We do our best around here to provide sound consumer advice, which is why there shall be no stone left unturned and no consumer unrepresented in our efforts to be fully inclusive of the car-buying public. Let's say for instance you're interested in buying an SUV, but would really prefer it to be a hybrid. Fair enough, there's a decent number of those. Good ones, too.

Now, let's say it really needs to be a shade of reddish orange, or perhaps, orangey-red. Either way, it's gotta be right there in the magma spectrum. OK, this has gotten trickier. Also, you have anywhere between $28,000 and $200,000 to spend, the result of being both the millionaire inventor of some internet widget thing but also really pragmatic with an eye for good value. 

Everything you're about to see and read about the 2020 Honda Pilot and its interior storage applies to every trim level. However, this test was conducted on the new, range-topping Pilot Black Edition, which as the implies, blacks out virtually all exterior trim and makes the wheels black. Inside, since everything's awfully black to begin with, red is added to the seats and center console tray/cover.

To fully immerse myself in the mindset of a Black Edition owner, I dressed entirely in black (also, why not?) and brought along some suitably black beverage containers to fill the 16 cupholders. Oh and my wife's black purse. She's not using it these days anyway; didn't notice it was gone. 

Honda has refreshed the Civic Type R for the 2020MY with updated looks, a retuned chassis and new features, so have they done a good job?

The ever-increasing demand in crossovers and SUVs has led to the development of many three-row mid-size models. Think of them as the modern alternatives to the once popular minivans, but with so many of them out there, how do you choose the one that's perfect for you and your family?

At three years old, the 2020 Honda Civic Type R is getting its first midcycle refresh. You'll recognize it by its body color grille accents, a bigger grille opening and a little less mesh over some of the fake vents. But it's the mechanical tweaks and added features that make the newest Type R better than before in almost every way, and slightly worse in another.

Under the skin, Honda has focused on brakes and suspension. The new Type R now has two-piece rotors that Honda says dissipate heat better. While we didn't notice any major improvements on the street from the rotors, we were pleased by the new pedal tweaks. Travel has been reduced for more rapid response, which is clearly noticeable. There's basically no dead zone in the pedal anymore. It provides a firm, communicative feel, and it's a breeze to dial in the exact amount of stopping power you want.

It's easy to roll your eyes at many of the tiny "crossovers" that are flowing out of carmakers these days. Though marketed as crossovers and given a few token styling cues to go with a modest increase of ride and seat height, most are simply glorified hatchbacks. That description certainly applies to the 2020 Nissan Kicks, which doesn't even offer all-wheel drive to satisfy the crossover M.O. But here's the thing: Being a hatchback isn't bad, and the Kicks is quite a good one. It supplies a massive amount of space for a vehicle its size, comes with a wealth of safety features for a vehicle with its modest price, and doesn't feel like a penalty box to sit in or drive despite the hatchback reputation. For those seeking an efficient, inexpensive urban runabout that can swallow enough stuff for a weekend getaway, it makes a lot of sense.

Indeed, it makes more sense in that scenario than other subcompact "crossovers" that usually cost more and provide less space. Upper trim levels are also quite nicely adorned, with a few key trim pieces drawing your eyes away from understandably cheaper ones. However, there are reasons it's not a slam dunk. Nissan's engineers did their best to make the Kicks feel quick enough, but there's only so much one can do with a wheezy 122 horsepower. Its lack of all-wheel drive is another issue, and the unusual steering can frustrate. This is by no means a fun car to drive, and it's hardly a comfy, quiet, long-distance cruiser, either. So it's not perfect, but within the segment company it keeps, it doesn't need to be. 

The new generation Nissan Juke will arrive at dealers across Australia next month, but the company has already announced the pricing and specifications of the subcompact SUV for the local market.

