First Drive: 2011 Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum AWD
“Stop living in the past,” say countless advice purveyors across a broad spectrum of media. It’s good advice if you’re trying to get over an ex-girlfriend, but you pretty much have to live in the past to drop almost $90,000 on a body-on-frame luxury SUV like the 2011 Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum. That’s $88,295 to be precise, making this the second-most-expensive Caddy available. (First place by a slight margin goes to the Escalade Hybrid.)
The original GMT400 Escalade was a hastily created rebadge of the GMC Yukon, designed as an answer to the then-popular Lincoln Navigator. But it was the next-generation model, based on the GMT800 platform, that became the bling king, while the Lincoln was largely forgotten. Much hype surrounded the launch of the GMT900 platform that underpins the third-generation Escalade, and early on it proved its mettle by besting the Range Rover in a head-to-head shootout. That was 2006. Some five years on, the Escalade’s shortcomings are beginning to manifest themselves. More on that later…
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Categories: Auto Review, Cadillac, Car Review, SUV Tags:
Land Rover Freelander 2 Sport Announced in the UK for 2010
Land Rover has unveiled the Freelander 2 Sport for the UK market.
Available in two different colors (Santorini Black and Lago Grey), the Sport features body-color exterior components, a rear spoiler, and exclusive 19-inch diamond-turned alloy wheels. If that isn’t aggressive enough, Land Rover also offers a sport styling package which includes revised front and rear bumper fascias.
Inside, the company dresses up the cabin with two-tone seats (with embossed Sport logos on the head restraints), a black center console, and unique floor mats.
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LA 2010: Toyota RAV4 EV, powered by Tesla, hits the stage
Proudly “Powered by Tesla,” the brand-new Toyota RAV4 EV made its debut at the LA Auto Show today, and it’s pretty much what you’d expect: a current-generation RAV4 with the heart of a Tesla Roadster. Or maybe a Model S. In any case, one of Silicon Valley’s electric cars. As we’ve known, Tesla’s role in the partnership is to develop the powertrain – including the battery, power electronics module, electric motor, gearbox and software – for Toyota’s popular CUV.
The RAV4 EV has a long history, as long-time plug-in vehicle fans are well aware. The first-gen version arrived in 1997 and was available for six years. Toyota said today that it sold or leased 1,484 units during that time – and that nearly 750 of them are still in operation – but could never make them a mainstream hit like the Prius. Making these alternative-power vehicles isn’t that difficult, said Jim Lentz, Toyota Motor Sales’ president and chief operating officer, the hard part is bringing them to mainstream customers.
This is the goal of the RAV4 EV, which is scheduled to hit the market in 2012. The initial batch of test vehicles, the so-called Phase Zero machines, are already achieving 100 miles of range, but Toyota engineers are working hard to make sure that the Phase One vehicles (i.e., the next batch) will be able to reach that number no matter what the climate or outside condition is – or, in the words of the press release, “in a wide range of climates and conditions.” The engineering team is also focused on drivability and making the electric CUV feel, “as close to a conventional RAV4 as possible.” We’ll have a more complete post about the RAV4 EV later, but for now you can find plenty more information on Toyota’s dedicated RAV4 EV website.
Categories: Auto Show, LA Auto Show, SUV, Toyota Tags: LA Auto Show, Toyota
Paris Preview: Land Rover reveals the Evoque
Here’s the production 2012 Range Rover Evoque in all its glory, and the LRX-inspired CUV is lighter, meaner and greener than anything to come from the Range Rover arsenal.
Buyers can opt for three exterior design themes: Pure, a minimalistic take with 19-inch wheels and natural colors complemented by brushed metal trim adorning the insides; Prestige, a “bespoke exterior” treatment with exclusive 19-inch wheels paired “an indulgent interior;” or Dynamic, with 19- or 20-inch wheels a reworked bodykit, and a sportier cabin complete with perforated leather seats and a bit more bling.
Inside, the interior is influenced not only by the Range Rover Sport, but by Jaguar as well. Seriously bolstered seats straddle a center tunnel where a rotary gear transmission selector rises to hand. The four-setting Terrain Response System dial has been replaced with buttons attending an illuminated menu and controls are mainly managed through an eight-inch touchscreen. Aural enjoyment is provided by the 825-watt, 17-speaker Meridian sound system with additional inputs for other peripherals.
Categories: Auto Show, Land Rover, Paris Motor Show, SUV Tags: Land Rover
2011 Porsche Cayenne sports a 300-hp V6, but its engine isn’t the focus
The Porsche Cayenne wears many hats. It masquerades as both the automaker’s entry-level vehicle and as its flagship turbocharged SUV. Broad-shouldered in stature, one variant can blast to 60 mph in less than five seconds and top 170 mph, while another may be propelled quietly under the emissions-free power of electricity. Regardless of where they rank in the hierarchy, multi-talented Cayenne models are capable of traversing deep streams, towing 7,700-pound trailers and carrying five passengers and their luggage into the hands of waiting luxury hotel valets.
The six-cylinder Porsche Cayenne is hardly the automaker’s crown jewel, but it’s frequently one of the best-selling models in the lineup. Following on the heels of its more powerful siblings, the entry-level SUV can’t hide behind its engine displacement – it must prove itself through luxury, improved performance, fuel efficiency and value.
