Automotive

Letter From The UK: Being A Motor Man

Letter From The UK: Being A Motor Man It’s all about the rightness of things, do you see? This dilemma that people of the male persuasion have to deal with because all men believe they are in the right. If, and I know you’ll find this hard to grasp, they are wrong it is always on a silly technicality, and that basically their wrongness is actually based on a solid grounding of rightness.
If others can’t see that, well, that’s their problem isn’t it?
Men Make The Best Drivers
Take driving. We all believe we are good drivers and if others think we are not, then they’re wrong and they are obviously acolytes of that pious, self-righteous, anti-car lobby of witless dullards who wouldn’t know driving skill if it jumped up and bit them. This sort of challenge to man’s inherent driving superiority is like a red rag to a bull.
We’ll show them.
Here in the UK there exists another group of people – for the sake of argument we’ll call “women” – who insist on referring to we mature fellows as “boy racers.” This is missing the point. If you want to enrage a bull you wave a red flag at it and it all kicks off. It can be like that in marriages too although the flag is optional. Mostly it’s just bull.
Traditionally and historically, men have done the driving and women the criticizing; that’s the natural order of things. This is the point: Over the last few decades more and more of the distaff side have taken to the wheel and yet we, the blokes, are still the ones at fault.
It just isn’t fair. Or right.

Or Is It?
It’s a hard truth to swallow, but perhaps – only perhaps mark you – the “boy racer” tag has something to it. Car makers are at fault of course for making all those great vehicles over the decades. The rot really set in at the tail end of the 1950s here in Great Britain when the Mini first became available. Acne-afflicted adenoidal youths discovered the sheer chuck-ability of the tiny wheeled wonder and drove accordingly, and it sort of stuck with them.
We up-specified them, fitted sporting cylinder heads, a Cherry Bomb exhaust, doubled the number of carburetors, and the rest is history.
The “boy racers” of yesteryear have grown up now and purchased Porsches and powerful BMWs believing that road conditions have never changed and their own reflexes are as they always were, back in those blossoming years of lusting flush and not in any way dulled by age or infirmity. This is why, when someone adjacent on the road drives badly we become incensed and determined to prove we can do it better. The rules say we should turn the other cheek and report the miscreant to the authorities; but this is not the manly way.

The Reason Why
You see, the problem for chaps is that they routinely suffer from an illness called Machismo. Characteristics of this terrible disease include a feeling of dominance, fierceness, and bravado and really you should feel sorry for them when so afflicted, bless them. Not wrong, right; just misunderstood. It is a well known medical fact, for example, that driving fast cars actually does make men more virile and attractive so it’s no wonder there’s trouble.
So men will continue to labor under the misnomer of “boy racer” and this is likely to only be changed by something radical like death by old age. This is because it never leaves you. The great and legendary British motor-racing Knight Of The Realm, Sir Stirling Moss himself, is on record saying he got into motor racing because it was dangerous. It’s the buzz! It’s the charge! There’s nothing we can do about it.
The final word lies in a famous expression: “When I was a boy I drove as a boy. Now that I am a man I’ll drive how the heck I like.”
From memory this may not be exactly the correct quote, but I’m probably right.
Geoff Maxted is a motoring writer, photographer, and author of our Letter From The UK series. Follow his work on Twitter: @DriveWrite

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Stock Market Or Cars? Where To Invest? The Data Might Surprise You

