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Sure, Audi's E-Tron is the sexiest electric car concept ever, but is it worth its weight in electrons as a true driver's weapon? We headed to the twisties of Southern California to find out if Audi's getting it right. More »
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After four years of planning and three years of hype, we've finally driven a production Chevrolet Volt plug-in "hybrid." We expected some character from the most obsessively engineered vehicle in GM's history. We didn't expect so many personalities at once. More »
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The Cadillac CTS Coupe is the culmination of a Manifest Destiny-like aspiration — a dream that, one day, an American automaker would be able to stand up to Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus. America, luxe yeah! More »
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To buy the 5.0 or the 2011 Shelby GT500? That is the question. True to the plethora-of-packages Mustang it's based on, the relative value of Ford's new 550 HP supercar-killer all depends on which option boxes you tick. More »
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Externally, the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is indistinguishable from the 2010 model. But under its skin lives a brand-new, 6.2-liter, 411-hp V-8. We didn't desert race it, but we did cover it in two inches of mud. More »
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The Ford Focus RS is the most lustworthy European hot hatch forbidden to us Yanks. No journalist has dared put all 305 hp of its front-wheel-drive madness down on red, white, and blue soil. Until now. More »
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For the last year, every Mustang review has essentially read, "an involving, exciting sports car, but it's slower than the Camaro." In the muscle market, it's power, not handling, which sells. Luckily, the 2011 Ford Mustang fixes that. Moar power! More »
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Ford perversely uses "EcoBoost" to describe their direct-injected and turbocharged engines when everyone knows fuel economy is merely the side effect of more power. The Hennessey MaxBoost 435 is a Lincoln MKS with the right name and 435 HP. More »
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Infiniti's 5-series rival used to be a nice, but anonymous car. After hooning it through Southern California's canyons, that's no longer the case. Now, the 2011 Infiniti M is Japan's Jaguar. More »
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The 2010 Audi S4 drops the 4.2-liter V8 for a 3.0 supercharged V6 with less power and a strange "T" badge. Is that the recipe for a sport sedan finally capable of besting arch-rival BMW and making our 2010 Best10? More »
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The new Acura ZDX has a distinctive exterior, a sumptuous interior and both are strangely proportioned. So who, exactly, does Acura think is going to buy this thing? In a word: DINKs. More »
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When you think of the Audi TT, particularly the Roadster, your head probably fills with poor-driving, poseur car stereotypes. The 2009 Audi TTS is supposed to turn that image on its head with a 265 HP 2.0-liter turbo. More »
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Esquire's gotten the scoop on every automotive outlet, getting Ezra Dyer behind the wheel for an exclusive test drive of the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO. So, what's everyone's favorite hired driving gun think? More »
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After the Ford Fiesta, the 2010 Ford Transit Connect is the second most lust-worthy European Ford to make it Stateside. Can a small, practical cargo van appeal to big, burly American workers? More »
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The 2010 Lincoln MKT is a new kind of vehicle for Lincoln. It's a tall wagon, a short SUV, a high-luxe crossover and it's powered by the twin-turbo EcoBoost V6. More »
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Replacing the CLK, the 2010 Mercedes E-Class Coupe adopts a similar look to the new E-Class Sedan and most of its mechanicals. It's just a shame it's not as fun to drive as the four-door. More »
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Since the early ‘90s we've seen Mercedes slowly dilute its peerless quality in a drive for increased sales. The 2010 Mercedes E-Class represents a major step back towards the timeless luxury cars of yore. More »
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Like the rest of the BMW range, the 2009 BMW Z4 is bigger, heavier and more complicated than its predecessors. But could it be bigger, heavier, more complicated and much better to drive? More »
