Automotive Reviews
Road tests
2005 Ford Ranger Edge Tremor
Dec 8th
Consider the case of the Ford Ranger. It’s old. It’s outdated. Every other compact pickup truck on the market has grown larger, more powerful, and more refined in recent years, and some of them have gone through an entire generation or two since the last significant update to the Ranger in 1993 or so. And yet every time we slip behind the wheel of a Ranger, we’re struck by the just-rightness of it. Has Ford really been neglecting its compact truck for the past decade, or have they chosen not to mess with a good thing?
Ranger STX pictured.
For 2005, another round of evolutionary changes includes skid plates for 4×4 models and new 15″ and 16″ wheels. That’s it? Yup. The compact pickup market has softened in recent years, eaten up by SUVs and increasingly people-friendly full-size trucks, and the Ranger still manages to outsell its competitors. It’s been the best-selling compact pickup for seventeen years, so clearly Ford’s done something right. More >
2006 Hyundai Sonata
Dec 8th
Don’t call this an “impressive effort,” because it’s the real deal. Hyundai knows what it’s doing, and the all-new Sonata is merely impossible-to-ignore evidence of this fact. This completely redesigned sedan aims to do nothing less than go after the heart of the family sedan market. Flashy and dripping with sex appeal it’s not, but the 2006 Hyundai Sonata is nonetheless a big deal, because it represents just how good the low-priced Korean offerings have become.
Is Hyundai ready to challenge Toyota and Honda on the turf they helped create? Compared to its predecessor, the new Sonata is larger, more stylish and more powerful. Park it next to an Accord or Camry and it fits right in; the bargain-basement look and feel of past Hyundais is long gone. The Sonata is also built in the United States, at Hyundai’s brand-new Montgomery, Alabama plant. More >
2006 Hummer H3
Dec 8th
The notion of a “smaller, gentler Hummer” seems like an oxymoron, but here it is. The latest vehicle from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s favorite brand downsizes the burly paramilitary look even further, creating a more affordable and easier-to-drive variant. Hummer’s first mid-size SUV retains the brand’s larger-than-life look and extreme off-road ability, but it’s got a more realistic size, the better to adapt to life in the ‘burbs, right?
Well, sort of. Since it’s based on the Chevrolet Colorado, sharing a platform and powerplant with that pickup, it’s easy to assume that the H3 is intended to be a mass-market family-hauler. Like the rest of the Hummer lineup, though, the H3 is part highly specialized off-roading tool and part boutique vehicle. More >