Posts Tagged ‘SUV’

Some parties you just don’t want to miss. So when Land Rover called with a last-minute invitation to see the red-hot new Range Rover Evoque in person, I eagerly cleared my calendar.

Held at the beautiful Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the event was a debutante ball to introduce the striking and seductive Evoque to San Francisco’s most elite trendsetters.

As we reported a few months ago, Land Rover is trying something new with the Evoque. This is a Range Rover for a new era and has a much greater focus on efficiency, technology, and design. If the reaction from these Bay Area hipsters is positive, the company can likely look forward to sales success when the Evoque hits the road this fall.

“The people we appeal to have an entrepreneurial spirit and are very discriminating about the products they buy,” explained Andrew Polsinelli, Land Rover’s general manager of product planning. “You can’t define a Range Rover customer by their demographics,” he continued. “It’s much more about a mindset.”

Polsinelli says that Range Rover customers are looking to make a statement and he believes that the Evoque – daring, luxurious, capable, and environmentally sensitive – is the right statement for today’s market.

Finbar McFall, Land Rover’s head of marketing for North America, confirmed that this is the direction the company is headed: intelligent design that doesn’t require the customer to sacrifice luxury or performance.

Case in point: McFall boasts that the Evoque’s turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and lightweight construction will allow it to rocket to 60 miles per hour as fast as today’s V8-powered Range Rover Sport.

Judging by the enormously positive response at the party, I’d say that Land Rover is right on the money. The crowd swarmed the white show car as soon as the cover was lifted, with a long line forming at each door.

Waiting my own turn to step inside, I heard some attendees whisper concerns about the snug size. Fortunately, the Evoque’s cabin proved surprisingly roomy. Several NBA-sized guys were able to sit up front comfortably with head and legroom to spare.

The rear seats are cozy but livable, offering enough space for adults to relax and stretch out a bit. I met several moms and dads who were eager to ditch much larger SUVs in favor of the tidy Evoque. After close inspection, they assured me that the back seat was kid-friendly and that the cargo hold large enough for a diaper bag, stroller, and other vital parent gear.

Whoever is in the back seat will no doubt enjoy the gorgeous glass roof, which offers uninterrupted views of the sky. High-strength boron steel in the surrounding structure allows Land Rover to skip unsightly cross-braces without compromising safety.

One of the Evoque’s most controversial elements, the turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, drew solemn nods of approval from the green-leaning crowd. Several people I spoke with expected to find a V8 engine under the bonnet and were pleasantly surprised by the company’s fuel-efficient choice. “I’m just waiting for gas prices to go back up,” explained one venture capitalist. “This seems like a very smart move.”

Based on the warm welcome from this hard-to-impress San Francisco crowd, it’s clear that Land Rover has much to look forward to when the Evoque comes to market in late 2011. Just make sure you’re not late to the party or you may find yourself stuck waiting in line.

The new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is the perfect car to overcome these rocky times.

And as the first all-new product to emerge after Chrysler’s bankruptcy last year, this grandest of Jeeps certainly has a lot riding on it. With 70 years of serious off-road heritage and 12 billion dollars of bailout money at stake, Chrysler is counting on this new model to show the world what its new organization is capable of.

Fortunately, there’s a whole lot to like about the new Grand Cherokee.

Jeep’s new flagship has clever technology, amazing capability, and considerably higher quality than its predecessor. Most importantly, this upscale off-roader is a great value. Chrysler claims to have added $2,000 to $6,000 in features to each trim level while simultaneously holding the line on price. Impressive.

Conspicuous consumption is out these days and the Grand Cherokee’s handsome styling says that it’s about function, not flash. The stern face and deep sculpting on the doors are tasteful and restrained. This is how SUVs should look: muscular, confident, solemn.

You won’t be disappointed inside, either. The Grand Cherokee’s new interior impresses with soft plastics, quality leather, and a clean design. There’s also Bluetooth, navigation, voice recognition, adaptive cruise control, satellite television with up to 20 channels, and a mobile wi-fi internet service available for technophiles.

