By Christopher A Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(November 5, 2016) As VW did with the current generation Jetta when it introduced the GLI model, the Hyundai Sport jettisons the standard car’s inexpensive torsion beam rear suspension for a more expensive and capable multi-link independent design. While they were at it, Hyundai engineers also increased the spring and damper rates, added a rear anti-roll bar, and increased the size of the front bar by 2 mm to 24 mm.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

The 340i sedan BMW dropped off cost an eye-watering $58,420 (it had $11,625 in options), but I almost didn’t care. This is a quick, competent, comfortable sport sedan you can use everyday that is blessed with a clutch that is the textbook definition of how this device should feel and operate.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(October 23, 2016) This is the seventh generation 5 Series. It is 137 pounds lighter than the car it replaces, thanks to the use of magnesium, aluminum and high-strength steel, and you can add active steering to all-wheel drive versions for the first time. And then there’s the tech. So much tech that you begin to wonder if, at first glance, the makers of the ultimate mid-size sport sedan hasn’t lost the plot.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(October 17, 2016) Chevy’s Colorado ZH2 is more than 6.5 feet tall and seven feet wide, rides on 37-in. offload tires, has a stretched chassis, and has been reinforced for severe duty. It is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, and has an Exportable Power Take-Off (EPTO) that lets soldiers use the fuel cell to power electrical items away from the vehicle.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(October 16, 2016) If you are Volkswagen, and have been caught deliberately cheating on diesel emission test globally, you’d better quickly do something to atone for your sins agains the environment. So, just in time for the Paris Motor Show, VW announced the concept version of the I.D. (The production model will launch in 2020.) And while the company didn’t say what the initials stand for, it said all future VW drivers will be given their own individual profile or identity that will bring personalized settings (seats, climate control, radio stations and songs, ambient lighting, navigation settings, contact details, etc.) into the car by using their smartphone.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(October 10, 2016) Mercedes calls it the “Generation EQ,” an electric crossover concept with two electric motors, permanent all-wheel drive, and a modular chassis and battery pack that is scalable across all of Mercedes’ coming EVs, compact to luxury. System output can reach 400 horsepower and range 310 miles, but Mercedes also is hoping to sell customers everything from electric vehicles to wall box charging units to home energy storage units to charging services as they increase their “Electric Quotient.”

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(October 7, 2016) “The technology definitely has potential, but it’s driven by national or state-level policies fashioned or targeted at making the supply of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) essential to an automaker’s bottom line, as well as the user’s bottom line.” That, in a nutshell, is what is driving the adoption of BEVs, says Scott Shepard, senior research analyst, energy, at Navigant Research.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(September 19, 2016) Lexus says its UX Concept is aimed at, “a progressive, urban audience living in a connected environment.” But move beyond the buzzwords, the oversized wheels, tires and fenders, and you have a pretty good idea of what the production Lexus UX will look like when it debuts in 2017.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(September 14, 2016) The A5 Coupe now has a brother, the A5 Sportback. Like the A7, the A5 Sportback follows the current trend for low-roofed, sleek four-door coupes with one difference. It has a hatch instead of a trunk lid. If you’re from a country other than the United States, you already know that.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(September 4, 2016) At the age of 89, Cindy’s mom has finally agreed that it’s time to stop living alone in the house she and her husband bought in the early 1950s, and to move in with her kids.Which has meant a lot of work getting the house ready for sale. A good portion of that has been taking things that didn’t sell at the garage sale to the local Salvation Army store, but even some of that was so old and wildly out of style that it ended up in the dump.