No, not dorks or dweebs, although there may be some who overlap into this bracket. We're talking DINKs, as in the acronym for Double Income No Kids. Your DINKs are people for whom no one else exists save that one significant other; couples with grown children or no plans to have children. This immediately distances the ZDX's mission from that of the soccer-mom and grocery-hauler SUVs. Acura's core concept for the ZDX was the "Passionate Getaway," meaning the car would be both vehicle and destination in itself. As it turns out, as odd-looking as it is outside, it's actually an extremely pleasant car for two people to be inside.

The cockpit of this Acura is one of the nicest we've seen, period. It doesn't really break any new ergonomic ground, although everything is right where it should be. What makes it truly stand out is the design, which puts the driver and passenger in comfortable and attractive "pods," and the quality and tactile feel of the surfaces. A lot of time and effort was spent in determining the best materials for surfaces in the ZDX, and it was time well spent. The leather, which Acura selects and applies by hand using techniques developed specifically for this car, is of especially high quality and is a tactile delight. Plastics are few but sturdy and soft-touch where they occur. Nighttime accent lighting gives a nice, subtle blue backlight to your surroundings. It's a great place to spend time with your companion/partner/spouse and your no-kids.

Your no-kids will also enjoy the back seat, which is just the right size for nonexistent children. To be fair, existing children will fit back there, but double-income couples with more than two friends, or only two friends who happen to be over five-foot-nine, will need to take another car for longer Passionate Getaways. These seats seem built specifically to fold down, which they do, nice and flat, giving you plenty of room for a double income's worth of active-lifestyle stuff on the cabin floor and in the many cubbies.

So you and your co-DINK have no kids and no friends, which means the two of you are splendidly isolated in that extremely nice cabin even before the Passionate Getaway. If that's what you like, the ZDX can give you isolation in spades. The already remarkable sound and vibration insulation is augmented to almost eerie levels by an ingenious, if invisible, active noise cancellation system, in which white noise is piped through Acura's legendary sound system to counteract background noises so you can hear yourself (and possibly one other person) think.

That legendary ELS sound system, plus the climate control and optional nav system, are controlled through the nifty "Monolith" center stack, which has no visible lettering on the switches until powered on with each set of switches only powering on when needed. Although not very practical, i's a very striking user interface. Once you can see what's going on, it's easy enough to use, and the familiarity of ownership may have DINKs playing it like a piano, but to the newcomer it may seem somewhat unwieldy.

It should, in all fairness, be mentioned that there's also a capable 300 HP 3.7-liter VTEC engine in front of this lovely interior. The ZDX puts that adequate if not exactly stirring power down through a paddle-shift 6-speed auto transmission which will actually shift down two gears with one pull if the revs are available, which is genuinely cool but may be wasted here. The drivetrain incorporates Acura's SH-AWD system with torque vectoring across the rear axle, which should allow DINKs to make their Getaways nice and Passionate in all kinds of weather. And while the ZDX is based on the big MDX platform, lots of careful and clever chassis engineering has been done on this SUV-like but coupe-esque-from-certain-angles vehicle. As a result it can do more than just getting out of its own way, delivering unobtrusive if not inspiring handling while delivering an extremely smooth ride over most surfaces.

We're assuming most potential buyers won't care about most of that. They'll care that the ZDX does everything a person, or two persons max, could want it to on a getaway, passionate or otherwise. It has all the connectivity luxury buyers have come to expect, and all the nifty gadgets like adaptive cruise control and ventilated seats are available. From the outside, the wide-haunched and glass-heavy exterior styling which looks good from the rear except for certain viewing angles which look almost Aztek-y, and that Acura grille that always makes us want to open up a really big bottle. But none of that stuff will be important to the DINKs who will be inside, enjoying each other, that marvelous interior, and little else while Passionately Getting Away from everything.

That engine is the centerpiece in a thoroughly upgraded car. Shared with the Audi S3, the 2.0-liter TFSI delivers 265 HP at 6,000 RPM and 258 Lb-Ft of torque between 2,500 and 5,000 RPM. If you think that sounds seriously flexible, you'd be right, but it's also full of character, with noticeable turbo lag at low revs and distinct turbo whistles, whine and bumps coming from under the hood. 0-60 now takes just 5.1 seconds in this Roadster, while the top speed is limited to 155 MPH.

Unlike the 2.0-liter turbo diesel in the 2009 VW Jetta TDI SportWagen we criticized a few weeks ago, the TFSI's character matches perfectly with the DSG gearbox. Here equipped with sportier programming than in that TDI, shifts are well timed and rapid in automatic mode, even more so in "Sport." In manual mode DSG is objectively more able to exploit this engine than a traditional manual (not available) would be, with upshifts occurring immediately and downshifts taking place smoothly. DSG is a true automated manual, so you have complete control over the gearbox in manual mode.

That gearbox and engine combination is actually very reminiscent of the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR in its immediacy and turbocharged character, just with a little less power.

The suspension also gets upgraded in the TTS. The whole thing is lowered 10mm, the magnetic ride dampers receive firmer tuning, all the suspension components go aluminum and the steering is made more direct and feel-full. That magnetic ride is supposed to continually adjust the dampers to better keep the tires in contact with the road and it gets a sport mode to firm things up even further. Even with the traction and stability control switched off, we struggled to get the optional summer performance tires to break traction on the road, but the sport suspension mode doesn't appear to do much aside from make the ride annoyingly harsh.

Gelled hair marketing types needn't worry, as all this extra performance and handling doesn't come at the expense of posing. The TTS is equipped with a silver grille, a lower front splitter, side skirts, silver mirrors, LED running lights, four chromed exhaust pipes, "TTS" badges front and rear, "TTS" logos on the brake calipers and is here fitted with optional 19" wheels. The power soft top on the Roadster drops quickly, better enabling you to show off your fake tan. I got more "you're a smug bastard" looks in this TT than in any car I've driven since the R8, possibly because, from the front and to laypeople, the TT is virtually indistinguishable from that car.

The TTS Roadster starts at $47,500, but equipped with the Premium Plus package, fancy leather, 19-inch wheels and Sat/Nav system seen here, the total comes to $55,075. Unusually for a performance car, the fuel economy is reasonably high: 21 MPG city, 29 highway, 24 combined. With the soft top up, the Roadster offers coupe-like isolation from noise; with it down and the rear windscreen raised, it's still a reasonably isolated place to pass time.

On the mountain roads around my secret Pennsylvanian retreat the TT demonstrated a similar ability to put the world in drama-free fast rewind as cars like that Evo. The all-wheel drive, fast steering and revised suspension conspire to seriously increase the TTs dynamic ability, if not its level of involvement. While it's drastically improved over the old model, the TTS now suffers from the same video game-like nature of other fast AWD cars like the Nissan GT-R, requiring very little of its driver even close to its respectably high limits. The 2009 BMW Z4, the TT's closest competitor on purpose and price, delivers similar pace but asks far more of its driver and for the enthusiast, is a lot more fun to drive fast as a result.

