The Audi Q7, based in Germany and built in Bratislava, Slovakia, is perhaps the finest midsize luxury SUV crossover sold in the U.S. Stiffest challenge to that honor comes also from Germany – the Mercedes GLE and BMW X5.

My drives in the autumn of 2024 were aboard a samurai gray 2025 Q7 55 TFSI quattro, sporting redesigned headlights and new grille up front. It is barely a half-inch short of 200 inches in overall length; that is noticeably longer than its BMW and Mercedes competitors.

Parking and other low-speed maneuvering tasks are assisted very ably by the Audi’s all-wheel steering, in which the back wheels turn up to 5 degrees in the opposite direction to the front wheels. The $1,350 optional cost is a worthy one.

An earlier Q7 caught my attention seven years ago with its leading technology in lane guidance; this new one is far beyond that today with advances in adaptive cruise, pre-sense forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking and rear cross-traffic warning.

The Audi Q7 55 trim level gets excellent, smooth performance from combining turbocharging and direct fuel injection in its 335-horsepower, 3.0-liter V-6 engine and 8-speed automatic transmission with quattro all-wheel drive and a 48-volt mild-hybrid system. It is particularly more quickly controlled when sport mode has firmed up the air suspension for improved handling. A downside to this setup is the EPA fuel rating of 18/23 miles per gallon. I averaged 21.4 during my week with the Q7.  

A Q7 lower trim level uses a 261-hp, 4-cylinder, but it lacks the guts to adequately move the big, seven-passenger SUV, which weighs just a few pounds under 5,000. Audi’s permanent AWD system delivers between 40 and 60 percent of available torque to the front or rear axle.

The new Q7 offers a quiet ride in a nice, elaborate interior, with Bang & Olufsen premium sound, heated/ventilated/massage front seats and heated steering wheel. Space is tight in the third row, which is most suitable for kids.

Loaded with options, the sticker price for the Q7 reached $83,890, about $15,000 higher than the model I drove seven years ago.

The Audi’s dimensions are 117.9-inch wheelbase, 199.6 overall length, 77.5 width, 68.4 height.

Somewhat exhilarating it is to drive the 2025 Mazda3 Premium Plus hatchback with its 250-horsepower, 2.5-liter turbocharged 4 and the 6-speed automatic transmission with paddleshifters. Sport and manual modes add to the quickness and handling capabilities, the emit from the high-compression SkyActiv engine sounds so good and the soul red crystal metallic finish is perfect for the little speedster. It is of all-wheel-drive configuration.

Though a bit longer in overall length and 200 pounds heavier than the Volkswagen Golf GTI, the Mazda with underhood turbo matches up fairly closely in performance with the VW. Among other competitors are the Honda Civic Type R, the Toyota GR Corolla and the Hyundai Elantra N Line.

While the ride is not especially smooth, the driver remains in place from the form-fitting, bolstered seats, trimmed in leather. If a smooth ride is of high priority, check out the big Mazda – the XC90 and its boulevard-tuned suspension.

After numerous in-city drives last week, a run to Longmont and back on Monday lifted the overall fuel mileage average to 24.5 mpg, lower than the rating of 23 city/31 highway/26 combined.

The Premium Plus with turbo and AWD is a high-end trim and with optional items of 360-degree view monitor, navigation, traffic-sign recognition and rear cross traffic with braking brought the sticker price to  $38,865. Standard items included lane-keep assist, 18-inch black alloy wheels, heated steering wheel and Bose premium audio with 12 speakers.

Regarding the Mazda3 series, more than 28,000 have been sold in the first nine months of 2024, a healthy increase over the same period of last year, when 23,000 had been sold. The Mazda3 models are built in the factory in Hofu, Yamaguchi, Japan.

The 2025 Honda Civic four-door Hybrid Sport Touring model – it’s a midcycle refresh, and it is bigger, stronger, better and, when delivered for my efforts, tied a 47.5-miles-per-gallon performance to a $32,000 sticker price.