As you’d expect from a Grand Cherokee, off-road technology abounds. Twist the knob on the (optional) Selec-Terrain system and its advanced software will raise the Quadra-Lift air suspension and tweak the operation of the Quadra-Drive II for maximum traction. This Jeep just plain gets the job done.

Grunt comes courtesy of Chrysler’s brand new 290-horsepower “Phoenix” V6 engine, which is surprisingly efficient at 16 MPG in the city and 22-23 MPG on the highway. An optional HEMI V8 engine with 360-horsepower is available and boosts towing capacity from 5,000 to 7,400 pounds.

With it’s reasonable price, graceful appointments, and hefty towing capacity, the Grand Cherokee compares favorably against truck-based competitors like the Nissan Pathfinder.  Stack it up to car-based crossovers, like the Ford Edge or Toyota Venza, though, and it gets more complicated.

Do you need the Jeep’s 7,400-pound towing capacity? Are you willing to lose an MPG or two? Do you prefer the quiet, confident type?

Once upon a time the Jeep Grand Cherokee sold in dizzying numbers because it broadcast adventure and promised an escape from the ordinary. This time, I think Jeep’s flagship will sell because it delivers the kind of confidence and roll-up-your-sleeves determination that our country needs right now.

That’s my take.

Love it? Check out Grand Cherokee pricing and reviews on Honk.

Hate it?  Tell me why with a review of your own.

No doubt Americans love their SUVs. SUVs have now replaced the mini-van and station wagon as the preferred family vehicle. SUVs are a favorite for those who need the extra cargo space for business and pleasure, or for those who just like driving big, muscle machines.

Chevy Tahoe Hybrid

Until recently, SUVs have also been known as major gas-guzzlers. SUV drivers have traditionally sacrificed serious cash at the pump in exchange for extra room and brawn. However, a wide variety of hybrid SUVs are available now that make it easier for you to live the great American green dream.

There are three major reasons why you should consider a hybrid SUV. The first and most obvious reason is to save money on gas. Hybrid SUVs use 25-50% less gas than their non-hybrid counterparts on average.

It is important to note, however, that the amount of fuel saved in a hybrid SUV depends on how you drive it. Hybrid vehicles achieve maximum fuel efficiency with a light foot on the gas pedal and on the brakes. If you drive hard and fast, you will lose most of your fuel saving potential. If you accelerate and brake smooth and easy, you can often get greater fuel savings than the EPA mpg rating for your new hybrid SUV.

While most hybrids cost a little more upfront, the overall payback period in fuel savings can be significant. This depends, of course, on the model you choose and on the current price of gas. For a 2010 Escalade Hybrid, for example, the current payback period is as short as two months. For other models, the payback period can be longer, but this assumes that the price of gas will remain steady at $3/gallon for years to come. Given current oil industry developments and projected petroleum supply, this is obviously a faulty assumption. If you plan on driving your new SUV for three years or longer, invest now and save later.

The second and less obvious reason to invest in a hybrid SUV is for the health of you, your family, and your community. Full hybrid SUVs come with an automatic start/stop function that turns off the engine when you come to a stop or when traveling at low speeds. The engine kicks back on when you accelerate. This means that you and your children can breathe easy when idling, or cruising through a drive-thru or school pick-up zone, instead of inhaling toxic fumes from your SUV’s tailpipe.

The third reason why you should consider a hybrid SUV is that these cars deliver on power just as well as the non-hybrid versions. The 2010 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid I test drove this past week, for example, has a V-8 engine that delivers 332 horsepower  and 367 pounds of torque.  This baby had no problem strategically jetting through aggressive New York City traffic or merging onto speeding highway traffic. This is quite significant, given that the car weighs almost 6000 pounds.

Finally, being a hybrid SUV driver is just plain cool. You get the space you need, the mpg you want, and thrill of electric drive as you cruise down the boulevard. Driving a hybrid SUV means you don’t have to sacrifice performance for efficiency. And it shows that you care enough to make intelligent choices when it comes to your wheels.

Dr. Shannon Arvizu is a clean tech educator and consultant in the transportation industry. You can read more at MissElectric.com.