Stock Market Or Cars? Where To Invest? The Data Might Surprise You Rarely, if ever, have cars been an “investment” in my life. For myself and countless other gearheads around the world, cars are not a way to make money, they are a perfectly efficient way to lose money. This is not to say classic cars cannot make money in the long run . . . just that 99.99999% of the time, they end up costing you bread, not earning it. If you’re going to invest, the stock market seems more likely.
Now, it seems, some people would beg to differ.
Cash For Classics
According to Kwik-Lift, manufacturers of high-strength steel home and repair shop maintenance lifts, “investing” money in certain cars is actually a good thing. Kwik-Lift says their data “proves” investing in a classic or soon-to-be classic car can offer a better return than putting money into the stock market.
Kwik-Lift bases this on five of the most expensive vehicles Barrett-Jackson sold in January. Kwik-Lift compared those sale values with what the same amount of cash would have gotten you compared with the return from the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index. Kwik-Lift concluded that their study “verified that collector cars are indeed a solid investment.”
And it’s not just Kwik-Lift. I recently read that a German investment firm said more or less the same thing about “investing” in classic 911s. And yes, while the German’s article does jive with what Kwik-Lift is saying, it’s also worth noting that used 911 prices added another zero in the past few years, which should skew the Germans dataset a little, one would think.
What it also does is put “reasonable” 911s out of reach for average guys like me, which totally bums me out. But that’s another story.
Will the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS be a classic one day? Is it worth buying now in the hopes it will increase in value in 50 years? Photo: Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
Critical Questions
I can hear my investment banker friends laughing all the way out here in the boonies. There’s a bunch of things here that would get you laughed out of an Econ 101 class at the local community college.
First off, they’re using numbers from Barrett-Jackson, an auction company. Auctions are obviously very volatile sales environments, so their sales values are always taken with a grain of salt. Two: “sold in January 2018.” A one month sample size? Three: “five of the most expensive vehicles Barrett-Jackson sold.” Five cars? And only the most expensive? Again, too small a sample and you’ve already pre-skewed it.
Four: “these results were calculated by using a dollar amount invested into Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index . . . and comparing it to the same dollar amount to purchase a vehicle.” What dollar amount? Compared to the S&P when? Over which time period? For how long?
Essentially, what Kwik-Lift did was take the cars in question, see what they sold for new from the dealer back in the day, see what B-J auctioned them for, and calculated the percentage gain over the years. Compare that directly against what Standard & Poor’s would have done over the same period of time, and abracadabra, a 1968 L88 Corvette is a “good investment.”
But here’s the thing: of course it looks like a better investment than the stock market in hindsight. In hindsight.
1968 Chevrolet Corvette Sport Coupe. Photo: GM Media Archive.
Money Talks
Back in 1950, Jackson Pollock painted Lavender Mist, an enormous abstract expressionist painting that hung in Peggy Guggenheim’s gallery for months with a price tag of $10,000. It finally sold, off the books, for around eight grand (if I’m remembering this right). And yeah, eight-large could have bought you a house back then, but still, do you know how much a Pollock of this caliber goes for today?
Hundreds of millions of dollars. Hundreds.
The point being, sure, you could have made a lot of money buying low back in the day and selling (very) high in the present day on something that is currently very desirable. But how do you know what you can buy today that will be seriously valued 50 years from now? You can’t, that’s the answer to that question.
Which is why serious investors, people who invest money for a living, people who own banks, for example, do not put their money in big block Corvettes, short wheelbase 911s or abstract paintings hanging in galleries in Manhattan. You know where they put their money? In banks. In the stock market. In the Standard & Poor’s 500. In real estate. That’s where you invest money, not in cars. You don’t make money with cars, you spend money on cars.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. His forthcoming new book The Future In Front of Me, The Past Behind Me will be available soon. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz

Cover Photo: 1970 Pontiac GTO by Darwin Holmstrom, from the book Pontiac GTO 50 Years also authored by Holmstrom.

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2019 Audi A8: A Bahn-Burner of The First Order

