By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(July 10, 2015) Is the Audi A3 sedan the real Car of the Year? I ask this question for the simple reason that you have to have unmitigated gall to charge this much ($34,95 base and $43,295 as-tested, both prices with destination added in) for a vehicle that is heavily based on the VW Golf, has such a small rear seat for something purporting to be a four-door sedan, and  can’t even put a stitch, button or plastic slide to prevent the seatbelt tang from sliding down when the belt is retracted. And yet…

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(July 5, 2015) After years of false starts, promises and delays, Alfa Romeo finally introduced its new small sedan to the world. Known internally as the 159, the menacingly aggressive red sedan rolled onto the stage at the Alfa Romeo Museum on the 105th anniversary of the founding of A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili) as Andrea Bocelli sang an aria from Turandot.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(June 29, 2015) Are there many, if any, differences between the Expedition King Ranch tested earlier this year and the new Lincoln Navigator? Except for the front and rear clips, various external trim, the interior and a few other parts, these are the same vehicle. The body architecture is the same , the frame is the same, the powertrain is the same, the … Okay, you get the idea.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(June 22, 2015) Lincoln’s Navigator isn’t the only large SUV at the end of its useful life. Audi’s Methuselah-like Q7 shares its underpinnings with the VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne, and has been around since the 2006 model year (2007 in North America). There have been a steady stream of updates over its 10-year life, and a major facelift in 2009. However, the current Q7, which is soon to be replaced by the second generation, is showing its age.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(June 14, 2015) December is not the time of year that you want to have a Lexus RC 350 F Sport for review, yet here I was driving a Molten Pearl (orange to you and me) version from the suburbs of Detroit to downtown and back again in weather that couldn’t decide just how much snow it was going to unleash to go with the bone-chilling cold. Standing out like a safety vest against the accumulating snow and gathering dark, the RC 350 F Sport and its summer tires were as out of place in these conditions as blue jeans and a t-shirt at a commencement address.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(June 8, 2015) It’s not often that you can move from dreaming about building a new sports car to actually doing it, but this may be one of those times. MMI, a privately owned U.K. automotive company founded and run by retired industrialist Martin Miles, bought the Strathcarron sport car project after that company failed more than a decade ago. His company oversaw the redesign and reengineering necessary to bring the car to a production-ready state.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(May 31, 2015) Earlier this month, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) introduced the Aegea Project, a compact sedan designed in Italy and built in Turkey on Fiat’s small wide platform; the same platform underpinning the Jeep Renegade, Fiat 500X and 500L. The sedan, which will be named later this summer, will be followed by a hatchback and wagon, and compete against low-priced vehicles in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(May 24, 2015) Most Detroiters, and many visitors to the area, have been past the giant Uniroyal tire on I-94 when going to, or coming from, Metropolitan Airport. Originally created for the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair, the 80-foot high, 12-ton tire originally had capsule-shaped gondolas rotating around its circumference at the center of its “tread.”

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(May 16, 2015) Unlike the original, the new GT350 is not an afterthought created to give Ford’s new Pony Car the street cred to go with its looks. It was part of the 2015 Mustang program from its inception, which gave engineers the opportunity to build in those items that would make this transition easier, rather than add them on at great expense later.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(May 12, 2015) About this time last year, we did a story on how small pickups are an idea that just won’t die. Here’s more proof that there may be a market just waiting to be exploited. Twenty-three trainees from the Skoda Vocational School sat down to build a vehicle for the 34th annual GTI meeting in Wörthersee, Germany, as part of the school’s second annual “trainee car” project. Starting with a Skoda Fabia, which is a mixture of VW’s 5th generation Polo and MQB structures, the students built a small pickup from the bones of the Fabia five-door wagon.