I loved almost everything about the 2022 Mercedes-Benz C300 – except its price.

I guess you get what you pay for.

Tesla clearly isn’t just a car manufacturer anymore - it’s a buzzword. For some, it’s a synonym for disruption and innovation; for others, that disruption and innovation aren’t all that welcome. And Tesla’s existence is inextricably linked to politics, the ongoing “Full Self Driving” soap opera, and the Almighty’s gift to headline writers himself, Elon Musk. All of this tends to polarize people into “Love Tesla” and “Loathe Tesla” camps, but I think both camps would agree about the brand’s impact - the company has revolutionized the way mass-market cars are designed, powered, and sold.

Minivans are better than crossovers. Period. In a roughly similar package, a minivan gives a family more space for both people and cargo than a three-row crossover, as the floor is lower. And yet there are but four automakers building minivans these days, whereas just about every company has something to fit the Biggie-sized tall wagon envelope.

Toyota is one of the few with both. They’ve recently brought us the Grand Highlander and the Sienna minivan is a shining monument to soccer parents past and future. This 2023 Toyota Highlander may not be as grand as either, but can it Goldilocks its way into your garage?

Once upon a time, the Honda HR-V was a nice little affordable urban runabout with a cramped interior, unremarkable dynamics, and boring styling.

The 2023 Honda HR-V is a much nicer package, with a roomier, nicer cabin and styling that will get noticed – though not necessarily in a good way.

The Kia EV6 gets most of the attention when it comes to Kia EVs. That and the upcoming EV9. But the EV version of Kia’s Niro flies a bit under the attention radar.

The sports sedan, as a concept, once stood for something very different than what we see today. It was a four-door conveyance with a bit more verve than the pedestrian trim of a similar vehicle but generally unadorned with flash and frippery. Subtle differences were a gentle head nod to those enthusiasts of a likewise mind, but an uninformed onlooker knew nothing of the differences between it and a bland family sedan.

No longer. As tastes change and more steer toward lumbering crossovers, the builders of most sports sedans feel compelled to shout both audibly and visually. Roaring, farting exhausts, garish colors, and outrageous fender flares barely covering massive wheels scream “I AM SPECIAL” on behalf of the dwindling dozens of buyers who must announce their arrival among those who can afford the monthly nut. 

Who am I to judge what one buys with the bank’s money? I’ll admit to swooning over some of Germany’s finest at times. But Lexus isn’t typically one to shout. The brand that famously balanced champagne glasses upon an engine in a commercial tends to hew firmly to the old-world belief in subtlety. Thus, this 2023 Lexus IS 500 is perhaps the most Lexus of all sports sedans.

Large, family-hauling SUVs prioritize comfort for obvious reasons. With the 2023 Toyota Sequoia, the brand also tried to be stylish. One mission accomplished, one not so much.

I was a latecomer to the Jeep lifestyle. As the bumper sticker says, I didn’t understand the Jeep thing. I’d briefly driven a couple of older ratty and rattly CJs in my time as a service writer a decade or so ago, trying to pinpoint suspension issues for the techs who were too busy not torquing lug nuts to actually do diagnoses. But the whole thing was an issue, each old Jeep driving poorly on-road - the only terrain I’d ever encountered on purpose.

But then I bought one when our minivan grew old and my bride expressed a desire for more wind-in-the-hair motoring on her commute. Four doors and toplessness seem to be mutually exclusive outside the offroader realm, so to the Stellantis dealer we went. And then I began to see what everyone else already knew.

The 2024 Jeep Wrangler is refreshed, building upon the JL platform introduced in 2017 to much fanfare. Jeep sent journalists to southern Utah to experience the refreshed 2024 Jeep Wrangler in a variety of flavors in the terrain seemingly built for the Wrangler lifestyle. Is it still the one?

A younger, less informed version of myself was a bit scared that once EVs took over the market, we’d all be sentenced to driving boring machines that silently whisked us from place to place but offered no soul, no character, no fun.

While Ford has been shipping all trims of its all-new 2023 Super Duty pickup line to customers since May, production issues have delayed things and you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone that’s actually driven one. Fortunately, the Blue Oval invited us to take a gander at the new trucks at the Ford Michigan Proving Grounds earlier this month.

As first impressions go, the Super Duty led off with a firm handshake and proved that it can be slotted into a myriad of roles. Ford offered up an impressive resume and a sound business plan and allowed us to beat on a few examples to prove its rigs were the correct vehicle for any job.

Sixty-five grand doesn’t fetch you what it used to, it seems.

Yes, sure, prices inflate over time, we all know that. But even accounting for that fact, and even accounting for the fact that electric vehicles are commanding premium prices and likely will for the foreseeable future, I was nevertheless disappointed with the experience of being loaned a 2022 Audi 50 e-tron quattro* for a week.

On paper, the 2022 Volvo C40 Recharge Twin Ultimate seems like a fine compact EV. And it looks cool. Yet it has quirks that detract from the experience – which would be OK if the driving dynamics were just a tick better.

“Quirky” is an adjective that’s been applied to Volvos in the past, in ways both good and bad, and it certainly applies here, though the quirks are more confounding than fun.

Trucks keep getting bigger, don’t they? At some point, one might start to believe that the trend to continually embiggen America’s most favored form of individual transport is further fueled by the trend in media to demonize trucks and their drivers. After all, we’ve seen an overwhelming distrust in and outright hostility to most forms of mainstream news reporting in the past decade, haven’t we? It stands to reason that perhaps some of the engorgement of trucks is in outright defiance of the pearl-clutching screed of the month.

At times, I’ll admit to privately feeling a bit of that disgust at lifted pickups, especially whilst in a drive-thru in my Miata when some yahoo with chromed suspension and wheels nearly drives over me. I don’t know that I personally have a need for something as large as the current batch of full-size half-ton trucks like this 2023 GMC Sierra AT4X. But for now, we live in a world where personal choice and personal responsibility are still mostly the law of the land, and for that, I’m grateful that those who need and want this size and capability can sign a foursquare for it.

You might remember that when yours truly flew to California last year to drive the 2023 Kia Sportage, I didn’t get to spend more than five minutes in the hybrid version. I spent most of my day in the X-Pro, which I was lukewarm about.

A full week with the hybrid showed me I was, indeed, missing out.

Quick, better run out and buy that Type 2 lover in your life some flowers or, ahem, some other plant life. Today, June 2nd, is International Volkswagen Bus Day, according to the National Day Calendar people. Raise a bong in celebration.

VW chose to celebrate by unveiling the three-row version of their all-electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz today in Huntington Beach, California, surrounded by a beachful of classic Microbus brethren. While the two-row ID. Buzz has been available in other countries, we in America are in need of something a bit more substantial, so a proper three-row minivan is what will be offered here.

The Lexus LC rides on an aging platform, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it to drive it.

Well, the much-maligned older version of the Lexus/Toyota infotainment system might give it away. But otherwise, the LC 500 convertible feels as fresh as ever.

Leave to a luxury car that’s priced beyond the reach of most of us to provide the EV future we want.

Enough range to avoid sweating, a smooth ride, an actually well-designed screen-intensive interior, and just enough fun-to-drive factor to keep you amused.

The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq5 is difficult to categorize. Sure, it’s an EV, that much is obvious. But what segment does it play in? Is it a crossover or a hatchback or…

It doesn’t really matter. It’s just pretty dang good.

There once was a time with variety on our roads. Small cars, large cars, tall cars, and trucks once shared the highway in relative harmony. People weren’t ostracized for hauling their families around in a compact car - even a hatchback. But in part due to some creative interpretation and exploitation of federal fuel economy regulations, the SUV and crossover revolution began.

The Alfa Romeo Tonale is one of those vehicles that I expected to dislike and was quickly won over by. Despite being a rolling conflict of powertrains, purpose, and badge engineering, it’s about as enjoyable as a small crossover gets.

I’ve said it before, but I’m getting old. Rather than comparing daycare centers, I’m visiting colleges. I’ve actually purchased cars in the past for less than I just spent on a prom dress for my eldest daughter. My wife and barber tell me that my hair is thinning.

And I ache. While any leg pain I attribute to an old football injury really dates to a drunken fall over a coffee table while watching the Super Bowl, my daily intake of ibuprofen is considerable. So I’m finding that when shopping for a new fun-to-drive car, a manual transmission isn’t necessarily a must-have. Might as well start fitting me for a tennis-ball-clad walker and pants hitched up to my nipples.

