Did you know that 85% of car purchase decisions are made by women?
That’s why we were honored to take part in a purely female drive event in Southern California recently where we had the opportunity to see, touch and drive a handful of amazing cars. On the roster was a variety of vehicles. There was the economical and cute and completely redesigned Honda HR-V, a couple of electric cars, the Volvo C40 Recharge and the Kia EV6. There was even the luxurious all-new Lexus RX and an ultra-luxury SUV, the Aston Martin DBX. Which one would you pick? I’m counting down my five picks for you, along with a couple of notable additions.
Related: Driving the Aston Martin DBX Once Is to Risk Never Having an Experience Like This Again
5. 2023 Nissan Z
This little rocket ship will surprise and delight you with its powerful engine in a compact package. I especially enjoyed the manual transmission on the winding California canyon drive, while a nine-speed automatic is available. While it only seats two, it’s the perfect fun car even if it’s not going to suit your daily family driving needs. This all-new 7th generation Z, lovingly originally named ‘Fairlady Z’ back in 1969, has impressive styling and I fell hard for this silver paint color even though my usual choice for a sports car would be bright color. With 400 horsepower and a tiny car, you will rocket your way around town enjoying solo drives as there is no room for the kids in the car. Price: $49,990.
Related: 30-Minute Test Drive: 2023 Nissan Z Will Make You Smile Again and Again.
4. 2022 Aston Martin DBX
You’d think this ultra luxury performance SUV would be higher up on my list, wouldn’t you? I know I thought it would be as well. But truthfully, for this amount of money, I want it to come with a live fire-breathing dragon. The exterior is stylish for an SUV body style while the Ultra Yellow sparkles like nothing I’ve seen ever before.
While the interior is beautiful, I found the gear selector buttons, which are high up on the center stack above the media screen to be awkward and a bit out of reach as they’re spaced apart in such a way that made it clunky to go from Park into Drive and Reverse. Perhaps that’s something that taller person may not notice. The interior finishes are beautiful and feel incredibly premium, as you should expect. The starting price of the DBX is $185,900, the model I tested was $229,286.
Related: Driving the Aston Martin DBX Once Is to Risk Never Having an Experience Like This Again
3. 2022 Kia EV6 All-Electric
When the Kia EV6 entered the electric car scene, I immediately loved the look of it. Even though it’s been available for a little while now, I still had not had the chance to drive this one until this event. I truly love electric cars and while I enjoyed the EV6’s ‘cousin’ the Hyundai Ioniq 5, I prefer the overall styling of the EV6. I was not disappointed!
The interior is premium with a lot of technology and great interface that all feels very driver-focused. The screen wraps around and faces the driver, and you can easily reach everything on the floating center console. Seats and seating comfort have become something I’m taking note of more recently and I find the Kias I’ve been driving recently to be incredibly comfortable, including the Kia Sportage. The head-rest on the EV6 sticks out a little bit and just fit my body perfectly. The seating surfaces are also soft and very comfortable.
The EV6 has a range of 310 miles for its rear-wheel drive model and 282 for the is all-wheel drive. The starting price for the Kia EV6 is $41,400.
Related: The First Ever Kia EV6 is the Electric Car You’ve Been Waiting For
2. 2022 Volvo C40 Recharge All-electric
If you want a sporty drive and love beautiful European styling, and you’d like to jump into electric driving, the Volvo C40 Recharge is perfect for you. It’s pretty much identical to the larger XC40 SUV from Volvo, but it’s a little sexier looking in a crossover body. I love the slopped roofline, and although it does reduce sight-lines and headroom in the backseat, I think the looks is worth the tradeoff.
The gorgeous shade of Fjord Blue exterior is brought inside with blue carpeting throughout, even on the doors. I also like that there is no leather whatsoever on this interior, making it a little more eco-friendly.
The C40’s all-electric range is 220 miles. I enjoyed the one-pedal drive on this helping extend battery life and I absolutely love the power of a dual-motor all-wheel drive 402 horsepower drive! The price: $55,300
Related: Volvo Charges into the Electric Era with the 2022 Volvo C40 Recharge
1. My Winner: 2023 Lexus RX500h
My number one pick from the Heels & Wheels drive event would have to be the all-new Lexus RX500h. It just has everything that I love going for it. It is beautifully styled, it has all-new tech, the 500h model is performance based yet with hybrid power.
This color is called Copper Crust and it’s truly stunning. I am not sure I have ever seen quite such a beautiful color on a car. It may look rose gold in some lights, with pinkish tones. I fell in love with this overall design too, some say the Lexus Grille is too giant but I think the black on this color is an amazing combination and doesn’t look too big at all.
Lexus did away with the touchpad and the RX now has a large touchscreen, which I much prefer.
Some other cool technology to note are the door handles which are buttons behind the handle, and the door handle doesn’t actually pull out. The interior door handle functions like a button as well, and the doors are auto-stopping if objects are detected, like oncoming traffic. The gear shift knob is also new and I found it to be a little quirky as I describe in my video below. The starting price of the Lexus RX500h is $47,070.
Pre-production model shown.
Related: There’s a new Lexus RX Hybrid SUV (or Gas, or Performance) for 2023, and It’s Everything a Makeover Should Be
Honorable Mentions: 2023 Cadillac Escalade V, 2023 Honda HR-V
Meanwhile, the new Cadillac Escalade V gets an honorable mention. I say this because the V is new for 2023 and it’s a performance (read: loud) version of the luxurious family-sized luxury SUV. You may just be the ‘growliest’ mom in the school pickup lane in this beast.
The newly-redesigned Honda HR-V compact SUV also gets an honorable mention from me because it’s an economical and cute entry into an SUV with a reliable name like Honda and more space than the outgoing model, this one is a practical choice overall.
Disclosure: I was hosted by Heels & Wheels in Santa Barbara, California. All opinions are my own.
