Category Archives: AutoPilot

2021 Hyundai Santa Fe
December 21, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

If there’s one constant in the automotive world, it’s that Hyundai knows how to churn out new and/or redesigned vehicles. Included for 2021 is the heavily updated five-passenger midsize Santa Fe tall wagon.
The Santa Fe nameplate, first introduced for 2001, has become a major success story for Hyundai over four generations. It sits one rung below the eight-passenger Palisade in the automaker’s five-model utility lineup (six, if you include the limited-production hydrogen-electric Nexo).

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2021 Lincoln Corsair
November 23, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

Among Lincoln’s quartet of luxury-level tall wagons, the 2021 Corsair is the most compact, but it more than holds its own at the crossroads of style and technology.
For those unaware, the Corsair, which was new for 2020, replaced the MKC. With the recent and not entirely unsurprising retirements of the Continental and MKZ sedans for 2021, the Corsair assumes the entry-point position for the brand.

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2021 Kia Seltos
October 26, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

The vehicle squeezes between the smaller Soul (four inches shorter) and the larger and more mainstream Sportage (about seven inches longer).
Although it shares the Hyundai Kona platform (Kia is a division of Hyundai), the two models go their own ways in terms of styling. The rugged-looking Seltos has considerably more carrying capacity, too, whether the rear seat is upright or folded flat. The Seltos also shows more than a hint of commonality with the full-size Kia Telluride, including the “tiger nose” grille that fronts the rounded front bumper and hood.

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FIRST LOOK: 2021 Nissan Rogue
September 28, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

The automotive industry has always been highly competitive and this is readily apparent in the midsize-utility-vehicle (crossover) category where the Rogue is Nissan’s rock.
The 2021 model, which not surprisingly is the automaker’s best-selling model, is chock-full of styling and performance upgrades to maintain pace with the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape, to name a few.

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2021 Acura TLX
August 31, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

Like we said, all eyes are on the new TLX. The new sport sedan resembles the outgoing model, yes, but a closer look reveals a more aggressive front end. What makes a huge difference is the car’s enlarged dimensions, including a nearly three-inch gain in length, a width increase of just over two inches and a not-insignificant 3.7-inch stretch in distance between the front and rear wheels.

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2020 Porsche Taycan
August 3, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

Nearly every automaker seems bent on chasing Tesla and that includes Porsche, which recently introduced the electric Taycan. It joins a burgeoning battery-electric movement that began in earnest with the launch of the Tesla Model S in 2012. There are now a number of entries, from modest compacts to larger sedans and utility models (crossover). In about a year, there will be pickups and perhaps a sports car or two as well.
The Taycan (pronounced tie-con) EV looks like a real Porsche and from either end resembles the 911 sports car.

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FIRST LOOK: 2021 Ford Bronco Sport
July 6, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

With great fanfare reminiscent of the 1964 Mustang launch, Ford recently introduced not one, but two distinct vehicles from a revived Bronco brand.
The midsize two- and four-door Bronco arrive in early 2021, but the smaller Bronco Sport is arriving soon, before the end of 2020. The major differences between the two models are substantial; so much so that it’s surprising Ford is using the Bronco name for both, unless the plan is to create a whole line of Bronco vehicles, similar to what the Jeep brand does.

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2020 Jeep Gladiator
June 1, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

Viewed head-on, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator looks like any other Jeep Wrangler, with a traditional slotted vertical grille, round headlights and a stout bumper. Behind the second-row seat is a five-foot-long box that’s capable of transporting up to 1,600 pounds of ATV, dirt bikes, camping gear and/or just about anything else you can imagine. Trailering capacity with the proper tow package tops out at 7,650 pounds.

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2020 Honda Insight
May 4, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

The current Insight has given Honda a measure of redemption. It also provides a triple threat in the gasoline-electric category, alongside the Accord Hybrid and Clarity plug-in.
The Insight could easily have been called the Civic Hybrid since only minor adjustments were made to that model’s body structure, sheetmetal and grille/LED headlight combination. The Insight’s interior is more upscale that the Civic’s, with transmission-control switches on the center console replacing the traditional gearshift handle.

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2019 Chevrolet Blazer
April 6, 2020

Overview

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Story Intro

The Mexico-built Blazer’s shape is highlighted by a blunted nose, dominant grille and an agglomeration of creases and curves that extend along the sides, gracefully folding into the liftgate.
Clearly, any connection between this Blazer and any Blazers of old extends no further than the name, and that includes the chassis. While the original’s body-on-frame construction was based on that of Chevy’s full-size pickups, the new Blazer’s unitized platform is from the Cadillac XT5 and GMC Acadia.