#silviocalabi

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
For 2025, Genesis refreshed its sleek G80 fastback sedan with a host of interior and exterior tweaks, but the drivetrains and overall style remain the same. By DOT standards, this is a mid-size car. Color: Tasman Blue

Like every other Genesis—Hyundai’s up-market brand—the G80 sedan is a fine automobile. Especially in options-rich Sport Prestige trim, with the big engine and all-wheel drive, the G80 is…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
If this looks like last year’s Ioniq 6 Limited with the 20-inch wheels, that’s because it is. Very little has changed from 2024 to 2025, or even from ’23 to ‘24. The sloping roofline cuts into rear-seat headroom but otherwise the Ioniq 6 Limited Long Range AWD is a sedan’s sedan that combines comfort, performance and value with all-weather capability.

The 2025 version of Hyundai’s battery-electric Ioniq 6 sedan is hardly different from the 2024 model…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
The most significant ‘upgrade’ to the battery-powered Lightning for 2025 is a drop in price. All Lightnings are full-size, four-door crew-cab F-150s with 51/2-foot beds, extra storage space in the ‘frunk,’ and up to 320 miles of range. Up to 10,000 pounds trailer capacity is available, although the range drops precipitously when towing. This color is Agate Black Metallic.

About the Lightning, I wrote, in May of 2023: “Shock and amazement, but the new vehicle I was…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
Introduced in 2022, the stylishly edgy Ioniq 5 was updated for ‘25 with more range and faster charging plus a host of detail improvements. The Ioniq 5 is the first Hyundai that can use Tesla power points without an adaptor, adding some 17,000 recharging stations nationwide. This color is Atlas White.

It’s hard not to be impressed by the Ioniq 5. Even EV haters are captivated by its silent swoosh of torque—one of the things everyone likes about electric cars. As a hatchback with its…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
The compact Solterra is Subaru’s first electric vehicle—note the charging-port door and the absence of a grille. Teething problems delayed its debut into 2024; the ’25 model is identical; but Subaru promises an entirely new car for model year 2026. ‘Solterra,’ combining sun and earth, is a cool name for an EV. These colors are Elemental Red Pearl and Galactic Black.

Bit of a conundrum here. The battery-powered Subaru in our driveway, the Solterra, debuted in 2023 as a 2024 model; there are essentially no changes from ’24 to 2025; 

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
Especially in Night-edition black, the Palisade is Hyundai’s handsome hunk of a three-row SUV; and in $55,000 Calligraphy trim, it is the flagship of the maker’s fleet. This is the 2025 model; the refreshed ’26 is due any moment now.

Palisade: a fence of wooden stakes or iron railings fixed in the ground, forming an enclosure or defense; alternatively, an…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
Completely new, this umpteenth version of the Land Cruiser, the 250 Series, appeared in the US last year as a relatively compact (though not small) two-row ute with a hybrid gas-electric drivetrain and serious off-road hard- and software. This color is called Meteor Shower.

Toyota began selling something called a Land Cruiser about 70 years ago and since then maybe no automotive badge has been applied to as many different vehicles. The first one I knew was the…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
The red ST badge and black grille denote the 400-horsepower performance variant of the 2025 Ford Explorer; other visual clues include red brake calipers and these blacked-out 21-inch aluminum wheels. The view out over the high, squared-off nose is distinctly pickup-truck. This color is Agate black Metallic.

A rear-wheel-drive SUV? What’s the point? Evidently Ford expected us — at least those of us who deal with snow — to ask this very question, so four-wheel drive is available as a $2,000…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
There’s no losing this one in a parking lot. This is Ford’s Free Wheeling graphics package applied over Oxford White, complemented by 17-inch Race Red painted wheels. For 2025 the Bronco Sport gets more standard driver-assistance features, including adaptive cruise control, some appearance tweaks and an array of off-road-focused options.

We might expect a modern motor vehicle packing a three-cylinder, 1.5-litre gas engine to be an underpowered and dreary bottom-feeder. (Many a motorcycle has a…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
Acura’s smaller, two-row SUV, the RDX, received a mid-cycle update for 2025, including this distinctive grille. The RDX shares a platform with the Honda CR-V ute and the Civic sedan, but there is little resemblance. Our range-topping A-Spec ADV model, here shown, has a sticker price of $56,400. This color is Urban Gray Pearl.