2019 Audi A8: A Bahn-Burner of The First Order I’ve always had a soft spot for the big Audi sedans, the A8 and especially the S8. Sure, in the styling department they have faltered from their original taut; understated designs have turned abhorrently generic, but they will still haul you from here to there with amazing speed, grip, and comfort. Now, the 2019 Audi A8 looks to up the game even more.
Audi says their new for 2019 A8 delivers a “modern, serene interior design, usable technology, seamless connectivity and cutting-edge driver assistance features” and who am I to doubt them.
Indeed, as a top-of-the-line luxo-barge, you’d expect a big German sedan, any big German sedan to be dripping with tech. And just as expected, the A8 does not under deliver.
Power & Performance
The most important parts, the powertrain and chassis, get only a scant mention. But what we do know is how the 2019 Audi A8 will launch with its new 3.0-liter V6 TFSI turbo engine, paired with a new 48-volt electric mild-hybrid drivetrain. Audi says the V6 makes 335 horsepower and 369 lb-ft. of torque.
Gearing is taken care of by an eight-speed tiptronic transmission. Naturally this is mated to a standard quattro all-wheel drive layout with a self-locking center differential. Other chassis and suspension features include adaptive air suspension, available predictive active suspension, and the available dynamic all-wheel steering system.
Comprised of 29 different frame materials and 14 cold and hot joining techniques, Audi says the A8 delivers an “intelligent material matrix” for better handling, comfort, and safety. Photo: Audi of America, Inc.
Interior Treatments
The interior of the 2019 Audi A8 is, of course, like a German-built UFO. The standard features include heated, 18-way power front seats with lumbar adjustments and memory, power tilt and telescopic steering column with memory, Velveeta and Nacho leather interior, er, sorry, that’s a Valetta Leather interior with Fine Nappa Extended Leather (whatever that is).
The optional air quality package includes an ionizer and aromatization; there is an optional “rear right passenger relaxation seat with heated massaging footrest,” plus aluminum-optic control buttons, and adjustable rear Matrix LED reading lights. Wait, there’s more . . . the smartphone-sized OLED touch remote can be used to customize rear seating and infotainment preferences including the Matrix reading lamps.
The front seats are now 22-way adjustable (with massage and ventilation). The steering wheel is heated, the windows are dual-pane acoustic glass, the front and rear door and center armrests are heated, while folding “productivity tables” are located in the center console.
2019 Audi A8 interior layout. Photo: Audi of America, Inc.
Technology Hub
Tech and connectivity? Buckle up Buckaroo. The Audi-standard MMI touch response is here, along with two touchscreens. The upper screen is a whopping 10.3-inches and the lower one is 8.6-inches. The driver can store up to seven individual profiles and the A8 has voice interaction with natural language processing. The map and navigation system is entirely new, and the HERE-powered setup learns drive routes over time so the system can make “smarter routing suggestions.”
The new myAudi app enables a greater range of smartphone-controlled vehicle selections. Also standard is the second generation Audi virtual cockpit with a large, 12.3-inch display. There’s an available full-color heads-up display and the Audi smartphone interface works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The Available Bang & Olufsen Sound System comes with a Grateful Dead-level 23 speakers with Acoustic Lens Technology, 24-channel BeoCore amplifier, and a huge 1,920 watts worth of 5.1 Surround Sound. Righteous!
2019 Audi A8 on display at the 2018 New York International Auto Show. Photo: Audi of America, Inc
Safety & Security
The suite of driver assistance stuff reads like something from Mr. Spock’s office: The world’s first laser scanner in a production vehicle, improved sensors, and the zFAS central driver assistance computer that processes all of the sensor information. There is also Adaptive Cruise Assist, Intersection Assist, and Audi Pre Sense 360. More than just assisting you, if you do, ahem, get into an accident with your new Audi A8, the on-board emergency gizmos are there to help you out.
Emergency assist detects if you are unresponsive and brings the car to a stop in its lane, engages emergency hazard lights, and places an emergency SOS call.
Pricing & Availability
The 2019 Audi A8 with the 3.0-liter engine will go on sale this fall with a starting price of $83,800. According to Audi, a V8 engine will be available next summer. I can only surmise that, given the scant mentions of the drivetrain, it can only (hopefully) mean the upcoming S8 will be a real luxo-Bahn-burner of the first order.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. His forthcoming new book The Future In Front of Me, The Past Behind Me will be available soon. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz
2019 Audi A8 Gallery

Photos & Source: Audi of America, Inc.

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Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Showcases Decades of Racing History

Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Showcases Decades of Racing History

