With Christmas snow still on the ground, it’s fitting I drive into the sunset of the year 2012 aboard an all-wheel-drive model, the ’13 Lexus RX350 SUV. Happy New Year.
In reflection, the year’s been an exciting one for the world of automobiles. Sales have been the strongest in five years, new offerings were made in electrics, hybrids, plug-ins and turbodiesels, and the mix of fuel mileage and performance was never better for the refined internal combustion engine.
One of the smoothest powertrains is the Lexus, with its 270-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6, 6-speed automatic transmission and active torque control AWD. Nothing spectacular, just a dependably responsive setup. For extreme conditions, a manual-locking center differential can be activated from a switch on the console.
I last drove an RX three years ago; noticeable changes for 2013 are a new spindle grille and wraparound taillights. I revealed the new “up-front spindle look” to readers earlier in the year with the ’13 Lexus GS350 F Sport sedan. It will be added widespread in an effort to make Lexus grilles “as recognizable as BMW’s long-used twin-kidney appearance,” company officials said.
The addition to the RX of leather trim, navigation, moonroof, backup camera, head-up display, parking assist and other items raised the $40,710 base price to a sticker total of $52,974. With lots of driving on snow-covered roads, the RX350 averaged 20.4 miles per gallon.
Among highs and lows and memorable happenings for 2012 are:
Favorites – The 2013 Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4-by-4 ($36,215) which we drove over Guanella Pass in late September, and the ’12 Volkswagen Passat TDI SEL four-door ($32,965) which averaged 40.7 mpg. Of course, I found favor with the ’13 Porsche Panamera GTS premium luxury AWD sedan, but its $135K price tag takes it out of consideration for car of the year.
Best drive – The ’13 Mercedes-Benz SL550 roadster carrying Jan and me in mid-August to Gunnison, where I was presented the Lee Iacocca Award at the 25th annual Gunnison Car Show.
Expensive – That previously mentioned Panamera at $135,600; its stablemate, the Porsche 911 Carrera S, showed up with a tag of $122,935.
Cheapest – The Ford Fiesta SE five-door hatchback, driven to the homestead site of Jan’s grandparents north along the Weld/Logan County line a few miles south of Nebraska, at $19,025. The Fiat 500 Sport, on a wheelbase of 90 inches and with a turning circle of only 30 feet, was barely higher at $19,500.
Fuel mileages – 50 miles per gallon with the ’12 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, 44.7 for the Chevy Volt electric hybrid and 42.3 with the Lexus CT200h hybrid.
Gas hog – 16.1 mpg by Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 with 470-horsepower, 6.4-liter Hemi V-8.
‘By a nose’ – The race, in which Kent Stevinson’s $375,000 Lexus LFA supersportscar, piloted by professional race driver Scott Pruett, edged out a win over Marc Arnold’s Eclipse corporate jet in front of 100 invited guests at Vance Brand Memorial Airport at Longmont in October. The stunt benefited Our Center charity facility and Veterans Airlift Command. Lexus announced this week it is dropping production of the LFA showpiece.
Rough road – That traveled by the ’12 Mini Cooper Coupe, on a wheelbase of 97 inches. Reducing air pressure in its tires made no difference; it was a harsh ride.
Powerful – The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with 580-hp from a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 and the ’13 BMW M6 Coupe with 560 from its twin-turbo, 4.4-liter V-8.
Goodbye – My final test of a Suzuki was the 2012 Kizashi Sport GTS all-wheel-drive model in February. Suzuki pulled its automobile products out of the U.S. market in November. A year ago, I kidded Suzuki for its promotion comparing performance of the Kizashi with that of the Mercedes-Benz C Class.
Pizazz – Most quirky was the ’12 Hyundai Veloster. A true three-door, it has one door on the driver side, two on the passenger side, and the door on the driver side is 10 inches longer than the front door on the passenger side, allowing the third door to be placed for rear-seat entry on the passenger side. The sharp rear slope, though, slices the opening for the third door and creates difficulty entering or exiting the rear seating area.
Red, red, red – Three in a row in late April and early May were the ’12 Chrysler 300 Limited AWD in deep cherry red, the ’13 Lexus GS350 F Sport in riviera red and ’13 Ford Taurus SEL AWD in ruby red metallic.
Jan’s favorite – The ’12 Buick Verano, with leather interior, heated steering wheel and Bose audio for $26,850. Jan rates it one of the better buys among luxury compact/midsize sedans.
Best greeting – Happy New Year!
Saturday Drive can also be viewed online at DenverPost.com/Autos. Bud Wells can be reached via e-mail at bwells@denverpost.com.
