Category: Auto News & Reviews

Owners of the all-new 2012 Honda Odyssey Minivan give the vehicle top ratings in fourteen of forty-eight attributes in AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research. The top ratings are for...

Owners of the 2012 Volkswagen Tiguan Compact Crossover SUV give the vehicle top ratings in sixteen of forty-eight categories in AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research. Owners give the Tiguan top ratings for...

Owners of the all-new 2012 Honda CR-V Mid-Size XSUV give the vehicle an overwhelming win in AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicles Satisfaction Award research with top ratings in forty, that is FORTY, of forty-eight attributes. We won’t list all the wins. It would take too much space, but let’s talk about the ratings of 4.5 or higher out of a possible 5.0 satisfaction rating points.

Owners of the 2012 Honda Pilot gave the Premium Mid-Size Crossover SUV top ratings in twelve of forty-eight rating categories in AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research. Pilot owners give the vehicle top ratings in....

Owners of the 2012 Chevrolet Traverse gave the Large SUV a photo-finish win over the Ford Flex while giving the Traverse top ratings in eighteen of forty-eight categories in AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research.

The Luxury Crossover SUV category is a very diverse segment with several very competitive entries. Owners of the 2012 Cadillac SRX give the vehicle sufficient scores in importance and satisfaction to win the segment with only six top ratings among forty-eight characteristics measured in AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research.

Honda just can’t seem to catch a break these days.  With the fallout from the tsunami, a profit sucking Japanese currency issue, the floods in Thailand, and the media in an uproar over the new Civic, well, Honda’s public relations team is working overtime.  So, is the Civic really the worst car out of Honda in years or has the segment just gotten that good?

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I need to give you full disclosure:  I love engines with forced induction.  Turbos and superchargers make me smile, well, most of the time.  My father had a Lincoln MKT EcoBoost when they first came out and I appreciated the idea of a turbo V6 but wasn’t particularly impressed with the the package.  The front-wheel biased all-wheel drive torque steer and transmission calibration never seemed to be as polished as I had hoped for in a vehicle of that price point.  It could use a dose of that torque vectoring system from the Focus to balance out the massive amount of power.  My opinion of the V6 EcoBoost from Ford was basically “meh”, as I never felt like the refinement was all there.  A stint in a Taurus SHO confirmed this [...]

Although the fad of pavement pounders and soccer moms driving vehicles better suited for the Camel Trophy than the city playground is over, Land Rover continues to offer the LR4 for those who still demand the a vehicle with no compromises. While Land Rover has never been known for quality, they have been known for their off-road prowess. Jeep might be known for something similar, but Jeep doesn't offer anything with the no compromises capability of the 2011 Land Rover LR4. What other vehicle can move seven people off the beaten path in comfort and style and tow 7,000 pounds?

If you think back, GM developed the 2 Mode Hybrid system in collaboration with BMW and Daimler-Chrysler.  Chrysler had about a two month run of Durango and Aspen hybrids.  If you see one on the road you might consider it to be an exotic due to how rare it is.  BMW has a hybrid system in their X6, but it is for performance more than fuel economy.  Daimler has a RWD hybrid system in the Mercedes-Benz S Class, but the fuel economy hasn’t been anything to make headlines with.  While not being much of a success for any party involved in that collaboration, one GM engineer described the 2 Mode hybrid system [...]