When the Acura Legend sedan arrived in the U.S., in 1986, we were already imprinted on Honda cars and motorbikes (not to say lawnmowers, snowblowers and outboard motors), so a luxury brand…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
Although refreshed and updated inside and out for 2025, Honda’s minivan remains recognizably an Odyssey—and it remains the best-selling minivan in America too. This color is Pacific Pewter Metallic.

Minivans too have been upgraded in features and luxury. Although it is still true that no one casually-on-purpose drops the keyfob to a minivan on the bar at a posh club, hoping to attract…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
Honda Civic Hatchback

Its name is longer than its wheelbase! Honda’s award-winning 2025 lineup of Civics spans 10 different models and begins with the $25,000 LX, so no surprise that the other end of the trim…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
Genesis GV80 Coup

Love at first sight is always suspect. Heated glances across a crowded cocktail party, or parking lot, raise the pulse, but best to date for a while—you know, run up and down the rev range…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
Tucson car

A Tucson arrived some weeks ago, but it was a leftover 2024 model; the ‘25s were already at Hyundai stores and word was that important changes had been made. So we ignored it and waited, and…

Opinionated at any speed
The Ascent, the grown-up Subaru, is a three-row SUV with all of the brand’s beloved features with large helpings of near-luxury available. The glossy black grille, chrome door handles and power-folding exterior mirrors with integrated turn signals denote the Touring trim. Color: Autumn Metallic Green.

Oddly, given the brand’s popularity across northern New England, passers-by still seem surprised that Subaru…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
With its crisp styling, roomy interior, tons of storage, family-friendly features and on-road stance, the Prologue is the new minivan.

This is Honda’s third go at an electric vehicle, after the experimental EV Plus and the low-volume, short-range hydrogen-powered Clarity and battery-powered Fit, and likely to be the one that…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi
Changes to the Pilot for 2025 are minimal; one of them is the addition of this top-end trim package called the Black Edition. This color, however, is Radiant Red.

What is it about “black” that prompts some carmakers to apply it to the top trim level of certain models? Even if the vehicle is finished in, say, Radiant Red? Black is sinister, forbidding, grim…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

As a member of the Mid Maine Sports Car Club, I get to hang with interesting automobiles, including no end of vintage roadsters from…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

Traditional full-size, body-on-frame pickup trucks—and their derivative “family-size” sport-utility vehicles—are said to be the most profitable items on the menu in…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

Volvos are . . . safe. Check. Elegant. Check. Comfortable, smooth, quiet, Swedish and green. Check, check, check, check. Green? Yes, for a car, anyway, especially this one…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

In Subaru’s family of five SUVs, the Crosstrek is the best-seller and also the baby—the smallest and least expensive. But it’s no longer a stripped-out loss-leader. Yes,…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

Judging by the sheet metal, the graphics, the electro-digitalia, some improvements in ergonomics and a few things that seem to be change for the sake of change, the new,…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

Upon this blue Maverick’s arrival, my first thought was, Wait a minute—I’ve already done that one! But no; that was the hybrid version of the Maverick, which we…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

Like a robin hopping across a lawn newly free of snow, the first rear-wheel-drive coupe of the year signals the end of winter. Except there’s always at least one more snow…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

Good heavens, another car with a clutch pedal—this is beginning to feel like physical therapy. That’s what M/T signifies: manual transmission. This one has six speeds,…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

There’s no need to rehash last week’s explanation of PHEVs—Plug-in Electric Hybrid…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

“At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.” You’re likely too young to remember this famous tagline from adman David…

Opinionated at any speed

Push the start button on the new MDX Type S and its electronic dashboard lights up in angry red—it means business! As the first Acura SUV to wear the Type S badge, it is…

Opinionated at any speed

The top of the Jeep model lineup needs a bit of explication: Once upon a time, there was the full-size Wagoneer, favored by summer residents of big old seaside cottages in…

Opinionated at any speed . . . Silvio Calabi

It’s a sweetie, this one—light (feeling), responsive, quick, willing and altogether satisfying. The 230i Coupe, re-done for 2022, is a throwback to the time when all BMWs…

