Convenience, Comfort for the Long-Haul
It is the house as vehicle, or the vehicle as house. Put it this way: When you are going on a long, sometimes rough road trip in a fully equipped 2016 Toyota 4Runner Limited sport-utility vehicle, you aren’t leaving home without any of the things that make a home a home. Everything is there, or certainly there with the aid of easily portable electronic equipment. For 2016, that includes fully integrated cellphone navigation, which is...
A Hybrid With All the Essentials
The all-new 2017 Kia Niro could be described as a hybrid utility vehicle, which Kia prefers, or it could be classified as a subcompact crossover, which is the hottest new segment, or we could just call it a Subaru look-alike with Prius economy. Now that sounds pretty cool. Seriously. The Niro is one of 11 Eco Dynamics models that Kia has planned by 2020. The 2017 Kia Optima Hybrid and Kia Optima Plug-in Hybrid preceded the Niro on...
Auto Review: More Than Your Average Crossover
Back in the day, Volvo built wagons shaped like a brick but powered by turbo. It seems appropriate that the automaker fortifies its heritage with a jacked up turbo wagon that seems sculpted for the wind as much for the road. Channeling the larger XC70, the midsize V60 Cross Country wagon flaunts 19-inch alloys, plastic wheel-well extensions and aluminum trimming the ground affects and lower facias. Colors were apparently chosen from a...
Wheels: Volvo Steering Toward a Safer Future
Traffic-safety advocates have long regarded Volvo as the gold standard of driver and passenger safety in automobiles. The reason can be found in the company’s guiding mantra: “Cars are driven by people.” That being the case, the corporate thinking goes, it is best to make people as safe as possible within the womb of a Volvo automobile. That mission, a hallmark of the Volvo car company since its inception in 1927, continues under...
Nuts and Bolts: 2016 Audi Q3 Prestige
Bottom line: The Audi Q3 remains an excellent choice for small middle-income families interested in transportation safety, style and reasonable fuel efficiency. If the $40,000-plus price of the fully equipped Q3 Prestige bothers you, consider the Q3 Premium Plus, or choose front-wheel instead of all-wheel drive. Ride, acceleration and handling: The all-wheel-drive Q3 Prestige gets good marks in all three. Head-turning quotient: It’s...
