Sedans, New Car Reviews

Hyundai Hits A Home Run I first saw the new Hyundai Sonata at the press preview of the Los Angeles Auto Show last November, and, like a lot of other auto journalists, I was blown away with its sharp styling. Now, after living with the Sonata for a week, I’m still mighty impressed. This car [...]

NISSAN REDESIGNS SPORT SEDAN The Maxima sedan has been a mainstay in Nissan’s lineup for nearly three decades. Well over two million copies of this flagship model have been sold. Last year, Nissan delivered over 50,000 Maximas in the U.S. in what everybody agrees was a down market. Part of the reason for this success [...]

A DECENT CAR THAT’S LOST IN THE PACK The Sentra is one Nissan car that hovers in the shadows. You don’t hear much about it. It competes in a market dominated by the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic, and populated by other good choices, like the Mazda3 and the Hyundai Elantra. One of the [...]

TSX Gets More Horsepower Last year Acura redesigned its entry-level sports sedan, the TSX, and made it larger. They also incorporated styling cues from its big brother, the Acura TL. This year, the TSX gets a shot of extra horsepower from the TL. The TL’s standard V-6 engine is now an option on the TSX. [...]

The SHO’s Back On The Road After a layoff of some 10 years, the Taurus SHO has returned to the Ford lineup. The SHO, which stands for Super High Output, is the performance model in the Taurus line. It’s a sport sedan geared for those who enjoy spirited driving, but also need a full-size car [...]

An Electronic Treasure Trove and More The Mercedes E550 is a rolling treasure trove of high-tech wizardry. This car has every type of driver aid imaginable. Features that started on the big S-Class have now migrated to the new E models. Some, like the Pre-Safe system and Attention Assist are standard. Pre-Safe prepares the car [...]

Ford’s “Car of the Year” The Ford Fusion hit the jackpot for awards this year. The Hybrid model was named “North American Car of the Year” by a panel of 49 auto journalists in Detroit, and the Fusion (all models) was named Motor Trend’s “2010 Car of the Year.” One of the reasons Motor Trend [...]

2010 TL Gets 6-Speed Manual I don’t know if the styling of the Acura TL has grown on me in the last year, or whether my test car, which was painted white, made the design look more subtle. From some angles the TL is quite attractive, but that massive nose is a polarizing styling cue. [...]

Sized To Challenge Accord and Camry The last generation Mazda6 was a fun car to drive, but it’s sales were lackluster, compared to the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. One of the reasons for this was size—the 6 wasn’t as large as those segment leaders. Another problem was that the Mazda’s engines weren’t as [...]

Better Than Ever When I first drove the Infiniti G sedan in 2003, I was blown away. This car had excellent power, phenomenal handling, sleek styling and a reasonable price. I nearly bought one. Had I done so, that 2003 model would still be sporty enough to contend in today’s market. However, Infiniti didn’t rest [...]