Car Reviews

Nissan's first Kicks was, unique styling aside, was a bit of a letdown. The 2025 Nissan Kicks addresses what needed to be addressed -- it's a much better effort in the inexpensive compact-crossover class.

Today, friend of the site Connie Peters has a review of the 2026 Kia Sportage for us. She covers both the ICE and hybrid powertrains.

We're doing another edition of Drive Notes -- a capsule review of a car myself or a staffer drove that doesn't quite need a full review.

Today it's a 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Rally -- and yes, it is a 2024 but I drove it deep into 2025. Sometimes cars stick around for a while, and it's still worth a write-up for used-car shoppers. Not to mention that sometimes models carry over virtually unchanged.

Welcome to another edition of Drive Notes, which is where we provide a capsule review to a car that doesn't need the full-review treatment.

Up today -- a 2024 Ford Bronco Sport Freewheeling that I drove earlier this year. Yes, it's a 2024 -- sometimes they are in the fleet for a while. This one was obviously a limited-edition trim, but lightly-used ones are out there on the market.

Odd ducks can be fun -- even if the use case doesn't quite make sense. So it goes with the 2024 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLC 43.

Friend of the site Connie Peters has another review for you. Today it's the 2025 Nissan Armada PRO-4X.

Nissan names its off-road friendliest truck the Pro-4X.

The 2026 Subaru Outback is here. And it's very much what you'd expect -- in both ways good and bad.

Friend of the site Connie Peters has a video review of the 2026 Honda Passport Trailsport for you.

Perhaps you can compare it to our first drive for some point/counterpoint.

Volkswagen introduced the third-generation VW Tiguan to the U.S. for 2025. It includes a re-tuned turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with more power. An updated, lighter weight platform.

Friend of TTAC Connie Peters reviews the 2026 Mazda MX-5 Miata and RF hardtop. That latter one might be of interest with winter coming.

Hyundai has a hit on its hands with the Palisade three-row crossover SUV. Since it arrived for the 2020 model year, it’s been quiet, comfortable, and roomy, all while delivering a class-above luxury experience. For its second generation launched with the 2026 model year, it is larger and even more comfortable, but in the powertrain department Hyundai made it worse only to make it better.

The 2026 Honda HR-V AWD Sport is a top contender in the small SUV market, offering a unique blend of style, performance, and functionality.

The 2026 Nissan Sentra looks quite different than the 2025 version. Yet, underneath, it's relatively unchanged. Which leads to ask -- does this blend of new and preexisting lead to a more-desirable result or just more of the same?

Friend of TTAC Connie Peters has just driven the 2025 Ford Expedition King Ranch. Her thoughts are below.

Polestar got its start as a Swedish racing team in the 1990s. It then became a Volvo tuner, and was purchased by Volvo in 2015 and turned into the functional equivalent of a BMW M or Mercedes AMG performance arm for the brand. It’s now its own EV company, with ties to both Volvo and the Chinese company Geely, but its performance tradition carries on.

Friend of TTAC Robin Warner has a review of the 2026 Chevrolet Silverado for you.

Friend of the site Connie Peters has a review of the all-new 2026 Toyota RAV4 out.

Friend of the site Connie Peters reviews the 2026 Honda CR-V Hybrid Trailsport.

The Corolla Cross, a best selling small SUV from Toyota gets some light updates for 2026 including new styling on both the gas and hybrid models. 

Honda now offers seven trims of CR-V for 2026. Four of them make use of a hybrid powertrain, including the new CR-V TrailSport. The other three continue to motor along with a turbocharged 1.5-liter I-4 engine that pumps out a respectable 190 horsepower and 179 lb.-ft of torque. From there, it channels through a continuously variable transmission and on to the front- or all-four wheels. Is that still enough for the highly competitive, compact crossover market in 2026? 

The Vistiq is smaller and less expensive than the Escalade IQ with plenty of the same luxury. Which one's for you?

Step into the world of Japanese automotive royalty with this deep dive into the iconic 2000 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34—a machine that redefined performance and style in the late ’90s and early 2000s and continues to dominate hearts today.

Your humble author's experience with helming water-based vehicles has been, heretofore, limited.

I've piloted a few boats on open water. I've kayaked shallow water in the Caribbean. Done some white-water rafting in the Pacific Northwest as part of a group. And that's about it.

Most of my boating experience has been as a passenger, it seems.

