Car Review

Last month I got invited to drive two new Mazda's in San Diego - the CX-5 and the MX-5 RF. After weeks of counting down the days till I could get behind the wheel, when I saw the itinerary I was crushed to see that I'd be sitting in design seminars for as much (maybe more?) time than we'd actually be behind the wheel. Nothing quite made sense. After all, this was a car launch event and driving matters... right? After some initial disappointment though I decided to simply make the best of the situation and try to learn something. I'm glad I did! While there was the minutia of how many bushings were created and how sound were avoided by adding an extra micron of padding here and there, the ultimate takeaway was something greater. Mazda guys really live and breath a design philosophy that quite frankly has created some of the finest cars in the industry today. 

At first glance, the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk doesn't look much different than it's brothers in the lineup, but once you begin to look deeper it becomes more intriguing. There are bold red tow hooks popping out on the front, a black stripe covering the hood, better off road tires, and it rides a bit higher. Inside though are all the things I liked about the Grand Cherokee that we reviewed previously. What Jeep has done is created the Grand Cherokee that it should have made before... and I loved driving it for the week that they let me borrow it. For this trip, we set out to the Miramonte Resort in Indian Wells - part of greater Palm Springs for an epic adventure on and off the road.

Anyone that's ever done the drive home from Las Vegas to Southern California after a weekend getaway can tell you how terrible the traffic is. This normally 4-5 hour trip can instead become 8-9+ hours of bumper to bumper rush hour traffic where you are forced to be at 100% attention on roads that would normally compel you to look around and enjoy the drive. So, instead of fighting that fight a few weeks ago, I decided to take the long way home and discovered a fantastic road trip that was a lot of fun to drive in the 2017 Flex that Ford gave to us for the trip.

Who said you can't have practical and fun in the same car? Our first experience with the Mitsubishi Outlander was last year's model and frankly it wasn't our favorite experience. This year though, the Outlander has been completely updated and so I was super excited to give it another chance.

Some SUV's are made for carving a path through the jungle... and others are perfectly designed for attacking the suburbs. That's not to say that those two are exclusive, but after driving the 2017 Nissan Armada around San Diego for a week I can say that this beast felt at home driving through gated communities, soccer fields, and strip malls. There's no suburban challenge too big for this beast... except when it came time to find a place to park. Simply put, this SUV is huge and Southern California parking spaces are tiny. However, despite the size, the Armada comes equipped with plenty of sensors and technology to make even that challenge manageable.

Recently, we were hosted in Bluffton, SC with Mazda to explore some of what the Lowcountry has to offer. I've personally never worked with Mazda in this capacity, but the experience was definitely one to remember. The Mazda brand is all about lifestyle and how its vehicles can make the perfect companion, whether you're enjoying some back roads or living it up in the city. Because of this, we had the opportunity to experience some very memorable activities in a beautiful setting.

I've had a chance to test out the Wrangler and Renegade Trailhawk, both are rugged, and fun off road vehicles that I can't wait to drive again. However, the Grand Cherokee is a slightly different beast. While it still maintains a very high level of capability, if feels at home cruising the open highways and urban roads in comfort. Whether you are taking the kids to soccer practice, giving your client a ride to the airport, or picking up bags of mulch for that weekend project, the Grand Cherokee is going to make you feel good doing it.

The Toyota history museum in Torrance is closed.

While Detroit may be known as "Motor City", Los Angeles is absolutely a Car Kingdom with the US Headquarters for numerous Asian manufactures including Mazda, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, and Honda. Because of this, it shouldn't be surprising that there are some amazing automotive museums in Southern California that chronicle this perspective of automotive history. We recently got invited to visit the Toyota USA Automobile Museum in Torrance and I learned a lot about the impact that Toyota had on the American industry as well as just how integrated Toyota is in the US industry and how it got there.

The Jeep Renegade is an interesting beast and initially I let my biases cloud my judgement but I quickly realized that this is "more than just a Fiat". Last year I had the opportunity to test out the 500x that shares the same platform as the Renegade and while it was a fun experience, at no time would I have ever thought that it could possibly be turned into a mountain scaling dirt monster. But somehow the guys at Jeep made it happen...

