Swagger, Style, Size and Performance
Say “Dodge Charger” to most motorists, and no doubt they’ll think of a police cruiser staked out in the weeds alongside a freeway. The car’s use by law enforcement is appropriate; subtly is not in its DNA. The Charger debuted in 1966 as a two-door version of the mid-sized Coronet sedan. It was soon transformed into a burly muscle car, but those glory days were short-lived. Escalating fuel prices and insurance rates emasculated...
As Good as Higher Priced Sedans
No one who has driven a BMW or Audi would mistake a Chevrolet or Buick for a BMW or Audi. For that matter, no one who has driven a 2016 Honda Accord or Civic sedan would confuse a Chevrolet or Buick with one of those cars. It is not that the foreign-based companies are inarguably superior manufacturers of cars and trucks. Their products are good, yes. But so are those made by their U.S.-based rivals. The difference is attitude. For...
Wheels: In Sync With What Really Matters
I write 52 columns a year for this beloved journal — too few, I think, to devote more than a couple to models so expensive they can be comfortably afforded by only 1 percent of the U.S. population. As it is, depending on whose numbers you believe, only 15 percent of our nation’s people can comfortably afford — meaning without sacrificing rent, mortgage, food or utility money — a new car with a current average price of $33,566. And...
Honda Civic Tops Compact Class
Everyone has a Honda Civic story. Since its arrival on U.S. shores in 1973, it has slowly established itself as a cultural touchstone, the car that everyone turns to the way those who came of age during the Age of Aquarius turned to the Volkswagen Beetle. OK, maybe the Civic never became a movie star like the Beetle did, and it never could claim to possess an iconic shape. Instead, it was a cultural shape-shifter, one that changed...
Nuts & Bolts: 2016 Subaru Forester 2XT Touring
Bottom line: The Forester is among my favorite family haulers — one of the best and most affordable all-wheel-drive vehicles in the business, equipped with a reasonably efficient and powerful gasoline engine, comfortable on long highway runs and almost affordable ($36,040) equipped with an advanced driver-assistance system. Ride, acceleration and handling: It gets good marks — meaning easily satisfactory for most of us — in all three...
