2011
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The cost of parking a brand new Infiniti in your driveway got a little more dear this week, as Infiniti announced price increases pretty much across the board. While most of the increases were moderate, the big Infiniti QX56's price went up $850, and the sporty IPL G Coupe went up $950. The company has announced price increases pretty much across the board, effective March 15. The price increases on G, EX, QX and FX models all took place immediately. For the most part, the price increases aren't particularly substantial, with the exception of the Infiniti IPL G Coupe and the QX56, which get...
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Spy Shots: BMW M3 Pickup--Not What You ThinkA couple of days ago the Interwebs broke out in song over a vehicle spotted at the Nurburgring: a pickup version of the BMW M3. Marrying the most fanciful of auto-journo oddball car dreams, the carryall sports car looked like a Munich miracle. Today, we have a new set of close-up shots of this...
Nelson Ireson -
Mugen Euro Announces Development Of High-Performance Honda CR-ZPerformance hybrids seem to be the order of the day, with Porsche just moments ago unveiling its second-generation 911 GT3 R Hybrid 2.0 and now Mugen Euro announcing plans for the development of a high-performance Honda CR-Z. For those unaware of Mugen, the name applies to a motorsports and...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche Bringing 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0 To Nurburgring 24 HoursAlmost exactly one year ago Porsche took the wraps off an advanced hybrid race version of its 911 GT3, which the automaker entered in the 2010 Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race. Despite hybrid technology being a relatively new field for the sports car company from Stuttgart, the original Porsche...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Report: Three New Lambos In The Pipeline, Including ‘Cabrera’ Gallardo ReplacementLamborghini is still celebrating the debut of its stunning new Aventador LP700-4, which replaces the ageing Murcielago as the marque’s flagship and is already sold out for the next 12 months. However, there are already whispers in the air about Lamborghini’s future model releases...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Houston’s Risi Competizione Unveils New Ferrari 458 Italia GT Race CarIf you thought the aggressive lines of Ferrari’s own Italia 458 Challenge race car meant business, wait until you lay eyes on Houston-based Risi Competizione’s latest Ferrari 458 Italia GT racer. Designed to compete in the American Le Mans Series, the new race car pictured above is just...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Despite the attention they garner, rollovers are among the rarest of vehicle crashes though they can be the most dangerous. According to the NHTSA, rollovers accounted for 2.2 percent of all vehicle crashes, though fatalities from these crashes amounted to 35.4 percent of all traffic deaths. Not surprisingly, automakers have spent a lot of time and money on developing technology to help mitigate their occurrence. Take GM, for example. On its latest 2011 Buick Enclave crossover, engineers have installed advanced sensors designed to predict rollovers and help protect vehicle occupants before a...
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Mustang Builder Drops Coyote Engine Into Fox BodyWant to swap the new Coyote 5.0-liter V-8 into your Fox-body Mustang, replacing either the old 5.0-liter (technically, a 4.9-liter) V-8 or the four-cylinder? Well, now you can. Kurgan Motorsports swapped the Coyote into a Fox body by custom building the motor mounts, braces, and support structures...
Tim Healey -
Report: 2013 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 To Get 600 HPThis may come as a surprise to those of you that have been living in a shadow-filled cave for a few years, but Ford and Chevy tend to have a bit of a rivarly in the pony/muscle-car segment. It looks like things aren't reaching a cease-fire for the next round of updates, either, as a new report out...
Nelson Ireson -
Good News, Bad News, And Worse For Ford And 'The Lincoln Lawyer'Good news: At a time when corporate marketing budgets are merely a shadow of what they once were, Ford will get a free ride in the new film, The Lincoln Lawyer. A Lincoln spokesman says that the company didn't spend a dime on product placement for the movie. Bad news: The Lincoln Lawyer features...
Richard Read -
Saleen To Stop Building MustangsAftermarket tuner Steve Saleen was one of the pioneers of the Mustang tuning scene, and now the company that bears his last name is going to stop producing tuned Mustangs. Instead, Saleen Performance Vehicles will focus on aftermarket parts. That means that the 2011 Saleen S302 will be the...
Tim Healey -
Limited Edition Steve McQueen Mustang Now AvailableFor those hard-core Bullitt fans out there, your car has arrived. Gateway Classic Mustang is building a limited-edition 1968 Steve McQueen Signature Mustang. The hand-built car looks like a 1968 'Stang, but under the hood lies a modern Roush small-block V-8 that generates 450 horsepower. Suspension...