A short time ago, the concept of a "luxury sedan" from a Korean manufacturer would have been something to scoff at but Hyundai has clearly worked hard to set new standards for quality, comfort, design, technology, and elements of luxury in it's mainstream products over the past several years. As a fan of their entire product line, the one piece I hadn't touched was the Hyundai Genesis sedan... until now!

Yeah, I'm weird - I like to pair my travels with just the right car. So, when I set off on a road trip to Electric Daisy Carnival, I had to get something electric. Unfortunately, reality set in and the drive from San Diego to Vegas is about 330 miles, far to long to use for an EV without stopping for an hour or two for a recharge. Hyundai had a solution though and offered me their plug-in hybrid Sonata to test out. As I was about to discover, this was the perfect vehicle for our trip as it was comfortable, stylish, has amazing gas mileage, and while it has an incredible range (up to 600 miles with both gas and electric fully charged) it can do nearly 30 miles on pure EV too!

A few months ago I tested out the Mazda MX-5 Miata and this weekend Fiat invited me to meet her hotter, more fiery Italian sister. Both of these ladies are spectacular to drive and fun to look at, but it seems that Fiat has done the impossible and improved on what many people consider to be the perfect roadster. This is a car that collectors will love but so will those of us simply looking for a way to satisfy our desire for freedom on the open road!

One of the things I LOVE to do is test a car out and spend enough time with it to really feel comfortable that I "get it". All too often I just have a few hours to drive them and the review is more of a confirmation that the stuff in the press release is true and a chance to get pictures to support the talking points. That isn't to say that those opportunities aren't valuable but it's a far cry from spending 8 days driving a car more than 2,000 miles up mountains to 8,500 feet and below sea level in the desert. That's what we did earlier this month during our #LetsGoPlaces Road Trip with the 2016 Toyota Avalon.

As you know, I'm a huge fan of Kia and I own a Soul. The company is something very special that you don't find that often - in the auto industry or really anyplace else. There is a sense of confidence that comes from being a winner and that's true for the 2017 Kia Sportage as well. Having first launched in 1995, the Sportage (like its sister models) has moved from "this cheap Korean brand" to one of the best in the industry. What makes it special though is that they are laser focused on brand integration and catering to a certain lifestyle that just makes you crave getting an invite to the party. To help celebrate the launch of the new Sportage we were invited to drive it around San Diego, eat some great food, hang out with some amazing people, and party the way only a true rock star can!

With "Auto Show Season" in full swing now it's likely that you are going to see an EV this year and think, "I wonder what it's like to live with one?". That's how I felt a few months ago. Luckily Kia was kind enough to loan me a Soul EV for a week to test it out. This isn't a review of the Soul EV but rather a summary of my experience living in what is likely the future of personal transportation.

A few months ago I had the chance to take a spin in the 2015 Optima and now I have had the chance to put the all-new 2016 version through it's paces too. Kia refers to their objective with the Optima as being to "Defy Ordinary" and that's why they chose the setting of Aspen, Colorado to showcase their latest version of this great family sedan.

Last week I had the chance to attend one of the most amazing trade shows ever - The SEMA Show. If you've ever wondered what might happen if you brought thousands of car geeks together to show off their creations and passion for all things car related then you have to visit this show. Thankfully I was invited as a special guest of Kia to see some of their latest creations as part of this year's marketing theme #KiaWanderlust.

I'm lucky - not a month goes by where I don't get a chance to hop in an awesome new car and take it for a spin. While many of my friends get jealous when I talk about jetting off to Aspen or some other exotic locale, the reality is that you can have a similar experience even closer to home by visiting your local auto show and checking out the Kia Ride & Drive.

Anyone can "drive somewhere" but to make an absolutely awesome road trip, you've got to combine a few things: friends, vehicle, and setting. It simply isn't enough to just strap in to a car and drive somewhere. The folks at Ford totally get this and developed an incredible route from Vancouver, British Columbia down to Albuquerque, New Mexico to showcase the stunningly awesome 2016 Ford Explorer. For the third part, "friends"... well they invited a bunch of bloggers and other media people to drive the route along with them.

Gas isn't as expensive as it once was, but for those of you who own trucks like the Toyota Tundra, every little bit helps. Here's some advice for getting the maximum gas mileage from your truck.