Bucket seats and bumble-bee yellow enhance 2018 Ford Mustang EcoBoost
By Keith Turner
Celebrating fall and cruising through its colors in the foothills around California’s capitol, Sacramento, we enjoyed the bright bumble-bee yellow 2018 Ford Mustang coupe with EcoBoost, which delivers more than 300 hp from its 2.3 liter, 4-cylinder engine. We experienced 22 miles per gallon on our test drive through the hills.
Different driving modes are great, including Sport, Racing, and Drag Strip mode!
This year’s Mustang is great fun to drive, comfortable to be in, especially due to its leather bucket seats, and definitely stimulating to look at!
The fully loaded 2018 Ford Mustang coupe, EcoBoost Edition we test drove was listed at $42,765.
Driving a 2018 Terrain Denali to the coast
With all the luxury and comfort of a large, high-priced SUV, the Terrain Denali from GM has a more compact stance than most, while still providing plenty of space for families and cargo.
We drove the Terrain to Monterrey, to participate in the Western Automotive Journalists Media Days, where writers were given the opportunity to experience both off-roading and track-driving on the world famous Laguna Seca Raceway.
Without further ado, we share some of the experiences with you.
What’s So Hot About Turbo?
By Dean Adams Curtis and Keith Turner
SACRAMENTO, CA – What’s so hot about turbo? It creates smaller bits of gas, a spray that explodes hotter when ignited by a spark. The hotter explosion, captured within a cylinder with its head bolted on tight, causes a piston within the cylinder to slide down its well-oiled walls. Why? To help other pistons crank a shaft below, to ultimately turn the wheels of your car faster. Turbo is a word in our lexicon that need no translation, turbo = power.
Last week we had a turbo-charged automotive experience in the 2018 Volkswagen Golf S (SportWagen), taking it out for a tour of the California Delta region south of Sacramento. In addition to the Golf’s TSI turbo engine, its packed with safety features, which added an extra quantum of comfort to our day in the country.
Life in an Enclave
The new 2018 Buick Enclave is a fun and comfortable driving machine.
High technology abounds in the Enclave, as this General Motors 7-seater sports a host of cool family car features. Take for example, the rolling wi-fi hotspot that the Enclave offers, capable of handling up to 7 devices, one for the driver’s console, and six more for all the passengers who can fit in the SUV to enjoy independent web streaming, online gaming, or emailing.
A second-row moon roof, power rear seats and 8-inch infotainment screen are just some of the added tech and comfort items in the luxurious Enclave.
The Premium edition of the 2018 Buick Enclave also features an optional, very-neat birds’-eye 360-degree view of the area around the vehicle, providing a point-of-view high above of curbs and low-laying hazards.
How they manage that view is still a mystery to us.
Celebrating One Million Video Views and Cruising Top-down in a Yellow VW Beetle
We’re celebrating thefamilycar reaching one million video views, a milestone! As such, some shopping in a VW Beetle convertible with the top down seemed just the thing!
Radiant yellow outside, inside, the 2017 Volkswagen Beetle Dune edition’s passenger compartment is surprisingly wind free.
This V-dub is okay for two tall folks in front, as long as there are just two small folks in back. Four tall adults need to negotiate knee room carefully. Same as it ever was, with all Beetles, of any vintage.
This pretty Dune edition of the 2017 bug will free you of $30,465, about a grand over MSRP. And though it has a cleaner burning, and powerful, turbo-charged engine, it has rather uninspiring fuel economy, 27 MPG combined.
Lastly, TheFamilyCar co-editor, Wayback, aka Dean Adams Curtis, long drove a 1974 gold VW Super Beetle with sunroof, until it wouldn’t go anywhere anymore. A flash of sun off the chrome of the yellow bug reminds him of those days, his way of celebrating our one million views!
Returning from his revelry, Wayback gives a high five to Volkswagen for continuing their classic model line with the fun looking 2017 VW Beetle Dune.
Safety features make the 2017 Dodge Durango almost driverless
It will keep getting safer for us all out on the roadways. Here’s one example of the way things are headed, embedded within a new edition of an old family-friendly vehicle, the Durango.
The 2017 Dodge Durango features a host of active safety features that fit into the semi-autonomous level of self-driving cars.
Adaptive Cruise Control with stop capability keeps a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, slowing down to a complete stop when necessary.
Lane keeping assist automatically sees when your vehicle is drifting out of the lane and gently guides the Durango back into the center of the lane.
The Durango’s available all-wheel drive system kicks in to keep the tires in contact with the road even when the driving surface is wet or slippery.
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2017 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk hits the road
We took the 2017 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk edition onto the wild streets of suburban Sacramento to check out all the cool features of this rugged and very colorful Jeep.
We loved the heated seats and steering wheel.
And what’s not to love about the MySky roof system, which can be totally removed to give front and backseat passengers a view of the trees.
MSRP base price of $26,895
Our tested model topped out at $33,185.
Also, see our vehicle reviews at www.GreenFamilyCar.com
