If it looks like a Mini, sounds like a Mini and drives like a Mini, is it truly a Mini? Last year, Autosavant tested this theory as implemented in the Mini Cooper S Countryman: the brand’s first true four-door crossover. Equipped with a six-speed manual, front-wheel drive and a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the Countryman proved a capable defender of the brand, albeit stretched several sizes. But could it stand up to its competitors that offer all-wheel drive and turn the focus to technology?
Tag Archives | SUV
Video Review: 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara
Over the last week we have been driving around a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara edition. Like the large majority of the people who will buy, own, and drive one, we spent most of our time with the Jeep on paved surfaces. We have split this video review into three parts; the first part covers driving a Wrangler on the street. In the second, we take the Wrangler to an off road park to have some fun. In the third and final video, we show what’s involved in removing the Wrangler’s roof; it requires far more than just pushing a button.
Review: 2012 Infiniti QX56 4WD
By Kevin Miller
In previous writing here on Autosavant, I’ve gone on record with the fact that I’m not really a truck person. I like vehicles that feel maneuverable, go fast efficiently, and have just the right amount of space for my family and the things I want to take with me. Last year our family finally had to upsize from my Volvo V70, and the Ford Flex we chose seemed like a huge vehicle, though its dynamics that are more car-like than truck-like.
Review: 2011 Chevrolet Suburban LTZ 4×4
By Chris Haak
I was in Boy Scouts when I was a kid. We had our meetings each Tuesday night at a local gun club, since they were my troop’s sponsoring organization. Aside from parental motivation and self-motivation to succeed at earning my Eagle Scout award, perhaps another factor was the Chevrolet Suburban.
You see, one of the perks of attending Boy Scout meetings at a gun club off the beaten path rather than in the basement of a church in some town is that there was a half mile long stone-covered lane to get to the clubhouse where the meetings were held. All of the fathers in my Boy Scout troop allowed their sons to pilot their cars from the road to the clubhouse, then the other direction after the meeting’s conclusion, once we turned 14.
New Explorer Orders Double Ford’s Expectations
By Charles Krome
According to a report this weekend from The Detroit News, Ford has received nearly twice as many orders for its all-new 2011 Explorer as the company originally projected. But the actual numbers may surprise some people: According to the article, the 15,000 or so orders include approximately 3,000 from retail customers and 7,500 from dealers, with the remainder—roughly 4,500—coming from fleet buyers.
It’s good news overall for Ford, but I do have some mixed feelings about that last number. On the one hand, in the context of a (hopefully) improving economy, it makes sense that fleet orders would be on the rise, especially for a vehicle like the next-gen Explorer, which offers both iconic name appeal and an all-new model. But I’m certain Ford is hoping fleet sales will represent significantly less than 30 percent of Explorer purchases once the vehicle actually goes on sale.
Review: 2010 Lexus GX460
By Chris Haak
Soft, cushy, and comfy. All three words describe the experience of driving the all-new 2010 Lexus GX460, which is basically a softer, more luxurious, and far more expensive Toyota 4Runner. It’s not easy to see any family resemblance when looking at the two SUVs side by side; they wear completely different bodies with different interiors. The Lexus includes a power-folding third row, while the Toyota no longer offers it. The Lexus has a standard V8, but the Toyota is available only with a V6 (also an overmatched four cylinder for 2010, but that option is disappearing for the 2011 model year). Most of the Lexus’ interior boasts soft-touch materials; most of the 4Runner’s interior is covered in hard plastic.
But having spent a week in a new GX460, it’s easy to see why these body-on-frame SUVs are quickly becoming extinct in the marketplace. It’s hard to imagine any scenario in which Toyota would create another generation of the 4Runner/GX after this generation’s life cycle has run its course. There are just too many compromises inherent with this type of vehicle to make it feasible as anything other than as a competitor to other legitimate luxury-oriented backcountry bruisers like the Ranger Rover Sport.
2011 Ford Explorer: Redefining the SUV
By Charles Krome
Okay, I’m calling Ford’s bluff. The all-new 2011 Ford Explorer, as impressive as it is, is simply not an SUV. Or maybe this is just what Ford means by “redefining” the segment.
Think about it this way: The classic definition of an SUV, although perhaps hard to pin down in its particulars, has long revolved around things like body-on-frame construction, towing capacity, off-road capabilities and (lack of) fuel efficiency. But it’s obvious from reading the Explorer press releases that Ford is working off a different vocabulary list. In fact, going through the marketing materials is a near-Orwellian experience.
Review: 2010 Toyota 4Runner Trail 4×4
By Chris Haak
I’m going to begin by mentioning how disappointed I was during my time with the all-new 2010 Toyota 4Runner. Not in the vehicle itself, really – more in the circumstances surrounding my use of the vehicle. In spite of my best efforts to plan a trip to the woods and get the thing muddy, I barely got any dirt on it. In fact, the photos you see throughout this review were taken after traveling over 100 miles to a friend’s mountain cabin for the express purpose of taking the 4Runner off road. Shameful, I know. And it’s especially disappointing given the fact that my friend was warning me for weeks that the road leading to his cabin was covered in mud, and that his parents were upset by the amount of mud on the lane to his cabin.
Instead, I used the 4Runner Trail – probably the most off-road capable model in Toyota’s current lineup – for a week of mostly driving around town and into the office, plus two back-to-back days of extended highway trips. Altogether, I tallied over 700 miles in the 4Runner. I learned a lot about it after living with it for a week and all of those miles, and I came to appreciate many aspects of it. With that being said, it’s hard to understand why families would choose to use a 4Runner as their primary transportation, when so many other vehicles don’t have the inherent compromises in fuel economy, ride, handling, and interior room that an off-road specialists like the 4Runner has.
Suburban Memories on its 75th Anniversary
By Chris Haak
GM’s long-running Suburban – which made its debut in 1935 as the Suburban Carryall – is celebrating its semisesquicentennial for the 2010 model year. (I don’t generally use that word in a sentence; in fact, I had to look it up.) I’ve always been a fan of the Suburban; perhaps that is partly because my parents have owned one Suburban or another for many of my 35 years on this planet. In fact, the Suburban is the longest-running nameplate in automotive history.
My earliest Suburban memory was taking a familiy trek from Pennsylvania to Florida in 1978 (I was three) in the family’s 1973 Suburban, with a tandem-axle travel trailer in tow behind. The first Haak Suburban (or “Sub” in our vernacular) was a goldenrod color with, of course, the classy vinyl woodgrain decals on its sides (much like the one below, but in goldenrod).
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Ernie: I should add one scarry thing about snapshot is, w...
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charly: we cant get it here because americans hate the die...
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Tom D.: Cool! And fun, VW should do stuff like this now....
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Kevin Gordon: George, it sounds like you've experienced the sam...