Why would you buy a car when you can buy a van? One of Fords best-selling models in the US is a Mercedes Vito van, after all. They are roomier and are handy when you want to go to the tip. Why would you buy a car when you can buy a van? One of Fords best-selling models in the US is a Mercedes Vito van, after all. They are roomier and are handy when you want to go to the tip. But they are slow, noisy and guzzle fuel, you reply. I used to think the same thing, but vans have come a long way since the rattle-filled rust-buckets of yester year. Take the Mercedes-Benz Vito van as a case in point. It is by no means slow, (especially if you opt for the 3-litre diesel – or even the three litre petrol version). As for noisy, Mercedes-Benz has had their best teams on what the manufacturers cal noise, harshness and vibration. Dashboard gear changes, bulkheads and plenty of soundproofing all mean that todays Vito van is more like todays cars. I have focused on the Mercedes Vito, but most vans today are built in this way – other vans that stand out as good replacements for cars is the Transporter range from Volkswagen. The VW Transporter in the Sportline guise or as a Traveliner with leather seats and satnav gives you all the goodies, plenty of comfort and best of all LOADS OF SPACE! You can get a family of seven plus a load of luggage and even the family dog in there – try doing that in an S-class Merc!
Serving as the basis for well-liked luxury crossovers like the 2010 Porsche Cayenne and 2010 Audi Q7, the 2010 Volkswagen Touareg is a cheaper alternative to its more upscale corporate cousins. It gets very good safety scores, and test drivers admired its well-made interior and firm, but comfortable, handling. It offers better off-road performance than many other crossovers, and its available six-cylinder diesel engine gets good fuel economy. In general, there are many reasons to like the five-seat Volkswagen Touareg. However, there are enough strikes against it that shoppers might want to consider other options. For 2010, its V8 engine was discontinued and test drivers were disappointed in the sluggish power coming from the remaining gas-powered V6 engine. The Touareg doesn’t have quite as much cargo space as many of its rivals. Overall, reviewers agreed that the 2010 Volkswagen Touareg is a good luxury SUV, but others in the class are simply better. The 2010 Lincoln MKX offers seating for five like the Touareg, and its fuel economy in front-wheel drive models is the same as the Touareg diesel’s. The Lincoln MKX also comes standard with more features than the Touareg. The 2010 Lexus RX is a great pick due to its stellar fuel economy and good safety scores. Reviewers loved the RX’s well-made interior and easy-to-use infotainment controls, and said that its ride was especially smooth and comfortable. Plus, it’s available as a hybrid model that gets even better gas mileage. The RX isn’t exactly sporty, but test drivers agreed that it’s one of the best luxury crossovers you can buy.
I’ll be among the first to suggest that four-cylinder power is usually sufficient for almost any small- to mid-sized vehicle, even in the luxury category. BMW’s Mini is mighty zippy with its 1.6-litre four, and the VW/Audi group’s turbocharged four-cylinder is one of the best in the business, in my opinion. Over at the Acura camp, the compact TSX has been all about the four-pot motor since its introduction in 2004, but that changed this year with the addition of Honda’s 3.5-litre V6 to the model’s option sheet. The TSX’s new V6 is the same one used in a variety of other Honda and Acura products including, most notably, the (barely) larger TL sedan. So, while a smaller car might normally be expected to outperform a larger car using the same motor, that advantage is nonexistent here. This is among my favourite six-cylinder engines, though: it moves the little TSX with ease and is very nice to listen to while it’s at work. Differences in this car’s driving experience versus the TL are rooted in each car’s origins.
The TL is based on the North American Accord, while the TSX is a near-copy of the smaller Accord sold in Europe, and I like this Euro-sourced platform better. It feels more playful, more willing to be tossed around than its bigger sibling and, thanks particularly to a 2009 styling refresh, I think it looks better than the TL. Tossing a car around assumes some sort of playfulness on the driver’s part, too, and many a frisky driver will no doubt be turned off by the lack of a manual transmission option with the six-cylinder engine. That quirk aside, the TSX’s five-speed auto used here is a good one, and is well-matched to the engine. It shifts unobtrusively in stop-and-go commuting, but will also bang off smart, quick gear changes at full throttle and always seems to shift - both up and down - just when you expect and/or need it to. Another thing you’ll find in many of the TSX’s competitors - cars like the aforementioned 3 Series, the Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class - is all-wheel drive. Acura’s own SH-AWD setup is very good, but it isn’t available on a sedan below the TL, which itself only got it as an option last year. So, there’s another knock against the TSX V6: its front-drive arrangement has a touch of torque-steer in response to gratuitous use of the loud pedal. There are also the inherent traction and performance limitations of a high-powered front-driver: the need for traction control intervention in full-throttle starts, and the tendency for the car to understeer when accelerating through a turn. The lack of an AWD option might be driven by a platform that wasn’t designed to accommodate it, but regardless, it will cause some shoppers to pan the TSX.
