A favorite sedan sees advances in quality, price

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- Shortly after George H.W. Bush took the oath of office as the 41st president of the United States in January 1989, Toyota commenced mass production of a new flagship luxury sedan called the Lexus LS 400.

The starting price was -- I kid you not -- a mere $36,000.

From the first time I drove it, I liked the car.  In fact, I routinely told friends and family that, even if I had all the money in the world, I would be completely satisfied with having the LS as the family car.  It had everything I would want in a top-tier sedan -- luxury, strong performance, pleasant amenities.

Over the years, I continued to like the LS, even as its engine and price grew at a rapid rate.  Fast forward to 2020 and my recent week in the current-generation LS 500 sedan. Much has happened to the car.

Visually, the LS 500 is not that far removed from its origins.  It's elegantly sculpted, with an aggressive front end and world-class fit and finish.

Moving on, things have changed a lot.  The engine is a rip-roaring 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V-6 with 416 horsepower.  It does more than perform.  It excels.  Power flows in a silky smooth stream, and you can find yourself touching 80 miles per hour with your right foot only halfway to the floor.

This is a rush.  And thoroughly enjoyable.

My rush was matched by the electric jolt I felt when I saw the bottom line on the tester's sticker -- a wallet-crushing $108,490.  That would have bought a few Game Boy consoles back in 1989.

To be fair, the base price on the tester was $75,450.  It was obscenely dressed up with optional extras, including an Executive Package priced at a whopping $17,100.  The package included specially stitched leather surfaces, four-zone climate control, power front seat buckles, power rear window sunshades and a 28-way power driver's seat with multi-function massage.

The vehicle was equipped with seemingly every luxury/convenience/safety device available to the auto industry.  Over-the-top perks included a 23-speaker Mark Levinson audio system, an adaptive variable air suspension system, a 10-speed automatic transmission and a heated steering wheel of premium wood and leather.

It's pretty much a rolling Four Seasons hotel.  I felt like I was being spoiled to death just driving it around the block. I didn't want to give it up. Yes, I admit that it's easy to fall in love with this LS.

But the price of love has gone up plenty over the past 30 years.

Freshened Honda CR-V still does everything right

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- It looks like many other sport-utility vehicles on the road.  It's about the same size as others in its class. You don't get a lot of smack-talkin' brag from folks who own it.

And yet the Honda CR-V compact sport-utility vehicle has reigned as a monster seller in California and throughout the nation for years.  It has a quarter-century pedigree that's the envy of automakers worldwide.  Honda rightly boasts that the CR-V is "America's most popular crossover."

How to explain it?  How about?: It does so many things so well.

My recent week in the 2020 Honda CR-V 1.5T AWD Touring sport-ute hammered home that argument with authority.

The look is not unique, but it's pleasantly smooth and attractive.  Honda freshened the CR-V for 2020, and the front end is particularly sleek with stylish tweaks to the bumper, grille and headlights.  My ride on 19-inch wheels looked sharp with one of the new-for-2020 paint jobs -- Aegean Blue Pearl.

Inside, the tested CR-V was downright luxurious, with leather surfaces throughout, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and an instantly responsive dual climate-control system with air filtration.

The package of safety features was extraordinary for an SUV priced at $35,845.  It included virtually most of what is now on the market, and then some -- brake assist, vehicle stability assist, blind spot information system and LED lighting to name just a few.

The little things add up.  For example, standard amenities on the tester included a power moonroof with tilt feature, rain-sensing windshield wipers, remote engine start and heated/power exterior mirrors with integrated turn signals.

Fuel mileage is excellent at 27 miles per gallon in the city and 32 mpg on the highway.  Besides getting top marks from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 2020 CR-V earned a max five-star overall vehicle score in federal government crash tests.

Interior cargo volume is superb in this class, with 75.8 cubic feet of space to be had with the rear seat folded down.

On and on it goes, but wait, I can tell you that the tester was the most impressive driver of all the CR-Vs I've tested previously.  Handling was, as usual, firm and responsive, but what really hooked me was the new-for-2020 1.5-liter turbocharged-4 engine rated at 190 horsepower.

That power plant adds significant oomph to the CR-V, a development I enjoyed to the fullest on local freeways.  The tester more than held its own in high-speed, dicey conditions.

With all that going for it, no wonder the CR-V has topped 5 million in U.S. sales over the past generation.  That's 5 million-plus, and counting.

Here's a new Venue that won't break the bank

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- I was happy to take delivery of an all-new-for-2020 Hyundai Venue SEL sport-utility vehicle recently, but I was instantly asking myself: What is Hyundai doing?

The five-door subcompact Venue certainly looks nice, with styling cuts that round off the typical boxy look of a crossover sport-ute.  But doesn't Hyundai already produce a five-door subcompact crossover SUV called the Kona?

It certainly does, and I've posted some fairly positive reviews of the Kona.

So, where does the Venue fit in?  According to Hyundai -- which has risen over the past generation from a maker of cheap wheels to a producer of some of the world's most-liked and top-quality motor vehicles -- it's all in targeting the market.

For starters, the Venue has a base price about $3,000 cheaper than the Kona.  Now I have your attention, right?  My generously loaded up test vehicle was still a bargain at $23,425 on the sticker's bottom line.

And the Venue's fuel mileage is a touch better.  My SEL tester weighed in at 30 miles per gallon in the city and 34 mpg on the highway.

Hyundai's marketing materials flat out note that the Venue targets young buyers, and in particular, female buyers.  It expects half the Venue purchasers to be from Generations X, Y and Z.  The Venue was designed with female buyers in mind, with a convenient step-in height, a boatload of digital perks, state-of-the-art safety features and easy-to-fold 60/40 seat backs for cargo conversion.

And, yes, it looks good, with a fair amount of flash on the grille.

Here's the thing:  I don't fall into any of the Venue's target demographics, but I genuinely liked the vehicle and enjoyed driving it.  A random sampling of auto-reviewing colleagues produced similar verdicts.

To be sure, the 1.6-liter, four-cylinder, 121-horsepower engine is not going to blow the doors off other models, but it operates quite efficiently.  And I liked the extras that added only a little to the price of my tester.  Optional perks on my Venue included a power sunroof, LED lighting front and back, and heated front seats/exterior mirrors.

For folks who crave variety, it's comforting to know that the Kona is out there to be had. Some might prefer it over the Venue.  But the Venue's tried-and true-formula -- good looks, pleasing interior features and a bargain price -- all but demands that it deserves a test drive.

A Porsche that is much more than a sport-ute

This review first appeared in the May 2020 edition of the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News published out of Folsom, California – mg

  

Sacramento, California – The Porsche Cayenne is, by definition, a sport-utility vehicle, but that's sort of like calling a tire-shredding Ferrari "a sporty car."

The fact that the Cayenne is a Porsche and has a Porsche engine under the hood really propels it beyond the SUV crowd.

With this $85,000 model, you wouldn't tell you friends: "I have an SUV."  You would say: "I have a Porsche."

Performance separates it from everything else.  My 2020 tester was actually fairly humble with its turbocharged, 3-liter V-6 rated at 335 horsepower.  For the record, a Cayenne can be equipped with a 4-liter, twin-turbo V-8 power plant producing nearly 550 horses.

But rest assured, the 335-horsepower version I handled pressed me deep into the driver's seat.  Better still, the Cayenne firmly held the line when powered into corners or taking on a makeshift slalom course.

Can you get a performance rush from an SUV?  With the Cayenne, the answer is YES. And while one enjoys the benefits of dusting off lagging coupes and other sports cars in a sport-ute, it's important to take time to enjoy the interior amenities stuffed into the Cayenne.

On my ride, those perks included an excellent Bose Surround Sound system, heated front/rear seats, panoramic roof, four-zone climate control and leather surfaces all around.  A spacious, comfortable interior can be enjoyed with very little noise feedback from the V-6 engine.
 

Highway cruising runs were silky smooth, and even aggressive lane changes did little to upset the Porsche's fine balance.  The four-wheel disc brakes performed at a world-class level.

For this segment, fuel mileage was fair at 19 miles per gallon in the city and 23 mpg on the highway.

The Cayenne was redesigned for 2019, but to my eye, the look is not all that different from the previous generation.  It's still a sleek, relatively low riding vehicle, low slung enough for some to call it a hatch -- not that you will ever hear anyone from Porsche call it such a thing.

Looking back, it's hard to believe that Porsche purists objected so strongly when the automaker introduced this SUV to the world for the 2003 model year.  It turned out to be a super-smart move for the manufacturer, with the Cayenne ringing up solid sales over nearly two decades.

The 2020 Cayenne should continue to give Porsche executives -- and performance-minded motorists -- more reasons to smile.