By Frank S. Washington

DETROIT – In our view the most impressive thing about the Land Rover Discovery was under the hood.

Our Discovery R Dynamic S had a 3.0-liter straight six that made 355 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. It was mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters.

This combination got 18 mpg in the city, 24 mpg on the highway and 21 mpg combined. It still had the heft of a Land Rover, but this new edition was sleeker.

Yes, it had the clamshell hood, but there were new LED headlights with daytime running lights with sweeping front and rear turn signals.

At the rear, the New Discovery featured new LED lights, which were joined across the back by a new black panel.

It was an easy and comfortable drive. The front seats had captain’s armrest. Of course, they were heated and cooled. Turning on the Discovery R was like starting up a computer. We had to set or reset it features like those heated seats. That can be a nuisance if you’ve got a lot of errands to run.

There were two moonroofs. One was over the front seats., while the other was over the third row, which all Discoveries have. The second as well as the third-row seats were power or electrified as Land Rover termed it. So was the liftgate.

The redesigned center console housed a 48 percent larger 11.4-inch, full HD touchscreen, which had a fast and intuitive interface.

There was a new-look four-spoke steering wheel with hidden-until-lit switches and metal gearshift paddles with a tactile electronic gear selector.

On the 12.3-inch Interactive Driver Display, the New Discovery provides high-definition 3D mapping, leaving the central touchscreen free to control other applications. The high-resolution digital instruments can be configured to show a pair of conventional dials, full-screen 3D navigation guidance or a combination of the two, allowing drivers to customize the view to suit their preference. Since we knew where we were, we did not need to use it.

Connectivity was provided by a dual-sim technology, with two LTE modems enabling the system to conduct multiple functions at the same time – such as streaming media and downloading Software-Over-The-Air updates.

Land Rover SOTA technology allows owners to update as many as forty-four individual electronic modules, without the inconvenience of visiting a retailer.

Our test vehicle could tow up to 8,300 lbs. Our only problem was we didn’t have the 2021 Land Rover Discovery R Dynamic long enough to tow anything or download any updates.

Still, we were impressed with it and the $73,255 sticker seemed reasonable for what you get.

Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com00

AboutThatCar.com

By Frank S. Washington, NNPA Newswire Contributor

DETROIT – The Land Rover Defender is one a handful of iconic automobiles. It is more than 70 years old and once more it has been redesigned.

Designers transferred Defender style elements to the new vehicle for the 21^st century. That sounds like hype and indeed we did take it straight out of the rather lengthy press kit. But it is true.

We saw a Defender, it had to be more than 20 years old, and our vehicle had some of the same design cues: Alpine light windows in the roof, a side hinged tailgate, flat sides, and an externally mounted spare wheel on the back, even though there was no spare tire, but our test vehicle did have one. And that old slogger had a snorkel for wading through deep water. For the record, our test vehicle could drive through almost three feet of water.

The Defender has kept its geometric form. Its headlamps had LED daytime running lights embedded in the housing. The fenders were sculpted, the wheel arches were squared, and the shoulders were pronounced.

At the rear, the geometric forms of the distinctive high-tech taillights harmonize perfectly with the front-end design. The sheerness of the rear vertically maintains the short overhang for a superior departure angle while maximizing interior space and accentuating the vehicle’s strong shoulder section.

Get this: The Defender is the first Land Rover with an optional factory-fitted Satin Protective Film which delivers enhanced design and durability. The PU-based wrap is applied to external bodywork and gives the standard metallic paint a rich and contemporary satin finish, showing the sophisticated surfacing of the exterior design in the best possible light. This durable wrap meets rigorous standards and has been developed for the highest performance in extreme conditions.

The film can be removed at any time, making it significantly quicker to repair than standard paint finishes. It is available with Indus Silver, Gondwana Stone and Pangea Green paint options, is solvent free and contains no volatile organic compounds. That’s what Land Rover said.

We had the Defender 110 SE, there is a Defender 90 with a little shorter wheelbase on the way. It may be on sale by the time you read this.

