Anthony On Autos

  Automakers must try to make their midsize sedans appealing. Some vehicles have new, swooping style like the Hyundai Sonata, while others like Honda and Toyota are still class-leading. SUVs may be dominating and killing off sedans, but some automakers are brave enough to keep at the sedan game. One of these automakers trying to keep the sedan alive is Volkswagen. They have two sedans, the new Jetta and the updated Passat. Right now, we are going to take a look at the Passat and see if it’s good enough to keep sedans alive. Fun fact: the Passat in the United States is different than the European Passat. They're so different that the only similarities can be found on the exterior. The Passat's exterior isn’t ugly and Volkswagen tried to spruce it up with the R Line trim. It’s more of an appearance package with 19” wheels which I liked. The front starts the trend of the Passat being quite the boring car it is. When you park the Passat, it just blends in. It’s really nothing spe...

If you’re looking for a good ol’ American muscle car, you have a few choices. Chevy has the Camaro, Dodge has their Hellkittens (Hellcat), and Ford has their Mustang. But oh, have times changed! Yes, you can still get these vehicles and have a lot of fun with them, but now, people want…powerful SUVs. Nothing we can do about that. The good thing is that SUVs usually have standard all-wheel-drive so they can deliver all that power easier. This brings me to Stallantis, Dodge, and the Durango. Now, you can get the Durango as a Hellcat, but the one I had was still an SRT. This is the Dodge Durango SRT 392. I’ll talk about the power in a bit since that’s the most important feature of the Durango SRT. Still, the Durango has aged quite well. The entire silhouette and most of the exterior features have been around for a while, but SRT has spruced them up. When I first saw this particular Durango, it had green paint and I really didn’t like it. Parking the Durango, I started to appreciate just...

  In a world of malaise, the SUVs, that really stand out are the full-size vehicles. These have been around for quite some time and are known for just how much space they have. Plus, they can carry basically anything haul-able (It makes perfect sense since I rarely see these vehicles actually towing items.). Instead, they are the kings and queens of the Starbucks’ lines and hauling only yourself. The big two from the United States are Ford and General Motors. Unfortunately, there is not a full-size SUV from Stallantis (former FCA) …for now. General Motors is all about these giant SUVs, ranging from the Chevy Tahoe all the way to the Cadillac Escalade, and In-between the GMC Yukon. Being the middle child, the Yukon tries its best to stand-out in this segment and between its brothers. As usual, there are various trim levels, and my test vehicle was the top-of-the-line Yukon Denali. GMC designates Denalis as the poshest vehicles they have. The thing I wanted to find is whether the...

There are so many different compact SUVs out on the market, you really need a compelling reason to buy! Moving from something like a sedan or a hatchback means you're sacrificing ride comfort and fuel economy. As more and more automakers make vehicles with some type of hi-tech battery system, the most "traditional" way to make something more fuel-efficient is to make it a hybrid. Now then, which automaker is known for their hybrids…? Toyota! What does Toyota own? Lexus! I think you can see where I’m going with this. There is no doubt that Lexus has an extensive range of hybrid vehicles, from small SUVs to their flagship LC500h. Yes, Lexus likes to look like the most fuel-efficient manufacturer in the United States. Speaking of, let us talk about the car I had this week. This vehicle is the 2021 Lexus NX300h Luxury. For now, I can only say that is it was quite an interesting week. Driving it on certain types of roads, accelerating as hard as I can and keeping that little...

In a world dominated by SUVs, it’s great that there are still a few sporty subcompact vehicles. The small amount of these is hatchbacks and sedans. Volkswagen is known to make the Golf lineup really fun. Both the Golf GTI and Golf R have different styling, upgraded engines, suspensions, and a few styling cues to differentiate them from the regular Golf. As good as the Golf is, it’s still a hatchback and some people still want sedans. That’s where the Jetta and the Jetta GLI come in.  This Quick Drive is a little different. I own a 2016 Volkswagen GTI and tested a 2020 Volkswagen GLI. There are two things I wanted to see: how well the Jetta GLI is in general and how it compares to the GTI. When looking at these, I’m going to look particularly more at the driving experience as well as build quality and options. Since the GLI has some upgrades a 2016 GTI couldn’t have, I took a look at them apart from the comparison. These are the infotainment system and digital dials.  I’m going...

I’ve been a fan of Alfa Romeo for a long time. When FCA decided to bring back Alfa Romeo to the United States, I was quite happy. Eventually, they brought over the Giulia sedan and debuted the Stelvio SUV. Although both of these are quite similar in almost every aspect, I was able to drive the Stelvio. The thing is, this wasn’t just any Stelvio. No, this Stelvio wore the four-leaf clover, otherwise known as the Quadrifoglio . When an Alfa Romeo is a Quadrifoglio, you’re driving something truly special. If you’ve ever seen a regular Stelvio, which seems quite rare on the road, you’ll see an SUV clearly designed by Italians. It has the classic Alfa Romeo front end but with the proportions of an SUV. Quadrifoglio models take the beauty of regular models but with much more aggression. This is especially true with the Stelvio. My test car had the Misano Blue Metallic paint ($600)  which is the only other color I would choose for any Alfa other than red. Making the Stelvio Quadrifoglio m...