Anthony On Autos

By: Anthony Fongaro *Disclaimer: 2019 Audi e-tron test-drive courtesy of Audi Hoffman Estates. Check them out here .* SUVs plus battery power. These days, it feels like almost every luxury brand has at least one electric vehicle that’s an SUV, and it makes sense. Consumers in the United States like SUVs so why not make them without gas or diesel-powered engine? Although there are some trade-offs to this concept, manufacturers are still trying to compete with Tesla. Enter Audi and it’s e-tron.  This may not be Audi’s first electric vehicle, but it is their first electric vehicle from the ground up. It’s a handsome vehicle and even more striking than most of the regular non-performance lineup. The Premium Plus model I test-drove had Mythos Black metallic paint with the standard 20” 5-spoke alloy wheels. Even as a basic color and wheel combination, the e-tron has a presence to it. My favorite is the design of the orange “e-tron” badges on both sides of the car. The one thing I thought...

By: Anthony Fongaro Automakers, like the rest of the world, have to be competitive. Refreshed and all-new vehicles help automakers keep competitive while offering modern products to consumers. Some automakers wait longer than others to change up a vehicle which can hurt them. There are a few vehicles that have lived beyond their lifecycle and simply won’t come back. Thankfully, there are a few vehicles that are coming out in later 2020 or 2021 that will help automakers stay competitive in their markets. Here are a few vehicles I’m looking forward to. When Acura debuted their Type S concept car in 2019, we knew that a new TLX was on the horizon. Thankfully, May gave us a ray of hope for both sports sedans and Acura. The 2021 TLX is as big a departure from the current TLX as Acura’s new RDX was to its predecessor. Lower and wider, the new 2021 TLX aims to be a sports sedan that can take on anyone that crosses its path. Four- and six-cylinder engines will be at the heart of the TLX. In it...

By: Anthony Fongaro For the most part, when consumers make a major purchase, they’ll try it out first. Are you thinking about buying or renting a new place to live? You’ll first look at the images online and go there in person. At the house, you’ll check out the layout in person, see what the state of the landscaping is, and make sure this is the house for you. Are the appliances or other aspects of this potential buy outdated and you’ll have to spend thousands to renovate it. That could be a major deal-breaker. You’ll also check out all the rooms in the house, including the garage. One or a few things you’ll bring with you to this house is a car.  Cars are one of the biggest purchases that people make. Traditionally, there’s been a process of buying a new or used car similar to purchasing a house. You find what you want, go to the dealership, spend many hours of your life with a sales consultant, and decide if you’ll take the car or walk away. There are always fundamental flaws wi...

By: Anthony Fongaro Original Post:   https://www.thegentlemanracer.com/2020/06/faux-lux-for-less.html Badge snobbery. The force is strong with badge snobbery. If you want a luxury vehicle, you may completely skip over certain brands to get a higher-end car. The culprits of these are mainly German with Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. Don’t get me wrong, they all do make luxurious vehicles. All three of these brands make a vehicle for any occasion. If you want one of these, the entry point is around $35,000 and if you can buy one, go ahead and get one. There are a couple of problems with German brand snobbery. First, many good brands are overlooked and that can leave out some potentially good and competitive vehicles. Second, different countries and different brands do things...different. A Japanese luxury SUV may appeal to a different consumer compared to an American luxury SUV. The biggest problem I can is the price. As I said, the entry for German automobiles is around $35,000, with...

By: Anthony Fongaro Original Post:  https://www.thegentlemanracer.com/2020/06/i-miss-liking-infiniti.html As we know, automotive manufacturers go through phases. Back in the early 2000s, BMW had the controversial designs of Chris Bangle.  Hyundai and Kia went from crappy budget vehicles to having Hyundai create their own luxury brand, Genesis, bringing amazing design and tech at an affordable price. Unfortunately, some manufacturers go backward. They may discontinue certain cars, not update their vehicles in a timely manner, or just make terrible decisions. At first, I was going to talk about both Acura and Infiniti. Acura seems to be going in the right direction. They came out with two vehicles in the last few years that will help them. The first is the RDX. This small SUV has a nice interior, good A-Spec styling, and a 270-horsepower engine with a 10-speed automatic. Acura just unveiled the new TLX and from the looks of it, it’s going to be a serious competitor to both ...

By: Anthony Fongaro Original Post: https://www.thegentlemanracer.com/2020/06/its-hard-pass-for-me.html The automotive industry knows how to evolve. Various manufacturers that once made vehicles with unattractive styling, woefully underpowered engines, shoddy build quality, and other negative attributes have changed their ways. One example of this is the Korean companies Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia. No longer can Hyundai and Kia be looked at as the value choice while lacking in almost every category. Genesis is now the luxury arm of Hyundai with great vehicles like the G90 and Hyundai has the tech-filled Sonata. Other manufacturers have followed suit. Some of these manufacturers took a look at their cheapest models. The Nissan Versa was as bottom-of-the-barrel as you could get. Yes, it was one of the cheapest vehicles on sale, but it earned that title for good reason. Underpowered, bland, and lacking in almost every segment, the Versa was only good for fuel economy and cheap transportatio...

By: Anthony Fongaro Original Post:  https://www.thegentlemanracer.com/2020/05/the-38000-question-part-two-suvs.html Welcome to part two of our series, The $38,000 Question. In our initial article, we took a look at the world of sedans . Part One showed us that there is a combination of interesting new and used sedans for the average price of a new car in the year 2020. $38,000 can get you into new but basic German luxury vehicles as well as high-end used luxury vehicles that can mask the fact that you spent under $40,000.   This time, we are going to look at SUVs, and this poses a befuddling conundrum.  As we know, the pool of new SUVs is vast. Looking at Edmunds’ SUV page , there are more than 50 new vehicles that start under $38,000. What’s interesting is these vehicles span a wide spectrum. While it isn’t surprising that you can buy small and compact SUVs, most midsize SUVs can be bought for around $38,000. Unfortunately, buying a new large SUV such as a Ford Expeditio...