Reviews

In the new Motocompacto, Honda has resurrected a concept as old as I am – a compact, folding scooter that fits conveniently into the storage area of your car. In the 1980s, it was called the Motocompo — a gas-powered scooter that…

CHAMPILLON, France – I’ve off-roaded in a fair share of places. There was Moab, Utah, and Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. The mighty Rubicon Trail in California, and that state’s Imperial Sand Dunes, so vast and surreal you’d swear you…

EPERNAY, France – When Land Rover introduced its smallest SUV for 2012, the en vogue Range Rover Evoque aspired more to the citified, reservations-at-eight lifestyle than any traditional “Landie” ethos. Today, the rest of the Range…

GLAMIS, Calif. – It’s not rare to see a BMW on the podium in a pavement motorsports event, but a second-place finish in the longest off-road navigational rally raid in North America? That’s just plain crazy. BMW made the impossible…

BARCELONA, Spain – There have been fewer street-legal Porsche models with at least 700 horsepower than you’ll find cylinders in a 911. The list includes the 911 GT2 RS (700), the Taycan Turbo S (750), the 918 Spyder (887) and ……

AUSTIN – In a world where most luxury automakers have introduced plush, smartly designed, road-oriented three-row SUVs, Lexus has, strangely, not. While it has literally offered SUVs with three rows, the rearmost one has never been…

ROME – While some companies make comprehensive updates to an older model and market it as a new car, Lamborghini detoured this avenue when it began developing a successor to the Aventador. New from the ground up, the Revuelto stands…

The 2024 Porsche Macan will be all-new and all-electric … except when it’s neither of those things. What now? You see, the next-generation Macan will in fact be all-electric, based on Porsche’s new “PPE” electric vehicle platform.…

LISBON, Portugal — I’m not one to pooh-pooh a 650-horsepower luxury sedan, but in 99% of all situations, the new BMW i7 M70 is no better than the less-expensive i7 xDrive60. For an extra $44,300, BMW will festoon your i7 with more…

JOHNSON VALLEY, Calif. – “You’ve got to be kidding,” I say as I stare at the narrow, boulder-strewn gully before me. Actually, “boulder” may be too kind for what are probably better described as “jagged-ass rocks.” Either way, there…

HELL, Mich. – The 2023 Mercedes-AMG SL 43 is the high-dollar luxury convertible equivalent to the Mustang turbo vs. V8 debate. In other words, don’t rule out this four-cylinder Benz just because it has half as many cylinders as its…

SPRINGDALE, Utah — You’re right, a 2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness in Zion National Park does look like something out of a marketing brochure. But come on, it’s hard to argue with this kind of product placement. The new Crosstrek…

LISBON, Portugal — Ah, the BMW 5 Series, the ubiquitous Bavarian business saloon. Slightly larger and perhaps more stodgy-looking than its predecessor, the 5 Series nevertheless heads into its eighth generation with BMW’s latest and…

NINTH CIRCLE OF TRAFFIC HELL, Calif. – For the better part of a decade, I would get on Interstate 10 at Cloverfield Boulevard here in Santa Monica, Calif., and then sit in literal gridlock for about 40 minutes until I exited the 10 a…

SONOMA, Calif. – On its own, the new Nissan Z is a fun-to-drive sport coupe that pulls hard on the nostalgic heartstrings. It's held back by a last-generation platform that keeps it from competing against newer sports cars, though,…