I drove the new Jetta SportWagen the day after I drove a Porsche Cayman S and — sorry boy-racer types — I'd much rather have this wagon than the Cayman S. It was more comfortable and more practical, which made it more fun for me to drive. It also had some surprising details that helped it score well on the Weekend Athlete tests.
In the movie "Popeye," Olive Oyl is trying to convince herself that Bluto is the guy for her, and while she easily lists his faults, the only good thing she can say is, "But he's large." So it goes with the Toyota Land Cruiser. It's large, and that’s the only good thing I can say about it.
If the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited I recently drove wasn’t the right car for me because I stay on-road, then the Mazda CX-7 is the right car for me because I do. In other words, even though this has all-wheel drive, I wouldn't want to take it down more than a gravel road or a snow-covered parking lot. However, that's only part of the Weekend Athlete test.
In my book, Jeep Wranglers are like tuxedos: You don't buy them for comfort, you don't buy them to use every day, but when you need one, there's no substitute. But does that mean the four-door, Unlimited version suits a Weekend Athlete?
Whether you hike, race or camp, there's a good chance you work up a sweat. That's good for you, but bad for your car — especially if you think you’ll sell it for a new one any time soon.
The HHR is a car I've had a lot of experience with as a rental car, driving it for everything from camping trips and triathlons to ski races. The faster, sportier SS version was new to me, though, and I hadn’t written about those previous HHRs, so now seemed as good a time as any.
If you read the newspapers, you've heard that more people are trading in cars for bicycles in order to save gas. I don't believe it, but hey, that's what they say. The stark reality is that bicyclists — at least here in Chicago — are getting hit by cars and have been injured or killed. What does that have to do with a car site? Everything.
It's not the greatest name for a car, I grant you, but Pontiac's little hatchback is a nice car for Weekend Athletes in a lot of respects.
The best thing you can do when you go to a race is go with someone. That way, if you get hurt, someone can take you to the hospital, drive you home and make sure you're OK. And, hey, even if you don't get hurt, you have someone to split the cost of gas with.
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