RideLust

Thumbs Up: Drives like a sedan, but with the functionality of a crossover.

Thumbs Down: Only transmission choice is a CVT

Buy This Car If: You want a compact crossover with a comfortable ride and distinct style.

It hasn’t even been a year since we last reviewed the Nissan Rogue crossover, and to be honest, not much has changed since then. Park the two side by side, and you won’t see any differences; look inside, and nothing has changed from last year, either. In fact, you’d need to comb through Nissan’s press release on the launch of the 2012 Rogue to find any changes between the two models. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Go-kart-like low speed handling.

Thumbs Down: Needs more power.

Buy This Car If: You want a frugal commuter that’s still fun to drive.

Fiat exited the U.S. market in 1984, a victim of declining market share caused by both the Japanese brands and the changing habits of the American consumer. After decades of offering affordable-yet-entertaining Italian cars like the X/19 and the Fiat 124 Spider, the quirky Italian automaker’s absence was noted primarily by devotees of the brand. American consumers instead bought trucks and SUVs, or dependable-but-bland econoboxes from Japanese automakers. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Solidly built, quiet as a tomb

Thumbs Down: Needs more power for highway driving

Buy This Car If: You want a plush midsize sedan that delivers decent fuel economy.

Sometimes, things are glaring in their omission. If you scan the outside sheet metal of the 2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist, you won’t find a single “hybrid” badge on it. Ditto on the inside, where the only indication that you’re driving something other than a regular Buick is the available battery meter in the information display. Even the window sticker avoids any mention of the word “hybrid,” although if you look carefully you can see the term”eAssist” used in reference to the engine and the associated powertrain warranty. Read More…

Thumbs Up: May be the perfect American muscle sedan.

Thumbs Down: Thirsty when driven hard (as you’d expect).

Buy This Car If: Your idea of a weekend get away involves multiple time zones.

There are very few perfect things in life. Take enough pictures, and maybe you’ll eventually snag the perfect shot (hey, it worked for Ansel Adams). Try hard enough and you may concoct the perfect breakfast sandwich, to unseat McDonald’s Egg McMuffin (although we doubt that very much). Drive a particular track long enough in the same car, and you may eventually find the perfect line. Read More…

Thumbs Up: The most entertaining Buick since the 1987 GNX.

Thumbs Down: Needs more power; creaky plastic dash.

Buy This Car If: You want a compact domestic luxury sedan with a dash of sport.

For those of us in a certain demographic, the name “Buick” conjures up images of under-damped land yachts, leisurely driven by septuagenarians on their way to a 3:00 dinner at the Old Country Buffet. For driving enthusiasts, Buick hasn’t built a car of interest since the 1987 Regal-based GNX. The GNX has become the stuff of legend, with clean examples still trading hands at semi-insane prices. Still, the 1987 GNX was capable of a 0 to 60 sprint in under 5 seconds, and in stock form could run the quarter mile in 13.5 seconds at 102 miles per hour. Back in 1987, that wasn’t just fast, that was stupid fast. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Goes like a V8, drinks gas like a V6.

Thumbs Down: Interior not up to Ford’s usual standards.

Buy This Car If: You want a sporty but (relatively) frugal AWD American sedan.

The American motoring public had never seen anything like the original Ford Taurus SHO, launched in 1989. It was a genuine sport sedan, in family sedan disguise, built and sold by a major U.S. automaker for thousands less than the competition from Germany. It featured a Yamaha-designed, 24-valve, 3.0-liter V-6 good for 220 horsepower and mated only to a five speed manual transmission. Quick for a sedan of its size (by 1989 standards, at least) the SHO could dash from 0 to 60 in just over 6.5 seconds and topped out at 143 miles per hour. The original SHO was a huge hit, and Ford had no trouble selling through its build quantity of 15,519 units. Read More…

Thumbs Up: The only all-wheel-drive convertible crossover we can name.

Thumbs Down: Top down, there isn’t much cargo room; luxury-car price tag.

Buy This Car If: You want an AWD ragtop that seats four in relative comfort.

Sometimes, blending two (or more) things into one is good. The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is a prime example, since nothing goes with chocolate quite as well as peanut butter. Blending a telephone with a GPS device and web browser was another stroke of genius, since it all but made in-car and stand-alone GPS systems obsolete. There’s a reason, however, that no one has ever launched a combination cough syrup and dessert topping. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Stellar interior, great content for the price.

Thumbs Down: Vague, over-boosted steering.

Buy This Car If: You want a domestic luxury alternative to the Cadillac SRX.

Like Rodney Dangerfield, Lincoln can’t get any respect. Ford’s luxury brand spent years mired in mediocrity, and now that it’s stepped up its game no one seems to know about it. Perhaps it spent too many years living in the shadow of now defunct Mercury, or perhaps it’s trapped in a time warp between its traditional (and aging) customer base and the younger luxury buyers it hopes to attract. Quirky styling aside, the Lincoln products I’ve driven offer a solid build quality and a surprising amount of content for the price. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Comfortable, quiet and reasonably priced for the segment.

Thumbs Down: Meaty A and B pillars impact visibility.

Buy This Car If: You want a luxury crossover with a unique sense of style.

Shortly before its demise, GM used the slogan, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile” to shill for its near-luxury division. While the slogan took some artistic license back then (there was a reason why Oldsmobile went out of business, after all), the motto would be very appropriate to use for Cadillac today. After decades of obscurity, bizarre product choices and cars designed exclusively for those who hated to drive, Cadillac has turned a corner. Read More…

Thumbs Up: The first truly new automotive technology in decades.

Thumbs Down: New “lower” price makes car more expensive.

Buy This Car If: You want an electric car that has a virtually unlimited range.

Even before the current post-crash-test fire media hype, the Chevrolet Volt was the most misunderstood and politicized car in the history of the automobile. Detractors called it “just another hybrid,” without bothering to learn what makes the Volt different from ordinary parallel hybrid automobiles like the best-selling Toyota Prius. Worse, they panned it for “only” getting 37 miles per gallon in generator mode, or “only” having a battery range of 35 miles, missing the point of the car entirely. General Motors was upfront during both the development and the launch of the car: for an admittedly narrow range of the population, the Volt is the perfect automobile. For the rest of us, it’s a very good choice for a four-seat sedan that blends battery power and range-extending generator power. Read More…