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The midsize sedan segment is far from exciting, but Nissan attempts to add some thrills to its Altima by giving it a coupe treatment. In coupe form, it gains a more striking profile, while losing rear doors and a little headroom. We had the least sporty of the Altima Coupe variants, with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a continuously variable transmission (CVT). It's a good thing that Nissan makes the best CVT in the business, offering a manual-transmission feel and excellent fuel economy.
Should you spend $220 on an app and a cradle? Check out our review to find out.
(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)We got our hands on TomTom's Car Kit for iPhone and took it for a spin--both figuratively and literally, the cradle spins 360 degrees.
The Car Kit holds and charges your iPhone while driving, enhances GPS reception when used with TomTom's turn-by-turn navigation app, and boosts audio quality of spoken directions and hands-free calls. However, the problem with a peripheral like the TomTom Car Kit is that when it's working best, you don't notice it, which makes it difficult for many users to justify the $119 price. People may be less likely to buy it when they consider that it takes an additional $99 app to get the most out of the purchase!
Most users wouldn't bat an eye at spending $200 on a portable navigation device, but how does does an iPhone app/peripheral package stack up? Check out our full review to find out.
So far, Audi's odd-numbered cars have been pretty desirable. The A3 is a practical and sporty little wagon, while the A5 is one of the better-looking cars to come out recently. But now Audi is replacing the A4 Cabriolet with a convertible version of the A5. Gone is that gracefully sloping roof, replaced by what is basically an umbrella, albeit one with acoustic damping built in to lessen road noise.
But Audi does equip the 2010 A5 Cabriolet with plenty of tech, including a navigation system with absolutely beautiful 3D maps. The drive technology is also interesting--it features a direct-injected turbocharged four cylinder, which strangely doesn't deliver on its promise of power and fuel economy.
We had high hopes for the updated Subaru Outback. At recent auto shows, the company seemed like it was going tech-forward, displaying new Harmon Kardon audio systems in the Legacy and Outback. But our review of the 2010 Outback showed us that the company is still well behind the curve of car technology. Sure, the all-wheel-drive system is great, as is the car's general utility. And in how many SUVs can you get a manual transmission? But, aside from that new audio system and a very basic Bluetooth phone system, the new Outback doesn't have much to offer in the cabin tech department.
Before we drove it, the idea of an X5 M seemed outlandish, and we suspected BMW's motives had more to do with marketing than the company's engineering reputation. How could an X5 all-wheel-drive SUV live up to the M badge? We should have trusted BMW, whose engineers are so pure of heart they would never let a vehicle wear the M that didn't deserve it. The X5 M is a monstrously powerful beast that handles like a sports car. In fact, we had to drive up next to other cars for a height comparison to remind us we were in an SUV.
Treating gasoline as fine whiskey, the hybrid Lexus RX450h sips rather than gulps. This luxury vehicle turns stereotypes of SUVs on their heads, getting excellent fuel economy while offering Lexus' latest cabin tech. It pampers occupants with interior and ride quality that rise above most luxury vehicles today.
We don't often review gargantuan SUVs, but decided to check the Infiniti QX56, as Infiniti is generally a pretty high-tech automaker. What we found is a vehicle that falls behind the technological curve. Other Infiniti models get direct-injection engines, lane departure warning, iPod integration, and around-view cameras, but the QX56 sits in the lineup like a red-headed stepchild, looked over when Infiniti hands out the tech toys.
Our time with the Scion xB was a bit of an emotional roller coaster.
(Credit: Josh P. Miller/CNET)With funky styling and a reputation built around heavy involvement from the tuner crowd and the sound-off set, we expected our Stingray Metallic 2010 Scion xB to be a technological powerhouse. Perusing the spec sheet before embarking on the first of many test drives, we were excited to see features such as Bluetooth hands-free calling, standard iPod connectivity, premium audio with navigation, and rear-seat entertainment. Yes, we were all grins.
However, by the end of that first test drive, we were ready to drive the xB off of a bridge. Nearly every bit of cabin tech was a source of disappointment, from the tacked-on and overly simplistic Bluetooth system to the crappy sounding "premium" audio system with its maddeningly slow iPod search. We're glad to see Scion even offering these options, but infotainment should have been the xB's strongest asset. Instead, it turned out to be the weakest point.
So, should you avoid the xB? Of course not. It's still a very cool little ride. It's a small car with a lot of interior volume for your friends and your things. While the xB is nobody's sports car, it handles quite nimbly at city speeds; and its Camry-sourced 2.4-liter engine should provide thousands of miles of peppy acceleration. Oh, we like the xB; we just hate the tech.
But the xB isn't a tech car. It's a low-cost blank canvas on wheels. Skip the crappy, overpriced dealer-installed tech and pick up a nice aftermarket all-in-one receiver (like our Editors' Choice-winning Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT or the Eclipse AVN726E) and at least a powered sub and the xB begins to make more sense.
Check out the full review of the 2010 Scion xB for more details and driving impressions.
Slinging the RDX through corners, we were impressed by this little SUV's handling. Acura's all-wheel-drive system does amazing things for keeping the car settled when inertial forces attempt to drag it over a cliff. But we weren't so impressed after a glance down at the trip computer's fuel economy number. The turbocharged four-cylinder was drinking up the gas like a frat boy at Oktoberfest.
A good cabin tech update added to the driving experience, its new iPod integration letting us listen to a variety of music over the excellent ELS audio system. Navigation and weather are also new features for the navigation system, letting us avoid the bad traffic jams.
Lexus scores well with the model update to its RX 350. This luxury SUV gets new cabin tech for the 2010 model year, a suite of electronics long overdue for the brand, adding important capabilities such as traffic integrated with the navigation system, dial by name with the Bluetooth phone system, and iPod integration.
We've already seen this equipment in the HS 250h and the IS 350 C, and look forward to seeing Lexus refresh its other models similarly.
