Driving Sports

Tuesday Shorts: 2008 Nissan NISMO 350Z

Tuesday is a great day for shorts. We're kicking off something new here at Driving Sports: Every Tuesday we'll have a new video short. It may be an interview, a new car review, or just an onboard track lap reel. No matter what's rolling, you can bet it will be a better way to blow 5-minutes of your life than filling out TPS reports.

Kicking off the Tuesday Shorts is a review I did of the 2008 NISMO 350Z while attending the WAJ Media Days at Laguna Seca.

Normally, when shooting a test video we go through the following process: Drive the car for a few days, prepare some comments in advance, prepare a "shoot" which usually lasts a few hours and involves 2-5 crew members, then spend another day editing and scoring.

Sometimes, however, we just toss that all out the window, grab our $300 Canon solid state recorder and pop out the first thing that comes to mind... as part of a one man show. That's how it went down for this clip. Fast, quick and dirty.

So, enjoy this clip knowing it was recorded in a single shot, then edited while sitting at the gate in the San Jose airport and on the plane from Cali back to Seattle. Tell me what you think. Do you like this "rough" approach? Or is the cheese just a bit too strong? Hit the jump to watch the clip and sound-off in the comments. We have something much more refined already lined up for next Tuesday. Promise.

Subaru's CUV - 2009 Subaru Forester

For ten years, the Forester has been the “secret Subaru” - the car that true Subaru cognoscenti prize but don’t talk about. If you talk about it, then everyone will know the secret and want one.

The Forester is built on the Impreza chassis, and uses primarily Impreza running gear. Its boxy shape belies its true performance potential, which is significant. In 2004 and 2005, the turbocharged Forester XT received the same 2.5-liter EJ257 engine as the high-zoot Impreza WRX STi. That engine was mated to a 5-speed manual transmission and a final drive ratio of 4.44 to 1, as opposed to the taller ratio in the STi. There were some ECU and turbo differences, but the XT carried the heart of an STi and a final drive ratio that gave the little wagon tremendous acceleration.

Tomorrow's Big Cat - 2009 Jaguar XF

Last week we drove the ultra-luxurious Jaguar XJ Super V8 sedan and enjoyed it. The XJ is a great car but at a sticker price of about $95,000 it’s more than a bit out of reach for most people. But Jaguar followed up that superlative ride with their brand new and ultra-hot XF Coupe. With a sticker price of $62,200, it’s still what the industry calls an “aspirational vehicle,” but it’s still $30-large cheaper than the sedan, and you get all the best stuff carried over from the XJ.

The XF features the same supercharged 4.2-liter V8 engine with 400 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque, mated with the same excellent 6-speed automatic transmission. The tranny features paddle shifters on the steering wheel and a “Sport” mode that shifts for speed better than most people can manage. The car is rear wheel drive, which is great for sporty driving, and that’s what you can expect from the XF.

SUV with Soul - Mazda CX-9

Seven-passenger capability has always been the mark of the “big” car. I recently wrote a profile on a gentleman who is restoring a 1946 Packard seven passenger sedan, and asked the opinion of a suburban housewife and SUV fanatic about the seven passenger Land Rover LR3.  Seven passengers seems to be a magic number - maybe because it’s room for one U.S.-standard nuclear family plus one pair of grandparents, or two adults and a basketball team. Who knows?

As a Mazda enthusiast, I was interested to drive the CX-9 for a few days in California’s fabulous central coast region. I’d never driven the CX-9 before, and was curious to see if Mazda’s “Always the soul of a sports car” slogan held true even in the biggest vehicle they offer.

Rule Brittania - Jaguar XJ Super V8

There really is something special about a Jaguar. The XJ (originally named for eXperimental Jaguar) has been produced for 40 years with substantially the same body lines, and it remains a popular choice in the luxury market.  More than half the cars Jaguar has ever built - over 800,000 units - have been XJ models. The 2008 XJ is the seventh generation of the car according to Jaguar’s method of calculation, and the 2008 XJ Super V8 is without a doubt the most powerful and luxurious offering in XJ history.

