2010 Audi A5 2.0 TFSI quattro Cabriolet

Open-air love affair

By Nina Russin

2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet

Used to be, owning a convertible was a love/hate relationship. While nobody would argue with the visceral appeal of open-air motoring, drivers had to compromise ride and handling due to poor torsional rigidity that plagued many cabriolets. In addition, the soft tops did a poor job of insulating the interior against road noise and cold temperatures.

I owned one of those convertibles: a 1972 Olds Cutlass. While I enjoyed every day through seven summers of driving, I stored the car from October through April. In the winter, I drove a sedan.

The Audi A5 cabriolet is a different kind of animal: with a stronger skeleton and four-season performance. Engineers used high-strength steel throughout the body structure, enhancing  torsional rigidity without adding weight.

Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system maintains a rear-wheel bias on dry roads, and sends power to the wheels with the best traction on wet and icy surfaces. The top is insulated enough to keep out road noise in the summer and cold in the winter.

A two-liter, turbocharged engine produces excellent power while conserving on fuel. Audi’s direct fuel injection system delivers the gasoline directly into the engine cylinders, enhancing throttle response while reducing carbon monoxide emissions. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV

Premium sport sedan

By Nina Russin

2010 Nissan Maxima

Despite its luxury price tag, the Nissan Maxima is first and foremost a great value. Its ride and handling,  convenience and safety features rival much more expensive cars.

What hurt the car’s popularity until recently was its plain exterior. Last year, designers reconfigured the Maxima with a muscular, stylish body befitting its underpinnings. Buyers in the market for a sport sedan would be remiss not to test drive the Maxima.

The Maxima comes in two grades: the base S and upscale SV. Power for all grades comes from a 3.5-liter V-6 engine and continuously variable transmission. Standard 18-inch wheels with V-rated tires give the sedan a wide, stable footprint. Four-wheel vented disc brakes with four-channel antilock braking stop the Maxima on a dime.

The test car is the 3.5 SV which retails for $33,180, not including the $720 destination charge. Standard comfort and convenience features include keyless entry and start, leather trim, an eight-way power driver’s seat and four-way power passenger seat, Bluetooth interface, Bose audio system with XM satellite radio, USB connectivity, and a power moonroof. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Toyota Tundra CrewMax 4X4

Full-sized pickup truck for active families

By Nina Russin

2010 Toyota Tundra CrewMax

Not all horses are created equal. Neither is all horsepower.

Horsepower is a measurement of an engine’s ability to do work. Originally one horsepower equaled the strength of a single horse: 33,000 ft.-lbs. of work per minute.

Horsepower can make a vehicle very fast, or capable of towing heavy loads, depending on its application. Full-sized pickup trucks are the Clydesdales of the car world. Large displacement engines such as the 4.6-liter V-8 in the Toyota Tundra combine horsepower with low-end torque, giving these vehicles exceptional hauling capability. The 5550-pound Tundra tows up to 10,100 pounds: twice its curb weight.

What distinguishes the Tundra from many of its competitors is performance: strong acceleration and surprising agility on challenging roads. One could say that the Tundra combines the strength of a Clydesdale horse with the grace of an Arabian.

The CrewMax model holds up to five adults. Its versatile, well-equipped interior makes it equally adept as a work truck and active lifestyle vehicle. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Lexus RX 350

Midsize luxury crossover vehicle

By Nina Russin

2010 Lexus RX 350

In 1998, Lexus introduced a new crossover vehicle called the RX 300: the luxury twin to Toyota’s Highlander. A hybrid version rolled out in 2005, diversifying the product mix. Last year, Lexus unveiled the RX 350: a new model with more power and numerous technology upgrades.

Engineers tuned the standard 3.5-liter V6 engine to produce a flat torque curve. The all-wheel drive version tows up to 3500 pounds, meeting our ALV minimum standard. A six-speed automatic transmission seamlessly transitions between gears while enhancing fuel economy.

Inside, the RX 350 seats up to five adults, and adds a spacious cargo bay with a standard tonneau cover. The rear seats fold flat to extend the cargo floor, so the RX meets our bicycle-friendly standards. Standard roof-rails make it easy to add a cargo rack. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Lexus GS 450h Sedan

Hot performance hybrid

By Nina Russin

2009 Lexus GS 450h

Some hybrids are green; others are candy apple. The Lexus GS 450h sedan is a candy apple red hybrid: utilizing electric motors to boost power rather than fuel economy.

The hybrid powertrain includes a gasoline engine and two electric motors: one that controls engine speed, and the other which drives the rear wheels. Together the electric motors give the 3.5-liter V-6 the power of a 4.5-liter V8. It’s hard to argue with a five-second, zero-to-sixty acceleration time.

