Viknesh Vijayenthiran, Editor
Articles
-
With Subaru making the regular Impreza WRX Sedan and Hatchback look more like the pumped up STI model for the 2011 model year, designers needed to add something new to make the most extreme of...
-
First Drive: 2011 Ford Mustang V-6 And GTWith the arrival of the new 2011 Ford Mustang, it’s safe to say that the Blue Oval pony car finally has the advantage over its arch rival, the Chevrolet Camaro. Not surprisingly, that was the very car provided by Ford for comparison during a first drive event for the latest 2011 model...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2010 New York Auto Show: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze RS And Cruze EcoThe 2011 Chevrolet Cruze hasn’t even gone on sale in the U.S. but already the first variants are being revealed. At this week’s 2010 New York Auto Show two new Cruze models will make their debut: the sporty RS and the fuel efficient Eco, the latter delivering a fuel economy as high as...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Hennessey Venom GT revealedAmerican-designed and built supercars are on the comeback, it seems, with the Devon Motorworks GTX making its debut at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and now Hennessey Performance Engineering revealing its Venom GT supercar in its final form for the first time. Originally announced as...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Ford Starts Production Of PowerShift Dual Clutch Transmission, Debuts In New FiestaIn the never-ending pursuit of efficiency, performance and smooth power delivery, the next step forward for many automakers is the adoption of the dual clutch transmission. Once the province of high-end performance cars, dual clutch transmissions have been finding their way into everyday vehicles...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
America’s AMS Performance Builds World’s First Nine Second R35 Nissan GT-RThe Nissan GT-R is the quintessential Japanese sports car--high-tech, efficient and with styling that could only have come from the Land of the Rising Sun--but when it comes to performance tuning of the latest R35 model, America is king. AMS Performance, based in Chicago, Illinois, currently builds...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
A brand new version of the Chrysler 300 is just around the corner, kicking off a product renaissance at Chrysler that will include a score of new or updated models over the next couple of years.
The...
-
2010 New York Auto Show Preview: 2011 Mercedes-Benz R-ClassSales figures for the R-Class haven’t managed to live up to the expectations of the German luxury brand, but Mercedes-Benz is determined not to completely write-off its ‘Grand Sport Tourer’ just yet. The R-Class received a mild facelift in 2007 to help turn around flagging sales...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Daimler Charged $185 Million Over Bribery ScandalDaimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, has been charged $185 million by a U.S. court because of several violations to bribery laws spanning the past decade. Daimler was essentially offering gifts, including luxury cars, to foreign officials in an effort to secure business deals. The $185...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Aston Martin Hopes Cygnet Can Push Sales Beyond 6,000 Cars Per YearLove it or loathe it but Aston Martin’s Cygnet luxury minicar based on the Toyota iQ is here to stay. For whatever reasons Aston Martin deemed it necessary to build such a model, be it emissions regulations, demand from brand loyalists for an urban commuter, or a desperate grab for new...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Ford Mustang Pricing Starts At $22,995The muscle car wars is about to really heat up thanks to news today that the base 2011 Ford Mustang with its record breaking 305 horsepower and 31 mpg highway fuel economy is priced from $22,995, which undercuts its closest rival, the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, but a significant $535. At the other end...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Crash During Pagani Zonda Test Drive Results In $445,000 Damage BillDealers are always a little hesitant to lend out expensive cars for test drives so imagine the feeling one dealership in the U.K. must have felt when an exotic supercar it lent out to one individual ended up in a crash. A Pagani Zonda S, similar to the one pictured here, suffered a crash during a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
For Alfa Romeo to be able to sell cars competitively in North America it will definitely need to start local production. Not only are wage rates actually cheaper here in the U.S., but the...
-
2010 New York Auto Show Preview: 2011 BMW Alpina B7 xDriveBMW will be expanding its performance lineup at next week’s 2010 New York Auto Show with the launch of the all-wheel drive variant of the Alpina B7 sports sedan. Joining the regular B7, the all-new 2011 BMW Alpina B7 xDrive, as it’s officially titled, will again be offered in standard-...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM Working On EcoBoost-Like Twin-Turbo V-6 For Cadillac XTS FlagshipWhile Ford’s EcoBoost technology is nothing really revolutionary--direct injection and turbocharging has been available on European diesels for years--the Blue Oval has been making strides over the competition when it comes to the performance and efficiency of its new engines. EcoBoost...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 BMW 5-Series, X5 And 3-Series Coupe And Cabrio Headed To New YorkAt next week’s 2010 New York Auto Show several 2011 model year BMWs will make their official North American debuts, including the all-new 2011 5-Series plus the facelifted 2011 X5 and 3-Series Coupe and Convertible. Also on show will be a new all-wheel drive variant of the high-performance...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Buick LaCrosse PreviewAt next week’s 2010 New York Auto Show Buick will roll out its latest versions of the LaCrosse sedan, this time with just a single four- and six-cylinder engine on the table. Coming in for the 2011 model year, the LaCrosse is being offered with an Ecotec 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine as...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM Exec Hints At Power Hike For 2011 Chevrolet Camaro V-6When it comes to bragging rights between Camaro and Mustang owners, the Ford guys currently have the advantage, at least when it’s concerning the base V-6 models. The base 2011 Ford Mustang has been fitted with a brand new 3.7-liter V-6 engine developing 305 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Hot on the heels of news that AMG will launch a high-performance version of the next-generation Mercedes-Benz B-Class late next year comes a report claiming the tuning firm will also launch a...
-
GM Previews EN-V Mobility Concepts Ahead Of 2010 Shanghai World ExpoFuturists predict that by 2030 more than 60 percent of the world’s population, which by that time should number around eight billion people, will be concentrated into urban areas. Streets will be more congested than ever and pressure on a public infrastructure--already struggling to meet the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW Working On New Engine Family, Three-Cylinder Units PlannedBMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has revealed that the automaker is working on a new family of modular gasoline and diesel engines that will include a three-cylinder variant and eventually go into some 1.5 million cars, including both BMW and MINI models, per year. The family of engines will include...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Bentley Mulsanne Takes Four Days Just To PaintThe all-new 2011 Bentley Mulsanne has been designed to represent the pinnacle of automotive luxury so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that painting the body alone takes a total of 86 hours--nearly four whole days--to complete. That is the level of attention to detail afforded to Bentley's...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
McLaren Boss Hints At MP4-12C Race Car For Privateer TeamsDuring last week’s launch of McLaren’s new road car division, McLaren Automotive, CEO Ron Dennis revealed plans for several new sports cars but deterred from announcing that any of these would be turned into McLaren-backed race cars nor would they ever be used for a special one-make...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Rendered: 2014 Mercedes-Benz C-ClassThis may be looking a little far into the future but these are the first images previewing the next-generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan and Estate wagon. Showing obvious styling influences from the recently revealed F800 Style concept car, which Mercedes-Benz confirmed would influence the design...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran