Just How Far It's Gone

A sobering article from Peter De Lorenzo at Autoextremist.com about the need for GM to re-name when (is there still a chance it's "if"?) they reorganize through bankruptcy. Read it here.

I Feel So Much Better Now...

After three weeks of agonizing over whether I was too tough in my review of the Chrysler Sebring Convertible, Jon Stewart tops me. Thanks, Jon.

Wait for it...it's about 1:40 in.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Carmageddon '09 - Lemon Aid
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Hyundai Genesis V6 Review

Back from a couple of weeks learning new things and I thought I'd try one of them out.

What you see above, instead of the usual still picture, is a collage from a company called Vuvox. Photos, video, text...all kinds of stuff can be cobbled together to create a slideshow.

Click the square button to the left of "share" to play it fullscreen.

This is a first, stills and text only effort..about 30 minutes of trial and error on software I only heard about yesterday. My thanks to NBC News correspondent John Larson for letting me (and a roomful of about 20 others) know about it.

Is it a new way of reviewing the cars...especially once I get on top of the learning curve? I don't know. I welcome your input.

As for the Hyundai Genesis, important information that didn't fit into the quickie Vuvox:

Five-star crash ratings in all categories.

EPA estimated 18 city/27 highway miles per gallon.

Can Hyundai pull this off? Challenging Lexus (and to a lesser extent, Infiniti and Acura)? Just remember how Lexus started...by challenging Mercedes-Benz with a competitive car priced $15,000 lower.

This could be interesting.

Mazda MX-5 Miata Review

After 20 years, we should all be so over the Mazda MX-5 (Miata).

But we're not. At least, I'm not.

Equipped with a new, larger, smiling grille, the slick little two-seater hugs you until you love it. It's quick, handles better than most any other car you could name, and makes a strong value argument. Base price for the top of the line Grand Touring model is $26,350. The base model? $21,305.

Even optioned to the max, the Grand Touring I drove managed to slide in under $30,000(at $29,170).

It's the modern-day equivalent of the Austin-Healy I wanted as a kid. Only better. Way better.

EPA says 21 city/28 highway. I say go drive one.

Dodge Caliber SXT Review

Now this is more like it.

You can argue the styling, but the Dodge Caliber is a contender in the increasingly popular field of small, relatively economical cars with versatility and a low price.

Way better than the Neon it replaced, the Caliber packs enough standard features that you could order one without options for $17,600 and have a perfectly fine little machine.

The one I tested added quite a bit more...the Security Group, Driver Convenience Group, Premium Sound Group, and a continuously variable transmission...and still wound up with a bottom line (including delivery charges) of $21,465. At that price, the plasticky interior is still forgiveable (more so at $17,600, of course)

Five-star frontal crash ratings (four stars for rollover) and an EPA 23 city/27 highway mile per gallon average don't hurt, either.

If Chrysler's looking for the future...they should consider taking this starting point and constantly refining it. They're not far off to begin with.

Chrysler Sebring Convertible Review

For 11 and a half years, I've told people that the great thing about being an automotive journalist is that no one makes a truly bad car anymore.

Hmm.

Yes, the Yugo is dead and gone...but words cannot express the huge wave of depression that came over me every time I got behind the wheel of the Chrysler Sebring convertible.

Regular TireKicker readers know I have no problem with American cars in general or Chrysler products in particular. I have, prior to TireKicker, enjoyed and given favorable reviews to previous-generation Sebrings and their forerunner LeBarons.

The 1999 Chrysler Sebring convertible was actually attractive and appealing. I mulled over what it might be like to own one.

The regression over a decade here is staggering.

The 2009 model makes a bad impression with flat-out ugly styling, compounds it with a cheap interior, multiplies that with an unrefined powertrain and tops it off with numb handling that still manages to telegraph the feeling that something could happen at any time and it's likely to be bad.

I haven't driven a car that felt so out of touch with what could be built since....I don't know....maybe 1982?

EPA says 18 city/26 highway. Base price $29,370. As tested (with electronics convenience group, electronic stability program, uconnect phone and destination charges) $31,620.

Not that it matters. I wouldn't take one as a rental.

Chrysler makes several fine vehicles. This one they need to get off the lots and off the streets before someone on President Obama's automotive team drives one and thinks that this is where the loans will go.

Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4X4 Review

A Sequoia is one of the largest trees you'll ever see. A great name for a vehicle meant to do battle with the Chevy Tahoe...since Sequoias (the tree) tower over Tahoe (the lake).

You really can't knock the Sequoia on merit...it's a Toyota...solid, rugged, with a reputation that fairly screams reliability.

