Saturday, December 31, 2011

Update: The Kia Sportage lives up to expectations

Kia Sportage
This week I rented a Kia Sportage from Enterprise, and am happy to report that the high expectations I laid out in my post from a few months ago were met! Furthermore, the Kia was overall better than the Nissan Rogue I recently reviewed. Click through for a quick update.


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Where does the BMW 6-Series Gran Coupe fit?

BMW 6-Series Gran Coupe
The 6-Series Gran Coupe is BMW's answer to the growing 4-door coupe segment currently led by the Mercedes CLS and Audi A7. It follows its failed previous attempt to enter the segment, the 5-Series GT, a rather bulbous sportback based on the 5-Series sedan. However, I can't help but question the strength of BMW's new 6-Series entry. Click through for my thoughts.


Friday, December 16, 2011

Review: What is so roguish about the Nissan Rogue?

Nissan Rogue
I recently drove the Nissan Rogue through Avis and was surprisingly underwhelmed. I was bored by the car's bland exterior styling, bargain basement interior styling, and lawn-mower-sounding engine. This crossover is named "Qashqai" in the rest of the world, which would probably confuse buyers in the US, so it's a good thing Nissan renamed the car "Rogue". However, the name Rogue suggests "maverick", or "different", but instead of seeing a new twist on the small crossover, I saw just another scoop of vanilla. Click through for my review.


Friday, December 9, 2011

Test Drive: Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe vs. CLS63 AMG vs. Audi A7

Mercedes CLS63 AMG
I had the opportunity to test drive 3 of my favorite cars at a local dealership today: the Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe, CLS63 AMG, and the Audi A7 (in that order). In short, what a day... Both Mercedes packed serious punch and growled like no other, causing the beautiful Audi A7 to feel relatively sedate in comparison. I was unable to snap photos of the cars given the salesman's apparent lack of time and patience, so I've chosen some impressive stock photos from the trusty site www.netcarshow.com instead. Lots to cover, so click through for my impressions: