An 8-inch snowfall Wednesday morning, Jan. 18, set the course between my house and Starbucks for the 2023 BMW M340i four-door sedan and me, and with xDrive all-wheel control and Bridgestone Turanza all-season touring tires the low-slung Bimmer’s grip was as good as I expected.

Streets in my neighborhood had not yet been plowed and the BMW churned through the deep pile with minimal hindrance.

The snow test was a bonus, for Jan and I had made a 135-mile run on Friday of last week through some mountain canyons – finessing the curves in these areas are where the BMW builds its rep for handling.

I’ve driven lots of BMWs. Lots of Mercedes, too.

Both of the German premium car builders are still producing wonderful sedans. When BMW sent the 2023 M340i xDrive here, I mentioned that it is a competitor of the Mercedes-Benz C class 4Matic AMG.

“Of those two brands, which do you suppose you’ve driven most,” I was asked. “Does anyone keep track,” he continued.

“I do,” I said, “I keep track.” Over the past 45 years, even with a few diversions from the driving duties, I’ve tested 108 BMWs and 103 Mercedes. That’s not as many as the number of Fords and Chevys that have come my way, but it is more than the Hondas and Subarus.

What an enjoyable drive it was aboard the Bimmer M340, over to Loveland, on up U.S. 34 as far as Drake, then the back road through Glen Haven to Estes Park, slipping onto U.S. 34 as far as the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, and back to Estes, down the canyon and home.

I’ve made this drive many times, and let me say of the BMW M340, its cornering capabilities may be the best of anything I’ve piloted to Estes. My first-ever run up the canyon was in my 1948 Ford V-8 two-door sedan in the summer prior to my senior year in high school many years ago.

Complementing the longtime sportiness of the 3 series in recent years is noticeably more comfort and softness.

The review model was equipped with BMW’s famed 3.0-liter, twin-turbo, inline-6-cylinder of 382  horsepower; tied to its 8-speed automatic transmission is a 48-volt mild hybrid system of added horsepower for a boost in passing power and added acceleration. An M sport package delivers adaptive suspension, steering and differential.

The M340 is 185.7 inches in overall length, with wheelbase of 112.2 inches. At 17 cubic feet, its trunk space is larger than that of the Mercedes C300 sedan.

The mountain drive in the M340 recorded fuel mileage of 27.8 miles per gallon, right in the middle of the EPA estimate of 23 city and 32 highway.

The BMW’s sticker price of $67,160 included Harman Kardon surround sound, dynamic cruise, heated steering wheel and mocha vernesca leather.

Honda’s bread-and-butter car, the 2023 CR-V compact crossover, showed up in early January 3 inches longer in overall length, a bit wider with stiffer suspension, an all-new gas/electric hybrid powertrain, a roomier cargo area and a boost in rear styling with vertical LED taillights.

The CR-V, now in its sixth generation, is Honda’s best-seller, ahead of Accord and Civic sedans and HR-V and Pilot SUVs.

American Honda, builder of Honda and Acura automobiles, is headquartered in Torrance, Calif., for the Japanese company. I’ve commended Honda before on its predilection toward quality products, and this week couldn’t help noticing some positive statements concerning a ton of adversity over the past two or three years.

Of all the major auto manufacturers, Honda took one of the biggest hits in sales from chip shortages, interest rates, etc., in the past year, a decline of 33 percent. Lack of inventory has hurt all car builders. The decline for Honda continued into last month (December 2022) when car sales were down almost 4 percent and trucks dipped almost 15 percent from the same month a year ago. The headline on the company’s year-end sales report, though, was “American Honda posts positive finish to tough sales year as increased supply helps meet strong demand.”

“It’s all about supply issues,” said Mamadou Diallo, vice president of auto sales for American Honda Motor Co., “and when we have the inventory to meet strong customer demand, our sales will continue to rebound.”