Our test vehicle was powered by a 3.0-liter V6 that made 395 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. The engine was mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission with a dual speed transfer box.

It had driving and off-road modes, hill decent controls, an air suspension and 20-inch wheels and that spare tire mounted to the liftgate was not a donut. And the Defender was body on frame construction.

It was an intriguing mix of ruggedness and luxury and performance that worked. The air suspension took all the bounce out of the ride. Although this Defender was tame at low speeds, step on the accelerator with authority and it took off. And the interior was a mix of grained leather and woven textile fibers that looked like suede. Land Rover said this material paid homage to early canvas topped Defenders.

Make no mistake, the Defender looked slick, drove smoothly, rode nicely, and had plenty of oomph but it is one of the most renowned off-road vehicles in the world. It is a 4X4 body on frame sport utility, not crossover.

It had short front and rear overhangs for easy approach and departure angles, it was engineered to withstand extreme temperature, there was configurable terrain response modes, a locking center differential and active rear and locking differentials. It could even flash an image of the undercarriage while wading through water.

A maximum payload of 1,984-lbs, a static roof capacity of up to 661-lbs, a dynamic roof load of 370-lbs, a towing capacity of 8,201-lbs and it could wade through 35.4-inches of water.

Our only beef with the test vehicle was that it didn’t have running boards of some sort. We had to grab hold of something to pull ourselves up into it and stretch our leg down until we touched ground to climb out of it.

But that was a matter of how Land Rover had configured this model. The Defender can be equipped with 170 different accessories. Our test vehicle had a panoramic roof that would open.

When we first got in our Defender, we noticed the digital instrument layout. The grained leather was plush, the woven fabric as we said looked suede and felt like alcantra.

The new Defender had a premium infotainment system with an intuitive interface, featuring over-the-air software updates which could be accessed remotely. There was a 10-inch touchscreen with standard Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™.

Our Defender 110 had seating for five; a third row is available. We had the SE, which was one of five trim levels. Option combinations are almost endless. We had the driver assist package that included adaptive cruise control with stop and go, the cold climate package that included a heated steering wheel and heated washer jets, advanced off-road package that included configurable terrain response and the off-road package that included an electronic differential, off-road tires and a domestic plug.

A tow hitch, 14-way heated and cooled front seats and satellite radio and the glass roof were individual options. As tested the total came to $72,180 including freight charges.

We think it is safe to say that the icon continues.

Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com.

By Frank S. Washington, NNPA Newswire Contributor

DETROIT – We did not get as much seat time in the 2020 Nissan Sentra as we would have liked thanks to the lock-down brought about by the coronavirus.

But we did spend enough time to come away with an opinion about the car – it is big in a good way. We do not mean physical size but the 2020 Nissan Sentra drove big. That is not bad for a compact car and a new chassis did not hurt.

Nissan made what it called extensive upgrades to the Sentra’s platform. The most important was a new independent rear suspension. This opened rear seat room; enough to accommodate a six-footer.

We did not climb in the back seat during our really short time behind the wheel. But we did note the openness of the back seat and we did not need to sit in it to tell that it was spacious and comfortable.

To handle the bigger dimensions of the 2020 Nissan Sentra, the car got more oomph under the hood.

For 2020, the Sentra’s engine was bumped up from a 1.8-liter four cylinder to a 2.0-liter four cylinder. Horsepower increased to 149 which was a 20 percent improvement over the previous model. And more importantly, torque was improved 17 percent to 146 pound-feet.

This engine provided more than enough power for the day in day out routine of driving. We found it responsive and more than powerful enough. About the only thing we did not like was the continuously variable transmission or CVT. But it was not just this one, we do not like them period.

Still, for a CVT the Sentra’s was not bad. The car’s acceleration, a weak point for most CVTs, was enhanced with a D-mode step shift program that simulated shifts, giving the Sentry a more natural acceleration feel without holding a high rpm constant, letting rpms build as speed builds. The D-step logic control helps provide enhanced drivability with a stable, natural and crisp shift feel.

