Thumbs Up: A lot of content for the price.

Thumbs Down: Plastic upholstery, marginal fuel economy

Buy This Car If: You need a small SUV on a tight budget

If you’re shopping for a compact SUV or crossover, chances are good you’re looking at the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV 4. While both start at a reasonable price, by the time you add in options like a navigation system, they can quickly jump beyond the reach of a family on a tight budget. What if we told you there was another Japanese SUV alternative, with a modest sticker price and a seven-year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty?

That alternative would be the Suzuki Grand Vitara, a compact SUV that comes in both rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive, and gives you amenities like power windows and door locks, fog lamps, steering wheel audio controls, keyless entry and a voice-activated navigation system, all for a price that comes in around $23,000 for the RWD Ultimate Adventure model. Base models, which still come reasonably equipped and include the same warranty coverage, start at just under $20,000. It’s a good looking SUV, too, and Suzuki has done an admirable job of making a box-on-box crossover stand out from the crowd.

Up front, there’s a black chrome grille and integrated fog lamps, which aren’t usually included in this price point. From the side, the Suzuki gets mirror-integrated turn signals, 18-inch “smoked alloy” wheels (on Ultimate Adventure models, at least), a blacked-out B-pillar and dark tinted glass for rear seat passengers. Out back, buyers get a full-size spare with a hard cover, a low floor height for easy cargo loading and a limo-tinted rear window to keep valuables out of sight. Overall, the Grand Vitara looks a lot nicer from the outside than you’d expect for the price tag.

Inside, Ultimate Adventure models come with “water resistant, 2-tone” seats, which are one of my few complaints about the Grand Vitara. While the front seats are comfortable enough for even reasonably long trips, the vinyl material isn’t pleasing to the touch, and smells like, well, vinyl. Cloth seats would be much preferred, even if they added a few dollars to the Grand Vitara’s price tag.

Rear seat passengers get a reasonable amount of leg room and copious amounts of head room, which you’d expect in a box-on-box SUV. Rear seats are relatively flat, but feature reclining backs and are comfortable enough for carpooling or day-to-day errands. Like the front seats, the rears are covered in the same heavy-duty vinyl material; on the plus side, it’s very easy to clean, even if you have young children with perpetually sticky hands.

The dash does use a lot of hard plastic, but the design is still pleasing to the eye thanks to a blend of shapes and materials. Aluminum colored plastic is used to trim the center stack, and it integrates well with the aluminum colored trim used on vents and doors. Despite the use of hard plastic, the Grand Vitara didn’t emit a single squeak or rattle during my time behind the wheel, which leads me to believe it’s screwed together with more care than most low-cost cars get.

Instruments are designed with a bit of stylish flair, and feature a center mounted speedometer flanked by a tachometer and gas / temperature gauge. All three are contained in round pods, trimmed in the same aluminum as the rest of the Grand Vitara’s interior.

Suzuki takes a novel and functional approach to navigation. Rather than building in a permanent nav system, the Grand Vitara includes a voice-controlled, portable Garmin navigation system that resides in a dedicated hatch atop the dash. On the down side, it isn’t as large as nav systems in competitive vehicles, but good luck trying to use those to navigate city streets on foot after you park the car.

Although Suzuki used to offer a V-6 option for the Grand Vitara, that was discontinued for the 2011 model year. The sole engine choice for rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive cars is a 2.4-liter inline four-cylinder, which produces 166 horsepower and 162 lb.-ft. of torque. It’s mated to a four speed automatic (although a six-speed manual is available, but only on base models), which doesn’t help the Grand Vitara’s acceleration or fuel economy. Not that 0 to 60 performance is important in this segment, but the automatic-equipped Grand Vitara will take over ten seconds to reach the mile-per-minute mark, which is slower than most rivals. Worse, the four-speed automatic only returns 19 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway. That’s V-6 fuel economy, but with four-cylinder power.

On the road, the Grand Vitara is quieter and more comfortable than you’d expect. You won’t confuse it for a luxury crossover, but you can easily carry on a conversation at normal volumes at 70 miles per hour. There’s some wind noise, but I’d call it on par with what you’d get from other vehicles in this segment.

