By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

The driver’s seat in the 2008 Saab 9-3 is a wonderful place to spend time. It’s as comfortable as your favorite recliner, and the cockpit’s design is friendly, attractive and contemporary.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

When Porsche announced around the turn of the century that it was going to jump on the SUV bandwagon and build a sport utility vehicle a collective groan could be heard from the automotive press and Porsche lovers all over the planet. (Please, somebody fetch cold compresses. Headaches are imminent).

The sports car company of the world was going to prostrate itself on the alter of SUV-dom. Truth is they just didn’t want the space next to the 911 to be anything but a Porsche.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Pontiac is struggling. Total sales in 2006 fell to just over 400,000 dropping from 444,000 in 2005. The free-fall continued in 2007 with 12-month sales struggling to hit 350,000.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Here’s some good news for Chevrolet Camaro fans.

The all-new Camaro, expected to start reaching showrooms this fall as a 2009 model is based on General Motors’ global Zeta platform. It will have the same underpinnings as found in the all-new Australian-based Holden division produced Pontiac G8 sedan that entered the market this spring as a 2008 model.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

We think Nissan has aimed the 2008 Sentra SE-R in the wrong direction, namely at the wrong audience. And we think many of our automotive writer colleagues have as well.

The higher-horsepower version of the standard bread-and-butter compact Sentra sedan has been compared more or less head-to-head with the Mazdaspeed3, the Volkswagen GTI, the Honda Civic Si, the Subaru WRX and the Chevrolet Cobalt SS.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

With the much publicized launch of the full-sized Toyota Tundra pickup last year, the complete makeover of the Chevrolet Silverado two years ago and the upcoming fall introduction of an all-new Ford F-150 and a completely revitalized Dodge Ram, we thought perhaps it was time to revisit the full-sized Nissan Titan.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

If the previous standard-issue Mitsubishi Lancer is completely off your automotive radar there’s a good reason. It was a very average car that was offered in a plain vanilla wrapping.

With so many good compacts in stores over the last few years including the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 and Ford Focus, it’s no wonder you may be scratching your head trying to figure out just what the eighth-generation Lancer was all about. It was easy to miss and dismiss.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Like thousands of Americans, the wife fell in love with the tiny Mini Cooper the first time it arrived for a test drive several years ago. She was enamored of its quirky exterior appearance that mimicked the famous English city car and adored the interior with its dinner plate speedometer smack-dab in the middle of the dashboard and the form-over-function toggle switches for windows and lights.