Sometimes there's a vehicle that should be a home-run but just leaves you wondering who it was designed for. That's the feeling I got following our week with the all-new 2021 Toyota Venza. On the surface, Venza looks chic and sporty, somewhat of a cross between an Avalon and a Rav4. It wants to have the handling of a sports sedan, with the space and comfort of an SUV. Sadly, despite looking sharp, it doesn't fulfil the sporty promise that we were hoping it would.
- Written by James Hills
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With global travel resuming and covid seemingly in the rear mirror, it's important to realize that the fight isn't over. In fact, even at the most optimistic vaccination levels there will still be 30% of our country that remains unvaccinated. That means nearly 100 million Americans will still be vulnerable and that means rapid, reliable testing will remain an essential way to keep things back open again.
- Written by James Hills
- Page Views: 84
Volvo used to stand for one thing only - safety. I remember a story from when I was a kid growing up where a truck carrying cinderblocks overturned on a family driving a Volvo and they all survived. This was the car if you didn't care about looks but wanted a well designed safe car for your family. Flash forward a few decades and Volvo got sold to Chinese automaker Geely and I had my doubts on if the brand could survive. Thankfully, it has and the Volvo XC90 T8 that we drove last month still maintains that safety reputation but it is now fun to drive and has a uniquely Scandinavian luxury design, especially in the cabin.
- Written by James Hills
- Page Views: 155
Men who live fulfilled, active, action-packed, and full lives today are the ones who took the time to invest in their health. No matter your general health and fitness goals, the least you can do for yourself and your family is to make a conscious effort to stay as healthy as you can. And although it all starts with making the right health choices, it also involves knowing what the wrong choices are. So, do you want to spend less time in the doctor’s office and more time living your best life? Then it would be best if you avoided making these health mistakes.
- Written by James Hills
- Page Views: 249
When Ford, in 2017, formally announced that they were bringing Bronco back, the off road enthusiast world lost their shit. This was one of the biggest brands in off road history and now it was coming back in exactly the right time where we have the most advanced suspension technology in history and a wide variety of engines that are designed to be robust enough to handle virtually anything we can throw at it on the trail. Then ... a year later a new "Bronco" emerged and that quickly got derided as simply the "Baby Bronco", a vehicle simply riding on the big brother's coat tails. In many ways, that is accurate since I'm not sure the Bronco Sport would survive on it's own if it were called something else - for instance if it were simply called the Escape Sport.
- Written by James Hills
- Page Views: 179