Ultimately, the TTS's neatest trick is that it combines Evo-like character with a more grownup-friendly package thanks to a credible design, luxurious interior and plenty of on-road refinement. You can still pose in a TT, now you're just going to have a lot more fun doing it.

Well, as "first drives" go, this one's pretty limited in details. What ol' Ezra says is

"Floor the gas on the SHO and you're smoothly squeezed back in the seat as the motor builds power, the turbos whistling faintly in the background. The all-wheel-drive system and six-speed automatic put the power down with no wheelspin. It's all very refined. This is deceptive speed, the kind where you look down at the speedometer and realize that ten seconds with your foot to the floor will amount to jail time if you ever get caught. The SHO is a sleeper - a vehicle you can live with every day that happens to have a secret under the hood."

You can read the rest over at Esquire, but frankly, there's not much else there in the way of a drive review — although that's usually enough of a driving impression to get the buff books who've already driven the new sleeper to let loose with their own first drive salvo. That is if there are any auto buff books left out there with no fear of losing advertising dollars. We guess we'll have to see. And you'll have to wait until next week to see our first drive impression right after we've had a chance to take the ecoboost-ed sedan out for a spin. Stay tuned. [via Esquire]

The Transit Connect occupies the same territory as the old-as-nails Econoline van, but manages the same job in a smaller, lighter, friendlier way. That old Econoline is a hulking beast of a vehicle, stuffed mostly with tried-and-true F-series pickup truck parts. It's reliable and completely foolproof as it's been constantly developed since the early ‘60s, but it's a massively wasteful leviathan of a vehicle that's difficult to maneuver through our ever-tightening urban jungle.

Enter the 2010 Ford Transit Connect. It's light, readily steered and is comparatively frugal at 22 MPG city and 25 MPG highway. The maximum load height is a useful 52 inches with only a two-foot unloaded deck height. Cargo capacity is voracious, at twice that of the Chevy HHR panel van (135 cubic feet behind the front seats). The total length is 167 inches, shorter than a Ford Focus, but there's a crazy 1,600-pound load capacity. Still, the Transit Connect may be a bit small to supplant the traditional pickup truck in the working American's mind. At 72.6 inches long, the load bay is too short to accommodate full-length pieces of lumber, ladders and pipes, which poke comfortably out the back of a truck.

In and around Manhattan's crowded streets, the Transit Connect drives as easy as a comparable front-wheel drive hatch. Sure, in comparison to the European Focus on which this Transit is based, the ride is firmer and you can feel the height in a smidge of bodyroll, but it's still a more capable and easier-to-drive vehicle than the American psyche has been trained to expect from cheap compact cars. Rearward visibility is incredible, even in side-windowless panel trim; which is completely due to the huge side mirrors and large rear door glass.

The brakes are confident and responsive, even while hauling the maximum allowable load. Power output from the 2.0-liter Duratec is more than sufficient at 136 HP and 128 ft-lb of torque, helped by four well-chosen gear ratios and smart autobox programming. Ford doesn't quote a 0-60 MPH time, but we'd hazard a guess at something in the 10-second range. Sadly, a manual transmission won't be available in the US market. Front and rear sway bars control bodyroll during brisk handling - even through the wonkiest NYC traffic roundabouts. The turning circle is a minuscule 39 feet, so U-turns are a cinch.

In addition to the fundamental rightness of the basic Transit Connect platform, it comes with a host of optional electro-wizardry, including DeWalt's ToolLink system. Using RFID tags, the system keeps track of what tools are inside of the vehicle at all times, so you can know if you've left your spanner at the job site or your tool belt at the mistress's place. The same system is employed on the current F-series line of trucks.

Next up is the Crew Chief vehicle tracking suite. For a price, you can have a snitch box integrated with your fleet of Transits, which reports everything from throttle position, location and speed, to seat belt usage and excessive idling. The entire Crew Chief control panel is accessed through a web interface, which brings up the last major technological aid developed for the modern working man: Ford's wireless mobile in-dash computer. Using both 2G and 3G wireless data networks, drivers can surf the Internet, create documents and print them off on the optional Bluetooth printer on the spot. Back to using the Crew Chief web interface, the boss man can manage his fleet from any computer-equipped Transit whenever the vehicle is stopped.

We've joined most savvy auto enthusiasts in calling for Ford to bring its genuinely world-beating European range of vehicles to the States. Like the segment-busting Ford Fiesta, the Transit Connect proves us right. It mixes capability and quality in a wholly unprecedented level for the price: $21,475. Unlike the Fiesta, which we have to wait till next year to buy, the Transit Connect goes on sale this summer.

The new MKT presents us with a tremendous decision to make. We're bound by the car-guy creed to hate all things "crossover" and love all things "awesome wagon," so naturally the MKT, like the Ford Flex upon which it's based, makes it difficult to draw a bead on where our preformed opinions should lie. We like the Flex, but the combination of too-small back seats and a relatively dear pricetag make it a tough proposition as a middle-class family standard. The MKT has its sights firmly set on a higher class of customer.

The MKT ups the fancy quotient in a number of ways, first and foremost is the inclusion of Ford's much anticipated TwinForce EcoBoost twin-turbocharged direct-injection V6, the same high-end motor in the Lincoln MKS and the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO and hopefully in everything else Ford makes pretty soon. It offers better fuel economy, a mesa-flat torque curve and a much higher hell-yeah quotient than the base model 3.7 Duratec which we found profoundly adequate and nothing more.

The other avenue of differentiation is the styling, it's received a thorough revision inside and out. Since Lincoln is Ford's top-shelf brand, the car is predictably pulling from the parts bin marked "expensive." The body has so far been one of the most controversial pieces of the MKT. As opposed to the Flex's super-sized Mini Clubman form, the MKT goes about things with the nose coined on the MKS flowing to a bustle-back hiney. We'll be the first to say the shape doesn't translate well to photography. We like it, but we like wagons. The front is perhaps the toughest part to get on-board with, it's a little buck toothed, but it's handsome in person, try it in white.

The interior will be less polarizing. The various woods are flawless, the gadget load is heavy and the leather is supple. Other cars offer all the stuff this Lincoln does, but not all at once and definitely not with the same level of integration with the flowing shapes. It's gadget-heavy with Sirius Travelink, Bluetooth, power-whatever-you-want, acres of skylight, heated and cooled seats front and rear and the list goes on.The second row is akin to any first class airliner, especially with the optional mini-fridge/freezer. If there's any chink in the MKT's armor it's a third row that's still too small. Legroom isn't so much the problem as it is headroom. At six feet tall, I found the ceiling to be about six inches too low. We will say the other amenities are top notch all the way back, not like some three-rows (we're looking at you, Mercedes R-Class).

But what about the drive? What about that EcoBoost? We have good news to report. This thing is a rocketship. The MKT launches hard off the line and you're bumping up against the 120 MPH speed limiter before you can say "EcoBooooooooooost!" It's been a long wait to get behind the wheel of an EcoBoosted car and the MKT was a strange pick for first ride, but man, this engine is a gem. Zero turbo lag. None. Instant power at any RPM as the torque curve basically goes flat from 800 RPM all the way to 5500 RPM, this thing is a monster of a V6. In cruise control at 65 MPH we observed about 24 MPG, which is pretty standard V6 performance, but keep in mind this is producing a very V8-like 355 HP. It'll also run happily on 87 octane because of the direct injection. We do have one complaint to make to Ford though. Where did you put the turbo whine? You have two turbos so there should be twice as much of that zesty whistle, and yet there is none. So sad.