We had to concentrate on the drivetrain to make sure the Sentra had a CVT. That is how well the Xtronic transmission worked. Fuel economy was 29 mpg city, 39 mpg highway and 33 mpg combined for the S and SV grades and 28 mpg city, 37 mpg highway and 32 mpg combined for the SR grade which is the trim line we test drove.

It is hard to believe that the Nissan Sentra has been around for almost 40 years. And over that time, it has evolved. Because of its new platform, the new generation was two inches lower and two inches wider. That gave it a presence that most compact cars in the past just did not have.

The press material said the Sentra’s premium presence of the exterior was highlighted by Nissan’s signature V-motion grille, available thin LED headlamps and floating roof. Designers used sharp creases that blended into the muscular body sides. The rear had a lower roofline and wider shoulders, with wheels flush to the body enhancing the strong stance.

We had the top of the line SR, thus, it had LED lights all round: headlights, rear lights, DRLs and fog lamps. Our test car had a two-tone paint job, rear spoiler, 18-inch alloy wheels and black heated exterior mirrors.

We thought the heated front seats and the heated steering wheel on our test model especially noteworthy. The test vehicle had leatherette seats front and rear. There was a six-way power driver’s seat with a two-way power lumbar support.

There were extra things that you would not expect like automatic dimming mirrors, an around view monitor and a quilt pattern interior with orange stitching.

The 2020 Nissan Sentra SR was a lot of car for what we thought was very reasonable $25,325 as tested.

Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com

By Frank S. Washington, AboutThatCar.com

DETROIT – The Lexus NX 300h is yet another hybrid from the luxury automaker.

This one combines the output of a 2.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine and what Lexus called a small high torque electric motor. Power can shift between the gas engine and the electric motor or they can operate in tandem. Combined they supply 194 horsepower to the NX 300h.

Transferring that power to the pavement is an electrically controlled continuously variable transmission or ECVT. We don’t know if there is any advantage to this type of transmission versus a regular CVT. But it seemed to convey a little more oomph to the pavement under normal conditions.

This combination had an EPA rating of 33 mpg in the city, 30 mpg on the highway and 31 mpg combined. We thought that was a little on the low side. But 30 mpg is the magic number for fuel efficiency and the Lexus NX Hybrid topped it across the board.

As most who are familiar with hybrid systems know, regenerative braking changed the electric motor into a generator that captured the kinetic energy of the wheels when the brakes were applied. Then it was stored in the nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) hybrid battery pack.

In EV drive mode, under certain conditions, the NX 300h can run solely on the electric motor for up to 1 mile at lower speeds (below approximately 25 mph). We tried this by driving around the block, well several blocks. The crossover hybrid stayed in electric mode but when we got to 25 mph, the gasoline engine kicked in just like Lexus said.

Lexus also said a Hybrid System Indicator and fuel consumption indicator, located in a 4.2-inch TFT screen, help coach the driver to operate the vehicle as economically as possible. Never saw it, never looked for it, ergo we never paid any attention.

But we did notice that all the instruments were digital. The speedometer and the power gauge; all the numbers were digital, but they were inside a three-dimensional ring. Thus, they looked analogue. It was a nice illusion.

The all-wheel-drive system (with intelligence) was standard. Instead of transfer gears and a driveshaft to the rear wheels, the system employed a second, independent electric motor to drive the rear wheels when needed to help maintain optimal traction. Since thank goodness winter was not upon us at the time of the test drive, this feature was not needed. And our test vehicle did sport the optional 18-inch wheels.

We climbed into the 2019 Lexus NX 300h and found the interior busy but nicely done. The floating infotainment screen was set back atop the dash; almost like it was on a downward slope. There was a cascaded look. The vents were next, followed by the climate control gauges and temperature setting.

The center-stack dropped down abruptly and there were the audio controls, the gear shifter beneath and the drive mode selector which was a dial. We were intrigued by the CD player; most of them have gone to the automotive obsolete museum. We checked it out and found it provided excellent sounds.

