RideLust

Thumbs Up: Seamless and abundant power in a comfortable and stylish wrapper.

Thumbs Down: Needs more tire.

Buy This Car If: You want a luxury sport sedan alternative to the BMW 550i.

If you think Jaguars are stuffy luxury cars, down on performance and soft of suspension, Jaguar’s midsize XF sedan will change your mind. Available in hot, hotter and hottest, even base models get the benefit of a 5.0-liter V-8, good for 385 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque. The entry level car will run you from 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds, and that’s the slowest model in the XF bunch. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Drives a thousand pounds lighter than it is

Thumbs Down: Transmission is still just a five speed

Buy This Car If: You’re looking for America’s best blue-collar muscle sedan

Let’s say you enjoy road trips, the kind of which occasionally take you to a different time zone, just for a weekend getaway. You probably want a car that’s roomy, with enough space for four adults plus luggage. You want a car that’s fast, since the faster you get from point A to point B, the sooner you can enjoy some downtime. You want a car that’s good on gas, since time spent refueling is time not spent driving. Finally, you want a car with some entertainment value, just in case you decide to occasionally take the scenic route. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Contemporary styling, comfortable ride.

Thumbs Down: Heavy on chrome and fake-wood trim.

Buy This Car If: You’re looking for a fuel-efficient crossover that can still carry five adults.

If Goldilocks were shopping Ford’s product lineup for an SUV or crossover, there’s a good chance that she’d settle on the not-too-small-but-not-too-big Ford Edge. It’s got more interior room (and higher build quality) than the outgoing Ford Escape, yet it’s smaller than either the Explorer SUV or the Edge crossover. In fact, for the average American family with 2.4 kids and a dog, the Edge is just about the perfect size. Read More…

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…