Consumer Reports has announced a rare “Do Not Buy” rating for the Lexus GX460 sport utility vehicle. While performing a standard handling test, CR found that the GX460’s electronic stability control was extremely late to intervene.

The maneuver tests for a condition called ‘lift-throttle oversteer’ which is the tendency for a vehicle to fishtail when a driver steers the vehicle into a turn and then lifts off the accelerator pedal suddenly. Drivers in the real world may face this same condition if they veer onto a highway exit ramp too quickly and then try to slow.

The Lexus GX460, which is mechanically similar to the Toyota 4Runner, comes standard with an electronic stability control system that is supposed to detect a slide and then carefully activate the brakes to help the driver regain control of the vehicle.

Consumer Reports found that the electronic stability control system in the GX460 was extremely late to intervene. So much so that the vehicle was almost completely sideways before the system activated.

Curiously, the Toyota 4Runner had no such issue when it was run through the same test by Consumer Reports.

The magazine notes that in the real world, a GX460 may come into contact with a curb or slide off the pavement, which may “trip” the vehicle and cause a dangerous rollover crash. CR notes that ‘tripping’ is the number one cause of rollover crashes.

Consumer Reports goes to great lengths to remain objective, even purchasing its test vehicles from dealerships anonymously, so as to avoid foul play. (It’s rare for a manufacturer to specially-prepare test vehicles for the media, but several enthusiast magazines have reported this happening in the past.)

The magazine tested their own GX460 and then paid Lexus to borrow a second vehicle from the media test fleet. Tests on the second vehicle produced the same fishtailing outcome.

For its part, Toyota’s luxury division is responding quickly. Lexus has announced a stop-sale for all GX460 models and is offering free loaner cars to its affected customers. The company states that its, “extensive vehicle testing provides a good indication of how our vehicles perform and we are confident that the GX meets our high safety standards.”

Nonetheless, the company has dispatched engineers to investigate the claim and potentially develop a fix.

For embattled Toyota, this is the latest in a long string of serious safety issues and the price tag for recalls, government fines, lawsuits, and lost consumer confidence is likely to continue climbing.

My brother and his wife have a bun in the oven and a serious need for a new family vehicle.  They’ve been busy getting ready for their new baby girl and asked me to help them start the initial research for their next car.

The Honk search tool was built to handle situations exactly like this so I fired up my browser to sort through family-oriented crossover vehicles with high safety ratings, ample seating, and great fuel economy:

2010 Toyota Highlander Hybrid

Matt and Natalie have their own organic farm, complete with fresh vegetables, chickens, and a cow (yes, really – they own a cow).  It goes without saying that ‘green’ is at the top of their list.

The Toyota Highlander is one of the few family-friendly hybrids out there and I think that my brother and his family will appreciate both the great mileage and the roomy cabin.

2011 Kia Sorento

Matt and Natalie have already told me that third-row seats are a must-have.

The great-looking Kia Sorento just arrived and it’s got an optional third row of seats that will be great for the occasional carpool or visit from Uncle Josh.  It’s also easy on the wallet and it gets great fuel economy (up to 29 mpg on the highway).

2010 Toyota RAV4

In addition to two adults and two kids, this family also has two canines – Rio and Bella – to cart around.  The Toyota RAV4 scored well with people who own pets and I discovered that there’s a wide range of aftermarket pet accessories (cages, harnesses, etc) built especially for the RAV4.

2010 Mitsubishi Outlander

Matt and Natalie live in snowy Pennsylvania and they’re going to need all-wheel drive and plenty of ground clearance to handle the next Snowpocalypse.  The Mitsubishi Outlander has the most ground clearance of all the vehicles on this list and it can be had with the all-important third row.  Winter, you’ve met your match.

How now brown cow?

So what car should you drive if you’ve got two kids, two dogs, and a cow?  My vote goes to the Toyota Highlander Hybrid but we’ll have to see what Matt and Natalie pick for their family… Rumor has it that my 3-year old niece is in love with the sock monkey from the Kia Sorento TV commercial.