MotorMouths

If the Verano’s value, comfort and especially its seats deserve an ode, the car’s styling deserves a eulogy. This is where the car fails. This exterior design takes precisely zero chances and reinforces the notion that a Buick is only for people who buy Ensure by the pallet.

Tthe Passat could be poised to grab a solid slice of America’s midsize-car pie. While dull to look at and a bit lazy on the road, the car is comfortable, well-made and competitively priced.

From the outside, the 2010 Subaru Outback looks as if your run-of-the-mill station wagon. But climb inside and voila! Suddenly you’re in an SUV, with the same field of vision and command of the road.

For denizens of Big Bear’s slopes or voyagers on Malibu’s Backbone trail, this 2012 Impreza hits all the marks. Although it’s a little noisy at times, the car as a whole is as functional, well-built and economical as it’s ever been.

Ford’s SVT did a fine job channeling its dark side when creating the Raptor. The company has created a niche in the pickup truck market, and it should have no trouble dominating it.

The goal of the Touareg Hybrid is to give buyers V-8 power with V-6 fuel economy. If you’re comfortable spending $61,000 on an SUV that says VW on the outside but implies Audi on the inside, the Touareg Hybrid is easy to live with.

While the 2011 Chrysler 300 doesn’t have the braggadocio of its predecessor, frankly it’s better off without it. In its place is a more refined, more able-bodied competitor for the full-size segment it already has on the ropes.

The XTS is a good-looking, overly ambitious and often ineffectual entity.

The GS 350 is best judged from the driver’s seat, or anywhere else in the excellent cabin. Yet step outside and view the car, and that coherence dissolves. Passion involves focus and risk, both of which the GS needs more of.

The 2012 Hyundai Accent takes all the metrics that the auto-buying denizens of the world actually need and rolls them into one not-so-giant ball of pragmatism.

The 2012 CR-V has a degree of styling and refinement that just didn’t exist in the three previous generations. It also rides and handles with confidence born out of recent engineering and development.

There is much to laud about the 2012 Audi A6. It does nearly everything well, better than most of its peers, and does it in a more quiet and humble manner than its attention-grabbing kin.