With the CR-V’s curb weight at just under 4,000 pounds, fairly smooth performance is delivered by the new 2.0-liter, naturally aspirated 4-cylinder Atkinson-cycle engine and dual-electric-motor hybrid setup with 204 horsepower and 247 lb.-ft. of torque. Transmission is of continuously-variable design. Drive modes are Normal, Sport, Eco and Snow.

By engaging the “B” position from Drive on the transmission selector, with paddle shifters in effect, a light amount of regenerative braking is felt. It helps slow down the CR-V in deceleration. This is added reliance to the electrical side of the powertrain.

In one 50-mile highway drive, with the B mode used for about half the miles, we topped out at an average of 34.7 miles per gallon. The CR-V Hybrid’s EPA estimate is 40 in town, 34 highway and 37 combined.

Standard on the CR-V Sport Touring model I drove is an update to Honda’s Real Time AWD system, which is quieter than past models and is capable of sending up to 50 percent of engine torque to the rear wheels, improving traction in slippery conditions.

The lane departure system, when engaged, provides well-centered guidance down the highway. Also included in Honda Safety Sensing are adaptive cruise control, collision mitigation braking and traffic-jam assist.

Priced at $39,845, the CR-V Hybrid provides a comfortable interior with leather, a 9-inch color touchscreen, Bose premium audio, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto integration, Bluetooth. The CR-V interior warms very quickly on a cold, winter morning, helped by remote start and heated steering wheel.

Christmas Week 2022, my word what a busy time with bitter cold and deep snow; travel duties, though, were handled with ease by the Hummer EV Pickup, General Motors’ blockbuster entry among the rush of electric vehicles.

Its curb weight is more than 9,000 pounds and three electric motors develop almost 1,000 horsepower.

It is 86.7 inches wide, 7 inches wider than a full-size GMC Sierra pickup. Wheelbase is 135.6 inches and overall length 216.8. Its small box is 5 feet in length.

Sitting in the driveway of son Dale and Sandy Wells’ home in Johnstown on Christmas afternoon, the Hummer’s size drew comments from many of the 50 family members gathered for our annual dinner.

A day earlier, Christmas Eve morning, my old traditional greeting of “Merry Christmas” was tossed from the open window of the Hummer in a “drive about town” in Greeley.

Turned back by black ice in a Toyota Sequoia Hybrid the week before in our attempt to visit relatives in Sterling, the journey was completed in full length on Monday, the day following Christmas. while driving the 2022 GMC Hummer.

Son Brent joined Jan and me for the drive and we visited with Norma and Dave Wagner, Jana Lock and Pat Ogley while there.

Preparing for the drive, I spent an hour Monday morning at a ChargePoint station at Village Inn at Greeley Centerpoint, sharing space in the four-station area with one other electric, an older BMW i3. Replenishing the Ultium battery pack of 210 kWh capacity to almost full raised the estimated range of miles to 300. The charge for lifting the energy level from 60 percent to about 92 percent was $45.57, including $7.73 for a parking fee. Thus, in this instance, the almost-$38 cost for the electric charge was more costly than it would have been to similarly replenish fuel for a gasoline-powered Hummer. The drive to Sterling and back covered 210 miles, while the battery pack was reduced from an estimated 297 miles to 47 for an estimated use of 250 miles.

As part of the Hummer’s Super Cruise, the lane-changing and lane guidance features are among the best of any I’ve driven and tested. The system consistently maintains center-lane position for the Hummer, and in self-driving mode will signal, then initiate a move into the next lane for passing or accommodating heavy traffic along the lanes.

This longtime gig of mine, driving and reviewing new cars and trucks, began 45 years ago, Christmas Eve 1977. I left the Denver Post newsroom at 15^th and California about 4 p.m., Jan picked me up and drove out north to Griffith Chrysler Plymouth in Northglenn, where I was handed the keys to a 1978 Chrysler Cordoba.

