Evaluating safety tech is trickier than ever. It’s not enough to just check a box on a features list; it’s important to know how the tech works and on what trims it’s offered, too. With regard to safety, the Acura RDX excels—but it’s not perfect.
The $3,200 Technology package’s safety additions include a blind-spot monitoring system, rear cross-traffic monitoring, as well as front/rear parking sensors. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in a previous update, none of those features can compensate for the RDX’s serious blind spots. They’re worse than the more conventionally styled Volvo XC60, but anyone who’s driven a Lexus RX should feel comfortable with them.
Surprisingly, the 2019 RDX’s three lower trims outperform the top Advance model in one safety test. The Acura’s standard LED headlights provide great visibility, but on the [...]
Subaru has given its best-selling model a full redesign. On the surface, the 2020 Subaru Outback doesn’t look radically different from the model it replaces, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find major improvements under the sheetmetal and inside the cabin. Read on for eight things you need to know about the new Outback.
The design has been updated, but you might not notice
You may have to look closely to see the design changes on the new Outback. Gray cladding covers more of the front end and also takes on a bolder look at the side and rear. Subaru replaced the round foglamps of the previous model with vertical stacks on either side of the front fascia. One of the other few noticeable changes is the updated taillight design. The visual updates are relatively small, and outdoor adventurers will be glad to hear the Outback boasts [...]
Late last year, Porsche finally took the wraps off the redesigned 2020 911. As we found when we drove it a few months later, the new 911 Carrera S is “thrillingly fast, telepathically responsive, and wonderfully communicative. It’s all 911, all the time, yet more approachable and trustworthy at the limit than ever before.” Even if we’re not entirely sold on some of the styling changes, a review like that has us anxious to drive other variants. And based on what we can see of the prototype shown here, it won’t be long before Porsche introduces the new 911 Targa.
If you’re only in the market for a drop-top 911, Porsche has already said the 911 Carrera S and 4S convertibles will go on sale this summer. We’ve already seen those, and while we’re sure they’ll be great, the 911 Targa is the open-roof variant we’re most interested [...]
Peugeot has accelerated its plans to launch its brand on North American shores, from its original, tentative 2026 timeframe to a more recent announcement that it could be here as soon as three years from now.
That means acceleration of Peugeot’s product planning and homologation, the strengthening of its executive core, lining up ad agencies and dealers, and focusing exactly what Peugeot means in a flattening market where sales are down and incentives are up.
And while its current lineup of cars and SUVs is indeed compelling to a smattering of Europhiles, Peugeot U.S. CEO Larry Dominique said don’t expect any of them to come to America.
“You can’t have region-specific products. But in homologating our next-generation products, all U.S. requirements are all embedded,” Dominique said in an exclusive interview at the J.D. Power Automotive Forum in New York. “You have a single opportunity to do it right. So to bring in an existing portfolio [...]
Let’s play a guessing game. Is this a new Subaru? Maybe a zippy Mazda? Ford Explorer? Wrong, wrong, and wrong. This fresh new face is the 2020 Toyota Highlander, which abandons its benign family-hauler look and gets a complete makeover.
Moving the midsize SUV to Toyota’s TNGA global architecture, which underpins everything from the Prius, C-HR, and Corolla to the RAV4, Camry, and Avalon, was the perfect opportunity to redefine the fourth-generation Highlander.
Working with such a clean sheet of paper, Toyota’s designers created a refreshing change for a vehicle whose popularity was based less on looks and more on Toyota’s reputation for safe, reliable, durable, and functional family vehicles.
Toyota wants to expand its customer base beyond families to include empty nesters and young, active buyers. That meant giving the Highlander a more powerful first impression while adding a little swagger to take it out on the town.
[...]
