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" Crossing Over Dodge has gone to the dark side. The company&amp;#039;s bright little Neon is gone, replaced by the serious Caliber, a small, inexpensive crossover with brand-new engines and available awd. It looks nothing like the Neon it replaces. The Caliber is recognizable as a Dodge, thanks to its familiar grille. After that, however, it&amp;#039;s all new, including the four-cylinder drivetrains. The choices include a 148-hp 1.8-liter, 158-hp 2.0-liter or 172-hp 2.4-liter, a manual gearbox or CVT, and front- or all-wheel drive. In our trek through the mountains of Arizona&amp;#039;s Tonto National Forest, the smaller engines struggled a bit on the steeper grades. The bigger 2.4 with the CVT handled the grades with little effort. Step into the gas and the tachometer swings up to its 6000-rpm maximum and maintains that speed until you crest the hill. Dodge claims a 6 to 8 percent gain in fuel economy with the CVT over four-speed automatics. While cruising, we found the engines to be quiet and the passenger cabin comfortable. --Jim Dunne Beyond Boxes Forget what you thought Volvos looked--and drove--like. The 2006 C70 convertible is a lithe combination of taut body surfaces hiding an eager turbocharged engine and luxurious interior. We enjoyed the full experience while driving Maui&amp;#039;s twisting, 500-curve Highway 360--with a side trip to the top of 10,000-ft. Haleakala. The drivetrain responded strongly and immediately, with no turbo lag. Both five-speed automatic and six-speed manual work the engine for maximum performance. The crisp steering response matched the engine&amp;#039;s willingness. And solid underpinnings in the chassis extinguished cowl shake, masking the car&amp;#039;s convertible design. Through it all, the passenger cabin remained quiet and peaceful, thanks to the snugly fitting retractable steel roof. But this is a Volvo after all, and, despite all else, Volvos always stand for safety. So you get six airbags for front-seat passengers, including the two that pop up from the doors to cover the inside of door windows in the event of a side collision. The windshield A-pillars can support the entire car in case of a rollover. Rear-seat passengers are protected, too: Steel bars spring to a vertical position from behind when a rollover is imminent. Prices for the new C70 start at around $39,000. --J.D. Kia Sedona: Family Room We dig minivans. There. It&amp;#039;s out in the open. Nothing hauls as many people and as much stuff with as much proficiency and comfort as a minivan. And after spending many hours in all the seats of several all-new Kia Sedona--cruising around Del Mar, Calif., and stopping for some rhubarb pie up in Julian--we can say that Kia has done it right. There&amp;#039;s the mandatory seating for seven with third-row seats that fold flat into the floor; second-row seats are removable--if you can heft 60 pounds. A trick Infinity audio system is available along with the headliner-mounted rear DVD entertainment system that&amp;#039;s replaced scenery watching as the prime passenger pastime. The Sedona responds crisply for a minivan. The engine&amp;#039;s torquey enough for easy uphill passing, and when you turn the steering wheel, the van&amp;#039;s nose follows soon after. In all, it&amp;#039;s solid, smooth and quiet. There are two models, LX and EX, one length (for now) and one drivetrain. The front-drive Sedona has a 244-hp 3.8-liter V6 mated to a five-speed automatic. But along with the standard ABS, traction and stability control systems and six airbags, the base Sedona boasts a starting price of $22,995. --Don Chaikin Honda Fit: Glovelike Small Hondas have the most responsive steering out there. After driving the new Fit on California&amp;#039;s coast and canyon roads, we can say it does not disappoint. Honda&amp;#039;s smallest five-passenger car has a willing 109-hp four-cylinder and a choice of two five-speeds. Claims to fame are six airbags and the multi-configurable seats: Front and rear cushions and backrests flip and fold every useful way. --Ken Juran Lexus ES 350: Sweetness The new Lexus ES 350 doesn&amp;#039;t pretend to be a sport sedan. This is a car you buy if you want to be coddled. When dressed in the top-level Ultra Luxury Package, the ES may be the ultimate pampering machine. We spent a day soaking up the Lexus&amp;#039;s luxe on Hawaii&amp;#039;s Big Island. Our ES was loaded: heated and cooled seats, headlights that swivel as you turn the steering wheel and dynamic radar cruise control. We especially liked the rain-sensing wipers, which worked well during the intermittent downpours. Hey, it&amp;#039;s Hawaii--every day has equal parts rain and shine. As you would expect, ABS, traction and stability control are standard, as are eight airbags with two more optional. It may not be the most passionate driving experience, but the ES does handle confidently. And, with a 272-hp 3.5-liter V6, it certainly isn&amp;#039;t boring. We had plenty of power to pass the island traffic. But the ES isn&amp;#039;t about speed. It&amp;#039;s about you and three friends arriving at your destination refreshed and comfortable. Prices weren&amp;#039;t set as we went to press, but to trump the level of comfort in this car, you&amp;#039;d have to move up two full price classes in the luxury-sedan food chain. --Ben Stewart BMW M5: Fast Fun We spent a week exploring the &amp;#039;06 M5&amp;#039;s limits--and our bravery--on the twistiest mountain roads in the Santa Monica Mountains. The M5 is poised, its systems highly calibrated; it makes you a better driver the more you push it. The car is so talented it&amp;#039;s almost like cheating. The 500-hp V10 engine wails to just past 8000 rpm. The $80,000-plus M5 is the most intuitive