When you're talking great engines from domestic automakers, they usually get paired with stinkers for transmissions. Not so here. The MKT gets a brand new six speed automatic with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters actually capable of doing their job as advertised. Pop it into manual mode and you hit the rev limiter and the gear selection stays put, not to say it's lightning fast on the change once you do tell it to swap cogs, but it is acceptable.

We hit the twisty stuff at Ford's Michigan Proving Grounds and, by golly, the MKT actually handles. Well even. Drop it into manual mode, pop it in third and it drives like it isn't a huge crossover. Even plowing it through rough roads and heaves the car is well behaved. Body roll and wheel control are surprisingly good, jounce and rebound are damped for a nice mix of smooth ride, and good road feedback. We might even say this traditional suspension is better behaved than GM's active system in the 2010 Cadillac SRX. And did we mention the EcoBoost? It powers the 4,924 lb car out of corners with real urge

With a price point somewhere in the neighborhood of $45,000 to $55,000 and a well equipped model coming in around $50k, it's placed pretty well in the luxury crossover/three-row SUV market. The MKT will also be available with the standard 3.7 liter V6, but there's no reason to buy it, the EcoBoost is worth the extra $3,005. So we're back to the initial problem, is it a crossover or a wagon? We're going to declare the Lincoln MKT a wagon, because doing so makes it okay to daydream about the torque curve and the fantastic interior. Now excuse us, we need to draw little hearts in our notebooks around the EcoBoost logo.

The thinking behind the name change is that the Mercedes range has simply grown too diverse, bewildering suburbanites from New Jersey and Florida who, inexplicably, can afford to shop in a Mercedes dealership despite lacking the mental acuity to understand the naming convention of what they're buying. The original CLK name was meant to reference the fancy CL coupe, just like the SLK was a small, cheaper, more permed take on the SL roadster. Mercedes wanted to make sure buyers are able to comprehend that this new car uses more E- than C-Class components, hence the E-Class Coupe designation.

Mercedes says the ratio of E-Class parts to "other Mercedes-Benz products" in the Coupe is about 60:40. They're happy to detail which parts are shared with E — the suspension, engines, looks and all the advanced safety features — but don't want to say where the other 40% comes from. Since the E-Class Coupe shares the C-Class's 108.7-inch wheelbase and minor interior parts, we're going to go out on a limb and say that's where the 40% originates.

That's kind of a shame, because the E-Class Coupe is noticeably less engaging to drive than the 2010 Mercedes E-Class Sedan. That's not to say it isn't competent, it's much more so than the old CLK and even the twistiest of mountain roads above Las Vegas fail to fluster it. Corners are taken with virtually no body roll, steered into with accuracy and exited with plenty of thrust from either the 268 HP 3.5-liter V6 or 382 HP 5.5-liter V8. It also hits the 130 MPH speed limiter in a picture of composure, it'd be happy there all day. It's just that none of those activities are in any way fun. You kind of get the feeling that if you're lulled into sleep by the coffin-quiet interior, the Attention Assist will conspire with the adaptive shocks, Distronic Plus with Pre-Safe Brake radar cruise control and Parktronic with Parking Guidance automatic parallel parking system to drive you home and tuck you into bed.

Of course this E-Class Coupe wasn't designed for irresponsible young hoons like me, but rather the irritatingly useless real housewives of a reality show near you. They'll go gaga over the seriously handsome new looks, including the Mercedes SLS-like grille and, since their husbands will almost certainly spec the upmarket interior, the nice pleated leather door and contrast-stitched leather seats too. They'll also love the new brushed aluminum and wood trim, the heavily contoured buckets front and rear and the very fashion conscious choice of chocolate brown plastic on the dash. In fact, they'll be so busy focusing on the bling - chromed seat handles and door jambs, pillarless windows - that they won't notice the distinctly C-Class plastics employed on the air vents, button surrounds and center console.

Constantly running late to hair appointments and charity galas, they'll prefer the V8's 391 Lb-Ft of torque that's delivered instantly anywhere in the rev range, but not the less imposing 258 Lb-Ft of the V6 since they'd have to work that engine using the manual override paddles located on the steering wheel. Doing that would likely require far too much attention, something that's reserved for cell phone conversations and molly coddling small animals, not for driving. The V8's 5.0 second 0-60 time will come in handy fleeing imagined paparazzi much better than the V6's 6.2 seconds.

It's unlikely that it'll ever be used, but the E550 also incorporates Dynamic Handling Suspension as standard. Click a cheapish button on the dash marked "Sport" and the suspension firms up noticeably, throttle response sharpens and revs are held longer. Revving the V8 results in a delightfully antisocial exhaust note from the squared off pipes.

Husbands that live by the motto, "Happy wife, happy life," will also like the new E-Class Coupe. The E350 starts at $48,050, $50 cheaper than the CLK350, while it gains a host of standard features: full-length sunroof, Comand display, driver knee airbag, pelvic airbags, Bluetooth, Agility Control and Attention Assist. The E550 starts at $54,650.

Unlike the E-Class Sedan, there's no plans to offer either a diesel or AMG version. That lack of an E63 AMG Coupe is perhaps most damning. Asked why, a Mercedes engineer responded, "Drive the V8 and tell us if you think there's a need for the AMG." Well, we've driven it and we don't think the E-Class Coupe merits a performance version. It's a very nice luxury car and a quite a looker, just not a driver's car.

Think Mercedes and images of the W123 and W124 E-classes probably pop into your head. Big, boxy and somehow superior to other luxury cars from the time, they represented a reluctance to compromise that just doesn't exist at any carmaker any more. Pull up to valet parking at a fancy restaurant in a well-maintained ‘80s E-Class and your car might still get pride of place in the parking lot. Do the same in an E28 5-series and they'll hide it round the back.

In twenty years time you might be able to do the same with this W212. It's squared off edges inside and out don't just conjure memories, but trigger the same "Mercedes" synapses in your brain. That feeling will be reinforced by the high-quality plastics and spare use of wood and aluminum trim, as well as touches like the pleated leather door panels and the longitudinally stitched and perforated seats.

That's not to say that the new E-Class does without contemporary features, in fact it has all the advanced safety tech of the S-Class packed into a more manageable package. The full list of advanced safety features is staggering: Attention Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Adaptive Highbeam Assist, Parktronic Plus, Blind Spot Assist, Night View Assist PLUS, Distronic PLUS with Pre-Safe Brake, Brake Assist PLUS, Sand Assist floor mats and Agility Assist.

All those features might sound as if they're designed to remove control from the driver, but unlike other automakers, Mercedes has employed them to enhance your range of perception and increase your control of the vehicle.

Take the night vision system. Instead of just fitting the new E-Class with an infrared camera, Mercedes paints the area in front of the vehicle with infrared beams, sort of like invisible headlights. The camera, as a result, picks up a much sharper image out to a further distance. That image is then displayed in crystal clear resolution on the nav screen. A computer is capable of identifying pedestrians, placing a vibrating box around them on the screen. You don't need to stare at the screen to see them; instead it exists in your peripheral vision like an extra rear-view mirror.

The Pre-Safe Brake is also cool. For the first time, it's capable of automatically applying 100% of brake force if the forward-looking radar detects that a crash is imminent, so it won't avoid the impact, but instead acts like an electronic crumple zone, reducing the force of the impact. Because it activates only when you're .6 of a second from collision, it won't affect your ability to take evasive measures, but could instead save your life if your attention lapses.

Highbeam Assist is also impressively useful. Rather than just automatically switching between high and low beams, it instead measures the presence and location of other vehicles, adapting the beam shape and throw to provide maximum illumination at all times without irritating other drivers. Low beam output can be extended from 215 feet all the way out to 1,000 feet, massively boosting the safety of night driving.

All this technology doesn't get in the way of driving, as the new E-Class also banishes memories of the mediocre experience of recent models. While it's still no 5-series, the Mercedes has newly found something called "steering feel," which apparently has something to do with "control," which when combined with "responsive suspension" actually makes it "fun to drive." Who knew? Better yet, switching from "Comfort" to "Sport" in either the E350 V6 or E550 V8 delivers a noticeable improvement in dynamics, firmer body control and sportier shift mapping. You can also shift yourself using the wheel-mounted paddles.

Those two engine choices are your lot until November, when the 518 HP 2010 E63 AMG goes on sale. The V6 makes 268 HP and 258 Lb-Ft of torque, enough to propel the E to 60 MPH in 6.5 seconds. Unfortunately, that kind of performance requires using all of the 6,750 RPM, something most Mercedes drivers are likely reluctant to do. The 382 HP, 391 Lb-Ft V8 does a much better job of providing instantaneous shove, but comes at a $7,700 premium. The V6 returns 18 MPG City, 25 MPG highway, while the V8 delivers 16/23. We'd want to wait for the E350 BlueTEC diesel, arriving next March. It'll have 400 Lb-Ft of torque for instant overtaking, but exceeds the fuel economy of either gas engine: 24 MPG City, 33 highway.

Given all the new features, the improved driving experience and much-improved styling and impression of interior quality, it's surprising that Mercedes is able to bring the 2010 E-Class in cheaper than the 2009 model. The 2010 E350 starts at $48,600, $4,600 cheaper, but adds standard equipment: Attention Assist, Driver Knee airbag, front pelvic airbags, and variable damping Agility Control. Combine that new price tag with all the new features and, more importantly, the newfound Mercedesness and the 2010 E-Class is an impressive package. In fact, combining all of the features of the S-Class with a cheaper price tag and, to our mind, better styling, the E-Class just became the pick of the Mercedes range and our favorite vehicle from that brand since we were riding around in the way back of a W123 wagon.

The old BMW Z4 M Coupe was one of my favorite cars. More raw and focused than just about any other BMW, under the hood was the 3.2-liter inline-six from the M3, here making 330 HP and 262 Lb-Ft of torque. Weighing just 3,230 Lbs and positioning its driver nearly over the rear axle it drove more like an unrefined, but capable, muscle car or like a slightly slower TVR Sagaris that was capably of traveling more than a mile without suffering catastrophic mechanical failure. It looked good too, the sexy hard top drawing attention away from the Z4's awkward front end and bizarre diagonal feature line aft of the front wheels. I liked it so much that I put nearly 200 miles on one of the first customer cars off the production line even though I had strict orders not to drive it at all.

In sDrive35i form — sDrive stands for standard or rear-wheel-drive — this folding hard top Z4 makes 300 HP, 300 Lb-Ft of torque and weighs 3,450 Lbs. Don't like a folding hard top? Tough. It replaces both the coupe and the convertible. Anyone that's driven BMW's 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six can see where this is going, it's an amazing engine, making everything from the 4,894 Lb BMW X6 to the 335i Coupe fast and flexible. With a manual transmission, it propels the new Z4 to 60 MPH in 5.1 seconds and onward to a limited top speed of 150 MPH. The old Z4 M was officially rated at .1 second faster to 60 MPH and was limited to a 5 MPH faster top speed. Spec the $1,525 7-speed DSG and the new Z4 will match the Z4 M's 0-to-60 time.

I'd actually pick the new Z4's turbocharged engine over the Z4 M's naturally aspirated engine. The turbo motor makes peak torque at just 3,200 RPM; the M's peaked at 4,900. That means that any gear, any speed, the new Z4 has huge amounts of shove, culminating in a still impressive top end rush. You can run a gear higher in corners, achieving the same acceleration out of them or pass cars without downshifting. It sounds just like an inline-six BMW should, too.

To make things more interesting, the Z4 sDrive35i returns 18 MPG City, 25 MPG Highway, compared to 15/23 for the Z4 M.

Last year, a Z4 M Coupe started at $50,400. Today, the 2009 sDrive35i starts at $52,475. That might not sound like a bargain, what with the give-and-take performance differences and the lack of an M badge on the new car, but when you figure in what the new Z4 offers over the old Z4 M it starts to make sense.

For one, the new Z4 is manufactured in Germany. The fit and finish and quality of materials is far beyond that of the old Z4, now on par with the 3- and 5-Series. It's also a bigger car, with noticeably more room in both the passenger cabin and trunk. Then there's the new, all-aluminum folding roof.

Up, the roof lends the Z4 all the refinement of a coupe — conversation is easy even close to the vehicle's top speed — without the traditional downsides of a folding hard top. Vision is excellent with no oversize blind spots. That's thanks to tiny rear 3/4 windows that retract into the car's body instead of the doors. There's 10.9 cubic feet of room in the trunk with the top up and a still-very-useful 6.4 cubic feet with the top stowed. That top is really good-looking too, replacing the awkward shapes of most hard tops with Gurney bubbles that mirror the hood's twin power bulges. The top's not as nice to look at as the old coupe's, but the rest of the car looks so much better the ducktail isn't missed.

Of course, like all great BMW's, the Z4 M coupe wasn't about performance numbers, it was about handling. Everyone's going to think that I'm crazy when I say this, but the 2009 Z4 has it beat there too. Where the Z4 M was a one-trick pony — great at corners, but harsh everywhere else — the new car is at least as capable without sacrificing a smooth ride. BMW's new Driving Dynamics Control helps a lot there. Controlling the gas pedal control map, engine management, stability response, electro-mechanical power steering and electronic damper control. In "Normal," it's an accomplished and comfortable boulevardier or highway mileage cruncher. Switch through "Sport" and into the not-so-uniquely named "Sport+" and out goes the stability control (traction control can be fully defeated), the steering ratio and response sharpens noticeably, the throttle responds quicker and the car carves into corners with complete confidence. In fact, Sport+ can be a bit nerve-wracking at very high speeds, likely due to the quickened steering.

