Aaron Gold, About.com's Guide to Cars, assures me that the new Crosstour looks better in person than it does in this 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour Photo Gallery.

I hope he's right. Because I see more 1985 Toyota Celica Hatchback than I do modern vehicle of the second decade of the 21st Century.

What do you think?

Please take a look at this 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour Photo Gallery and share your thoughts.

Photo © Honda

I'm always glad to have Aaron Gold, About.com's Guide to Cars, review an SUV for us. I'm even more interested when he reviews a crossover, especially one that may be more car than SUV.

Take a look at Aaron's 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour Test Drive and Review. Even from Aaron's point of view, which is considerably closer to the ground than mine is, the new Honda crossover seemed like a bad idea at first. Who is it for? What does it do?

Aaron dissected the Crosstour with his usual laser-like critical sense, and discovered that he didn't hate it as much as he expected to. I understand where's he's coming from, because I had a similar preconception when I reviewed the new 2010 Acura ZDX, a luxury crossover with a perplexing target audience.

Honda and its Acura subsidiary are trying to tell us something with these two new crossovers: The Baby Boomers have officially crossed over, and they are now Empty Nesters. Watch for this group to have a much bigger effect on SUV design in the near future.

While you're waiting for the future, please read Aaron's 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour Test Drive and Review, then click on "comments" below and share your thoughts.

Photo © Honda

Has Mazda gone too far with this anthropomorphic thing? Please take a look at this 2010 Mazda CX-7 Photo Gallery, and tell me if the new CX-7 doesn't look like it is auditioning for a part in the next Pixar movie. That is one happy looking SUV.

What's wrong with that, though? Shouldn't our cars and SUVs have some personality? And wouldn't the roads be a more pleasant place if those personalities were happy-go-lucky, friendly ones like the new Mazda corporate face. Does everything have to be aggressive and angry?

Click on "comments" below and share your thoughts.

Photo © Jason Fogelson

I've been trying to help my friend Andy find a new SUV for about a year and a half now. His old Jeep Grand Cherokee is failing, and he wants to buy something more fuel efficient. Andy's cheap, though -- he doesn't want to spend a lot of money. He uses his vehicle for work, and probably needs the space of a mid-size, rather than a compact, SUV. It's been a long haul, because Andy is very particular.

When I got behind the wheel of the new CX-7, I realized that I might have found Andy's new SUV. It has all the space he needs, and with the new 2.5 liter inline four-cylinder engine, it can get 28 mpg on the highway. And equipped the way Andy would like it, the CX-7 can list for $22,340.

Unfortunately, while I had the CX-7, Andy was very busy with work. So was I. So he didn't get to drive my test vehicle. Maybe I can convince Andy to read my 2010 Mazda CX-7 Sport Test Drive and Review. Maybe I can convince you to read it as well.

Photo © Jason Fogelson

For once, a design gets pulled back from the edge, and form once again begins to follow function.

I'm talking about the fifth generation 4Runner, which you can examine in this 2010 Toyota 4Runner Photo Gallery.

The 4th generation 4Runner had gotten too muscular, wore too much cladding, and had gotten away from the original substance of 4Runner for my taste.

In case you don't know, I own a second generation (1994) 4Runner named "Moose," and I think that Moose is pretty much the best thing on four wheels. Of course, I'm extremely biased and I am forced to overlook some obvious flaws and deficiencies to maintain this view, but I still love Moose.

I think that I could grow to love a fifth generation 4Runner in time.

What do you think?

Photo © Jason Fogelson

I feel a little like Navin Johnson right now.

Who's Navin Johnson? He was portrayed by Steve Martin in the great 1979 comedy The Jerk. Remember the scene at the gas station where Navin runs to the truck, pulls a book off a stack, and then runs back to tell his boss, played by Jackie Mason, "The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!" If you've never seen it, go rent it right now. Seriously, right now.

I'll wait.

Now that we're on the same page, I feel like Navin R. Johnson when I talk about the fifth generation Toyota 4Runner. "The new 4Runner is here! The new 4Runner is here!"

