Pictures and story by Mitchell Weitzman
Do you remember the Toyota Venza? No? Neither do most. Debuting in 2009, Toyota released the Venza SUV as a link between the RAV4 and Highlander, their compact and mid-size SUVs as a more car-centric offering. It was, in fact, based on the Camry even. After a few years of modest sales success, the mk1 Venza was discontinued after dwindling sales (Mind you, canceling models is a huge rarity in Toyotaland). However, it was only a year ago that Toyota announced a second generation of the Venza, based on the current RAV4 Hybrid, and when I say based I mean basically identical; Same engine, same wheelbase even. This puts the new Venza in a precarious situation of understanding where the Venza stands in the Toyota lineup if it s not a link between the RAV4 and Highlander and rather just is a RAV4. Watson, we have a new case to investigate.
Pictures and story by Mitchell Weitzman
Though it does have its caveats in the form of aging technology, the important part remains in that the Mazda 6 is the best driving entry mid-size sedan on sale today.
I ve long been a fan of Mazdas, even the fun old zoom-zoom adverts I saw as a kid. Going back about 5 years ago when I first tried the modern Mazda 6, I was floored at how a seemingly normal mid-size sedan could drive this well, and with the typically taunted and tyrannical front-wheel drive to boot. Simply put, a front-drive Mazda 6 had better steering and handling than a new BMW 3-series at the time. Today, the 6 is mostly unchanged and while its peers have made large strides to match the Mazda s road superiority, a quick revisit reminded that the 6 is still king.
Road Beat: 2021 Genesis GV80 is an affordable luxury land yacht southtahoenow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from southtahoenow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pictures and story by Mitchell Weitzman
Affordable is relative, but with luxury SUVs reaching up to and over $100,000, Genesis is here to steal the market with the sensationally good GV80.
Ice House Rd snakes for miles and miles up the sides of Northern California s Sierra Nevada mountains. The scenery is breathtaking as you both climb and plunge into the El Dorado National Forest; Beautifully green trees are everywhere with snow capped mountain peaks in the distance. Normally during the winter and spring, this stretch is doused with the white powder, but the abnormally dry spring means the mountainous pass is open for business. While dangerous cliff sides loom constantly, the coiled stretch of asphalt is also akin to a special stage of the Monte Carlo rally. With a magical flow and a road in rather terrific shape, too, this road is one of my favorites in the world for sports cars and motorcycles. In other words, the perfect setting then to test out a 2.
Pictures and story by Mitchell Weitzman
Hyundai has transformed their bold new Elantra into a champion prizefighter of the compact sedan world. It really is that good.
Cheap (sorry, I meant affordable) cars aren t meant or supposed to be exciting, but I found myself rather stirred when the newly redesigned model was first unveiled, and even more so when I first saw it in the flesh this past month at Sonoma Raceway when I picked it up. Could Hyundai make a reasonable car that people would genuinely want? Well, they did, and it s the new Elantra.
Step 1, and the easiest way to make any reasonably normal object exciting, is to give an alluring and brave design. Consider that done. Not only is the Elantra s exterior an exercise of boldness, but it s also actually just a good looking machine. The outgoing and extremely popular Honda Civic has claim to being bold, too, but it s not attractive by any means. Bold to them just means a mish-mash casserole of shap