2006 Kia Sedona: My Take

My family has a 2004 Kia Sedona, and we’ve been really happy with it, so I was excited earlier this week to catch a ride in the 2006 Sedona. It was impressive.

The center console was much better designed, with the controls more intuitive. I liked the more upscale look of them as well, with a nice faux-wood look that didn’t look like it would fade horribly within a couple of years. My kids would have killed to get the second row windows that roll down that the '06 sports; too often, they are desperately asking us to roll our windows down to get some airflow through the back. It does make me wonder about how safe those windows are with *very* young kids — I’m told that it comes with a parent lock — but with older kids it shouldn’t be an issue.

2007 GMC Yukon: My Take

GM’s redesigned full-size SUVs debut for 2007, and Cars.com’s Dave Thomas recently got some seat time in one of them: a 2007 GMC Yukon Denali. I've also driven the Yukon, but in the lesser, SLT form, and found that many of the Yukon Denali's positive attributes are still present in the less expensive SLT.

Like Dave, I found the Yukon to be surprisingly manageable, considering its incredible size. It's very stable at speed and is relatively easy to maneuver — even on narrow urban streets. Frankly, I'm impressed by how far this class of vehicle has come in terms of stability, ride and handling, and drivability in the past 10 years.

2007 Jaguar XK: My Take

Joe Wiesenfelder’s extremely thorough – and unusually ecstatic – review of the all-new 2007 Jaguar XK coupe and convertible is a terrific read. Often around the office writers will argue over what they thought of each car, but on this Joe and I see eye to eye: the XK is a winner.

And Joe’s not wrong to point out the looks as one of the important “win” factors. When compared to the awkward wedge shape of the BMW 650i, the XK is all curves. From any angle besides head-on, the XK is tough to compete with, unless you’re in the rarified air of $100,000-plus vehicles.

Pontiac G6 Convertible: My Take

Summer is the time for convertibles, and David Thomas just reviewed Pontiac’s new G6 convertible. I also had the opportunity to take a brief drive in the convertible, and found it to be a respectable offering in the retractable-hardtop segment — if you’re shopping purely on price.

Like Dave, I walked away underwhelmed with the G6’s ride and handling. The suspension is definitely tuned more for boulevard cruising than back-road carving, and yielded significant body roll in corners. With its retractable hardtop lowered, the G6 is not especially rigid, either; there was a fair amount of chassis shudder during my drive.

VW Passat: My Take

Mike Hanley recently posted his review of the new 2007 Volkswagen Passat wagon, and it sounds like quite a nice family-mover. I didn’t get a chance to drive the wagon, but I did spend some seat time in the 2006 sedan when it was introduced last year.

2006 Volkswagen New GTI: My Take

Yesterday I read Joe’s review of the new VW GTI and disagreed with many of the points he made, yet came to the same conclusion: It’s my favorite sport compact for real driving too! As for the rest…

Joe thinks the GTI looks too cute. My tester — black with a black mesh grill with red piping and those demonic wheels — looked mean to me. And Joe deserves major bonus points for explaining the root of the wheel name Hufeisen, relating to the horseshoe cutouts in the alloy rims. I didn’t know that.

2007 Saturn Sky: My Take

Joe Wiesenfelder’s review of the Saturn Sky went up on the main site yesterday. Like Joe, I too had a week in a Saturn Sky recently and agree with him on most points about it being an improvement over its GM sibling, the Pontiac Solstice. However, I didn’t experience the loud engine noise Joe did. In fact, the silver Sky I tested was much quieter, from the engine to the exhaust note, than the Solstice. And since I agree that the power and transmission are lacking, I thought the more subdued ride was appropriate for a cruiser, not a bruiser.

I also think Joe doesn’t give the Mazda MX-5, the Sky and Solstice’s main competitor, enough credit as far as interior room. I found its cabin more livable than the Sky's, with more room for not only my legs and hips (everyone always forgets hip room when talking comfort), but also more cupholders and storage bins. As for headroom, the low-riding position of the Sky helps with that, but I didn’t like the beltline — basically think where the bottom of the windows meet the top of the door — being so close to eye level.

Otherwise, I think Joe is right on most marks. The piano black finish on the dash is nice, though he didn't mention that it was Mazda’s RX-8 and MX-5 that started that recent trend. And yes, I too received lots of stares while driving the Sky around Chicago. A young ambulance driver even leaned out to say he thought the car looked “hot.” In the end, that’s why this car will sell.

2006 Range Rover Sport: My Take

One of the nice things about having more than one automotive writer on staff is the ability to get a number of opinions on the cars we test. We don’t always see a vehicle go through multiple hands, but often a different trim level or engine choice will become available and we have some room to compare notes.

Mike Hanley’s review of the Range Rover Sport was just posted on the Expert Reviews page today, but a month or so back I got a week in the Supercharged version of this luxury SUV. The bigger engine adds 90 horses, to 390-hp total, and about $12,000 to the sticker, up to just under $70,000. But boy is it a blast to drive. The handling revealed none of the “tippiness” SUVs often exhibit, and the more powerful engine kicked in with a nice grunt. I even took it on a round trip from Chicago to Detroit and it cruised splendidly.