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The Mazda3 is back and with some shiny new friends. It seems Mazda has brought on a crew of Bedazzlers to ruthlessly attack every 2010 Mazda3 with sparkling injustice. More »
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After countless spy shots, speculation, Transformers tie-ins, leaked photos and numbers comparisons, we've finally driven the 2010 Chevy Camaro. Does the reality match the hype? Well, it's like Star Wars. More »
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As a child of the 80s and former member of the Knight Rider faithful (I happily toted the Rider lunchbox until third grade) it was nearly impossible to stifle my internal yelp of anticipation when first presented with the keys to the new KITT for an exclusive first drive. It's irrational, because I knew the car sitting in front of me wasn't the F-body KITT of my childhood dreams, but when those sweeping lights fired up in front for the first time, it was enough to make me giddy as a school boy. Especially because although it can't talk (at least not without help from the installed Mio GPS unit), this car's the real deal — a fire-breathing, bad guy-chasing weapon of fictional justice. That's because beneath the toys and cosmetic upgrades, this isn't the auto-tranny GT used for the made-for-TV movie, it's a 540 HP Shelby GT500KR. More »
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The 2009 Corvette ZR1 is the best car ever made. It redefines what performance cars are capable of, not by its numbers (the 0-to-60 in 3.3 seconds and a 205 MPH top speed figures are no longer noteworthy north of $100,000), but by how it makes those numbers so accessible. Simply put, the ZR1's most remarkable achievement is how easy and unintimidating the chassis makes exploiting the car's 638 HP. The only problem is I'm not good enough a driver to fully do so. Halfway through a day's lapping, halfway around the Lutz Ring and full throttle at the top of third gear is bringing me and a red ZR1 into a 180-degree corner way too fast, while the blind crest just before it - taken at maximum power and maximum cornering - has us way off line too. In any other supercar, especially one as hairy as a Viper or as rear-engined as a 911, this would be a serious moment, probably resulting in one of my notorious off-track excursions. But today I can just haul on the brakes all the way through turn-in and up to the apex and then get back on the power - hard. The result: sweaty palms instead of trashed carbon fiber body work. More »
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Last month's review of the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 may have seemed to some a blinding orgy of Detroit love. Having just moved from Detroit to New York City, I was homesick and was seemingly in need of a shot of Motor City muscle. Still, I offer no apology, because despite the rose-colored glasses, I managed to outline the three glaring issues with the low-volume '08 model year Challenger SRT8 — the outdated interior, the weight and most importantly, the automatic transmission. After spending a day this past week driving the new 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T, SRT8 and SE on the roads of New York City and on the Raceway Park track at Englishtown, NJ, Dodge has fixed at least one-third of the Challenger's problems. That's a good thing for Dodge, because I left the rose-colored glasses back in Detroit. More »
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"Stop Speeding Yanks!" "Slow the f#*k down!," "Go home!" Something about the 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX makes you want to speed. And here in Canada, where they take the law literally, blatantly flouting limits really stands out. Of course, something about the WRX will always sit uncomfortably with the surrounding world, no matter the pace. While it's been modified for 2009, just one year after its launch with 41 more horsepower, stiffened suspension and STI-esque bodykit, it remains one of the ugliest cars on sale.
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Andrew Stoy is wrong. (No, I'm not. —A.S.) The 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR makes a much better everyday car than the 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart. And I should know: I've only driven it in rush hour traffic. More »
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The 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart isn't an Evo X. It's better. That's what I keep telling myself as I drive the back roads of the Detroit exurbs in Mitsubishi's latest boosted compact. Slotting between the regular FWD Lancer 2.4 GTS and the balls-out rally car Evo X, the Ralliart seeks to put Mitsubishi on the shopping list of folks who might consider, say, a WRX but not a full-bore STi.
