Car reviews

If you’re looking for a unique, handsome, tech-savvy hybrid sports sedan, the Karma Revero is a pretty decent choice. Now, Karma is offering an extremely limited special edition dubbed the Aliso, which takes its name from a town in Southern California, and offers customers a slew of additional California-style customization options that could hint at what’s to come from the boutique automaker. And no, that doesn’t mean it just comes with avocado.

Porsche is set to launch a crossover-styled version of the Taycan. It will be based on the Mission E Cross Turismo, will be more off-road-worthy, and will be the third official model in the Taycan range.

It won’t differ too much from the concept, featuring mainly detail changes, but the same overall body and design. Some details, like the mirrors, the roof, and the rear light cluster will be different, as we’ve seen on Taycan sedan prototypes that are currently undergoing testing.

The Taycan sedan will be revealed sometime in 2019 and hit the market in 2020, so the Taycan crossover should debut sometime after the turn of the decade.

One of the Ford Utility Concepts scheduled to debut at the SEMA this month is a rather fashionable piece finished by MAD Industries. This California-based tuner has worked with Ford numerous times before usually tuning cars for the SEMA. This time is no different as they have revealed a custom Ford Explorer with a cool two-tone exterior paint job. Now, I have to tell you that, at first glance, the MAD Industries Explorer looks a bit like a Range Rover. Maybe the Evoque.

Nevertheless, there is much more to it than that. MAD Industries did a thorough job refreshing the Explorer inside and out.

An Audi RS3 Sportback test drive is like the holy grail for hot hatchback lovers. I visited that holy grail of mine, and boy was I overwhelmed by the experience.

As you probably figured out if you read about my time at the Continental #blackchili Driving Experience, I had a unique chance to drive a number of cool cars at an exclusive vlogger/blogger/influencer event organized by Continental AG in Nice. It was called the #blackchili Driving Experience, and I had a chance to drive the Audi RS3 Sportback there on a fantastic route that spanned for 40 or 50 miles. No, that is not enough for a proper test drive, nor was the time spent with the Audi RS3 Sportback enough for a proper assessment of its abilities or its virtues. But it was enough for one thing - to teach me that this hot-hatch is a freaking monster, an animal only a few could tame, and the biggest sleeper I have ever driven.

The Ford Expedition is headed to the 2018 SEMA Auto Show in two different guises. One of these two Expedition creations goes by the name "Destination Expedition," and it comes by way of Hulst Customs. The noted tuner developed its program with an eye towards turning the Expedition into the “ultimate SUV.” It features extensive upgrades in the exterior and interior, to go with a number of technical additions. The result is a go-anywhere version of the SUV that lives up to its Expedition name.

The Mercedes GLC-Class L is joining the growing list of long-wheelbase SUVs that will be offered in the Chinese market. The extended SUV stretches almost five inches longer than its standard counterpart. Its size and the extra space provided by that size is the only thing different with the GLC-Class L. Everything else is identical to the normal length GLC-Class, right down to its exterior looks and interior layout. The Mercedes GLC-Class L debuts at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition in November.

The original Meyers Manx was one of the catalysts of the off-road craze of the mid-to-late-‘60s that led to the creation of the Baja 1,000 miles race. Its popularity was far-reaching, and the best-well-known European Beetle-based buggy was the HAZ.

The HAZ, short for Hazard, was built between 1968 and the early ‘90s by Autohaus G. Kühn in Germany. It featured the same VW Bug engine as its American brethren but had a sturdier frame since it had to pass TUV (German Technical Inspection Association) tests to be road worthy.

Fiat has revealed its revised 500X crossover which has been nipped and tucked for the first time since its 2014 European debut (in the US for the 2016 model year it was launched). It comes with a refreshed exterior with new front and rear light clusters, more tech, and improved engines.

Hot hatches are big business in Europe, but not everybody wants the stiffer ride, or the higher associated fuel bills, which is why Kia has made the Ceed GT-Line which it revealed at the Paris motor show.

Blood Type Racing is returning to the SEMA Auto Show with a new creation. The noted tuner is mixing it up this year, ditching past automotive muses like the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and Ford Focus ST in favor of a Ford Edge ST. It’s a fitting challenge for Blood Type Racing; the Edge ST is the first SUV to come out of the Ford Performance team so, by default, it’s performance-ready on its own. But even that didn’t dissuade Blood Type Racing from going to work. The tuning specialist created an extensive program for the SUV, highlighted by an engine upgrade program that adds more power to a vehicle that already boasts an output of 335 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque to go with an ST-tuned suspension.

The Ford Expedition is arguably one of the most versatile SUVs in the market. It has the size, the technology, and the all-around capability that you’d want from a full-sized SUV. It’s also highly customizable, whether through Ford itself or through the aftermarket tuning scene. The Ford LGE*CTS Expedition Classic is a perfect example of the latter. It’s designed and built by noted designer Theresa Contreras, who focused on creating a “modern classic” interpretation of Ford’s popular SUV. There’s a lot to like about the this tuned Expedition, particularly its impressive presentation. We’ll get to see it up close at the 2018 SEMA Auto Show in Las Vegas.

I test drove the BMW M240i xDrive Convertible. The small BMW convertible showed me why I liked BMWs so much, it sparked the fire in my heart for BMWs once again, and I am not going back, ever. I love BMW, and now, finally, I definitely know why. It is for me. I am sure, if you had to chance to drive the M240i through a few bends on the mountain roads of the Gorges du Verdon canyon in France, the M240i would grow in your heart as well.

It is sublime!

I can’t even imagine what kind of a beast the M2 is. I haven’t driven it yet, but I am eagerly waiting to do so.

The Ford EcoSport’s standing as the Blue Oval’s smallest crossover isn’t stopping it from making a statement at the 2018 SEMA Auto Show. With assistance from aftermarket tuner, Tucci Designs, the EcoSport is showing off a more rugged “Big Adventures” personality that’s built for the outdoors. Bucci Design’s Ford EcoSport Big Adventures is one of five Ford crossovers and SUVs that’s appearing at SEMA when the world’s biggest aftermarket auto show opens its doors next month.

BMW raised a few eyebrows when it debuted its front-wheel drive-biased 2-Series Active Tourer model, and people quickly called it “not a BMW,” it was a model which dilutes the brand, and just plain ugly. However, after spending a few days with the top-of-the-range plug-in hybrid version of the 2 AT, the 225xe iPerformance, its many qualities did start to shine through, in spite of my initial hesitation to like it.

And I did like it in the end, even if not for the usual reasons one traditionally appreciates a BMW. I found it very spacious to sit in, with surprisingly comfortable seats, I liked its excellent fit and finish, and even the one-box design started to grow on me.

The driving experience is also pretty good, but again, not very BMW-like. It drives like one of the larger models in the MINI lineup, and that’s no accident because they all use a shared (modular) architecture.

My tester was also made even more likable thanks to its plug-in hybrid powertrain which works very smoothly and seamlessly, allowing it to change its character from silent side street cruiser to a hissing, turbocharged all-wheel-drive people carrier with hot hatch performance.

Photography by Andrei Nedelea

The 2019 Porsche Panamera and the Panamera Sports Turismo get some extra pizzazz with both being offered with a GTS badge. This is not the first time Porsche has used the GTS moniker on its cars; the second-generation Panamera and the Panamera Sport Turismo have gotten the same treatment and have been quite successful. The GTS versions have always been a good bang for the buck, as you get performance specs and features that are optional on other models, without actually costing a bomb.