If you occasionally go off the beaten track, the Grand Vitara will likely prove more capable that cute-utes from competitive brands. Suzuki has opted to give the Grand Vitara a generous amount of ground clearance, and narrow front and rear overhangs mean the Suzuki can pick its way over or around most (reasonably sized) obstacles. When equipped with four-wheel-drive (which includes both a high and low range), the Grand Vitara should prove remarkably adept at getting you from place to place, regardless of road conditions. In fact, the Suzuki Samurai, the Grand Vitara’s great-grandfather, has amassed something of a cult following as a go-anywhere, cheap-to-run off-road rig. With genes like that, you can bet the Grand Vitara will be capable, too.

My Suzuki-provided 2012 Grand Vitara Ultimate Adventure edition had a base price of $23,094, including destination charge. Options on my press-fleet tester included all-weather floor mats ($125), first aid kit and cargo mat ($115), premium metallic paint ($130) and Bluetooth phone integration ($250) for an as-tested price of $23,714. For comparison, a similarly equipped Toyota RAV4 Sport FWD would sticker at $26,888, while a comparable Honda CR-V EX would list at $25,005 (and doesn’t include a nav system).

The Range Rover Evoque was designed to open doors for Jaguar Land Rover, and to attract new customers to the somewhat stodgy brand. For many American buyers, a Range Rover was nothing more than a way of telling the neighbors you made more money than them (and didn’t worry about details like depreciation or reliability). That may work in the suburbs, but it didn’t play well with young, urban hipsters, who Jaguar Land Rover desperately wants as customers.

Enter the smaller, kinder, gentler Range Rover Evoque, which comes only with a turbocharged four cylinder engine. It’s designed to be an all-weather “lifestyle vehicle,” not the kind of sport-utility you’d take far beyond where the buses run. It’s capable enough when fitted with Land Rover’s Terrain Response system, but it simply isn’t the kind of SUV you’d tackle the Rubicon Trail in.

Motor Trend has a different take on the Evoque, and they’ve just named it “SUV of the Year.” Granted, the competition has been a bit thin in 2011, as most manufacturers move away from gass-guzzling SUVs to small displacement sedans and hatchbacks, but surely there had to be something to stack up against the Evoque. In fairness, we haven’t driven one, but the Evoque is more of a crossover in our eyes than it is an SUV.

What’s your take? Did Motor Trend pick the best new SUV of 2011, or is it all about the advertising revenue?

Image: Jaguar Land Rover

The Land Rover Defender is known the world over as a non-nonsense SUV that will get you anywhere you need to go. Period, end of sentence. It has no luxury aspirations, but it enjoys a rabid cult following that ranges from British farmers through explorers and adventurers to well-off suburbanites who like to portray the image of adventure. The Defender will get you to the grocery store, even if you have to take game trails or forge your own path to get there; in fact, long after the human race has been wiped off the earth, giant cockroaches will probably be driving the last remaining Defenders, at least until fossil fuel runs out.

If you get the idea that the Defender, which has been built continuously since 1983, is a tough act to follow, you’d be correct. That’s why I’m taken aback by the renderings of the DC100, a vehicle that Land Rover says could be the 2015 replacement for the storied Defender. I know appearances can be deceiving, but the DC100 looks like more of a threat to the Toyota RAV4 than to the Jeep Wrangler. If shopping mall parking lot supremacy is the deciding factor for your next SUV purchase, the DC100 looks like a reasonable choice. If getting you to hell and back is your prime consideration, I’m just not seeing it in the DC100.

Image: Jaguar Land Rover

To be kind, the short front and rear overhangs should make tackling most obstacles no problem, and it looks like it has plenty of ground clearance. Those wheels would hold up for about ten minutes on any serious trail, though, and that’s assuming they don’t get you bogged down in the mud first. I won’t even speculate on the durability of the plastic front facia, but if the DC100 sees production, I anticipate a huge aftermarket front bumper business.

