the boys in Stuttgart have brought to market several all-new vehicles–think CLS-class, B-class, the upcoming baby-ML-class, and this new R-Class. Mercedes calls it a “grand sports tourer” or “crossover,” based upon the unibody construction [...]

2004 BMW X3 2.5i Sport: The Younger X Does BMW Proud

We have to take issue with the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a good impression.” Having been a firm believer in that saying, we weren’t expecting much as we took delivery of a 2004 BMW X3 2.5i Sport. Like many, we’ve become a bit jaded, thanks [...]