A5 Sportback is an Audi worth remembering

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 – Is it possible to have too many As?

If you’re talking report cards, no. If you’re talking about the number of A-leading, alphanumeric designations in Audi’s passenger car lineup, well …

If you’re keeping count, there are six of them, which I believe makes it difficult for the general public to sort them out.  Try this test on your friends: “Quick, name Audi’s signature passenger car.”

If you’re greeted with a prolonged, “uhhhh,” then the point is made.  The good news is that, in my view, the extensively reworked-for-2018 A5 just might be the one that stands out in the crowd.

My tester was the 2018 Audi A5 Sportback 2.0T Quattro S tronic, and yes, that’s way too much to remember.  The simple translation is that my ride was a sporty five-seater with Audi’s quattro all-wheel-drive system and a seven-speed S tronic transmission.

We’ll just call it an A5 from here on out.

Besides sleek, elegant looks that radiated luxury and class, my A5 had the full boat of strong performance, excellent handling, exceptional state-of-the-art safety features and a generous list of standard comfort/convenience perks.

You might expect to pay around $65,000 for all of this, yet the bottom line on the tester’s sticker was a mere $52,100, and that was with extensive extras. The starting price was a remarkably reasonable $42,600.

So right away, I’m impressed.

On the fly, the 2-liter turbo-4 engine with 252 horsepower was an enthusiastic, but quiet workhorse.  When asked, it instantly sprinted away from surrounding cars.  I tried to make the suspension wiggle in exaggerated slalom runs, but the A5 was not having it.  It was rock-solid in all conditions.

Because of its configuration, the A5 Sportback can take on 35 cubic feet of cargo when the appropriate seats are folded. That will haul a few toothpicks.

And while I was enjoying the numerous options – a super-sophisticated navigation system, 3D sound and high-gloss, dark brown walnut inlays among them – I was impressed with the modern, stylish layout of the dashboard.

The cherry on top: pretty good fuel mileage at 24 miles per gallon in the city and 34 mpg on the highway.

All told, this was an Audi I won’t soon forget … for all the right reasons.

Enclave is another super-loaded GM sport-ute

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 – If there’s anything a recent week in the 2018 Buick Enclave Premium AWD taught me, it’s this: General Motors is serious about swinging for the fences in its sport-utility vehicles.

The three-row Enclave tester was loaded with luxury, comfort/convenience perks and state-of-the-art safety systems.  It felt big and drove big.

And if you want a sizable SUV in this market, you need to bring your most cash-laden wallet.  The starting price on the tested Enclave was a hefty $50,315.  Extras boosted the bottom line to $56,555.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that. I just think today’s frugal SUV shopper has a lot to ponder.

The simple truth in my week in the Enclave is that it felt like something produced by Mercedes-Benz.  Yes, that level of luxury and quality.

The 3.6-liter V-6 with 310-horsepower glided down the freeway with silky-smooth precision and very little noise.  Seven folks in the interior cabin could gab away endlessly without straining their voices to be heard.  The nine-speed transmission functioned flawlessly.

Fuel mileage was a tepid 17 miles per gallon in the city and 25 mpg on the highway, which was not a surprise to me. An SUV buyer willing to pay $50,000 and up for a ride is likely more concerned about performance, not fuel prices.

The Enclave rides on the same frame as the recently reviewed Chevrolet Traverse.  Like its Chevy sister, the Enclave held the line with a comforting firmness.  And the Enclave’s exterior look is pleasingly sleek. The sharpened angle on the windshield adds to that look.

The tester's safety technology kept me between the lines and was ever on the lookout for cross traffic and reckless lane changers.

Interior space was generous for passengers and cargo.

So many standard goodies inside, including a heated steering wheel (with power tilt/telescoping to boot), a kickin’ Bose audio system and tri-zone climate control.  A power, hands-free liftgate on the back end also included the Buick logo projected onto the ground.  Cool.

GM is taking SUV art to the max, and for my money, if you’re going to purchase a top-end sport-ute that you plan to keep for at least 10 years, this Enclave is an excellent choice.  For me, the week in this luxury liner went by far too quickly.

Volkswagen Passat with a V-6 feels just right

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 – Here’s something you rarely get to say to your local purveyor of Volkswagen passenger cars: I’ll take the six.

That’s as in six cylinders in a V arrangement, standard on the recently tested 2018 Volkswagen Passat SEL Premium.

That gets you a midsize sedan with 280 horsepower under the hood.

Is it worth it?  Oh, yeah.

The tested Passat wore basic sedan skin but moved out like a shop-enhanced hot rod.  My ride rolled down the freeway entrance ramps with authority and tucked into tight spots with effortless ease.

 

Mashing the gas routinely powered me out of harm’s way, whether that was on packed commuter interstates or city streets clogged with unpredictable drivers.

That’s a secure feeling that few high-tech devices can match, in my view.

With that power being dished up by the 3.6-liter V-6, fuel mileage was so-so at 19 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg on the highway.

For the $35,500 starting price, this top-end Passat model was loaded with state-of-the-art safety, comfort and convenience features, all thoughtfully positioned around the driver’s cockpit. I noticed this after I took in the luxurious Vienna leather seating surfaces.

Interior space was surprisingly generous.  Ditto on the trunk space, which came in just a shaving kit short of 16 cubic feet.

All of that makes the Passat not only a delightful daily driver, but a best bet for family road trips, not something I expect from a midsize four-door model.

I realize that Volkswagen has taken its lumps in recent years, especially in the aftermath of the great emissions-cheat scandal that had earthquake impact in California.

But it’s not hard to see why VW sales have continued at a strong pace even after that.  The automaker continues to make customer-pleasing vehicles across all segments, pricing them below what you might expect to pay for competitive models offered by other manufacturers.

The tested Passat stacked up as a primary example of this international formula.

Super-sporty Lexus reviewed in latest Cruisin' News

Check out my review of the high-performance 2018 Lexus LC 500 in the latest, February 2018, 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.

Lexus GX 460 sport-ute pours on the luxury

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 – Last week’s review was about a sport-utility vehicle that surprised with all it had in it.  This week, I offer my take on the 2018 Lexus GX 460 Luxury, an SUV that you expect to have just about everything.

And it does.

It’s the automotive equivalent of ordering the filet mignon and two bottles of Dom Pérignon at the priciest restaurant in town. You expect the best.

Where to begin with this Lexus luxury liner?  How about the bottom line of $75,072 on the tester? So, now that we know where we stand there, let’s move on to the fuel mileage of 15 miles per gallon in the city and 18 mpg on the highway.  Yes, you’ll be paying a lot for gas.

Now that we’ve established that money is no object, let’s move on to the vehicle’s charms.

It’s loaded with so much luxury, so many safety features and so many over-the-top comfort and convenience perks that you feel like you’re driving the presidential suite of a five-star hotel.

Heated mahogany wood steering wheel? Check. Blind spot monitor with radar cross-traffic alert? Check. Intuitive parking assist? Check.  And on and on and on …

On the roll, it’s a dream, with the 4.6-liter, 301-horsepower V-8 seemingly laboring in silence as it smoothly propels the SUV down the road.  Volunteer passengers sat open-mouthed in the three-row configuration, with one rider asking if the GX 460 was operating in hybrid mode, so quiet was the ride.

The big SUV was easy to handle, although you have to mind your manners in tight city traffic.

It’s not hard to picture yourself gliding into the valet drop-off area of a mega-luxury resort in this vehicle…and feeling right at home among the Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover and Cadillac equivalents parked there.

My tester had the “Sport Design Package” that added a few visual, comfort and technology extras, but frankly, the GX 460 looks like a conservatively styled sport-ute upon first glance.  Conservative in a million-dollar sort of way, that is.

While the GX 460 is beyond my personal household budget, I will confess to lapping up every ounce of luxury in my week with the vehicle.  If you have the funds to make it yours over the long-term, color me green with envy.