#CarReviews

I recall reading reviews of the Nissan GT-R back in 2008 when it debuted - holy crap, that car is STILL being built! - where it was labeled a digital car for the PlayStation generation. This was often ascribed to the big screen in the center console which allowed for the tweaking of various settings. Reviewers often lamented these changes as a drift away from a traditional enthusiast vibe. It’s funny to see that nearly every sporty car on the road has followed this path of high-tech performance.

And, indeed, there remains a big screen atop the dash in the 2023 Nissan Z. Yet I feel this is perhaps one of the last genuinely analog sports cars around. In a world dominated by ones and zeroes, there are still those who prefer to indulge in film cameras and vinyl records. The Z is a trip to a time when holding something tangible was worth something, and embracing imperfections was better than chasing theoretical perfection.

In general, I am on record as liking the 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It’s one of the vehicles that I would consider buying with my own money.

I am not sure that same consideration extends to the electrified version. The 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4XE costs a pretty penny, especially when you opt for the off-road-oriented Trailhawk trim, and while I like the concept of plug-in hybrids in general, this one might not be worth the dough.

The 2023 Ford Bronco Sport Heritage Limited is purely all about nostalgia. Thankfully, the platform upon which it’s built is good enough to indulge the trip down memory lane.

In other words, if you’re buying this trim of the Bronco Sport, you’re almost certainly doing so because you like the way it looks and/or you like its nod to the past.

Sometimes, a trim level just feels unnecessary. That’s the case with the 2023 Ford Maverick Tremor.

I remember the vitriol spewed towards the newest Acura Integra when the wraps came off. I do read your comments, after all.

Some of it was justified, some unfair, and some I disagreed with but could see the reasoning. Yet it all melted away when I finally had the chance to pilot a 2023 Acura Integra A-Spec.

It was just my luck that I was assigned a 2023 Nissan Pathfinder earlier this year for a week that included a road trip of almost 150 miles.

There are worse vehicles to while away the mile in.

In any urbanized area, parking sucks. City planners hate dealing with parking because those spaces use up land that could be productively used for housing or commercial use. Drivers hate parking in town due to the hassles of finding a scarce spot, as well as the risk of vehicle damage due to the cramped quarters. Fun fact - nearly every automaker, when signing over vehicles for testing to journalists, forbids urban street parking due to the risk of damage.

So much talk has gone into “last mile solutions” within the urban planning space. It’s the idea that commuters might drive to a decentralized parking location, disembark, and find a better way into town. Right now, the idea seems far-fetched, but a stroll through any big city reveals scores of rental scooters and bicycles mixed in with privately owned two-wheelers. There is a market there, but it remains to be seen how big the market is.

It’s perhaps not surprising then that Honda is the automaker stepping up to give this new market a try. After all, the company came here first as a purveyor of small, friendly motorcycles long before four-wheelers entered the chat. With the new Honda Motocompacto, the company is banking on the idea that individualized urban transport can possibly be cool.

A glance at the specs and the body style of this vehicle should be enough to give driving enthusiasts a solid first impression of what it is and what it can do. It’s electric, and it’s a crossover. Double yawn. These are not ingredients from which one makes driving excitement.

But then you look at the badge. Genesis has been building some incredible luxury vehicles, in both sedan and SUV flavors, for a few years now. And upon entry, the BOOST button on the steering wheel gives you hope. Indeed, the 2023 Genesis GV70 Electrified brings genuine driving enjoyment to emissions-displaced motoring.

I spent a few days in the Florida sunshine this week, behind the wheel of a most basic 2023 Corolla LE. It's a design that's been with us for a few years now, a sedan shape so common that it’s totally unnoticeable. Unfortunately, driving it was an experience I don't care to repeat.

Shopping for a car is hard, even for those who live and breathe automobiles. Those of you reading these pages on the day of publication are the ones I’m talking about - you have a compulsion to consume media about your favorite four-wheel contraptions and discuss said contraptions down in the comments. Most of you have opinions on brands and models and often have experience with them to back up those opinions. 

Imagine, however, being someone who simply needs a car, but doesn’t really give a damn about cars. How do those people figure out what to buy? Those folks, if they’re reading these pages, have stumbled here via a search engine months down the line. These buyers have a monstrous task ahead of them, winnowing and sorting all sorts of data and opinions into a buying decision. 

How does a brand like Alfa Romeo target either of these buyers? Most of the enthusiasts in my first paragraph have opinions on a sports sedan like the 2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia you see before you based either upon a historical impression of an automaker that left these shores before the O.J. Simpson trial was decided, or perhaps a few of you have sampled the current incarnation. The other buyer, without automotive enthusiasm whatsoever, likely knows little to nothing of the marque or model at all. How is a car like this going to manifest its way into either of these buyer’s garages, especially in an era where we can actually foresee the end of gasoline-powered vehicles?

How do you make your citified large crossover seem a bit more rugged to appeal to consumers who either spend their weekends playing outdoors or those who plan to play outdoors but never actually do? You play a little dress-up.

The 2023 Nissan Rogue is one of the top contenders for misnamed vehicles.

Think about it. A rogue is daring and dashing and goes against the grain. Rogues stand out. But the Nissan Rogue blends in.

It can be a challenge for me to truly appreciate a high-end vehicle. Having been brought up with the typical Midwestern virtues of thrift and modesty, embracing conspicuous consumption with any sort of gusto doesn’t exactly come naturally. Outside a few wealthy suburban enclaves, much of this region traditionally has valued restraint, and the only acceptable response when questioned about buying a luxury good is to reply that you got it on sale.

Perhaps that’s why Oldsmobile was so successful around here. It gave drivers a taste of luxury without flaunting it.

Times have changed. New media has made the display of wealth - real or imagined - not just acceptable, but basically required. Fake it until you make it, and dodge the calls from the collection agency. So that old-school ethic of consumptive conservatism needs reevaluation for the modern era. I must consider six-figure motor vehicles as a legitimate part of our world. And thus, the 2023 Lexus LX 600 you see before you today. From the outside, it looks as if it should be like any other large SUV, with three rows of seating and plenty of hauling capacity. But step inside, and the story changes. 

I’ve had, for whatever reason, a consistently unfavorable view of Toyota’s Corolla for quite some time.

Not an anti-Corolla bias, mind you. I kept an open mind every time I drove one. And every time I did, I felt let down. And that was before I compared the car to its rivals, such as the usually solid Honda Civic or the ever-improving Hyundai Elantra.

Subaru has given its popular Crosstrek crossover its most significant update in quite some time. The little SUV has been changed front, back, and sideways. But the change that grabbed all the headlines involved the expansion of the Wilderness lineup, which now includes the Crosstrek.