First Drive Reviews

  • 2019 Volvo XC40 First Drive

    Shooting through the streets of Barcelona behind the wheel of the 2019 Volvo XC40 is doubly appropriate. Not only because the Spanish city has been dubbed “Gothenberg South” after regular visits by Volvo engineers, but also because the XC40 is the automaker’s version of Juan Ponce de Leon: The crossover is built to search for springs of youth in new worlds. Take a look at the vivid Lava Orange interior for proof. Not convinced? How about the pale Amazon Blue exterior with white roof and white wheels, or the automaker’s recently announced Netflix-like subscription...

  • 2018 Jaguar F-Type
    2018 Jaguar F-Type first drive review: fulfilling the mission

    If there was ever a reason to save $10,000—that’s the price premium Jaguar charges for a V-6 over a turbo-4 F-Type—this is it. For 2018, Jaguar has stuffed its new 2.0-liter turbo-4 under the F-Type’s long hood to create a new entry-level model, one that perhaps best...

  • 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e PHEV
    2019 Land Rover Range Rover PHEV first drive: London, here's your off-roader

    A cynic could argue that the 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e PHEV is a compliance special for the well-heeled. But the reality is that adding an electric motor both keeps the world's flagship SUV a viable option for city dwellers in places like London and points toward the future of off-roading...

  • 2018 Porsche Panamera Turbo
    2018 Porsche Panamera video road test

    To Porsche enthusiasts, the Panamera may be heresy. The engine is up front instead of mounted in the middle or the rear. The Panamera debuted in 2010 and immediately became the brand's second-best selling car. Heresy be damned. Now in its second generation, the 2018 Panamera atones for some of the...

  • 2018 Ford Mustang first drive review
    2018 Ford Mustang first drive review: getting serious

    Ever since Chevrolet relaunched the Camaro, it’s effectively been poking Ford, almost trying to provoke its oldest rival with cars like the SS 1LE, Z/28, and ZL1. And Ford has spent the past several years politely asking Chevy to stop with a short string of competitors in the Boss 302, GT500...

  • 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS
    2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS first drive review: fierce and focused

    ALGARVE, PORTUGAL – The most fearsome, trackworthy Porsche is no longer the naturally aspirated GT3. If Nürburgring Nordschleife lap times mean anything to you, the wondrously capable 918 Spyder has also been eclipsed. The latest King of the ‘Ring and sharpest weapon in the Porsche...

  • 2018 Ford Expedition FX4

    For a long time, the Ford Expedition was forgotten—perhaps, even forgettable. Last redesigned in 2007, the SUV received next-to-no attention until 2015, when Dearborn decided to drop a 3.5-liter Ecoboost under the hood as part of the mildest of refreshes. It was fine, the “C's get degrees” approach compared to General Motors valedictorian lineup of full-size, three-row SUVs. But like the college student that realized “C's get degrees” isn't a viable career strategy, the 2018 Ford Expedition has arrived. This is, by no small margin, the most competitive SUV from...

  • 2017 Mercedes-Benz G550 4x4 Squared
    Mercedes-Benz G550 4x4 Squared review: top tax bracket bruiser

    “Hey dude, your car is huuuuge!” We expected that reaction while driving a vehicle with nearly 18 inches of ground clearance through Washington D.C. What we didn’t expect was someone to ask us if it’s a Hummer, though. Come on! This is definitely not a Hummer. It’s the...

  • 2018 Aston Martin DB11 V8
    2018 Aston Martin DB11 V8 first drive review: with a little help from friends

    Aston Martins are known for two signature traits: drop-dead gorgeous looks and bad-ass soundtracks. But how do you maintain the band’s identity when you have to play a cover tune? If he were still alive, I’d tell you to ask Joe Cocker. Sometimes you get by with a little help from your...

  • 2019 Porsche Cayenne Turbo
    2019 Porsche Cayenne first drive review: an epoch-ending SUV

    Back in the 1980s, Porsche knew it could build an SUV. And it knew a Porsche SUV would sell well. It finally got around to building that first Cayenne in 2002. Instincts: correct. Since then, it’s sold more than 770,000 of them. It’s so successful, Porsche now sells a smaller Macan SUV...

  • 2018 Mercedes-AMG S65
    2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class first drive review: driving the most- and least-expensive models

    The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is widely recognized as one of the most luxurious full-size cars on the market, and with that luxury comes an exclusive price. But there is luxury and then there is luxury and there is exclusive and then there is exclusive. We already reviewed the 2018 Mercedes-Benz...

  • 2018 Land Rover Range Rover Velar first drive
    2018 Land Rover Range Rover Velar first drive review: sumptuous SUV

    Land Rover has learned a thing or three since its sale nine years ago. First, pegging your future and bottom line on an all-SUV lineup can be rewarding (except when it isn’t). Second, British automobiles and reliability don’t have to be mutually exclusive (except when it is). Third...

