30 Minutes With: The 2017 Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400

The 2017 Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400.

Publisher's note:  Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days.  Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series are cars that we spent half an hour behind the wheel of during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Days in Monterey, California.

Day one of Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca via Laureles Grade.  Once there, you swap cars with another journalist for the drive back, and then swap cars again once back at the Quail. Apart from an hour's lunch, this is your day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Each run is about half an hour, and driving 10 to 12 cars back-to-back-to-back gives you interesting points of reference about the next one.

My tenth and final car of the day was a sleeper...The 2017 Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400.

Redefining A Genre: The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Touring-L Plus

The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Touring-L Plus.

Having had only a few minutes behind the wheel of the (at that time) pre-production Chrysler Pacifica at last year's Western Automotive Journalists Media Days, I was hoping to get some time at the wheel of a production model.  My first impressions in those few minutes more than a year ago were good ones, but how well would they hold up once I'd had a chance to see a few Pacificas on the street and had the opportunity to live with one for a week?

30 Minutes With: The 2017 Dodge Challenger T/A 392

The 2017 Dodge Challenger T/A 392.

Publisher's note:  Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days.  Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series are cars that we spent half an hour behind the wheel of during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Days in Monterey, California.

Day one of Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca via Laureles Grade.  Once there, you swap cars with another journalist for the drive back, and then swap cars again once back at the Quail. Apart from an hour's lunch, this is your day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Each run is about half an hour, and driving 10 to 12 cars back-to-back-to-back gives you interesting points of reference about the next one.

My ninth car of the day was one of the most fearsome...the 2017 Dodge Challenger T/A 392.

What A Bit Of Restraint Can Do: The 2017 Toyota Highlander SE

The 2017 Toyota Highlander SE.

It has been a little more than a year since our last review of a Toyota Highlander.  That one was a loaded Limited Platinum that nudged the as-tested price perilously close to the $50,000 mark.  For a vehicle that TireKicker has always been somewhat lukewarm about since its last redesign---and don't get us started on the dubious value proposition of the Highlander Hybrid---that was a bit much.

Some good news: Toyota has freshened the look of the 2017 Highlander.  The chrome strip behind the Toyota badge on the grille has been banished, and a body-color strip at what would be the bumper line has been moved up and thinned out.  That breaks up what had been a bottom-heavy and, to our eyes, awkward-looking grille.  It's a definite improvement.

30 Minutes With: The 2017 Toyota Mirai

The 2017 Toyota Mirai.

Publisher's note:  Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days.  Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series are cars that we spent half an hour behind the wheel of during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Days in Monterey, California.

Day one of Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca via Laureles Grade.  Once there, you swap cars with another journalist for the drive back, and then swap cars again once back at the Quail. Apart from an hour's lunch, this is your day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Each run is about half an hour, and driving 10 to 12 cars back-to-back-to-back gives you interesting points of reference about the next one.

My eighth car of the day made up for some small amount of the hydrocarbons I'd been spewing in the first seven...the 2017 Toyota Mirai.

Boyhood Dream Come True: The 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor

The 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor.

When I was a kid in the 1960s, the coolest thing on God's green earth to me was a late 40s-early 50s Dodge Power Wagon.  It was the ultimate expression of a pickup truck.  Go anywhere, do anything.  And growing up in the Eastern High Sierra from 1965 on, there were actually a few of them doing just that for this young man to admire.

Dodge has tried to recapture that magic on occasion (but not very hard) by applying the Power Wagon name to its trucks.  But the folks at Ford, they get it...and when it comes to a modern-day Power Wagon, they've got it.

30 Minutes With: The 2018 Jaguar F-Pace S

The 2017 Jaguar F-Pace S.

Publisher's note:  Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days.  Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series are cars that we spent half an hour behind the wheel of during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Days in Monterey, California.

Day one of Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca via Laureles Grade.  Once there, you swap cars with another journalist for the drive back, and then swap cars again once back at the Quail. Apart from an hour's lunch, this is your day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Each run is about half an hour, and driving 10 to 12 cars back-to-back-to-back gives you interesting points of reference about the next one.

My seventh car of the day was my third Jaguar and second in a row, having begun the day with the XE 35t AWD and just having gotten out of the phenomenal F-Type SVR.  And it was the one I had wondered most about...the marque's first SUV.

Prius Fighter Plus: The 2017 Kia Niro Touring

The 2017 Kia Niro Touring.

It was just over a month ago that we reviewed the 2017 Kia Niro FE, the base trim level for Kia's new hybrid...and our take was that, at 52 miles per gallon city/49 highway and $23,785 including delivery, the Toyota Prius has reason to worry.

Now, we've just finished a week in the top-level 2017 Kia Niro Touring and we're still very, very impressed.

30 Minutes With: The 2017 Jaguar F-Type SVR

The 2017 Jaguar F-Type SVR.

Publisher's note:  Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days.  Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series are cars that we spent half an hour behind the wheel of during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Days in Monterey, California.

Day one of Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca via Laureles Grade.  Once there, you swap cars with another journalist for the drive back, and then swap cars again once back at the Quail. Apart from an hour's lunch, this is your day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Each run is about half an hour, and driving 10 to 12 cars back-to-back-to-back gives you interesting points of reference about the next one.

My sixth car of the day was something I frankly wasn't expecting.  Pre-recession, Jaguars were fairly common in press fleets and I'd drive a few a year.  Smaller publications like TireKicker fell off their radar when times got bad.  In the seven and a half years since I last drove a Jaguar convertible, much has changed.  Namely, the level of ferocity.  In 2009, Jag was building fast, comfy droptops. The 2017 Jaguar F-Type SVR is much, much more than that.