Car News

  • A slide from the 2011 Merit Review presentation

    Over the past couple of years we’ve been reporting about a new engine concept where a small amount of ethanol is injected directly into a cylinder chamber before combustion along with a blast of gasoline. The burning of ethanol has the positive side effect of cooling the combustion chamber, and when combined with the fuel’s higher octane rating, much higher compression ratios can be run, the end result being diesel-like economy from a gasoline engine. Now Chrysler, along with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is investigating a similar concept but where diesel fuel is injected...

  • 2012 BMW 1-Series Hatchback
    2012 BMW 1-Series: Larger, More EfficientDynamics Technology

    You can make your own mind up about the styling of the upcoming 2012 BMW 1-Series hatchback, but one thing is for certain: with larger dimensions and more efficiency, the appeal of BMW's smallest model will be broader than ever. Most exciting for tech fans will be the EfficientDynamics and...

  • Dr. Dre promoting the Powered By Dr. Dre sound system for the new 2012 Chrysler 300
    Dr. Dre Stars In New 2012 Chrysler 300S Commercial: Video

    Chrysler has released a new television commercial in its ever-expanding ‘Imported From Detroit’ campaign, but while the previous ads all featured celebrities with a major connection with Detroit, the latest one treads a slightly different path. It stars rapper and music producer Dr. Dre...

  • 2012 MINI Cooper Coupe official spy shots
    2012 MINI Cooper Coupe Preview

    Two years ago MINI unveiled a pair of new sports car concepts at the Frankfurt Auto Show, one called the Coupe and the other the Roadster. Now, just a couple of months out from the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, MINI is giving us a preview of the production version of one of these concepts, the 2012...

  • Tennis ace Roger Federer expecting the new 2012 SLS AMG Roadster
    Roger Federer Test-Drives The 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster: Video

    The new 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster isn’t set to go on sale until this fall but Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer was lucky enough to sample one already, even taking it for a test-drive on public roads in what appears to be a scenic desert landscape. Given his sponsorship deal with...

  • 2011 Porsche Cayenne S
    Porsche Cajun To Borrow Hot Audi Diesel Engine: Report

    Though Porsche’s Cajun SUV based on the Audi Q5 isn’t scheduled to debut until sometime in 2014, we already know several details about the upcoming sporty soft-roader, including for the first time some potential powertrain specs. According to a new report, the Porsche Cajun will feature...

  • 2011 Ford Falcon V8 Supercars race car

    We got a taste of Australia’s V-8 muscle car love with the short-lived Pontiac G8 GT and high-performance GT GXP, which were essentially a rebadged Holden Commodore and its more exclusive Holden Special Vehicles variant, both designed and engineered Down Under. Well, it seems the Aussies also love to race their locally bred heroes, specifically, in a two make touring car race series called V8 Supercars, with the Holden Commodore taking on its longtime rival, the Ford Falcon, in an epic battle, the highlight of which is a 1,000 km (621 mile) race around the Mount Panorama race track in...

  • Tesla Model S Alpha build
    Tesla Model S ‘Alpha’ Build Mega-Gallery

    The Tesla Model S electric sedan is on track for a market debut in the middle of next year, although the production version of the car is scheduled to be revealed at the end of this year. We say production version as we’ve already seen a number of Model S sedans in the past, though all of...

  • Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Buemi crashing into crazed fan
    Formula 1 Car Crashes Into Crazed Fan At Red Bull Event: Video

    A crazed fan attempting to jump over a moving Formula 1 car at a Red Bull sponsored exhibition event in Japan this weekend was captured on video spectacularly failing to complete his dangerous leap. Driving the F1 race car was Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Buemi who luckily was only doing...

  • STP 400 logo
    Kansas Speedway STP 400 Weather Forecast

    It's race weekend, folks, and it's rapidly becoming summer even though the calendar says it's still technically spring. If you're headed to the Kansas Speedway for the STP 400 this weekend, you'll want to bring your sunscreen. High temperatures are set to hover in the low-90s through the weekend...

  • 2012 BMW 1-Series Hatchback
    2012 BMW 1-Series Hatchback Preview

    BMW has come out with a decisively different looking 1-Series for the second generation of the car, yet there’s still some familiarity to the at times awkward looking compact. We’ll leave the styling judgments up to you, though one thing we can all agree on is that BMW has made a good...

  • STP 400 Drivers: Harvick, Edwards, Johnson, Who Else?

    Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Kevin Harvick look to be breaking a bit of a gap on the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup field at this stage in the season, but with about two-thirds of the racing left, it's anyone's game. Matt Kenseth, for example, has two wins to his credit now, while contenders...

