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One of my earliest posts some 5 or so years ago pointed out how differently the same car (in that case a Ferrari) drove depending on which option box you happened to tick. In one case it was miserable, in the other what a Ferrari should be.

Here’s another example – keep in mind that these are just two of the dozen examples I’ve experienced or encountered in the last decade alone; always try every possible permutation before you buy…

Unfortunately the steel-sprung Cayenne simply can’t match the road. It’s not giving any confidence as the front end wallows and fails to feel like it’s keying into the corners. It copes badly with compressions too, feeling all at sea and frankly rather unpleasant. Cover the Porsche badge and try to imagine what a big, heavy SUV would feel like if driven quickly and you’ll get the idea. Fortunately it’s a major failing that’s easily rectified by spending an additional on air suspension with PDCC (Porcshe Dynamic Chassis Control), Porsche’s clever active anti-roll bar system. Now the Cayenne stays miraculously flat when you turn-in and inspires confidence instead of mild panic. Instead of having to be manhandled through corners it reacts cleanly and allows you to really feel and subtly exploit the 38:62 front:rear power split. It defies your expectations of what over two tons of 4×4 should be able to do and deserves its Porsche badge. It’s genuinely fun.—evo

Carmakers like SUVs for the same reason they like coupes, and more so – convertibles: they can charge a lot more for ‘em. Same goes for all wheel drive (cost: a few hundred tops, retail cost: thousands) or larger displacement engine in the same family (Someone explain why a 3.0L 6 cylinder costs more than a 2.5L 6 cylinder when they have the same number of parts? Some companies command $5K+ for the privilege).

The latest moneymaker: third row seating, in many cases right where the crumple zone was meant to be and no airbags either.

When cars get bigger, marketers cite growing waistlines. But as award winning L.A. TImes writer Dan Neil cites:

If the average family size in the United States is 3.84—so sayeth the U.S. Census Bureau—and the average number of children younger than 18 in those families is holding steady at 1.86, well, why the sudden pressing need for more seats? ...The rise of third-row seating, it seems to me, is a classic case of a manufactured need. Most people who spend the extra money don’t actually need a sixth and seventh seat; it’s merely that they have been possessed with the anxiety of not having them. My God, one day we might have friends, and then what will we do?

while Porsche’s SUV is amazing, it still isn’t particularly entertaining. Yes, it’s fast as stink, and, yes, it does things no 4800-pound vehicle should be able to do. (Wheel control and chassis composure on undulating pavement will blow your mind.) But once the novelty wears off, boredom sets in. The Cayenne is so good, so capably idiotproof, that the driver is all but left out in the cold. Absurdly potent? Yes. Hard-core enthusiast’s dream? Not so much. – Automobile

BMW designed the current Range Rover to be an alternative to the S class, A8, etc. But traditionalists moaned that it had grown too large, so when Ford took ownership Land Rover introduced the smaller, sportier Range Rover Sport.

Now that the X5’s gained about 400lbs and a considerable amount of length and width, BMW is considering an X6.

For those who thought the last X5’s form factor was large enough but want the new X5’s front suspension and chassis technology, this should be just the ticket.

This video on YouTube is worth a look…

Order the 22-inch tires if you must have the look, but we advise against them. They ride harsher than the less sporty choices, they’re noisy, and their quick-responding nature fights with the steering feel on gusty days, taking you down a ziggy path. – Car and Driver

UPDATE: Click here to download a short clip taken during the my drive…

Original post [08.28.06]: Acura recently decided to drop the RSX from their U.S. lineup, feeling it was too unrefined and raucous to be sold next to cars like the RL and MDX. So it surprised me today that I was relieved to return the keys to the RDX because it felt – well – unrefined.

Let me back up by saying this was a car I expected to love. On paper it has one of the world’s most advanced all wheel drive systems, a suspension based on the new Civic’s (a good thing) and loads of torque without resorting to a heavy V6. It has the industry’s best nav system with real time traffic data. It was benchmarked against BMW’s X3. I was sure I’d love it.

But I didn’t, and neither did the potential buyer I accompanied. And here’s why… Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the connectedness that impresses. You tap into what’s going on at the road surface through the meaty steering and the seat of your pants… The further you drive, the faster you go, the more impressive the X5 becomes. It actually does feel like a sports car on stilts – and sounds like one too. It shrinks around you until you almost forget what you’re driving. – evo

note: This only applies to cars equipped with the Sport package and 18” wheels or the 4.6 and 4.8is models (20” wheels, Bilstein dampers). The Sport package 4.4i’s 19” wheels are too much for the Sachs-Boge dampers to handle and the base model’s softer front suspension and smaller rear swaybar make it feel less like a BMW and more like your average SUV.

Consider for a second that the VW Eos, priced in the low to mid 30s is largely based on the same componentry the $15,000 Rabbit is made of or that the Volvo C70, priced in the low 40s shares many components with a Mazda 3.

Many have pointed out the SUV boom was fostered by the car companies because they could take a rudimentary pickup truck priced in the low teens, change the bodywork, add leather seats for all and sell it for $50K.

It seems to the world is moving away from truck based SUVs to more compact and handling oriented ones (think X3, RD-X), but luckily for the car companies buyers will still pay Filet Mignon prices for the equivalent of reheated fast food.

Folding hardtop mechanisms or on demand all wheel drive systems add cost, sure, but doubling the sticker price? That’s just greedy. And no one seems to mind…

The climate control system in the upcoming Acura RDX with technology package is being touted as the world’s most advanced, a claim that seems believable when you consider cars it takes latitude, longitude and direction of travel to counteract solar gain on the side of the vehicle in the sun…

It seems that for every German engineer applying technology for technology’s sake there’s at least one Japanese engineer deciding how useful features can be implemented using existing hardware…