After weeks in various new Broncos and Bronco Sports, I have to say I still don’t get the mad lust people feel for them. A few days ago, I parked this one in town and, as…

Opinionated at any Speed
GLS450

The redesigned GLS450 is one of nine G-Class SUVs that wear the three-pointed star—or one of 17, if we count all the AMG performance models. It’s the biggest one, too, at…

Opinionated at any speed

The Outer Banks are 200 miles of barrier islands and sand spits imperiled by rising seas and erosion that lie between North Carolina and the open Atlantic. “Outer Banks”…

opinionated at any speed

Yes, it’s a mouthful, but then it’s quite a car, too—I mean a two-row, midsize crossover sport-utility vehicle (another mouthful). I’m hard-pressed to think of another one…

opinionated at any speed

A robin redbreast hopping about the soggy lawn may be the first sign of spring at your house; at mine, it’s the arrival of a real car after four months of winter-worthy AWD sport-utes. This year,…

opinionated at any speed

Referring to its 50-plus years of building off-road motorcycles, ATVs and similar rugged vehicles, Honda likes to say that it has “a long history of getting dirty.” This new-for-‘22 TrailSport…

OPINIONATED AT ANY SPEED

Hyundai has done something clever here, and it makes me wonder why these things are still so rare—namely, SUV-based pickups. This is a Tucson, a Hyundai two-row crossover sport-ute, with the rear…

opinionated at any speed

You may remember the GV80 as the luxury SUV that Tiger Woods wrecked last February while he was in California for a golf tournament. Genesis—Hyundai’s Lexus, if you will—sponsored the tournament…

opinionated at any speed

Whenever I saw a Ford Bronco Sport on the road—and by now I’ve seen a lot of them—my first thought was always: “Oh, someone who didn’t want a ‘real’ Bronco! Someone who just wanted the look.”…

opinionated at any speed

It’s war in the Compact SUV jungle, where family-friendly crossovers with two rows of seats and all-wheel drive fight it out for billions in sales. Victory hangs on a value triangulation: Buyers…

opinionated at any speed

A new trim package for Subaru’s all-wheel-drive Outback wagon, called Wilderness, is available for 2022 and it’s not just cosmetics. This variant stands taller (9.5 inches of ground clearance) on…

opinionated at any speed

Don’t call it a minivan and don’t call it an SUV, although it resembles both. Kia says it’s an MPV, for multi-purpose vehicle—“combining luxury, capability and flexibility into a whole new kind of…

opinionated at any speed

In reviving the Bronco, its very first SUV (b. 1965, d. 1996), Ford seems to have cast a critical eye on the Jeep Wrangler and said, “Right, we’re going to build a vehicle with the same off-road…

opinionated at any speed

In a way, the new-for-2022 Civic reminds me of Mercedes-Benz’s C-Class cars: They’ve both grown up. And whereas we once bought them because we couldn’t afford the fancier models, now we buy them…

Opinionated at any speed

“Whoa—it’s like a fighter plane in here!” said one of my neighbors. Well, it’s like that behind the wheel, too. AMG is Mercedes-Benz’s tuner division, the skunkworks where mad scientists take…

Opinionated at any speed

The “L” is for long, and this stretched version of the familiar Grand Cherokee is what Jeep is offering families while they await the arrival of the even larger (and more deluxe and pricier) 2022…

opinionated at any speed

Electric vehicles never used to reach me in Midcoast Maine. They didn’t have enough range for the run from the press garage near Boston—…

opinionated at any speed

The low stance, the blacked-out trim and wheels, the red brakes and low-profile tires, the flared exhaust trumpets, the spoiler and the absence of chrome all signal “hot car!” With this Type S,…

opinionated at any speed

This Performance Red Metallic clear-coat paint helps our 2022 MDX make a brilliant first impression. Even the crew at the boatyard zeroed in on it—three of them were admiring the vehicle when we…

opinionated at any speed

Having earned my license 55 years ago, I can say that I’ve driven probably every generation of Mustang beginning with Lee Iaccoca’s mid-‘60s original. But in college, I discovered cars from…