This year, you can get your XJ with a normally aspirated 310 horsepower 4.2-liter V8 engine, or the Super V8, pulling over 400 horsepower and 408 pound-feet of torque from a supercharged 4.2-liter V8. That’s some serious grunt for a supposedly sedate British luxury car!

Versa-tile Nissan Hatchback

Economy cars just aren’t what they used to be. Time was, an economy car - and particularly a hatchback - was a ticket to a miserable driving experience. They were underpowered, uncomfortable, and generally ill-handling. About the only redeeming characteristic of an econo-box was good gas mileage.

But that’s yesterday’s news. Today’s economy cars are peppy, comfortable, and include all the creature comforts that used to define upscale luxury cars. Witness the 2008 Nissan Versa hatchback. For a base price of $13,450, you get a 122 horsepower 127 pound-feet 1.8-liter DOHC engine, air conditioning, a nice CD stereo, 4-way adjustable driver’s seat, tilt wheel, and a complete set of side curtain and forward impact air bags. You have your choice of 6-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmissions at no extra charge.

Big Luxury - Land Rover LR3 Reviewed

Land Rover is the gold standard for luxury SUVs.  From its top-of-the-line Range Rovers down to the compact and punchy LR2, if you want an import SUV that will impress, you need a Rover.  They’ve got all the luxury features anyone could want, and they’re very capable off-road, so whether you’re cruising the town in style or hitting the outback, you can do it all in a Rover.

You may have heard that Land Rover has been sold to an Indian automaker, and that’s true. Tata of India has purchased both Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford, but Tata’s management has declared that the two iconic English brands will remain independent, and the dealer network in America will be retained. So don’t look for sweeping changes at Land Rover anytime soon.

To Infiniti and Beyond - 2008 EX35 Reviewed

The Infiniti EX35 is the latest Crossover SUV from Nissan. Crossovers have been one of the largest and most successful automotive market segments of the last few years. The Crossover revolution has been so complete that automakers have rushed to claim that their same old SUVs are really crossovers, and have been all along.

Technically,  a Crossover SUV is - well, to tell the truth, there is no technical definition for a Crossover. It’s a marketing term. But in general, a Crossover is an SUV-style body placed on an automobile chassis platform. A Crossover should drive more like a car than a truck, and that’s about it for the rules. 

Join the Club, Man! - 2008 MINI Cooper Clubman

I have to admit right at the start that I’m a MINI fan. We bought my wife a MINI Cooper back in 2004 and it’s been an automotive love affair ever since. After a year of competing for the driver’s seat, I bought my own MINI Cooper S in 2005. We’re a MINI family and I’ve never had a car I loved as much.

So it’s no surprise that the whole family was jumping for joy when we got to spend a week driving the new MINI Cooper Clubman - the extended wheelbase “micro-wagon” version of BMW’s diminutive hatchback.  With its “funkier than thou” looks and extra legroom in the back, we wanted to see if the Clubman has the same mojo we love about our daily drivers.

Seoul Ride: Kia Spectra5 SX Reviewed

It’s been a long time since I liked an economy hatch as well as the Kia Spectra5 SX. Like most people who have been around since the Korean automakers came the U.S., I haven’t gotten over the expectation that the cars will be cheaply made and underpowered - until now.

I had few preconceived notions about the Kia Spectra5, but I expected it to be about like the Kia Rio5 SX I had last fall - a decent entry-level car that you might buy for your kid to take to college.  In short, not a car that I’d ever consider for myself.  But after a week in the Spectra, I would class it with the Mazda3 or any other Japanese or domestic hatchback in the sub-20K price range. The Kia Spectra is definitely worth your consideration if you’re shopping that segment.

First Drive, The New 2009 Subaru Forester

People love their Foresters. This is what the folks at Subaru kept reminding us throughout the presentation leading to our first drive of the all-new Crossover Utility Vehicle. Despite this love, there were a few things that owners wanted, like more room fore and aft and a bigger loading area. But if you are reading this, you want the straight dope, and you will want to know how the new range-topping XT 5-speed drives. I can’t tell you anything about this car because it does not exist. That’s right, the turbocharged, 2.5-liter EJ255-powered shoebox is only available with an automatic.