Here’s the good news: the DC 100 is nothing more than a styling exercise, or the most basic of starting points for a new Defender design. Land Rover is showing the concept to elicit customer feedback, and I suspect I’m not alone in my criticism. Look for updated designs as we count down the time until launch of the new Defender, and keep your fingers crossed that it will once again grace our shores.

Source: Jaguar Land Rover

An Explorer EcoBoost at Ford's Proving Grounds. Image: Ford Motor Company

Americans don’t buy SUVs because we need to navigate rutted dirt roads on the way to the grocery store or our kids’ soccer practice. If you strip away the mystique, most midsize SUV buyers sign on the dotted line for the ability to haul up to seven passengers plus cargo in relative comfort. Some tow with their SUVs, but most buyers who regularly tow heavy loads also own a pickup truck, and guess which one gets tasked with towing the boat to the lake?

Ford knows this, which is why the 2011 Explorer was a kinder, gentler truck than the one it replaced. Yes, the new Explorer gives up some towing capacity compared to the old one, and it also loses just a bit of off-road capability. Still, it’s all the truck that most SUV buyers need, and the V6 is even a bit of overkill for hauling the kids on their daily appointed rounds.

Enter the 2012 Ford Explorer EcoBoost, which swaps the base 3.5-liter V6 in favor of a turbocharged and direct-injected 2.0-liter four cylinder. It’s got less horsepower than the V6 (the EcoBoost makes 240 horsepower, compared to 290 from the V6), but it makes more torque (270 ft-lb versus 255 ft-lb) and torque is what you feel when you mat the gas pedal.

And mat the gas pedal I did, during my recent time behind the wheel of an Explorer EcoBoost at Ford’s Michigan Proving Grounds and the surrounding environment. The verdict? Just as Ford’s V6 EcoBoost range drives like a V8, the 2.0-liter EcoBoost drives exactly the same as a V6. Mat the gas, and there’s wheelspin, with no evidence of turbo lag. Despite the Explorer’s bulk, the smaller EcoBoost engine does a good job of bringing the truck up to speed, and the engine is neither buzzy nor harsh under heavy acceleration. In a drag race, I’d still give the nod to the V6 Explorer, but not by a whole lot.

EcoBoost models will save an estimated 3 mpg city and 3 mpg highway compared to a V6 Explorer, and the cost for the EcoBoost upgrade is a reasonable $995. If you want a payback projection, it will take approximately 64,000 miles to recover the cost of the EcoBoost upgrade, based on today’s average gas price of $3.61 per gallon.

Are there drawbacks to the Explorer EcoBoost? Yes, and two come immediately to mind. You can only tow up to 2,000 pounds with it, compared to 5,000 pounds on the V6 Explorer, so if you use your truck for hauling a family-sized boat, the EcBoost won’t be up to the task. The other drawback is that the Explorer EcoBoost comes in FWD only, so if you live in snow country and want the peace-of-mind that AWD brings, this isn’t your truck. If you fit into the remainder of the SUV buying public, then you’ll want to take the 2012 Ford Explorer EcoBoost for a test drive.

Over the years I’ve come across some pretty ostentatious vehicles, but this sucker takes the cake. This is the SportChassis P4XL from Freightliner and it’s the vehicle for those with severe insecurity problems. It used to be that the Hummer H1 was the biggest and baddest 4×4 you could buy, but compared to the SportChassis P4XL, the H1 is like a Tonka toy. What you get with the P4XL is basically a full-sized big rig with limited 4×4 capabilities, loads of interior cabin space and a footprint the size of Montana. For instance the P4XL has a 174-in. wheelbase, 100-in. width and is 264 inches from front to back – that’s stupid big. It’s also four wheel drive, but with a weight of 6.5 tons it’s not exactly fit for any real off-roading. What the P4XL does do however is make a statement by basically telling the world that you simply don’t give a shit about anyone or anything.

Oh and let us not forget that the interior of this behemoth is just as gaudy as the exterior, in fact you can pimp out your seats with saddle leather with crocodile inserts if you so choose. When it comes to function, just about the only thing the P4XL is good for is towing. Its 38,000 lb. towing capacity means you can pull anything from a full on stacker trailer to a house… it’s crazy. Now obviously this is not a truck for everyone, however if you have $300,000 and you’re one of those people who are looking for the most ridiculous vehicle on the planet earth, then look no further because the SportChassis P4XL is for you.

Source: SportChassis.com

Thumbs Up: Comfortable and feature packed, doesn’t ride like a truck.

Thumbs Down: The V6, though improved, could still use more power.

Buy This Truck If: You want a three row SUV designed for the (sub)urban jungle.

If you wanted to buy a Dodge Durango in 2010, your choices were limited to leftovers on dealer lots, since Dodge put the old Durango out to pasture at the end of the 2009 model year. It turns out that that’s a good thing, since it forced Dodge to start with a clean sheet of paper for the 2011 Durango redesign. Like the Ford Explorer, the Durango has graduated from a body-on-frame design to a unibody design, although critics have been far less vocal over the Durango’s switch to unibody than they were the Ford Explorer. The 2011 Dodge Durango gets two new engine choices as well, starting with a 3.6 liter, 290 horsepower V6, good for 80 more horsepower than the previous 3.7 liter V6, but with about 15% better fuel economy. If that’s not good enough for your needs, Dodge offers their updated 5.7 liter Hemi V8 that puts out 360 horsepower and 390 ft lb of torque. That’s down from the previous generation’s 5.7 liter Hemi V8, which put out 376 horsepower and 401 ft lb of torque, but highway fuel economy goes up by 1 MPG to 20.

Take one look at the 2011 Dodge Durango and you’ll see that the platform and engine choices aren’t all that’s been changed. The styling is completely new and far less “truck like” than the outgoing Durango. Previous generations were heavily influenced by the styling of Ram Trucks, but the latest Durango seems to go it’s own way. Dodge still uses the “crosshair” grille to tie back to other products in their lineup, but the Durango has a look that’s all it’s own. The lower roofline almost makes it look like a station wagon instead of an SUV; if you like hairy-chested man trucks, the Durango’s styling probably won’t do much for you. On the other hand, if you prefer clean lines over muscular flanks and bulging fender flares, I’m guessing you’ll like the way the new Durango looks.

The 2011 Dodge Durango shares a platform with the Jeep Grand Cherokee, but it’s an entirely different animal inside and out. In addition to offering third row seating that the Jeep lacks, the Durango has no pretensions of off-road capability. Sure, it’ll handle the dirt road to your summer cabin without any problem, and it’ll do fine in the snow (although I’d strongly recommend the AWD version and good snow tires), but don’t expect to get the Durango as far into the backcountry as you could take a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Both seem to offer similar levels of luxury, but the Durango is for urban exploration where the Grand Cherokee (if properly equipped) is geared more towards the wild.

Inside, my Citadel trim level had all the options you’d expect from a well appointed SUV. The leather front seats are both heated and cooled, and feature slightly firmer padding than in previous Dodge models (which were always a little soft for my tastes). Both driver and passenger get an inflatable lumbar support, which can actually be raised or lowered to increase comfort. Long days behind the wheel of the Durango would be no problem at all, and even a cross-country trip wouldn’t require multiple visits to a chiropractor.

Rear seats offer decent leg room and great headroom.

Third row seats are better than most, but still best for children.

Rear seat passengers get heated leather seats as well, but the rear seats lack the supportive hip and side bolstering of the front. They’re still plenty comfortable, and the driver’s side seat tumbles forward to allow easy access to the third row seats. As with most three row vehicles, the back row is most comfortable for kids, although smaller adults probably won’t complain too much on short trips.

