New Car Review: 2013 Hyundai Azera

By this point, I'm going to assume that you've paid enough attention that you're aware Hyundai is no longer the punch line to a joke.  They worked on quality control for most of the last decade, comfort and convenience after that and moved on to power and even....(gasp!) styling.  And in the process, made a couple of standard-bearers (Toyota, Honda) look stodgy.

With the Azera, Hyundai is moving into a highly competitive but somewhat smaller niche of the car market...the big full-size sedan.  It's head-to-head now against Toyota's Avalon, the Ford Taurus and the Chevrolet Impala.

And, in what should come as a surprise to no one, Hyundai turns in a thoroughly worthy effort.  In any other year, it would probably walk off with the prize, but there's the truly remarkable 2014 Chevy Impala to contend with.  So, how's the Azera stack up?

New Car Review: 2013 Volvo C30 T5 M R-Design

Once upon a time, Volvo built a neat little sporty car called the P1800 and, after a few years, the P1800 ES, which had a big glass hatchback.  They were cool-looking cars and went a long way toward furthering Volvo's image as being about more than just rugged, safe boxes on wheels.

A few years back, Volvo gave us the modern-day successor to the P1800 ES, the C30.  In fact, a straightforward stock C30 was one of the first cars reviewed here on TireKicker nearly five years ago.

New Car Review: 2012 Acura TL




The 2012 Acura TL front view.

I am not a fan of plastic surgery. Too many botched jobs out there reminding us every day that the nose wasn't really that big or other bits weren't really that small. In the case of the 2012 Acura TL, however, I'm prepared to say that sometimes a nose job is really what the patient needed.

In case you don't remember the 2009, 2010 and 2011 TL, here's the "before" picture:




The 2009-2011 Acura TL front view.

If you think it's not so wonderful in pictures, trust me...that's a flattering angle. A change was needed...and now, we have one. The TL is, as it was before 2009, a conventionally handsome sport sedan.