But what seemed like a great idea at the time ("Let's make the Tahoe look small!") seems like an iffy-ish proposition now.

There are people for whom this size SUV is not only a good match but nearly a necessity. Those folks just need to figure out whether the Sequoia Platinum 4X4 (it would take forever to list what is standard...just surf to the Toyota website for the list) is worth a base price outlay of $57,625 (more than $23,000 above a base Sequoia), not to mention an as-tested price that edges above $60,000 with the addition of a rear-seat entertainment system, cold kit, Dynamic Laser Cruise Control (really!), daytime running lights and a cargo mat.

The timing seems all wrong for that kind of excess...but Toyota's not alone. Chevy dropped off a Tahoe LTZ yesterday. It stickers at $57,335 as equipped. Which I always thought was Escalade money, just as the Sequoia Platinum 4X4 price seems more in line with Lexus SUVs.

Like I said, you can't knock either of these vehicles but is anybody really looking for a version of an SUV that's nearly $25,000 more than the base model? Use the comments feature to discuss.

Infiniti G37 Sedan AWD Review

It's been three years since my last seat time in an Infiniti G sedan. It was the G35 then, and it was my mode of transportation for an up-on-Monday, back-on-Wednesday run to Las Vegas (280 miles each way) for a broadcasting convention.

Powerful, great handling, luxurious without being soft. I loved it.

What's the difference between 2006 and 2009? In a word, more.

Certainly more power. 280 horses back then have been bumped to 328 now...nearly 50 more.

More gears. The G35 I drove had a six-speed manual. The G37 I handed back a couple of weeks ago had a seven-speed automatic...which bumps EPA estimated fuel economy up to 18 city/25 highway.

More features...including stuff Infiniti was probably just beginning to dream about in early '06...like the Infiniti Studio on Wheels premium audio system by Bose with 24-bit Burr Brown DAC and Driver's Audio Stage with 10 speakers.

That's how they list it on the window sticker. It's part of the Premium Package. All I know is it sounded fabulous. And it includes a 9.3 gigabyte Music Box hard drive so all your CDs can come with you and stay in your house at the same time.

Oh, yeah...and genuine African Rosewood trim. $550. An option.

Truth be told, the Infiniti stayed just this side of triggering my "too much tech" alarm...and I have a suspicion that I'd like the $35,750 base G37 AWD (or the $33,250 2-wheel drive) sedan just as much, if not more than I did the $43,015 fully loaded one. But this one is a solid contender in the sport sedan wars...and even if it never becomes the BMW 3-series killer some are hoping for, it will be fun and rewarding to drive it as it tries.

Toyota Tacoma Double Cab Review

"...maybe it's time we got back to the basics of trucks...."
---Waylon Jennings, "Luckenbach, Texas" (1976)

Okay, hold the e-mails. I know Waylon sang "love", not "trucks". Sure would make a great TV spot for the Toyota Tacoma, though. Especially one equipped like our tester.

If you're a TireKicker regular, you know I have a soft spot for the basic...and that all too many manufacturers send out press fleet vehicles loaded to the gills with every conceivable option.

Well, Toyota did the unusual: They built, and then sent to automotive journalists, a Toyota Tacoma (their midsize truck) Double Cab 4X4 with a manual transmission, cloth interior and useful options. And in the process, reminded yours truly what a revelation Toyota pickups were back in the day. Rugged, reliable and reasonable...the new 3 "R"s of autodom (circa 1976, which links us back to Waylon).

The Tacoma comes with a 236 horsepower 4-liter V6. Fuel economy's on the grim side, 14 city, 19 highway, but it's not out of line. It aces every one of the government crash tests (five stars for everyone, four out of four for rollover protection), and generally feels like it will last forever.

All at a base price of $25,695...and that's for the Double Cab four-by-four.

Options on the one I drove? An off-road extra value package (suspension upgrades, tougher tires, skid plates, and tow hooks combined with an upgraded audio system, Bluetooth, sport seats and more for $4,690), daytime running lights for $40, the towing package ($650), floor mats ($199) and a VIP security system ($479). With delivery charges, it came to $32,498, but there's a $950 discount for the extra value package, so the real bottom line was $31,548.

Dump the off-road package, the towing package, the daytime running lights and pick up some floormats from the aftermarket and this would come in just over $26,000...which is a terrific deal for a right-size truck that wins you over with its basic goodness, not a bunch of add-ons.

With $45,000 monster Tundras fuzzing up the image the past few years, the Tacoma is a great way to remind yourself just what a Toyota pickup is all about.