We just spent a couple days driving the all-new Cayenne in Germany, and unlike two months ago, when we put the flagship Cayenne Turbo and the eight-cylinder Cayenne S to the test at the beautiful circuit and off-road course at Alabama’s Barber Motorsports Park, the European venue gave us the opportunity to drive the entry-level Cayenne in crowded city streets and on the wide-open Autobahn. What’s under the hood of the six-cylinder Cayenne, and why is it unique? How does it drive compared to its eight-cylinder siblings? Most importantly, how does it compare to its competition?
Categories: Auto Review, Car Review, Porsche, SUV Tags: Porsche
2010 Toyota 4Runner faithfully sticks to the formula it helped create
Toyota has made some serious money over the past couple of decades by making safe, reliable vehicles. There have been a few models, like the Supra and Celica, that have appealed to the enthusiast, but the rest of America hasn’t really seemed to care. New Toyota chief Akio Toyoda has promised to change that paradigm, however, pledging to inject new vehicles with much-needed soul. But do we have to wait a few years for Toyota’s designers and engineers to come up with something new and exciting? Maybe not.
While the enthusiast-inspired products like the FT-86 coupe are still a ways off, off-roading types have a new Toyota to test drive: the 2010 4Runner. We’ve long known that the 4Runner has been perfectly capable of wrestling with a bit of mud, as it helped define America’s sport-utility genre along with the original Jeep Cherokee way back in 1984. But this new model is at once bigger, more capable and more luxurious – and its styling has been designed to stand out in an admittedly thinning crowd of proper SUVs. We spent a week with a Magnetic Grey Metallic 4WD SR5 to see if Toyota has been right to stand by its mid-size mainstay while the rest of the automaking world has been busy turning its body-on-frame gas-guzzlers into pump-friendly softroaders.
First Drive: 2011 Infiniti QX56 overcomes the odds
Ask any braniac elementary school student what happened to the dinosaurs, and they’ll tell you they turned into birds. While the mechanics are a bit more complicated than a momma T-Rex hatching a brood of yellow finches, modern science would seem to agree with the concept. When we were in school, the common perception was that those massive lizards parted ways with terra firma courtesy of a jumbo-sized meteor smack. Our Earth Science books called it a mass extinction, and they accompanied the definition with helpful illustrations that depicted contemplative Brontosaurus and Triceratops herds looking off into the distance as a chunk of orange sky plummeted toward the horizon.
So you can’t really blame us for thinking that the SUV would follow a similar natural path. When fuel prices shot up, many rejoiced at the thought of global body-on-frame extinction. This was the event some had been patiently waiting for since the high-riding people movers first supplanted the minivan as the family cruiser of choice. And while we’ve certainly seen weaker species succumb to the heat of pressure from more efficient breeds, the strong continue to soldier on, slowly adapting to a world grown hostile to anything big and thirsty. If you believe Infiniti, that’s exactly what the 2011 QX56 has done – evolved.
Categories: Auto Review, Car Review, Infiniti, SUV Tags: Infiniti
First Drive: 2011 BMW X5 xDrive35i proves ‘new’ is a relative term
If the new 2011 BMW X5 looks familiar, it’s because it is. Autoblog has already shown you under the hood, running in the snow, and even on the assembly line.
Beyond this early exposure to the 2011 model that is set to go on sale in May with a starting price around $47,000, the reality is that there’s not much that visually differentiates the 2011 model from the 2010. The revised styling of the “new” X5 is so subtle that from the profile view, the two are nearly indistinguishable.
The real changes for 2011 come under the hood, where the X5 now gets BMW‘s most current gasoline-fired engines and the company’s eight-speed automatic transmission. Additionally, the 2011 X5 (we have a hard time referencing it as new) will now be offered with technologies already available on many other BMW models.
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New York 2010 Live: Second generation Volkswagen Touareg makes U.S. debut, Hybrid too
Volkswagen has just unveiled its 2011 Touareg for the first time in the States, giving us Americans a chance to see the slimmed down SUV and its hybrid sibling that we first saw at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month. This second generation Touareg will still have a diesel option, but for those who like to feel even better about themselves while they gently crush wildflowers in the Arctic National Preserve, there’s also a hybrid model offered for the first time in a VW SUV.The hybrid model gets a 3.0-liter, supercharged, direct injection V6 gasoline engine paired with an electric motor and eight-speed automatic transmission that help it to a mileage rating of 21 miles per gallon city and 25 highway. That V6-plus-electric-motor combo also combines for 375 horsepower and 428 lbs.-ft. of torque, allowing a healthy towing capacity of up to 7,700 pounds.
Categories: Auto Show, Hybrid, New York Auto Show, SUV, Volkswagen Tags:
Leaked: 2011 Infiniti QX56 drips onto web prior to NY debut
When Nissan unveiled the all-new Patrol SUV in the Middle East last month, we already knew that we’d be seeing the rebranded Infiniti version as the 2011 QX56 at the New York Auto Show. Furthermore, spy photos left little to the imagination. Today, leaked official images leave exactly zero to the imagination.
Despite what appears to be an effort to infuse a dollop of FX style to the front end, the 2011 Infiniti QX56 manages to retain an awkward-looking “forehead” (much like its predecessor) that’s reminiscent of Frankenstein’s monster, thanks to the not-insubstantial amount of bodywork that rises above the headlamps. There’s also a garish fender vent the approximate size of Martha’s Vineyard. While the QX56′s front and rear end treatments are unique to the Infiniti, the basic profile and daylight opening are identical to the new Patrol, as is the lavishly-appointed interior, which appears to just swap steering wheel logos.
Categories: Auto Show, Infiniti, New York Auto Show, SUV Tags:
