2018 promises to be busy, with myriad story lines

Sacramento, California -- This is the last post of 2017, and the message is sincere: Here’s wishing you and yours a safe, happy and prosperous 2018.

And as always, thanks for reading.

The coming year promises to bring a flood of story lines in the ever-changing auto industry: more in-car technology, remakes of long-popular models, continuing escalation in the pickup truck wars, more electric vehicles coming to market and the continuing evolution of autonomous vehicles.

If the driver-less motor vehicles start reviewing themselves, I might be in trouble.  Until then, thanks for your interest and feedback.

Back to basics: Rio prompts appreciation, memories

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California – A recent week in a 2018 Kia Rio LX five-door hatchback enhanced my appreciation of driving on two levels.

The simple pleasure of just driving was boosted, and I was made even more grateful for all the technology that we take for granted in today’s new motor vehicles.

The tester was the most basic car I’ve driven in probably the past 25 years.  You had to turn the key in the exterior door handle to lock it.  Exterior mirrors had to be adjusted with old-school knobs mounted inside front doors.  Windows had to be rolled up or down by hand.

Yeah, welcome back to the 1970s.

And yet, I couldn’t help but feel that I’ve been spoiled all these years, with all the electronic gadgetry at my fingertips in the cockpit.  Remember just getting into a car and driving off … on a simple errand or a much-anticipated road trip. Simple pleasures.

The Rio returned these memories.

At the same time, it made me think hard about the blizzard of comfort/convenience/safety features that are stuffed into motor vehicles these days.

Power/heated/cooled seats.  Blind spot-warning systems.  Mega cruise-control systems.  Automatic braking systems.  It’s amazing when you ponder it.  Just think for a second how much more we get in new cars now than we did just a generation ago.

So, thanks to the tested Rio for all that.

Oh, by the way, my no-frills Rio handled well.  The 1.6-liter, 130-horsepower, in-line 4 engine moved the vehicle around impressively.  The Rio was nimble and easy to steer.  The back storage area was surprisingly roomy.

Gas mileage was exceptional at 28 miles per gallon in the city and 37 mpg on the highway.

And that bottom line sticker price of $16,315 was pretty easy on the eyes as well.

If you want basic transportation for a college-bound youngster or a suburban daily driver to handle all those errands, the Rio shapes up as a strong contender.

The appreciation enhancements are a bonus.

Golden Age of motoring? It's happening now

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California –  People are asking: What’s the story of the year in the auto industry?

In my view, the industry itself is the top story of 2017.

Historians like to talk about the so-called Golden Age of motoring back in the 1950s and 1960s.  Frankly, all the things that are going on right now make those years seem like the Dark Ages.

Domestic new-car sales are again on a strong pace as 2017 nears its close (California likely will top 2 million new vehicles again by year’s end).  Incredibly, crossover sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks continued to ring up robust sales even as automakers are under pressure to produce more fuel-efficient machinery.

And they are doing just that.  Electric vehicle development is at an all-time high, and manufacturers are producing gas-electric hybrid versions of their most popular models. Infrastructure for hydrogen-fueled vehicles continues to expand in California.

 

Behind the scenes, major automakers continue to develop and test autonomous vehicles, which you can expect to see on Golden State roadways in numbers in the near future.

Incredible technology that I once believed would take 50 years to master can now be had at dealer lots from coast to coast.

Cars can park themselves, automatically hit the brakes hard in advance of a nasty collision and warn drivers of dangers approaching their vehicles from all angles.  You darn near have to try to crash some of today's motor vehicles.  That’s how advanced the safety systems are right now.

Other than the dawn of the automotive age, I can’t think of any period in history where so much is being developed and put into motion.  It’s an amazing time to be a motorist.

And sure, traditionalists are concerned.  The very idea of a motor vehicle driving itself instead of being controlled by human hands is dreadful to many.

I say relax.

I don’t anticipate the joy of driving on the open road going away anytime soon.  It’s still OK to enjoy the simple pleasures of motoring, while simultaneously admiring the seemingly relentless development of more powerful, safer and more technologically advanced cars.

You can expect a lot more in 2018.  Me?  I can’t wait.

Popular Camry gets a decidedly positive upgrade

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California – You hold your breath when an automaker decides to rework a hugely popular model … Just ask the designers who remade the Ford Taurus with disastrous results a generation ago.

For the 2018 model year, Toyota dug in on its Toyota Camry sedan, a longtime hall-of-fame money maker.

I’m happy to report that, not only did Toyota do no harm, it upgraded the Camry into something remarkable.

