X5
Driven: 2014 Acura MDX
Acura’s incremental improvements in the MDX formula have delivered a third-generation vehicle that should appeal to past and present customers. We may not appreciate its stoic and uncommunicative nature, but its blend of efficiency, technology, and outright comfort make it a worthwhile offering in a segment that will likely only get bigger and more competitive.
Preview: BMW X5
BMW has unveiled the all-new, third-generation X5, which combines weight reductions and improved aerodynamics with the typically excellent powertrains BMW is known for.
Shanghai 2013: BMW Concept X4
Remember being an awkward adolescent? Not quite a kid anymore, but not quite a full-sized adult, it was an uncomfortable period where our legs were long enough to trip on, and our voices cracked. That’s what the BMW Concept X4 reminds us of. If it enters production (almost a certainty), it’ll be the teenager of the BMW range, occupying a strange middle ground that no one wants to experience again.
Update: 2013 Porsche Cayenne Diesel
But this, a Porsche SUV with a diesel engine, this, is the last straw. This is the vehicle that will make the over-wealthy lawyers and doctors of the world pay their underlings to storm Zuffenhausen, with the express purpose of burning it, and Stuttgart as a whole, to the ground.
Driven: 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL350 Bluetec
By our reckoning, the GL350 with Mercedes-Benz’s excellent 3.0-liter, turbodiesel V-6 is the pick of the litter. Yes, there’s much to be said for the GL’s excellent V-8 options. Both the GL450 and GL550 are powered by biturbocharged V-8s, with the 450 packing 362 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque and the GL550 offering up 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. We’d also need to give a shout out to the bonkers (and completely unnecessary) GL63 AMG and its 550 ponies.
Driven: 2011 BMW X5
For those wanting sporty vehicles with utility, BMW offers traditional wagons, a comprehensive range of X-type SUVs, and now the 5-Series GT crossover. So many choices likely meant many demands for BMW’s internal engineering teams. While an assumption on our part, it’s not a stretch to surmise that when time came for the current X5 to get a refresh, only the essentials were taken care of and not much else.
Third Look: Changing Minds with the BMW X5 xDrive35d
Although we have covered the 2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d previously, the Robert Bosch Group saw fit to loan us one of its models to test. As the Bosch vehicle was decked out in an un-missable, pedestrian-amusing, stars and stripes motif, we thought that this particular X5d would be the perfect vehicle for gauging public opinion about diesel in and around Metro Detroit.
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