Shut your eyes and say the word "Suzuki" out loud. Unless you're a moto-head or one of those rare Geo Metro fanatics (they exist, trust us), the image that springs to mind isn't very nice. Odds are that the car your subconscious conjures is tiny, cheap and bizarre. It's probably named something forgettable like "Aerio" or totally inaccurate (and forgettable) like "Esteem." Forgettable cars tend to attract forgettable customers. Don't believe us? Suzuki referred to their recent crop of owners as "subprime." Ouch. But, with that pain comes some truth. And in an industry long known for complete and total self delusion, Suzuki's admission was cathartic across both sides of the automakerauto journo aisle.
The Kizashi drives better than basically everything in its class.But what would cause Suzuki to be so blunt? A number of factors, as it turns out. For one thing, "subprime" is so 2008. Meaning that relying on folks with poor credit to snap up your cars because they're so cheap just ain't good business these days. Nor is outsourcing big, potentially huge moneymakers like seven-passenger SUVs to General Motors. There's nothing inherently wrong with the XL7 other than the fact that it's based on the Theta platform, just like the (defunct) Pontiac Torrent and Saturn Vue. Smartly, Suzuki has indefinitely suspended XL7 production. More importantly, rather than not making bad cars, Suzuki might just be in the middle of a product renaissance.
Those familiar with the plucky little SX4 are well aware that it's a great driving, high content, practical hatch that's incredibly inexpensive (name another car featuring all-wheel drive and navigation for under $18,000). But you may not know the SX4 is half-Fiat, penned by none other than Giugiaro and half-designed by the Italian giant. So what Suzuki needs to really pull off a rebirth (or at least the early stages of a rebirth) is a fully 100% Suzuki-designed car that's not just "good enough," but "better than." And according to Suzuki, the all new 2010 Kizashi is indeed such a vehicle. But is it?
Outside of North America, the Golf has been Volkswagen's bread-and-butter model for more than three decades, making the diminutive hatch one of the best selling global vehicles since its mid-Seventies launch as the Beetle's successor. But in the States, it's a totally different story. Except for a few brief periods when fuel prices spiked, the GolfRabbit has always played second fiddle to the Jetta – little more than a Golf with a trunk.
While the sixth generation Golf has been on sale in Europe for nearly a year, U.S.-spec versions are beginning to trickle into retailers on this side of the Atlantic. But before you head down to your local V-Dub dealer to check out the newest Golf (and buy a Jetta instead), we made the trek to Germany to sample the latest iteration of VW's workhorse in and around its Wolfsburg birthplace. Is the new Golf finally enough to woo hatch-averse Americans out of their sedans and into something with an added helping of practicality?
Performance Icon. That two-word phrase is bandied about so often there's hardly any meaning left in its 15 letters. After all, if a Porsche 911 is rightly referred to as a performance icon, can we call a Honda Civic Si the same? And are we talking any old 911Civic Si, or just certain years and models? For instance, there is no doubt that the B13 Nissan Sentra SE-R, with its killer SR20DE engine, is a performance icon, but what about the current B17 Sentra SE-R? How about the Spec V? No way – the Versa has a better chassis.
We mention this problem with the Performance Icon label because Volkswagen described the all-new 2010 MkVI GTI to us as the "performance icon of the brand." As you may have noticed, Volkswagen's been delving pretty deeply into its past for marketing purposes as of late. First they tried reintroducing the Rabbit name much to the chagrin of Golf fans nationwide, and now they have Max, the black 1964 Beetle telling you that VW is "Das Auto." On a smaller scale, it's attempting to remind potential GTI buyers that the new model is both a direct descendant of and flag bearer for the original 1983 MkI GTI. Here comes the begged question: is it?
When the phone rings and the guy on the other end asks if we want to drive a new Ford Mustang, we have to take a moment before answering. While we always enjoy the chance to pilot a new vehicle, we have to carefully consider whether we want to subject you to yet another pony car review. As we've chronicled in the past, there have been dozens of Mustang variants over the past decade and we've covered just about all of them. But we know that just mentioning another Mustang can elicit apathy – if not downright scorn – from our readers. Sure, it's an iconic American vehicle, attainable and tunable, fast and fun, but does the world really need yet another special edition Mustang?
The answer to that question is 'yes,' as long as there's something new in the mix. So when the call came to drive a 2009 12 Iacocca 45th Anniversary Edition Ford Mustang, the invitation was irresistible. Built as a tribute to the Father of the Mustang, it's been a long time coming. The real question is whether this limited edition 'Stang will be distinctive enough to stand out among the hundreds of other variants since its birth in 1964. We stopped by the car's builder, Metalcrafters, in Fountain Valley, California to find out. Read on to find out what we think about Lido's tribute.
