Category: Technology & New Features

Mitsubishi has been on something of a downturn over the last few years, even more so than most of the automakers during this recession.  Aging model lines and relatively little marketing have reduced the brand’s visibility over the years despite some exciting turbocharged and all wheel drive products, in stark contrast to Mitsubishi’s relatively high profile at the turn of the century due to extroverted products, catchy commercials, and creative financing.

Without question, one of the most buzzworthy topics surrounding automobiles this year has been plug-in cars. AutoPacific recently got to test three of them.

Two new, completely different high efficiency cars entered the American car market earlier this year, and AutoPacific set out to find out how different the owners of those cars were from owners of hybrids.

In November of 2010, General Motors delivered on a promise they made to start producing the Chevrolet Volt.  Just after production started I had the opportunity to spend a day with a Volt.  While it was a very interesting car to drive for a day, I wasn’t sure what it would be like to drive a vehicle that had the ability to be plugged in, so Chevrolet let me drive one for a week earlier this year.

I have a confession to make.  I was cautiously optimistic with the idea of the A7 when I first heard that Audi had green lighted the program.  Yes, I am fond of hatchbacks but one image was burned into my brain: Accord Crosstour.  The Crosstour was a great idea on paper and a gave people who worship at the church of hatchback another option.  Sadly, the final product hasn’t been much of a sales success as Americans shun hatchbacks.  I won’t mention the fact that many crossovers today are actually hatchbacks but calling them that would be a marketing faux pas.  The Crosstour is looking like another nail in the coffin of slow selling hatchback designs for the US market.  Could the company that brought us the R8 [...]

Delving in to AutoPacific's Research Suite database we find that the buyer of the EcoBoost models are dramatically different than the buyers of the base models.

Our quick drive of the 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV Prototype shows lots of promise. It will undoubtedly be one of the more desirable electric vehicles when it hits the market next year.

We had an opportunity to drive the true flagship of the Audi brand and discover what truly sets the Audi A8 and A8L apart from the rest of the flagships.

Nissan is poised to launch a full electric vehicle in the United States that it plans to sell in very high volumes. Does the product stand up to its high volume plans?

The new Explorer has, by far, the most distinctive styling of all Explorers. It does have Explorer cues, but also cues from the Ford Taurus. Its predecessors were evolutionary from the first generation almost to a fault. The new Explorer breaks the mold and its Taurus-esque cues are very evident.