The year was. . . actually I don’t remember what year it was. But if memory serves the car was a Mercedes SLK and it was my first exposure to the whole hardtop convertible concept, and while I didn’t wet myself in amazement (which I usually do for totally wild-ass technical innovations), I was really impressed. Shortly after this I landed a Lexus SC, and it was yet another expression of a really sound four-seasons idea. You see, convertibles and the Northern Climes have issues, mainly because it sucks to have to park your excellent drop-top machine when there’s a lot of cold, snow, sleet, and winterage in your life. Now even VW with their clever EOS has entered the fray, and I have to say it’s all good. Seriously. I’ve yet to roll in any of theses things that, while far from perfect, still doesn’t get the top-down-inna-heat, steel-or’-head-when-it’s-all-’bout-sleet thing down really well.
So, here we have a 2011 (no, really. The OEM’s have a really weird-ass calendar) Volvo C70. The top splits into pieces and flies into the trunk, fortunately only when you tell it to via a switch. It’s a pretty great machine overall, with a punchy, turbocharged Inline Five that scoots along nicely and has a very solid chassis (except for the windshield pillar which shakes way too much over rough substrate). It’s a wild bit of engineering to watch the top rebuild itself (including the headliner) when it slides back into place in way less than a minute. It’s a true all-season two-doh, a bitchin’ Swede that seats foh, and moves your booty in the great out-doh. That’s a poem, bitches. Deal wif it.

Things have been pretty unsettling of late for those who enjoy the Chrysler product. First, I honestly have no idea who owns the company at the moment. Oh sure, I should know, as it’s kind of a part of my job, but I am vexed and confused by the whole Cerebus, sorry, Cerberus acquisition. Then there’s the influx of government money, and how that all works. It gets even more interesting when it comes to Dodge trucks, for, apparently, there are no more Dodge trucks.
Much in the same way “There is no Dana, only Zuul,” in the original Ghostbusters ™, now “there is no Dodge RAM, only RAM.” I still don’t get exactly why Chrysler decided to separate the RAM from the Dodge, other than may to save money. Save money, you say? Well, think of all the chrome they saved by not having to print DODGE on all their pickups, just RAM. And, there are no doubt astounding savings in printing costs for the owner’s manuals. See, I told you I didn’t get it. Here’s a weird thing, though. As of today, you can still get to the RAM website via the Dodge site, or just go to ramtrucks.com. They haven’t moved completely out of the house just yet, in other words.
But no matter. The new RAMs are, more than anything else, on the same plane quality-wise as the machines they compete against. All modern full-size pickups are remarkably refined, capable, and impressively solid. In terms of the big three, it’s a shame they don’t spend more time engineering their cars with the clear attention to detail that they do with their trucks, but after all they all sell more pickups than cars. Why is this? Well, like so many things delightfully American, tons of males like to drive a full-size truck even though they don’t really need one. The whole rest of the world, even all the tradesmen, construction workers, you name it, get by just fine as a group with far smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Go figure.
I got to sample a really interesting brace of pickups, sort of the smallest and largest of the RAM line. On the “small” side I had a 1500 SLT regular cab 4X4 short bed, and on the other side of the spectrum I had a 2500 Laramie Crew Cab 4X4 with the long 8’ bed. The 1500 had the 5.7 HEMI V8 (390 HP, 407 lb-ft of torque), and the 2500 was armed with a 6.7-liter Cummins Inline Six turbodiesel (350 HP, 650 lb-ft). The little guy has the only coil-spring rear suspension presently offered on a conventional pickup (the Honda Ridgeline and Chevy Avalanche are in a different category in my view), and ride quality is pretty decent overall. The 2500 HD is basically as agile as a supertanker, and you have to call the Pilot Boat when it’s time to moor the beast. That said, the turning radius is tighter than you might expect, and the stopping distances on the 2500 HD were actually slightly shorter than the 1500 even though it weighs over a ton more. The interiors of both trucks are as good as anything out there; high on comfort, utility and good build quality (both trucks are built in Saltillo, Mexico, BTW).
The Cummins Turbodiesel with its 6-speed automatic tranny (a 6-speed manual is also available) added about $8K to the price of the truck, got around 14 MPG with no load and requires 12 quarts of oil when you change it every 7,500 miles or sooner. Diesel ran about $3.20 a gallon here when I fueled it up (30 cents a gallon more than unleaded), so suffice it to say this is not a cheap truck to operate. But for someone who has to tow a small shopping center or haul a gross of solid gold paperweights, it’s up to the job.

As for the Littler Ram, it’s a nice truck but I must confess I’ve never understood the whole regular cab/short bed thing. For a little more money, you can get bigger, more useful bed. The cab can squeeze in only three occupants (two with buckets), despite the fact that this is a very large vehicle even though it’s the smallest RAM there is. There’s a reason the regular cab configuration is getting relatively rare, because its so impractical compared to extended cab models that dramatically increase the versatility of the truck. But, whatever. Some people clearly like the Regular Shorty, probably because they like the looks.

