David E. Davis, Jr. 1930-2011

David E. Davis, Jr., the founder of modern automotive journalism, is dead. He was 80.

Regular readers of TireKicker know how much I admired David. One of my life's regrets will be that we never met.  There's a lot to say about David and I think it's said best by Car and Driver's Eddie Alterman. Please click here.

UPDATE:

A few hours later, and there are more things about David E. I think are worth reading.  Autoweek's Steven Cole Smith does a good warts-and-all look at Davis, including a reference to a video you can watch here on TireKicker, where David told of the dream he had involving once-protege' Jean Jennings and a piano falling from a passing jet.

There's Jean Jennings herself, who wrote what at the time wasn't an obit for the just-out 25th anniversary issue of Automobile about her career with and after DED, Jr...and her side of the shift in power at that magazine that led to David's piano dream.

And there's Peter DeLorenzo in a two-days early update of Autoextremist, who paints the bigger picture and makes it starkly clear that, despite the talents of Eddie Alterman and many others, with the passing of David E., the days of the American car magazine as we know it are numbered and the digits are few.

Finally, let's remember the man through his own work and words. His defining moment...the 1968 review of the BMW 2002, which changed automotive journalism from analytics to advocacy and in which David threw down the gauntlet, demanding to know why America couldn't build a sedan like this (he was only a decade ahead of the hipsters and two ahead of the rest of the car-buying public).

And, from 15 years later, the marvelous lunacy that happened on his watch (complete with sidebar by DED, Jr. himself)...as most of his writing staff take 8 loaned press vehicles south of the border for sun, fun, dysentery, public urination, bribery, floods and one dead cow. It took 26 years for Top Gear and its Defense Department-sized budget to finally topple this as my favorite piece of automotive journalism.

It was one hell of a ride. Thanks, David. Rest well.

2011 Lincoln MKT Review

From the back, in black, it looks like a 1940's hearse.

For several thousand dollars less, you can get a Ford Flex...which is what this is based on.

The above two lines are the sum total of the downside to the Lincoln MKT.

There's a ton of upside.

First of all, for better or worse, Lincoln's breaking some styling rules and creating distinctive automobiles. And since the new family grille is a modern interpretation of 40s Lincolns, I suppose the "40s hearse" rear-end isn't a surprise.

Number two, 16 city/22 highway (the EPA estimate, which, for the first time in a long time in a Ford Motor Company product, we didn't achieve or exceed), while not great, is also not bad for something this big, with this kind of power. The MKT packs the twin-turbo EcoBoost engine...and, in fact, 16/22 is the mileage cited for the Flex when equipped with EcoBoost.

And as for the MKT/Flex comparison, well, Lincoln deserves a major pat on the back for putting distance between the two vehicles. This is shared-platform as opposed to "badge engineering". You could drive the MKT and Flex back-to-back (which Ford was brave enough to allow a group of journalists, yours truly included, to do around the fall '09 introduction of the MKT) and spend the next few minutes remarking on how they really are completely different vehicles.

That price difference? Well, it's there...a base MKT starts about where a loaded Flex leaves off ($44,000) and it's not difficult to load an MKT beyond the $50,000 point with 2nd row bucket seats (in place of the standard bench), a 2nd row console with a built-in refrigerator, and Active Park Assist. Put simply, it parks the car automatically. Yes, Lexus got there first, a couple of years ago, but the system wasn't flawless. We've used the Lincoln's ourself. It is.

But here's the thing: It's that distance between the two vehicles I mentioned two paragraphs up. You have to have X-ray vision and a set of blueprints to know that there's commonality with the Flex. The Lincoln is a cut above in style, luxury, percieved quality and cutting-edge tech...including voice-activated navigation. Save home, say "home" and you're guided on your way.


Our most recent test vehicle came courtesy Sanderson Lincoln/Volvo in Phoenix.

Here's a very cool promotional video about the MKT from Lincoln and Ford Motor Company:

2011 Volvo S60 T6 Review

Volvo's been going out of its way to brand the new S60 as "The Naughty Volvo" (see video above). Guess it depends on your definition of  "naughty". The S60 is not for kids, it's fast and fun, it's shapely.....

                                   

    

The days of the boring Volvo are dead, let's give the marketing people that much.  And that's on looks alone. In a week at the wheel in an example provided by Sanderson Volvo in Phoenix, the S60 T6 AWD just got more and more desirable. The beauty here is more than skin-deep.

With 300 horsepower, the S60 is responsive and downright quick. Steering is direct and immediate. There is no tradeoff of ride versus handling...the balance is perfect.

And the interior is an exceptionally pleasant place to engage in all that pleasurable driving. A long way from the plain-jane interior of the old Volvo 240, the designers have managed to give the eye a constant level of stimulation without losing the functionality...everything is exactly where your brain and your hand expect it to be.

What about safety? Volvo's hallmark? Don't worry...it's there...from the basic stout structure of the car to the highest levels of technology that (unlike a lot of cars we've tested) manage to do their jobs without being intrusive.

And, unlike virtually every other car we've tried it in, the adaptive cruise control, which adjusts speed to maintain distance between you and the car in front of you, is flawless. It...and the other tech in the car...simply never put a foot wrong.

