New Car Review: 2013 Porsche Cayenne GTS




The 2013 Porsche Cayenne GTS.

Regular TireKicker readers may have noticed that, by and large, we refrain from profanity in these reviews. The reason is simple...I started reading car magazines at age 7, they brought me a lot of pleasure and entertainment, and my parents sure as @#$%! wouldn't have allowed it if there was a lot of (or any) bad language in those pages.

But the Porsche Cayenne GTS tests my resolve. I feel like saying a whole lot of bad words for a whole lot of different reasons.

New Car Review: 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek




The 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek.

I have only one complaint about the 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek.

The one they sent me was painted the same shade as Walter White's Pontiac Aztek.

New Car Review: 2013 Nissan Juke SL




The 2013 Nissan Juke.

About a year and a half ago, we did our first review of the Nissan Juke. Bottom line was it was a ball to drive and spacious for people, useful for their things.

But I could never get my brain wrapped around the styling.

Well, I still can't.

But a second week in a Juke...this one a six-speed manual as opposed to the Continuously Variable Transmission in the first car. And now I think I understand the Juke a lot more.

New Car Review: 2013 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ Turbo





The 2013 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ Turbo.

There are only so many ways to package and design a modern small car. That accounts for there being a bit of a resemblance between the all-new, American-built Chevrolet Sonic and the car it replaced, the unloved Korean import Chevrolet Aveo. The second-gen Aveo was so vastly improved over the first-gen that I gave it a largely favorable review. Two and a half years later, it's become clear that was more of a reflection of how bad the early Aveo was than anything else.

The Chevy Sonic is a completely different story.

New Car Review: 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL



The 2013 Nissan Altima.

This is, by all accounts, a watershed year for the family sedan. There's a new Ford Fusion, a new Chevy Malibu, a new Honda Accord, and a new Mazda 6.

Haven't driven any of them yet (Malibu and Accord are due at TireKicker World Headquarters soon).

Sure hope they brought their A game, though. Because there's also a new Nissan Altima. And.......damn (let Will Smith sue).

Now, regular TireKicker readers will recall that we've always thought the Altima was a better car than its sales figures (which aren't bad) indicated.

But this.....

New Car Review: 2013 Cadillac ATS AWD 3.6L



The 2013 Cadillac ATS.

Journalism (automotive and otherwise) is not a great profession if you expect to be told the truth. Oh, sure, it's your job to find and report the truth, but being told it...that's another thing altogether.

Not that the un-truths come in bald-faced lies. Not always. There's a spectrum. For example:

With the Cimarron, Cadillac told us it "behaves like a civilized car should" and "beats the imports at their own game". A bald-faced lie, as those who parted with $12,131 in 1981 dollars for a tarted-up Chevy Cavalier learned the hard way.

A decade and a half later, they told us once we experienced the Catera's European luxury and performance, we wouldn't want to let go. That wasn't true, either, but really wasn't a bald-faced lie. The Catera was European (an Opel with Cadillac badges stuck on it), and the rest can be excused as opinion.

Then came the original CTS. By this point, advertising had matured to the point where it dispensed with hyperbole and just showed us quick cuts of a CTS driving quickly while Led Zeppelin's "Rock And Roll" played for 30 seconds. And then a font that said "Cadillac. Breakthrough."  The implication was that Cadillac had finally found the formula that would let them stand toe-to-toe with BMW.

Not true. But that one we can chalk up to optimism and wishful thinking.

Don't get me wrong. The CTS was then a good car and has gotten better every year since its introduction. But the driving dynamics just weren't there...as good as they have become.

That's why, as I walked to the Cadillac ATS for the first time, key fob in hand, I was prepared to be mildly disappointed. This was the car that, no excuses, was to be Cadillac's answer to the BMW 3-Series. And there was just no way...it was bound to fall short somehow. Most likely in the steering.

New Car Review: 2013 Buick LaCrosse



The 2013 Buick LaCrosse.

Almost three years ago, we reviewed the then-new Buick LaCrosse and came up with the conclusion that while their advertising was targeting Lexus, the car itself was close in a lot of ways but only won when price got factored in. That Lacrosse was the CXL model and it ended up costing $31,000 and change...which put it nearly 10 grand below a comparably equipped Lexus ES350.

Well, Buick has dumped the direct hit on Lexus from their advertising, and now has five trim levels...LaCrosse (base, which starts at $31,660), Leather ($33,870), Premium I ($35,285), Premium II (also $35,285) and Touring ($39,240). As you'd expect, Touring is loaded...to the point that the only two options on our test car were rear-seat mounted thorax air bags ($350) and the Crystal Red paint ($325). With $875 destination charge, the bottom line shows $40,790.

New Car Review: 2013 Ford Mustang V6 Coupe



The 2013 Mustang V6 Coupe.

Way back when....a few months shy of 49 years ago, the Ford Mustang was the originator of a segment called "Pony Cars". Never mind that the other cars in the segment were named after a fish (Barracuda) and, well...nothing that actually existed (Camaro). The Mustang was the standard, with a formula that allowed owners to option the three body styles that eventually were available in the first model year (coupe, fastback and convertible) from, as Ford literature put it, "mild to wild".

In fact, in year one (model year 1965), there were six-cylinder engines making as little as 105 horsepower and V8s delivering 271, allowing for some room between the Pony Car and Muscle Cars like the Pontiac GTO, which in 1965 offered a choice of 335 or 360 horsepower (from the Tri-Power engine, which had three 2-barrel carburetors).

Throughout its life, even as Shelby GT 350s, GT 500s, Mach 1s, Boss 302s, Boss 351s and Boss 429s were brought into the Mustang corral, there was always the "mild" option.

It's not so anymore. For while it looks like a small number in the shadow of the 2013 Mustang GT's 420 horsepower, the 2013 Boss 302's 444 horsepower and the 2013 GT 500's 650 horsepower, the most basic, humble Mustang you can now buy packs 305 horsepower.

New Car Review: 2013 Audi A4 2.0T quattro tiptronic

The 2013 Audi A4 2.0T quattro.

As we've noted here at TireKicker before, the worst part of a successful car is keeping the ball rolling...doing the freshening needed to keep the car relevant without losing the thread and screwing it all up. Last time around, two and a half years ago, I worried that Audi was letting the magic of the A4 slip away.  If they were, they fixed it in a hurry.

The 2013 Audi A4 2.0T quattro is simply tremendous. A car that pulls of the trick of feeling utterly contemporary and timeless at the same time. The timeless thing is important because Audi's had the A4 pretty close to perfect for a long time. To wander too far from what has made an A4 an A4 for the past decade or so would be courting disaster.