We just drove the 2020 Nissan Frontier with its new 3.8-liter V6 and nine-speed automatic transmission, and today Nissan reveals the truck's price. In 2019, the base price on a new Frontier was $20,385. That was for a King Cab rear-wheel-drive four-cylinder with a five-speed manual transmission. For 2020, a King Cab with rear-wheel drive (base truck) starts at $27,885 with the $1,095 destination charge included. The price of progress.

The comparison is hardly a fair one, though. A 2019 King Cab SV with the old V6, rear-wheel drive and five-speed automatic was $27,105. The 2020 in the same configuration costs $28,765. That amounts to a $1,660 increase in price for the new V6, new transmission and a few extra standard features — not a terrible price to pay for the modern powertrain.

To date, the Volkswagen Atlas has managed to swallow more pieces of my luggage behind its raised third row than any other three-row crossover. The Hyundai Palisade came close as it was able to fit the four biggest bags in my travel arsenal. In this segment, I have also tested the Mazda CX-9 and Toyota Highlander, both of which are at the bottom of the segment in this one area. 

On paper, the Honda Pilot should be among that smallest group, providing 16.5 cubic-feet of space when the third row is raised. The Highlander is 16 cubic-feet, while the Palisade has 18 and the Atlas 20.6. In practice, however, the Pilot turns out to be far closer to those class leaders. Let's see why.

Of all the sporty compact cars out there, the 2020 Honda Civic Type R would seem to be the one that would have the most obnoxious exhaust note. It has oodles of scoops and vents, a towering rear wing and fat fender flares. And yet, as we discovered in the above video, it's actually soft-spoken.

The video showcases start up, moderate acceleration, downshifting during deceleration, full-throttle acceleration, and free revving, in that order. The overall volume in all situations is low, which is a bit of a shame, because the tone itself is pleasant. It's a smooth, slightly bass-y note shared with many factory performance Hondas. Perhaps that's not so surprising since the Type R still uses a variant of the venerable K-series four-cylinder to make its 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Stay tuned for more details on the new Type R in our upcoming first drive review.

Somewhere in Hiroshima, a parade of nearly finished Miatas glides along a track waiting to receive their beating hearts, the powertrains that'll let them ply their road-carving talents the world over. One – let's call him Fred – is eager to begin his new life as a 2020 Mazda MX-5 Miata, bringing joy to his future owner and just generally being awesome, even if the RF power targa-ish roof that's already been applied to him is a tad dweeby. Visions of hairpins and power slides and expertly executed heal-toe downshifts dance in his head … and then it happens. He is given the one thing every new Miata dreads: an automatic transmission. Poor guy.

This will not, entirely at least, be yet another diatribe in the ongoing Quixotic campaign to Save the Manuals(!). Automatic transmissions can be quite good and even beneficial in sports cars, especially on the track where removing the need to operate a clutch and expertly execute those heal-toe downshifts lets you better focus on the steering, what the chassis is doing and just going faster. That the computers can shift quicker than you can is another obvious advantage.

This is the Honda Civic Si Coupe, a sporty compact with a $25,200 MSRP in the United States, which is a more tamed variant of the full-blown Civic Type R hot hatch that starts at $36,995 and brings 306 HP to the party.

If you're one of the early 2020 Toyota Supra owners, you probably don't think too highly of the Japanese automaker right now.

The Acura NSX has been a special car as long as I've been in the business. The first one came out in 1990, the same year I started my career in automotive engineering. I vividly remember driving one briefly back then when we brought one in for benchmarking. I'd drive it again 22 years later when my previous employer bought a used 1991 example for a long-term test. Reader interest was sky-high and the car was still gorgeous, but the march of time and automotive engineering had clearly left it behind.

Then, in 2016, a second-generation NSX emerged, and it was packed with bleeding-edge thinking. It has a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6, but this new NSX is a hybrid with an electric motor-generator sandwiched between the engine and its nine-speed DCT transmission. Two more electric motors – one for each wheel – power the front axle. There they can add traction, regenerate electricity under braking and dole out hyper-accurate levels of torque vectoring.