The new one is 3 inches longer and 300 pounds heavier than the ’24 model. Featured is a new 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engine with two electric motors producing 200 horsepower and 232 lb.-ft. of torque, replacing the old 180-hp, 1.5-liter engine.

With the hybrid in place, the ’25 model is rated at 50 miles per gallon in city driving and 47 mpg for the highway, with combined average of 49. I gave the Civic a good testing, with highway drives on three separate days, one of which was very windy.

Beginning on a Thursday, we left Reflections Salon in Eaton, drove north to Colo. 14, then east all the way to Sterling for a visit with Norma Wagner, Dave, Jana. In the wind all the way and back, I switched Drive Mode from Eco to Normal to Sport; it didn’t matter the mode, the wind was in control and held the mpg average to 43.9.

Destination the next day was Longmont, then over east to Colorado Boulevard and back through Johnstown and on to Greeley. An easy drive at relatively low highway speeds, some of which were 55-mpg limit, resulting in a remarkable 53.2 mpg.

Monday of the following week, the Civic showed its superb handling capabilities in a run into the mountains and onto the “peak-to-peak” road toward Nederland. That Colo. 7 stretch from Lyons to Peaceful Valley is a climb full of curve after curve after curve; the new-generation Civic retained an extremely solid feel, was well-planted in and out of the twists with barely a lean. The torque boost from the dual electric motors is an able assist to the 2.0-liter engine in getting up the hills. In 137 miles, it averaged 48.6.

Combining the three drives totaling 440 miles, the overall average was 47.5 miles per gallon.

Strong performance comes from the engine/electric motors combo. It is quick off-the-line, transfers power smoothly  between the engine and battery, while a linear-shift control system lends a feeling of shift points for the continuously variable transmission.

The four-door sedan has a structurally firm feel and rides very comfortably. The interior, with an upscale finish, is roomy. An attractive mesh band, housing the air vents, runs the width of the dash. Trunk space is 14.8 cubic feet.

The upper-level Sport Touring trim, including adaptive cruise and lane-keeping assist, carried a sticker price of $32,845. That is the least-expensive model I’ve driven this year; the Nissan Rogue a month ago was listed at $37,610.

Other features of the Honda for that price included 9-inch color touchscreen, Bose premium audio, power moonroof and heated front seats.

Four levels of regenerative braking are controlled by paddleshifters at the steering wheel.

With no snow yet in the mountains in mid-October, the fact the 2025 Ford Explorer ST was of rear-drive traction (no 4WD) was of no particular problem. I was glad to have the opportunity to test it.

Its powertrain of 3.0-liter, twin-turboed EcoBoost V-6 and 10-speed automatic transmission (400 horsepower/415 torque) would prove perfect for the narrow-road twists and climbs into the hills to the west.

A part of the midcycle refreshment of the midsize Ford are the larger performance brakes, with red-painted front and rear calipers and 21-inch Magnetite-painted aluminum wheels. The ST trim also has a much stiffer, sport-tuned independent front and rear suspension – better handling/bumpier ride.

Ted and Shirley King, of Denver, rode with us up U.S. 34 past the Dam store and on to Drake, where we veered to the right on the “gulch road” to Glen Haven. We stopped at the general store, where we bought cinnamon rolls from Callum Hoskins; they’re baked daily by Grandma Becky. The store, a stopping point for Jan and me for many years, was purchased two years ago by the Hoskins family. It will be open only on weekends through November.

With the climb into Big Thompson Canyon and on to Glen Haven ahead of us, we assumed we wouldn’t attain the ST’s EPA fuel-mileage range of 18/26. The overall average for the mountain drive was 21.9, which dropped to 19.9 with 100 more miles added in and about Greeley.

A new 13.2-inch LCD touchscreen infotainment system is an improvement for the interior, which also features Bang & Olufsen high-quality sound. The RT has three rows of seats featuring captain’s chairs in the middle row and resistant-wear, micro-perforated Miko surfaces. USB ports are accessible for all three rows. Cargo space is 16.3 cubic feet behind the back row, 46 cubic feet behind the middle row with the third-row seats folded into the floor.

On the downhill return route, the Ford’s paddleshifters were used to drop the gears as low as 3^rd or 2^nd  to safely cruise the cornering.

An overly sensitive bluecruise safety system bugged me a bit. In nighttime driving, with my hands on the wheel and my vision ever forward, the message center would actuate a “watch the road” alarm, then follow with a “resume control” alert, then suddenly activate seat vibrations and flashers. Light braking or acceleration increase would reset the safety system every time.

The ’25 Ford Explorer ST review model, built in Chicago, carried a sticker price of around $59,295. Ford found a very receptive market when it introduced the Explorer SUV more than 30 years ago in the early ‘90s; a year or two later, Jeep unveiled the Grand Cherokee and those two have been battling head-to-head since.

Out northeast in the 2025 Ram 1500 Tradesman Crew Cab on Labor Day, we pulled off Colo. 14 onto a dusty trail roadway heading north, with 40 or 50 wind turbines visible atop the hills.

We plotted this drive into the rolling grasslands of northeast Weld County for purposes of testing Ram’s new Hurricane 3.0-liter, inline-6, twin-turbo engine, a successor to the long-loved Hemi V-8. The Tradesman trim level is ideally fit for the trip, from its somewhat spartan-like painted steel wheels (18-inchers) and durable black cloth seats to the roominess and comfort of the interior, with strong four-wheel-drive capability.

The Hurricane I-6, tied to an 8-speed automatic transmission, is rated at 420 horsepower/469 lb.-ft. of torque, has an anti-spin differential at the rear axle, payload of 2,300 pounds and maximum tow capacity of 11,570 pounds. The Hurricane is quieter than the Hemi and is fairly close on acceleration. Two other 6-cylinder engines are offered by Ram, a less-expensive V-6 and a high-output version of 540 horsepower for the Hurricane I-6.

While still on the dirt, we crossed a cattle guard, turned to the left and soon accessed a paved road just north of the ghost town of Keota. Driving north to Grover, the driver information center told me the Ram was averaging around 23 miles per gallon. Having owned two Hemi-powered pickups in the past and reviewing a dozen or more through the years, I don’t remember recording anywhere near 23 mpg.

At Grover, finish-work is underway on a new library, the first for the town in several years. We stopped at the Grover Market Basket and Country Deli, where Jan and I were served a BLT sandwich, hamburger, two bags of chips and two soft drinks by Jay, a friendly waiter, for less than $10.

We continued our drive north, both on-road and offroad, to Hereford, only a couple miles south of the Wyoming line, then turned back.

Pickup pricing has risen rapidly in recent years, and the Tradesman was no exception, with sticker price of $57,325. Base price on a Tradesman is around  $42,000. Bed length in the review model was 5-foot-7, with spray-in bedliner, a deployable bed-step, tri-fold tonneau cover and trailer-brake controller. The Ram Tradesman is built in Sterling Heights, Mich.

Safety features include lane-management, adaptive cruise, blind-spot and cross-path detection, backup camera and more. Among other options are Uconnect 5 with 8.4-inch touchscreen display, remote start,

Starting prices for other Ram trim levels are HFE $43,035; Big Horn $46,930; Warlock $56,255; Laramie $62,025; Rebel $66,190; Limited $77,150; Longhorn $77,640; Tungsten $89,070.

Nissan has added the Rock Creek trim to its strong-selling Rogue compact crossover. The model becomes a bit more rugged and its sticker price – $37,610 – makes it worth a second glance.

