Toyota has released pricing details on its family-friendly staple, the Highlander midsize crossover. The redesigned 2020 Toyota Highlander is priced from $35,720, making it more expensive than key competitors when you compare base configurations. That price also represents an increase of $2,770 over the base 2019 Toyota Highlander, which came with a 2.7-liter I-4 that’s no longer available on the new-generation Highlander. Compared to a 2019 Toyota Highlander LE with the 3.5-liter V-6, the 2020 Highlander’s starting price is only up $720, however.
The new Highlander’s starting price is much higher than the 2020 Honda Pilot ($32,645), 2020 Nissan Pathfinder ($32,775), and 2020 Ford Explorer ($32,765). The Chevrolet Traverse, Kia Telluride, Hyundai Palisade, and others join the list of SUVs with lower starting prices. All-wheel-drive Highlanders start at $37,320.
Fortunately, the Highlander boasts plenty of standard features to go along with the price tag. These include an 8.0-inch [...]
The architecture underlying the T1-generation 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban will eventually support some of the most profitable vehicles GM sells, and in the face of newly stiffened competition from the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, the General has pulled out all the “stops” on their engineering “organ.” Here are seven T1 tech highlights for you to memorize and play back at this season’s holiday parties with your car pals:
All (98%) New
Relative to the outgoing K2 models, 98 percent of the T1 Tahoe and Suburban is new. Outside, it’s basically everything but the windshield; inside everything but the steering wheel. There’s also less of the new model shared with the pickup truck it’s based on than usual, though the forward part of the frame and much of the body crush structure up there is shared, along with most of the steering and suspension hard parts (bushings [...]
Hey, can we talk? You, the car enthusiast who devours MotorTrend for the high-end stuff. And you, too, the retail-ready shopper who comes to us for practical buying advice. You both have lots of questions about the new Mercedes-Benz GLB crossover. But what you really want to know is, simply: Is it any good?
Let me respond just as simply: Yes, it is.
The enthusiast wants to know if it’s a real Mercedes, one that’s worthy of wearing its three-pointed star among stalwarts like the GLS, GLE, and our 2018 SUV of the Year, the GLC. Does it drive like a Mercedes, even though it’s a front-wheel-drive layout? Meanwhile, the smart shopper wants to know if the GLB feels like a Mercedes on the inside, if it’s a good value, and whether there’s space for all their needs.
Yes, it does all those things.
These are fair questions [...]
In Finland, local Napue gin has been the go-to for a proper gin and tonic with some cranberries for color and a sprig of rosemary, kind of like Christmas in a glass. Then Finnish berry grower and winemaker Arctic Blue expanded into gin-making, giving Napue competition in a fledgling local industry that is taking off.
So it’s fitting that we head to Levi, Finland, 110 miles north of the arctic circle, to see how the new Porsche Taycan luxury electric sports car performs in the cold, ice, and snow. After all, this is the 2020 Taycan 4S with two synchronous electric motors, one on each axle, for all-wheel-drive capability. Porsche is a storied brand, but when it comes to electric sports cars, the Taycan is the new entry—like Arctic Blue gin—that wants to change the minds of those who previously would have ordered Napue or bought a Tesla Model S.
General Motors owns the large SUV space with Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban, which are by far the market share leaders—and if you add their brand siblings, the company can claim way over half of all sales. But the impressive new Ford Expedition, with its long-wheelbase Max variant and Lincoln Navigator sibling, has started eroding that market dominance over the last year. Their independent rear suspensions have afforded a more comfortable ride and roomier third row and cargo area for some time now, their feature content and fit/finish took a recent quantum-leap forward in the latest redesign, and the twin-turbo V-6 EcoBoost/10-speed automatic powertrains motivating the FoMoCo entries represent stiff competition for the GM brands.
Chevrolet is readying its response, which at long last features an independent rear suspension, revised gas V-8 engines, and a segment-exclusive inline-six diesel all mated to a 10-speed automatic (that shares its essential design with Ford’s 10-speed), plus a spanking new electrical architecture [...]
