The twists of Rist provided a delightful start to Christmas week 2020 for Jan and me aboard the 2021 Mercedes AMG GLS63 sport ute.

This big full-sized beauty belies its size in  driving the narrow, curvy roads of Rist Canyon from Masonville to Bellvue in Larimer County on Sunday morning.

Following a brief stop at the Stove Prairie School, we continued several miles down the road before a photo stop and opportunity for a short visit with Jeff and Michele Yarberry.

From Masonville to Stove Prairie to Bellvue, I drove in Sport mode, using 3^rd and 4^th gears manually for best control of the big Benz on the narrow curves, up and down the hills. Fuel mileage average was 17.1 miles per gallon.

AMG’s hand-built 4.0-liter biturbo V-8 engine with EQ boost produces 603 horsepower, 627 torque with a 9-speed automatic transmission and 4Matic all-wheel drive. The mild-hybrid EQ boost improves efficiency and performance at the same time.

Considering that power, along with AMG Active Ride Control suspension, AMG Dynamic Select drive mode, AMG multi-spoke forged wheels at $4,450 extra and AMG silver brake calipers, surely the sticker price won’t be a shocker. How about $149,740?

AMG is the high-performance division of Mercedes and independently engineers, manufactures and customizes M-B products.

The Burmester 3D Surround Sound system is a $4,550 optional add, and there are a carbon-fiber engine compartment cover, three rows of seats (sunshades for the middle row), and panorama roof. All three rows of seats are heated, as are the armrests and door panels, but you know what? The steering wheel is not heated.

The GLS is one of the finest seven-passenger sport utes in the country, with an exceptionally smooth ride and one of the most effective, least obtrusive stability control/curve control/lane-keeping assists of any on the market. Large, thick headrests can block driver vision to the rear side.

The Mercedes rides on a wheelbase of 123.4 inches, is 205 inches in overall length, with curb weight of 5,800 pounds. It is assembled in Vance, Ala. Engine and transmission are built in Germany.

Forty years ago, Mercedes-Benz previewed the first driver’s airbag and seat belt tensioner, cutting-edge safety innovation. A limited number of S-Class sedans were delivered with the new technology, a joint development between Daimler-Benz AG and Bosch.

This ushered in the triumph of a restraint system which was quickly adopted by many automotive manufacturers across the world.

The airbag and seat-belt tensioner were available in 1982 as optional extras for all Mercedes-Benz passenger cars. By 1992, the driver’s airbag was standard equipment in all of the brand’s models, followed by a front passenger airbag as standard in 1994.

Honda for the 2021 model year has toughened the look of its Ridgeline compact pickup, long noted for excellent ride quality.

Tired of hearing little praise for the Ridgeline’s other characteristics, Honda execs ordered a redesign of the front, from the A pillar forward.

In addition to a larger and more bold grille in the restyling, prominent fender flares were added, HPD alloy wheels were finished in bronze and a new rear bumper shows off dual exhaust ends.

Maximum towing capacity, though, remains at 5,000 pounds, lowest among the seven compact pickup competitors. Several other makes exceed 7,000 pounds.

“Ours is not the most robust in its class, but we feel it’s more than enough for what segment customers might tow,” is a Honda statement, perhaps pretentious.

At a stop at Daltile out on E. 42^nd Ave., Denver, a forklift operator loaded 830 pounds of shower wall and floor tile into the bed of the Ridgeline. Payload for the truck is class-leading 1,583 pounds, so even adding the weights for Jan and me, left 400 or more pounds of freight capacity. Bed size in the Honda is 60 inches long and 50 wide; beneath the floor at the rear is a deep-well trunk, with drain.

The performance from the Ridgeline in carrying the load was very good; beneath the hood is a 280-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 with variable cylinder management, 9-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. Paddleshifters are linked to its push-and-pull electronic gear selector.

It maintained 75-miles-per-hour speed on I-25 when called for; its adaptive cruise was right on with distance control in the busy lanes of the highway.

Fuel mileage average for a week of driving, split equally between in-city and on-highway, was 22.1 mpg, with a 19.5-gallon fuel tank; its EPA estimate is 18/24.

The Ridgeline is of unibody construction, with MacPherson strut front shocks and multilink rear suspension. The four-door pickup is 210 inches in length on wheelbase of 125.2 inches. Curb weight is 4,510 pounds.

Beginning price for the Ridgeline AWD Sport is $37,665, with sticker price of $42,035. Base prices for the three higher trim levels are $40,465 for the RTL, $43,595 for the RTL-E and $45,095 for the Black Edition.

Among items included as standard for the Sport trim are Apple CarPlay/Android Auto integration and Bluetooth hands-free link, LED headlights with auto-high beam, dual action tailgate and remote engine start.

Also standard are lane-keeping assist and road-departure mitigation, part of the Honda Sensing safety and driver-assistive technology.

Compact pickup competitors of the Ridgeline are the Chevrolet Colorado, Ford Ranger, GMC Canyon, Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma. First-quarter sales were

• 66,449 for the Tacoma,
• 24,166 for the Ranger,
• 24,083 for the Colorado,
• 18,882 for the Gladiator,
• 12,570 for the Ridgeline,
• 10,780 for the Frontier and
• 7,144 for the Canyon.

The Ridgeline is built at a Honda assembly plant in Lincoln, Ala.

Out-of-the-ordinary body styles showed up on a couple European luxury imports sent my way.

They’re the 2021 Audi A6 allroad quattro wagon and ’21 Mercedes AMG E53 two-door coupe.

The outstanding products are German-built – the Audi at Neckarsulm near Stuttgart, the Mercedes up north at Bremen near Denmark.

For the A6 allroad, it is a return after an absence of 15 years from U.S. showrooms. It’s not to be confused with the Audi A4 allroad, for the A6 is 7 inches longer, 400 pounds heavier and runs with 6-cylinder power to 4-cylinder for the smaller allroad. (A base version of the A6 can be bought with the 4-cylinder power).

A very smooth, strong, turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine, tied to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with quattro all-wheel drive, develops 335 horsepower. It averaged 25.3 miles per gallon in a combination of city/highway drives. It rides on Continental 245/45R20 tires.

The lengthy allroad sits low and offers an easier step-in than the SUV crossovers so popular today.

Among features are air suspension for added comfort and a lifted ride height (even an inclinometer to measure the vehicle’s tilt/roll/pitch angles), automatic soft-close doors, an upper 10-inch touchscreen for infotainment and navigation and lower 8-inch for climate control, Bang & Olufsen sound, 360-degree camera, automated emergency braking and lane-departure warning.

A $4,500 Prestige package raised sticker price of the Audi A6 allroad to $71,990. It included dual-pane acoustic glass, head-up display, rear cross-traffic alert, cooled front seats and heated rear seats, manual rear-side-window sunshades.

A chief competitor for the A6 allroad is the Volvo V90 crosscountry wagon.

AMG E53 Coupe

The sleek AMG E53 is a true coupe, with two doors and slope back.

Performance is built around a turbocharged inline-6-cylinder, enhanced by Mercedes’ AMG unit, and producing 429 horsepower and 384 lb.-ft.  of torque. Move the 9-speed automatic shifter into Sport mode, kick it a bit and enjoy breathtaking results.

The electrified inline-6 is supported by an EQ Boost, generating power for the 48-volt system, combining a starter motor and alternator in an electric motor between the engine and tranny/4Matic all-wheel drive. An electric auxiliary compressor builds immediate torque for acceleration until the exhaust-gas turbo takes over.

The Benz’s grand interior offers form-fitting black buckets of perforated leather trimmed in red, with metal-weave embellishment across the dash cover.

Noontime one day we met friends Ted and Shirley King for lunch at Cheddars in Northglenn, heading in on U.S. 85 and back to home base via I-25. Riding on 19-inch Michelins, the Mercedes averaged 22.6 miles per gallon (EPA estimate is 21/28).

Options boosted price of the E53 from base of $76,250 to sticker of $86,460. Among them were a heated performance steering wheel in nappa leather, performance exhaust, heated and ventilated front seats and driver assistance package of assists in steering, lane change, emergency stop, braking and blind-spot alert.

The role of gas/electric hybrids is fast-moving past its traditional major-domo status toward key player for several manufacturers in the intensely competitive automotive field.

The Honda Accord is an example. It is determined to “go the distance” in the face of the incessant decline in midsize-sedan sales.

As several makers either have abandoned or plan to abandon that part of the market, Accord and its principal rival, the Toyota Camry, go “full speed ahead” with expansion and advancements midsizewise.

The Accord Hybrid, in particular, has made great strides in 2021, based on a more brisk throttle response and an impressive rise in fuel efficiency, a combo that can’t fail, at least in today’s market.

While the traditional Accord is powered by a 1.5-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder, the Accord Hybrid is more powerful with its naturally aspirated 2.0-liter, Atkinson-cycle 4-cylinder and electric motors. The hybrid operates with 20 more horsepower, 40 more lb.-ft. of torque and is far more fuel-efficient. It has a fuel-tank range of up to 600 miles.

This advantage even against the fact the curb weight of the hybrid, with its battery pack and assorted equipment, is 3,446, 200 pounds heavier than the standard Accord.

A two-motor hybrid system – one for propulsion and the other a generator/starter motor – is seamlessly switched between EV electric, hybrid and the internal-combustion engine for maximum efficiency and necessary power.

With a switch to sport mode, the driver very quickly feels the increased tempo and responsiveness from the powertrain.

Aided by an easy 100-mile drive into Denver and back, the Accord averaged 44.4 miles per gallon in overall use in my possession. Its EPA estimate is 44 in the city and 41 on highway. The transmission is continuously variable and emits some whine on aggressive acceleration demands. The 6-speed manual transmission has been dropped for the Accord.

The big four-door is comfortable and roomy, and its trunk is a generous-sized 16.7 cubic feet. For 2021, updates were made to the Accord grille, LED headlights, foglights and radar unit integration, along with rear-seat reminder and low-speed braking control.

The Touring is the most upscale of the four trim levels for the hybrid. Lesser equipped are Base, EX and EX-L.

The $37,435 sticker price for the Accord Hybrid Touring includes remote engine start, walk-away auto lock, heated and ventilated front leather seats and heated rear seats, premium audio display with navigation/Buetooth/wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto integration, wireless phone charger, head-up display and power moonroof.

Honda Sensing security includes adaptive cruise control, collision-mitigation braking, lane-keeping assist and road-departure mitigation.

The Accord sedan was introduced to the U.S. market in 1976 as a ’77 model and the Accord Hybrid was added in 2005.

The 2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat is the most powerful SUV in the country; well, most powerful in the world, I guess. Its supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi Hellcat V-8 generates 710 horsepower and 645 lb.-ft. of torque. It will attain 180-miles-per-hour speeds and tow 8,700 pounds.

So, what was it doing in Estes Park on a Saturday afternoon in December?

It carried Jan and me west out of Greeley, through Loveland and into Big Thompson Canyon past the Dam Store. Oh, my gosh, the roar of the exhausts between the rock walls of the Narrows, even at the relatively tame miles-per-hour pace, was awesome (in my opinion). On up the canyon I drove, paddle-shifting between 4^th, 5^th and 6^th gears to keep pace in the busy line of automobiles.

The silver-colored Durango, with the under-hood valve covers of orange hue, a favorite for Hemis 60 years ago, rolled into a somewhat nostalgic scene along Estes Park’s Main Street, almost defying the facts of the country’s pandemic. Happy shoppers, it seemed, some masked, some not, in and out of the stores and filling the sidewalks; lots of packages and shopping bags.

Our only departure of the Hellcat was a couple miles above the village, long enough for a photo of the Durango, then slowly back through Main Street and eventually, back home.

In a setting far from downtown shoppers on another day, I clocked a 4.2-seconds 0-to-60 time in the Durango. This was a blink-of-an-eye slower than a 3.9-seconds time I recorded with an ’18 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk with a 707-hp Hellcat engine.

For the ’21 Durango, this is the year of the Hellcat, and the only year; it won’t be available in the Dodge SUV after the 2021 model year. Hellcat engines were originally offered only in the Dodge Charger and Challenger models, later added to the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and this fall to the Ram TRX and Durango.

While base price on the Durango Hellcat is $80,995, sticker price soared to $93,150 with optional Laguna leather seats, full-speed forward-collision warning, adaptive cruise control, rear DVD, suede headliner, Harman Kardon sound and red seat belts.

The week preceding the Hellcat testing, I drove the ’21 Dodge Durango R/T AWD model, sticker priced at $66,650. Since the R/T was equipped with the 360-hp Hemi V-8, this indicates a sizable chunk of the $27,000 difference in price from the Hellcat is the 710-hp engine.

One of the toughest of Land Rovers, after a 23-year absence from the U.S., is back.

The Land Rover Defender 110, for which roots date to the original LR in1950, fits the role of terrain tamer and is pitted against Jeep Wrangler, Toyota Land Cruiser, Mercedes Gelaendewagen and a couple others as super offroaders.

Built on Land Rover’s new all-aluminum D7x platform, the Defender is equipped with a powerful turbocharged, inline-6-cylinder of 395 horsepower and 408 lb.-ft. of torque, mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission with selectable driving and offroad modes. In Sport, tap shifter up or down for manual-mode swiftness. A direct-front camera aids its 4X4 prowess.

The Defender is built on a lengthy, 119-inch wheelbase; yet, in overall length it is the shortest of the six Land Rover/Range Rover models. From shortest to lengthiest overall are the Defender at 170.2 inches, the Range Rover Evoque at 172.1, the Land Rover Discovery Sport 181, Range Rover Sport 192.1, Land Rover Discovery 195.1 and the flagship Range Rover 196.9.

The five-passenger Defender sent my way was finished in tasman blue, a color particularly well-suited to the structurally tough-looking sport ute, with white top. The classic blue color was used on Range Rovers from 1982 to ’87. In restyling, the square body of old has given way to a new grille and softening along the sides. The back end is chopped off at the rear corners as though to retain a bit of the traditional squared-off appearance.

With Jan, Bill and Kathy Allen aboard, I headed the Land Rover out northeast on a Saturday afternoon on a smooth drive (air suspension) 75 miles along Colo.  392 and 14. We slowed only on arrival at our destination, Stoneham and Dewey’s Bar and Grill, where we joined Jon and Nancy Weaver and Will and Jody Kulp of Greeley for dinner. On leaving a couple hours later, I visited with two other couples from our area who had driven to the “prime-rib specialty house,” Ron and Madge Randell of Greeley and Darrel and Debbie Dilley of LaSalle.

Overall fuel-mileage average for the Defender was 20.3 mpg; its EPA estimate is 17/22. Premium fuel is recommended. Its 360-mile test included another drive – to Denver – and lots of stop-and-go city maneuvering.

Added to that was some offroading to get a feel for the Defender’s Terrain Response system, which is engaged by touching a button on the center stack, then pushing in the driver-side heater temperature control knob (yes, that is correct) and dialing in the proper terrain setting among normal, rock crawl, mud and ruts, grass/gravel/snow, sand and wade, for traversing low-spot water in roadways or small streams.

The turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 is very responsive, plenty strong; yet, for the 2022 model year, Land Rover will add a 518-horsepower, supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 engine to both the 110 and the 90 two-door.

From a base price of $63,275, the 2020 Defender 110 SE climbed to sticker of $71,025 by adding adaptive cruise with stop-and-go, heated steering wheel and washer jets, configurable terrain response, electronic active differential, Goodyear Wrangler 255/60R20 tires, satellite radio and premium cabin lighting.

British-based, the Defender is built in Slovakia.

As the 2021 Buick Envision showed up in my driveway, after I’d cleared the snow, I was impressed with its appearance – lower and wider than last year, finished in cinnabar metallic, with dark 20-inch wheels and dark-gloss grille and chrome inserts.

I’d not seen any of the redesigned Envisions on the roads and I was looking forward to one after this e-mail:

“We’d love to give you access for a week in one of our upscale 2021 Buick Envision models,” sent to me from Shauna Sichi of General Motors Communications West Coast in Los Angeles.

It is the 2021 Buick Envision Essence, a luxury compact SUV crossover, with new design, interior and powertrain. But, heck, the one delivered was of front-wheel-drive configuration (all-wheel drive is an $1,800 option). Why send a FWD crossover into Colorado in the middle of the winter?

No matter, though, I said I would drive it and I was happy to do so – 350 miles during the week.

The Envision is built in China, at a General Motors’ plant in Yantail, southeast of Beijing. Buick in the early days of the 20^th century established its legacy in China as a prestigious automobile, and as recent as 2013 sold more than 800,000 vehicles over there.

Highlighting the new Envision is a more fuel-efficient 2.0-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder of direct-injection and stop/start technology. Mated to a 9-speed automatic transmission, it develops 228 horsepower and 258 lb.-ft. of torque; somewhat slow off the line, it performs with good thrust midrange, and earns an EPA estimate of 24/31 in FWD form. I averaged 26.8 miles per gallon overall; two years ago with a ’19 Envision, my overall average was 20.5. Fuel tank capacity is 16.1 gallons; premium unleaded is recommended.

Builders of the Buick see the major competitors of the Envision here at home as domestic rival Lincoln Corsair and Japanese-based compacts Acura RDX and Infiniti QX50. Three quality compacts from Germany, the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes GLC, are higher-priced.

The new Envision is an inch longer in wheelbase, 2 inches wider and overall height is 3 inches lower than last year. Inside, its center stack is tilted toward the driver, features a 10.2 infotainment center and below that the electronic shifter with push and pull buttons.

The Envision’s rear cargo space of 25 cubic feet tightens somewhat when compared with the three designated rivals – Infiniti with 31.4 feet, Acura with 29.5 and Lincoln 27.6.

The Essence is the middle of three trim levels for Envision; its sticker price reached $41,315 with addition of a technical package of head-up display, Bose audio, navigation and sport touring package of the dark wheels and grille and black roof rails.

Among standard safety features are automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, forward-collision alert and auto high beams.

Items of added concern, in addition to the coronavirus, seem to pop up fairly frequent these days.

For instance, the newest test-drive is a Jeep, and preceding its delivery I receive a note that the parent company is now “Stellantis,” rather than Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). “Stellantis,” with two “l’s,” a result of the combining of Peugeot and FCA groups.

It’s still Jeep, I say of the review model at my door. Stellantis represents 14 brand names, so take pause, perhaps, with Citroen or Vauxhall, but don’t mess with Jeep.

Regarding Stellantis, just how deep will the Chrysler name be buried? My family’s ties to Chrysler date back to 1935, when my father was granted the franchise for Chrysler/Plymouth automobiles at Wray, Colo., four years before receiving the same status for Ford cars and trucks (and tractors).

I was sitting in the newsroom of the old Denver Post building in July 1978, when Henry Ford II fired Lee Iacocca as president of Ford Motor Co. That created the opportunity for Iacocca to step in and save a floundering Chrysler Corp. So many changes with Chrysler in the years since; what would Mr. Iacocca say of Stellantis, were he around today?

The Jeep’s fired up and running and within a couple minutes I hear from its Alpine audio system, “General Motors to go all-electric by 2035.” A powerful statement, but full effect is 14 years down the road, and there will be lots of bends and unexpected detours. Buckle up, hang on and enjoy the ride.

It’s the 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon 4X4 pickup, equipped with the Ram/Jeep 3.0-liter V-6 turbocharged diesel engine and 8-speed automatic 8HP75 transmission. Another point of discussion is the fact that the turbodiesel/transmission package adds $6,000 to the cost of the Gladiator. Is it worth that? We’ll see.

I’ve been a fan of the Mopar ecodiesel. It was just a year ago I drove it in the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, prior to that in the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500.

The 3.0-liter diesel delivers 442 lb.-ft. of torque, with 260 horsepower. The Gladiator is a performer with the strong low-end torque. The Rubicon trim adds Fox offroad shocks, locking front and rear axles, electronic sway-bar disconnect, rock rails and skid plates; its Falken Wildpeak 33-inch mud-terrain tires are ultra-grippers.

When you get right down to it, the Gladiator won’t crawl and squeeze through the narrow trails to the extent of the Wrangler for the pickup’s longer wheelbase ‑ 1½ feet longer than that of the four-door Wrangler Unlimited.

Like a Wrangler, the Gladiator’s front-seat overhead panels are removed easily with twisting of latches; remainder of roof and doors are removable, too, and the windshield is the fold-down type.

Fuel economy jumps from 17/22 with the gasoline V-6 to 21/27 with the ecodiesel. My overall average with the Gladiator was 21.7, dominated by some offroading and lots of stop-and-go and turns and twists.

With the ecodiesel price boost, the Gladiator’s sticker climbed to $66,025; beginning price is $43,875. It competes against Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger, Chevy Colorado, Nissan Frontier and GMC Canyon in the compact/midsize pickup category.