New Car Review: 2012 Ford Explorer




The 2012 Ford Explorer.

One of the maddening things about car buying these days is the wide price range for the same vehicle. It's caused by multiple trim levels. Case in point: The Ford Explorer. You can get it in four different levels...Explorer, Explorer XLT, Explorer Limited and Explorer Sport. And from the Explorer to the Explorer Sport, there's an $11,585 price spread.

That's a chunk considering the base price of the base model is $29,135 (we're comparing 2-wheel drive models here. 4X4 costs extra).

13 months ago, we reviewed the Explorer and said "The price is right."

For that one, it was. It was a four-wheel drive XLT, which started at $33,190 and with options rang in at $37,505...a fortuitous price point for Ford, since it was $580 below the Jeep Grand Cherokee that charmed its way into the TireKicker Top Ten Cars (So Far) the month before and still is on the list.

New Car Review: 2012 Toyota Prius C

The 2012 (and 2013) Toyota Prius C.

There's a school of thought that says hybrid owners like to call attention to their eco-friendly ways. If true, some say it explains why radically-styled hybrids like the Toyota Prius (well, it was radical until it became a best-seller) outsell "stealth" hybrids like the Honda Civic Hybrid, which looks...exactly like every other Honda Civic.

So what do you do when the Prius styling is beginning to become mainstream, and you're introducing a smaller, lighter, even more economical Prius...one that's less expensive, to boot? How do those people call attention to themselves?

Well, you could paint a huge number of them (including the ones sent to automotive journalists) bright orange. Toyota calls the color "Habanero". I call it "Orange Sherbet With Artificial Coloring".

New Car Review: 2012 Infiniti QX56

The 2012 Infiniti QX56.



You are looking at a thing of beauty.

It's just behind that hulking SUV.

It's the Eastern High Sierra of California, where I was fortunate enough to grow up between the ages of 9 and 18. Some of those mountain peaks top 14,000 feet...especially dramatic since the Owens Valley floor is only about 4,000.

I have fond memories.

Now, about the hulking SUV.

It is the Infiniti QX56. It spent years as simply a gussied-up version of the Nissan Armada but has, in its latest iteration taken things well beyond that. It's as though Infiniti got caught in a time warp and decided an '02 Lincoln Navigator was its benchmark.



First Look: McLaren P1 Supercar

McLaren P1 (Photo courtesy McLaren)

You now have a whole new reason to become wealthy beyond all reason. Behold the successor to the million-dollar McLaren F1...the McLaren P1. Unveiled today, debuting at the Paris Auto Show next week. Full story from The New York Times Wheels Blog here.

New Car Review: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth

The 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth.

For a bit over a year now, Fiat 500s have been making us smile whenever we see one on the street (increasingly common near TireKicker World Headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, where they seem to be selling well). Regular TireKicker readers will recall that we liked the first 500 we drove...the 500C...last fall.

All well and good...but no preparation whatsoever for the ear-to-ear grin and maniacal laughter produced by the Fiat 500 Abarth.

What's an Abarth? Well, it's an Italian racing company founded by the late Karl Abarth in 1949, and which began building hot versions of Fiats in 1952. Fiat bought Abarth outright in 1971, but allowed the name to descend to trim level packages and not much else by the 90s.

But Abarth is back, and a great way to make a statement that Abarth means fast is to take a 2,533 pound Fiat 500 and swap the 101 horsepower 1.4-liter four-cylinder with a turbo version making 160 horsepower.

Or as Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson called the Abarth, "A small, cuddly pet mouse that can be used for killing burglars."

New Car Review: 2012 Lexus CT 200h Premium F Sport




The 2012 Lexus CT 200h Premium F Sport.

Regular TireKicker readers will recall that just 13 months ago we were puzzling over the place of the CT 200h in the universe...or at least in Lexus' lineup.

Our questions revolved around whether Lexus needed another small car (question since answered...they've killed off the over-priced HS 250h, the closest Lexus has ever come to the Cadillac Cimarron or Lincoln Versailles).

Well, sales are up 500% so far this year over last, so apparently, there is a market for a small Lexus hybrid hatchback.

Now...how about a performance model?

TireKicker's 4th Anniversary!

  

There's only one thing more intimidating to a writer than a blank sheet of paper. And that's day one of an online venture. It's not just a single page with not a mark on it...it's infinity. And that's where yours truly was four years ago today, August 24, 2008, when I sat down to begin writing the first review for TireKicker.

11 years of reviewing automobiles in other media (radio and TV) still didn't erase the apprehension of the unknown...of dipping that toe into the water. It has turned out more than fine. 48 months, more than 600 reviews and articles and an ever-growing number of readers in all 50 states and many countries around the globe.

As we enter year five, we're as always looking for ways to make TireKicker better, smarter, and most important...more useful to you. If you have a suggestion, by all means, use the comment button below or drop us an email at tirekickerblog@gmail.com .

Most of all, thank you for your readership. Please support our advertisers (don't miss Zipcar's $25 off special in the right-hand column). And if you're a business owner, why not consider what TireKicker can do for you?

New Car Review: 2013 Ford Flex




The 2013 Ford Flex.

I parked the new, mildly facelifted 2013 Ford Flex next to a 2012 in a shopping center parking lot a few days ago. By coincidence, the woman who owned the '12 and I came out of the store at the same time. She saw me opening the '13 and asked:

"Where did you go to get your Flex customized like that? I LOVE it!"

That, my friends, is the sign of a successful freshening. Most of the time, you still can't tell last year's model from this years. With a shape as distinctive as the Flex's, that risk is increased. But the new grille and "I didn't know you could make them like that" headlamps transform the Flex.

New Car Review: 2013 Scion FR-S




The 2013 Scion FR-S.

For eight years now, Scion has been plugging away (or flailing about, depending on how you look at it) trying to finally be what Toyota intended it to be...the first truly hip youth brand in cars. The formula: Keep prices low, make the styling a bit out of the box, and make sure it's got a killer audio system.

The first-generation xB (aka "The Toaster") was a mild success, but the second generation xB....not so much. The xD sedan is virtually a synonym for "meh" (would anyone really buy an xD over the new Toyota Yaris...or even the old Toyota Yaris, for that matter?).

About the only sense that Scion has a groove to find has been in the tC coupe.

Until now.