Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category
2012 Dodge Charger SRT8: Power play
Friday, August 5th, 2011By AARON COLE
Managing Editor, MediaOne of UtahTurns out California saw the second coming after all.
It may have been months after the projected date, and not exactly as predicted by an 89-year-old prophet, but the return of Dodge performance was nothing less than apocalyptically awesome.
The 2011 Dodge Charger SRT8 is not a return for the once-beleaguered and nearly bankrupt carmaker, rather an arrival of something wholly biblical and monumental we had been waiting for just the same.
In the interest of full disclosure, Chrysler flew us out to California to witness the arrival of their newest brand, the SRT division, headed by former Dodge brand CEO Ralph Gilles — and to sacrifice much gas at the altar of horsepower. (more…)
2011 Ford F-150: Truck, reimagined
Monday, June 27th, 2011By AARON COLE
Managing Editor, MediaOne of UtahIn its heyday, pickup trucks moved more steel than the Carnegie family.
That is to say, a few short years ago our appetites for full-size Ford pickup trucks in North America were satisfied at a rate of well over 100 an hour, every hour, every day — for 365 days a year.
Take a look around Salt Lake City and you can see remnants of the full-size frenzy everywhere. At the drive thru. At the grocery store. At the malls.
But the inevitability and predictability of “supply and demand” finally caught up with fossilized dinosaur juice — and sedan owners had their moment of righteous indignation from losing ground and giving right-of-way to the pickup sprawl for years. Along with everything else between 2007 and 2009, pickup sales stalled. And historically speaking, even after gaining nearly 20 percent on sales from 2009, 2010’s sales figures are still among the lowest of a decade. (more…)
2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible: Detroit muscle, California looks
Monday, June 20th, 2011Cool is harder to define than an ethics violation.
And explaining what it is to look cool, or be cool, can have a longer script than most UN resolutions.
It’s hard to say what made the new Chevrolet Camaro “cool” after its arrival over three years ago — it just was. It wasn’t the car’s cameo in an oversexed, oversold Hollywood movie — although that didn’t hurt — it was more about the way the Camaro completely changed the idea of what an American muscle car could be. Avant garde from an American automaker happens less often than films from Terence Malick. (more…)
2011 Fiat 500C: Clever, small Fiat cabrio arrives in U.S.
Monday, June 6th, 2011By AARON COLE
Managing Editor, MediaOne of UtahNEW YORK CITY — I’m searching for a mythical creature some say is more difficult to find than Sasquatch, the boogeyman, unicorns and Thomas Pynchon – all put together.
I, of course, am looking for the teenage girl who has nearly $20,000 to spend on a car. Her cash haul would have been obtained one of two likely ways: through independent means (that’s a lot of babysitting) or bankrolled via parentage (much more likely).
I do believe she exists. In fact, I believe this creature exist in far greater numbers than once believed. (more…)
New Saab 9-4X carrying more than just a badge
Monday, May 23rd, 2011By AARON COLE
Managing Editor, MediaOne of UtahWASHINGTON — The timing couldn’t have been more ironic if it were in a Woody Allen film.
A beleaguered automaker, whose cash-strapped production line ground to a halt only a few weeks ago, is showing signs of life by announcing a new vehicle.
Janis Joplin said it best when she said “freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.”
Saab has a lot of freedom these days. (more…)
2011 Volkswagen Touareg: An SUV with a new pitch, and a hitch
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011By AARON COLE
Managing Editor, MediaOne of UtahThe 2011 Volkswagen Touareg TDI requires us to understand our dimension of assessment.
That is to say, what direction are we looking in?
It’s economical. That’s true. (more…)
2011 Moab Easter Jeep Safari: Part 2
Friday, April 29th, 2011By AARON COLE
Managing Editor, MediaOne of UtahMOAB — I know as much about off-roading as I do about Hankel Functions.
I can observe the numbers in a Hankel Function in the same way that I can observe the rocks in front of the 2010 Ram Power Wagon. What to do with the rocks and the numbers, that’s up to God and people smarter than I am.
Jeep, Ram — and I guess Chrysler by extension — invited us down to Moab last week to taste what Easter Jeepsters have known since the 1970s: spectacular sports begin with a dare. As in, “I bet you your wife will leave you quicker if you go up that sheer cliff face in the family Jeep.” (more…)
2011 BMW 135i Convertible: Small, fast and fantastic fun
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011By AARON COLE
Managing Editor, MediaOne of UtahIs that my small intestine in the back seat?
Launching the new 2011 BMW 135i Convertible forward requires little more than one’s own inspiration before the Munich-made missile is off with the velocity of an unfettered sneeze. It’s no wonder — this 1-series is lighter than dry snow.
But we’ll get to all of that in short order. First, let’s examine our Bavarian bullet.
BMW’s 1-series — which numerologists around the world agree is less than 3-series — is Bimmer’s answer to bigger waistlines than early bird Chuck-a-Rama wait lines. (more…)
2011 Range Rover Sport: Off-road opulence
Friday, April 15th, 2011
By AARON COLE
Managing Editor, MediaOne of UtahDENVER — What’s not to like about a car that keeps your Acqua Panna cool, protects your perfectly sculpted quaff and shuttles your designer jeans around a suburban slalom course of shopping mall, chic eatery, overpriced grocery store and back to the McMansion again?
Money doesn’t buy happiness, but I’ll cry my eyes out in a 2011 Range Rover any day.
These domestic duties, of course, are all we’ll ever use them for. (more…)
2011 Dodge Durango: Dead-eye Dodge aims for SUV market
Friday, April 8th, 2011By AARON COLE
Managing Editor, MediaOne of UtahThe 2011 Dodge Durango’s crosshair grille would be better suited on top of a gun barrel.
That is to say that the 7-seater, crossover-SUV-whatchamacallit is not only a sniper shot across the segment’s collective noses — but also up it.
Resurrecting the Durango name from a two-year slumber was visibly no easy task. The Dodge hauler emerged in the late 1990s with a sturdy, curvy SUV alternative for SUVs that were growing faster than the national debt. Since the Durango name fell dormant in 2008, gas prices have fluctuated worse than Tiger Woods’ swing — more than even the stock markets. The last time we had a Durango, we grounded flights over Swine Flu. (more…)
