If you like to have fun behind the wheel, this is for you. Unlike many people who learned to parallel park in a city, I learned to parallel park in the mountains of North Carolina. I’d been able to skip this skill in driver’s education, but if you want to park a car on the…
Rainbow Wishes and Magic Pony Dreams: 2020 Ford Mustang 2.3L Ecoboost Convertible
When we were girls, we dreamed of ponies. Cuddly and gentle with flowing manes and soft wet noses that twitched with excitement over apples and carrots. When we hit our mid-teens, many of us were ready to trade those 4-legged beauties for four wheels and an engine. A different kind of beauty. This week, I…
2022 Toyota GR 86 First Drive Review: Don’t Let This Sexy Little Sports Car Fool You: It’s Fun, Fast and Affordable
The Toyota GR 86 performs as good as it looks, and it looks really good. Sometimes I like to get behind the wheel and just drive. I turn off the music, open the windows, and listen to the rumble of the engine as it filters into the cabin. It’s “me” time, and taking it in…
2022 MINI Cooper Hardtop Makes Driving a Manual Transmission More Fun
The MINI John Cooper Works Hardtop is reason enough to learn to drive a manual transmission. It was an early Saturday morning in the fall of 1998 when my mom declared it was time for me to learn how to drive a stick shift. Despite my grumbling about how this was an unnecessary skill I…
USED: Sporty and Roomy? You can have both in the 2015 Mazda3
This article was written by Fadra Nally “Quick question – can you or your husband drive manual vehicles?” When I received an email asking if I was interested in reviewing several cars in the area, that was the sentence that caught my eye right away. Of COURSE, I can drive a stick. I don’t need a…
USED: 2018 Volkswagen Golf GTI: This Might Be the Best Car to Learn How to Drive a Manual
Learning to drive a stick shift… because I had to! Maybe your parents insisted you learn to drive a stick shift. Mine didn’t. Even with all the drivers in our household (I’m the oldest of 8), we didn’t have a manual vehicle other than a John Deere tractor on the farm until just before I…
Learning to Drive a Stick Shift? Here’s What You Need to Know First
Isn’t preparation the key to everything? You’ve talked about why drivers should learn to drive a stick shift: you’re more in command, you can avoid up-charges at car rental counters in foreign countries, it makes you a more in-tune driver. Plus, it’s a lot of fun. But then there are the reasons NOT to learn to…
A Quicker Heartbeat and a Bigger Grin: The Hyundai Elantra N and Kona N are Here
I don’t know of any other car that has grin mode, do you? “It’s not about power or RPMs,” says Albert Bierman, president, and head of research and development of Hyundai and Kia Motors, “It’s all about the grin on your face and your heartbeat” when he spoke passionately about the all-new 2022 Hyundai Elantra…
5 Reasons You’ll Want To Drive A Manual Transmission
I have always had a fascination with cars. So much so, that while growing up I was completely obsessed with the General Lee from the 70s/80s TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard. I could not wait to sit in front of the television each week to watch the vehicle fly through the air leaving Boss Hoss…
Honda Civic Si Review: What If An Inexpensive Stick Shift Sedan Could Actually Be Fun?
That’s what Honda thought, too. I’m pretty sure anyone who saw me driving the 2020 Honda Civic Si thought I was driving my son’s car or I was having a mid-life crisis. It’s not really the car for a mom from the ‘burbs. (Maybe it’s the sport spoiler on the trunk the gives it away,…