2012

Valentino Balboni. Lamborghini's test driver of the last 40 years, the now-retired Balboni has a special-edition Gallardo made in his honor. He'll be driving one in the Fireball Run. And I have to race him. The 2010 Fireball Run will be the first time Balboni has participated in a multi-day road...

We aren't big fans of the current Sentra. It's not that it's a bad car, it's just not all that sporty, even in SE-R trim. The CVT transmission has a lot to do with it, though the Spec V remedies that. But Nissan appears to have done away with plans to revive the 240SX/Silvia as a Mazda MX-5...

Jaguar Land Rover's efforts in the green arena are well-documented, and this week the push got a bit stronger at the Low Carbon Vehicle event at Millbrook, U.K. Showing off a joint-developed "flywheel hybrid system for premium vehicles" (FHSPV) on a Jaguar XF prototype, the company claims a gain of...

The 911 Carrera GTS hit the Web today and has some folks asking, "why not just get a GT3?" It's a fair question, for those that don't need a back seat or the comfort and convenience of the full Carrera treatment, but for those that do, this video shows the car off in its native environment...

We have some good news for all the Mini Diesel fans that crave a more powerful model. A car that combines the elements of the sporty MINI Cooper S and the fuel-efficiency of the MINI Diesel has been spotted in testing, suggesting that a new MINI Cooper S Diesel is in the works. The photos show a...

Three weeks ago Mercedes-Benz unveiled the 2012 CLS-Class ahead of its public debut at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, and today, we have a fresh new gallery of photos that show the car off in a much better light. Literally, the lighting is way better. Rather than the spotlight-in-a-cave shots loosed in...

Ford is going global with the Focus, and by global, it means really global. That's right hot-hatch lovers, we're finally getting the Ford Focus ST right here on U.S. soil. The "early preview model" of the 2012 Focus ST hatchback will be on display September 30 at the Paris auto show. It will be...

Ford hasn't yet released the official production numbers for the 2012 Boss Mustang, but a bookstore might have. Yeah, you read that correctly. Borders, the bookstore chain, may have inadvertently released the Boss's planned production numbers. How? By producing a preview to an upcoming book, Boss...

The hottest of Audi's TT lineup will finally be making its way to America, due here in the third quarter of 2011. The credit is due in part to a Facebook petition called "Bring it to the U.S." which saw 11,500 signatures over the course of a month. If you're not up to speed on the TT-RS, you ought...

We know most of the key details of the 2012 Mustang Boss 302 from its unveiling at Pebble Beach last month. But until now, we haven't seen Ford's plans for production quantities. The source of the leak? Borders book store, if you can believe it. A description for a book to be published next year...

BMW's 1-Series M car has made so many laps around the Internet you'd think it was running the world's biggest endurance race, but thanks to a post from an insider at the BMW Power of M 2010 event, we may have some new details on the upcoming smallest M car. Postings on Internet forums are typically...

Humpback proportions aside, Porsche clearly did a lot of things right with the Panamera. No fewer than 22,518 buyers agreed during its first year on the global market. Think Porsche's not proud of that figure? Check out all the uses of "Gran Turismo" to describe the car in the press release on page...

Chances are good that if you've got Mustangs moving off local lots, you'll see the 2012 Mustang Boss 302 early next year. But a good chunk of you will have to travel to find one on the lot. Ford's plan for allocating the new Boss 302 to its dealers has leaked onto the Web, revealing a two-tiered...

With the brand new 2012 Ford Focus, 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and 2011 Volkswagen Jetta coming onto the market over the next 12 months, all with fresh styling, new levels of quality and premium features, one of the small car segment's stalwarts, the Honda Civic, will soon be faced with some serious...

The business of focus grouping in the auto industry can be a bit of an echo chamber. The group you select shapes the responses you get. Chevrolet is putting this two-edged sword to use with the ongoing development of the Camaro, and in this video, we get a look at the "15 Disciples" group of...

The audio sounds like the background to a James Garner TV montage, but the visuals are pure cutting-edge Mazda design. Wrapping the Kodo design theme around a compact three-door hatchback model, the video gives us an idea of what the next Mazda2 or Mazda3 could look like. While we're big fans of...

Last December, Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik confirmed that a new Veloster Concept-based coupe would be joining the lineup in 2011 as a 2012 model and serve as the replacement for the previous Tiburon. Today, we have new spy shots of a prototype undergoing further testing ahead of its...

We've delved into McLaren's future car plans before, but a new report out today puts some structure to the models to come. With one new model or model variant planned per year for the next half-decade, we'll have much to look forward to from the Woking team. The McLaren MP4-12C isn't due to sell...

With the brand new 2012 Ford Focus, 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and 2011 Volkswagen Jetta coming onto the market over the next 12 months, all with fresh styling, new levels of quality and premium features, one of the small car segment's stalwarts, the Honda Civic, will soon be faced with some serious...

You have to be a certain kind of crazy to participate in a 24-hour endurance road race. You have to be even crazier to do it as both driver and crew, essentially ensuring you won't sleep for 30 hours or more. But that's exactly the kind of crazy we are, and we'd do it again this weekend if we...