Category: Lifestyle - Transportation - Automotive - Gallery - Family Sedan

2016 Kia Optima SX Limited 2.0T - My Blue Family Sedan Heaven - Quick Review

Redesigned 2016 Kia Optima SX-Limited is intent on breaking out from the tight mid-size family sedan mid-pack position.<br> <br>Pricing starts < $23K, with this top trim Horizon Blue SX-L version stickering at $36,615.<br>
* * * * * * * * * * * * (Contributing Editor: Tomasz Paluch) At the head of the pack there are two cemented in popularity. For the rest of the mid size family sedan pack, none is going break out based on good looks or performance alone.   But it sure can’t... Read more »
By George Straton,
October 24, 2016 at 1:30 pm • 

2016 Nissan Maxima Platinum - Luxuriously Living Down 4DSC Moniker - Quick Review

Re-designed 8th Generation 2016 Nissan Maxima attempts to "Live Up" to the "4DSC" moniker it established in 1988.<br> <br> The premium executive sedan is offered in 5 monospec trims, starting at $32.5K, each equipped with standard 8"-inch display GPS Navigation. The top Maxima Platinum variant lists for $40,905.<br>
* * * * * * * * * * * * (Contributing Editor: George Straton, Roadblazing.com) “Hype” = “Hyperbole”. Often creating an unrealistic expectation , Hype is hard to live up to and nearly impossible to live down. WHAT: 2016 Nissan Maxima Platinum  (Gen.8, A36) : Lives another day to live down the hype.... Read more »
By Tomasz Paluch,
July 24, 2016 at 11:30 am • 

2015 Hyundai Sonata Sport 2.0T & 2015 Toyota Camry XSE V6 - Fortified for Enthusiast Families - Comparison Review

America's Front-drive Family Dragsters: <br> <br> (TOP): 2015 Hyundai Sonata Sport 2.0T well contented, but sans moonroof or Navigation, at $29,510<br> <br> (BOTTOM): 2015 Toyota Camry XSE V6, loaded at $35,668 <br>
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Toyota entered its “Camry” body shell into NASCAR (North American Stock Car Automotive Racing) competition in 2007. Ford since entered a Fusion shell onto the typical NASCAR rear drive chassis with 5.8L V-8... Read more »
By George Straton,
November 2, 2015 at 12:00 pm • 
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2015 Hyundai Sonata Eco - After a Clean Shave - First Drive Review

Hyundai calls the more mature, groomed look we the 2015 Sonata mid-size family sedan, "Fluidic Sculpture 2.0." How about "Jr. Genesis?"<br> <br> Starting price for the base Sonata SE 2.4L w/ six-speed auto-box is $21,150. That represents a $300 price drop from the outgoing model. There is also greater contenting with standard driver's knee air-bag and LED daytime running lights.<br>
Hyundai recently invited the local automotive press for a preview of their more than refreshed 2015 Sonata mid-size, front-drive family sedan. We’ll give it to Hyundai that the 2010 Sonata broke with all previous family sedan ground rules. Fluidic Sculpture 1.0 was the stylistic wild-child meant to grab attention. Sonata sales skyrocketed to 200,000+ NA... Read more »
By George Straton,
July 25, 2014 at 8:15 am • 

2014 Nissan Altima + 2014 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T - Mid-Size Family Matters - Comparison Review

(LEFT) 2014 Nissan Altima 2.5 in Metallic Slate. Starting at just over $22,000 with CVT automated transmission. Our $30,106 SL tester included leather, moonroof, HD navigation and blind spot, lane departure and rear moving object warning.<br> <br> (RIGHT) 2014 Volkswagen 1.8T in Platinum Grey. $21,000 buys a base 5-speed manual. This $31,715 SEL Premium automatic model featured 18" alloy wheels, LED trim lights, leather trim, moonroof and HD navigation. <br>
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Last year crossover / sports utility vehicles outsold passenger cars in the United States. Yet 1.8 million Toyota Camrys, Honda Accords, Nissan Altimas, Ford Fusions, Hyundai Sonatas and Chevy Malibus found homes here.... Read more »
By George Straton,
May 24, 2014 at 2:33 pm • 

2014 Ford Fusion Titanium AWD - Boost Me, Baby - Review

"Gems" and "Precious Metals" set this 2013 Ford Fusion premium mid-size family sedan apart from "ordinary Fusions."<br> <br> "Ruby Red Metallic" is a $375 paint option. "Titanium" is the high-zoot edition which tacks on $11,000 to the price of a base Fusion SE.<br> <br> The $37,000 MSRP of our tester omits only the kitchen sink and an available moon-roof and Driver's Alert. Otherwise virtually every adjustment aboard is power made...and many by voice commands. And there are high-tech drivers aids + conveniences galore. Count among them Active Park Assist, Blind Spot / Cross-Traffic Warning, Intelligent Cruise Control, Lane Departure Warning, Active Park Assist, Automatic High Beams, Intelligent Key, Multi-color ambient illumination, Remote Start, Comfort Keyless Ignition/ Entry, ETC. ETC.<br>
‘Tis the Season for Giving. Over at Ford Motor Co., CEO Alan Mulally owes Chris Hamilton big-time for his transformation of the Ford Fusion / Mondeo. Hamilton ought stuff a stocking hanging over the mantelpiece of Ian Callum, who penned the Aston Martin DB series, a major Fusion donor. But there are Ford Fusions, and... Read more »
By George Straton,
November 30, 2013 at 1:00 pm • 
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2014 Mazda6 Sport - "Just The Way You Are" - Review / Video

2014 Mazda6 Sport - "Just The Way You Are" - Review / Video
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – You know you are spoiled rotten when you are able to do the following in a car: 1) Slip into a thorax molded, hip hugging seat 2) Grab onto a perfectly sized, fully... Read more »
By George Straton,
August 10, 2013 at 10:37 am • 

2013 Kia Optima SXL - Seeking Rarefied Air - Review

The 2013 Kia Optima SXL. "L" stands for "Limited." A letter dictated by the fully loaded $35,000 price. Ouch!
You can always count on some real cold in the atmosphere here at Drive…He Said’s” Chicago abode. Not that it would stop the 2013 Kia Optima SXL, glass roof and all, from seeking it’s own rarefied air. For the Birdwatchers Among Us: Observe and ponder the differences between the robin (not the  boy wonder) and... Read more »
By George Straton,
January 1, 2013 at 9:23 am • 

The Factory or Bust in the 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDi - Factory Tour / Review

The Candy White 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDi turbo-diesel family sedan back "home" at its 1.2 million square foot "birthplace" nestled in 1400 acres of rolling hills outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. The $27,000 sticker of our SE model with 6-speed manual transmission asserts that "fuel efficient family car suited for long trips" and "on a budget" are not mutually exclusive.
Suffering  from “battery electric vehicle range anxiety” this holiday season? We at “Drive…He Said” picked up a “half-witted” key to a 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDi, to evaluate what might be the perfect antidote. What better way to combat our own anxiety than by taking the high road to that “Birtplace-of-all-Passats” in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In days... Read more »
By George Straton,
December 5, 2012 at 2:16 pm • 
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2012 Toyota Camry XLE - It's In the Special Sauce

The all-new for 2012 Toyota Camry XLE. Ours was a quest for the "Special Sauce" key to ranking this seventh generation of mid-size family sedan the third best selling vehicle in America only after the Ford F150 and Chevy Silverado light trucks.
Years of speculation and innuendo recently prompted the world’s largest fast food restaurant chain to release the recipe for the “Special Sauce” served on its famed “Big Mac” burger. A 2012 Toyota Camry XLE just spent a week with us at the friendly confines of “Drive…He Said. ”  Unable to send the Camry to the... Read more »
By George Straton,
October 12, 2012 at 3:29 pm •