Tweaks enhance an already good Honda Pilot

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 -- The Honda Pilot, a three-row people mover with a pretty fair following, has been tweaked for 2019.  Good news: all the changes make it a better sport-utility vehicle.

My tester was the 2019 Pilot AWD Elite, the very name implying a healthy dose of luxury and technology.  And yes, that is the reality.

The list of comfort/convenience features is staggering.  Ditto the number of state-of-the-art safety features.  While Honda offers bargain vehicles throughout its fleet, the Pilot is an exception.  The bottom line on my tester was $49,015.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.  I liked the leather-trimmed interior; the spacious, well-appointed cabin and comfortable, powered seats.  Liked the 20-inch alloy wheels too. Did I mention the panoramic roof?  Liked that too. Add the hands-free power tailgate to my like list.

A refreshed outside appearance is an attractive plus.

In a nutshell, this Pilot wears a Honda badge but feels and looks like an upper-end Acura.

Driving the Pilot was a pleasure, although I wish there was a more-powerful engine option beyond the 3.5-liter V-6 rated at 280 horsepower.  To be sure, that power plant handles the majority of driving chores quite nicely.  I felt I needed a little more oomph, however, during a steep uphill run in the Sierra Nevada.

The interior cabin was pleasantly quiet, even with the engine at full song.  The nine-speed transmission and all-wheel drive marriage was seamless and a secure performer on slick/icy mountain roads.

Max cargo room is generous at about 84 cubic feet.

Fuel mileage on the tester was only fair at 19 miles per gallon in the city and 26 mpg on the highway.

Overall, Honda enthusiasts who show loyalty to the brand are not going to be disappointed.  They can rightly point to the Pilot's charms when facing off against motorists who prefer, say, a Mazda CX-9 or a Chevrolet Traverse.

Pilot fans will enjoy the 2019 improvements.  And well they should.

Chevy Bolt EV provides electric driving experience

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 earlier this month in the February 2019 edition of the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News published out of Folsom, California – mg

Sacramento, California – I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that most readers of this publication love old-school automobiles, with classic lines and internal combustion engines.  I'm guessing that most have not driven an all-electric car.

Still, knowing human nature, I'm betting that this same audience is nevertheless curious about what it's like to drive an all-electric machine.  If so, read on.

Full disclosure: I'm pretty old-school myself, and so I awaited the arrival of the 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV Premier hatchback with a fair amount of nervous anticipation.  Yes, I've driven EVs before, but they require a whole different kind of attention.  I'll explain.

First off, let me say that the Chevy Bolt EV is a remarkable car, a mind-blowing hunk of amazing, state-of-the-art technology.  And yeah, it looks pretty good too in a smooth, squat sort of way.  When it moves, it does so with remarkable quiet.  Even when it is exerting itself, quiet conversations can take place inside the capsule.

And it moves quite well.  It's not an underpowered mini car.  Several times I took turns on suburban streets with a trailing car on my tail, watching the trailing vehicle suddenly dart sideways to pass, assuming my Bolt would lag.  A quick, short hit on the accelerator resulted in my ride simply walking away from the impatient trailer.  Good acceleration?  Check.

Same story on the freeway.  The Bolt rolls smoothly down the entrance ramp and darts up to 70 miles per hour with seemingly no labor whatsoever.  It's a rush, because you're doing this smooth run up amid virtually no sound, courtesy of a 200-horsepower equivalent in the electric power plant.

Under perfect, carefully managed driving conditions, you can wring more than 200 miles out of a single charge. And the fuel mileage rating equivalent is a ridiculous 128 mpg in the city and 110 on the highway. The tester started at a fairly reasonable $40,905, not bad given the technology and features inside.

So, what's the big deal?  Well, for an old-schooler like me, my eyes are constantly glued to the remaining mileage/juice shown in the dash.  When it gets down to 50 miles to go, I'm already starting to sweat.  Where's the closest recharging station?  What if all the charging devices are in use?  Do I need to take a magazine and wait for the car to recharge?

It's a similar story on overall energy use.  I'm constantly obsessed with the in-dash readout.  How many kilowatts did I use to get up to 70 mph?  Was that careless?  Should I be driving more conservatively to save juice?

So, I play it safe and charge the car via an external electric outlet at my home.  Thing is, if I've run down the charge significantly, it takes many l-o-n-g hours to fully recharge, an uncomfortable feeling for someone used to just getting into a car and driving it as needed.

That's my confession, and hopefully, a tutorial on what it's like to wheel an EV.  My take on the Bolt: wonderful car to have in an urban setting, especially if it's a second, do-the-chores workhorse.  If you're an old-schooler, however, prepare to be perpetually nervous and obsessed with how much juice your ride has in it at any given time.

Subaru steps up with three-row Ascent SUV

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 know Subaru: agile little cars with state-of-the-art all-wheel drive ... great little daily drivers that don't take up too much space in your garage.

Well, maybe you don't know everything about Subaru.  Take a look at the all-new 2019 Subaru Ascent, a three-row sport-ute that's the largest vehicle ever built by the automaker.

Everybody is getting into the SUV game, right?  It was only a matter of time before Subaru played its hand.  That's the simple summation.  The reality is a little bit more than that.

Simply put, the Ascent gives you all the advantages of a generously equipped SUV with the exceptional handling characteristics of a Subaru, long-time masters of AWD.

My tester was the Limited trim level, looking good in "Crimson Red Pearl" paint and priced at $42,920.  Extras on my ride included a panoramic power moonroof and an excellent navigation system with an easily seen eight-inch, high-resolution touchscreen.

While the Ascent has three rows seating up to eight, the tester did not feel -- or drive -- like a big brute.  Quite the contrary.

The sole engine offering, a 2.4-liter, turbocharged, horizontally opposed four rated at 260 horsepower, easily moved the Ascent in and out of tight spaces on the freeway and on city streets.  The turning radius was surprisingly compact. Steering was midsize-sedan easy.

The Ascent's interior cabin is comfortable and spacious, with various folding seat options.  I will say that getting into the third-row seats is a bit of a challenge.

For those who have been aching for a robust, cargo-hauling Subaru to come along, the Ascent has a maximum towing capacity of 5,000 pounds.

Subaru says its biggest-ever vehicle "is designed for active families on the go," and that's a good fit.  I can picture it handling ski weekends in the Sierra Nevada, with driver security boosted by the Ascent's sure-footed manners.  Fuel mileage is fair at 20 miles per gallon in the city and 26 on the highway.

The Ascent rolls into a super-competitive automotive segment, so it will be interesting to see how sales go in 2019.  It has a lot going for it: Subaru's storied AWD perfection, sound engineering and exceptional fit and finish.

It's certainly worth a test drive if you're in the market for such an SUV. 

Chevy ups game in competitive pickup segment

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 -- Bigger, bolder, stronger.

That seems to be the mantra of those who build pickup trucks for the American motoring public these days.

The recently tested 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 4WD LTZ Crew Cab was a classic example.  Massive in size ... I felt small just walking up to it.  Cargo bed the approximate size of North Dakota.  An intimidating, sprawling grille that looked capable of smashing through the old Berlin Wall.

But hold the phone.

Chevy reworked the Silverado for the 2019 model year, and some of the changes are downright startling. For example, the engineers utilized a cocktail of lighter materials in the redesigned pickup, with the result being a weight loss of up to 450 pounds.

They enlarged the cargo bed, adding more tie-downs and an optional up/down power liftgate.  There's more passenger room and a longer wheelbase.  The exterior sculpting is, well, more muscular looking. Thoughtfully placed chrome accents catch the eyes. The pickup radiates a "don't mess with me" look rolling on the interstate.

Speaking of that, the 6.2-liter V-8 rated at 420 horsepower is a robust, yet refined freeway cruiser.  The power plant moved the truck so easily that I felt I was handling a much lighter vehicle.  And surprise, the turning radius was likewise impressive, although I wouldn't advise showing off in a tight convenience store parking lot.

For all its mass, the tester had fair fuel mileage numbers of 16 miles per gallon in the city and 20 mpg on the highway.  Chevy has done its best to maximize the numbers with myriad cylinder-activation combinations.

My tester being the LTZ version, leather interior surfaces all around were part of the lavishly appointed cabin.  Interior perks are numerous, including an in-dash reminder that you might have left some cargo in the rear seats.

Going up against stiff competition in the full-size pickup segment, the Silverado also has all the bells and whistles for safety, towing and on-the-fly driving enhancements.  Chevy fans can proudly claim that their Silverado stacks up quite nicely against the equivalent vehicles produced by archrival Ford.

I remember the days of basic engine/cabin/cargo bed pickups that could be had for a relative song.  That's why the bottom line of $58,630 on the tested Silverado made me swallow hard.  Then again, that's pretty standard fare among today's fully loaded, magnificently engineered pickups.

And this Silverado is a bona fide player in that game.