Now there will be some who will wail and moan that the 5-speed turbo is another special car that Subaru has killed all in the name of being more bean-counter friendly, and rightly so. Subaru never sold many 5-speed turbos, at times it was never more than 10 units a month nationally. 

Balanced Beemer - 2008 BMW 528i Reviewed

It’s not too often that I like a BMW.  Even though I drive a MINI Cooper S - a BMW design - I tend not to enjoy the driving experience in the BMW-badged cars. I think it’s because the venerable Bavarians have gone too much for the execu-tone market and too little on the sporty driving side.

So I was pleasantly surprised with the new 528i. The test car has a 6-speed manual transmission mated to BMW’s DOHC straight-6 3.0-liter engine. The clutch and shifting is light, and the engine’s 230 horsepower and  200 lb-ft of torque provide surprisingly good power for their low numbers. I suspect BMW may be fudging those ratings down to get the number-obsessed to buy up into the 535 or 550, but that’s just a guess.

Cat Scratch Fever - 2008 Jaguar XKR Reviewed

There was a time when luxury automakers just got so staid and stuffy that they were no fun at all. Cadillac lost its mojo in a sea of GM standardization, no one was sure if Lincoln was even making cars any more, and Jaguars were just nicer-looking mid-size Fords.  The average age of luxury brand buyers was rising fast - and something had to be done.

A few years ago that all began to change - manufacturers found that their luxury brands were the perfect vehicles to attract a new generation of buyers if they could offer luxury cars with real performance - measured and proven on the dyno and on the race track, not just claimed on the brochure. Cadillac did a great job reinventing itself with rides like the CTS and STS-V, and Jaguar returned to its racing history and gave us the XK convertible and the XKR coupe.

2008 Ford Taurus X Reviewed

The term “Crossover SUV” or “CUV” gets a lot of play these days. It means whatever you want it to mean, and it’s a hot market segment right now. People expect a Crossover to get better fuel mileage, handle better, and generally be less work to drive than a full-on SUV, and in general they’re correct.

The original Crossover idea was that an automaker could build both a car and an SUV on the same unibody chassis, and thereby save money on drivetrain, platform, suspension, brakes, and all that. The idea comes down from the Minivan, which was generally built on a car chassis and used car brakes and other common components.

2008 Subaru Impreza STI Reviewed

If you were expecting the all-new 2008 WRX STI to be merely a warmed-over upgrade to the already released WRX, you’re in for quite a shock.

Martyn Harding, product planning manager at Subaru of America, explains. “The actual body shell of an STI is significantly different than a WRX. The metal thicknesses, the types of  steel and additional bracing; so it’s significantly stronger. We know we’re going to put big sticky tires on it and make a lot of horsepower. You have to have a body shell to back that up.”

2008 Volvo V70 Wagon Reviewed

Volvo’s been on a real winning streak for the past couple of years. With a great pair of SUVs in the XC90 and XC70, the hot new C30 hatchback to challenge the Germans and the Japanese, and a great line of sedans, the venerable Swedes have done a great job of breaking out of their boxy reputation.

Volvos are still about the safest cars on the market – the challenge that Volvo has met is to keep all the customers who were buying their legendary safety record and to attract the customers who want some excitement. Volvo wisely figured out that safety was nothing to be ashamed of – I’m a die-hard sports car guy, but I don’t want to die in a car crash any more than the next guy. That kinda limits your future driving opportunities.

So, what happens when the sports car guy looks out onto his driveway and finds a station wagon there for review?

2008 Nissan Altima 3.5 V6 Reviewed

Time was when the Altima was just another economy sedan from Nissan. Competing with the Toyota Camry and the Mazda 626, there wasn’t a lot to say about it, except that it was inexpensive and generally OK - a typical Japanese economy car.

