Impressive performance and style, to a higher degree than I expected, shone brightly as the second-generation 2025 Rivian R1T all-electric pickup was delivered to me in February.

Rivian, based in Irvine, Calif., with manufacturing plant in Normal, Ill., was launched as an electric-car company in 2018.

Coming my way was the Rivian truck’s Ascend Tri Max trim, with a three-motor setup of 835 horsepower and 908 lb.-ft. of torque, standard all-wheel drive, air suspension and oval-shaped headlights.

As good as it was, I was somewhat perplexed by the intricacy of the learning curve to drive such a new vehicle as this. No buttons, no switches, “anything you need to know, adjustments, etc.,” are in the touchscreen, I was told as I was handed a key card used to unlock the driver’s door and to start the pickup. Need to adjust a side mirror? Scroll through the touchscreen. The key card unlocked the driver’s door on first try about half the time.

Drive time, though, was a delight. After an overnight charge in our garage created an expected range of 351 miles from the lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack, we drove the new midsizer on Monday west on U.S. 34 through Loveland and into the foothills. We jogged to the right a bit into Sunrise Canyon, where the truck handled the smaller, tighter roads very smoothly. A turnaround took us back through Masonville, then east with the Riv remaining well-planted with sharp steering and excellent grip into and out of the many curves and twists, thanks to its low center of gravity. We passed by the former town of Stout, continued through Fort Collins and on home to Greeley.

A standout feature is the Gear Tunnel, which runs full width of the pickup beneath the rear seat of the cab and the lower front of the truck bed, offering 11.7 cubic feet of space. It will haul luggage, skis, camping gear, hunting gear, fishing gear, or an overload of groceries from Costco. It can be unlocked from inside the truck (find it on the touchscreen).

The truck bed is small, 4.5-foot length, though a front trunk (or “frunk”) provides 11 cubic feet of storage. The truck bed, with a power tailgate, has a tightly fitted tonneau cover. R1T’s tow rating is up to 11,000 pounds.

Sticker price on the R1T is $101,900. Cheaper trims are dual-motor models at $72,000 and $85,000. Rivian officials have said they expect to offer three new models in the $50,000 range in 2026.

The ’25 Rivian R1T is rated tops in its class by U.S. News & World Report, followed, in order, by Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Sierra EV, Chevy Silverado EV, Hummer EV and Tesla Cybertruck.

A collaborative effort with General Motors, which put the 2024 Honda Prologue into the U.S. auto market a generation earlier than would have been possible otherwise, paid immediate dividends to the Prologue’s Japanese carmakers.

From its introduction last March to its end-of-year sales boom in December, the Prologue was one of the five best-selling electric SUVs in the country.

While its styling was by Honda’s design studio in Los Angeles, the midsize SUV EV was based on GM’s Ultium architecture and BEV3 platform, shared with the Chevrolet Blazer EV, Cadillac Lyriq and Acura ZDX.

The partnership has since been dissolved, though will continue production of the Honda through the first generation.

The Prologue delivered to me is the standard two-row with seating for five, a third row is optional. It operates smoothly and quietly, handling impressively.

The all-wheel-drive Prologue uses an 85-kWh battery pack with dual electric motors generating 288 combined horsepower. Twice last week, I charged the Prologue overnight, producing a fully energized battery pack of an estimated 271 miles of range. Following the first charge we drove to Sterling and back with temperatures in the 20s and low-30s, some light winds and rain on the return leg. We drove 208 miles, using 250 miles off the battery pack. Half the distance was on state highway (65 mph), the other half on Interstate (75 mph).

The move to a lever for shifting the electric is an improvement; Honda’s current push-button shifter for its internal-combustion models is a bit awkward, never seemed intuitive.

With most all safety features, including lane-change assist, the 2024 Prologue AWD Elite carries sticker price of $59,295. Its MPGe is 99 city, 84 highway, 92 combined. It is built in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.

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.