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A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

Driving the Chevy C8 Corvette Convertible, Polestar 1 and Porsche 718 Cayman T | Autoblog Podcast #649

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. Lately, they've been driving some pretty great cars, and one OK car. John's had the Chevy C8 Corvette Convertible and Polestar 1. Greg's been enjoying the Porsche 718 Cayman T. Jeremy's been testing the Buick Encore GX. After a long day of driving and writing, our editors like to enjoy a cold beer, and share some of their favorites for the fall. They also get an update from a listener about a winning recipe and a new plug-in hybrid purchase. Autoblog Podcast #649 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman T 2020 Polestar 1 2020 Buick Encore GX Fall beer fun (For those interested: Shakshuka recipe) Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

2019 Volvo V60 vs. wagon competitors: How they compare on paper

The next-gen Volvo V60 was finally revealed this week. The outgoing model has been on sale since 2011, getting a few minor updates along the way. The new model is based off Volvo's Scalable Platform Architecture that underpins other models like the XC90 and XC60 crossovers and V90 wagon. The V60 will launch with two engines, with a powerful hybrid coming sometime down the line. Since the last V60 hit the market, Audi, Buick and BMW have all released their own flavor of wagon. Like Volvo, BMW sells a traditional sedan-based model. Audi and Buick's wagons are both high-riding models with some very slight off-road pretense, much like Volvo's Cross Country models. We don't have details on the upcoming V60 Cross Country, but, even when accounting for ground clearance, the V60, BMW 3 Series Sport Wagon, A4 Allroad and Buick Regal TourX have a lot of overlap. Check out the specs breakdown below. Discover and compare other wagons and crossovers with our Car Finder and Compare tools. Engines, transmissions and drivetrains Out of the four wagons, the new V60 is the only one that offers two-wheel drive and a hybrid variant. The base V60 T5 uses a 250-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four and sends power to the front wheels. Stepping up to the V60 T6 nets buyers an additional 66 horsepower thanks to a twincharged — supercharged and turbocharged — 2.0-liter and all-wheel drive. A T8 model that uses a 390-horsepower plug-in hybrid powertrain will be available soon. All V60s use an eight-speed automatic. The Audi, BMW and Buick are all powered by 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-fours. Additionally, the 3 Series has a 2.0-liter turbo diesel. All three wagons have standard all-wheel drive. The BMW and Buick use an eight-speed automatic, while the Audi sends power through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. As base engines go, there's a four-horsepower difference between the most and least powerful models, though the Buick wins out on torque. The V60 T6 matches the Regal TourX's torque figure and trounces every competitor's horsepower rating. The V60 T8 packs more power and torque than any of the competition. Cargo and interior space The outgoing V60 was on the small side for a wagon. This new model rectifies that a bit, though its 48.2 cubic-feet of cargo space with the second-row folded is still substantially smaller than the competition.