  • 2018 Kia Stinger GT

    Along its journey from builder of cheap but reliable transportation to budding luxury market player, Hyundai-Kia’s strategy has been “if you can’t beat them, join ‘em.” Or more appropriately, have them join you. When its cars looked like poor imitations of melting Jaguars, Hyundai-Kia hired Audi designer Peter Schreyer to give its sheet metal some genuine style. The result was the 2010 Kia Optima, a car that injected verve into the usually staid mid-size sedan segment. But that didn’t change the company's inability to tune a suspension. Or maybe it...

  • 2017 Honda Civic Si First Drive
    Living with the 2017 Honda Civic Si: the good and the bad

    The latest Honda Civic is also the best Honda Civic. That's an easy statement to make, but it's not quite as simple when you add the “Si” designation on the end. Because despite a raft of bad Civics for the current model to overshadow, the reality is that the Si range has been a much...

  • Cadillac Super Cruise
    Cadillac's Super Cruise provides a glimpse into the self-driving future today

    When I was a kid, "The Jetsons" promised me flying cars would be part of the future, and I would have a robot housekeeper. It’s the future, and I don’t have either of those things. Now, automakers are promising self-driving cars are the next big thing, and they will be on the road very...

  • 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S
    2017 Lamborghini Aventador S: the right car for a racetrack

    A little evolution now and then is a good thing. That distorted maxim holds true for the Lamborghini Aventador. Originally released as a 2012 model, Lambo’s most-expensive supercar boasted loads of technology derived from Formula One, but it had some issues. It was heavy, it understeered on a...

  • 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT C Edition 50
    2018 Mercedes-AMG GT C first drive review: AMG’s celebratory gift is a delight

    Mercedes-Benz and Porsche have not always been adversaries. The two German automotive icons, hailing from east and north of Stuttgart, Germany, respectively, were once occasional collaborators. Not that you’d know that from behind the wheel of the 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT C coupe. This squat...

  • 2018 Porsche Panamera Turbo
    Porsche InnoDrive first drive review: automating enthusiasm

    With the self-driving car on its way, our days as drivers are numbered. Eventually, some accursed batch of engineers in a shadowy automotive tech center will put all the pieces in place and birth the first truly autonomous vehicle. Assuming Skynet doesn't become self-aware shortly after and kill us...

  • 2020 Mazda 3 prototype

    In late August, exactly six next-generation 2020 Mazda 3 hatchbacks existed anywhere in the world. Each was a hand-built prototype, riding on a next-generation chassis and powered by a radical new 2.0-liter engine. We'll take two. But the car’s styling and design haven’t been revealed—and won’t be until 2019—so the new chassis and powertrain are topped with most of the body shell and interior of today’s Mazda 3 for real-world testing. We drove two cars August 29, one with a 6-speed manual gearbox and another with a 6-speed automatic transmission. READ MORE...

  • 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S
    2017 Lamborghini Aventador S first drive review: the wrong car for a traffic jam

    Anyone who has been to Monterey Car Week in general and The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, specifically, know that the whole affair creates a special kind of congestion caused by automotive exotica of all sorts. You might see a string of Rolls-Royces, or vintage Ferraris, or Koenigseggs, or VW...

  • 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
    2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk first drive: the most expensive, violent Hellcat yet

    Approach the 2018 Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and few external cues give away that this isn’t a normal Grand Cherokee SRT. The front fog lights are missing to allow more air to feed air-to-oil intercoolers, the quad-tipped exhaust features a shiny black chrome finish, Trackhawk specific wheels...

  • 2017 Jaguar F-Type SVR Convertible
    2017 Jaguar F-Type SVR Convertible first drive review: more growl than bite

    I'm headed to Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Illinois, and I'm a little nervous. Just yesterday I took delivery of a 2017 Jaguar F-Type SVR Convertible, and today I'm going to drive it for one 20-minute session on Autobahn's 1.5-mile North Track. Thing is, I'm not sure I can handle this thing...

  • Volkswagen ID Buzz Concept
    What it's like to drive a concept car

    When an automaker says its concept vehicle is powered by unicorn farts, emits only cotton candy, and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in two shakes of a lamb's tail, don't believe them. What they are actually saying is, "If we ever develop the technology to build this thing, that's what it could do."...

  • 2018 Ford F-150
    2018 Ford F-150 first drive review: so good you won't even notice

    When the new Ford F-150 was unveiled in 2015, it was the world's first aluminum pickup truck, an innovation that General Motors and Ram still haven't caught up with. Combined with a pair of twin-turbocharged V-6 engines, Ford's perennial best-seller pushed the art of the truck into an important new...

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