mmarshall

Some of you have asked where I do reviews. I'm in the D.C. area, of course, and do most of them in the Virginia suburbs...some of them, occasionally, in the Maryland suburbs...such as when I tested a Lotus Elise, which, at the time, was not available in Northern Virginia (if you wanted to see something really funny, me getting in and out of an Elise, which was almost but not quite impossible, was a trip).

Anyhow, one area where I like to do a fair number of reviews is in the large dealer-complexes near Dulles Airport in Virginia, where there are some side roads with little traffic, main roads with varying amounts of congestion, and varying road surfaces where differences in road noise can be noticed. As a side bonus, the dealerships are all large, well-stocked, modern, and thoroughly impressive inside and out. A number of them are virtually brand-new in this rapidly-growing area.

This (Red-Line) reviewer is not only a pretty sharp fellow (he does excellent reviews) , but also does this particular Kia Sportage SX Turbo review up and down Route 28 and some of the other side-roads I use. (he doesn't mention the road names, but I recognize them from my own reviews).

By the way, I'll be checking out an SX Turbo myself this week....possibly tomorrow. I had planned to do a full-review on a Subaru Forester this week (that review is still upcoming, but will be delayed a little). My brother, though, called and asked me to check out a new SX. He is currently driving an older Sportage LX, but, with his job and company having moved further away (about 15-20 miles further out in the D.C. suburbs), he spends significantly more time on the road, in a lot of traffic, and feels he needs something with more safety features (rear-cross-traffic alert, auto-emergency braking, lane-change departure, back-up camera, blind-spot monitoring in the mirrors, etc.....). Those features (and much more) come standard in the SX, and would cost virtually as much on an EX model with option-packages. The SX, though, comes with harder-riding 45-series tires, a lot more power in the turbo engine, and a standard sunroof. My brother said he wouldn't necessarily mind the firmer ride (his old LX model is not exactly soft to begin with), and he felt there are times when the power would come in handy, though he's not a speeder by any means. It looks like he's also getting a promotion at his company (they're testing him right now in a higher-ranking job while that person is on a leave of absence, probably retiring). That promotion would mean a significantly higher salary. So, now that I've ordered my own new car, looks like I'll be helping HIM shop LOL.

Anyhow, here's that person's "Red-Line" review.....on some of the same roads I use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Nq...ature=youtu.be