There you are, standing outside your local Volvo dealership after close of business and that stunning blue XC60 you had your heart set on is parked next to a cool grey V90 Cross Country. Dang it, which dotted line do you sign on?
Softroader
Tested: Subaru Forester 2.0 XT
The flat fright
Are you in the market for a small to medium SUV softroader dad’s taxi crossover MPV? It seems that almost everybody is these days and I certainly don’t envy them with seemingly every manufacturer selling or planning the next best thing since 4×4’s went soft and cars grew legs.
Tested: 2012 BMW X1 xDrive28
The embarrassing imposter
The sports utility vehicle (SUV) market has been booming internationally and on local shores, no doubt bolstered by city dwellers with a taste for the big wide outdoors. BMW cottoned onto this long ago with their X5, X3 and X1 sports activity vehicles (SAV).
Tested: 2012 Ford Kuga
The extra character
Last Friday the phone rang and someone announced that they were bringing around a cougar. As I wasn’t sure which sort of man-eater to expect, I locked all doors, put on aftershave and armed myself with a bottle of gin. Imagine my surprise when the unwanted guest turned out to be Ford’s new-ish SUV, the Kuga.
Tested: 2011 BMW X3 xDrive35i
The storm trooper
Time for some history lessons. BMW stands for Bayrische Motoren Werke, which means Bavarian Motor Works. Bavaria is a province of Germany and saw the birth of BMW in 1916. The white on blue propeller badge pays tribute to aircraft engines which the company produced in its early years.
Tested: 2010 Honda CR-V i-DTEC
The refined Softroader
I never understood our senior journalist’s love for automatic Diesel SUV’s, until I strapped myself to the new Honda CR-V i-DTEC. It turns out they’re not as noisy, smelly and slow as I always maintained. Well, this Honda isn’t.
Testfahrt: BMW X5 xDrive48i
Ich halte nicht viel von SUV oder Softroader, weil sie angeblich vierradangetriebene Fahrzeuge sind aber in den meisten Fällen für unzugängliche Ziele unbrauchbar sind. Das irritiert mich auf der selben Ebene wie teueres Porzelan, das nur im Schrank steht und nicht gebraucht werden darf, oder die Funktionen meines neuen Handys, die ich nie gebrauchen würde. Absolut sinnlos.