sport sedan we&amp;#039;ve ever driven. --B.S. Jaguar XK: A Lighter Feline The 2007 Jaguar XK&amp;#039;s curvaceous aluminum body sits on an ultrastiff, bonded and riveted all-aluminum chassis. By shaving pounds, Jaguar engineers have improved the power-to-weight ratio by nearly 10 percent, making the new car with its naturally aspirated 300-hp 4.2-liter V8 capable of turning quarter-mile times of 14.4 seconds. That&amp;#039;s only a half second slower than the previous car&amp;#039;s performance when powered by a 400-hp supercharged version of the same engine. The chassis is stiff enough that the convertible needed no more reinforcement than the fixed-roof version. The six-speed fully automatic gearbox has paddle shifters on the wheel that make both upshifts and downshifts happen right now, unlike some semiauto boxes that we&amp;#039;ve come to hate. As befitting a $75,500 car (make that $81,500 for the soft-top), there&amp;#039;s a full panoply of comfort and high-tech features. Handling is wrangled by a computer that can change the damping of all four shocks independently and instantaneously, giving the XK a pleasant, predictable ride most of the time. As we found when we drove the new Jaguar through the wine country outside Cape Town, South Africa, pushing the car aggressively, the XK&amp;#039;s handling limits are closer to a race car&amp;#039;s than previous models. But this cat is still really a grand tourer. --Mike Allen Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder: Drophead Pretty Take a sexy, sporty new coupe and remove its roof and--ta-da! You have a sexy, sporty new convertible. Actually, the folks at Mitsubishi are quick to point out that the new Eclipse Spyder is not merely a decapitated Eclipse Coupe. The open-top version was engineered to be topless from inception. And, while spending a day on the undulating two-lanes that intersect the freeways around San Diego, we found the car to be twist-free and solid, with no excessive cowl shake--all evidence of a strong structure. Besides its basic platform and family resemblance, it shares its choice of drivetrains and model designations with the Coupe. Its folding cloth top, which disappears beneath a hard tonneau cover at the touch of a button, helps distance it from its sibling. So does a 650-watt sound system designed to compensate automatically for driving with the top up or down. But just like the Coupe, the Spyder offers a lot of driving fun for the extrovert on a budget. --D.C. DETROIT SPY TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM DUNNE Ford has major but subtle changes planned for its Escape. All sheetmetal below the greenhouse as well as grille and headlights will be new. A horizontal bar splits the grille in the middle, while vertical intake slots fit between the bar and the headlights. Modest changes at the rear include new taillights that reverse the position of backup lights. Chrysler will restyle its midsize sedan for 2008. This Sebring prototype, photographed just outside Chrysler&amp;#039;s proving grounds in Phoenix, reveals many of the changes. Virtually all of the sheetmetal is new, including the roof, doors, hood and fenders. Up front, the sedan mimics the Crossfire with a &amp;quot;smiley face&amp;quot; grille. The edge of the rear door forms a vertical line, different from the curved form that&amp;#039;s on the current car. Despite the covering, there&amp;#039;s no hiding that this Jeep has four doors--a first in Wrangler history. But the rear doors look a bit tight for anyone even slightly oversize. ASIA SPY REPORT BY BEN STEWART Toyota&amp;#039;s all-new Tundra bowed at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show. When it comes to dealers months from now, it will offer a choice of three engines, including a 5.7-liter V8 and a six-speed automatic. Towing capacity is set at 10,000 pounds and two- or four-wheel drive will be available. And knowing Toyota, you can expect a hybrid, too. Mitsubishi is hard at work refining the next-generation Lancer chassis. It will be the basis for everything from the Evo X to this Outlander SUV. According to our sources, the new Outlander will have a 2.4-liter Four with a CVT and an optional 3.0-liter V6 with a conventional automatic. This Outlander will be larger than the current model and have room for seven. Hyundai&amp;#039;s first minivan, the 2007 Entourage, was also unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show. It shares a lot with corporate cousin Kia&amp;#039;s new Sedona, but has more luxury features and added refinement. The van is so large it could trump its Japanese competitors in roominess. SPY REPORT EUROPE BY MIKE ALEN Audi&amp;#039;s once rad TT loses some of its in-your-face styling and becomes more conventional next fall. We&amp;#039;re still hoping to get a shot of the rumored three-door hatchback version of the iconic coupe, but that&amp;#039;s a variant that we may well not see here. This Cabriolet version of the Porsche Turbo will probably follow the fall introduction of the Coupe model by a year or so. Like other small makers with relatively limited resources, Porsche takes awhile to develop variations of new models. They just don&amp;#039;t have the money or manpower to engineer and design all the versions simultaneously. Expect the ragtop to have awd, like the Coupe. Parent BMW has finally revamped the Mini for 2007, and plans to offer more than simply the coupe and convertible. One possibility is a wagon, and we can&amp;#039;t wait to see it with fake wood-grain panels gracing the fenders. True to Mini heritage, there&amp;#039;s also a rally car in the mix. Another sedan bites the dust--replaced by a more versatile package. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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