It offers a more adventuresome look, from the tubular roof rack and crossbars atop the Rogue, the gloss black grille and red Nissan emblem out front and the Falken Wild Peak all-terrain tires on black wheels at the corners. Hill-descent control has been added to its all-wheel-drive setup. Other features are gloss black sideview mirrors, water-repellant leatherette seats with lava red stitching, an HD Intelligent Around-View Monitor and rain-sensing windshield wipers.

The Rogue is Nissan’s best-seller, by far. Introduced in 2007 as an ’08 model, Nissan has sold more than 3 million Rogues in the U.S. For the past 10 years, it has been third highest in the country in sales among sport utility vehicles.

Nissan expects the new, outdoorsy, offroad-oriented look to help retain the lofty sales perch against a minor backlash from the decision in 2022 to embrace a small 3-cylinder turbocharged power source in place of the 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder.

Though the little turbo matches up closely in horsepower with Toyota and Honda compacts, the Rogue often seems slower in initial response than those two competitors when the turbo is called upon. Today’s power source is the 1.5-liter, turbocharged 3-cylinder engine, rated at 201 horsepower and 225 lb.-ft. of torque, mated to an Xtronic continuously variable transmission (CVT) with all-wheel drive.

The Rogue is built at a Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tenn. Its overall length of 183 inches is longer than the Toyota RAV4, shorter than the Honda CR-V and about the same as the Chevy Equinox and Subaru Forester. Wheelbase for the Rogue is 106.5 inches.

Base price for the Rogue Rock Creek trim, including basic ProPilot Assist, is $35,420; add $1,390 for destination and $800 for premium package of heated steering wheel, wireless charging pad, hands-free liftgate and four-way power passenger seat. Beginning prices for other trims are $28,145 for S, $29,895 for SV, $34,495 for SL and $38,395 for Platinum.

ProPilot is a driver-assist system in the Rogue combining steering and intelligent cruise control technologies, managing throttle and brakes to relieve driver stress while making long drives more comfortable.

The Rogue’s strengths are its quiet, comfortable ride, roominess including cargo space, economy, interior and exterior styling. It offers a user-friendly infotainment system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility and a premium sound system. You also get rearview monitor, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, remote engine start, 8-inch touchscreen display and a 12-volt power outlet in the cargo space. The Rogue Rock Creek EPA rating is 27 city, 32 highway, 29 combined.

Among Rogue Rock Creek competitors are Subaru Forester Wilderness, Kia Sportage X-Pro, Hyundai Tucson XRT.

Reminiscing about my old, original home town, as well as my many years in newspapering and automobiles, was fulfilling to my soul at a Sunday gathering at Wray (Sept. 22, 2024).

Driving a very comfortable 2024 Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ electric SUV, I was responding to an invitation from Ardith Hendrix, director, to a book-signing at the Wray Museum. My book is “2,600 Cars and a Dog Sled.”

The crowd was very welcoming and warm in the town’s museum structure just off Main Street to the east. I was born at Wray and lived there 14 years before moving to Sterling. The book is available through BudWellsBooks.com or by contacting [email protected].

Rainfall Saturday night and Sunday morning disrupted plans for an outdoor display of autos by members of the Wray River City Cruisers car club.

Inside the museum auditorium, a snippet of my talk recalled my last day of school in the 8^th grade at Wray Junior High School in late May 1951. We were dismissed early, before lunch. Walking home with friends Duane Muller, Gary Jones and Leo Carson in a light rain, I mentioned fishing. Back then, Colorado had a statewide fishing season which began, I believe May 25, two or three days before we ended our school year. And the state fish hatchery west of town then reared trout and kept Chief Creek and the Republican River stocked.

As we walked and talked, none of the others seemed interested in fishing, due to the wet weather. I went home, not quite yet lunchtime, talked with Mom a few minutes, grabbed my fishing pole and bag, walked the two blocks to the river. The rainfall was a bit heavier now, I walked upstream aways, found a good-looking bend, off the backyard of Leola Conway. I crawled under overhanging branches of a large, streamside bush to keep most of the rain off me, very carefully tossing the baited hook to avoid the overhead limbs. In about 15 minutes, I caught two rainbows, hurried home, cleaned the fish and Mom cooked them for lunch.

I was president of my 8^th-grade class, knew everyone in school and most of them knew me. Fast forward three months, we had moved to Sterling. I showed up for first day of classes at Sterling High School. I realized I was the least-known of the little-known freshmen class of 125 students at SHS. I went from “well-known” to “least-known,” a humbling experience, yet an experience of growth, I’m sure.

At the conclusion of my Sunday talk, Jonnie Johnson pulled his very rare 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda out front of the museum for me and others of my family to view. It is a black coupe, original, with 36,000 miles. A daughter, Kim Parker, and son, Brent Wells, accompanied Jan and me to the event, and son Kurt and daughter-in-law Tammy, enroute home to Littleton from Nebraska, stopped by.

Bob and Becky Bledsoe of the Bledsoe Cattle Co. and owners of the Bonanza Ford business at Wray attended, and I enjoyed a visit, too, with Richard Jeurink, a former partner with Bledsoe in the dealership. The Ford business still operates from the same building (expanded twice) constructed in 1944 during my dad’s ownership. I talked with Tim Wisdom, who formerly owned the Wray Lumber Company and sent me a letter three years ago regarding my car columns in The Denver Post, so meaningful it hangs on a wall in my office.

The EQE 350 uses a rear-mounted 215 kW electric motor producing 288 horsepower and 417 lb./ft. of torque with regenerative braking system, steering wheel paddles and 10-degree rear steering.

The 145-mile trip in the rain from Greeley on U.S. 34 carried us past Wiggins, onto I-76 through Fort Morgan and Brush, then back on U.S. 34 through Akron and Yuma to Wray. The Mercedes EQE 350 has a 90.6 kWh liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack, and fully charged overnight in my garage, showed 388 miles of range as we left for Wray on Sunday morning.

By the time we reached Fort Morgan late in the afternoon on our return drive from Wray, we had driven 235 miles and much of the excess driving range had been used; thus, we recharged for the final 55 miles to Greeley.

The Mercedes’ Watt-hours per mile were 297, which converts, I believe, to 3.4 miles per kWh. The SUV electric rode on Goodyear Eagle 21-inch range-optimized summer tires. Its EPA MPGe rating is 99 city, 88 highway.

Jan and I on Monday did some testing of the Mercedes’ active steering assist, lane-keeping assist and automatic lane change on paved rural roads. The safety systems were quite positive, with a good measure of caution.

With the driver assists and impressive comfort packages, the Mercedes sticker price climbed to $88,290. It is assembled in Vance, Ala.; the engine and transmission are built in Germany.

Choice for a 600-mile drive to Jeffrey Lake near Brady, Neb., and back in late July was the 2024 Lucid Air Pure electric sedan. Lucid Air is an American automotive company headquartered in Newark, Calif., and produces electric cars at its factory in Casa Grande, Ariz.

This was my first opportunity to drive a Lucid. “End range anxiety with this one,” said Lucid, “for it can go 420 miles on a single charge.” It is 300 miles to Jeffrey Lake, where Jan, Kim and I joined Kurt and Tammy Wells, Ryan and Erik at their lakehouse.

The Lucid Air Pure is a roomy, rear-wheel-drive midsize electric sedan with a rear-mounted motor delivering 430 horsepower and 406 lb.-ft. of torque, with an 88.0-kWh battery pack. A smooth, strong performer, it will run 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds. The lengthy sedan, 195.9 inches, rode on 20-inch wheels shod with Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires.

The Pure fell short in its range expectations, as we stopped three times for recharging. For, you know, there was the heat (96 degrees at North Platte) and, of course, we used the air-conditioning, and the wind blew, and I maintained higher speeds of the interstate highways, and a bit of added weight came from the three of us with our luggage.

Exacerbating the range drain are problems with the chargers and charging systems aside from the electric automobiles. I got an earful of that over the weekend, particularly at our long stop at North Platte.

