I’m old enough to remember when Mercedes used the tagline “engineered like no other car in the world,” and no one questioned it. When the 1986 W124 E-Class was introduced, Car & Driver proclaimed it “the best car in the world.” In the quarter-century since, Mercedes’ position in the automotive pecking order has become less certain. Lexus came out of nowhere, and BMW has managed to successfully expand upward from the 3-Series and to become a provider of luxury as well as sport. For 2010 Mercedes has totally redesigned the E-Class. Any chance it’s 1986 all over again?
The styling of the 1986 W124 E-Class was timeless. Noting that the marque’s traditional virtues were no longer bringing in the buyers, Mercedes grafted four oval headlights onto the mid-1990s W210 E-Class to communicate “we’re not stodgy.” That ploy worked for a couple of years, after which many people were wishing the W124 had never been replaced. With the 2003 W211, timeless styling returned, and it hurt. Surrounded by Audiesque grilles and Bangled bodysides, no luxury sedan was easier to lose in a crowd. So, with the 2010 W212 E-Class, Mercedes has again opted for road presence and distinctive styling. Specifically, the new car’s chunkier shape is adorned with a quartet of rectangular headlights and pointless rear fender bulges. The W211 is easily the more beautiful car, but the W212 looks much more like $55,000, even if the design of the hood makes it appear misaligned.
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Mazda’s top-down toy hits 2009 with subtle changes to its face, engine, and suspension, all of which add up to make our perennial 10Bester even more appealing. Most notable, however, are sharper angles up front that mimic both the RX-8, which shares much of its platform with the MX-5 Miata, and the new wide-mouth Mazda 3. Rocker-panel cladding carries the theme to the rear, where you’ll also find new taillights.
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Already the Acura ZDX Concept is a contradiction in terms. It’s being advertised at its New York Auto Show debut as a “4-door luxury crossover coupe”. You can get away with that apparently by hiding the rear door handles in the C-pillar so it really does look like a coupe. It also allows Acura to “define” a new market segment – the coupe-appearing sedan crossover. Oh yes, high ground clearance luxury sedans (or 4-door coupes) are getting the crossover tag.
But enough marketing hooie… the ZDX looks tack sharp whatever you call it.
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Introduction
While the name and a minute number of parts remain the same, the 2009 Honda Pilot is a new vehicle. Every piece of sheetmetal and glass, every mechanical component, and every feature has been gone through yielding a just slightly larger Pilot that put all the space to use inside. And unlike many similar designs it didn’t gain too many pounds.
An eight-passenger Pilot can handle four adults and four kids easily, or four infant seats if you have the earplugs. It has useful cargo space beyond the third-row seats so you needn’t fold one to fit a cooler or week’s worth of groceries. And with six cupholders in the second row alone, eight door cargo pockets and the ability to carry a 4×8-foot sheet of building material flat inside, finding a place for everything isn’t an issue.
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Introduction
For some time, the Camry has been America’s bestselling car, although it lost that crown this summer to two cars, the smaller and more-fuel-efficient Honda Civic and Toyota’s own Corolla. The Camry is a spacious, refined, and easy-to-drive vehicle that is well made and has a solid reputation for reliability. (A few recalls on early versions of this latest generation Camry, launched in 2006 as a 2007 model, took a little luster off the car’s reliable rep, however.)
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