Kirk Bell, Senior Editor
Articles
-
The newest Rolls-Royce Phantom was unveiled Thursday in London, the eighth-generation of the benchmark ultra-luxury sedan and the most recent iteration since 2003. The new Phantom is the second...
-
Steph Curry sinks shot into Infiniti Q50's sunroofIt's not exactly Michael Jordan versus Larry Bird for McDonald's circa 1993, but as we can see from this outtake in filming for his commercial for the Infiniti Q50, NBA star Steph Curry might as well say "nothing but interior." The Golden State Warriors shooting guard signed on with Infiniti as a...
Kirk Bell -
2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class first drive review: relaxation chamberR-E-L-A-X. Frankie said we should all do it. Aaron Rodgers famously said it when the Green Bay Packers started 1-2 in 2014 before coming within three minutes of a trip to the Super Bowl. And now, Mercedes-Benz, not content to build what it considers the best car in the world, wants S-Class...
Kirk Bell -
Mercedes-Benz shows production X-Class pickup truck–still not for USMercedes-Benz chose Cape Town, South Africa to reveal the production version of its X-Class pickup truck. Why Cape Town? Because South Africa will be one of the markets where the truck will be sold, along with Europe, Australia, and South America. Mercedes calls the X-Class the world's first...
Kirk Bell -
2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Goodwood Festival of Speed, Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: The Week In ReversePorsche unveiled the 2019 911 GT2 RS; we took in the sights and sounds of the Goodwood Festival of Speed; and we drove the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio up a mountain. It's the Week in Reverse, right here at Motor Authority. With 700 horses on tap from its twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-6, the...
Kirk Bell -
2017 Chevrolet Silverado HD first drive review: playing with John Deere equipment in the adult sandboxWhen I was just a wee lad, I spent countless hours in the sandbox playing with my Hot Wheels and Tonka trucks. The scale discrepancy didn't bother me because the Tonka trucks worked great for grading the sand into roads and freeway off-ramps for my Hot Wheels. I eventually lost countless Hot Wheels...
Kirk Bell -
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet has a strange and winding 25-year history. It all started with W124-generation cars in the early 1990s, the first Mercedes models to bear the E-Class name. In the...
-
Tour de (special) force: How the Army and Chevy team up on the front linesGet off the X. That’s what you do when the shit goes down. And in a vehicle, that means speed can be your friend. That’s just one of the rules that Delta Force operators follow in wartime. The “X,” in this case, is an attack, and if you are in a vehicle that is under attack...
Kirk Bell -
2018 Ford F-150 and Expedition getting powertrain upgradesFord today announced a series of engine upgrades for the 2018 F-150 and Expedition, and they are all designed to improve both power and fuel economy. Highlighting the changes is the addition of port injection on top of the already existing direct injection to several engines, expanded use of the...
Kirk Bell -
Watch the Glickenhaus SCG003C lap the 'Ring in 6:33.20During qualifying for lthe 24 Hours of Nürburgring on May 27, American driver Jeff Westphal put the Glickenhaus SCG003C supercar on the pole for the SP-X class with a time of 8:15.427. Why should we care? Because the famous Nordschliefe was part of the course, and the car covered that...
Kirk Bell -
2018 Audi A5/S5 Sportback first drive review: A niche worth exploringThose wacky Germans have found a way to explore every automotive niche known to man--and invent a few of their own. The BMW and Mercedes-Benz product lineups have grown to include every manner of coupe, convertible, sedan, crossover, coupe-like crossover, hatchback sedan, and veloco-transport, plus...
Kirk Bell -
Subaru BRZ tS and WRX STI Type RA, first Honda Civic Type R up for auction, Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series: Car News HeadlinesSubaru is looking to add more STI models to its lineup, and now we know what two of those are. The 2018 Subuaru WRX STI Type RA adds power, cuts weight, and gets a big rear wing. We will also get the 2018 Subaru BRZ tS. It's not the turbocharged full-on BRZ STI that enthusiasts have wanted, but it...