So when I was told I'd be piloting a Sea-Doo GTX personal watercraft as part of my trip to Utah to drive some Can-Am side-by-sides, I had questions.

For example, should I be ready to do some swimming?

Friend of the site Connie Peters has a video review of the 2025 Polestar 3 that's worth checking out.

It was shortly after I'd slid off a rock and came too close to some birch trees for comfort that our group, which was in northern Utah to test Can-Am Defender side-by-sides, took a break while a photographer riding along set up his next shot. While we stopped, our local guide wandered over, grinned at me, and, referring to the slide that nearly, but not quite, ended with me in the trees, said "Puckered your butt, didn't it?"

Subaru has long been building a reputation as a purveyor of practical cars with off-road utility. Some models even have Wilderness trims that are quite capable when the road goes away.

But not every buyer wants to get that wild. Enter cars like the 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid.

Friend of the site Connie Peters has a video review of the 2025 BMW Z4 M40i for us -- the one with the manual.

Subarus are known for being plenty capable in the great outdoors, and we all know that the brand tends to move a lot of metal in states that have a high percentage of people who like to play outside. If you travel to New England, Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, even parts of California, you'll see that Subarus are the vehicle of choice.

That said, most auto-industry observers know that some car buyers select models that are highly capable off-road but never venture beyond Trader Joe's.

Enter the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness. You may never, ever feel the pull to take it past the daycare drop-off line, but should you want/need to tackle a difficult trailhead or clamber over a few rocks, well, this rig is more than capable.

In this Review, I drive the top of the line Calligraphy around a wide variety of roads and then head off road in the new for 2026 XRT Pro.

The Audi S5 has been a staple of performance and luxury in the automotive world, but with the current SUV market dominating the sales charts, the question remains, is the all-new model enough to make a statement?

Friend of TTAC Robin Warner is here to help you figure out which version of the 2026 Toyota Camry is right for you.

The Nissan Leaf was, once upon a time, one of the mass-market electric-vehicle pioneers. Time -- and competition -- doesn't stand still, however, and the first Leaf was soon left behind as competing makes came up with better EV offerings. The second-gen car never really closed that gap. Enter the 2026 Nissan Leaf.

If you’ve watched the TV series “Wallander,” you’ve seen the title character, played by Kenneth Brannagh, driving a Volvo XC70 SUV. The program is based on crime novels written by Henning Mankell. He is Swedish. The show is based in Sweden. And Volvo, of course, is based in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The 2026 Honda CR-V TrailSport Hybrid is the just latest attempt by the brand to off-road all the things.

Maybe it's an elder Millennial thing, but those easily mocked motivational posters tended to abound in the offices of schools I attended growing up. One said "an error is not a mistake until you refuse to correct it."

Well, Ram thinks it made a mistake by axing the Hemi V8, and the brand has made an effort to correct it. Yes, the engine is back. Hence, the 2026 Ram 1500 Hemi.

We’ve lost something with the switch from sedans to crossovers. The lower ride height of sedans creates a more engaging driving experience. Their lesser weight means better fuel economy. And arguably, the three-box format allows for better design. But we’ve gained something, too. Crossovers are more practical thanks to more cargo space, better sight lines over traffic, and raised ride heights that give them better ingress and egress.

For the 2024 model year, the Ford Ranger was redesigned with plenty of improvements all around. Ford also added the Raptor badge and more capability to its mid-size truck. The Ranger Raptor can go head-to-head with other rock crawlers and baja racers. TTAC Creator Connie Peters, an automotive journalist based in Vancouver, explores the Ranger Raptor in her latest video.

There are weekend warriors who car camp and then there are transcontinental travelers living out of their vehicle for weeks, months, or even years. Both are great forms of getting out there, but for my husband, Andy Lilienthal, and me, the latter suits us better. 

The Toyota Crown Signia is new for the 2025 model year. Toyota starts with the new for 2023 Crown sedan platform, raises it a touch, adds a liftgate, and voila you get this new "crossover SUV.” I put crossover in quotes because the government considers it a station wagon. But, considering its standard all-wheel-drive and 66 cubic feet of cargo space with the second row folded, it plays the crossover role well enough, even it if doesn’t quite meet the official standard.

I'm a huge Wrangler fan. Yes, I agree that highway handling isn't the smoothest, always worse with all-terrain tires of course, but it's not something that bothers Wrangler buyers.

