If my (brief) experience with a 2008 Lexus LS 600h L is any indication, one of the worst things you can do is buy a hybrid vehicle that sold in small numbers and thus has limited support. The GMT800 and K2XX hybrid trucks, in particular—and you’re right that I wasn’t aware either of them existed—would be absolute…

It sucks, but I kind of see why the school would do this in the name of practicality. It’s disruptive and distracting.

The Pajero was always more like a Land Cruiser or Patrol than a Range Rover. It sacrificed some style in the name of off-road chops.

That’s good. It’s one of those things a lot of manufacturers would cut on the basis of not too many people using it (GM is even doing it on some of the half-tons), but I’m glad to see Lexus staying true to the car’s off-road roots.

Right. My experience with Lexus—having had three of them, including a ‘21 GX 460—is that even if they aren’t that great, people will still buy them in droves. Toyota and Lexus built quite a bit of goodwill in prior decades, and they’re able to really coast on it.

Is the two-speed transfer case standard across the range, as it was in the prior two generations of GX? That would be a must for me, in a car of this class. In fact, I had to search far and wide for a late (2014-2016) LR4 that had it, as it became optional in those years.

My partner is 6'5", and cannot comfortably fit in a Miata. It makes me sad.

In general, May is a sensitive and conscientious, yet entertaining and knowledgeable presenter...all the things that Clarkson isn’t. I’m not surprised at your favorable review of May’s series, and I’ll have to check it out.

I just bought a 2015 Land Rover LR4 HSE Lux with the HD package (center locking diff, two-speed transfer case), and I bet it’d do fabulously, too...even though it also has air suspension.

You think an S-Class holds its value?! Ha.

Citroën had something like this, back in the day on the DS. It’s a cool concept.

That’s true, and that’s a good question.

Nissan plans to do exactly that. The next Maxima will be an EV. It’s due for MY2025, and will ride on the same CMF-EV platform as the Ariya.

That’s a long time for dealers to have to wait.

I love BMW MultiContour seats. I won’t buy a Bimmer without them.

I’m hoping the 2018 Genesis G90 5.0 Ultimate AWD I’m buying today will be that car. The Tau engine (post-2012) seems to be just fine. I can hardly find any complaints about it. The longitude Hyundai 8-speed also appears to be solid, and other than that, this car has no powertrain or suspension gimmicks (no turbos, no…

There is lore that they were working on exactly that, an AWD version.

That’s true, and I always thought the Durango kind of did look like an XXL-sized Magnum (not a condom pun).

My partner has a 2005 Magnum R/T. It drives and handles excellently. It’s too bad that it was in the dark days of Daimler cost-cutting the shit out of the Chrysler products, so the interior is awful. The plastics are Playskool-grade, the dashboard has warped, it rattles everywhere, and various pieces have outright…

I read that article earlier today. I didn’t get the sense, reading it, that it was a case of “almost FWD.” In truth, the engineers and product planners ran the numbers early on in the project and determined that RWD made the most financial sense. But it was more a case of “Do what we’ve been doing (a…