Kirk Bell -
Italian cars are known for two things: driving passion and a finicky nature. So when I finagled my way into a 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio for a track day event, I was hoping that I would...
-
Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti robbed at Indianapolis Taco BellThe Indianapolis Motor Speedway is in a pretty rough neighborhood. Don't believe me? Ask Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. Hours after Dixon claimed the pole position for the 101st Indianapolis 500 with a speed of 232.164 mph, he and Franchitti were robbed at gunpoint in the drive-thru lane of a...
Kirk Bell -
Ford CEO Mark Fields out, self-driving car boss taking overFord [NYSF: F] announced Monday that President and CEO Mark Fields will be replaced with former Steelcase CEO Jim Hackett. According to a report from Forbes, the change is because Executive Chairman Bill Ford, Jr. and the rest of the board have lost confidence in Fields' leadership capabilities...
Kirk Bell -
2018 Audi SQ5, Nio EP9, Koenigsegg Agera RS: The Week In ReverseWe drove the 2018 Audi SQ5; the electric Nio EP9 set a blistering Nürburgring lap time; and a Koenigsegg Agera RS crashed before making it to the customer. It's the Week in Reverse, right here at Motor Authority. The Audi Q5 is just barely hitting dealers and the 354-horsepower 2018 SQ5 is...
Kirk Bell -
2018 Audi SQ5 first drive review: practicality with a dash of performanceVancouver Island is one of the most beautiful places in North America. An old-growth temperate rain forest, it is impossibly green, and it offers spectacular views of mountains, streams, inlets, and even fjords...at least when the fog lifts enough to see them. It's the perfect place for a...
Kirk Bell -
Audi RS models test for almost 5,000 miles on the NürburgringAll Audi vehicles offer luxury, but the brand has a three-tiered approach when it comes to performance. Base Audis, especially sedans and coupes, are fairly sporty, but the uplevel S models definitely amp up the sporty feel. There is a third level, though, the RS models, that push the envelope...
Kirk Bell -
As soon as sports car fans discovered the Miata was a fantastic roadster, some started asking for a stylish coupe version. That was probably a couple days after the first Miata hit the street in...
-
Racer and collector Preston Henn dies; could his 1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale go up for sale?Racer, race team owner, and noted supercar collector Preston Henn died on April 30 of natural causes. The owner of the Florida-based Swap Shop franchise was 86. Henn made millions from the Swap Shop franchise, which dates back to 1963 and features outdoor movie theaters as well as indoor and...
Kirk Bell -
Living with the 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor: the good and the badWe've already flown across the sand, climbed dunes, and picked our way down steep hills like a mountain goat in the 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor. The truck proved to be up the off-road test, but then it should have been. This thing was designed and built to be a desert runner from the get go. Heck, a...
Kirk Bell -
Mercedes-AMG 43s undergo the same Nürburgring testing as the 63sCall it "AMG light" if you like or "entry performance," but it's become somewhat a trend in the automotive industry, especially among the luxury brands. Mercedes-AMG is doing it with its 43 models, Audi has its S models, and BMW has offerings like the 340i. Even Infiniti has the Q50 Red Sport 400...
Kirk Bell -
How fast is the Dodge Demon on pump gas, in Eco mode?We all know the lofty claims. The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is the fastest production car in the quarter mile with a time of 9.65 seconds and in the 0-60 mph sprint at just 2.3 seconds. However, those numbers require 100+ octane racing fuel and the optional Direct Connection engine...
Kirk Bell -
How the Dodge Demon runs a 9.65 quarter mile and a 2.3-second 0-60Dodge will tell you that the Challenger Hellcat can run an 11.20 ET in the quarter mile, a number that can go as low as 10.80 with drag radials. But Dodge didn't build the 707-horsepower Hellcat as a drag car. It built it as an everyday muscle car, and getting its (relatively) skinny 275-millimeter...
Kirk Bell