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When the powers-that-be over here at Jalopnik asked me to test drive a car for you boys, I was pretty excited. Finally, I thought, Jalopnik is learning to respect a woman's automotive point of view. And then Ray told me it was going to be the 2009 Lincoln MKS. Hmm. I'll admit, I have a bias against big cars that dates back to the need to parallel park my mom's minivan for my driving test. On the other hand, it's not like I get to drive a ton of "luxury cars" either, so I figured even if it wasn't to my taste, I could cheat on my Toyota Corolla for one day. Luckily, it was a really, really nice day, although I was sad I didn't get to see the rain-sensing windshield wipers in action, since those have always sounded really cool. Yes, that's right — while I might not have the the automotive knowledge set of the gentlemen of Jalopnik or say, Popular Mechanics, you know my Lincoln MKS review will make up for it with a certain panache you won't find here or there. More »
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When our fearless leader so elegantly blew the clutch on the only Saab 9-3 Turbo X in the country after the performance sedan spent a long tour of Europe and a hard day under the boot of Jan Magnussen, we thought getting an honest review of the car would be nigh impossible. We also thought Wert would never live down that new nickname — Chief Transmission Destroyer. But he has, and after the boss-man agreed to stay off the track until he got a few more heel-toe lessons, the fine folks at Saab invited us to sample the Turbo X again earlier this week at Saab's home-away-from-home — Boston. Having just returned from Beantown and some time reflecting on the drive, we have to admit, our world has been gently rocked. More »
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A tour of Germany wouldn't be complete without test-driving some of Europe's forbidden fruits, now would it? In our case we just couldn't pass on the opportunity to sample Fiat's new retro mobile, the reborn Cinquecento. The Bamberg Fiat dealer was more than willing to let us grab the keys for a trip around the block given that we'd provide a little free publicity. So if you're ever in Germany and hankering for a Fiat, maybe think of Matthias Steinfurth at AutoHaus Wittig GmbH & Co. Let it never be said that we don't whore ourselves out to get behind a fancy steering wheel — we're just not cheap. More »
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I woke up this morning in Arizona and spent the day happily hooning the go fast Nurburgring-tuned version of Chevrolet's HHR on freeways, twisty mountain two-laners and the Bondurant Road Course. How does the car drive? How's the Launch Mode? How do 260 horses and 260 ft-lb of torque feel through the front wheels? How much does it cost? Why did Bob Lutz call me a "pinhead?" We'll answer a few questions — and show you the Chevy press release — after the jump. More »
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The most remarkable thing about driving Honda's FCX Clarity prototype isn't how it emits nothing but water, its torquey, 13,500 rpm electric motor, the hydrogen equivalent of 68 miles per gallon or the perverse pleasure that goes with driving a multimillion-dollar automobile. It's the air-conditioned seats. Notice I said driving, because other than the whirring buzz of the motor, the Clarity goes, brakes and turns just like any other car. I had to keep reminding myself I was indeed behind the wheel of a hydrogen fuel-cell powered feat of engineering. Frankly, the Clarity feels like a slightly larger Accord. Again, Honda's latest FCX uses no gasoline whatsoever and behaves just like — no, make that exactly like — a regular car. And those AC seats? They have built-in fans to blow thermoelectrically cooled air, so no ozone-killing chlorofluorocarbons are needed to chill your fat butt. Pretty neat.

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You're looking at Honda's new hydrogen fuel cell powered FCX Clarity parked in front of the Malibu Presbyterian Church that was destroyed in the recent fires. As the Clarity emits water and achieves the gasoline consumption equivalent of 68 mpg, we thought it only fitting to shoot it parked in front of one of Global Warming's victims. The Clarity, of course, is supposed to help with all that — although we're still not real clear on the clarity of the environmental benefits of hydrogen created using currently readily available sources. But Honda claims they're working on that — and hey, it'll reduce your home's overall power bills. Oh yeah, almost forgot. Honda tossed us the keys to their multi-million dollar pre-production baby (LA Times Pulitzer Prize-winning auto critic Dan Neil claims it's worth "like $10,000,000 or more") and let us cruise from Santa Monica through the toasted canyons of Malibu. Full review coming this Monday. More »
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The 2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt edition doesn't have quad camshafts or forty-eight valves in the cylinder heads. There is no turbocharger under the hood. The Mustang doesn't pack an eight speed twin-clutch super sequential transmission. The Mustang needs not even one of these things to be exactly what it is - a purely American machine that's a blast to drive. More »
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It's difficult to imagine any of you Jalops needing to haul 20,000 pounds. We also doubt many of you are in the market for a truck whose price tag easily hits $40,000 to take off-roading. But what if you came across a half-dozen utes sitting in the middle of California's Rubicon Trail, each adorned with a sign reading "Take me"? Sure, that's totally plausible. So, when Ford invited us to put its 2008 Super Duty through some of the more rigorous tasks a vehicle will ever face, we struggled to come up with a reason to turn them down. After all, this thing has wheels (sometimes even six of them!) and we like things with wheels, do we not? More »
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