Because electric motors develop peak torque at very low speeds, the GS 450h is the king of the entrance ramp. Very few cars will beat it off the line, or in the 30-to-50 mile-per-hour acceleration range. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 North American International Auto Show

Automakers charge up a new generation of electric cars

By Nina Russin

Volvo Electric C30

In its race to find renewable alternatives to gasoline, the auto industry is once again considering the electric car. Electric cars have been around almost as long as the internal combustion engine. Problems with battery technology and the lack of a recharging infrastructure prevented plug-in vehicles from migrating into the mainstream.

Advances in nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion battery technology provide two viable alternatives to lead-acid. Lead-acid batteries are heavy and space consuming. Because the electrolyte is fluid, they also present a safety risk.

Manufacturers including Nissan and Mitsubishi are working with state and federal agencies to put recharging stations in public places. Nissan hopes to have a good start on its plug-in infrastructure when the Nissan Leaf rolls into dealerships the end of this year.

This week’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit saw a new flock of plug-in concepts from Volvo, Audi, GM, Honda and Nissan. Volvo is using its compact C30 as the basis for a fifty-unit electric car test fleet that hits the streets in 2011. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Toyota RAV4 Sport 4X4

Compact sport-utility vehicle with an active focus

By Nina Russin

2009 Toyota RAV4

Twenty-five years ago, Toyota introduced a pint-sized sport-utility vehicle with a big mission: to meld the fuel economy of a passenger car with the cargo capability of a light-duty truck. RAV4 stands for Recreational Active Vehicle with four-wheel drive. As the name suggests, the RAV was one of the first cars designed specifically for urban athletes.

The original RAV debuted in Japan in 1994: it came to the US two years later. The first RAV4 was essentially an all-wheel drive Camry with two-box architecture. While the ’96 RAV got mixed reviews from automotive enthusiast magazines, it was a hit among its intended buyers. The four-cylinder RAV was thrifty at the fuel pump, small enough to parallel park, and had enough room in the cargo area for a road bike.

While the current RAV4 is slightly larger than the original, it remains one of the smallest sport-utility vehicles on the market. The Sport grade tested is positioned between the base and upscale Limited models. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Ram 3500 Laramie Crew Cab

Heavy-duty pickup truck goes the distance

By Nina Russin

2010 Ram 3500

I’ll admit it: the thought of driving a truck that’s fourteen feet long and weighs three and a half tons makes me a little nervous. The Ram 3500 heavy-duty pickup is not a truck for everyone. But buyers needing its off-road and towing capabilities will be surprised at how easy and fun the new Ram is to drive.

The test truck is the Laramie crew cab: an upscale grade with seating for up to five passengers. Base price is $49,945, not including a $950 delivery charge. Options on the test truck include leather trim ($500), special paint ($225), automatic transmission ($1575), a power sunroof ($850), upgraded audio and navigation system with satellite radio ($800), a rearview camera ($200), and a back seat entertainment system ($1695).

Power comes from a 6.7-liter Cummins turbo-diesel engine and six-speed automatic transmission. In addition to having an abundance of low-end torque, the engine gets pretty good gas mileage, thanks to its exhaust-driven blower. I averaged 17.3 miles-per-gallon on my 150-mile drive, which included a significant elevation gain. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Audi A4 Tiptronic Sedan

Mid-sized sport sedan sprints to the head of the pack

By Nina Russin

Audi A4 Tiptronic Sedan

Audis are to the automotive world what wide receivers are to football: solid as a rock, yet lightning fast. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the A4: a mid-sized sport sedan that competes against the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C Class.

Engineers imbued the two-liter, four-cylinder engine with exceptional throttle response, thanks to direct injection: a technology used throughout Audi’s model lineup. Unlike traditional port fuel systems, injectors deliver the gas directly into the cylinder, bypassing the valves. Doing so reduces the amount of unburned gas, enhancing fuel economy. Because the fuel vaporizes instantly, direct injection also improves throttle response.

The six-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission includes a sport mode for more aggressive performance. The driver can manually select gears if he prefers.

Quattro all-wheel drive makes the wheels stick to the road like glue, whether driving through rain, snow, or on dry pavement.

Use of aluminum throughout the body and suspension gives the A4 the ‘light on its feet’ feel that I alluded to in the opening paragraph. Read the rest of this entry »

Nissan Leaf Comes Stateside

Nissan promotes electric car with a 22-city tour

By Nina Russin

Nissan Leaf

Electric cars have been around almost as long as the internal combustion engine. But they’ve never gained widespread popularity for two reasons: limited driving range, and the lack of a recharging infrastructure.

Nissan hopes to bring electric cars into the mainstream with the Leaf: a pure electric production car that arrives in dealerships at the end of this year. The four-door hatchback holds up to five passengers, and has a driving range of about 100 miles on a full charge. Top speed is 90 miles-per-hour.

Lithium-ion batteries similar to those used in personal computers provide the energy for the Leaf. They are significantly less bulky than the lead-acid batteries used in most automotive starting and charging systems. Recharging the Leaf takes about eight hours on a 220-volt household line. Read the rest of this entry »