Car Reviews and Ratings

2008 Toyota Prius Review

By Mike Solowiow
May 16, 2008 - 5,872 Views

To my eyes, the Toyota Prius looks like an Area 51 reject: an ungainly sci fi fantasy devoid of charm or beauty. To its admirers’ eyes, the Prius is the latter day equivalent of a Model T or a VW Bug: an automobile whose virtues-- and virtuousness-- transcend the normal dictates of style. And THEN there’s the debate about propulsion, premiums and politics. It’s hard to think of another car that’s been this polarizing-- for both manufacturer (Maximum Bob) and the end user (a.k.a. car buyer). And yet, just as sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, sometimes a car is just a car. Ah, but is the Prius a good car?

2008 Toyota Prius Review continued »

2008 Toyota Prius rating summary and performance review

Posted in Toyota | Car Reviews | 129 comments

2008 BMW M3 vs. 2008 Audi RS4

By Mike Solowiow
May 14, 2008 - 6,059 Views

The fact that we’re even having this discussion tells you how far Audi’s come in the uber-sports sedan sweepstakes. Normally, this comparo would write itself. BMW M3 = driver’s car with super smooth, vicious punch. Audi RS4 = sure-footed supersonic GT with numb tiller. BMW fun. Audi fast. BMW wins. But since this contest was first mooted, The Boys from Bavaria have made the jump to V8 space, while Audi have finally figured-out how to make not dying entertaining. But has anything changed? 

2008 BMW M3 vs. 2008 Audi RS4 continued »

Posted in BMW | Audi | Car Reviews | 29 comments

2008 BMW M3 Review

By Jay Shoemaker
May 12, 2008 - 7,931 Views

BMW enjoys vast reservoirs of consumer goodwill. How else can you explain the German automaker’s ability to flourish despite recent engineering and design faux pas? General Motors would have been a lot further along in its death spiral if it had introduced indigestible shapes, indelicate Bangle butts, interminable run-hard tires, unfathomable iDrive and the ubearable SMG transmission. And so, the M3. Does the new M3 Coupe restore the roundel’s rep, or does it signal another misguided attempt to perpetuate the ultimate driving “lifestyle?” 

2008 BMW M3 Review continued »

2008 BMW M3 rating summary and performance review

Posted in BMW | Car Reviews | 39 comments

2008 Pontiac G8 V6

By Michael Karesh
May 9, 2008 - 9,205 Views

Let’s not dismiss the Pontiac G8 V6 out of hand. Sure, you give up a Smart-and-a-half of ponies with the less powerful powerplant. But 256 horsepower would have seemed like plenty even five years ago. (And the way things are going, it might seem like plenty five years from now.) For enthusiasts who’ve advanced beyond the raw thrill of gut-sucking torque, it’s not the meat, it’s the motion. Yes, Virginia, it’s possible for a car to be fun to drive even if it can’t flatten you against the seatback off the line. Ah, but does this G8 V6 fit this bill?

2008 Pontiac G8 V6 continued »

2008 Pontiac G8 V6

Posted in Pontiac | Car Reviews | 59 comments

2009 Nissan GT-R Review

By Stephan Wilkinson
May 7, 2008 - 19,808 Views

The GT-R is the blind date everybody’s been telling you about for months: incredible body, second in her class at Harvard, fabulous conversationalist, star athlete. Then you meet her. Yes, she has obvious “assets,” but nobody mentioned the halitosis. She graduated with a B.A. in accounting. She’s a great conversationalist, but her voice sounds like run-flat tires with three-inch sidewalls running over a concrete-aggregate rumble and tar-strip slap. She's an athlete, but a grunting shot-putter, not a Sharapova. In short, the GT-R is SO not a supermodel.

2009 Nissan GT-R Review continued »

2009 Nissan GT-R rating summary and performance review

Posted in Nissan | Car Reviews | 102 comments

2008 BMW 128i Convertible Review: Take Two

By Jonny Lieberman
May 5, 2008 - 7,482 Views

My plan: drive the metallic blue BMW 128i Convertible down to San Diego. I could've clichéd down the coast, stopping off in Yorba Linda to do donuts in the parking lot of the Nixon Library. That's what a sensible person would do. But the true masochist always chooses the route less traveled. So, straight from the heart of Hollywood, I loaded up the Bimmer's minuscule trunk, saddled my semi-potent Deutsche-steed and set off through the seriously Lynchian Inland Empire. Unseasonably hot, 97-degree late-April weather be damned.

2008 BMW 128i Convertible Review: Take Two continued »

2008 BMW 128i Convertible rating summary and performance review: Take Two

Posted in BMW | Car Reviews | 33 comments

2008 BMW 128i Convertible Review

By Justin Berkowitz
- 5,356 Views

My biggest kvetch about the BMW 1-Series: price. When you compare the 1-Series to the more practical 3-Series, the cheaper 1 might as well have a bone through its nose and wear a Fine Young Cannibals T-shirt. Still, no one ever lost any money selling BMWs to well-heeled consumers whose desire for status trumps… everything. Given that the majority of the brand’s fan base are insensitive to matters of relative worth-- other than new hotness-- the drop-top 128i has less of a hill to climb than the rest of the “I’m-not-a-3-Series, not yet an icon” 1ers. So, does it?

2008 BMW 128i Convertible Review continued »

2008 BMW 128i Convertible rating summary and performance review

Posted in BMW | Car Reviews | 19 comments

2008 Porsche Cayenne GTS Review

By Robert Farago
May 2, 2008 - 7,419 Views

Sam Adams Light. Porsche Cayenne GTS. Same deal. Both the American light beer and the German "sport truck" are fundamentally flawed concepts-- made palatable by knowledge, passion and invention. Did I say palatable? I meant enjoyable. You can quaff copious quantities of Sam Adams' 124-calorie-per-bottle beverage without thirsting for "real" beer. By the same token, you can drive the snot out of the 405hp GTS without asking your companion "Dude, where's my Boxster?" In both cases, if you didn't know better, you wouldn't, and you wouldn't care. But if you do, will you?

2008 Porsche Cayenne GTS Review continued »

2008 Porsche Cayenne GTS rating summary and performance review

Posted in Porsche | Car Reviews | 46 comments

2008 Buick LaCrosse Super Review

By Michael Martineck
April 30, 2008 - 11,337 Views

Normally, driving a car with a stonking V8 engine powering the front wheels is like watching Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh make out. It's so wrong on so many levels. Can you squeal like a pig? Just so. Will that pig's snout dart about like an amphetamine-crazed truffle-sniffer? Uh-huh. But here's the kicker: what if it doesn't? And what it you, uh, like it? Does that make you a deviant pistonhead? No, it makes you a closet fan of the quietly nutty, deeply cool Buick LaCrosse Super.

2008 Buick LaCrosse Super Review continued »

2008 Buick LaCrosse Super rating summary and performance review

Posted in Buick | Car Reviews | 55 comments

Third Generation Acura Integra Review

By Megan Benoit
April 28, 2008 - 11,893 Views

Most people drive the Acura Integra like they stole it. Mostly, it's because they have. Or, more accurately, someone else did. Model years ‘94 to ‘01 regularly grace the zenith of the annual top ten most stolen automobiles. Moral outrage aside, the Integra's tendency to disappear is entirely understandable. It's a cheap, fast, infinitely modifiable and reliable automobile that appeals to teenage boys, college students, financially-strapped pistonheads, rice rocketeers and thrifty professionals looking for a set of hot wheels (so to speak).

Third Generation Acura Integra Review continued »

Third Generation Acura Integra rating summary and performance review

Posted in Acura | Car Reviews | 64 comments