Farther back on the console was the Lexus haptic pad. Lexus called it the remote touch interface (RTI), which uses a touchpad with palm rest in the center of the console. The RTI helps the driver access various functions while staying focused on the road. The front-seat passenger can also easily operate the RTI.

It is a control mouse and can be unnerving for first time users. Inside the center console were 2 USB jacks, a 12V socket and an auxiliary jack grouped closely together.

The slightest slivers of dark wood trim were on the dash and the doors. And the NX Hybrid had a power tilt and telescoping steering wheel. It was heated as well. The rear seats also were power tilting and there was a power liftgate.

The rear seats were firm but bordered on being hard. There was plenty of headroom as well as legroom. They could also flip down in addition to tilting.

There was a 360-degree surround view camera with overhead view. The NX Hybrid had Lexus’ safety package that included lane departure warning and correction and collision warning. It had a navigation system, Enform app suite, rearview camera with cross traffic alert, a moonroof and premium LED daytime running lights.

A smart key with push button start and lock and unlock, power folding outside mirrors, Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa capability were part of the creature comforts. And of course, there were heated and cooled front seats.

The base price of the 2019 Lexus NX 300h was $38,735 Add a lengthy list of options, a $1,025 freight charge and our test vehicle had a sticker of $49,354.

Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com

By Frank S. Washington, AboutThatCar.com, NNPA Newswire Contributor

DETROIT – Even before my week test driving the 2019 Subaru Forester was up my opinion had been reached. It was very satisfying to the point of being a very impressive midsize crossover that delivered on a number of levels.

Under the hood was a 2.5-liter Boxer engine, meaning horizontally opposed four-cylinder that made 182 horsepower and 176-pound feet of torque at 4,400 rpm.

The Forester had an EPA rating of 26 mpg in the city, 33 mpg on the highway and 29 mpg combined.

This new engine provided more than enough oomph in day-to-day driving. I really don’t care for CVTs but this one was not bad. Acceleration was good and it was fairly quiet, for a continuously variable transmission.

The first driving characteristic I noticed about the Forester was its handling. It was Go-Kart precise. Just the slightest turn of the wheel and the midsize crossover went in the direction the wheel was turned. Reaction time to driver input was almost instant.

Styling was new for 2019 too. Subaru said it was more rugged. The exterior had shoulder lines that followed around the pillars to emphasize height and strength. Prominent wheel arches emphasized the standard Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system’s functionality. Subaru is one of the few manufactures that make all-wheel-drive standard.

The front, side and rear under guards were also standard on all models, with color finish according to trim line. New LED headlights were standard on all models. The wheelbase was increased to 105.1 in. from 103.9 in., with the gain benefitting rear seat legroom, which is now 39.4-in., a 1.4-in. increase.

I got into the rear seats and found them comfortable. There was plenty of headspace, hip room and I think three people could sit in the back seat in relative comfort. And because the Forester sits deceptively high, the drive tunnel was not that much of an intrusion into the interior space.

What’s more, the moonroof was larger than most I’ve seen.

Subaru’s signature hexagonal grille incorporated active grille shutters, which optimize aerodynamics to help reduce fuel consumption. Wider rear door openings and a steep C-pillar angle make ingress/egress and installing a child seat easier. All Forester models feature lower body side cladding, which helps protect against mud, rocks and other road debris.

My only complaint was that the frame for the C-pillar glass was light gray while the rest of the interior was black. I could see it out of the corner of my eye, and it was distracting. I thought it was a vehicle in my blind spot at first, and then I thought it was somebody in the street and after I discovered what it was it was still disconcerting.

As Subaru said, there was outstanding outward visibility. Strategically designed pillars and generous glass area ensure an excellent all-around view from inside, and all models feature a standard rear vision camera. But they need to dump that light gray frame for the C pillar window.

Anyway, that was my only gripe. And I believe that is a choice of interior color. The cargo space was upped during the redesign to 76.1 cu. ft. with the rear seats folded. The automatic lift gate width was 51.3 inches. This Subaru Limited trim also had roof rails with integrated tie-down hooks.

I thought the interior was really nice. It was soft black leather with gray stitching. It was particularly nice around the front door panels; so supple that it felt like a thick cloth.

The instruments were black with white numerals reversed out. And the vehicle seems to have had just about every creature comfort: stop/start, automatic lock and unlock, eyesight driver-assist technology, torque vectoring, Bluetooth, a navigation system, heated front seats, power driver’s seat, satellite radio, voice controls, it had dual 2.1 USB jacks in the rear, plus one more in the front and an auxiliary jack and 12V socket.

It had its own Wi-Fi hotspot, lane departure alert and assist, blind spot alert, rear view camera with cross-traffic alert, a navigation system, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, cloud apps, streaming capability, ride modes, and adaptive cruise control. And there was a pod atop the dash that gave you average mpg; mine was 22.9, then mpg in real time, range, interior and exterior temperature, the lock and the climate control reading.

The 2019 Subaru Forester was a great vehicle with great handling, a very good ride, good gas mileage and good interior space with what they called a panoramic sunroof. The sticker I thought was astoundingly low, $33,465.

Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com

By Frank S. Washington, AboutThatCar.com, NNPA Newswire Contributor

GATEWAY, Colo. – Kia may have hit on the right product at the right time with its all-new 2020 Telluride, a midsize but large three-rowed crossover.

We came here to southwestern Colorado to put the Telluride through its paces. We went down Colorado 141 over the Dolores River which cuts through of course the Dolores River Canyon with its 1,200-foot red granite canyon walls. Look beyond and you can see 12,000-foot mountains all round.

Kudos to Kia for picking this place; they could have found a much easier path. C141 is a narrow two-lane twisting affair. We climbed from our base camp, the Gateway Canyons Resort and Spa which was at 5,000 feet up to Telluride (yep, the vehicle is named after the town) which was at more than 9,000 ft.

But I’m ahead of myself. The Telluride is the first SUV designed by Kia in the U.S. specifically for the U.S. market. It was styled in Irvine, California and will be built at Kia’s assembly plant in West Point, Georgia.

It is indeed the company’s new flagship and they wanted it to be bold and boxy; their words not mine. It is the largest Kia ever built and it can seat seven or eight passengers, depending on whether the second row has captain’s seats or a bench seat.

The Telluride had a long broad hood. The design made the tiger grille wider and taller. Dual headlights were stacked; it had inverted “L” taillights with LED stripes. The windshield was upright and the sides were smooth but bulging and that conveyed strength. And there were elongated nameplates on the edge of the hood and on the lip of the liftgate.

This Kia was the real deal. It had skid plates with twin exhaust tips that let you know it can go off-road. Grab handles were integrated into the center console for such occasions. I passed up the off-road course in favor of pushing back to basecamp.

Under the hood was a 3.8-liter direct injection V6 that made 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque at 5,600 rpm. This engine was mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. It is the only engine available and it gets 20 mpg in the city, 26 mpg on the highway and 23 mpg combined for front wheel drive. All-wheel-drive gets 19 mpg in the city, 24 mpg on the highway and 21 mpg combined.

This engine is why I first thought they could have picked a better place for the Telluride’s national launch. Any engine will lose horsepower with altitude, especially if is not getting forced oxygen as in a turbocharger of supercharger. A couple of times the Telluride’s engine worked hard as we climbed a particularly steep stretch of road. But to be fair, on a straightaway with enough distance, and there were not that many, the pedal got pushed to the metal and our Telluride got up to 120 mph before we let up. Power test passed!

And while I’m at it, the Telluride’s handling was spot on. I thought steering was a little loose, but the sport utility went where we pointed it without a lot of deviation. What’s more, for a vehicle that weighed more than two-tons, the suspension prevented a lot of sway and yaw.

The 2020 Telluride had an independent front suspension with MacPherson struts, coil springs and stabilizer bar. In the rear, it had an independent self-leveling multi-link suspension with stabilizer bar. The ride height was automatically calibrated depending on load.

My point is the Telluride was rock solid on the road. There wasn’t any bodyroll that I remember, the nose didn’t rise up under hard acceleration nor did it dip during hard braking. There was a lot of that as we came up on curves sooner than expected.

Its cabin was wide. There was no center stack. Kia was one of the earliest automakers to emphasize horizontal interior layouts. And it really looked good in the Telluride. Plush leather seats were comfortable and the wood and metal trim which looked great and had some grainy texture wasn’t wood or metal. It was a proprietary process that really worked.

The new Telluride comes in four trim lines: LX, S, EX and SX and they all can be equipped with front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. Its chassis was comprised of 59.4 percent high strength steel and that no doubt was one of the reasons for its rock-solid road performance.

There was a choice of four drive modes: smart, eco, sport and comfort which modified the settings for the powertrain, drivetrain and steering. In addition to the four regular drive modes in FWD, Kia said the AWD model owners can opt for snow and AWD lock too. Drive on demand will distribute torque between front and rear wheels depending on driving conditions.

During normal driving in eco and comfort modes the system delivers from 20 to 35 percent of the torque to the rear wheels. In snow, smart and sport the system delivers power evenly to all four wheels. Oh, the Telluride can tow up to 5,000 lbs. too.

Got to report that the navigation system in the first Telluride we tested did not work. These were early production models thus, they were ready for sale. We swapped with an internal who got the system to work by rebooting it. I don’t know what that took but all I can say is that it is not unusual for a computer to need rebooting but it’s not good either. The competition is way too good for even minor glitches; that’s Kia’s challenge with the launch of the Telluride which is currently on sale; don’t get tripped up by the small stuff.

The automaker has stocked the Telluride with a bunch of creature comforts and driver, as well as safety, assists.

Blind spot collision avoidance assist will track lane changes and if it detects a vehicle in the Telluride’s blind spot will apply brakes to the front wheel on the opposite side.

Rear cross traffic collision avoidance will also apply brakes to avoid a collision, lane following assist will keep the Telluride in the center of the lane and safe exit assist, if the system detects an object approaching from the rear, it will override attempts to deactivate the electronic child safety lock until the detected object has passed.

The heads-up display has been made more informative. It will provide turn-by-turn navigation, speed, and smart cruise control and blind spot warnings. But polarized sunglasses will still wash it out.

Driver talk uses a microphone to enhance communications with rear occupants in the second and third row. (Think kids.) Quiet mode can cut audio to the second and third row so audio choices of the front passengers can only be heard in that row. (Think adults.)

The rear occupant alert uses ultrasonic sensors designed to detect child or pet movement in the second or third row after the Tellurides doors have been locked. It can issue audible alerts to the driver.

The list of creature comforts is long. A 10-inch infotainment touch screen, 10-speaker premium audio system, surround sound system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a half dozen USB charging ports, and a Bluetooth system that allows two phones to be connected for audio streaming are included.

The Telluride had downhill brake control and hill start assist, smart cruise control with stop and go ability, lane departure warning and tire pressure monitoring.

There was UVO, Kia’s control system for remote start and door lock pre-conditions the cabin temperature, seats and steering wheel before you get in the car.

If the driver does leave someone in the back seat, the vehicle will alert the driver through a cluster message, then through vehicle alarm and then it will send a message to the owner’s smart phone.

Kia said the 2020 Telluride is the largest SUV in its class at 197 inches long with a 114.2-inch wheelbase. It can be shod with either 18-inch or 20-inch wheels. The sculpted rear fascia camouflaged the skid plates nicely; there was 87 cu. ft. of cargo space with the second and third row seats folded and a low and wide cargo door.

They’ve thought of little things like the heated and cooled second row seats and the third-row seat back tilt.

Pricing starts at $32,735 for the LX front-wheel-drive and tops out at $44,535 for the SX all-wheel-drive.

Kia has got the right vehicle to muscle its way into the large midsize utility market. And buyers seem to agree.

Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com