Found at CarMax is the most outlandishly optioned car I’ve ever seen. It is nautically themed—fit for the yacht club—with blue leather on the dash and steering wheel, wood accent trim, white leather seats and white carpet. Is this automotive equivalent of a sports coat and khakis? Whatever it is, I admire the original owner’s… Continue reading Test Drive: 2010 Porsche Panamera 4S
I’ve got a Porsche crush after my 911 drive, but since the (997) 911 seems a stretch as far as practicality is concerned, I have been exploring Porsche’s five-door models. The Macan has always appeared to me to be too small to be family practical, but I thought I’d give it a closer look anyway.… Continue reading Test Drive: 2015 Porsche Macan S
I doubt anyone at Mercedes intended the E63S wagon and GLC 43 SUV to be cross-shopped, but here I am hopping back-to-back between this pair of oddballs. It is because of the wonder of depreciation that there is a reason to compare these cars. An E63S wagon has an MSRP of $100k, which is a… Continue reading Test Drive: 2018 Mercedes-AMG GLC 43
In the last five years, there have been just two gonzo wagons sold in the USA. As a used wagon shopper that limits my searches to the Mercedes Benz E63S and the Cadillac CTS-V. Today on deck is the E63. The salesman swears that this E63 was literally driven by a little old lady from… Continue reading Test Drive: 2014 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S-Model 4Matic Wagon
A wave of new and refreshed consumer electric vehicles is arriving on American shores in 2017. Among others, fresh off the boat is Hyundai’s new Ioniq Electric. As Hyundai’s first pure electric vehicle for the United States, it competes at the $30,000 price point with other 125-mile-range EVs like the updated Nissan Leaf and refreshed… Continue reading Test Drive: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric
The Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon was the first car I ever reviewed and I still remember it fondly to this day. Brutally fast, surprisingly agile, and comfortable too, the V wagon was a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too proposition, so long as your cake was perpetually dosed by a waterfall of premium fuel. The CTS-V wagon made such an… Continue reading Test Drive: 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon
Up until recently, if you wanted a performance wagon in America, you had two choices: the Cadillac CTS-V and the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG. I love the CTS-V wagon; it was the first review I ever wrote, and it has been turning my head ever since. The E63 wagon has always been cool in my eyes,… Continue reading Test Drive: 2014 Mercedes-Benz E63 S AMG 4MATIC
SUVs are the plan B—plan C?—in my garage filling schemes; I gravitate first towards cars from manufacturer skunkworks like BMW’s M and Mercedes’ AMG. And if the cars are too small, I start scheming about station wagons and Thule cargo pods. But SUVs have something even the larger wagons can’t provide: width. If comfortable rear… Continue reading Test Drive: 2014 Porsche Cayenne GTS (and Diesel, Base, S)
I recently fell in love with a 2005 Porsche 911 Carrera S. The car was flawed in many ways, but it was much, much, much more right than wrong, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. More than anything else, I’ve been yearning to learn how the 911 changed after its… Continue reading Test Drive: 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera
Brother Alex has a murdered-out Corvette Z06. It’s black, it’s loud, and it’s a bad mother. It’s also just reset my benchmark for fast. When Alex’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 rolled off the assembly line in 2008, it was the fastest car sold by Chevy. Designed as a track-ready sports car, it came with a 7.0L… Continue reading Test Drive: 2008 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Mike's Steering Column 