From the outside, the GLI model is distinguished by a black honeycomb grille, a gloss-black finish on the grille surround (instead of the base Jetta’s chromed monstrosity) with red piping around it, and attractive 18″ alloy rims. Inside is an upgraded gauge package, aluminum console trim, and drilled-look pedals. Otherwise, [...]
Continue reading: 2006 VW Jetta GLI: Zero to Hero in Six Grand
Toyota’s Avalon, Buick’s LaCrosse and cars of their ilk have just been put on notice. Hyundai, the South Korean brand that has blasted its way into the economy car and small SUV segments–after a total 180 from their early days of disposable Excels–is at it again. The new target is [...]
Continue reading: Renewed Assault – Hyundai Azera Declares War on the Near-Premium Segment
The marketers like to tell us that cars like this–the Chevy Aveo, Toyota Echo, and so on–are perfect for young kids going off to college, buying their first car. Or having it bought for them. But we were young not so long ago, and we remember feeling like we’d never [...]
Continue reading: Penny-Pinchers Rejoice: The All-New 2006 Hyundai Accent
Volkswagen has been in a state of quiet desperation of late. While sibling/subsidiary Audi is reaping the benefits of a successful bid to compete on an equal footing with high-lux brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz, VW itself has seen sales slump by 20% or more. Most of that slide [...]
Continue reading: Onward, Soldier! VW’s New Jetta 2.5 for 2005
Mitsubishi has been pumping out some seriously self-confident advertising these days. Seems the corporate financial woes haven’t put a damper on the mood in the advertising department. Still, you can buy all the TV time you want, showing competitors cars bowing down (or even frightened into incontinence), but what matters [...]
Continue reading: 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS…Bow Down?
It was this reporter’s birthday, and one of the last weeks of warm sun and late days–the kind of week that just begs for a fun car. Perhaps it was kismet that the all-new Miata–the newest version of the car that practically *invented* fun–was in our driveway. Perhaps it was [...]
Continue reading: Improving on an Original: All-New ’05 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Every brand has one–the staple seller; the for-the-masses car on which a corporation’s fortunes rest. Audi’s bread-and-butter line, the A4 comes in sedan, two-door convertible and wagon variants. Of course, with the falling value of the dollar eating profits and ever-encroaching competition from Japanese, German and even American luxury [...]
Continue reading: All-Wheel Driven (to Succeed): Audi A4 2.0T Quattro
Hyundai this year debuted their all-new high-volume midsize Hyundai Sonata sedan, at what CEO Bob Cosmai called “the most important launch in our history.” We first experienced the car in the San Francisco Bay area, at a generous junket that couldn’t help but leave a favorable taste in our mouths. [...]
Continue reading: A Surprising Sonata: Hyundai’s New Midsizer for 2006
Seems as if every other article in the Auto pages is proclaiming the passing of one or another of the old Big Three. And it’s true; 2004 was not a good year for American auto manufacturers. General Motors and Ford have been hit particularly hard, as for years executives have [...]
Continue reading: Star for the North: The All Wheel Drive 2005 Cadillac STS-4
It’s been going on for so long now–since 2003 at least–that it’s no longer news. Cadillac has reinvented itself; hot new CTS, SRX, XLR and STS models (some with that extra-sexy V-Series designation), with their creased-suit “Art & Science” styling and ‘Nurburgring-tuned’ suspensions, have brought the brand out of sales [...]
Continue reading: Rethinking Grampa’s New Car: The 2006 Cadillac DTS
Extra points if you’ve already pegged the reference. Back in the 1960s, Pontiac was known more for innovative high-performance than blandness and body cladding. The ’64 GTO sparked Detroit’s muscle car wars; the near-unique Tri-Power 389-cid V8 was so popular it annoyed Chevy engineers enough so they had GM issue [...]
Continue reading: Pontiac G6 GTP Coupe: A Lemans Sprint for the New Millenium
It’ll be a long time coming, but sooner or later, the public at large will realize that GM really has screwed together some decent automobiles of late. The base Cobalt is a case in point–sure, its Cadavalier predecessor was so bad they had to drop the name altogether for the [...]
Continue reading: Chevy Tunes a Cobalt: The 2006 SS Kicks aSS
© 1997 -
2013
Jump Internet Inc. All rights reserved.