A CVT, however, has never been atop my list of favorite transmissions. They seem to suck all the enjoyment out of driving. But when this 2022 Subaru WRX appeared sans third pedal, I had to do a double take. I suppose the flat-brim-cap wearing, vaping, skater bros have to grow up, too. Did their car of choice grow up with them?

Cheap speed is almost always welcome, even if there are sacrifices made.

Such is the case with the 2022 Toyota GR86 – it’s a blast to drive, but you make sacrifices for the sake of fun.

The 2022 Ford Explorer Timberline is aimed at a very specific audience – and if you aren’t part of that audience, other Explorer trims will better suit you.

If you are in that specific audience, this Explorer can do a few things that the other trims likely cannot.

This trim is the perfect example of how use case can dictate vehicle purchase decisions.

The idea of a compact, sporty entry-luxury crossover is appealing.

It’s a sort of a “have your cake and it too” proposition – you get the utility of a crossover, but it’s also fun to drive and at least a little bit upscale. Sure, it’s expensive, but perhaps not out of reach for the upwardly mobile young (or youngish) urban professional.

The Toyota Prius has pretty much always been focused solely on fuel economy. The design was driven by the desire to maximize MPGs. Driving dynamics took a back seat to fuel economy. If you bought a Prius (or leased one) you likely bought it for fuel economy – or maybe because it was affordable.

The redesigned 2023 Toyota Prius is supposed to change all that without sacrificing all that fuel-economy stuff.

Does it? Well, for the most part, yes. But is that good enough to lure in those who have long disdained the car as a wedge-shaped penalty box that existed only to lengthen the time between fill-ups?

The Toyota Crown may wear a well-known nameplate, but we haven’t seen it in the U.S. since the early 1970s. Now it’s back, replacing the venerable Avalon as the brand's full-size sedan.

And it’s … well, the 2023 Toyota Crown experience is just a bit different than what the Avalon offered.

Ford has spent a lot of time touting the electrification of its venerable F-150. But what was it like to actually live with the thing for a week?

Conversation icebreakers and clickbait listicles often start with a similar conceit - a hypothetical question meant to get you thinking and talking. The listicle, of course, answers these questions in a way alternately designed to enrage the reader or to promote whatever crap is being sold by the shady owners of the website that week, but it’s a great method of encouraging conversation.

As I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge for the third time, thanks to Google Maps failing at its one primary job (more on that later), I realized I’d be quite late for lunch. No matter, I thought, since I’d get more time with the 2024 Mazda CX-90.

It should surprise very few of my readers that I’m not what one would call a trained journalist. Perhaps my tendency to write in the first person should be the first clue. But I’ve tried to stick to typical conventions of journalism wherever possible whilst writing reviews here, all while maintaining the more conversational tone expected by the Best and/or Brightest.

It’s in the nature of auto writing, however, that one can’t help but encounter other opinions about one’s subject before, during, and after testing a particular vehicle. TTAC doesn’t get invited to every new vehicle launch, after all, where select writers might only briefly discuss and hone opinions over martinis before racing to get the copy out right at embargo time. No, we get a new car shuttled to us each week - one that’s been poked, prodded, and farted (Ed. note -- sorry bout that) in by dozens of other reviewers before and after - and sometimes we will see (and read) those reviews.

Like much of the world over the past three years, we’ve been finding ourselves planted in view of our television a bit more than in the past. Streaming services have supplanted broadcast shows by offering episode after episode ready for gluttonous consumption. One glutinous show has taken over our screens in particular - The Great British Bake Off.

You may have already seen the first ad for the 2023 Dodge Hornet – it’s a spoof of disaster-movie trailers and it includes a man standing in a city, arms wide open, shouting “let me feel your sting!”

I felt the Hornet’s sting during a day of driving through North Carolina. And I didn’t even need an EpiPen.

I know there's IndyCar racing today, and I think some XFL games, and college hoops, and NASCAR...but if you need a break, take a trip back in time with us.

Try as I might, I don’t review cars on a full-time basis. Blame two kids and a mortgage. That means that my rather unusual hobby is a natural subject of discussion whilst engaged in my usual nine-to-five, where I’m interacting with customers all day long. 

There has been much handwringing lately among us keyboard warriors that the entry-level end of the new-car market isn’t well covered.

Overall, this is true – there are fewer cheap wheels than there used to be. But there are still some options for the first-time buyer or those with shallow pockets. Sometimes, though, there’s another kind of price to pay for snagging a bargain.

Welcome to another Drive Notes, where I compile some quick notes on the car I am driving or just returned to the fleet.

Today's vehicle -- the 2022 Lincoln Navigator Black Label.

Today's TTAC Rewind takes us back a few years to 2016 when Jack wrote up a rental review of the 2016 Chrysler 200.

Last week, our TTAC throwback was a 2012 model. This week, we're staying in that era and bringing you a minivan instead of a sports sedan. Remember the 2011 Nissan Quest?

Those who have suffered through reading my works here and elsewhere over the past seven years likely have suspected - I’m merely using this second career as an automotive reviewer and journalist as an extended test-drive opportunity while I sort out what the next car that I purchase for my own use might be. It’s a happy accident, of course, but a financially-prudent one considering the drastic turns we’ve seen in real-world transaction prices and in interest rates. Not having had a car payment for myself (only for my wife’s car) has been helpful as we squirrel away cash for the pair of teens careening in the general direction of college.

Today's throwback for your midday enjoyment is a 2012 Buick Regal GS.

It’s really easy to love a sporty entry-luxury sedan that has all the right handling moves and doesn’t totally break the bank.

It’s a bit less easy to love a car with Audi badging that seems to be short of some luxury features, features that you no doubt could have – if you just spent a little more.

It’s also a bit less easy to love a luxury car when there are a bit too many interior reminders of the mainstream brand it shares its platform with.

That’s the 2022 Audi A3 Quattro sedan I drove in a nutshell.

As goes General Motors, so goes the nation. Apocryphal or not, the above statement dates to the Eisenhower era when The General was indeed one of the largest influences on American lives. From Dinah Shore to the shores of wherever a GM-built military vehicle might be carrying a GI, Chevrolet and the other divisions once played an outsized part in our world. 

Even in the Nineties as the corporation rebounded from its malaise-era nadir, GM took chances and pushed boundaries. The EV1 drew attention as the first legitimate mass-produced electric vehicle. But the EV spotlight - and Wall Street glory - has been seized by a demagogue and a merry band of followers, making a funky-looking EV genuinely mainstream.

The Bowtie isn’t taking this lying down, but the approach is somewhat novel. Rather than targeting big money from luxury sedans and the like, the volume sales EVs from GM are the pair of Bolts, including this 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV. Deliberately aping the ever-popular crossover market, the Bolt EUV brings something unusual to the EV space - a total lack of weirdness.

Take a gander at Robert Farago's 2004 Ford GT review over your morning coffee. If you're anything like me, you will be jealous.

It’s the beginning of the new year as I write this, and we are being bombarded by easy-to-pen yearly listicles in the “hey, remember this B-list celebrity that died in February?” Like most, I’ll read one or two of these in my downtime out of sheer boredom, and will occasionally notice a critical reappraisal of someone’s supposed genius that wasn’t properly appreciated until they had passed. 

Like people, of course, consumer products have life cycles. And while very few might shed a tear for the untimely demise of a particular flavor of dishwashing sponge, the same can’t be said of automobiles. Even the least popular mass-produced car or truck has thousands of owners across the country, and certainly, some feel a sort of kinship to the model. So even though it seems forever destined to remain in sixth place on the full-sizer sales charts, the 2023 Nissan Titan PRO-4X is worthy of reassessment. 

I’ve long been a fan of Subaru’s plucky WRX compact sports sedan. But as you’ll see when our next podcast drops, I found the 2022 Subaru WRX one of my most disappointing cars of the year.

“Disappointing” doesn’t mean “bad”, to be clear. The WRX is still a joy to drive and would still be on my shopping list if I was buying in this class. But it’s lost a step compared to the competitive set, in part because the newest version makes its flaws a bit more visible.

Ford’s Maverick small truck has been highly reviewed, including by yours truly, so when two (one of each powertrain) arrived at my door within weeks of each other earlier this year, I was curious if my original take would hold up.

Hold up indeed it did, and I came away even more impressed with the truck – though I’d still lean towards the gas engine over the hybrid in most cases. If fuel economy or a few other factors matter more to you, then go for the hybrid. Otherwise, take the gas. But we’ll get to that.

