Nelson Ireson, Senior Editor
Articles
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Digesting the latest horsepower figures, performance stats, and driving characteristics is fun, but it can be tough to keep up. Sometimes you just need to kick back, let your digital hair down, and...
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Mexican Drug Wars Spiking Armored Car Sales?Crazy as it sounds, it looks like the heavily-armed (and apparently armored) Mexican drug cartels, bent on cowing or overtaking the government, are actually doing a morsel of good amidst all their evil: boosting armored car and SUV sales. The news, fresh out of Mexico City via Reuters, reveals that...
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2011 Lincoln MKX Recalled For Electrical Fire RiskThe Chinese may have called 2010 the year of the tiger, but for us car geeks, it's been the year of the recall. With over 20 million recalled so far, the latest addition of 14,737 Ford and Lincoln pickups and crossovers is just the tiniest of drops in the bucket--but the problem could be huge. An...
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Report: 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK Skipping Detroit, But Super Bowl Ad PossibleThe new and largely already revealed 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK won't be showing in Detroit, according to the latest reports, instead opting for a debut during Mercedes' 125th anniversary celebrations January 29. We may get a look at the car, however, in Mercedes' first Super Bowl spot. The ad...
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Ford's SYNC Goes Nostradamus, Predicts Best Departure TimesUsing navigation just to get to your destination is so 2009. Now your car can tell you when you should leave your origin point to cut transit time as short as possible. You'll need a SYNC-equipped and Traffic, Directions and Information (TDI)-capable Ford car, though. The new features, announced...
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Xenatec Maybach Coupe Gets Cruiserio Name, Saudi BackersThe best-looking (perhaps only good-looking) Maybach offered these days isn't even built by Daimler. It's built by Xenatec, and it's a coupe conversion of the 57S. Now it has Saudi backing and a new name, Cruiserio--and it's headed to production, of a sort. With $93 million invested by Saudi...
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In the tradition of dealer hot-rod legends like Don Yenko and Fred Gibb and their 9561 and 9560 packages, a pair of Chevrolet dealers are working the GM order system--plus a little magic on the...
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HRT F1 Engineer Says KERS 'Inefficient,' Nothing But Marketing PloyThe use of hybrid drive systems, or Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) as they're known in Formula 1, has a relatively short history in racing. In F1, the history is about to become present once again, with KERS back on the grid for 2011. But it may not be all it's cracked up to be, if HRT...
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2012 Porsche 911 Powertrain, Performance Specs Revealed?Porsche's 911 is, at this point, a living legend. Carrying an exterior look that still captures the essence of the original while being a completely different beast under the skin, the 911 is perhaps the original retro-futuristic sports car. The next generation promises to build that legacy. We've...
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Donkervoort D8 GTO TeasedThe long stretch of December holidays is often a slow time in the automotive world as manufacturers take extended breaks and the auto show season lulls post-Los Angeles and pre-Detroit. In Europe, however, they like to keep things moving despite the slowdown--or at least the Dutch at Donkervoort...
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MotorAuthority's Top Stories Of 2010: Cherokee SRT8, Golf R, And Spy ShotsIt's been another great year for MotorAuthority, and we have you to thank for it. Over the course of 2010 we've brought you more than 2,600 breaking headlines, reviews, videos, and photo galleries. Of those, these were your favorites. We'll be bringing you a few more top lists for 2010 as the year...
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Video: Glickenhaus Ferrari P4/5 Competizione In The NudeHere's your chance to lift the skirt on the racing version of one of the most unique Ferraris of the last decade: the James Glickenhaus Ferrari P4/5. Carbon fiber fetishists, brace yourselves. The video, which is essentially a walk-around of the stripped car as it's being built back up into...
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Cram a big 'Merkin V-8 into a lightweight roadster? Classic formula. Use said roadster to produce clouds of power-induced tire smoke? Just as classic. Getting beat down on a car forum for street...
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Rendered: Artist Interprets Chevrolet's Next-Gen CorvetteThe C7 Chevrolet Corvette has been the subject of rampant speculation since the C6 came out, with everything from all-wheel drive to mid-engine orientation supposedly planned. Most of those rumors have been shot down, and we're told the Stingray concept is only a general study in possible...
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Porsche Cayman, Boxster To Be Built Alongside VW GolfWe already knew the 2012 Porsche Boxster and Cayman would be built in-house at the Volkswagen Osnabrueck plant, bucking the trend of outsourcing construction to contract firms like Valmet or Magna. What we didn't know is that the next-gen Cayman and Boxster would be built alongside Volkswagens...
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2012 Ford Focus Gets Torque Vectoring, We're Not ThrilledThe first North American Ford to get torque vectoring control will be the 2012 Focus. Ford is pitching the system as a safety- and performance-enhancing addition that helps the car "carve through turns like a downhill skier." We're not convinced. First, we should understand how the system works...
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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback European Production Design TrademarkedIf you're longing for the Cruze Hatchback, you'd better start looking for tickets to Australia or Europe, as that's the closest you're going to get. Today, images of the final production design of the European Chevrolet-badged version of the car (shown at the Paris auto show) emerged from the EU's...
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Today's F1 Grid Is Best Ever, Says Sir JackieComparing drivers across time is a tough endeavor. How to account for the huge differences in performance of the cars driven? The upgrades in safety? Changes in track layouts? Apparently F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart can, and he has, saying today's crop of F1 drivers is the best in history. If...
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In the market for a very affordable midsize sedan with aspirational tendencies? Chrysler offers up the 2011 200, now available for your custom configuration online. Though it's up against some of...
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Video: Get Personal With Ferrari's 458 Italia"A Ferrari for every Ferrarista." That's the company motto for its personalization program, and here we see the concept applied to the 458 Italia. The key element in this program? Carbon fiber. Alcantara, custom paint, and unique color combinations also play supporting roles in the program. For a...
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Ford Adding Start-Stop To U.S. Fleet In 2012Europe is already knee-deep in start-stop technology, but we Yanks haven't been invited to that party yet. Why? Because of differences in the way the U.S. tests fuel economy, for the most part. Without a real numbers difference to sell the feature, it's hard to justify the added cost. Ford...
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Report: Porsche Confirms 'Spectacular' Model Debut For Detroit Auto ShowThe 2011 Detroit Auto Show is just around the corner, and Porsche is gearing up for what one representative calls a "spectacular" premiere. What, exactly, will this awesome new model be? Good question. All we know is that something new is definitely coming, confirmed today by Porsche. The official...
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Video Roundup: Snowed In? Drift That Sucker!The holiday weekend saw most of the Northeast draped in a blanket of snow, perfect for unwrapping presents and singing carols--but not so awesome for getting to work on Monday. Not that we're complaining. Snow days are also the perfect opportunity for some opposite lock. These five videos show you...
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Production version of BMW's Vision EfficientDynamics named i8If you haven't been following along with the translation of the Vision EfficientDynamics Concept into production form, it's time to catch up. For the rest of us, the latest detail on the car lends another touch of reality to the project: it could be called the i8. The "i" obviously comes from BMW's...
Nelson Ireson