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.

Sporting Toyota’s newest color of solar octane, a vivid and bright orange, the 2023 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro pickup carried us out north on a late November afternoon, then off to the east through some dryland ranch country before returning home.

The next morning was snow time (5 inches deep), lending better test of the Tacoma’s TRD Pro setup of 4-wheel drive/traction control/electronic locking differential and 9.4-inch ground clearance. We had no trouble handling the winter blast; Tacoma is one of the best 4X4 systems among compact pickups.

Among major competitors for the Tacoma are the Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier, GMC Canyon, Chevrolet Colorado and Ford Ranger. The Tacoma is the best-seller.

In line inside the A&W at Eaton for a bit of lunch at the start of our drive up northeast, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman wearing a Colorado School of Mines sweatshirt. Dave Scriven, president of Western States Mining Consultants of Casper, Wyo., was on his way home from Golden, where on Saturday he watched the Mines’ Orediggers outlast Minnesota State, 48-45, in the NCAA Division II football second round.

Scriven, who played football for Mines in the late 1960s and received his degree in 1970, was driving a Ford F250 turbodiesel. He seemed very knowledgeable of the automotive field and we were in agreement that the F250 among full-size pickup trucks and the Tacoma among compacts were standouts.

A resounding point of dissent, though, came from him when I ventured an opinion that, with the rush of electric cars and trucks to the U.S. market, those traditional internal-combustion-engine-powered autos will share a 50/50 split in sales with the new electrics for some time.

Scriven doubts that will develop; “We (the U.S.) don’t have enough electricity to support such a transition of electrics,” he said. I enjoyed the exchange and wished Scriven and his Mines gridders “best of luck down the road.”

As for the ’23 Tacoma review model I was driving, it is equipped with TRD-tuned Fox internal bypass shocks, front skid plates and front and rear suspension lift. It is extremely capable offroad, though it lacks instant low-gear rpm performance from either its base 159-horsepower, 4-cylinder engine or its optional 278-hp, V-6. Its 6-speed automatic transmission seems dated, also. A 6-speed manual tranny is available with the high-end TRD Pro trim. The review model, with the V-6, averaged 18.6 miles per gallon overall (EPA estimate is 18-22).

Toyota’s sticker price on the Tacoma TRD Pro climbed to $51,229 with the offroad enhancements, dynamic radar cruise and lane-departure alert, leather-trimmed heated front seats and premium audio touchscreen with subwoofer and amplifier. Lesser-equipped Tacoma 4X4’s begin in the low $30,000s. The Tacoma was built in Guanajuato, Mexico.

While townspeople will “ooh” and “ahh” over the bright orange color, it might be best to park it far from the duck blind on those cold winter mornings for hunting.

By Bud Wells

(About this time 25 years ago, just before Thanksgiving 1997, I drove a 1998 Chevrolet Blazer four-door in a heavy snowstorm. Following are excerpts from the review:)

When I picked up a ’98 Blazer on a Friday morning from Luby Chevrolet, it had begun to snow. The snow was soon measured in feet, rather than inches. Who could have guessed the severity with which the storm would sock us?

The Blazer’s long been (since going to the compact size in the ‘80s) a great-handling sport utility, and its snow capabilities have impressed me on a couple of occasions. This was its biggest test.

An electronic push-button makes it easy-shifting into and out of four-wheel-drive mode. Insta-Trac’s 4-Lo got us away from the house Saturday, through the 2 ½-foot-deep snow and into the middle of the street. 4-Hi got us through the 1 ½-foot-deep snow in the driving lane in the middle of the streets.

The push-button immediately puts the Blazer in and out of 4-Hi. For shifting into 4-Lo’s “crawl through the snow” mode, the vehicle must be stopped and in neutral.

Reduce by a foot or two the Blazer’s relatively wide (39 ½ feet) turning circle and it would be ideal for getting about the city in heavy snow. It has smooth power from the long-dependable Vortec 4300 V-6 engine (190 horsepower).

The Blazer was the upgraded LT model, with sticker price of $31,446. New power remote sideview mirrors with defogger are an LT feature, an electronically tuned AM/FM/CD system highlighted other options. The redesigned instrument panel has turned air-heat and sound controls15 degrees toward the driver for easier access.

The automatic transmission shift lever has been relocated to the steering column from the floor console, increasing footroom for front-seat occupants, though the hump from the transfer case still intrudes on foot space for the passenger. The vehicle has easy step-in height.

I averaged 12.8 miles per gallon in four days of deep-snow driving (EPA rating is 16-20). The  4.3-liter V-6 is the only engine available for the Blazer. The four-door specifications include 107-inch wheelbase, 183.3 length, 4,050-pound curb weight and 18-gallon fuel tank.

In picking up the new vehicle from Lisa Fleischman, I got a look at the finishing touches of a remodeling project at Luby Chevrolet on South Wadsworth Boulevard, where the business moved in the 1970s after operating in downtown Denver since 1920.

Blazer competes with Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner and Isuzu Rodeo.

Ford casts a huge shadow with its new Bronco Raptor.

It’s big and wide. How wide? A fraction short of 86 inches; that’s 10 inches wider than a standard Bronco.

And it stands 6 ½ feet tall.

It rides on 37-inch tires ‑ 37X12.50R17LT B.F.Goodrich All-Terrains.

The Raptor is a ground-gainer for Ford in the newly revived Jeep/Bronco rivalry. A challenger to the Bronco Raptor is the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392, lifted 2 inches with upgraded shocks, topped off with a 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 squeezed under the hood.

The 5,730-pound Raptor is equipped with a 3.0-liter V-6, tied to a 10-speed automatic transmission, putting out 418 horsepower and 415 lb.-ft. of torque. Derived from Ford’s 2.7-liter EcoBoost, it’s a V-6 twin-turbocharged, direct-injection engine created by increasing the 2.7’s cylinder bore from 83 millimeters to 85.3 and by lengthening piston stroke by 3 millimeters to 86.

Smoothness seems most dominant and satisfactory with the Ford 3.0-liter, particularly in midrange power, until a deep push into the throttle offers a surprisingly strong, quick response.

Atop the center console, convenient for the driver, is a terrain management system dial G.O.A.T. (goes over any type of terrain) which selects drive modes from Normal/Sport/TowHaul/Slippery/Offroad/Baja/ Rock Crawl. Magnesium paddle shifters add to the fun experience of manual-mode performance. Sport mode, for instance, increases pedal response and steering feel; Slippery lowers throttle response and optimizes shifting for the conditions.

The Raptor’s ground clearance of 13 inches and long-travel suspension lend it traction over passages in the back woods that may turn back competitors. Ford claims the vehicle is capable of fording stream depth up to 3 feet (don’t try this).

In addition to a relatively short, offroad climb and some in-town maneuvers, we drove to Sterling for a visit with sister Norma Wagner, recuperating from a fractured hip. A niece, Jana Lock, who drives a Ford Expedition, saw what we were driving, climbed into the driver’s seat, proclaimed it an immediate favorite.

That 200-mile highway drive and another 100 miles from roundtrip to Denver, brought fuel-mileage readings of 17-plus mpg. The slower times, offroad and about town, were in the 14 to 15-mpg range.

Mounted to a swing gate at the rear is a spare wheel/tire and brake light which extend into the back-glass area, hindering view directly behind. A 360-degree camera is handy, and when backing the rearview camera turns on automatically.

Its exterior finish in eruption green metallic with Raptor graphics makes the big vehicle stand out among others. Amber daytime running lights emphasize the large FORD lettering at the grille.

Raptor fender flares, equipment and graphics added $3,770 to the $68,500 base price of the 2022 Bronco four-door Advanced 4X4. Sticker total reached $78,090, with other options beadlock wheels, interior carbon fiber pack, orange seatbelts and keyless entry.

In its 70^th year, the Chevy Corvette defies the combination of aging, on the one hand, and the rush to electrics, at the other.

The opportunity to drive the 2023 Corvette Stingray Coupe 2LT reminded me of the excellent job of refinement Chevrolet has accomplished with the iconic sports car.

Sporting a Z51 performance package, the new Vette is beautifully sculpted with finely finished interior, is very quick, its roof panel can be removed, and, it is, perhaps, the most comfortable of this class of swift cars.

Roaring performance comes from a 495-horsepower/470-torque, 6.2-liter mid-engine V-8, mated to an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. Power direction runs from the driver rearward to the engine, conveniently situated at the rear-drive axle.

Z51 firms up suspension, with Brembo brakes and Michelin Pilot Sport 20s at the rear, 19s in front. No need to angle into the driveway to avoid scraping bottom of air dam; push a button and the Vette’s front is lifted several inches for clearance.

Today’s super performance is a contrast with the very slow launch the Corvette experienced 70 years ago. I remember, for I was a high schooler when it was introduced in ’53. Production didn’t begin until June; that was kind of late for a ’53 model, and only 300 were built.

The following year, after production was moved from Flint, Mich., to St. Louis, only 3,600 ‘54s were built, and many sat unsold on dealer lots by year’s end. For all its racy looks, the Vette had little under the hood – a 150-horsepower, 6-cylinder engine and 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission.

Ford in 1955, with its new two-seater sports car, the Thunderbird, with sales of 16,000 nearly blew away the Corvette. But Ford was concerned with other models, such as the Edsel and a retractable hardtop, and let the T-Bird two-seater grow into a four-passenger auto, and, you know the rest of that story. There is no T-Bird today.

In the meantime, Chevy stayed the course, installing a V-8 in the Vette in ’55, adding a Stingray style a few years later, and was on its way to creating “the American sports car.”

I was one of 1,200 persons who filed in out of the rain at the old Russell Industrial Center in Detroit on the night of Jan. 13, 2013, for the unveiling of the new 2014 Corvette, and revival of the use of the Stingray name. It was the eve of the North American International Auto Show. Such a crowd, shoulder to shoulder much of the evening.

The 2023 Corvette drew attention in Johnstown parked at the home of Dale and Sandy Wells following a golf tourney earlier in the day. Among attendees, Steve Chmelka asked at the right time and enjoyed a ride, proclaiming it “a brilliant sports car and priced somewhat below most others.”

Absorbing $6,345 for the Z51 performance package and $2,260 for the front-lift adjustable height raised sticker price to $83,965 from a base of $69,200.

Among sidelights: Minda Carmann, a friend and former workmate of mine, and her parents-in-law Ken and Kathy Carmann liked the looks of the new Vette in a short session with Jan and me in Brighton; EPA estimate is 16/24, my overall average was 17.3; the Stingray won’t shift into gear until driver seat belt is engaged; the rear trunk area is large enough for a set of golf clubs, up-front in the frunk is room for a couple of travel bags.

The 2022 Mercedes EQB350 all-electric SUV awaited me at 7:20 a.m. on an October Friday; I slipped into the pilot seat heading to Denver for breakfast with some old driver friends.

The EQB is a compact, smaller and much lesser-equipped than the full-sized EQS electric I reviewed in March.

Settled into the very firmly bolstered seatback, the EQB provided me the quiet ride expected in a luxury electric SUV. It is quick of steering and very responsive in performance. I left my house toward Colo. 60 and Platteville, then turned south on U.S. 85.

Almost instantly on feeding the address into the navigation system, it provided a mapped route and suggested I would be to my destination a couple minutes past 9.

That destination is the Original Pancake House – Cherry Hills out south on University Boulevard, Greenwood Village, where awaiting me were seven retired men who spent some years driving for the agencies which provide new cars and trucks for my automotive reviews in The Denver Post. They are Richard Husted, Lorren Ballard, Jim Boonstra, Pat Leonard, Ken Ruter, Roger VanStedum and Keith Warner. Also there as invitees were Melissa Schulte and Brooke Mutzbauer of Elk Grove Custom Homes.

A 70.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack when fully charged delivers a driving range of 229 miles for the EQB 4Matic. The drive of 136 miles to the restaurant and back to Greeley resulted in a 159-mile reduction from the battery.

Much of the excess miles drawn from the battery occurred during the return trip, in which the U.S. 85 miles from the early drive were replaced with 10-12 miles-per-hour faster speeds on the return on I-25 as far as the Loveland interchange. Speeds near 80 seem to deplete battery charge at a higher rate than below 70 mph. The battery is covered with a Mercedes warranty of 8 years/100,000-miles.

I boosted range in the Mercedes at a charger in the parking lot at a Village Inn at Greeley, adding about 125 miles in 30 minutes for a cost of $22.90, including a parking charge of $1.50.

The 2-row, 5-passenger EQB, assembled in Kecskemet, Hungary, comes in at $60,100, just half the $122,000 sticker on the high-end EQS I reviewed in March. An optional third row is available on the EQB, but it becomes very tight in space.

An adjustable regenerative braking system is standard on the Mercedes. What is missing are lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist, both are optional. Most luxury electrics and even cheaper models I’ve driven have been equipped with those two safety features.

The EQB350 is relatively heavy with curb weight of 4,718 pounds; overall length is 184.4 inches. Its front and rear electric motors combine for 288 horsepower and 384 lb.-ft. of torque. Driver can select among Comfort, Sport and Eco modes.

An interior highlight is the 64-color ambient lighting; also standard are panoramic roof, power liftgate and backup camera.

The EQB is rated at 98 city/93 highway in MPGe (miles-per-gallon of gasoline-equivalent, an EPA unit of measurement for the electric car’s energy-consumption level).