Acura calls its all-new ZDX "a provocative luxury four-door sports coupe," adding that it's a "passionate getaway" vehicle designed for "a couple, their belongings, and more." The proclamation is a twist on a pitch we've heard before, yet with an even narrower segment focus. While the marketplace has come to accept the stylishly squashed Mercedes-Benz CLS, Volkswagen CC and Jaguar XF into the non-sedan segment, this new niche – pioneered by the BMW X6 and accepted by consumers if only because the Bavarian delivers the goods – is still a substantial risk that could require a hard sell with pithy prose.
So to kick-off Acura's all-new non-SUV, the automaker invited us to Southern California to drive the latest addition to its growing family. Constructed on the familiar MDX platform and sharing its powertrain, the ZDX pushes the automaker's styling and innovation to the limit – it's certainly not bland or boring. However, is there enough substance under the style to win buyers in this newly targeted segment? What game-winning cards, if any, does Acura really hold with its latest "sports coupe" SUV? Follow the jump to find out.
The first and possibly most important thing you need to know about the new 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster is that Nissan knew it'd be building a convertible from day one. Over beers and some yummy Asian food with Bruce Campbell, Nissan's VP of design, we learned that the 350Z Roadster was an afterthought – at least from a design standpoint. In other words, when Campbell's team penned the 350Z, they weren't thinking the top would be coming off. Which is why the convertible 350Z was – to be kind – awkward looking.
The trophy for best looking Z convertible sits squarely on the 370Z Roadster's mantle. With the 370Z, however, Campbell's team actually started by sketching the roadster first and the coupe was somewhat of an afterthought. Not totally, of course – they knew there would be a hardtop – but the regular 370Z's creased and angled roof is essentially lifted from the GT-R. It's not bad, per say, and after the Nineties 300ZX and the original 240Z, the new 370Z is probably the best looking Z of them all. Probably, because you could make a strong case for the 280Z, funny bumpers and all. And some folks will argue that the 350Z is actually the best looking of the bunch, even though it's a bit too Audi TT for our tastes.
There is no debate, however, about the best looking convertible Z – that trophy sits squarely on the 370Z Roadster's mantle. The 1993-1996 300ZX convertible was just weird, 99% due to the fact that Nissan left the basket handle B-pillar in place. It also came with an MSRP of $44,678 – over a decade ago. Comparing the 370Z to its forebearer, the last model looked painfully hemorrhoidal. Junk in the trunk and then some. Top up it looked like the car was wearing an ill-fitting wig. The "design" didn't work because, as Campbell it explained, it was more marketed than designed. This time out, all one has to do is take in the deeply curved mainline to grok the essence of Z.
In just under ten months, this blogger has gone from not having been inside a Mustang in 13 years (and a used one at that), to driving, in this order, a 2010 Mustang GT, a Mustang GT with the Track Pack, a Shelby GT500 Mustang and a Roush 427R. That sequence also defines our order of favorites; every successive steed has made us say "We have a new favorite!" In Monterey, we were handed the keys to the brand new 750-horsepower Shelby GT500 Super Snake, and when we gave them back we not only said: "We have a new favorite," we declared "All hail, we have a new king!"
On a gravel-strewn, dead-end road 20 miles north of Sonoma, California's Infineon Raceway, the opportunity finally presents itself. We slot the R8's gated shifter into first, rev the engine to 3,500 RPM and drop the clutch. No wheel spin, no screeching tires, just an immediate and seamless conversion of potential energy into vision-warping thrust. Our skull snaps back into the headrest, our spine compresses against the seat and a few seconds later, we are running into the red.
As we hit the fuel cutoff at 8,750 RPM, it dawns on us: we totally forgot to breathe.
If forward momentum is so seamless and instantaneous that it temporarily halts the most basic of human needs, you know you're piloting something special. And the 2010 Audi R8 V10 is very, very special.
"How fast can you take it?" I ask Craig Spuhler, Rossion's technical engineer and my passenger at this particular moment in time. "About 75 mph with an 85 mph exit speed." I was behind the wheel of a Rossion Q1 winding my way up a 270-degree decreasing radius on-ramp that shoots straight onto Florida's I-95. As Spuhler has put more miles on Rossions than anyone else alive, and I'd been in the car all of 15 minutes, I decided that 65 mph was a nice, sane, journalist-safe speed. Even in fourth gear there was enough twin-turbo'd torque to get me to 80 mph by the end of the ramp. Truth is, I could've done the deed at 75 mph in third, if not much, much faster.
Although some of us have an unabashed love for all-things off-road, the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor didn't register a huge blip on our collective radar. We figured it would be a performance kit that was much more kit than performance, or an off-road wunderkind that makes life a Hobbesian kind of brutish when used anywhere but the moon. We spent two days in Southern California, one of which in the Raptor's Anza Borrego Desert birthplace, to discover one thing: We were wrong. The Raptor is all that. And a bag of chips. And dessert.