But with the Sentra now occupying the economy slot in Nissan’s lineup, the Altima has been able to climb up-market, with a larger footprint and a selection of bigger engines and more interesting configurations.

2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4 Reviewed

The new Dodge Caliber SRT4 has been compared to every other 4-cylinder pocket rocket on the market these days - and for sure, it’s a contender.  With 300 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque from a turbocharged 2.4-liter DOHC 16V engine, run through a 6-speed manual front wheel drive transmission, it’s got the power to  hit 60 MPH in under 6 seconds. And it will do this and still give you 21/26 MPG - nice at today’s gas prices!

2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt Reviewed

Great cars and hit movies enjoy a pleasantly symbiotic relationship. The cars make the movies fun and exciting and the movies give cars a certain panache - they often make the cars the stars, upstaging the human actors.

From Herbie the Love Bug to “The last of the V-8 Interceptors” in the Mad Max series, a starring role can spawn hundreds of home-built imitations on the streets. But it takes factory support to really make a nice knock-off of a movie car.

Subaru Outback 3.0 LL Bean Edition Reviewed

I didn’t expect to be very impressed with the LL Bean edition Subaru Outback wagon. I figured that the 3.0-liter flat-6 engine would be a little underpowered, the car would be too heavy, and that the whole package would be overpriced and underwhelming.

Boy was I ever wrong.

2008 Volvo C30 Reviewed

It’s been over 30 years since Volvo offered us a true sports car, but the P1800 coupe and P1800ES hatchback cars are legendary. Not only did these cars have a loyal following on the road, but they were active and competitive in SCCA Club Racing well into the 1990s. The line started in 1961, and the last P1800ES rolled off the line in 1973 - but now Volvo has picked up that old torch and produced a new car that will put the venerable Swedish automaker back in the sports car market.

The 2008 Volvo C30 is a hot hatch built to compete with the MINI Cooper S, VW GTI, Mazda3, Audi A3, and the new Subaru WRX.  The C30 offers a 227-horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque from a turbocharged 5-cylinder engine, mated to a feather-light 6-speed manual transmission (or 5-speed automatic, if you want to ruin the experience).

2008 Land Rover LR2 reviewed

Regular readers will have noted that this has been a good season for SUVs. I liked the Ford Expedition for being a real truck. I liked the Volvo XC70 for its car-like driving habits and its capability, and I liked the Nissan XTerra for its rugged capability in the worst weather we’ve had in Oregon in the last10 years. Now I have to say that the Land Rover LR2 is my favorite SUV ever - the LR2 combines the best aspects of driveability and capability and it does it all at a great price - it’s a Land Rover for people who thought they couldn’t afford a Land Rover.

And this is all from a guy who generally doesn’t like SUVs that much. I’m a sports car enthusiast and I like my MINI Cooper S and my Miata. So what’s the deal here?

2008 Nissan XTerra V6 Reviewed

The newest Nissan XTerra SUV is called the OR-V6. The OR stands for Off-Road, not Oregon, but it might as well stand for the perfect SUV if you live up in the mountains this winter. With the worst storms in a decade causing flooding all over the western half of the state, I was happy to have the very capable Nissan for the week! In the worst of it, I used the XTerra to ford a river - running across the freeway in the middle of Metro Portland. Who says these SUVs never get taken off road? Sometimes the off-road experience comes right to your front door!

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Reviewed

For years, Mitsubishi’s Lancer has lived in the shadow of the Subaru Impreza. Mitsubishi has never sold cars in the volume that Subaru has achieved, especially in the performance market where the aptly named Lancer Evolution competes with Subaru’s popular Impreza WRX and STI models.

Yet the Evo is just as good, if not better, than the Impreza. This is the car that beat the Lamborghini Murcielago in a head to head track competition on the iconic British TV show “Top Gear,” and which has won one constructor’s and four driver’s World Rally championships. From the Driving Sports perspective, the Evo has always been more edgy – more of a street-going racecar – than the WRX or even the STI.