  • Now one-third of the way through the season, the NASCAR Sprint Cup is heading to Kansas for the STP 400. Friday's final practice session is just finished, but qualifying remains ahead, scheduled for 11:10 a.m. local (noon Eastern) Saturday morning. Each car will put in two laps to determine the starting lineup. Once that's done, the Cup cars will sit idle as many drivers pull double duty in the Camping World Truck Series, which is running a 250-mile race alongside the Cup event. Looking forward to Sunday, the track opens at 7:00 a.m. CDT, with the Hot Pass going into effect at 11:00 a.m. CDT...

  • 2012 BMW 1-Series European-spec leaked images
    2012 BMW 1-Series Image, Details Leaked

    Update: The official details and images on the 2012 BMW 1-Series Hatchback are out. Click here for our latest post. The current BMW 1-Series is, despite its late arrival in the U.S., growing long in the tooth, 1-Series M Coupe notwithstanding. Accordingly, a new model is in the works, due as a 2012...

  • 2011 Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet
    Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet Production Crippled By Earthquake, Tsunami

    In what may be the only silver lining of the horrific earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan in March--though Nissan certainly won't see it this way--production of the 2011 Murano CrossCabriolet was cut just as it began, halting its assault on our eyeballs just as it was about to...

  • 2011 Cadillac SRX
    Why The Cadillac SRX Plug-In Hybrid Was Killed: The Full Story

    Earlier this week, the news of the Cadillac SRX plug-in hybrid's pre-production demise spread quickly, followed a few days later by talk of why, including a source that blamed the battery and a lack of efficiency. High Gear Media's John Voelcker dug deeper to uncover the full story on why it was...

  • Jaguar XKR-S
    Jaguar XKR-S Gets Some Official Track Time: Video

    Jaguar's latest XK family member, the XKR-S, isn't a 240-mph hypercar, and it's not the lightest, nimblest, or even the prettiest of the more run-of-the-mill super sports cars. But it does sound spectacular while offering a sampling of the best, and last, of the current XK. This video shows the...

  • Apple Store smash and no grab, Greensboro, NC
    White Ninja Crashes Honda Accord Into Apple Store; Your Move, Mr. Jobs

    Like you, we're fed up with waiting on Apple to put out, whether it's the white iPhone 4 or any iPad 2. Or maybe a Genius Bar waitron who doesn't give you the idiot look when you don't "live" TCP/IP protocols. The dude in the Honda Accord above obviously couldn't wait for Apple to get its act...

  • 2011 Audi A1 clubsport quattro Concept

    It's hard to get too excited over Europe-only concepts for shows like Wörthersee, where the A1 clubsport quattro concept was unveiled this week. In this case, however, there's a taste of tanatlizing production car lying just beneath the surface. Which production car is that? Why, the RS1, of course. And yes, you're right in thinking that even if it is built, based on this concept, it won't be coming to the U.S. If Audi builds it, we'll need to build an addition to our garage, not for the A1, but to hold our new pet green-eyed monster. Why is that? Because the A1 clubsport gets a...

  • New York City skyline
    Video: BMW Guggenheim Lab, Improve City Living And Travel

    If you could make living, working and travelling around your city a better experience for yourself and others, you'd take the opportunity without hesitation, wouldn't you? Now is your chance. BMW Guggenheim Lab is an initiative launched by German carmaker BMW and art and culture organisation, the...

  • Ads for the 2011 Bahrain GP
    Formula 1 Heading To Bahrain October 30 As FIA Gives Green Light

    The civil (and not-so-civil) unrest in Bahrain had put the race's presence on the 2011 Formula 1 schedule in doubt this year, and until today, most had assumed the race would be skipped. Instead, the FIA voted to hold the race despite the violence and political turbulence. Since Bahrain was...

  • 2011 Audi A1 clubsport quattro Concept
    Audi A1 clubsport quattro Concept Hints At Possible RS 1

    Though we’ve been talking about an RS1 high-performance minicar from Audi for more than year now, the strongest indication yet that we might one day see such a car came from the unveiling of the Audi A1 clubsport quattro Concept at this week’s Wörthersee Tour 2011 in Austria...

  • 1927 Datsun Pickup Truck from Craigslist
    Ugly Car Guide: 1972 Datsun PL521 Ratrod Pickup

    If you're into tough little trucks with incongruously fancy touches, flick your browser over to Craiglist, to this restoration of a 1972 Datsun pickup. It's a project done by Atlanta's Heritage Motorsports, which says its mission "is to save as many classic cars and bikes as possible." Admirable...

  • Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Concept
    Nissan Leaf Nismo RC To Tear Up The Track At 24 Hours Of Le Mans

    Nissan has announced that its Leaf Nismo RC Concept electric race car concept from the recent 2011 New York Auto Show will be making a demonstration run at the Le Mans Vers Le Futur, a support event for the 79th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Leaf Nismo RC was never meant to be a one-off...

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