The Polestar 3 is here for 2025. It’s the brand’s first two-row crossover SUV. And it’s beautiful. Clean lines form the body, which tightly wrap around the chassis. Narrow, sinister looking headlights hang out on either side of a front wing incorporated to the top of the front fascia, with the Polestar logo mounted on top. You see a subtle front and less subtle rear fender flares baked into the body in profile, which make space for as large as 22-inch wheels. It’s hard to find something sharper without spending Lamborghini money.

The Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is one thing, but the 2025 Porsche Panamera GTS is another.

V8 power, no waiting.

It’s always a dangerous game to mess with a successful formula. From Sean Connery to Roger Moore (with a brief appearance from George Lazenby in between) in 1973; to Coca-Cola to New Coke in 1985 (and then back again, thankfully); to Garth Brooks’ transformation into Chris Gaines in 1999, the remaking of a class-leader into something different can be fraught with disaster.

Land Rover debuts its most capable and powerful Defender ever, the Octa, for 2025. We took it on an 8-hour drive from Western Colorado to Moab, Utah, one of the most epic of off-road driving locations in the US, to put it to the test.

The Porsche Panamera started its third generation in 2024. And this Panamera 4 E-Hybrid just recently arrived on U.S. shores as one of four different hybrid trims.

The Aviator, the mid-size three-row luxury SUV from Lincoln is as luxurious as ever with a fantastic styling update for 2025. The front end looks fantastic and freshly modern with grille and headlight upgrades. 

Does Audi have the best European compact sport sedan? Or is the Audi S3 a swing and a miss?

Subaru added this new tS trim to the WRX lineup for 2025. tS stands for Tuned by STI (Subaru Tecnica International). It means you get includes added performance equipment, a distinctive look, and a six-speed manual as your only transmission choice.

The Goldilocks car that does just about everything right is very, very hard to find. And when you can find it, it usually won't be cheap.

That's usually the case, anyway. But the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid Sport Touring shows that's possible to get just about everything right without commanding a (relatively, see below) high MSRP.

Given the choice, I'd rather the weather be dry before taking to a country road for a spirited drive. That's true no matter what car I'm piloting. And it's really true if the car is a 2025 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

Sometimes, an otherwise fun-to-drive vehicle can be spoiled by its packaging. So it goes with the 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale.

Buying an Italian car isn’t always the most logical of decisions, not when more rational options exist just a pencil's width away. The old Top Gear crowd always used to say that every gearhead needs to own at least one Alfa in their lifetime and, after a week with the Stelvio, I started to get what they were on about - even if this model has one foot in the grave and one on a banana peel.

See? Not exactly rational.

One would think a small crossover based on the Acura Integra platform would be an instant winner. One would be surprised to find out the 2025 Acura ADX isn't quite what I'd hoped for.

Last week, I spent some time at Road America in Wisconsin testing cars on the track and on the streets around the nearby town of Elkhart Lake.

Watch out for elk, we were warned before taking the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan to the rural roads surrounding Bozeman, Montana. Especially since some of the crests on the country two-lanes are blind.

I saw no elk -- just some deer -- while testing the refreshed Tiguan. Unlike other members of the deer family, the elk apparently weren't interested in checking out this Volkswagen.

Too bad, because if they'd taken an interest, I'd have plenty to say to them. Instead, you'll be the ones getting my words about this updated compact two-row crossover.

On a rainy, muddy day at the Interlake State Recreation Area off-road course in Lynnville, Indiana, I’ve just become “that guy”—the one who messed up. Last in a line of 2025 Ford Expedition Tremors, I’ve skirted too close to a downslope and it’s drawing me in like Boba Fett to a sarlacc pit. One moment I was driving straight along a mostly flat trail and the next the muddy terrain and the 5,404 pounds of the Expedition have me poised on the brink of sliding toward a tree and possibly farther into a pond.

About a half hour and the Warn winches from a pair of Bronco Everglades models later, I’m back on the trail and off to tackle more surprisingly tough off-road obstacles.

Buick remains a somewhat beleaguered brand. GM has slowly turned the one-time home of LeSabres and Roadmasters into a crossover-centric brand.

That's not necessarily a bad move strategically, given that it's a crossover world. But Buick -- or any entry-luxury brand, really -- needs to do more than just build crossovers. It has to build ones that are worth the price. Especially if they share a platform with a more "mainstream" vehicle.

That's where the 2025 Buick Envista Avenir ultimately falls short.