Durango GT gives Dodge alternative to Jeep
Filed under: Weekly test drives, Autos
Dodge Durango GT for 2017 is a rugged but luxurious way to take on winter.
By John Gilbert
Jeeps continue to be a dominant force for FCA (Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles), and seem to expand to fill every niche while becoming just about all things to any customer. But if it’s all-wheel drive that makes Jeeps so popular, there are FCA offerings from Dodge to supplement the choices for all-wheel-drive customers.
Logical alternatives range from prominent to obscure. Most prominent among Dodge’s “other” stable is the Durango, which has been streamlined from a larger and bulkier SUV to a sleeker shape with a much-improved interior.
The Durango test vehicle came to me as a Durango GT AWD, an attractive and a little bit sinister when painted Granite Metallic, with a fair amount of black trim. The fact that it came with Chrysler’s redoubtable 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 24-valve engine and an 8-speed automatic with full-time all-wheel drive made me think it was pretty much a Grand Cherokee living in a parallel world in Dodge clothing.
Sleek as it is, the Durango has ample storage in the versatile interior.
At $40,000 base price the test Durango tallied $48,765, reflecting the full-boat options of GT trim. In Northern Minnesota January, it was a solid performer for traction and power.
The other Dodge vehicle that can get you through a Northern winter on a lighter and less-expensive scale is the Dodge Journey, which does a surprisingly good job of portraying a combination SUV and minivan, in Crossroad livery.
Journeys have a chance at much better fuel economy with the 2.4-liter 4-cylinder. but also can be bought with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and 6-speed automatic transmission. While the Journey can come in front-wheel or all-wheel drive, it has a much more limited tow capacity (1,000-2,500 depending on engine), which is also understandable.
The Journey doesn’t have the Durango’s stylish flair, but it also costs less — $29,595 in base form for the Journey Crossroad Plus AWD, and $34,360 well-equipped. Read more
Cute Fiat 500x handles ‘Minnesota Riviera’
Filed under: Weekly test drives, Autos, Uncategorized
Cute and capable Fiat 500x proved capable of dealing with Minnesota’s snow and cold.
By John Gilbert
If you want to escape from the rigors of Northern U.S. wintertime, what better destination than sunny Italy? It doesn’t seem as logical to go from Italy to Northern Minnesota’s ice-locked clime in January, but that’s what my little red Fiat 500x did for a week.
I knew it was not overmatched, when we got hit with a Duluth-quality blizzard of 6-8 inches of snow, followed by a bone-chilling 20-below-zero frigid spell. My wife, Joan, delivered a bowl of hot oatmeal in the dawn’s early light, and as I finished a follow-up cup of coffee, I stood up, pulled out the Fiat 500x key fob and aimed it out the kitchen window. Push the button twice, watch the lights blink, and notice the exhaust vapor streaming out of the tailpipes. Autostart. What a wonderful invention.
When it was time to leave, I bundled myself into my favorite down parka and headed out, climbing into an already soothingly warm vehicle. With all-wheel drive in the 500x, all was well. Well, almost. The only failure of the Fiat 500x is the inclusion of Nexen tires, which I’m sure are very smooth, round Korean-made tires for nearly every road surface. “Nearly every” does not include Duluth, Minnesota, avenues in wintertime.
The Fiat 500x tried to hide under a blanket of snow, but its Italian red showed through.
Switching the 500x to all-wheel drive didn’t help much, because the Nexens wanted to slither around dangerously anytime you applied throttle. I found, in fact, that leaving the 500x in front-wheel drive worked almost better, because you only had the front tires spinning and slithering instead of all four seeking their own direction.
We have a joint venture here, with an American company contributing a lot to the mix, an Italian company putting it all together, and a Korean company supplying the basic 2.4-liter engine design, and those Nexen tires.
If the 500x had some highly competent all-season or winter tires — my choice continues to be Nokian — the car would have been the greatest winter “sleeper” car on the planet. As it was, an AWD crossover shouldn’t require white-knuckling inside your gloves. Read more
Auto Show season 2017 stirs up new Buzz
Filed under: Equinox, Features, Autos
Nobody says it’s a new Microbus, but VW’s concept I.D. Buzz has the shape, with electric power and autonomous drive.
By John Gilbert
DETROIT, MI. — Self-driving vehicles, continued electrification of our global driving future, and an endless stream of sport-utility vehicles of all shapes and sizes are the indelible story of the 2017 North American International Auto Show, which consumed early January, 2017.
High-performcance and luxury vehicles were present also, of course, but nearly all manufacturers were either proclaiming or hinting about electric or autonomous (self-driving) cars.
Those of us who love to drive, to push a car to its limits with skill and dexterity — both yours and your car’s — may recoil at the thought of computer gremlins taking over the operation of our future cars, but that’s where we’re headed and everybody wants to be leading the pack.
For that reason, a highlight of the Detroit show for me was the showing of the I.D. Buzz. Strange name indeed, but it’s just the nickname of a Volkswagen concept vehicle that could well be the long-awaited emergence of the modernized Microbus, that hippie-happy minivan of the 1960s.
The Buzz is an eye-catcher, to be sure, and it’s obviously a concept vehicle because it’s hard to imagine it coming to life in production. But it ties together all of the ingredients for success on the auto show circuit of 2017 — an inventive and retro-flair people-hauler with an interior that could pass as a high-tech den, plus all-electric power with a range of 270 miles on a charge, and autonomous operation.
Microbus-like silhouette drew constant attention to VW concept at Detroit.
I.D.Buzz dashboard misses something…a steering wheel!
Bench seat and stylish wood floor makes the Buzz interior pleasant.
La Crosse moves upscale in features, price
Filed under: Weekly test drives, Autos
New flowing lines encompass the many features of the 2017 Buick La Crosse.
By John Gilbert
It seems as though Buick has never found a niche it didn’t like in the automobile world.
In decades past, Buick and Oldsmobile were the two mid-luxury General Motors brands, wedged somewhere between Chevrolet and Pontiac below, and Cadillac above, and about even with Oldsmobile. Times have changed, obviously. Pontiac and Oldsmobile are gone, and Buick survives by becoming GM’s utility player. Cadillac continues to build luxury-leaning cars, and Chevrolet tries to be everyman’s car-maker, so Buick comes up with different ideas.
The Enclave SUV is one example, and the rejuvenated Regal sporty sedan is another. In a couple of recent trends, luxury buyers are returning to the show rooms, and the other is the trend toward more SUVs keeps expanding.
Buick, therefore, makes a a 2017 La Crosse that is much like those big, road-cruising sedans from years ago. The new La Crosse, is built for contemporary times, with a modern look and sleek, luxurious lines. At the same time, the Enclave is an impressive sales-leading SUV, and the compact Encore is a worthy smaller version. Does that leave a niche in between? Just in case you can envision such a niche, Buick comes out with yet another crossover SUV — the Envision.
Gracefully styled rear sets the La Crosse apart as Buick’s newest sedan.
The La Crosse is all new for 2017, and starts out as a front-engine, front-wheel-drive sedan. The new La Crosse I got for a week-long test drive came equipped with all-wheel drive, and, by the way, auto-start — two welcome features in the Great White North of Minnesota, especially when negotiating the snowy regions of Lake Supesrior’s North Shore and the icy hillsides of Duluth.
To do that, of course, you have to get started, and being able to click the key fob from the warmth of the kitchen and start the La Crosse remotely allows it to warm up just right before you venture outside into hypothermiaville. Read more
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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