SUVs

If there's one crossover that is polarizing right now, it is the 2019 Chevrolet Blazer. Inspired by Camaro but designed to still serve as a family mover, Chevy decided to resurrect a badge that once stood for off-road fun and freedom. Today that same Blazer name represents a new form of driving freedom for a new generation looking for a fantastic road trip experience while looking sharp and delivering just enough sport to make you forget for a moment that you are driving a mid-sized crossover.

Ford is doing something special for drivers looking for something different than the typical SUV. With the launch last year of the Ford Edge ST they introduced a new segment, the "Performance SUV" and along with that they created an entire driving experience designed specifically for those owners. To give us a taste of what it was like, they invited us to experience exactly what Ford Edge ST owners will on a one-day school in Park City, Utah. With a combination of driving some of America's most beautiful roads combined with instruction by awesome instructors and a chance to safely test features of the Edge ST, this was a pretty awesome experience.

The Ford Explorer is one of my absolute favorite SUVs since it first debuted in 1991. It has represented a sense of American style and freedom as the ultimate road trip vehicle able to adeptly transverse paved and unpaved roads. Now in it's sixth generation the Ford Explorer has added a new version to the line - the Ford Explorer ST. A performance version that we had the opportunity to spend a few hours with last week in Park City, Utah. 

When it comes to modern SUVs, few are good at both on and off-road. They are focused on tuned to compromise and lean towards fuel efficiency on-road - or all out off-road ability. While I can talk for days about the need for more true, body-on-frame SUVs, the Toyota Land Cruiser is the epitome of what an awesome SUV should be. It offers a solid, perfectly refined driving experience with no compromises and brings you back to an era when sitting in the driver's seat of an SUV made you feel special. We took the 2019 Land Cruiser on a road trip to Scottsdale, AZ for Spring Training and it was one of my favorite driving experiences in a long time.

This custom Defender 90 Convertible from E.C.D. Automotive Design is outfitted with a five-speed manual transmission and powered by a 6.2-liter LS3 V8 engine.

How to you make the Cadillac Escalade is already an SUV with attitude and is one of my favorite luxury rides. Now it's gotten a bad-ass upgrade from the folks at AddArmor who turned it into an absolutely stunning executive protection vehicle. I dream of one day rolling through the streets in one these but for now I'll just have to be satisfied by the photos...

Generally the SUV space is pretty boring today and this is especially true among midsize crossovers. This space has been dominated by generally bland vehicles that are designed to eek out that extra MGP and be as inoffensive to the most potential buyers. Chevrolet already has a fantastic stable of vehicles in this space including the Trax, Equinox, and Traverse. While these each fit their niche well, what was missing is something that buyers can have an emotional reaction to. I want to feel emotionally drawn to a car and be able to have fun driving it - while still satisfying my needs for space and capability. That's exactly what the 2019 Chevy Blazer does and why they invited me to join them as one of the first people to drive it.

The current generation Ford Explorer is one of our all-time-favorite SUVs. It's more than just a car, it is in fact an American icon. Ford continues to position it as something more than just another SUV and frankly it works well. They have an excellent vehicle that may just be our favorite choice for a road trip. We've had the chance to enjoy the the 5th generation Explorer on multiple occasions and we were in Detroit to welcome in the latest iteration. Let's take a look at what's new!

Toyota is the undisputed leader of the compact crossover SUV space and now they've made it even better. With the launch of the 2019 RAV4, Toyota has made it bigger, more aggressive, more fun, more stylish and generally more everything that buyers would want to see. Ultimately though it's not perfect but Toyota's new design theory seems to be on the right path to create great vehicles that are more than just "reliable". To celebrate the launch of this new vehicle, we tested it out on a road trip along the California coast including the twists and turns of Big Sur and the mountains of Carmel Valley.

My history with the Chevy Equinox goes back to the very beginning... Heather and I saw one of the very first ones available during a road trip and knew THAT was the car we needed to buy. A few days later, our local dealership got their shipment and we got the second one off the truck. Flash forward a decade and the Equinox is one of Chevrolet's top sellers and here we are enjoying their latest version while flying around mountain roads exploring the Rockies in Colorado. This vehicle has always had a special place in my heart and I'm thrilled to say that Chevy has taken it from a "good car" to one that I would consider buying again.

It's no secret that the auto industry is extremely competitive and that American tastes are shifting away from mid-sized sedans to SUVs like the Mazda MX-5, Honda CRV, Toyota Rav4, and Jeep Cherokee. What is interesting to me is how similar each of these cars is on paper and price - yet so different in driving experience. It made me step back a bit and think about how I experience cars since rarely do I get a chance to actually compare vehicles directly. Typically we're provided a top of the line model and asked to share our thoughts on it. Through a bit of luck and planning though, I managed to drive all four of these this year and take the opportunity to compare not just their bullet-ed talking points - but what it actually means to someone shopping for the right SUV for their lifestyle.

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.

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.