forbidden fruit

Opel’s flagship Insignia sedan, hatch and Sports Tourer wagon have received a slew of updates as part of their respective mid-cycle refreshes. The updated cars won't make their debut until the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show in September but have been revealed today in full. The changes follow those...

The French have long made beautiful, if quirky, cars. The latest addition to this fold is the production version of the 260-horsepower Peugeot RCZ R, a hot and sporty version of the standard RCZ. Introduced last year as a concept at the Paris Motor Show, the RCZ R gets its stout power output from a...

Peugeot is set to make a return to Pikes Peak this year, with nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb set to represent the French automaker in the grueling hill climb. Peugeot, of course, is no stranger to Pikes Peak, having previously been triumphant in the event with its 205 T16 and 405 T16...

To celebrate the start of the Toyota GT 86 Cup, a one-make racing series held in Europe and designed for Toyota's popular rear-wheel-drive sports car, the Japanese automaker has announced a limited run of ‘GT 86 Cup Edition’ special edition models. Designed to mimic the look of the GT...

Following the launch of the MkVII Golf in Paris last year, Volkswagen has revealed one of the car’s first variants, the sporty Golf GTD. The diesel-powered hot hatch is scheduled to make its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show on March 5, where it will likely join the highly anticipated MkVII...

Volkswagen’s new MkVII Golf has already gone on sale overseas, and soon a new generation of the high-performance Golf R will be joining it. However, Volkswagen still has one more variant of its outgoing MkVI Golf to launch, and that’s the Golf R Cabriolet, which as its name suggest is...

Audi’s A1 hatchback is still no closer to a U.S. launch, though that may change with the arrival of the second generation of the car. But at least we can still dream, and, thanks to Audi, we don’t even have to use our imaginations. The latest video from the brand with the four rings...

Kia’s European branch is set to launch a new Golf GTI-rivaling hot hatch based on its stylish Pro Cee’d hatch, a three-door version of the regular five-door Cee’d hatch sold in Europe but sharing more in common with the sporty Hyundai Veloster sold in the U.S. The new hot hatch...

Volkswagen recently revealed its long-awaited Polo R, the sportiest version of the Polo subcompact sold overseas. The new car, whose official title is Polo R WRC, just like the World Rally Championship Polo race car it’s inspired by, is set to make its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show in...

After years of waiting, Volkswagen has finally added a high-performance ‘R’ variant to its Polo subcompact range, but instead of launching it as a standalone model the new hot hatch’s arrival coincides with the automaker’s 2013 entry into the World Rally Championship (WRC)...

For those that have never heard of Bitter, it's a small German firm specializing in luxury and sporty cars and has been in the business for just over four decades. Established in 1971 by Erich Bitter, a former race car driver who eventually started a tuning business and then went into car...

Though it wasn’t at the recent Paris Auto Show, as we had expected, Opel’s new Astra convertible, the Cascada, has been revealed in full today and is confirmed for a sales launch in Europe next spring. What hasn’t been confirmed yet is whether the Cascada will be sold in the U.S...

While European carmakers are slowly coming around to the concept of releasing their best products in the U.S., there are still a few cars denied to American customers. One of these is BMW's latest hot 1-Series model, the M135i from its expanding M Performance range. Available only in three- and...

Ever since Honda launched its CR-Z “Sports Hybrid,” fans of the car and of the brand have wished for one thing: more power. Even in early 2011, less than a year after the car’s launch, there was talk about a new, more powerful version in the works. That car made its debut at this...

Audi has unveiled the 2014 S3 in a three-door hatchback form, and after seeing it in person we can only be even more disappointed that it won't be coming to the U.S. in this body style. The new S3 is powered by a 2.0-liter TFSI turbo four-cylinder rated at 296 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of...

With Mercedes-Benz choosing not to offer its striking CLS Shooting Brake in the U.S., the next best way for American readers to enjoy the car is by watching this video review courtesy of Brit journo Chris Harris. He recently tested the potent AMG version, which like most of the Affalterbach...

After tracking the new Audi A3 Sportback's progress in spy shots since this summer, we now see the official production version--but we won't get this car here in the U.S., according to Audi USA corporate communications manager Brad Stertz. Instead, we'll get the just-for-us A3 sedan. European...

Following the debut of Volvo’s new V40 luxury hatch at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, the Swedish automaker is now expanding the range with a sporty R-Design model, which makes its official world debut this month at the Paris Auto Show. Though not a true performance upgrade like...

Following its preview in concept form at March’s Geneva Motor Show, French automaker Peugeot has now revealed the production 208 GTi hot hatch that’s set to go on sale overseas in the first half of next year. Like the Volkswagen GTI, which is essentially a hotted-up version of the...

There’s talk of a new generation of the iconic Land Rover Defender SUV being built, based on the recent string of Defender Concept 100 show cars and rumors that the vehicle will be returning to the U.S. by the middle of the decade. For now, however, the Defender is off-limits for local...