Martin Padgett, Editorial Director
Articles
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As Mazda has its retractable-roof Miata, so too shall Fiat get its hardtop 124.
Or, at least, that's the story from today's Autocar. The British car magazine says Fiat will bring out its own...
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2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport first drive reviewThe Corvette is the king of American sports cars, but which one reigns supreme? If smashmouth acceleration and take-no-prisoners grip are your thing, the only Corvette on the menu is the Z06. Check, please. If you favor a subtler approach--maybe just a roundhouse to the jaw, with a donkey-kick...
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The Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe is not a coupe, and neither are these other things eitherCar companies are in the business of selling sex by way of sheet metal and petroleum (or electrons), and one way they've found to getting you all hot and bothered is by using the word "coupe." In this new and sometimes alarming world, a vehicle can be any body style at all and still be called a...
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2017 Mercedes-Benz GLC300 4Matic Coupe first drive reviewYou know that thing where we're calling things coupes, when they're not? Lay that at the feet of Mercedes-Benz. Back in 2006, Benz started the "four-door coupe" trend with the original CLS-Class sedan. Things quickly got out of hand. All sorts of brands, from Land Rover to Mazda, started using...
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2017 Subaru BRZ first drive reviewRemember when fun-to-drive cars were rear-wheel drive? When neutral handling trumped tricked-out suspensions with variable-ratio everything? When manual gearboxes weren't just available, but standard? The Subaru BRZ is trying to save sports cars with headsmackingly simple counterprogramming. It's...
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59 tips, hints, and tricks to being a better driverDriving isn't a right--it's a privilege. We don't always treat it that way, though. All too often, we forget the basic courtesies, the finer points of driving. Don't worry. It happens to all of us. Need some help? Then bone up on this conclusive list of everything you need to know to be a better...
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Call it autonomous driving, piloted driving, or assisted driving: The automobile is gradually taking over some of the chore of driving, and doing it with safety in mind.
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2018 Mercedes-AMG GT R: 9 things that get completely out of handIf you thought the Mercedes-AMG GT was already out of bounds--like, Guy Fieri out of bounds--the newly debuted AMG GT R must seem completely out of hand. The GT R (no comment yet from Nissan on the catchy name) made its first public appearance this weekend at the U.K.'s Goodwood Festival of Speed...
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The $187,400 McLaren 570S is Ferrari's rude wake-up call: first drive reviewSay you just sold your first mobile app, or your company just got acquired by some search-engine giant. What’s a car-crazed geek to do? Real estate? Retirement plan? We’d do something totally logical like this--the 570S, the first car in McLaren's more attainable Sports Series. Logical...
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McLaren: All the cars, from F1 to P1It's one of the younger brands on the automotive landscape, but few car names sport the supercar aura and carry the racing heritage of McLaren. New Zealand-born Bruce McLaren became one of the youngest Formula 1 champions in 1959, when he won his first Grand Prix. After starting his own race team...
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We go Spanish flying in the 200-mph, $126,945 Jaguar F-Type SVR: first drive reviewMaybe this is how we'll remember sports cars. Once everything runs off a silent pack of cells charged wirelessly overnight. Once no one actually owns a car outright. Once cars turn into self-driven transportation devices, run by apps, pre-programmed for convenience, drained of life. Savor this one...
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8 things that make a Jaguar F-Type an SVRWhat's in an acronym? In the case of the 2017 Jaguar F-Type SVR, it's not just a pretty face and a $126,945 price tag. As it does with the gutsy Range Rover Sport SVR, Jaguar Land Rover doesn't spare much in the mission to give those letters real meaning. That meaning: pretty obvious. SVR stands...
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The Porsche 911 isn’t just a car. It’s car history, one of the foundation garments on the body of work that includes everything from the Model T to the Beetle to the Corvette.
Catch us...
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2017 Jaguar F-Pace first drive reviewMontenegro is mostly off the radar of Americans. We kind of know Yugoslavia, even though it no longer exists. Montenegro's a part of the former Yugoslavia, a rocky promontory wedged between Croatia and Albania, deep in Game of Thrones territory. Largely unscathed by the decades of civil war that...
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Breaking the banks at Daytona in a 2017 Audi R8Audi has come a long way since the days of the original Quattro. That all-wheel-drive original changed minds about which wheels should drive a performance car. But the Quattro wasn't quite a sports car, and it would take Audi another two decades before it would field an actual rival for cars like...
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2016 Volvo XC90 T6 video reviewLuxury SUVs are more popular than ever, but let’s get real. Not everyone needs a leather-lined utility vehicle that’s capable of fording rivers and dealing with parking at Trader Joe’s. Most of us need a wagon with all-weather traction and a strong dose of safety. We like nice...
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2017 Acura NSX first drive reviewHalo cars aren't designed to be best sellers. They're vital vanity projects--succinct statements of all a car company wants to be, and what it can do. They can be culture-shifters. Witness the Audi R8, the BMW i8. When it made its debut 25 years ago, the Acura NSX was the brand's first halo car. It...
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2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class first drive reviewThe car world is hurtling off on new and exciting and in some cases, highly speculative vectors. From Tesla to Google to Apple, a batch of new auto arrivals are owning the tech mantle without having built generations of backstory. Or even a business case. They haven't left the old guard behind just...
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With a show-stealing launch of the new 2017 DB11 sports car, Aston Martin has finally launched its "Second Century." The plan, to recast the British luxury automaker, took shape after former Nissan...
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2017 Bentley Mulsanne Preview: Live photos and videoThere's a new phrase for the very top layer of luxury in the car world. "Pinnacle cars" are the diamond-quilted, champagne-fluted versions of, you know, everyday luxury cars. A Benz S-Class isn't good enough to qualify. Make it a Maybach. Better yet, make it a Pullman. A Phantom? Fine, for...
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Toyota At CES: More Smartphones, More Telematics, More RobotsThe future of smartphone-connected and autonomous cars at Toyota is being mapped out at this week's CES in Las Vegas. Toyota says will join forces with Ford and tech company Livio to deliver the next generation of smartphone services to its vehicles--and it's working on developing the long-term...
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2016 Mini Clubman first drive reviewMINI is now in its second decade under the BMW aegis, and apparently, it's time for some soul-searching. Breathe easy, now. The Cooper is fine. Even though it's bigger than ever, it's also a pretty nimble, fun-loving hatchback, even with a three-cylinder engine. It's unscathed by the reshaping...
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Ford Shelby GT350 Vs. Chevy Camaro SS: Video ThrowdownYou know, sometimes it's tough to convince our friends and family that this is a tough job. Hard days and long nights. Real work. Convincing them is about to get impossible. Who else runs buck wild with two of the ballsiest cars on the face of Planet Earth--on a school day? We did. Drove 'em hard...
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2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS Video Road TestWhat's a muscle car? What's a pony car? Before you dig too deeply into those car-guy Twitter fights, listen to this. It's time to stop calling the Chevy Camaro a pony car. Time to stop calling it a muscle car. It's a bona fide sports car now, and a damn fine one at that. We took to the canyons of...
Martin Padgett