ArcaMax

PALMAS DEL MAR, Puerto Rico — Among my earliest memories of driving was riding my Honda Z50s mini-bike along backwoods trails at 11 years old. These bikes were easy for a novice to handle and incredibly fun to ride. They withstood anything us neophyte drivers could dish out. Fast forward a few decades and you have to wonder why, given Honda’...Read more

Gov. Tim Walz has gloated publicly about Tesla’s business troubles in his political spat with Elon Musk, once even saying he got “a little boost” from the company’s falling stock price. No automaker, however, has been more important for Walz’s goal to convince Minnesotans to buy electric vehicles.

Though still modest, the EV market ...Read more

The Baby Escalade is Cadillac’s most mature electric vehicle.

The Vistiq is the fifth and final piece in the GM luxury brand’s EV squadron and, at $79,290, its combination of size, speed and tech make it the best value of the quintet. That value is relative as Caddy’s EV lineup makes a big move to the ultra-luxury EV market (led by its $...Read more

Can you envision a Buick that is made in China?

It's more than just that too. Buick -- as a brand -- probably owes its survival to the fact that Buicks are very popular in China. Pontiac and Oldsmobile, not so much -- which is why those brands have been retired.

But why might an American want to consider buying this made-in-China ...Read more

Like its main rival, the Mercedes E-Class sedan, the BMW 5 used to come standard with a six-cylinder engine -- as people used to expect when they spent what it costs to buy a midsize luxury sedan. Both of them now come standard with 2.0-liter fours -- and neither of them has gotten any less expensive.

This isn't to say the BMW 5 Series...Read more

Mazda is one of the few brands still selling a sedan, and it's one of the even fewer sedans that's also available as a hatchback sedan -- and with a manual transmission -- and that's something as rare to find in anything new today as cigarette lighters.

What It Is

The Mazda3 is a compact sedan/hatchback (five doors) and the competes with the ...Read more

Until three years ago, you couldn't buy a small truck in this country. And you still can't.

But you can buy a small pickup that looks like a truck and can do many of the things you could do with a small truck, such as carry a load in a bed and pull a 5,000-pound trailer.

Which, for the record, is something many of the small trucks you can't ...Read more

A few years from now -- maybe as soon as a year from now -- we may look back upon the 2025 Honda Pilot very much as we look back on the V12-powered (and even V8-powered) ultra-luxury vehicles of 20 years ago.

Because the Pilot comes standard with a V6 -- and that's getting to be a luxury. Even in luxury-brand (and luxury-priced) crossovers from...Read more

What is the difference between Volkswagen's Taos -- and the better-known Tiguan?

About $5,000.

There's more to it than that, of course. But also less.

What It Is

The Taos is a compact crossover -- and so is the Tiguan. The latter was VW's smallest (and least expensive) crossover until the Taos slid into that slot when VW added it to the ...Read more

Imagine going back in time to the heyday of the V8 muscle car in the late 1960s and early '70s with a brand-new Prius hybrid -- and beating almost all of them in a drag race.

While averaging close to 60 mpg.

That's what you might call a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too situation.

What It Is

The Prius is -- as everyone knows -- a hybrid designed...Read more

At one time, you had multiple options if you were interested in a midsize family sedan and didn't want to spend more than about $25,000 for it.

Your options have been reduced to one: the 2025 Chevy Malibu.

What It Is

The Malibu is the last car Chevrolet still sells -- and the last midsize family sedan anyone still sells with a base ...Read more

Kia's forte is undercutting its rivals (and then some) on price -- without cheaping out. If anything, the new K4 sedan -- which replaces the Forte as Kia's most affordable offering -- looks expensive.

Even though it's the least expensive new sedan you can buy.

What It Is

The K4 is a compact, entry-level sedan that competes ...Read more