Auto News & New car review

Neither a rocket scientist nor a car critic is needed to figure out why the Toyota Camry has been America’s best-selling car nine of the past 10 years. This mid-size sedan does just about everything well, and it’s supported by Toyota’s well-earned reputation for quality, reliability and value retention.
One year after a wheels-up redesign, the 2008 Toyota Camry changes not at all. Read the rest of this entry »

The Kia Koup is a sporty-looking two-door concept that features its share of show-car elements, like a neoprene floor, but it wouldn’t take much in terms of styling tweaks to turn the Koup into a production car. Read the rest of this entry »

The Nissan Rogue is a compact SUV in the crossover style, much like the Honda CR-V. Despite the recent trend toward seven-passenger seating, the Rogue seats five. And while other compact SUVs offer V6 power, the Rogue is strictly a four-cylinder, again like the CR-V.
Based on an economy car platform, the Rogue is meant as a daily commuter, not an off-road adventure vehicle. The towing capacity is only 1500 pounds and the available all-wheel drive system is intended more for snow and rain than rocks and mud. The four-cylinder engine works well with the continuously variable transmission to provide decent pickup and frugal fuel economy. Read the rest of this entry »

Ford is getting ready for a battle in Australia for the hearts and minds of performance enthusiasts. Its new FPV Falcons will go head to head with what HSV offers from Holden, and today the Blue Oval from Down Under released officials specs for its souped up, gnarly-looking rear-wheel-drive sedans. Read the rest of this entry »

The vast majority of today’s SUVs and CUVs share the same modus operandi. They’re good for a bus, bad for a car. They’re thirsty, overpriced, overweight and over here. Most now come complete with a market-mandatory third row that’s as about useful as a werewolf at Trader Vic’s. So when I read BMW’s characteristically modest tagline for their new X5 SUV CUV SAV on their official website– “Room for everything except improvement”– I considered myself an honorary Missourian. Ultimate driving machine on stilts? Show me. Read the rest of this entry »