Camry critics have long conceded that it’s a reliable, feature-loaded mainstream driver, but in the same breath they have dismissed it as a vanilla-looking car with performance characteristics that fall far short of getting the pulse racing.

Not so now.

My recent week in the 2018 Toyota Camry XSE provided a feast for the eyes and the heartbeat.

My ride was equipped with the 3.5-liter V-6 rated at 301 horsepower, and I was stunned at its robust performance from a standing start and amid fast-moving traffic.  Acceleration was so brisk that the same exclamation kept bouncing around in my brain: “I can’t believe this is a Camry.”

The performance rush is backed up with a dynamic restyling that makes the Camry look aggressive, but not gaudy.

If tepid looks and performance have been holding back prospective Camry buyers in past years, they no longer have any excuses.

By the way, fuel mileage on my V6 was pretty darn good at 22 miles per gallon in the city and 32 mpg on the highway.

Everything else I experienced was vintage Camry: comfortable seating, thoughtfully laid out controls and a generous list of safety, comfort and convenience features.

This being the XSE version, yes, the bottom line price of $38,230 on my ride was a bit hefty.  But my experience tells me that Camry buyers tend to keep their purchases for the long haul.  The long-term math, for them, works out well.

Bottom line: For 2018, an exceptional passenger car gets even better.

This stylish Lexus coupe can get lost in a hurry

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo reviews of the latest motor vehicle models also can be seen on The Sacramento Bee’s website at www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

This review first appeared in the November 2017 edition of the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News published out of Folsom, California – mg

Sacramento, California – I’ve said in previous reviews that I genuinely like the Lexus RC coupe, and the enhancements for 2017 make it an even more aggressive competitor against all those two-door bombs out there on the roadways.

The tested 2017 Lexus RC 350 with the F Sport package grabbed my attention right away with its race car-like profile and mini-Ferrari styling on the back end.  Dual chrome exhausts add to the visual appeal.  It looks fast standing still, and you can’t wait to get behind the wheel and open it up.

Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

The 3.5-liter, 24-valve V-6 actually seems stronger than the advertised 306 horsepower.  That was especially true on the freeway when additional pressure on the accelerator at moderately high speed produced an additional blast to push my ride beyond the reach of surrounding cars.

For all that juice, fuel mileage is OK at 19 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg on the open road.

And the ride is remarkably smooth.  Interior cabin noise is moderate, even when the Lexus is at full song.  On corners taken at high speed, the tester was spot-on solid, with no hint of wiggle.  Kudos to Lexus engineers for maxing the body rigidity of this RC 350, but stopping just short of it being an annoying spine jolter.

The look and feel of the RC 350 are decidedly sporty, but the tester was so loaded up with luxury, convenience and technology features that I was reminded that Lexus is, above all else, a luxury brand.  My ride included wood interior trim, illuminated door sills, a moonroof and a premium, 17-speaker, 835-watt Mark Levinson audio system.

Of course, all this costs money: $58,323 on the bottom line.  Given the whole package, I didn’t really have much of a problem with that price.

What I did have problems with was the left-side, steering column-mounted turn signal system that doesn’t work like a conventional system, which translates to I could never quite tell when the turn signal was working or not … or whether it would ever shut off.  I’m old school when it comes to using turn signals, and I’ve never mastered this particular piece of hardware.  Half the time, I’m sure following drivers are convinced that I don’t know which way I’m going to turn.

Happily, safety features are numerous and state-of-the-art.  The brakes grab with instant authority.  The backup camera is crystal clear and easy to understand, and the location-specific tire pressure monitoring system is arguably the best in the business.

In a world where I had all the money in the universe – yeah, imagine that – would I opt for the RC 350 as my guilty pleasure coupe?  I have to confess that I would be very tempted by that proposition.  This is an exceptional coupe that gets high marks for looks, perks and performance.

 

 

 

Nissan's iconic 'Z' car reviewed in latest Cruisin' News

Check out my review of the 2017 Nissan 370Z Roadster in the latest, December 2017, edition of the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News, published out of Folsom, California, by John Sweeney and Evonne Sotelo.

The “Hot Laps” reviews, along with my "Oil Drips" observations on anything with wheels, appear monthly in the publication.

To subscribe to the Cruisin’ News, visit www.cruisinnews.com, call (916) 933-0949 or send an e-mail request to cruisinnews@mac.com. Mailed requests for information should be sent to Cruisin’ News, P.O. Box 1096, Folsom, CA 95763-1096.