As a person who’s had long and happy relationships with more than one Toyota 4Runner, I have been quite interested in the latest iteration which is pretty much new from the ground up. As fresh as it is, though, it reminds me more of my old ’97 than the previous generation as it seems to be going back to its serious off-road roots (and the form factor is quite familiar). My thought here as to why Toyota went this rugged route (although all 4Runners have always had a stout body-on-frame truck chassis) is the global nature of the new platform. This ute will likely be part of the Land Cruiser family in many markets around the world, and have some serious, manual transmission/diesel variants for work in very primitive applications. In the U.S. we get all the luxurious electronics and bells and whistles, including on the 4Runner Trail I tested some truly mind-boggling off-road electronic gadgets (that can ultimate let the beast handle power and braking during rock-crawling while you just steer). I challenged some really nasty snow and mud-covered farm trails, where the high ground clearance and excellent suspension articulation made easy work of the teflon soup I was sliding around in. Steering is super quick; superb off road but a bit too light for my tastes on the road. That said, where pavement rules the brakes are excellent, and I managed 19.4 MPG which ain’t bad for this badass boulder basher. The dogs loved it, but then again from the ample space with the rear seat folded and the power window in the hatchback they probably thought they were in my rusty ol’ thing. Oh, waterproof seats rock, BTW.

The proliferation of rear-view backup cameras has been a good thing, and like a lot of technology started exclusively on high-end autos and is now trickling down to more affordable cars. Time was this feature was only found on rides with navigation systems, as the camera needed a screen to do its thing and the Nav screen was a perfect interface. Now small back-up camera screens are popping up in rearview mirrors and on the dash, and while some of these are almost too small to be of any real use (especially when backing up to a trailer) they are still good at alerting to you to both inert and nert items that may be in harm’s way as you back up.
Now the next step is . . . Surround Vision. Or, in Infiniti’s case, Around View. It honestly freaked my out the first time I backed up, because I wasn’t expecting this visual wonder. Now, I know it’s been on the market for a couple of years but this was my first exposure to it, and what we have instead of one backup camera there’s a total of four of the little wide-angle buggers located at the rear, front and in the base of the side mirrors. This gives you a view around the entire vehicle (in this case, an EX35 AWD), which is pretty wild tech juju when you think of it. The question is, will we soon get to the point where we never look out of the dad gum windows anymore?

First off, anybody who decides to name a vehicle after an X-Men character (whether they do it intentionally or not) is a bit of alright in my book. Of course “my book” is pretty much a pop-up affair designed for children and rarely, if ever, considered serious literature. But there you go.
Oh, and the Nissan Rogue? It’s a pretty cool little crossover SUV that has a really stout, quality feel to it and a surprisingly amount of ground clearance. It’s not as roomy as a lot of the competition, and the Constantly Variable Transmission is a tad vocal (and can be lazy at dropping the ration on occasion) but the Inline Four is spunky, quick and reasonably frugal. The option 360 value package on our tester had what is becoming more common on mainstream vehicles; a back-up camera in the rearview mirror. This is a very good thing, especially since rearward visibility is kind of poor (also a thing becoming more common on mainstream vehicles, sad to say). All in all it’s a lot of all-weather capability in a small, affordable package, and naturally I’m talking about the All Wheel Drive version which is what you need here in the Northeast (and has a button to lock the center differential when you have to challenge an unplowed hill). The Question is: how many realize the Rogue’s real name is Anna Marie? The Nissan Anna Marie does sound more like a giant cargo ship than an SUV, so I guess we should stick with Rogue. I would actually call it the Samwise, but that’s just me.

Well, here’s something you don’t see everyday: a manufacturer does an all-new version of a vehicle, and it’s actually smaller than the previous iteration. This is really unusual, as just about every time there’s a fundamental redo cars get larger (the universe is expanding, after all). The new Cadillac SRX is a sport-sport ute, and either wildly avant-garde in styling or another case of origami gone horribly wrong. As I mentioned it’s actually less roomy than its predecessor, which could be a function of the much more sedan-like rear roofline (Honda did that too, a few years ago with the CRX). Our test mule is powered by a 300-horse Turbocharged V6, and so far I have observed some good power but pretty expressive turbo lag. This is surprising, because until recently GM owned Saab and them there Swedes are amazingly adept at smooth turbocharging integration (especially with their V6). But, there you go. We have the All Wheel Drive variant, which I shall get to test in the snow as soon as I walk outside. The other version is a front-driver, which is another variation as the previous 2WD SRX was a rear-driver. I shall perhaps share more after I have more seat time. Lots of fun techie juju within, and I loves me the huge Panorama moonroof.

Suzuki has been a really fun company to watch the last few years on the automotive front, for while their motorcycle side has been a major player (and completely dominant in US Superbike racing) their car side has been a bit more stealthy when it comes to increasing their market footprint. But they have been coming out with some very interesting products, and their new Kizashi midsize sedan is a pretty big deal. My favorite feature? A very good (optional) AWD system that you can switch off on demand, reverting to pure front-drive status and therefore helping fuel economy when you don’t need the extra traction. The car seems well-built, comfortable, and while the CVT transmission on our test mule was a bit vocal the manual mode with paddle shifters on the wheel was very trick indeed. The lone engine is an Inline Four, which is spunky enough overall and delivered 22.6 MPG in mixed driving. The brakes are excellent. All told it’s a pretty fine car, and a pleasure to drive. Very nicely equipped, it was $27K, too. Look out, Subaru. Oh, and the name? Apparently it translates to “something good is about to arrive.” Now that it’s actually here, I think it may do well.