Memorial Day is fast approaching and that means millions of Americans will be hitting the road for a family trip. The roads will be crowded and you should expect lines at gas stations. A car bred for long-haul driving, with bladder-bursting range, can give a distinct advantage, especially on cross-country journeys. To aid travelers, we have compiled a list of the best road-trip friendly cars that can go the distance.

Having just tested and lived with a quartet of German roadsters, our staff has convertibles on the brain. No doubt, you've seen the road tests and know the official scores and rankings. We thought it would be fun to go behind the ratings to see what some of our team members would personally recommended.

Diesel engines and SUVs were made for each other. Diesels' scads of low-end pulling power and great fuel efficiency make it a cinch to haul around the weight of an SUV with all-wheel-drive, and these torquey engines make up for the fuel economy penalty that gas-powered SUV's usually exact.

Looking to add some top-down thrills to your life? Our updated convertibles buying guide video and latest road tests can steer you in the right direction.

Mercedes-Benz continues to explore bringing its prestige cachet down to smaller, more affordable vehicles with the GLA small SUV concept.

Now that spring has finally sprung here in New England it's convertible time. And our Mercedes-Benz SLK could be just the ticket to fresh air on the way home. We've enjoyed testing it against the competition, including the Audi TT, BMW Z4, and Porsche Boxster. The SLK is the Mercedes convertible for the merely rich, rather than the very rich (SL) or super-rich (SLS), making it a treat to which successful retirees or empty nesters can aspire.

Over the years, with Consumer Reports' extensive testing, we've found that diesel engines provide a significant fuel economy advantage, typically reducing consumption by 30 percent over a conventional engine in an equivalent model. We're encouraged, since at the New York International Auto Show last week, a few automakers promised more diesel variants.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that nearly 600,000 Americans have "megacommutes" that have them working more than 50 miles from home or traveling more than 90 minutes each way. As a megacommuter myself, I can relate. Having given this much thought through the years, I have compiled a list of the best cars for megacommutes currently on sale.

While car brand reputation can be a strong influence on purchase decisions, such perceptions can be misleading. The reality is, every brand offers models that perform across a spectrum, with some are clearly better than others.

In our testing, the big GL350 comes as close to perfection as any big SUV can. However, it stumbled badly when we pushed it to its handling limits.

Spring is just weeks away, and with the new season comes the dream of warm weather and open-road romance for top-down driving. It just so happens we have two German roadsters for sale from our test program that fit this bill.

Mercedes-Benz has updated its workhorse E-Class sedan and wagon for 2014 with new safety technology, sportier styling, and a new four-cylinder diesel that will offer, for the first time, a four-wheel-drive version.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has just introduced an additional test, a frontal crash that simulates just a small overlap between the front of a car and an object or vehicle it hits.

Mercedes-Benz added a 302-hp, direct injection, 3.5-liter V6 for 2012 to one of our favorite cars, the midsized E-Class sedan. Oh, darn... time for retest.

New data from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) shows which new safety technologies work and which don't. HLDI examined the difference in accident rates between cars with and without three distinct driver-aid technologies: