Archive for July, 2009

Ferrari unveils new 458 Italia

Ferrari has unveiled its new 458 Italia, a mid-engined replacement for the F430. Unlike the launch of its California model, Ferrari hasn’t drip-fed us the details, instead dropping them all in one release today (July 28). They take a bit of digesting too, the stunning 458 Italia exceeding even our lofty expectations as to what [...]

2010 Chevrolet Camaro gets Transformers special edition

Sports-car fans who fantasize about being an Autobot can now make their dual fantasy a reality–with the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Transformers special edition.
Essentially, the car turns the character Bumblebee from the movie into a road-going option package for an extra $995. Just as on the silver screen, the Camaro is yellow with a black rally [...]

Ford creates one-off, aviation-inspired ‘Dearborn Doll’ Mustang

Some versions of the 2010 Mustang feel fast enough to get airborne. And with that in mind, Ford tricked out one of its pony cars with an over-the-top aviation theme and will auction it for charity July 30.
It’s called the AV-X10, or “Dearborn Doll,” and is based on a Mustang GT. There is just one [...]

$140 million offered to Wiedeking to quit Porsche

Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking could be offered a $141 million (100 million euros) payoff to quit the sports car maker to make way for a merger with Volkswagen, Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported Friday.
The newspaper said Wiedeking has been visited by Porsche Chairman Wolfgang Porsche in the past few days, who “made it clear” that [...]

2010 Buick LaCrosse

Less than a week after the New General Motors emerged from the scrapyard of Chapter 11, Section 363 Bankruptcy, three programs among the Cadillac and Buick divisions are back on the road.
First and foremost, the program to converge the DTS and STS into a new, rear-drive flagship Cadillac sedan is back on track after a [...]

Audi A5 Sportback joins a growing lineup, but only in Europe for now Read more

Audi is shoehorning another model into its ever-expanding lineup–the A5 Sportback.
The Sportback joins the coupe and the convertible in Audi’s A5 family. This model sports four doors and a hatchback, yet sits nearly 1.5 inches lower than the A4 sedan. But before you get excited, Audi has not committed to bring this car to the [...]

Alfa Romeo 8C Spider shows that Alfa’s bets keep getting better Read more

They’re mixing some strong Kool-Aid at Alfa Romeo these days, and we hope you don’t mind that we took a mongo swig of it.
As part of the Fiat umbrella, Alfa represents some of the best stuff enthusiasts will get from the Fiat-Chrysler partnership, and the boys from Turin rolled out some of their top toys [...]

2010 Aston Martin Vantage V12

As soon as the brains at Aston Martin made their exquiste DBS sports tourer – they gave it to James Bond. While this may be a good way of previewing a car that had never been seen in the past, they also forgot one vital plot line: Bond tends to destroy everything he touches. Not [...]

2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost

Introducing a new engine a couple years after a vehicle goes on sale isn’t all that unusual. But, only one year after the Ford Flex first came out, there are several updates and upgrades for the 2010 model that make this nearly the equivalent of a mid-cycle refresh — and this was a strong vehicle [...]

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Before we reveal what it is like to hot-lap a prototype version of Mercedes-Benz’s 6.2-liter V8-powered SLS around the 2.2-mile Sachsenring in eastern Germany, let us tell you one thing that puts the big rear-wheel-drive coupe into clear perspective.
The SLS, planned to get its first public outing at the Frankfurt motor show in September, is [...]

Rubens Barrichello says he is now over his anger

Rubens Barrichello says he is now over his anger that erupted at the German Grand Prix – after realising that his Brawn team did not cost him the chance of victory.
The Brazilian was furious following his sixth place finish at the Nurburgring after feeling that Brawn GP’s strategy and errors had provided a ‘good show [...]

The Pontiac G8 may get a new life as the Chevrolet Caprice

General Motors is studying the feasibility of reusing the rear-wheel-drive performance sedan for law enforcement and the general public, vice chairman Bob Lutz said in an online chat Monday.
“The G8 has finally been discovered by a broader percentage of the buying public,” Lutz said on GM’s FastLane blog. “The owners are ecstatic about them, many [...]

Audi – R8 – Review

On The Outside
That 22-grand premium definitely doesn’t offer the Audi R8 V10 much visual differentiation from the standard car. Yes, some would say that the R8 is enough of a head-turner as it is, but parting with a further 22 large ones gets you the kind of detail changes that only the most serious [...]

Franchitti wins IndyCar Series pole position in Toronto

Dario Franchitti is on the pole for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto, but that’s about the only normal thing that happened in qualifying.
See if you imagined this top six: Franchitti, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Justin Wilson, Alex Tagliani and Mike Conway. Notice: No full-time Team Penske drivers and no Scott Dixon, the points leader.
Also: No Andretti [...]

GM’s Turnaround Rides on a Successful Chevy

With General Motors leaving bankruptcy, can its core brand churn out cars and crossover SUVs that stand up to Toyotas, Hondas, and Fords?
As General Motors emerges from bankruptcy reorganization to launch a new era, it is no exaggeration to say that as goes Chevrolet, so goes General Motors.
The Chevrolet brand has always been central [...]

All-new Citroen C3 gets classier

Nobody does cool and quirky quite like Citroen and the latest Citroen C3 should offer the supermini sector its usual dose of cute French frivolity when it hits showrooms in 2010.
OK so it isn’t exactly the 2CV-inspired supermini we were secretly hoping for, but it should offer customers a different enough proposition, especially when you [...]

Jaguar XKR Goodwood Special

The Jaguar XKR has been given an extra shot of performance (and paint) for the 2009 Festival of Speed to create the Jaguar XKR Goodwood Special.
It’s strictly a one-off for now, but the way the crowds have been gathering around the lime green body, Jaguar must be seriously tempted to consider a limited edition run.
Taking [...]

Skoda – Yeti – Review

Skoda goes off-road with its new Yeti, the Czech firm’s stupidy-named crossover building on the rugged foundations of its Scout models. Mixing SUV with MPV, with a pinch of hatchback, the Yeti isn’t the evolutionary cul-de-sac its name might suggest. It’s actually good enough to ensure that Yetis become a common sight.
On The Outside

On The [...]

Lotus – Evora – Review

Meet the first new Lotus in a generation. The Evora takes its place as the practical, 2+2, everyday Lotus and is arguably the company’s most ambitious new model since the Esprit of the 1970s. Priced from almost fifty grand, the Evora must do battle with the seminal Porsche Cayman and be much more than just [...]

GM confirms plug-in crossover remains on track for 2011 Read more

A plug-in electric powertrain once destined for a Saturn crossover will live on at General Motors and will arrive in 2011 in another vehicle.
GM vice chairman and product chief Tom Stephens confirmed to wire service Reuters that the project remains on track.
The automaker was scheduled to bring a plug-in version of the Saturn Vue to [...]