Kia Telluride SUV's rave reviews are entirely deserved

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen here and in the Cruisin’ News, "Oregon, Nevada and California's classic auto news & marketplace."

Sacramento, California -- It has won multiple awards, including Motor Trend magazine's SUV of the Year in 2020. The current model has snared the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s top rating. Countless auto reviewers have sung its praises.

And the Kia Telluride is deserving of everything it has received.

That was apparent in my recent week in the 2024 Kia Telluride SX-Prestige X-Line V6 AWD tester. A lot of ornate words have been used to describe the Telluride, but here's my simple take: Kia has produced a three-row, midsize SUV that is a nearly perfect blend of urban daily driver and rugged off-road warrior.  It just feels substantial on the move.

And it moves quite well with a 3.8-liter V-6 doing the chores.  Rated at nearly 300 horsepower, the power plant is robust and responsive. Passengers in my tester remarked that they liked being pressed deep into their seats on hard accelerations.

Not the usual deal with an SUV, they said.  True enough.

My X-Line tester looked trail-ready parked at the curb, especially wrapped in "Wolf Gray" paint.  The 20-inch alloy wheels are meant to roll over rocks and run through rivers. And yet my ride was a silky smooth cruiser on the local freeways.

For all of its ruggedness, the Telluride is a dressed up and classy inside.  Nappa leather seating surfaces are comfortable, a 12.3-inch panoramic screen display is easy to read and use, and a heated steering wheel is a welcome plus on cold mornings.  Given the loaded tester, it was very reasonably priced at $54,540.

I think the Telluride's popularity can be explained in the diverse groups of motorists who like it.  The off-road crowd loves it. The daily urban commuters feel the same.  And it even gets nods from those that might not necessarily come to mind.  For example: U.S. News & World Report named the Kia Telluride the best three-row midsize SUV in its “Best Cars for Families” award program for the fifth year in a row.

Family fun and off-the-paved-road enjoyment.  Take your pick.  Telluride has a lot to offer.

Woodsy Crosstrek further boosts Subaru's reputation

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen here and in the Cruisin’ News, "Oregon, Nevada and California's classic auto news & marketplace."

Sacramento, California -- It has been my experience that Subaru buyers are among the most fiercely loyal in the automotive world.

Extensive investigation on my part has revealed that this loyalty comes from the simple fact that Subaru gives its loyalists exactly what they want.  And over a couple of generations that has included a peppy boxer-style engine and masterful all-wheel drive.

The tested 2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness -- introduced last year as an all-new compact SUV offering -- simply improves on all that.  It's perhaps the most complete, customer-pleasing Subaru ever built. Consider it the Subaru in full.

The 2.5-liter, four-cylinder boxer engine on the tester was rated at 182 horsepower, and frankly, the car's lusty accelerations and darts in and out freeway traffic made it feel more powerful than that number.  The car's handling characteristics were quick and nimble to the max.  A pleasure to drive.

Naturally, with the Wilderness name, this Crosstrek was designed to take off road.  The hefty 9.3-inch ground clearance all but shouted that as well. Other wild country equipment included 17-inch Yokohama all-terrain tires, an all-weather package/body cladding, a retractable cargo cover, extra-study front/rear bumpers and much more.

I particularly liked the anodized copper finish accents placed outside and inside the vehicle. Ditto the LED fog lights with a hexagon pattern.

If you are a city dweller with a burning need to get lost in the Wilderness on your weekends, this might be your dream vehicle. For that matter, a suburban/rural resident might find this Crosstrek to be the perfect commuter/workhorse/daily driver.

The bonus: The bottom line investment on the loaded tester was only $35,560 ... an easy-on-the-eyes number in this time of $50,000 crossovers. Fuel mileage is pretty fair as well: 25 miles per gallon in the city and 29 mpg on the highway on the tested model.

Did I mention Subaru's EyeSight Driver Assist Technology, standard on all 2024 Crosstreks? That includes adaptive cruise control, pre-collision braking, pre-collision throttle management, lane departure/sway warning, lead vehicle start alert, blind-spot detection (with lane change assist) and rear cross-traffic alert.

