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 [...]

Flexible Future: Living With The E85 Flex Fuel Dodge Caravan

We’ve already told you about ethanol-based E85 fuel-85% synthetic gasoline, made essentially from fermented corn. Certain vehicles available now can run on either this new E85 or the usual 87-octane gas we’re used to; so-called ‘Flex-Fuel Vehicles’ (FFVs) have been on the road for a while-and the Big Three are [...]

2006 Saturn Vue Red Line: Sporty Style at Half the Price

In truth, we’re right now in the midst of the greatest resurgence of automobile performance since the late 1960s. Some obscure set of factors has finally re-converged to encourage a climate which enthusiasts find temperate; above fuel efficiency concerns, emissions worries, or new design directions, the focus in so many [...]

Heightening the Heartbeat of America: The 2006 Chevy Corvette

Full disclosure: although we here at Roadfly.com get a good bit more track time than your average drivers-and we do drive a slew of high-powered hot-rods of all shapes and sizes over the course of a year-we really don’t get a whole lot of time in all-out sports cars. Look [...]

2006 Mazda5: Pint-Sized People-Mover

Those wacky Japanese-thanks to them we get those neat t-shirts (you know, the ones that read “Super Happy Fun Boy!” or “Winning is for me #1!”), and that cool script that less-imaginative gaigin use to tattoo platitudes on themselves. We also get a glimpse of what their roadways must look [...]

2006 Saab 9-3 Aero: Quirky for Quirky’s Sake-And Why Not?

Saab has been something of a whipping-boy in the automotive press; paired up with BMWs and Audis and other sporty Euro-makes in comparison tests that the brand’s basically predestined to lose. After all, Saab never really was about all-out European-style driving sublimity-even if the brand’s current owner doesn’t really get [...]

2006 Chrysler 300C SRT8: What if Rolls Royce Made a Musclecar?

Three hundred and forty horses would seem to be enough in a two-ton sedan. So would 18″ rims, a taut suspension, and grippy leather seats. In fact, you’d figure the standard Chrysler 300C would prove more than enough car for pretty much anyone-and the shelves of awards and accolades DCX’s [...]

2006 VW Beetle: Reinventing the Unique

We recently had occasion to spend a week driving a car we didn’t believe would still be around this far into the game. Not that we didn’t like the New Beetle-when unveiled, we were charmed right alongside the rest of the automotive press-but we figured the model would be a [...]

Sales Commander? Jeep’s Big New Baby

Depending on your outlook on life, Jeep is either a pioneering symbol of Americana, or a devilish corporate tool of the netherworld. After all, the old ‘General Purpose Vehicle’ just about saved our bacon back there in a couple of overseas conflicts-and yet the Grand Cherokee, sales favorite that it [...]

2006 BMW 330i – Does the Emperor Still Have Clothes?

It’s gotta be a tough assignment, being in charge of remaking the BMW 3-Series. Recognized as the king of the hill in small sports sedans for longer than most of us have been of driving age, there are a lot of expectations to meet here. For 2006, BMW had no [...]

2006 VW Jetta GLI: Zero to Hero in Six Grand

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, [...]

Renewed Assault – Hyundai Azera Declares War on the Near-Premium Segment

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 [...]