Your first few corners in the Z4 will feel odd if you're coming out of a car where your rear isn't resting a couple of inches in front of the axle. What initially feels like body roll is in fact the feeling that comes from the inertial effects of sitting behind the center of gravity. Luckily, the electronic steering works exceptionally well, banishing bad memories of variable rate racks of just a model generation ago. But, there's still an an ever-so-slight sense of vagueness — you can feel what the car's doing, but it doesn't communicate every pebble you run over.

As a former BMW fan boy, I've watched in horror as its cars bloated with unnecessary technical complication, morphed into soft roaders, suffered under Chris Bangle's maniacal hand and lost the defining characteristic that once made all its cars so special: handling. While cars like the X6 are neat feats of technical wizardry, they just make no sense. Cars like the 2009 BMW 135i were just disappointing to drive. If this new Z4's anything to go by, all that complication has finally been twisted in the right direction, it's come together to create a car that doesn't wear an M badge, but still drives like one. I could learn to live with that.

Full Disclosure: Mazda flew me out to a ritzy Laguna Beach resort, fed me mountains of delicious food and allowed for carte blanche access to the minibar. It was a tiny bottle pogrom, more or less.

For those not in the know, the Bedazzler, a kitschy rhinestone-applying device that your mom probably used as an unpopularization tool, to great effect, by fastening sparkling kitty cats and ladybugs to all of your favorite tees and then sending your sparkling ass to school.

The new Mazda3 has no rhinestones or sparklecats, but the top-of-the line S Grand Touring comes loaded with automatic headlights, rain sensing wipers, bi-xenon headlamps, Adaptive Front Lighting (AFS), Dual zone climate control, heated seats, heated mirrors with integrated turn signals, Bluetooth everything, Ford-like interior lighting, leather, full-color navigation, Sirius satellite radio, 8-way power drivers seat and a blasting Bose Centerpoint sound system. These are typically features reserved for high-end Cadillacs and Lexi, right? Never on a sub-compact and surely not on a Mazda. These are the folks that have brought us the near-naked MX-5 through all these years — and it has stayed simple and beautiful. Has Mazda gone soft?

The scene is southern California. We're zooming past fields of grapes, acres upon acres of obsessively arranged rows. We're neatly packed into a Mazda3s Grand Touring GT with every widget in the book. After descending from the steep curves of the Ortega Highway, we glide to a stop at a four-way intersection and get a lay of the land. After a brief moment of stillness, our wake catches up to us and washes our noses with the scent of hot, steaming brake linings. This is to be expected as we've just hot lapped just about every cliffside curve the area of Temecula has to offer.

I'm piloting this bright red 5-door packed with auto journos. Ease into the gas, release the easy clutch and we're gone. The standard 6-speed manual clicks into each gear with just a breeze of effort, but the action is intentional and predictable. Our 167 HP 2.5 L four-pot is a rev-happy, strong mill with proper gearing, all while returning 21 MPG in the city and 29 MPG on the highway; it'll hit 60 in 7.9 seconds and continue on to a 117 MPH top speed. The other option is an anemic 148 HP 2.0 L bringing in a frugal 25 MPG in the city and 33 on the highway. Before long, we're ascending another rocky hill only to slide down the other side into another sharply graded turn. The all-season Yokohama Avis tires are squawking in displeasure as they're twisted and torqued to meet the demands of the 3,005-pound hatch. With a slight mid-turn lift throttle, the rear end comes around and tries the limits of the center dividing line, briefly chattering on the rumble strips. For a front-wheel drive car, this little hatch has plenty of rear-ended aggression. Even on some of the most treacherous mountain passes, the 3 totally resists understeer. Usually reserved for the most perfectly balanced rear-drive sports cars, the fresh 3 has excellent front bite and lightning fast turn-in. You'll actually oversteer before it'll let the front tires go. All this isn't down to any fancy new technology, just perfectly specced suspension. The single downside of the driving experience was solely attributed to the pedestrian tires. The properly calibrated suspension simply overloaded the budget-conscious Yokos to a large effect. We're hoping this malady is corrected in spades once the Mazdaspeed3 hits the scene. With this new car as a starting point, the next Speed should be an absolute terror.

As we leave the rocky driving paradise and re-enter the boring city, we get a chance to poke around the interior. Gentle curves play intricate games on the dashboard while ultimately tying everything together for the driver. Special attention was paid towards the driver's natural cone of sight as everything vital is situated within range while looking at the road. Our only major qualm with the control interface is the extremely difficult to navigate navigation and radio controls. The navigation, while a good intention, is total crap. It feels like an ancient, digitized version of Honda's "scrolling map" system of the ‘80s. The screen, even in high-contrast black and white in the lower models, offers very little information and is solely controlled by a dumpy joystick on the steering wheel. Whereas the BMW iDrive of old was overly complicated, the Mazda3's navigation is over simplified to the point of unusability. A good standard of quality would be the $100 TomTom One LE. I can safely assert that a person would be better off skipping the Nav option and sticking Tom on their dashboard. The controls for the satellite radio aren't intrinsically bad, but the one-line display is trash. You'll find yourself stumbling between stations for long minutes before eventually memorizing the 100+ station line-up for quick selection.

The Mazda3, after all the sliding around the mountains and poking the interior, leaves us feeling a bit Bedazzled. Imagine your favorite tee, maybe some vintage shirt in perfect condition. A Boz Scaggs screen print. The shirt fits perfectly, great fabric and impresses the ladies in the way only Scaggs could. Overnight, your mom snags your Scaggs out of the closet and molests it with one of her many Bedazzlers she's collected over the years. You end up wearing the tee to school without noticing her sparkly edits. Your friends quickly catch on, and shockingly, they applaud your fresh taste and daring fashion. You feel slightly cheap and ultimately sullied. Boz was so fresh before the Great Sequinning. Now, people only pay attention to the flashing adornments stuck to his once naturally beautiful eyes.

The new Mazda3 is a bit like that tee. In its previous iteration, it was a superb driver's car with very little in the way of excessive creature comforts. The weight and price was kept very low for the offering and enthusiasts quickly picked up on its winning formula en masse. What was once a stellar econobox still is, but now it doesn't hide its substance beneath a bland exterior. While that incredibly fun, economical chassis is still there and responsive as ever, the superfluous accessories tacked onto it are achieving greater fanfare than the car itself. As stated previously, we're staring towards the future for the return of the Speed3, which should herald the same car - plus power, minus fluff. The Great Undazzling, if you will.

Asked on May 18, 1999 what my favorite movie was I, like many of my contemporaries, would have had an easy answer: Star Wars. Just one day later, with the release of Phantom Menace, that answer would change forever. It didn't make sense. Episode I, compared quantitatively to its predecessors and, according the huge amount of buzz surrounding it, must have been a much better movie. It had a bigger budget, benefited from modern technology, had really neat imaginary creatures and action-packed space battles. So what changed? Well, the environment in which the space fairy tale existed had, in 22 years, become much more sophisticated. Audiences wanted to experience something new in the same way the original film had been unprecedented for its time. Instead, George Lucas contented himself with producing a fancy new version of the same old schlock. That, and Anakin was really irritating.