Tim Healey -
Next month's Shanghai Motor Show will host the debut of a new BMW: the 5-Series "New Energy Vehicle," a plug-in hybrid that BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer is "from China for China." Early word of the New Energy Vehicle first emerged from unofficial channels in January, but Reithofer confirmed the car in a speech this week. We don't expect the car, built around the long-wheelbase version of the 5-Series, and featuring a plug-in hybrid powertrain, to be sold in the U.S., but a variant of the technology might be. We've already spotted the ActiveHybrid 5 in testing, and BMW has plans for a hybrid...
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Video: 20 Lucky Owners Take Delivery Of 2012 Porsche 911 GT2 RSProgress is a funny thing. For example, in the 80s Porsche introduced the 959, a special, limited edition supercar that was the embodiment of everything that Porsche knew how to do. It was blisteringly fast, all-wheel drive, with a water-cooled and turbocharged flat-six that put out 444 horsepower...
Keith Buglewicz -
VIDEO: Hennessey Camaro Convertible Hits The MarketWhen the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible launched earlier this year, it was perhaps inevitable that the tuner market would follow with its own take on the car. Well-known tuner Hennessey has done just that, with its HPE600 Camaro Convertible. Using an Eaton TVS2300 Roots-type supercharger...
Tim Healey -
Small Texas Town Using Transformers Camaro To Nab SpeedersCut-and-Shoot, Texas. A name like that just screams "Lone Star State." And if you don't pay attention to your speed while traveling through Cut-and-Shoot--and especially if you don't pay attention to a blacked-out Camaro with a Transformers logo on the hood--you might be screaming about a speeding...
Tim Healey -
Jewel Is Alive And Well, Thanks To Her Cadillac SRXWe haven't heard much from Jewel in a while, and many of us were beginning to think that she might've headed off to a retirement Vanagon somewhere in Alaska, bringing her chapter in American pop music (and her brief footnote in American poetry) to an end. But now we know that Jewel is still alive...
Richard Read -
Video: First Porsche 911 GT2 RS Delivered To U.S. CustomerThe Porsche 911 GT2 is a car that needs no introduction. Often nicknamed the widow maker due to its sheer rawness and tendency to go sideways at will, the 911 GT2--as hard as it is to believe--is available in an even more extreme form, as the 2011 Porsche 911 GT2 RS. At a special event at El Toro...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Lately, several car-on-track videos of extremely desirable vehicles have come along. The footage has been beautiful, with graceful cars slicing through apexes, sunlight glinting off their paint and chrome, the background blurred as the camera tries to keep up. Unfortunately, for the most part you can't hear the actual car because the manufacturer is under the false belief that you'd rather see a Euro-pop music video, rather than actual footage of a car doing what it's supposed to do. For those of you who think that a car's own soundtrack should be more than enough, then you owe Aston Martin a...
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Report: Chris Bangle To Design Consumer Electronics For SamsungOne of the most recognized automotive designers in the world Chris Bangle no longer in fact works in the auto industry. That’s because Bangle decided back in 2009 to stop designing cars, leaving his post at BMW in order to open up his own design studio as well as go back to teaching the art...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Audi R8 Spyder Epic Parking FailWe’ve seen some pretty bad attempts at parking before, including this BMW X5 that drove up on another car, or this Bugatti Veyron, whose driver curbed one of its wheels. However, this latest driver of an Audi R8 Spyder easily takes the cake. We’re not sure why the driver in this case...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Chevrolet Corvette Sales Looking Up For The First Time Since 2006Two-seat sports cars bought as weekend toys are often among the first things to go in an economic crunch, and as you know all too well, we've had a doozie over the last few years. The Chevrolet Corvette is no exception--since 2006, sales have been a fraction of their former tallies. But that looks...
Nelson Ireson -
Packing For SXSW? Grab These Two Apps For Motoring Around TownBack in the late-mid-80s, South By Southwest was a humble music festival. Then someone -- possibly Al Gore -- invented the internet, Austin became a second Silicon Valley, and today, SXSW (as it's now known) is a jumble of music, film, and interactive technology. For the traveler, SXSW is also a...
Richard Read -
Hamann Releases New BMW X6 Tycoon Evo M PackageLate in 2008 Hamann revealed its plans for the BMW X6, including a range of performance and appearance upgrades. Today the tuning house expands that range with a new package called the Tycoon Evo M. Already previewed at the recent 2011 Geneva Motor Show, the new Hamann BMW X6 Tycoon Evo M is based...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran