Automotive Reviews
Posts tagged SUV
2011 Kia Sportage
Apr 25th
Man, do you remember the first Kia Sportage? Like the Suzuki Vitara and Toyota RAV4, this compact SUV started life as a two-door, bare-bones, ultra-compact trail crawler of questionable merit. Look at it now! The Sportage is all grown up, with four doors and a handsome, modern body that marks it as a member of the growing compact crossover market. Everything but the name has changed.
To give Kia’s new do-all a workout, I took it right out of its urban-erranding environment and used it for a roadtrip halfway across the country. It’s not unthinkable that a crossover might be pressed into service for long-distance trips, after all; the more carlike ride and better fuel economy than the average SUV mean that it’s actually a decent choice. More >
2011 BMW X5 XDrive 35d
Mar 27th
When BMW introduced its first SUV, the X5, in 1999, it seemed like a pointless departure for the brand, a bit of bandwagon-jumping that was at best superfluous and at worst ridiculous. BMW proved everyone wrong, though; the X5 combined BMW’s automotive handling expertise with just enough towing capacity and off-road ability to take the sport-utility class to the next level. Other high-end SUVs have followed the X5′s lead.
These days, the X5 is more of a large, wide station wagon that can go anywhere than it is a truck of any sort. It’s still got the ability to tow and haul, of course, but with a fresh redesign that adds more painted surfaces in place of utilitarian plastic, the X5 is unlikely to be anyone’s workhorse no matter what its towing capacity is. After spending a week with the diesel-powered X5 XDrive 35d, it’s clear that this sport-ute is more about a comfortable ride and a high-style arrival than it is about tackling muddy ditches. More >
2011 Land Rover Range Rover Sport
Mar 2nd
The Land Rover Range Rover Sport hulks quietly at the curb, looking like a bouncer next to the svelte performance cars parked near it. Land Rover’s hot-rod SUV doesn’t seem to have any idea what’s in store for it, but it looks like it’s confident it can take it.
Land Rovers are nothing if not confident, after all. The brand made its mark by becoming the motor vehicle of choice in places where there were no roads. In recent years, the luxury quotient has gone up dramatically, but Land Rovers have remained capable, unstoppable vehicles underneath the leather and satellite radio. The brand broke tradition slightly in 2005, when the Range Rover Sport debuted with a focus on on-road performance. The ante was upped for 2010, with new engines and improved chassis tuning. Has it succeeded? I’m about to find out, because Land Rover has agreed to let me take the Range Rover Sport for some hot laps around a real race track. More >