With the $22,995 V6-equipped 2010 Chevy Camaro LS producing 304 HP, nearly as much as the V8-engined 2010 Ford Mustang GT, and the 426 HP 2010 Chevy Camaro SS starting at just $30,995, initial impressions of GM's new muscle car are extremely good. It's faster than its competitors and benefits from more svelte looks than the Dodge Challenger and less familiar styling than the 2010 Mustang. It's even more fuel efficient, with the V6 returning an impressive 17 city, 29 highway MPG-rating, while the V8 returns 16/25 MPG when equipped with the slightly higher-geared automatic transmission.

But this Camaro's also supposed to be about more than just numbers (click here for our 2010 Chevy Camaro Numbers Comparison) for one very important reason: it's based on the 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP. When we drove that car last November, we couldn't believe that a $40,000 Pontiac was like the new E39 M5, only better. That impression was the result of a driving experience that wasn't so much about the 415 HP Corvette-derived LS3 V8 as it was the car's subtle ability to read your mind, then react to what you wanted faster than we thought possible from a big sedan. In short, the G8 GXP is a handler before it's a muscle car and that's saying something for a vehicle that can hit 60 MPH in 4.7 seconds.

The opposite is true of this new Camaro. Based on an updated version of the G8's Zeta platform (here called Zeta II), the Camaro gets a 2.5" shorter wheelbase thanks to bringing the front wheels forward 6", then moving the A-pillar rearwards 3.5" to create a longer hood and new front suspension chosen to make that hood lower. Unlike the class-defining Mustang, suspension is also independent all the way around. The V6 starts with GM's FE2 coil-over suspension package, before moving up to standard FE3 on the V8-equipped SS. Wheels start out at a smaller-than-GXP 18x7.5" on the base LS, before moving up to a standard and massive 20x8" front, 20x9" rear on the SS. The G8 GXP's are 19x8". Most of the SS's standard equipment is available optionally on the V6 models, while the RS-package essentially looks like an optioned-up SS, but with a V6 under the hood.

Somehow, all those changes translate into an experience that's no less capable — in fact the Camaro SS is 11-seconds faster around the famed Nurburgring than the G8 GXP — but a lot less involving. Where the G8 GXP is all about including you in the driving, requiring and enabling you to aggressively wring the most out of its chassis, the Camaro SS doesn't seek to make the driver a crucial part of its equation. It makes the classic American muscle car mistake of confusing grip — of which it has plenty — with handling. Throw the two cars into a second or third gear (oh how we love big V8s) 90-degree bend and the Pontiac will encourage you to explore the limits of the rear tires adhesion using your right foot and communicative steering, the Chevy will push its vague front robbing you of speed. Sure, you can get on the throttle half way around and step the rear out, but not with the same degree of control the Pontiac delivers. The Camaro does bring one huge improvement over its platform-mate: there's virtually no body roll under any circumstances.

Well that and the incredibly successful styling. Chevy knows it looks good too, displaying a level of self-assuredness that would be absurd in any other segment. Here's a great example. Our co-driver asked a GM engineer whether the new Camaro increases "length or girth?" His straight-faced response? "It increases opportunity." Cocky, right? But they're right. Where the G8 looks like a rental car, the ZR1 looks like a bass boat enthusiast won the lottery and the CTS-V, even with its classy chrome mesh grille, looks like a tuner conversion, the Camaro strikes exactly the right balance between the mass appeal of its aggression and a more sophisticated retro futurism that successfully references the original while adapting wholly new forms that are completely contemporary. Even though we've been staring at pictures of it for what seems like years, in person it's still surprising how good it looks.

If you've been following Jalopnik or even had a conversation with me at any point since last August, you're probably bored to death with hearing about how good GM's latest crop of performance cars are. The 2009 Corvette ZR1 is the best car I've ever driven, the 556 HP Cadillac CTS-V is an utterly awesome performance sedan and you've already been reading about the G8 GXP. So it comes as a surprise that Chevy's flag-waving everyman muscle car doesn't live up to those driving standards. Sure it's stinking fast, but it doesn't make exploiting that performance rewarding in the way all the above did so well. It doesn't so much defy convention, as drive like you'd expect a Camaro would, a really good Camaro.

The other defining characteristic of the Camaro's driving experience is the interior. Hop in one and like a classic Camaro, the first impression is of claustrophobia. It feels like Chevy's designers have purposefully set out to make the interior, which is actually surprisingly large with adequate space for four adults, feel surprisingly small. Most of that comes from the slit-like windshield; its top sits at about the height of your forehead, something that will be familiar to Lotus Exige owners. Out through that narrow strip of glass, the hood bulge and fenders are prominently visible, accentuating the power under the hood. Unlike the Exige, there's almost 8.5" of vertical seat movement to accommodate a wide range of drivers. All of them will end up with their head in the exact same place: about a half inch from the ceiling as that's the only position that affords adequate forward visibility. Strangely, the wheel and instruments sit very high, never affording the wheel-in-lap arrangement that I prefer, even with the seat all the way up and the wheel all the way down.

That interior is also going to be a bugbear for the Camaro. While the overall shapes are appealing, the materials are mostly cheap plastic, even on the big knobs that you use to adjust the HVAC and stereo (Nav isn't an option). A huge swath of that cheap plastic runs from the steering wheel all the way to the right door. The standard-on-SS auxiliary gauges, mounted down low in front of the gear lever, are largely worthless on the move due to their positioning, but look really cool, providing a false sense of driver/machine integration that just isn't born out in the driving experience. Believe it or not, the 2010 Mustang with a few options is actually a nicer place to spend time.

On initial impressions and despite a spec sheet that strongly claims otherwise, I'd tip the hat in the Mustang's favor when it comes to driving enjoyment too. To create it, Ford engineers essentially took the old model and made it as good as they possibly could. The result is, for the first time, a Mustang that's as much about going around corners as it is about acceleration, which is good, because the Camaro SS leaves it for dead in a straight line. Despite the Mustang's live rear axle, which never really manifests any limitations on the road, the 'Stang is ligher on its feet than the Camaro and has considerably more steering feel. The Camaro's is dead on center, never really manages a huge amount of feel in general and is overly light. It's so light, that it's possible that the engineers that drove it around the Nurburgring did so one-handed.

The much-touted performance of the V6-equipped Camaro doesn't live up to its Mustang GT-killing hype. While GM has gone to great lengths to make it as visceral as possible — the crisp exhaust note sounds almost as good as a 370Z — its flat torque curve leads to a somewhat uneventful feeling of acceleration, especially out of faster corners where the Camaro's prodigious 3,780 Lb curb weight leaves you with foot flat on the floor, wanting for more. Nor does the V6 manifest a handling advantage over the V8, even when equipped with all the RS options. Its steering still lacks feel and it becomes harder to push the car around corners using the throttle.

GM's Hydra-Matic SL50 6L50 6-speed automatic gearbox does however do an excellent job of keeping the V6 on the boil, particularly in "sport" mode. Its one of the quickest-to-shift slushboxes we've experienced and never seems to find itself in the wrong gear. In fact its so good that it renders the steering wheel-mounted shift buttons largely irrelevant. The 6L50 is clearly better than any of the Camaro's domestic rivals.

Look at the value-for-money and the performance numbers of the Camaro combined with its Dragon-tastic looks and you can't help but feel GM has a winner on its hands. It'll beat its competitors hands down, not only in a numbers-based pissing contest, but also in the public's imaginations: an advantage presented by its futuristic-yet-retro styling. It's exactly the car GM should be making, a car that will sell; it's just not the unprecedented new experience that we were hoping for, it's not a real driver's car. With the Camaro, GM has chosen to stick with the muscle car archetype rather than push the limits of what's possible, it's not likely to win many conquests from more adept sportscars like the 370Z, Audi TT and BMW 3-series as Chevy hopes it will. The result, like the new Star Wars films, is a product that will undoubtedly be a commercial success, just perhaps not a timeless classic like the original, a product that will blend in with, rather than stand out from, its rivals.

Photography credit: Wetzel Tucker

But the cosmetics are still what makes this one-off car something special. Ford's turned this $80,000 Shelby into KITT thanks to a sweet-looking black-on-black paint job, the addition of 20" Shelby "Super Snake" wheels, 90% tinted windows all-around and of course, the Auto Indulgence 15" LED "Knight Rider" security scanner lightbar. Sure, it's all stuff you can buy off the rack — but when combined together, it makes this "King of the Road" look bad-ass.

But what's great about this customized Shelby is when the novelty of cruising around in KITT wears out, and you've turned the lightbar off, you remember you're still driving a Shelby GT500KR. That said, there's now even greater incentive to pull to a stop, shift into first and floor it. Because when you do, your world shrinks into a tunnel of motion with only a pinpoint of clarity ahead, wild-eyed narration provided by an unnatural banshee wail emanating from the supercharger. You watch, almost from outside of your body, as time dilates and you are no longer subject to the rules of physics. You feel as though this motor will pull the stars from their places in the heavens. And then the rev limiter brings it all back to reality.

A sideways grin spread across my face as my autonomic nervous system registers how close I just came to some form of fiery death. The manic rush, instead of acting like a deterrent, plays a powerful stimulant, and you do it again, and again, and again.

That's because the GT500KR is a much better car than its predecessor, the Mustang GT500. The GT500 is a mean and nasty car, operating at the limits of the chassis — it's twitchy, overpowered and hard to live with. Driving it always makes you feel like you're toeing the line of control, even when toting the groceries. To be perfectly honest, the notion of driving a GT500 with more horsepower was, at the outset, mildly terrifying. But the GT500KR is much more refined — the extra power is met with a much better suspension thanks to upgraded KR-only dampers, springs and shocks. All of it works together to provide a far more confident drive than the GT500. No more skipping across expansion joints at speed on a sweeping freeway corner, only planted, firm and predictable driving over the bumps and potholes of Michigan roads. But, then why the taken-to-the-limits feeling? It's because that added confidence is underscored with the notion that instead of being more controllable, the razors edge has just been raised to a new and more frightening level.

In spite of this knowledge, you smile like any man charming a Cobra; resigned to the danger, but addicted to the exhilaration of it. It doesn't matter if the car handles incredibly well for a solid axle design on a heavy car with monster mill, it doesn't matter if the interior has no upgrades over a standard 'Stang, it doesn't matter that the windows are tinted so dark you strain to see headlights in the night because none of that changes the mechanical the wail of obscenities the supercharger hurls at you as it takes over your world.

People point. They stare. The silent back and forth sweep of the red light draws the questions of curious passers-by. Camera phones are wielded, friends are called over and disbelief removed. But in the face of the crushing power of this car, the tight hold that childhood memories maintain over the aura of KITT shrink, and become insignificant as you pull runs — again, and again, and again. The show may be in need of some "Turbo Boost," but this GT500KR has all the boost we need.

Photo Credit: Alex C. Conley

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.

The first thing you need to do with the ZR1 is throw out any preconceived notions you have about it. Isn't it just a more extreme Z06 with 131 more horsepower or an answer to a question no one asked? No. It's a comprehensively re-engineered vehicle that shares little in feel with either the standard Corvette or the Z06, outperforming both on the track, obviously, but also, surprisingly, on the road. How? A remarkably civilized yet awesomely powerful engine; an easy-to-use gearbox; compliant-yet-capable suspension; and a chassis that simply overachieves at any task you give it.

While based on the standard car's LS3 V8, the ZR1's LS9 makes its power with the aid of a Roots-type supercharger whose intercooler cover is visible through the tacky Lexan hood window. With 638 HP and 604 lb-ft of torque, its speed should come as no surprise, but its character will. Equipped with a dual-mode exhaust, there's little hint of its performance at low speed, the RPMs dipping if you pull away on light throttle. Up to 2,500 RPM (about all you need on the road — it delivers 320 lb-ft at 1,000 RPM), it feels like something that belongs in a big German luxury car. It's torquey, quiet and, combined with the ZR1's 3,364 lb curb weight, it makes driving effortless.

It's when you begin to climb into higher RPMs at larger throttle openings that the LS9's performance reveals itself in its absurd volume. A second exhaust valve opens, taking the engine note from refined to apocalyptic. The all-consuming sound focuses your attention on nothing but the road in front of you. But it lacks any aural indication of its supercharger. For reasons that escape us, the Corvette engineers went through elaborate steps to eliminate the whine, even doubling the number of teeth on the lobe drive gears to move their sound beyond the human ear's range of perception. Tap into the loud zone and everything in front starts to come at you very fast. 300 HP arrives at just 3,000 RPM before peaking at 6,500, leaving 100 RPM before the redline. The close-ratio gearbox (unique to the ZR1) means shifts come fast, but the wide spread of power and torque means you can leave it in third for pretty much anything above 30 MPH.

Like the engine, that gearbox does little to hint at the ZR1's ultimate performance. A twin-disc clutch leads to easy pedal throw, while a precise gate makes finding gears simple. This isn't a fire-breathing monster, but instead a car anyone could drive competently — even for long distances (it's comfortable) or at high speeds (its limits are so high that you need to try very hard to find them).

In fact, the only thing detracting from the ZR1's grand touring credentials is the interior. The only options on the $103,300 car are an awful set of chrome wheels and the 3ZR upgraded interior package, which succeeds in moving the interior from cheap and nasty into luxurious bass boat territory with more embroidered ZR1 and Corvette logos than my fragile mind could comprehend. We have a hard time accepting the 'value' excuse; for this kind of money we'd no longer like to feel like a Jeff Foxworthy punchline. An automatic transmission is, thankfully, not an option.

The ZR1's road ability is boosted by the two-mode magnetic damping. Select "Touring" on the center-mounted ride-control knob, and, while it can't hide that the ZR1 wears 335/25-20s on the rear, it rides comfortably enough to make you forget you're driving something capable of lapping the Nurburgring in 7:26.4. The damping adjusts itself near-instantaneously to maintain grip on rough surfaces. You won't feel this happen, but you will notice how unflustered the ZR1 is no matter how crappy Michigan roads may be.