“Outstanding,” Wayne Williams of Central City, Neb., said of his 2024 GMC Hummer Electric ($100,000-plus sticker price), but after more than 2 hours was upset at the slow rate of charge at an Electrify America charger system. Trevor Sands of Denver said he was bothered by charging errors and minimal range due to weather with his Ioniq5 electric, but, otherwise, was very satisfied with the car. A traveler from Illinois was “ticked off” that the 350 kW charger plugged into his Ioniq5 was delivering the energy buildup slowly, no faster than the 150 kW next to him.

So, a charging station in place of a gas station? A paradigm it’s not – at least not yet.

Heading home, we first stopped at a SWTCH charging station in North Platte, I plugged in the charger at its port in the driver-side front fender; information indicated recharging would be complete in approximately 9 ½ hours. I immediately pulled the plug, we headed on down the street for a better source – a group of Electrify America chargers, 150 kW and 350 kW. ChargePoint at Sterling, added 90 miles in 10 minutes.

Sticker price for the high-tech ’24 Lucid Air Pure sedan is $74,350. Among interior highlights are a 34-inch glass cockpit display screen, 3-zone automatic climate control, Wunderbox onboard boost charger, automatic emergency braking.

Starting prices for the three higher trim levels are $79,400 for Touring, $111,400 for Grand Touring and

$250,500 for Sapphire.

Fully charged in my garage before the Lucid was returned to drivers for Automotive Media Solutions this week, the Pure electric showed range of 383 miles.

Funeral mass for Michael James Tynan, 75, who died Aug. 9, 2024, was Friday morning, Aug. 16, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Denver.

I met Mike almost 50 years ago at Tynan’s Volkswagen dealership on South Havana Street in Aurora, where Mike and his brother, Pete, worked for their uncle, “Big Ed” Tynan.

“Come on out and drive anything you want, anytime,” the Tynans said to me, and I did that for many years.

Mike, born June 6, 1949, to James and Mary Jo Tynan, graduated from Regis High School and Regis  College. A beloved family man, he was known for his unwavering faith and vibrant charisma.

He is survived by his wife, Angela, two sons Casey and John, daughter Meghan Riecker, seven grandchildren, sisters Carol Spierings, Mary Tolley and Joan Johnson, brother Pete and many other relatives.

Mike and Pete, in an 18-month period from June 1979 to January 1981, provided four Volkswagens for my tests – a Rabbit four-door, Rabbit mini-pickup, the newly introduced Jetta and a Dasher wagon. The Tynan brothers continued pushing the product, and in 1987 Tynan’s Volkswagen was ranked No. 1 in VW sales in the country.

Following are excerpts from a review of the ’79 Rabbit four-door, which appeared in The Denver Post on July 7, 1979:

German car workers, known for excellence in producing quality bodies, turned the building of gasoline-powered Volkswagen Rabbits over to the Americans this year (1979) – with no apparent lessening in the car’s standards.

Some say the American version is more to their liking. The only basic differences are that the U.S.-built Rabbits have rectangular headlamps instead of round and have more brightly colored interiors.

A test of a Rabbit four-door built at Westmoreland, Pa., brought out the same features as a test 18 months ago of one built in Germany – it’s a high-mileage, fast 4-cylinder, with good handling in its front-wheel-drive fashion and of good fit-and-finish.

The bright red interior is flashy and refreshing, the car was a good runner (it will go from 0 to 60 in 11.8 seconds) and its 5-speed transmission shifted very easily. Automatic shoulder belts are a safety feature.

The 89-cubic-inch engine is transversely mounted and has a compression ratio of 8-to-1. It averaged 28 miles a gallon in town driving and 35 on a rolling highway (EPA rating is 42 mpg). Wheelbase is 94.4 inches; curb weight is 1,800 pounds. With destination charge of $164, the window-sticker price totaled $6,190.