The dash blends soft touch vinyl with contrasting hard plastic (to match interior color). Citadel models get chrome trim around the instruments, vents and infotainment system, and they also get what appears to be dark wood trim between the upper and lower portions of the dash. I suspect this is faux wood, but it looks good enough and doesn’t pop out like some of the brightly colored fake wood trim does. The leather wrapped steering wheel is heated for added comfort on cold days, and contains the same puzzling array of buttons and controls as used on the Jeep Grand Cherokee. If there was one thing about the Durango I didn’t like, it was these non-intuitive steering wheel controls, especially for the (already confusing) audio system. One back-of-wheel button controls the volume, so that’s easy enough to figure out. The second back-of-wheel toggle scrolls through presets. Unless it doesn’t, in which case it jumps to the next station in sequence. Try though I might, I never did figure out exactly how it worked on either the Jeep or the Dodge. Even the infotainment system was needlessly complex; as I complained about with the Jeep, audio systems should be intuitive, and you shouldn’t need to consult the owners manual for operation. When driving, you shouldn’t need to scroll through three screens to change a radio station, either. Please, Chrysler, fix this for the next versions of both vehicles.

The new 3.6 liter V6 is good for 290 horsepower, yet it returns 16 MPG city and 23 MPG highway. In a mix of both, I saw an indicated fuel economy of 19.1 MPG, which is almost exactly what the EPA tells you to expect. Power from this particular engine is adequate, as long as your expectations are reasonable. Zero to sixty takes just over nine seconds, and the Durango definitely pulls harder from a rolling start than it does for a standstill. Dodge says the 3.6 liter equipped Durango can tow up to 6,200 pounds, but I wouldn’t want to try it. If you do need to pull a heavier boat or a trailer, Dodge offers a revised 5.7 liter Hemi V8 for 2011 that increases the towing capacity to 7,400 pounds. This year’s Hemi V8 is down on power from the last version’s, and it only gets 1 MPG better fuel economy on the highway, so I’m a bit puzzled on the changes Dodge made to this year’s 5.7 liter mill. I haven’t driven a Durango with the Hemi V8, so I really can’t comment other than to say that more power in the 2011 Durango wouldn’t be a bad thing.

On the road, the Durango felt more nimble than the Cherokee despite its bulk. There was noticeably less body roll in corners, thanks to the Durango’s reduced ground clearance compared to the Cherokee. The ride was comfortable without being numb, so Dodge gets an enthusiastic thumbs up for their suspension work on the 2011 Durango. As you’d expect, all Durango models come with ABS, stability control, traction control, trailer sway control and side curtain air bags. My Citadel trim level tester also came with blind spot monitoring and a cross-path warning system, both of which worked well without being intrusive. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but I enjoyed driving the Durango more than any other SUV or crossover in recent months. It stacks up quite well against the new Ford Explorer for handling and ride comfort, and I’d really need to drive the two back to back to pick a favorite.

My Durango Citadel RWD came fairly well equipped and had a sticker price of $42,100 including a destination charge of $850. There were no options on my tester, but the only options left at the Citadel trim level, in RWD at least, are the $695 trailer tow group, the $1,495 5.7 liter Hemi V8 and the $1,695 Rear Entertainment Package. By way of comparison, a similarly equipped Ford Explorer would sticker at $42,490 and a comparable Jeep Grand Cherokee (which lacks the third row seating) would sticker at $42,970.

Cargo space, third row seats folded.

Cargo space, second and third row seats folded.

The Durango starts at just under $30,000 for a base model (called the Express) in RWD. Even if you check all the option boxes on an AWD Citadel, the price doesn’t break that $50k mark; that doesn’t make the Durango inexpensive, but it does make it a solid value that compares well against others in the segment.

The correct answer is 5,000 pounds when properly equipped, which is enough to meet the needs of 99.6% of Explorer owners per Ford’s own research. Coincidentally, that weight also translates to $2.3 million in one-dollar bills, when loaded onto an open trailer. As the narrator of the video demonstrates, the 2011 Ford Explorer also has reasonably good acceleration when towing 5,000 pounds, and can be equipped with trailer sway control to ensure that whatever you’re towing stays behind you.

Personally, I’d have opted for an enclosed trailer and $2 million in ones, just to be safe. Convert that $2.3 million into fifties, and you can probably fit it into the back of the 2011 Explorer with the seats folded down. Sooner or later the narrator will have to stop at a traffic light, or for gas, and that just isn’t going to end well. Enjoy the video, and here’s to more car makers injecting some humor into their ads.

PRO’s: Great ride, wonderful handling, massive amounts of room for the entire family and or entourage.

CON’s: Cramped drivers cabin, only partially adjusting steering wheel, high price.

FINAL THOUGHT: A full size American built luxury SUV, that can hang tough with the world’s best.

It’s over 18 feet long, has up to 137 cubic feet of cargo space and with an interior that rivals most high end luxury sedans, it’s one of the nicest SUV’s on the planet. Meet the 2011 Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum, the Big Dog of American SUV luxury. When I first picked this baby up from GM’s Manhattan storage facility my first thought was – Dear God is this sucker big, but as you’ll see, its size can be very deceiving. The Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum makes no bones about its in-your-face styling and the fact that it dwarfs everything else in the SUV world. It’s a favorite amongst celebrities, athletes and or anyone who wants to make a statement. As for me, I was just amazed at how good it actually was for its size.

Make no mistake, the Cadillac Escalade is a truck in every sense of the word, as not only can it tow up to 7800 lbs, but it can do so while carrying 7 passengers in total comfort. Want to tow that race car to the track on the weekend? No problem. How about skiing for a week in Vail or Aspen – hell, with its AWD capabilities, just load up the family and go. The beauty of this machine is that it can wear many different hats on its basketball sized head and still come out looking like a rock star.

Entering the Escalade is a snap due to its power retractable running boards that deploy as soon as you open the door. They’re silent and provide you with a nice additional step when you enter the vehicle. This is something that is especially useful for those of a shorter stature. Once planted in the drivers seat you’ll notice just how many features are in place to coddle you once you’re under way. Just about everything, including the seats, instrument panel, door panels and center console are covered in hand-stitched leather. Seriously, there are probably 20 cows in here… thankfully though it’s big enough to accommodate them all.

4 DVD screens with full auxiliary inputs are in place just in case your passengers get bored and need some movie or game time. The front cup holders can even be set on hot or cold to keep your drink at its desired temperature (NICE!). There is also built in navigation with turn-by-turn OnStar directions, a heated steering wheel, blind spot detection system, as well as a full vehicle information center.

Head towards the dash and you’ll notice a tastefully done center stack complete with wood trim and aluminum accents. Dash and console controls, as with all new GM cars and trucks are intuitive and easy to use. However it still urks me that I can’t adjust the navigation unit when I’m driving. I know the legal weenies say it’s a safety thing, but I would think it’s got to be more dangerous when one pulls off the road to the shoulder to adjust the damn thing. Another issue was that driver space was actually somewhat confining for such a large vehicle. You see the center console is very wide, which means big guys (like me) need to put their seats far back in order to keep our legs from being pinned up against the console. Combine that with the fact that the steering wheel has only a tilt, not telescoping option and you’ll notice that you’ll be reaching to grab it.

I found the front seats of the Escalade to be quite comfortable, but they offer little in the way of lateral support. Now normally I wouldn’t care, as one would think that the big Caddy wouldn’t handle well. However thanks to the Escalade’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension, you’d be amazed at how well this thing goes around corners for a 6000 lb vehicle. Seriously, I found myself hitting exit and on ramps without a care in the world and pushing this thing harder than I would’ve ever thought possible. It was a nice surprise to see that the Escalade handled as well as it did.

Climb into the rear and your greeted to seating for 5 additional passengers. Two heated and reclining captains chairs, as well as a third row bench seat help provide seating room for seven passengers. The captains chairs are pretty comfy, as is the rear bench, but leg room back there is somewhat limited. The beauty of the Escalade is that even when the third row seats are up, there is still 45.8 cu-feet of cargo space which is more than many smaller SUV’s have in total.

Seats up...

Seats down...

It doesn’t matter if you’re going to the supermarket or the opera, if you pull up in the 2011 Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum you’re making a statement. With big 22-inch multi-spoke chromed aluminum wheels, a huge chrome grill and stacked LED headlamps there is simply no missing this behemoth of an SUV. Not only did the Escalade handle well, but it also delivered a wonderfully compliant ride that was free of bumps and shutters when the road got rough.

