Think of  Nissan’s new 2011 Leaf, the country’s first all-electric mass produced vehicle, as a conventional car with a wonderful twist.

  No gas needed.  And along with that enviable wrinkle, it  has a lot of other cool ones too. No noise–and we mean no noise. Decent acceleration. Lots of room.  No exhaust pipes. Zero emissions.  Quality materials. And a car that’s awful easy to drive and get used to despite its rather ground-breaking characteristics.

It haas a range of about 100 miles.Nissan says …

   By Don  Hammonds

Everybody’s got a “thing,” so to speak when it comes to car brands.

Honda’s thing,”  in our view, is bringing sporty driving experiences to everyone, no matter what type of car you’re talking about, and making even the trip around the block a cause for pure driving  joy.

  The all–new Odyssey is no different. Yes, it’s roomier. Roomier in fact than its competitors. Yes, it’s well-equipped. It comes with all the bells and whistles, and then some.  And …

It’s one thing to be fast on the draw with new models–and quite another to do that and do them well.

Hyundai’s a past master at the art, and it’s proving it by introducing new models one after the other, each far better than the preceding generation versions, which themselves were pretty darned good..

The latest example of this is the 2011 Sonata, an all-new family sedan that is guaranteed to mean nightmares for the competition.

First, the Sonata is a looker.

Thanks to …