So the conjecture and anticipation has been high for the launch of the Evolution X – based on the fourth major redesign of the Lancer platform.

2008 Volvo XC70 Reviewed

Every October, the Northwest Automotive Press Association gathers for a two-day event called “Mudfest,” in which about 25 journalists put about 25 of the industry’s best SUVs through a fairly rigorous set of tests. We drive the rigs in both on-road and off-road tests, autocross, and we compare the window stickers and statistics. The result is a set of winners in various price categories, and an overall winner - the best SUV for the Pacific Northwest.

This year, that honor went to the Volvo XC70 crossover. While not a traditional SUV, the XC70 had it where it counted. And maybe the fact that the XC70 is more of a beefed-up station wagon than a truck-based SUV is what the journalists really liked. I know I voted for the XC70 as my favorite, and I’ll tell you why. 

2008 Jeep Patriot Reviewed

The Jeep Patriot is the “boy half” of two models that Jeep introduced in 2007. The girl half is the Compass – same engine, same platform, but less macho in its styling and interior. This may be the first time an automaker ever explicitly said they were making two versions of the same car aimed at men and women.  I mean, you can point to the VW Rabbit GTI and Cabriolet, I suppose, but they never admitted to it.

Cutting to the chase, the Patriot is a nice small crossover SUV. It’s got the same 2.4-liter engine that powers most of the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep economy lineup, but with 172 horses, and 165 lb-ft of torque, it moves the Patriot quite nicely. The Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) gets some credit for the car’s gutsy performance – even if the tendency to rev up to redline for all acceleration takes a bit of getting used to.

2008 Ford Taurus Limited AWD Reviewed

Ford is bringing back the Taurus nameplate for the 2008 model year, replacing the Ford Five Hundred. The Taurus has been one of Ford’s biggest selling models of the last several decades, and they’re clearly banking on the familiar name to boost sales in the mid-large sedan segment.

2007 BMW M6 Reviewed

The 2007 BMW M6 is a definite improvement over the 2006 model – but it’s possible that the real improvement lies in the fact that this time, they sent me a real 6-speed manual gearbox version, and not the SMG two-pedal auto-maybe-magic tranny.

2007 Nissan Versa Reviewed

The Versa is Nissan’s entry-level economy car, but in the modern age that doesn’t mean what it used to. No one who lived through the ultra-cheap economy cars of the 1970s and 1980s would call the Versa a bottom feeder.

2008 Mercedes Benz C350 Reviewed

I like cars with plenty of torque and horsepower. I really like cars with lively handing and an eager attitude towards a curvy mountain road. A comfortable car is nice to have, too. But what really gets me going is a car that offers a great value – a lot of car for not a lot of money. The best of all cars offer great handling, a punchy engine, nice features inside, and a surprisingly pleasant sticker price.

2007 Chevrolet Z06 Corvette Reviewed

There is no car in the world more recognizable than the Chevrolet Corvette. You can talk about your ’32 Fords, your ’57 Bel Airs, and your bathtub Porsche Speedsters. For pure and simple speed in a package that everyone knows, you want a Corvette. And for the greatest of all American street cars, you want a Z06.

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Reviewed

The confetti from the 2007 New Year’s celebrations was barely swept up when Mitsubishi led the Auto industry into Model Year 2008. By St. Patrick’s Day, we’ll probably see the first 2009s, and so it looks like we won’t have to wait very long at all to see what we’ll all be driving in 2050.

2007 Mazdaspeed3 Reviewed

Every once in a while, a truly special car comes along. One that fundamentally changes the market baseline and sets a new standard for performance and value. That car is here today. Tatsuo Maeda, legendary product manager for the Protégé and Mazda3, calls the 2007 MAZDASPEED3 his “Wild Child.” From the first look, it’s clear that Maeda-san put everything he’s got into this car, setting it far above the standard run of the factory. This hatchback 3 has its own turbocharged version of Mazda’s fantastic 2.3 liter engine, and its own transmission, suspension, interior – even its own stereo.