Like I should have to tell any real gearhead this, but it’s almost time for the Monterey Historics, also known as the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. For those that don’t know (and I pity their barren and bereft life), every year around mid-August there is easily the best gathering of old cool rides, sports cars, and vintage racers on the planet. It takes place at Laguna Seca, Pebble Beach, The Quail Lodge, and as a rolling display on the costal and inland roads of the Monterey Peninsula.
Sea of Iron
The Monterey Historics make every other similar event look like a Saturday night cruise-in at the Malt Shack in size, scope, breadth, and depth. Besides Monterey, The Goodwood Festival of Speed is just a run up a rich guy’s driveway with some cos-play thrown in. The Amelia Island Concours is just a bunch of swells standing around talking about the new colors in Ralph Lauren polo shirts. The parking lot at Laguna Seca is better than 75% of the car shows I’ve been to. My first time to the vintage races, I was waiting in line when I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw an alloy-bodied Ferrari short-wheelbase Berlinetta. “How many of those did they make,” I wondered, “14, 16, something like that.” 20 yards later, I drove by two more of them parked in the infield.
The entire locale is saturated in vintage and exotic iron to the point of metallosis. There are Ferraris and Bugattis and Alfas and Lambos and Jags and Astons and Delahayes and Stutz Bearcats and Packards and Duesenbergs all over the place; literally around every corner. I saw a Bugatti Type 35 parked at a frickin’ 7-Eleven while the owner was inside buying smokes. It is that level of saturation, and this year’s event doesn’t show any signs of letting up. For example, just at Laguna Seca alone, there will be some of the most prominent racing history on display yet.
Regal Racers
There will be a special infield exhibit showing racers with historical significance to the track, with the first and most recent winners across from one another. The 1956 Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa Pete Lovely drove to victory at the inaugural Laguna Seca event and the Pebble Beach Road Races in 1957 will be among the first. Those Pebble Beach Road Races were the good, old style races on closed public roads, in and out of the fog shrouded trees, with scant attention paid to “safety.”
Lovely’s ’56 Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa is a car I’m actually quite familiar with. Lovely was a local racer when I was growing up; he kept the car throughout his life and I saw it many times at other vintage races. Next to Lovely’s iconic machine will be the 2016 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 that Alvaro Parente won the Pirelli World Challenge with last October.
Photo: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Heritage Racers
Also on exhibition, the 1956 Porsche 356A Carrera that competed in the last race on the old Pebble Beach course. There will be a 1963 Shelby King Cobra, an odd choice since the King Cobras never lived up to their promise, nor did they match the exploits of the original Cobras. A 1971 Ford Mustang Boss 302 will also be shown, representative of the Trans Am battles that took place there and at other tracks across North America. A monstrous 1973 Porsche 917/30, the car Roger Penske and Mark Donohue refined to such a degree that it destroyed the competition and then the entire series will be on display. Also on exhibit, a 1983 March Indy Car, the first to win at Laguna Seca.
There will be a 1985 Porsche 962, the IMSA variant of the 956, alongside the frighteningly effective 1993 AAR Toyota Eagle that Dan Gurney used in annihilating the competition. There will also be the 1999 BMW V12 LMR that won the Le Mans 24 Hours after extensive input from Williams Grand Prix Engineering. The Le Mans 24 Hours gets further representation with a 2005 Audi R8 that has unique ties to the 2.238-mile circuit. As a final cherry on top, you can get up close and personal with the 1989 Yamaha YZR500 Wayne Rainey rode to a win at the 1989 U.S. Grand Prix. That was Rainey’s first of three consecutive victories in Monterey. Little guy was so good with a bike they named one of the corners after him (it’s the left-hander directly after the 80-foot elevator drop of the Corkscrew).
Memorable Moments
If you can make it, go. If you can’t make it this year, go as soon as you can. On the track there will be 550 race cars of historic provenance doing what they were designed to do: race. Don’t care about race cars? Then consider the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach; there’s The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering or the Concorso Italiano as well. Either way, get out and enjoy a world-class car show when you can. The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is held August 17th through the 20th.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He means well, even if he has a bias towards lighter, agile cars rather than big engine muscle cars or family sedans.
Photos & Source: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

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2018 Jaguar F-TYPE: Anything But Dull And Boring (Video)

