Bengt Halvorson, Senior Editor
Articles
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Can a four-door be a true sports car? In today’s market—even at the upper end of the market—it seems that there are too many so-called ’no compromise’ luxury cars...
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Italdesign Giugiaro Parcour Concept: Live Photos From GenevaThe concept: Take a Lamborghini Gallardo, and add some SUV toughness, so that the Parcour can, true to its name, go anywhere--at least anywhere there's a road. Of course, since Italdesign Giugiaro is behind this new concept, shown here at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, they've also made it beautiful...
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2014 Subaru Forester 2.0XT first drive reviewAfter a day of blasting through otherworldly Saguaro cactus forests of Southern Arizona, much of it on dusty, unimproved gravel backroads—on the way to hot-lap time at the track—we can't exactly say that we put the new turbocharged 2014 Subaru Forester 2.0XT through the kinds of...
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2014 Cadillac ELR Preview: Guilt-Free Luxury Upstages The Chevy VoltEven if you’re not entirely a car person, you’ve likely noticed and perhaps even lusted after the stylish Cadillac CTS-V Coupe—perhaps in a way that you haven’t seen Cadillac before. Now take some of that same gravitas, and plug it in, and you get some of the essence behind...
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Electric Power Steering: We Ask An Insider Where It’s HeadedGet into any new car—okay, well maybe not a Smart Fortwo—and you’ll find power steering. Power steering systems have, for the most part, become so good, so transparent in a way, that we tend to forget that they exist. Yet we should keep in mind that for the typical driver, to...
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Carbon fiber wheels: a costly upgrade, but better performance?As the industry looks to meet tough new fuel economy targets while still stepping ahead in performance, safety, sophistication, and on-board technology, watching weight by moving to advanced materials like carbon fiber is going to be increasingly common. Using carbon fiber for parts, panels, and...
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Don’t let the ‘fixie’ bike mounted into the Hyundai Veloster C3 Roll Top Conecpt lead you too far astray. This concept, unveiled here at the Los Angeles Auto Show, could be taken...
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Hyundai Veloster C3 Roll Top Concept: 2012 LA Auto ShowThe 2013 Hyundai Veloster serves up a good mix of sportiness, practicality, and fuel-efficiency, and it’s already a pretty great car for those who live in the city, don’t yet have kids, and stay active. But as we found a few times with the Six Month Road Test Hyundai Veloster we had...
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2014 Acura RLX Technology Preview DriveAcura may not quite have the prestige or the cachet of longtime luxury marques like Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, or even Lexus, but it does have top-drawer access to the most innovative powertrain and chassis engineering developments from Honda. And with Acura’s upcoming flagship sedan, the 2014...
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2014 Chevrolet Corvette, Aston Martin Vanquish, MINI Paceman: Top Photos Of The WeekAlthough we admit to spending some of the week poring over photos and specs for the iPhone 5—and pondering how it might affect the in-car connectivity experience—this past week at MotorAuthority brought plenty of other evocative images of actual upcoming vehicles, like the new 2014...
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2014 Mazda6 Makes World Debut At Moscow Motor ShowMazda has chosen an unlikely place--Moscow--for the world premiere of its next-generation flagship Mazda6 sedan, which will be making its debut in the U.S. early next year as a 2014 model. While the Mazda6 shown here--the production model and not a prototype or a concept--marks the debut of all-new...
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2013 BMW 328i Sports Wagon: Coming Soon To The U.S.BMW has already announced that it will bring the Sports Wagon version of the latest F30 BMW 3-Series to the U.S., beginning in Spring of 2013. But before you get too excited, for now the U.S. Sports Wagon lineup will be limited to automatic transmissions only, and only the base 3-Series’ 328i...
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The 2013 Dodge Dart is one of the most eagerly anticipated models of the new model year—not just because it’s the first model to be developed under pooled Fiat and Chrysler engineering...
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2013 Ford Focus ST: Sound Strategy Goes Brassy, Not BoomyIf you've ever owned a high-performance compact car or hot hatch, you know that while they can be surprisingly versatile and practical for everyday driving and the commute, there's one thing that can completely sour the daily-driving experience: the exhaust note. Too often, go-fast four-cylinder...
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2013 Ford Focus ST first drive reviewIf there's a poster car for the 'One Ford' mantra, it might just be the new 2013 Ford Focus ST. Without Ford's initiative to consolidate global development for same-sized vehicles under single development teams—and models that will work in all major markets—it's likely we'd never have...
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Classic-Car Spotters: We Found Your Board GameLooking for something fun to play at your next car-club meeting, cruise-in, or car-guys' get-together? You might want to pack Carnology. In this new trivia/identification game, players race around the board toward the checkered flag, trying to guess the car make, model, and year, based on a deck of...
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2013 BMW 640i Gran Coupe: First DriveThis is not a good time for the indecisive. Just when you thought that BMW couldn't fragment the performance-luxury choices any more—with the X6 and the 5-Series Gran Turismo already appealing to the niche shoppers who are torn between pre-defined vehicle types like coupes, sedans, wagons...
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2012 BMW M6 Convertible: First DriveIf you're at all familiar with chili peppers and the zing they bring, you know that a little heat's a good thing, but too much spice can completely numb the senses—or bite back. It's how we couldn't help but feel about the new 2012 BMW M6 Convertible, top down, in one of its many Sport-mode...
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“Keep it simple” is a siren song for driving enthusiasts and weekend racers who love a certain kind of sports car. And if you hear that as meaning lightweight, rear-wheel-drive,...
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2013 Cadillac XTS first drive reviewClimbing into the XTS for a drive, it was hard to not think of all that Cadillac officials had cautioned us the technology-focused 2013 Cadillac XTS isn’t. It isn't a new flagship model for the brand; it isn’t intended as a performance-oriented model; and it isn’t expected to be...
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Slow-Selling 2012 Lexus HS 250h Hybrid Killed, Very SoftlyBeware, green luxury shoppers: If you like the Lexus HS 250h hybrid sedan, get one now—and you might even score the rare discount on a Lexus. Lexus has confirmed that the HS 250h is no more. And it's evidence that even Lexus can make product missteps, and that not every hybrid that Toyota or...
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2013 Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG: First DriveTo understand a car—okay, especially one that’s perhaps a little removed from our own fiscal reality—it helps to peer into the buyers’ mindset for a stint, and to go where they might go. And when the place happens to be the French Riviera, and the car is the 2013...
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2012 Volkswagen Golf R: First DriveFirst off, we have to tell you that the new 2012 Volkswagen Golf R is worlds better than the last Golf 'R' to be sold in the U.S. That's the 2008 R32, which was comfortable and faster than the GTI, but not much faster, and all too heavy and luxury-laden—more like a grand-touring hot-hatch...
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2013 Subaru BRZ Priced: All Models Under $30kSubaru has at last priced its eagerly anticipated rear-wheel-drive 2013 BRZ sports car, and it's a bit better equipped (and lower-priced) than early reports had anticipated. All the models of the 2013 BRZ lineup land under the $30,000 mark. The 2013 Subaru BRZ will only be offered in Premium and...
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