I'm very excited, and I want you to be, too. Please read my 2010 Toyota 4Runner Test Drive and Review, and let me know what you think.

Photo © Toyota

The more I look at this 2010 Acura ZDX Photo Gallery, the more I worry about the classification of SUVs.

Acura's designers have quite cleverly disguised the ZDX as a coupe, despite the fact that it has four doors; five, in fact, if you count the tailgate as a door. They've hidden the rear door handles in the C-pillar, and made the doors so small-looking from the outside that it's hard to believe that adults could use them. The impression isn't so far off, actually -- I had to contort myself in order to squeeze all 6'2" inside.

If we call the ZDX an SUV, are we extending the definition too far?

But if it's not an SUV, then what is it?

Photo © Jason Fogelson

I'm going to raise the curtain a little today, and show you a bit about how an SUV review comes together. Don't worry, it's not like the sausage factory -- you'll still like SUV reviews after I've revealed some of the process.

Sometimes, the manufacturers loan me a vehicle for a week to review it. I drive, I examine, I photograph, I prod, I test. Then I write a review. That's the way it usually goes, and it's usually the best way for me to get a full impression of the vehicle before I write.

Then, there are the launches. The manufacturers take a group of auto journalists to some exotic place that will reflect well on their vehicle. We spend a couple of days meeting with designers and engineers and marketing folk, exploring the vehicle and getting a full download of information and propaganda about the vehicle's virtues and place in the market. Then we drive, usually on specially-selected roads that highlight the vehicle's strengths. Sometimes, we even get to drive on race tracks or on off-road courses. Then, we go home and write. I can usually get enough of a sense of a vehicle in this concentrated setting to be able to review it, though I prefer to spend a full week driving if I can.

Then, there's the quickie introduction, where the manufacturers gather up some local journalists, run them through a marketing, engineering and design presentation, and then set them loose with the vehicle on local roads for a few hours. That's what I got last week with the new Acura ZDX. So, I've written this 2010 Acura ZDX Preview Drive with my first impressions, since it's going to be months before I get a chance to drive the ZDX for a long enough period to give it a full review.

Just a glimpse into the complicated life of an SUV reviewer.

Photo © Jason Fogelson

Some people are never going to like the way that an SUV looks. And that's okay. I happen to see the beauty in form following function, and I think that this 2010 Land Rover LR4 Photo Gallery is simply beautiful.

LR4 is an evolutionary design, a subtle update of the LR3 that it replaces in the Land Rover lineup. The basic shape is the same, just the details have been refined. There's a more sophisticated, less " zT="1/1UH"brutal" (to use the Land Rover designer's term) look all around, inside and out. There's been a concordant upgrade to the drivetrain and suspension, and the new LR4 is more sophisticated in function as well as appearance.

Form follows function -- and I find it beautiful. What do you think? Click on "comments" below and share your thoughts.

Photo © Jason Fogelson

There are new rules for bloggers. We're supposed to disclose "freebies" and payment which may have been given in exchange for an endorsement or positive review. I want to disclose that Land Rover paid for my flight to Albany, New York from Los Angeles, and that they paid for my food and board at Equinox in Manchester, Vermont during the time that I test drove their 2010 lineup. I can assure you that the gracious hospitality that I received from Land Rover in no way influenced my opinion of their vehicles, nor did it influence my review.

But, I have to admit that I really like the Land Rover folks. I especially like the Land Rover Driving Instructors. They are the most knowledgeable, passionate group about their product, and about off-loading, that you'll ever meet. I have learned so much about off road driving from Land Rover Driving Instructors that I almost feel like I know what I'm doing off pavement, no matter which vehicle I might find myself driving.

My very favorite off road vehicle was the Land Rover LR3. And now, I've got a new favorite -- read my 2010 Land Rover LR4 Test Drive and Review to find out more.

I have to disclose how much I enjoyed driving this vehicle through the muck and mud -- and on the road, too. Don't tell Land Rover -- I would drive the LR4 anywhere. They didn't need to fly me all the way to Vermont to get a good review.

Photo © Jason Fogelson