2018 Jaguar F-TYPE: Anything But Dull And Boring (Video)

The 2018 Jaguar F-TYPE is anything but dull and boring, and earlier this week, that’s exactly what Jaguar was going for. The automaker launched a new campaign for the F-TYPE in the towns of Dull, Perthshire in Scotland and Boring, Oregon. Jaguar provided a new F-TYPE for two residents of Dull and two from Boring so they could zip through their respective communities in not so dull and boring ways.
Community Bond
Dull, with 200 residents, sits about 75 miles north of Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow. Boring, here in the United States, is about 21 miles east of Portland, Oregon. Although a bit larger than Dull at 8,000 residents, Boring’s citizens share the same passion for their home as those in Dull. They readily embrace the names, joining forces in 2012 to form a new public holiday – Dull and Boring Day – now held annually on August 9th. To mark the occasion this year, Jaguar showcased the new F-TYPE and demonstrated how each community is anything but what their name reflects.
“Bringing the F-TYPE to the cities of Dull and Boring allowed us to have a bit of fun with the brand in a way that was relatable for Jaguar consumers in the United Kingdom and the United States,” said Joe Torpey, Communications Manager, Jaguar Land Rover North America.
2018 Jaguar F-TYPE. Photo: Jaguar Land Rover.
Performance & Technology
The 2018 Jaguar F-TYPE is powered a diverse range of engines, including a turbocharged 296 horsepower Ingenium four-cylinder, a supercharged V6, and an all-wheel drive V8. The latter is found in the F-TYPE SVR Coupe with a top speed of 200 mph. If you don’t want to go that fast, opt for the F-TYPE SVR Convertible which only hits 195 mph.
Those with an appetite for technology will appreciate the new F-TYPE. The standard Jaguar InControl Touch Pro system features faster processors and automotive Ethernet connections. The system supports a number of additional apps and driver assistance technologies. GoPro connectivity enables a new app called ReRun that sources telemetry data from the car like speed, lateral acceleration, gear selection, and throttle and brake position. Said data can be transferred to a smartphone so drivers always have a record of their track performance.
The 2018 Jaguar F-TYPE starts at $59,900 and will be available later this year. In the meantime, see how the citizens of Dull and Boring made the most of their holiday with the new F-TYPE in the video below.
Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan.

Photo, Video & Source: Jaguar Land Rover.

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Letter From The UK: An Unavoidable Future

Letter From The UK: An Unavoidable Future

It isn’t just the British who are at odds with the pan-European ideal; both Poland and Hungary now have serious disagreements with the rest of the Euro-zone. The European Union overall is lurching from crisis to crisis and this is having a knock-on effect economically. One such set-back is how the UK new car market has declined by almost ten percent last month. This is the fourth consecutive monthly fall. Although in line with forecasts, it remains a barometer of falling economic consumer confidence.
Demand was down across business, fleet, and private buyers, although oddly in July, more buyers opted for dual purpose and specialist sports cars, the only two vehicle segments to enjoy growth. That may just mean some are more financially resilient than others of course.
Greener Pastures
The demand for alternatively fueled vehicles has soared, we learn. As registrations for new gas and diesel cars have declined, interest in electric vehicles and hybrids is rising. This doesn’t mean necessarily your friends and neighbors are suddenly mad for electric cars, as there is a sense we are being railroaded into it.
The repercussions of the “Dieselgate” scandal are rippling out wider and wider, like the aftermath of a rock being thrown into a still pond. The vilification of diesel fuel, whether deserved or not, has led to a softening of demand for the oil-burners. After a very slow start, motorists are now keen to learn more about electric cars. Certainly this might be because car buyers are more conscious of a cleaner, greener future, but it is more likely related to the Government’s plans to ensure no new diesel or gas-powered cars are sold after 2040.
If you want a brand new car after that date, it will have to be of the alternative fuel variety.

Electrified Kingdom
Consumers are thus becoming more aware of the new technology, especially after the announcement that all new cars launched, for example, by Swedish manufacturer Volvo from 2019 onward, will be partially or completely battery-powered. Between 2019 and 2021, Volvo will introduce five dedicated EVs and ensure the rest of their conventional petrol and diesel range has a hybrid variant of some form. Add to this the vast majority of motorists now saying they would feel safe while driving an electric vehicle. Over two-thirds say they would be happy to buy an used EV, and thus it is clear: the times, they are a-changing.
Are we in danger though of running before we can walk, as it were? Great Britain has a very poor public charging infrastructure and this needs to be addressed well before 2040, especially as sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids continue to rise. Fuel giant Shell announced a pilot project for the installation and operation of the first fast-chargers for electric vehicles at selected service stations. They are expected to be on stream by the end of this year. It’s a start, but there’s a long road ahead.
Despite all the big talk, the Futurama reality of electric-charging highways remains a distant aim, so charging outlets are the key to the ultimate rise of EVs. Consumers are now well aware of the range issue that dogs electric-powered cars. These cars are fine for local motoring in Britain because most journeys are short, unlike the USA where much greater distances have to be covered. However, most of us need to make longer trips too, and hanging around for two hours topping up the power just won’t wash with the public. Ample, readily available, super-fast charging is vital.