One note: I’d normally do a separate review of each model, but aside from the powertrain differences, the two trucks weren’t significantly different. Yes, one was the nicer Lariat trim, so that changes the feature mix and interior materials a bit – but otherwise the two versions are similar enough in terms of user experience that I’d just be re-writing my own copy for 80 percent of the text if I did separate reviews.

Making a massive brick-shaped object fuel efficient is a hell of an exercise in engineering, I’m certain. There are certain laws of physics that must be accommodated - mass, friction, and aerodynamics all factor in the equation of turning energy into propulsion. Reducing mass, improving aero, and limiting resistance losses from the tires are all ways one might make a truck use fuel more effectively.

Recovering some of that energy used in propulsion is another method - which is what birthed the hybrid vehicle. Toyota has been the leader in hybrids for decades now, which is why it’s rather surprising that it’s taken so long to bring some Prius magic to the full-size truck market. But here we are, with the 2022 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro - an off-road focused, top-of-the-line package that can only be had as a hybrid. But does a simple battery make this three-ton brute a hypermiling champ?

Standing around outside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week, I noticed a bunch of fighter jets taking off and landing from the nearby Nellis Air Force base. It must be unbelievable to feel the G forces when those things accelerate, I thought to myself.

I spent the past few days behind the wheel of a 2023 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe.

Notes? Oh, I have notes.

Standing in the lobby at Mitsubishi’s suburban Nashville headquarters last week, I looked out the window and saw Nissan’s own HQ just down the street. Even though Mitsubishi tells me that it’s just a coincidence that the two offices are that close to one another, the two companies are part of a larger alliance that also involves Renault. Even if it’s not intentional, one can feel the corporate synergy.

Yeah, I know. That title is clickbait. Especially as we’ve told you time and again that there are no self-driving cars, and there likely will not be any self-driving cars for quite some time. Every vehicle on our roads today needs a driver.

But not all of them want to be driven.

While digging up this week's rewind, I saw it surface from one of our own partner forums. So in the interest of corporate synergy, you can take a look over there.

Or you can, you know, just click the link below

Today's drive notes centers around a car I won't review because this loan is short -- just a couple of days, since I am traveling. It's too bad I am not getting a full week with this 2022 Mercedes-Benz C300 4MATIC, but I am enjoying this car. Well, mostly.

There may come a time when this fine publication will need a name change lest we fall behind the times. News articles dutifully report that automakers continue to research autonomous driving technologies designed to keep people safer by entrusting the speed and direction of our personal mobility devices to fallible sensors and algorithms designed by the lowest bidding mathematician. 

Like it or not, the big crossover is here to stay. Three rows of seating that would really be better suited to a minivan or - dare I say it - a wagon shall be jacked up slightly so drivers can feel somewhat at ease when surrounded by all of the other tall wagons, pickups, and eighteen-wheelers clogging our roads. 

Just because the words Sports and Utility are theoretically in the definition of the vehicle segment doesn’t mean that sport needs to be part of the equation. We’ve seen many a big crossover that should never see anything more rugged than a dirt path to a youth soccer field - and many a rugged SUV that never actually sees anything more rugged than that same dirt path, so it doesn’t matter much anyhow. These are comfortable family vehicles with easy step-in heights - no more, no less. That hasn’t stopped automakers from tossing the classic luxury playbook at these vehicles, however. Leather, wood and metal trim, big wheels, and the usual advanced tech features abound on the upmarket trims.

The 2022 Infiniti QX60 Autograph is a noble effort from Nissan’s luxury division for this particular market. Light on the ruggedness, heavy on the plush - can the QX60 find a path to sales success?

Today's TTAC rewind for your late afternoon perusal is about a decade old. Former TTAC'er Jack Baruth was in sunny SoCal and got his hands on a 2012 Nissan Sentra rental.

Hi there, this is take two of our new series in which I give you short notes on something I am driving or have driven recently. It doesn't necessarily mean a given car will or won't get a full review in the future -- it's just a chance to hit some highlights sooner since it can take some time before a full review gets published. And some cars don't get full reviews, anyway.

Today's ride: The 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid.

Enjoy your Sunday evening with a look at the 2018 Lincoln Navigator Black Label, words courtesy of our own Chris Tonn.