Dean David Dowson, 81, a highly regarded Denver-area automobile dealer for more than 50 years, died at his winter residence near Ocala, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 2. Services were planned for Feb. 21 at First Presbyterian Church, Golden, followed by a celebration of life at Rolling Hills Country Club, Golden.

Dowson was a national Time Quality Dealer award recipient for Colorado in 2001 and was among the first class of inductees into the Colorado Automotive Hall of Fame in 2021.

Born March 2, 1943, in Denver to Harry and Halcyon Dowson, Dean spent four of his teen years at Wentworth Military Academy in Missouri, then attended the University of Denver with hopes of becoming an attorney. His father, however, redirected him to the family business of automobiles.

Harry Dowson and Ralph Schomp were sons-in-law of Roy J. Weaver, and joined Weaver in the 1930s and ‘40s in operation of Oldsmobile dealerships he brought to Denver after opening his first auto store in Pueblo in 1912.

Dean Dowson and his older brother, Stephen, and cousin Lisa Schomp beginning in the 1960s and ‘70s, followed their fathers Harry Dowson and Ralph Schomp and made successful careers of the car business, with Oldsmobile, Honda, Nissan, BMW and other brands.

Dean served on the National Dealer Advisory Board, was president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, spent many years as a Rotarian, was a member of Round Up Riders of the Rockies and was a volunteer at Copper Mountain Ski Resort.

He is survived by his wife, Tracy, and his son, Roy (Kristen).

I enjoyed a good visit with Dean several months back at a book-signing event by Tim Jackson in south Denver.  

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.