Rest In Pieces
The other problem is power generation. Wind and wave power is not going to do the job, and this country needs to go nuclear in a much bigger way if we are to generate enough juice. Yet there is a determined anti-nuclear lobby who don’t want that. In short, there’s a long way to go before our future is truly electric.
Still, unquestionably, the demise of ICE cars is written in stone by those that govern. Take a photograph of your V8 ride because it won’t be long before we see those fossil fuel dinosaurs taking that last ride to their automotive funeral. We will watch them from our clean, green electric future as they swing into the crusher to be turned into fans and cans and pans and cheap jewelry made from redundant piston rings. There are still many ways the plans could go awry – maybe our beloved V8s will live to fight another day? We are human after all. Even politicians.
Geoff Maxted is a motoring writer, photographer, and author of our Letter From The UK series. Follow his work on Twitter: @DriveWrite

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2018 Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport Review

2018 Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport Review It’s never a good thing when you just finish driving a hot sedan like the Lexus LS 500 F Sport and then get into a bigger vehicle like the 2018 Toyota Sequoia. When we got behind the wheel of the large Sequoia SUV, we had to adjust our mindset to accommodate the larger vehicle’s driving dynamics.
At first we pushed the gas pedal, expecting to fly past slower traffic like in the LS 500, but that didn’t happen. With that said, we will shift gears and take an objective look at the 2018 Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport, which is built for off-road fun.
What’s New For 2018
Toyota has added the TRD Sport trim. All Sequoias now have LED headlights and additional standard safety features, including forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking. A restyled grille and gauge cluster round out the changes for 2018.
Features & Options
The 2018 Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport ($54,340) comes standard with LED headlights, sunroof, power rear window, tri-zone automatic climate control, power-adjustable driver’s seat, 60/40-split reclining and fold-flat third-row bench, plus second and third-row retractable sunshades. Other features included a rearview camera, Bluetooth connectivity, a USB port, 6.1-inch touchscreen, and an eight-speaker audio system with a CD player and satellite and HD radio.
Standard safety features included forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, front and rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and traffic-adapting cruise control.
The TRD Sport trim ($3,810) adds a sport-tuned suspension, 20-inch wheels, second-row captains chairs, heated 10-way power driver’s seat, four-way power passenger’s seat, Entune Premium audio, navigation, and special exterior styling details.
Total MSRP including destination: $60,219.

Interior Highlights
The Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport with its 20-inch wheels sits up a bit higher than the standard model, and shorter folks may need to use the grab handles to pull themselves up and into the cabin. This Sequoia’s interior is designed for families that want extra luxury. This is a family hauler built for comfort but it can also get you away from civilization.
The cabin is packed with extra goodies and comes well-equipped with navigation, heated front seats, and luxurious leather seats in front and back.
The front seats are extra comfortable and supportive, with good 10-way power adjustability, ready to keep you steady for a full day on the road. Our tall riders in the back thought the second row captains chairs had plenty of leg and hip room as we motored to get lunch this earlier week. Mom will like the power rear lift gate and extra cargo carrying ability behind the third row for camping gear or sports equipment.
If you need more cargo room, just flip a switch and the power-reclining third row folds flat.

Engine & Fuel Mileage Specs
The Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport is powered by a 5.7-liter V8, producing 381 horsepower and 401 lb-ft. of torque. It comes mated to a six-speed automatic transmission; the optional four-wheel drive was included with this tester.
EPA fuel mileage estimates come in at 13/17 city/highway and 14 combined mpg.
Driving Dynamics
The Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport offers solid dynamics on the road and will travel well for long weekend trips. The rear backup camera and blind spot monitoring make the bigger vehicle easy to handle in town too. The vehicle’s recreation-purposed attributes definitely set it apart from other SUVs. The reason to buy a Sequoia TRD Sport is the off-road ready suspension and towing capability.
If you are looking for off-road capability along with a comfy ride, this large SUV fits the bill. If you want a rugged vehicle you won’t mind taking your significant other out on a date in, this is also the one for you. The cabin is quiet thanks to engineering efforts to isolate road noise. In fact, we didn’t notice much noise from the TRD ’s more aggressive tires.
While most Toyota Sequoia owners will likely never take their vehicle truly off-road, you can with the TRD Sport. It’s built with multi-mode 4WD, a locking center differential, and front and rear stabilizer bars. The Sequoia TRD Sport will handle the rough trails with ease but we felt the big SUV could use a bit more power as we pulled up the mountain roads this week. With a full load of people and cargo, we can see where it may leave you wanting for more power, not to mention fuel economy.
Conclusion
The Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport is designed for the more adventurous owner. It can be taken off-road, yet there is plenty of extra comfort and luxury for long road trips.
Denis Flierl has invested over 25 years in the automotive industry in a variety of roles. Follow his work on Twitter: @CarReviewGuy
2018 Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport Gallery

