By Barbara & Bill Schaffer Shelton, Wash. ? One of our favorite events each year is the annual Northwest Automotive Press Association?s (NWAPA) Mudfest. We were involved in the creation of the annual SUV evaluation and have participated in a majority of the programs during the event?s 22-year history. Mudfest has evolved through the years…
By Barbara & Bill Schaffer Photos by NWAPA/Josh Mackey & Bill Schaffer Snoqualmie, Wash. ? Even though the springtime is traditionally a rainy season in the Seattle area, the location used for the annual Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA) Mudfest was dry ? in fact it was dusty. Mudfest 2014 could have easily been called…
By Barbara & Bill Schaffer Anyone shopping for a new SUV should make a B-line for a Jeep dealership and check out the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep people have taken one of the original sport utility vehicles to a new level that rivals nearly any other SUV on the market, at any price….
Although the number of women writing about vehicles has grown significantly during the 22 years I?ve been doing it, I estimate that we are still outnumbered 10 to 1. Three years ago a friend of mine, Christine Overstreet, decided to put together an automotive program just for women automotive writers, and that?s when Heels &…
?Jeep Grand Cherokee offers diesel power for 2014? Austin, Texas ? Since its introduction in 1992, Jeep?s Grand Cherokee has sold nearly 5 million units and ranks as the most awarded SUV ever, and it has gotten even better for the 2014 model year. Probably the most significant improvement is the long overdue addition of…
By Bill Schaffer Austin, Texas – If I were giving auto manufacturers awards, Jeep would get a gold star from me for introducing the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel. I think that?s a big, important move for an American manufacturer to make right now. Jeep mangers say consumers have been asking for a diesel-powered Grand…
“2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Best performing Jeep SRT ever” Austin, Texas – Should you happen to be looking for a Jeep that’s capable of doing more than climb hills and crawl over rocks at slow speeds, how about one that can rip around a race track at high speed with surprising control, agility and stability?…
By Bill and Barbara Schaffer After two full days of driving briskly between hundreds of traffic cones, cruising along wooded back roads and wallowing through mud in 25 different SUVs, we marked our ballots for the Northwest Automotive Press Associations SUV of the Year Competition. Here?s a list of the Luxury and Off-Road SUVs with…
At the Houston Auto Show in January, Jeep? displayed a ?blacked-out? production-intent Grand Cherokee concept and asked consumers to name the model.? One hundred thousand entries later from the 2 million fans on Facebook, the company chose a winning vehicle name ??Altitude?. ?The fact that well over 100,000 consumers entered our ?Name My Ride? contest…
Probably more suited for the autobahn than the Rubicon, the Jeep? Grand Cherokee SRT8 is rumbling into Jeep dealerships with a combination of Jeep?s legendary capability and utility, merged with the top-level performance courtesy of Chrysler Group LLC?s Street and Racing Technology (SRT) team. ?The all-new 2012 Grand Cherokee SRT8 is the ultimate performance SUV,…