I bounced through the potholed riddled streets of Queens and Manhattan and never once did the Escalade balk. Powered by a 6.2-liter V8 that pumps out 403 hp and 417 lb-ft of torque, means the Caddy gets up and moves along just fine. I wouldn’t go drag racing Porsche’s with this thing, but make no mistake, when your foot is planted, the Escalade moves.

Another feature that I liked was the blind-spot detection system that lets you know if a car is someplace where you can’t see it. A small yellow light in the side view mirrors alerts you if there is another automobile in your blind spot. Honestly, I think this feature should be standard equipment on all full size SUV’s.

Before I mention the price, keep in mind that the 2011 Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum’s competitors include the Mercedes-Benz GL, Range Rover and the Infiniti QX56. The Mercedes-Benz GL for instance, with similar options comes in at over $91,000. The Range Rover hits over $87,000 and the big Infiniti goes for almost $76,000. This places the Escalade and its $87,345 price tag right on par with the competition.

So, based on everything I’ve said, would I buy one instead of its competitors? The answer… yes. First off I like the fact that GM is building a world class SUV that trumps the competition in terms of size, features and comfort. Second, Cadillac didn’t compromise on the Escalade’s in-your-face styling and third, I LOVE HOW BIG IT IS! In short, if you’re in the market for a full size SUV and you want the best of the best that America has to offer, look no further than the 2011 Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum.

Looking back at my own life, I can only think of two or three ex-girlfriends who’d want to see me dead. Of those, I can only think of one who’d actually go to extraordinary measures to pull it off, so I won’t be signing up to lease a new Land Rover Discovery 4 Armored SUV any time soon. Jacksonville has a high crime rate, but it isn’t that high and good situational awareness is enough to get you by.

On the other hand, if you’ve got more ex-girlfriends who are proficient with firearms or explosives, live in a really bad neighborhood (like Basra, Iraq) or are worth truly obscene amounts of money, then you probably should give the armored Disco a look. It’s got enough reinforcement to meet European standards BS EN 1522 level FB6 and BS EN 1063 level BR6, and can withstand a direct under-floor attack from two DM51 hand grenades. An IED with 30 pounds of TNT, detonated in “reasonable proximity” to the Disco still won’t kill you, although the truck is likely to need some bodywork afterward. Do I even need to tell you that it will repel all conventional small arms fire? In other words, you’re safe unless your ex is proficient with a Barrett .50 caliber rifle, or has more than 30 pounds of TNT at her disposal.

As you’d expect, an SUV that weighs in at nearly four tons isn’t going to be quick or nimble. The Discovery 4 Armored is powered by Land Rover’s 5.0 liter V8, good for 370 horsepower and a zero to sixty time just north of 10 seconds. Like all Land Rovers, it’s capable off road, although I’d personally avoid deep sand and heavy snow in a four ton SUV. It also comes with their “Terrain Management System”, which allows the driver to fine tune vehicle dynamics (throttle response, steering, traction control, differential lock, ride height, etc.) to the environmental conditions.

Land Rover’s press release didn’t disclose pricing on the Armored Disco, but if you’re a serious client the price of admission isn’t important to you. Buying one is a process that involves dialogue with a security consultant, so the truck can be equipped to deal with your anticipated threats. Once delivered, the owner (or driver) has access to a comprehensive driver training program, aimed at keeping you alive when ex-girlfriends or kidnappers haver other ideas. As if that wasn’t peace of mind enough, the Discovery 4 Armored comes with a three year, 80,000 kilometer factory warranty.

Source: Autoblog

The concept is simple: prove that the seats in the new Ford Explorer fold flat. The execution, on the other hand, is absolutely brilliant: hire smoking hot professional pool player Jeanette Lee to shoot pool in the back of the Explorer with the seats folded. Did I mention that Lee is smoking hot and wearing a low cut dress? And that she spends most of the video bending over? It’s the closest thing to a “Not Safe For Work” ad that Ford has ever produced.

In case you missed my review of the new Ford Explorer, it’s an impressive truck and Ford has yet another hit on their hands. I’m not sure why they’ve resorted to using scantily clad women to sell the new Explorer, but I for one appreciate the marketing genius behind this ad. You’re welcome, and don’t wear out your mouse button clicking “Replay”.