2018 Toyota Sequoia Official Site.
Photos: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

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2019 Acura MDX: A Brief Walk Around

2019 Acura MDX: A Brief Walk Around The 2019 Acura MDX offers up lots of what current SUV buyers are looking for: room, infotainment gear, safety gadgets, and enough on and (semi) off-road capabilities for 90 percent of the situations modern drivers should hope to find themselves in.
Special Treatments & New Colors
After the major design refresh in 2017 and key tech upgrades in 2018, the 2019 Acura MDX comes with new interior improvements to up the luxury. There’s such niceties as Desert Olive Ash wood trim, high-contrast seat and door panel stitching, and contrasting front seat side garnishes. The Technology and Entertainment packages get an updated second-row seat configuration and the Advance Package adds a trim-exclusive matching wood center console trim.
2019 will also see new colors on the MDX, bringing the total to nine available shades. The new colors include Gunmetal Metallic, Majestic Black Pearl, Performance Red Pearl, Canyon Bronze Metallic, and the A-Spec-exclusive Apex Blue Pearl.
There are also newly-designed 20-inch aluminum alloy wheels on offer with a machine finish and Shark Grey accents. These new rims are also a half-inch wider than before and are wrapped in wider, 265/45-series tires.
2019 Acura MDX. Photo: Honda North America.
Safety & Security
Of course the 2019 MDX has enough standard safety and driver-assistive tech to make you feel like an astronaut. All 2019 MDXs come standard with the AcuraWatch suite of safety gear. This means stuff like Collision Mitigation Braking with Forward Collision Warning, Lane Keeping Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control with Low-Speed Follow, and Road Departure Mitigation with Lane Departure Warning.
On top of all this active stuff, all MDX’s boast an array of passive safety features, such as Acura’s Advance Compatibility Engineering body structure, front and side-curtain airbags, front pre-tensioning seatbelts, four-channel anti-lock brakes with Electronic Brake Distribution, Vehicle Stability Assist with traction control; even a Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
2019 Acura MDX A-Spec. Photo: Honda North America.
A-Spec Action
Now, about that A-Spec trim. To my mind, Acura A-Spec stuff is like a “halfway to an R-Type” sort of deal. Not full on performance, but a bit of a bump regardless. In the case of the 2019 MDX, you get the torque-vectoring/Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive system and a more athletic stance highlighted by those 20-inch Shark Grey aluminum wheels.
There’s a new front fascia, body-color lower sills, larger-diameter exhaust finishers, and gloss-black/dark chrome trim for the headlights, grille, window surround, and rear tailgate spoiler. On the inside, you’ll find sport seats trimmed in rich red or black leather with black Alcantara inserts and contrast stitching, plus unique A-Spec gauges, sport pedals, Alcantara door inserts, and a thicker-rimmed A-Spec-badged steering wheel.
2019 Acura MDX interior layout. Photo: Honda North America.
Power & Performance
The 2019 MDX is powered by a 3.5-liter, direct-injected i-VTEC 24-valve V6 engine that puts out 290 horsepower and 267 lb-ft. of torque. The SH-AWD system delivers up to 70 percent of the engine’s torque to the rear wheels (yay!) and has the ability to split torque between the left and right rear wheels to increase traction and handling.
The latest MDX comes with a nine-speed automatic transmission with the upgraded Idle Stop feature now standard across the lineup. A nifty chart showing all the options, prices, and fuel economy is below.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. His forthcoming new book The Future In Front of Me, The Past Behind Me will be available soon. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz
2019 MDX Pricing & EPA Fuel Economy Ratings
Trim
MSRP
MSRPIncluding $995 Destination
EPA MPG Rating(city/highway/combined)
MDX (FWD)
$44,300
$45,295
20/27/23
MDX (FWD) with Technology Package
$49,300
$50,295
20/27/23
MDX (FWD) with Technology & Entertainment Packages
$51,300
$52,295
20/27/23
MDX (FWD) with Advance Package
$56,050
$57,045
20/27/23
MDX (FWD) with Advance & Entertainment Packages
$58,050
$59,045
19/26/22
MDX (SH-AWD)
$46,300
$47,295
19/26/22
MDX (SH-AWD) with Technology Package
$51,300
$52,295
19/26/22
MDX (SH-AWD) with Technology & Entertainment Packages
$53,300
$54,295
19/26/22
MDX A-Spec (SH-AWD)
$54,800
$55,795
19/25/21
MDX (SH-AWD) with Advance Package
$58,050
$59,045
19/26/22
MDX (SH-AWD) with Advance & Entertainment Packages
$60,050
$61,045
19/26/22
MDX Sport Hybrid
TBD