All these years later, we’re transitioning as hundreds of variations of electric cars and trucks are heading our way, very swiftly, very quietly, even against fears and warnings of some analysts that electric-car charging may overload the power grid.

General Motors appears to have engineered a superb set of advancements for the Hummer electric.

The Hummer is pricey; sticker price on the review model I am driving is $110,295. It is built at the Detroit-Hamtramck factory. On sale in limited production, the GMC product is special, for in its newness it rivals the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup, the Mercedes-Benz EQS450 Electric, the BMW i4 M50, the Audi e-tron GT and others.

The Hummer’s estimated tow rating is 7,500 pounds, with an estimated payload of approximately 1,300 pounds.

We tested Hummer’s “crab walk” mode, in which the rear wheels can turn as much as 10 degrees and will mimic the angle of the front wheels to assist a diagonal move in parking or offroad; it almost seems as though it is “scooting” over.

It is equipped with air ride adaptive suspension, trailering package, 13.4-inch color touchscreen, navigation, Bose premium sound, remote start, heated steering wheel, spray-in bedliner, multipro tailgate, transparent sky panels and enhanced automatic parking assist.

One-third of the space in the small pickup bed is dominated by the upright spare wheel and tire, which can be removed to create more cargo room.

I’d not driven a Mitsubishi product since its new Eclipse Cross crossover a couple years ago, so it was high time for another when the 2022 Outlander SEL showed up in my driveway on a July 2022 morning. .

The new Outlander, which shares a platform with the Nissan Rogue, is refreshing with rounded hood front/grille, a boxlike stack of headlights beneath thin turn signal lamps and a wider, more muscular stance.

The Outlander is one of few compact crossovers with three rows of seats; this year’s structure is a bit wider and taller, still the third row is very tight, enough space only for small children. With the third row in place, cargo space at far back is only 11.7 cubic feet, though that expands to 33.5 feet with seats folded.

As per its alliance with Nissan, Mitsubishi borrowed the Rogue’s 188-horsepower, 4-cylinder engine, tied to a continuously variable transmission with a somewhat traditional automatic feel from its simulated gear shifts. It is of all-wheel-drive configuration.

The interior is jazzed up with orange trim and stitching against the nearly all-black finish and offers Bose premium sound.

A $2,700 SEL Touring package of heated steering wheel, synthetic leather door insert with quilting, head-up display and panoramic sunroof boosted sticker price of the Outlander to $37,995.

At one time, Mitsubishi products from Japan were a major player in U.S. automobile business. At the turn of the century, Mitsubishi sold 315,000 cars and trucks in the U.S. in one year. Remember the Galant and Montero Sport?

Today, sales have dropped by 69 percent since the year 2000. Through the end of June this year, Mitsubishi’s shrinking dealer base has sold 48,272 cars and trucks. Half of those sales were the new Outlander. Only other Mitsu models are the Mirage car, Eclipse Cross and Outlander Sport crossovers.

Despite the precipitous fall in sales, Mitsubishi is not at the bottom of the sales totals. It still outsold Lincoln, Jaguar, Land Rover, Infiniti and Porsche. Mitsubishi even sold slightly more than Buick, 48,272 to 48,075 – 197 units.

The Outlander handles fairly well, with quick steering. The overall performance seems somewhat underpowered, particularly when passing on the highway, as the Outlander is a couple-hundred pounds heavier than the Rogue. Normal mode is an improvement over the very mild Eco setting; there are terrain sets also for tarmac, gravel, snow and mud. The 3,600-pounder rides on Bridgestone 20-inchers.

In a fairly even split of city/highway miles, the Outlander averaged 26.8 miles per gallon; its EPA estimate is 24/30.

Sales in the U.S. of Mitsubishi models through the first six months of this year are 24,429 for the Outlander, 9,535 for Mirage, 8,596 for Outlander Sport and 5,712 for Eclipse Cross.

Expected during the winter is a 2023 Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid.