By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(January 2, 2017) The letters stand for “Coupe-High Rider,” but the crossover vehicle itself was supposed to launch as a Scion. Only that brand was euthanized not long after Toyota added the iA and iM to the lineup, and everything that remained was rebadged a Toyota. The C-HR its built on the modular Toyota New Global Architecture platform first used on the new Prius.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(December 24, 2016) When Ford launched the Fiesta back in 1976, it was late to the small car party, but claimed that its entry would follow the old adage, “Last out, best dressed.” At the L.A. Auto Show in Ncvember the company showed its entry into the micro-crossover segment, the EcoSport; a vehicle that has been on sale in South and Central America since 2003, and is now in its second generation.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(December 12, 2016) One of the problems with the vehicles that run in the Dakar Rally is that they resemble their production counterparts, but have little in common with them. Which shouldn’t be a total surprise for a rally that retains the Dakar name, but is now run through Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina instead of on the African continent.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(December 5, 2016) The last time I was behind the wheel of a Mazda CX-9 was 2013. It was the first generation of the automaker’s biggest SUV, and it was on its second facelift. However, unlike a nipped and tucked Hollywood starlet past her prime, the CX-9 still beguiled. Though it shared its platform with the Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX and, by default, Ford Fusion, the Mazda was more than the sum of its parts.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(December 3, 2016) Ford’s introduction of the 2018 Fiesta at a press event in Europe this week felt a bit like a Volkswagen event. It was filled with new cars that looked like smoothed and updated versions of the outgoing models. How the new model lineup will translate to the cars we see in the U.S. is unknown, though it’s unlikely that Ford will sell the top of the line Vignale, or even the Active model with its SUV-like body kit overtones, here.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(November 28, 2016) Alfa Romeo’s new Stelvio is a high-performance crossover focused more on-road performance than off-road capability; kicking to the curb the notion that vehicles like this are something more than easy entry, high-riding station wagons.

By Christopher Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(November 23, 2016) The 2018 Audi Q5 is built on the latest iteration of Audi’s MLB modular platform in a new plant in San Jose Chiapa in the Mexican federal state of Puebla. It is the only plant designated to build the Q5, and has a yearly capacity of 150,000 vehicles.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(November 13, 2016) Volkswagen's MQB structure is gaining steam, underpinning not only the Golf, but he Euro-spec Passat and Tiguan as well. The next Jetta, which has just been shown to VW dealers and is drawing good reviews, will come in 2017 as a 2018 model, but the big news — and we do mean big — for the MQB is the recently introduced VW Atlas SUV.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(November 7, 2016) There’s an easy way to tell that the Mini brand is owned by a German automaker, the insane model names. Take, for example, the 2017 plug-in hybrid Mini Cooper Countryman. Instead of calling it the Countryman hybrid, or even the Countryman PHEV (for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), the folks at Mini decided to call its first hybrid model the Mini Cooper S E Countryman ALL4. As in Mini Cooper S E(lectric) Countryman ALL4. That’s a mouthful to spit out when you’re trying to impress your friends.