Category: On The Road: Driving Impressions

Dodge Avenger approaches the mid-size sedan market with a me-too package wrapped in look-at-me styling.

Audi A4 3.2 Quattro S-Line is where form really meets function with finesse. Audi has built a great car that would stack up very well next to the BMW 3-Series, Lexus IS 250, Subaru Legacy 3.0R, or Acura TSX, now if we could just get them to lower the price...

The Forenza does not provide a bunch of gee whiz gizmos. It calmly displays the other side of technology … lowering the cost of high quality products for the masses.

It's going to be quite a year. The auto industry is undergoing a lot of change and the explosion of Crossover and SUV performance vehicles is on the rise. Diesel power may take a front seat and I am stoked about the some of the wonderful things coming from BMW, Mazda, Porsche, Mini, Ford, and even our friends at GM. Muscle Power will be back in a big way in 2007 and I intend to visit the gym with some of these new models.

GMC's Acadia could be forging a new sweet spot for the brand.

With Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave, General Motors crossover SUVs get competitive.

For a dyed-in-the-wool cynic, it'd be easy to dismiss the Lincoln MKX as little more than a tarted up Ford Edge. Another case of a redressed everyman's car devised by sinister marketing types to pick the pockets of the gullible wealthy. Sure it uses the same platform, drivetrain, chassis bits and much of the sheetmetal with the more affordably priced, er, Ford. But this kind of misanthropic thinking sells the premium-badged vehicle short in many ways.

Charged with bringing some new blood into Lincoln, the Zephyr has been rejiggered into something different. Along with the mechanical makeover came a (slightly) bolder grille, and extra 500cc of engine displacement, an all-wheel-drive option and a new name... MKZ.

The Hyundai Elantra is one of a string of all new Compact Cars introduced recently (September 2006): 2007 Nissan Sentra, 2006 Honda Civic, Kia Spectra... and smaller entries: 2007 Hyundai Accent, 2007 Nissan Versa, 2007 Toyota Yaris, 2007 Honda Fit. So, the competitive set for Elantra is very busy with better and better cars.

The 2007 Hyundai Tiburon, launched in November 2006 improves Hyundai's entry into the sporty car category. Hyundai expects to sell about 18,000 Tiburon coupes per year in the dwindling sporty coupe market. Its primary competitors are the more expensive Mitsubishi Eclipse and the less expensive, but much less fully-equipped, Scion tC. You can also throw the Honda Civic coupe and coupe Si in the competitive set.