Home > Driven (page 3)

Driven

2021 Chery Tiggo 5X Lux: Making a Sequel to our “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” Story

A month ago, I had a strange dream. I dreamt that a tiger was crouching in our garage, waiting to pounce upon unsuspecting passers-by. I woke up in a huff and hurried downstairs to our garage to make sure the gates were locked so the tiger won’t be able to get out and harm anyone. Then, I realized that there ...

Read More »

2021 Jaguar XE D180 SE R-Dynamic: Is It The Ultimate Diesel-Powered Driving Machine?

In the 80s’ and 90s’, BMW claimed the title of “The Ultimate Driving Machine” primarily because of the driving dynamics of their sports sedans, particularly the 3-series and M-badged models. These days, because of electronic traction control, torque vectoring, and other modern technology, a lot of new vehicles – not just sports sedans but even tall SUVs – can give ...

Read More »

2021 Nissan Terra VL 4×2 A/T: A New, Viable SUV for the Modern Mobile Family

We were honored that Nissan Philippines, Inc. (NPI) lent us their new 2021 Nissan Terra VL 4×2 A/T a few days before its official launch on September 1, 2021. While the new Nissan model was with us, we were supposed to make a 2-minute video of our driving impressions that NPI will use for the online launch. However, we were ...

Read More »

2021 Honda City RS: 20 Years Later… How The City Has Grown

The 2021 Honda City RS you see here is seventh-generation City and the fifth-generation City sedan. It was launched on November 25, 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand but the sedan was introduced in the Philippines almost a year later on October 22, 2020. This latest City sedan, as well as the City Hatchback, which was introduced on April 20, 2021, now comes ...

Read More »

2021 Volkswagen Lamando 280 TSI DSG SEL: WWGVD?

The text message on our mobile phone was inquiring if we’d be interested in test driving the 2021 Volkswagen Lamando 280 TSI DSG SEL for a week. The text came from Stacey Vazquez, the young and lovely Corporate Communications and Brand Activations Specialist at AC Motors, the automotive arm of Ayala Corporation and the mother company of Volkswagen Philippines. We ...

Read More »

2021 Suzuki XL7: Multi-Purpose Vehicle Defined and Updated

“Do it your way. Make the most of every moment and don’t settle for anything less. The XL7 complements your adventurous attitude with robust styling.” – This is how Suzuki Philippines, Inc. (SPH) markets the Suzuki XL7 multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) in their website. I somehow tend to agree with their ad copy about “making the most of every moment” and ...

Read More »

2021 Toyota Vios 1.3 XLE CVT: The Beauty of Simplicity and Ubiquity

Merriam-Webster defines the word “ubiquitous” as “existing or being everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread”. Ubiquitous is an accurate word to describe Toyota Motor Philippines‘ front-wheel drive (FWD) four-door subcompact sedan, the Toyota Vios. Now on its third generation, the Vios is one of the most popular and best-selling nameplates in the local automotive market. Everywhere you look, ...

Read More »

2021 Maxus V80 Comfort: Driving to a Mission of Hope in Pangasinan

Our job as motoring journalists often brings opportunities to help our less fortunate countrymen. Before the National Capital Region (NCR) was placed under the so-called “NCR Bubble” lockdown towards the end of March 2021 to stem the spread of the Coronavirus, we were tasked to chronicle Bridgestone Philippines’ donation of classrooms to the Talogtog-Bateng Elementary School in Mangaldan, Pangasinan through ...

Read More »

2021 Kia Stonic EX A/T: Speedy Tonic Against The Common Crossover

A portmanteau is a blend of words in which parts of multiple words are combined to form a new word, such as “motel”, which was coined by blending the words “motor” and “hotel”. It was not surprising that Kia Motors, the Korean car brand with “The Power to Surprise” motto, used a portmanteau blending “speedy” and “tonic” to name its ...

Read More »

2017 Toyota 86 M/T: Scratching An Itch That Needed To Be Scratched

Sales records show that private vehicles with automatic transmissions (A/T) currently outsell vehicles with manual transmissions (M/T), especially after vehicular traffic in the country has turned from bad to worse. The number of A/T units in the car manufacturers’ test fleets also reflects this sales phenomenon and buyers’ preference. Most of the new vehicles sent to us for evaluation have ...

Read More »