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Lessons In Design: 2012 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque
We wanted to see how residential designers would look at a good example of automotive design. We were also curious to compare that reaction to our car journalist’s view and the view of consumers on the street. We chose the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque as our subject car because it is relatively new and we wanted a fresh evaluation. We also chose the Evoque because it is an attempt to create something of a new segment: the stylish, high-end, urban active lifestyle vehicle. Any time designers work in a new or nearly new segment, the design problem gets more complex because trial and error hasn’t vetted many ideas, some of which inevitably prove unsatisfactory. We drove the Evoque extensively around LA, through Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Venice and, of course, on the 405, the 105, the 5, the 10, the 101 and the PCH.
Driven: 2012 Mazda3 Skyactiv
You can still buy a Mazda3 i with the same old “MZR” 2.0-liter inline-four available in last year’s model, at the low price of $15,200. That motor will net you 148 horsepower, 135 pound-feet of torque, and 33 miles per gallon on the highway. You’ll also have to settle for an older transmission, be it a manual or automatic, five-speed either way. If you have the extra $3250 to spare, though, you’ll definitely want to opt for the new Skyactiv model. If you’re just playing the numbers game, you’ll like that it offers more power (155 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque), as well as improved fuel economy (27/39 mpg with the manual transmission). From our experience, though, the numbers are never enough basis to make those kinds of decisions, especially when we’re going to want to be able to have some fun with the car. As always, we need to actually pilot the vehicle to get a true sense of its merits as a driver’s car.
2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4: What Is A Lamborghini?
The best automotive brands have established some distinctive idea of what they are in the head of the typical enthusiast. This idea, or more likely set of ideas, gets built up, often over decades, through reading about, seeing and discussing the brand. For many enthusiasts, actually driving the cars is small part of what forms that brand image. After all, how many people have driven a McLaren or a Bugatti or, as is our case in point, a Lamborghini? Even among more common performance cars, many enthusiasts have no direct experience with a Viper or a 911 GT3 or even an M5. The result, we’ve noticed over time, is that many enthusiasts hold an idea of brands and models that don’t have much connection with the reality of what is rolling off the assembly line
Driven: 2012 Ford Focus
For what seems like forever, we’ve been hearing the gripes (many originating in our own offices) about how Europe always gets the good stuff. For instance, they get all the small cars with diesel engines and hatchbacks that we don’t see but would love to drive, and maybe even own. It seems that times are a-changin’, thankfully, with the likes of the Chrysler-Fiat connection and Ford’s revised global strategy. The newest no-longer-forbidden fruit is the 2012 Ford Focus, which we were eager to sample when invited to drive it in sunny Los Angeles this winter.
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