Price? The front wheel drive model (with 50 fewer horsepower) starts at $30.975...all-wheel drive at $37,700. Optioned like the one we drove...mid-40s and well worth it.

EPA mileage estimates: 20 city/30 highway for the FWD, 18/26 for the AWD.

So...go with "naughty" if you must. But we think the Volvo S60 T6 AWD is really @#$%! nice.

Did we just say that?

2011 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV Review

About 20 years ago, before my TireKicking days, I worked at KTVK in Phoenix with a reporter named Jay DeDapper. Jay seemed even in those pre-cyber days to have his own Bluetooth and Twitter connections in his brain. He'd know about the best new restaurant in any major city 30 seconds before it opened. He'd have read the latest book about...well, anything...cover to cover while the Barnes & Noble staff was unpacking the boxes.

Needless to say, I listened.

So when I found out that Jay refused to rent anything on out-of-town assignments but Nissan Maxima SEs from 1989 until he went to WABC, New York in 1992 (a refusal that was so vehement that on one occasion the Hertz crew at LAX surrendered and gave him one with a bashed-in trunk because it was the only one they had), I figured I should see what was so great about it. Having had the previous generation '88 as a rental, I couldn't imagine.

Well, Jay (no surprise) was right. Hertz now had two finicky reporters from Phoenix to deal with.

Nissan called the Maxima "The Four Door Sports Car" or "4DSC" in those days. And they were very nearly right. For the times, nothing came close, unless you wanted to up the ante to maybe a 5-series BMW. And our expense accounts, even in those free-spending days for TV news, had limits.

Nissan wandered away from that very successful formula after 1994. It's been 15 years of Maximas that really were just big Nissans: "The Four Door Car" could have been the ad campaign, if Nissan had put any promotional clout behind them (they really didn't).

2009 brought a new Maxima (the top of the line is now the SV instead of the SE), and the return of the "Four Door Sports Car" label. And while size, weight and complexity (find a car that hasn't added all three in the past decade and a half), it's very close to the old one in spirit.

A 24-valve V6 makes 290 horsepower, but with a Continuously Variable Transmission, manages to get 19 miles per gallon in the city and 26 on the highway. It rolls on 18 inch alloy wheels. Moonroof, fog lights, leather, power everything and a nine-speaker audio system are all standard.

Base price: $31,990. The tester I drove for a week added only a cold package (heated front seats, steering wheel and outside mirrors), Bluetooth, floor mats and a rear spoiler...resulting in a bottom line with destination charges of $33,900. A real bargain for what you get.

Is it as good as the '89-'94? Not in terms of sheer driving pleasure. But it's a great base to work from. If Nissan's engineers are allowed to evolve and refine it, this one could be even better.

UPDATE: Everything above still applies, except the base price...now up to $33,530. And the most recent tester sent our way was much more highly optioned...a rear spoiler ($370), floor and trunk mats ($180) and the Premium Package ($3,230), which adds a dual panel moonroof with power sunshades, HID Xenon headlights, premium leather-appointed seats, a climate-controlled driver's seat, heated front seats, a power tilt/telescoping steering wheel, which is also heated and wrapped in leather, paddle shifters, an automatic entry/exit system, driver's side memory for seat, mirrors and steering wheel, an auto-dimming driver's side outside mirror, heated outside mirrors with reverse tilt-down, rear bucket seats, eucalyptus wood-tone trim, a 7-inch color monitor and rear camera, AUX, USB and iPod jacks and a 2.0 GB Music Box with 800 MB of storage.

Bottom line (after $750 destination charge): $38,060.  If it were my money, I'd probably go with the more lightly optioned one from before and, even with the base price increase, come in at or under $35K. But the loaded one is so well equipped and so nice to live with, that I wouldn't talk you out of going for it. This sedan, this well done, with this much equipment at under $40,000 is one heckuva deal.

The Showroom New 24 Year Old Buick

Boulevard Buick in Signal Hill, California has probably seen its share of slow-moving units over its 50 years in business...but why has this brand-new 1987 Buick Regal GNX stayed on the showroom floor for almost half that time?

The fascinating story from the Los Angeles times via The Detroit Free Press.

News: GM To Offer Cordless In-Car Charging

Cell phone charger cords are unsightly and often end up in the way of important stuff like gear shifts, HVAC and audio controls. Now, GM (at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas) is introducing cordless charging technology.

Full story from The Detroit News.

News: Toyota Takes On Sync

 

Toyota calls it "Entune"...and it's their answer to Ford's SYNC. So how is it? Gizmodo has details and video.

News: Ford To Debut Electric Focus at Consumer Electronics Show?

The 2011 North American International Auto Show starts in Detroit next week...but the buzz in the blogosphere is that Ford will unveil its electric Focus EV at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.


Full story from Automotive News (free registration required).

News: GM Shares OnStar

After 15 years as an almost-exclusive GM offering (Audi offered it briefly about a decade ago), General Motors is making OnStar available through its competitors. Vehicles from Ford, Chrysler, Toyota and Honda will soon feature OnStar, and aftermarket versions will be on the shelves at stores including Best Buy.

While I've consistently said I wouldn't part with 2 grand for a factory nav system, OnStar's list of features and price point make a lot more sense...and upgrades to the system happen on OnStar's end.

Full story at The Detroit News.