Featured (was)
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As fuel economy and emissions standards continue to tighten around the world, automakers continue to seek ways to make power while using less fuel. Mercedes-Benz, never one to let its engines rot on the vine, is taking the next step to do just that with a 48-volt system for a new 3.0-liter inline-6-cylinder engine. This amounts to a mild hybrid system, but it does more than just improve efficiency. The system is being introduced on the 2018 S-Class, although not in the United States. We will get it eventually, but Mercedes has confirmed that the S-Class won't be the first car with it on these...
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BMW Z4 Concept leaked ahead of Pebble Beach debutAhead of its debut Thursday, images of the BMW Z4 Concept have been leaked courtesy of Autoblog.nl. With traditional rear-wheel drive BMW proportions, the Z4 Concept features a long hood, good dash-to-axle ratio, and short rear deck. The front snout is canted forward, with some saying it resembles...
Joel Feder -
BMW concept for 2017 Pebble Beach Concours likely previews new Z4BMW has released a shadowy teaser image of a new open-top sports car concept set to debut on August 17 in Monterey, California. The car is set to be the automaker’s star attraction at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance taking place on August 20. The concept is thought to preview...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
The world's only street-legal BMW M1 Procar is coming to Pebble BeachWith only 453 built, the BMW M1 remains one of the rarest models from the German marque to this day. However, BMW devised something even rarer in 1979: the BMW M1 Procar. Of the 40 BMW M1 Procars that were built—the car was only produced in 1979—there is just one example that is street...
Sean Szymkowski -
Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake is a hot hatch we digAston Martin’s Vanquish Zagato family is about to expand with two new members, and one of them is a Shooting Brake. We’re talking about a proper Shooting Brake here, with two doors and a tall rear hatch. It joins a roofless Speedster in the expanded Vanquish Zagato family. Existing...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2018 Ford GT Heritage edition to honor 1967 Le Mans winnerFrom the beginning of the reborn Ford GT program, the idea was to bring the car to market in time to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the Ford GT40's 1-2-3 finish at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ford made much ado about the historic accomplishment by competing with the new GT in Le Mans last...
Kirk Bell -
When the new Ford F-150 was unveiled in 2015, it was the world's first aluminum pickup truck, an innovation that General Motors and Ram still haven't caught up with. Combined with a pair of twin-turbocharged V-6 engines, Ford's perennial best-seller pushed the art of the truck into an important new chapter. Consider the 2018 Ford F-150 a key paragraph in that chapter. This truck takes the pioneering efforts of the 2015 model and addresses a shortcoming that's evolved over the past few years—a now old-fashioned 6-speed automatic—while improving on the style with a brutish new look...
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2017 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X off-road reviewTerm limits don't apply to the new car industry. If they did, the 2017 Nissan Frontier you see here wouldn't be a dead-ringer for the 2005 Nissan Frontier that hit dealer lots during George W. Bush's first term. A lot has changed since 2005. But not the Frontier. Sure, it's up for a redesign, but...
Andrew Ganz -
2018 Ram 3500 Heavy Duty makes 930 lb-ft of torque, may rotate earthThe 2018 Ram 3500 can lay claim to two automotive superlatives. At least, right now it can. When equipped with a 6.7-liter turbodiesel, dual rear wheels, Aisin 6-speed automatic, and a 4.10 rear axle ratio, the 2018 Ram 3500 will make 930 pound-feet of torque and haul a 30,000-pound fifth-wheel...
Aaron Cole -
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to be next year's NASCAR Cup carIn a break from the traditional sedan, Chevrolet today announced that the Camaro ZL1 coupe will be its car of choice for the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series starting next season. Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson joined Mark Reuss, executive vice president of GM product development, to...
Kirk Bell -
2018 Acura RLX gets new look, but will it be enough to compete?The Acura RLX hasn't exactly been a sales blockbuster. Last year, Acura sold a grand total of 1,478 of them while BMW parted with 32,408 5-Series and Mercedes sold 46,740 E-Classes. Now, Acura is hoping a new look will boost sales. Ahead of its public debut during Monterey Car Week August 15-19...
Kirk Bell -
2017 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS: Living with a street and track starLife gets in the way, even when you're behind the wheel of a 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS. Instead of zipping around scenic Lake Tahoe or pushing things to the limit on a South African racetrack, as we've been fortunate to do before, I just spent a week behind the 911 GTS' wheel through rain and...
Kirk Bell -
A prototype for Volvo’s upcoming compact SUV, the XC40, has been spied again. The XC40 was previewed in 2016 by the 40.1 concept car, and judging by the prototypes it looks like the production model will closely resemble the concept. Volvo’s next-generation compacts will be based on the CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) platform developed by Volvo in partnership with parent company Geely. The platform promises advanced technologies in the areas of connectivity, electrification and autonomous driving, as well as the refined driving dynamics you’d expect from a premium...
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Mazda confirms HCCI engine for 2019Mazda on Tuesday laid out a company-wide strategy that looks ahead to the year 2030. Chief among the plans is the introduction of the world’s first production Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine. Mazda says the technology will appear in 2019 in a next-generation Skyactiv-X...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2019 Subaru Forester spy shotsA prototype for Subaru’s next-generation Forester has been spotted for the first time. The small SUV is expected in showrooms in late 2018, as a 2019 model. Judging by the spy shots, the new Forester will resemble a scaled-down version of Subaru’s upcoming 3-row, 7-seat SUV, the Ascent...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2017 Audi RS 7 Performance first drive review: living with a $137K hatchbackAudi Sport's slogan is "Born on the track. Built for the road." While most of us would love to test the limits of any Audi Sport model on a racetrack, we'd also be happy to merely have the opportunity to slide behind the wheel of any RS model for a week, especially if it's a $137,000 RS 7...
Kirk Bell -
Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat spied with Demon powerA Dodge engineer has been spotted out and about with a Challenger SRT Hellcat packing the powertrain of the Demon. The test car wears the standard Hellcat body and not the Demon’s wide-body design which Dodge is offering as an option for Hellcat buyers. It does, however, sport the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2018 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo first drive review: Practically perfect in (almost) every wayNeither jaw-droppingly gorgeous nor particularly utilitarian, the 2018 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo is nonetheless highly endearing. It’s the latest in a line of cars from Porsche that seem to do little wrong either on paper or in reality. It's practically perfect, but not all that...
Andrew Ganz -
General Motors and French automaker PSA Group on Tuesday announced the completion of the sale of Opel. Its acquisition of Opel means PSA Group is second only to the Volkswagen Group for size among European automakers. Combined deliveries for PSA and Opel totaled 4.3 million vehicles in 2016, or about 17 percent of the market. The figures include those of Vauxhall which Opel operates under in the United Kingdom. The other brands that form PSA include Citroën, DS and Peugeot. In accordance with the sale, which was first announced in March, PSA paid $1.53 billion for the Opel and Vauxhall...
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2018 Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid first drive review: the 918 Spyder distilledThe 2018 Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is an intensely busy machine. There’s nothing raw or visceral, two words nearly synonymous with Porsche, about this four-door hypercar, and yet it feels every bit the flagship it is intended to be. After on- and off-track drives around Victoria...
Andrew Ganz -
Tesla delivers first Model 3, says 310 miles of range possibleTesla, as promised, delivered the first examples of its highly anticipated Model 3 sedan on Friday. Around 30 lucky customers received their cars. The good news is that Tesla finally revealed some specs for the production version of the Model 3. Just two versions are being built in this initial...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2018 Audi RS 3 first drive review: Less money, but no less funAudi’s turbocharged 5-cylinder cars have a short but distinguished history. The Audi Quattro burst onto the scene in the early 1980s and won multiple driver's and manufacturer's titles in rally racing. In 1987, an Audi 5-cylinder was the first car to run up Pike’s Peak in less than 11...
Kirk Bell -
2018 Audi TT RS first drive review: overcoming imbalanceIf you were going to design a sports car, you wouldn’t start with the layout of the Audi TT. You wouldn’t choose a front-wheel-drive architecture. You wouldn’t turn the engine sideways, and you damn sure wouldn’t locate it ahead of the front axle. Instead, you’d start...
Kirk Bell -
The Dodge Viper ACR just ran the 'Ring in an unofficial 7:03.45Just ahead of the doors closing forever on the Dodge Viper, a new lap record attempt is being undertaken at the Nürburgring. A number was just set, and it's not slow: 7:03.45 was run by a white-with-blue-stripes 2017 Dodge Viper ACR, an uber-rare Viper GTS-R Commemorative Edition ACR to be...
Joel Feder