With all this, little wonder that Subaru loyalists are determined ride for the brand.

Versatile electric Ford pickup has high-volt bonus

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen here and in the Cruisin’ News, "Oregon, Nevada and California's classic auto news & marketplace."

Sacramento, California -- The last time I reviewed the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, it was helping me survive a nearly week-long power outage.

It charged my mobile phone, kept me up to date with the news via radio and transported me to buy food that would not go bad in the useless freezer.  It was an oasis in a desert devoid of electric power. A reliable companion.

This time around, in my week in a 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning 4X4 SuperCrew, I found more time to appreciate the other features I was too stressed to examine the first time.  Simply said, it's a remarkable machine.

And while some pickup purists have been struggling with the idea of an electric truck, I can assure you that the Lightning can do anything that an internal-combustion driven truck can do ... and more, given its electric equipment.

It's rugged and powerful, and yes, it can provide power to your home in a pinch.

Of course, there's always the fuel mileage equivalent of 73 miles per gallon in the city and 60 mpg on the highway. Zero fuel bills feel good, no matter how you feel about electric vehicles.

I must point out that my tester was loaded, pushing the sticker price to a whopping $97,674.  Was I complaining?  Not for a second. I thoroughly enjoyed the extras and the long list of standard features that made up my Lightning.

This is one of the most versatile EVs ever built, in my view.  The very fact that Ford made the effort to produce an electric, full-size truck during a time of uncertainty over public acceptance of such vehicles is, in my mind, a feather in Ford's cap.

So, Mr./Mrs. Die-Hard Pickup Driver, have you test-driven one yet?  If not, you should.  You don't know what you're missing.

Two SUVs tell the tale of Honda's market popularity

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen here and in the Cruisin’ News, "Oregon, Nevada and California's classic auto news & marketplace."

Sacramento, California -- In this tale of two Hondas, there are only winners.

In the recently tested 2023 Honda Pilot AWD TrailSport and 2024 Honda Passport AWD Black Edition (pictured), there is much shared DNA.  And it all adds up to tell you why Honda is producing such popular midsize crossover sport-utility vehicles.

Both testers had long lists of standard features, excellent fit and finish, superb handling and the kind of interior cabin quality one expects from Honda.

In the Pilot SUV TrailSport, priced at $50,500, standard features included a panoramic roof, a power liftgate, road-departure mitigation and a heated windshield.

The Pilot was powered by a 3.5-liter V-6 rated at 285 horsepower.  This was more than enough to jet me around urban gridlock and freeway pokes.

The same is true in the 2024 Passport, also packing a 3.5-liter V-6 with plenty of pop.  By the way, the Black Edition label entitles you to an assortment of cool interior/exterior styling touches.

My Passport tester again tipped the scales near the 50-grand mark, stickering at $49,365.

Both vehicles give up a little bit of fuel with six cylinders: 18 miles per gallon in the city and 23 mpg on the highway for the tested TrailSport, 19/24 for the Passport.

So, for the buyer looking for the ideal midsize crossover SUV, sanely priced, fully equipped and likely to run forever, these two Hondas certainly measure up.  But of course, I've left out the one obvious trait of both vehicles: Honda has built and marketed them as rugged outdoor/off-road performers.  And yes, they are precisely that.

Little wonder that Honda promotional materials picture these Hondas cutting through the mud and muscling across fast-moving water.  Fellow auto reviewers, who obviously are braver than I in taking test vehicles into the backcountry, have praised the off-road suspensions.

In today's market, with $60,000 to $80,000 vehicles as common as M&Ms, it's hard to imagine that you could purchase this much versatility and fun for $50,000.  Yet you can. I should know.  I've just driven two of them, both wearing Honda badges.

Mazda CX-90 SUV reviewed in latest Cruisin' News

My review of the 2024 Mazda CX-90 sport-utility vehicle can be seen in the latest, March 2024, edition of the Cruisin' News, "Oregon, Nevada and California's classic auto news and marketplace."

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

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