Author Archive: Nick Yost
Nick has been an avid observer of all things automotive almost since birth and has been writing professionally about cars, trucks and the industry for more than 30 years.
He is the author of The Essential Hybrid Car Handbook and was the long-time automotive editor for the Reading (Pa.) Eagle and Times. His articles have appeared in a variety of magazines, including The Robb Report and Men’s Health, and he has written for a variety of auto industry-related Web sites.
He is also a member and former director of the International Motor Press Assn., a New York-based organization of more than 500 automotive journalists and auto industry executives.
2013 Jeep Patriot road test: Capable in some ways, flawed in others
The 2013 Jeep Patriot is something of a mixed bag, disappointing in some ways and worthy of respect in others. The reason could simply be that the compact Patriot was born in 2007, a time when parent Chrysler was in a big financial hole and digging itself deeper all the time. Penny pinching was apparently [...]
2013 Hyundai Sonata road test: Family transportation with a flair
The importance of strong, memorable design in high-volume, mainstream automobiles is probably nowhere more evident than in the 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The current generation Sonata first reached showrooms as a 2011 model, replacing a reasonably competent sedan that was so blandly conservative it probably no longer registers in the minds of many family-car buyers. When [...]
2014 Subaru Forester road test: More frugal, more agile, more fun
Maverick Japanese manufacturer Subaru has built a loyal following and a successful business producing vehicles slightly out of the mainstream, but the new, fourth generation 2014 Subaru Forester is aimed directly at the heart of the compact crossover market. True, it is still powered by a non-traditional, horizontally opposed (Boxer) four-cylinder engine and comes only [...]
2014 Range Rover Sport introduction: A promise of more than ever before
NEW YORK — Pretty much nothing has been left untouched in the upgrade of the powerful 2014 Range Rover Sport premium sport-utility vehicle, automotive journalists learned during Press Days at the recent New York International Automobile Show. It is, according to Range Rover executives, sleeker, faster, significantly lighter, more fuel-efficient, more roadworthy and more off-road [...]
2013 GMC Acadia Denali road test: Roomy and luxurious family hauler
Perhaps the best way to explain the refreshed 2013 GMC Acadia Denali is simply to report that it’s got more of what it had before. The roomy top-of-the-line Acadia is a bit more luxurious than its predecessor, its revised styling is more up-to-date and better integrated, the interior is more versatile and it has some [...]
2013 Grand Cherokee SRT8 road test: Muscle, muscle and more muscle
The 2014 model will be on the road in a few weeks, so you just may be thinking that a report on the explosive 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 will not be particularly relevant at this point in time. But that is not necessarily so. True, the 2014 model will have an 8-speed transmission (up [...]
2013 Buick Encore road test: Cute, comfortable and easy to drive
The folks at Buick recently introduced a new baby, a cute compact crossover vehicle that they have named the 2013 Buick Encore. The Encore. available with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, brings to five the number of nameplates in the fast-growing family and puts Buick squarely in one of the most hotly contested segments of [...]
2013 Cadillac SRX road test: The best-seller just keeps getting better
You can’t tell much just by looking, but the 2013 Cadillac SRX crossover vehicle has changed a lot since it was introduced as a 2010 model. The big changes for the 2013 model year are not so obvious, so let’s start with them. On the outside, The front upper and lower grilles have been redesigned [...]
2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS road test: A little hatchback for the fun-loving driver
Hoping to enhance the growing popularity of its subcompact Sonic sedans and hatchbacks, Chevrolet has introduced the 2013 Sonic RS, a slightly more zesty addition to the lineup. A close relative to the most luxurious Sonic LTZ, the front-wheel-drive Sonic RS hatchback takes its place atop the lineup with all of the same comfort and [...]
2013 Buick Verano Turbo road test: Power upgrade adds fun factor to compact luxury sedan
Over the last 40 years or so, a number of Buicks could have been called sleepers (as in snooze inducing), but the 2013 Buick Verano Turbo is a sleeper of a very different kind. Instead of cradling its passengers in floaty, semi-soporific splendor, this compact luxury sedan pumps a little adrenaline into the experience, The [...]