TBD
Photos & Source: Honda North America.

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Coast To Coast: New Interactive Map Shows How America’s Interstates Evolved

Coast To Coast: New Interactive Map Shows How America’s Interstates Evolved Like many, I enjoy a good road trip. Twice a year, I make the 900 some mile trek from Michigan to South Dakota to see family – once in the summer and once in the winter for Christmas. It’s 14 hours of pavement and music from my personal CD collection which includes everything from country to indie rock. I take a long stretch on I-90 through Wisconsin and Minnesota, which offers some nice views of America’s heartland.
I-90, end to end, is about 3,000 miles, or around six percent of the nearly 50,000 miles of Intestate Highways that span the United States.
Sea To Shining Sea
Just how America’s Interstate Highway System evolved is the subject of a new interactive map from Geotab. The built-in timeline shows how the network expanded over the years, giving us insight into how the infrastructure developed to support today’s travel and transportation requirements.
“As America’s Interstate Highway System approaches a major milestone, we wanted to pay tribute to this intricate and expansive network,” explained Maria Sotra, Vice President of Marketing, Geotab.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law in June of that year, the largest public infrastructure act of its kind at the time. Geotab’s map highlights the system’s major developments, like the 1974 completion of I-5 that connects Mexico and Canada, and the opening of I-80, the nation’s first coast-to-coast highway.
“Connecting people, enabling business, and providing a straightforward path across one of the largest countries in the world, the nearly 50,000 miles of highway that makes up the Interstate Highway System has played an undeniable role in transportation and trade in the United States,” Sotra said.

Of The Highest Order
In 1954, during a road safety conference, President Eisenhower recalled when he first heard that automobile fatalities had, at the time, surpassed those of every war the United States was involved in. This was no doubt, for the once Supreme Allied Commander Europe, alarming news.
“It is a problem for all of us, from the highest echelon of government to the lowest echelon and a problem for every citizen, no matter what his station or his duty,” President Eisenhower said during the conference. “We have great organizations working effectively and supported by the government, to seek ways and means of promoting peace in the world in order that these great tragedies may be prevented or at least minimized in the future.”
In 1954, President Eisenhower was looking ahead to 1975, when it was believed there would be some 80 million automobiles on U.S. roads. The President said the government was committed to building more highways to accommodate the increasing number of vehicles.
“They mean progress for our country. They mean greater convenience for greater numbers of people, greater happiness, and greater standards of living,” the President said of automobiles. “But we have got to learn to control the things that we must use ourselves, and not let them be a threat to our lives and to our loved ones.”
Today, the Interstate Highway System accounts for 25 percent of all highway traffic in the country.
The standard road sign for the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, designed by FHWA and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, was unveiled in a ceremony on Capitol Hill on July 29th, 1993. Left to right: Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) of the House Surface Transportation Subcommittee, John Eisenhower (President Eisenhower’s son), Federal Highway Administrator Rodney E. Slater, and Chairman Norman Y. Mineta (D-CA) of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation. Photo: United States Department of Transportation / Public Domain.
Wide Open Spaces
Earlier this year, Geotab complied a list of the most scenic routes in America, which nicely accommodates this new interactive map on U.S. Interstates. As time permits, jump in your car and take a random road trip – you never know what unexpected treasures you will find along the way. And during the journey, you can impress your friends and family with how much you know about the Interstate Highway System.
Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan. He studies mechanical engineering at Wayne State University, serves on the Board of Directors for the Ally Jolie Baldwin Foundation, and is a loyal Detroit Lions fan.

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