The real magic of the ZR1 isn't that it's capable of any of the above, though. It's that it will make you forget all of its intimidating performance figures and fancy technology the second you take a corner at speed. Despite all the headline numbers, this car isn't about power, it's about handling.

Built on the same aluminum-intensive chassis with fancy magnesium bits as the Z06, the ZR1 uses independent suspension all-round, but here it arrives with bespoke tuning capable of coping with the 1.05 lateral Gs the purpose-made Michelins make possible.

Conventional wisdom states that a front engine, rear-wheel drive car capable of these numbers should be incredibly difficult to drive, with a significant predisposition toward slamming into immovable objects, backward. In fact, before driving the car, Ray and I discussed whether or not the ZR1 was set to become the cheapest way to kill an inexperienced driver quickly, but that's simply not the case. It's so competent a car that it makes the 638 HP feel unremarkable. Two people went off-course the day I was at the track, but both did so because they got intimidated by the sheer speed at which they were traveling. Had they simply looked where they wanted to go, instead of off into the grass, the Corvette ZR1 would have made it around the corner — the same nasty off-camber, downhill one both times — much faster than they were actually traveling.

This is only my second track day since getting the cast off and I'm still not back to full health. And, I hate to admit it, but I'm a little more cautious than I used to be. The Lutz Ring is also an incredibly intimidating track. Jim Mero, the guy with the 'Ring record, described it as the best possible preparation for his attempt as it packs all the German track's challenges into a space not two miles long. That includes the lack of run-off — guardrails line the track's fastest corner and you need to get within a couple inches of them to be really fast. But two laps into my first session and I'm ringing the car out in second and third gear. No matter the speed or the amount of ill-advised braking, it turns in and holds a line without drama and accelerates out under full throttle without stepping wide. In fact, it rapidly becomes apparent that, without intentionally trying to do so, I'm incapable of making the ZR1 misbehave. Even topping out the suspension over the track's two jumps then slamming hard on the massive ceramic brakes just as the car regains traction fails to make it lose composure. Just like the two guys who went off, I'm unable to reprogram my brain enough to accept the ZR1's ludicrous speed. This is the first car I can say this about in a long, long time — the ZR1 is too fast for me.

That's not to say I can't enjoy it. This isn't a PlayStation game. The ZR1 is a rear-wheel drive car that needs significant driver input in order to make it around a track or down the road quickly. It's that involvement, not just ultimate speed, that is its reward. Even if it provides you with better tools to do so than anyone else, the Corvette ZR1 still challenges you to try and exploit its performance; it's the level of that challenge and the level of involvement required to meet it that makes the ZR1 truly special.

Photography: Alex Conley

Editor's Note of Thanks: Thank you Sun-Sentinel for not knowing what midnight means!

The 2009 model year takes the Challenger from a low-volume quasi-halo muscle car to a full lineup of three separate trim levels, each with their own engine flavor. The base model SE starts at $21,995, getting a 3.5-liter High Ouput V6 producing 250 HP and an equal number of lb-ft of torque. The top model's still the SRT8, at a starting price of $39,995 and powered by the reliable and huge 6.1-liter Hemi V8 with 425 HP and 420 lb-ft of torque. The middle-of-the-pack R/T hits the showroom floor at a starting price of $29,995 and comes with the 5.7-liter Hemi engine under the hood, producing either 370 HP and 398 lb-ft of torque (when running on premium fuel) or 375 HP and 404 lb-ft of torque, depending on which transmission it's mated to.

Wait, what? Multiple transmissions? Yes muscle car fans, it's what two of these models' engines are mated to that'll give Jalopnik readers cause for celebration. Both the R/T and the SRT8 get an optional Tremec T6060 six-speed manual transmission ported from the Dodge Viper. The option's only available on the Hemi-fied R/T and SRT8 versions, so if you want the V6-powered SE, you'll only end up getting a four-speed automatic. Pity.

The R/T gets another couple of nice features as part of the $995 "Track Pack" manual package — a Hill-start Assist (which was a very nice feature on some of the hills around our drive through New Jersey), a limited-slip differential (the SRT8 gets the LSD standard) and a tuned exhaust system (SRT8 manual gets this as well) that sounds great in the lower gears.

On the road, both the manual Challenger R/T and the Challenger SRT8 felt much more satisfying to drive. Thanks to the auto-only multi-displacement technology, the R/T in both auto-stick and manual transmission models get 16 MPG in the city and 25 MPG on the highway. The 2009 SRT8 gets the same piss-poor 13 MPG city, 19 MPG highway as the 2008 model, but the manual transmission at least gives you an extra mile in the city and an extra three on the highway thanks to that very helpful sixth gear.

Setting aside the benefits of the manual on the road, it's the track where it really becomes useful. Although the 2008 SRT8's automatic transmission had a +/- gate auto-stick mode, I really felt it to be too gimmicky for anything other than making a businessman feel like he was the big man at a stoplight. It's certainly not a transmission you'll feel comfortable using anywhere other than a drag strip — at least not if you want to keep your dignity and control safely intact. Which is why we were excited to hit the Englishtown track. Thanks to coning designed to keep drivers like me from becoming a smear on a wall, I didn't even get the car out of second or third gear on the track. Unfortunate for me, yes, but quite fortunately for the Challenger's clutch plates.

Still, despite the aggressive coning, the smooth clutch gave me greater confidence, and the pistol-grip shifter available with the "Track Pack" felt more comfortable in my hand than the original 70's it's kinda-sorta modeled after. But, a manual shifter alone doesn't make a track car.

The Challenger's still a fatty, as we found when we scrubbed the front tires on the first too-tight turn at speed around the Englishtown course in the R/T and later on in the course with an SRT8. Thanks to the RWD platform, with the nanny system turned all the way off, you're still able to steer with your right foot, just like the 2008 Challenger SRT8 and every other LX-platformed SRT8 and R/T.

So which of the three, if any, is the right choice for you? Sorry Spinelli, but it's certainly not the SE. The automatic transmission and low horsepower mated to a heavy RWD car ensure this will compete not for our attention, but with Midwestern hairdressers as the car of choice to replace their V6 Mustang.

If you're a muscle car madman needing a 0-to-60 time of five seconds, you'll probably want the SRT8, as Dodge estimates the R/T's time to be somewhere just under six seconds. Sure, you could beat the pants off the SRT8 in a straight-line with a Shelby GT500, but it'll cost you significantly more and I'm not sure it'll take to the track any better.

Still, despite the SRT8's bigger engine, we're not sure the 30% higher sticker price justifies the 10% higher horsepower. In our mind, if you want a modern muscle car, the R/T may be right in the sweet spot. In terms of looks, you'll get the same (maybe more with the double-black hood stripes and functional hood scoop of the "Classic" package) double-takes as its stronger brother, the same horrifyingly plastic interior, and you'll do it for a much cheaper sticker price and an almost 20% higher fuel economy rating.

Either way, whether you choose an R/T or an SRT8, you'll still get a Challenger with a manual transmission. Like we said, 2009's better than 2008 by at least one-third.

Of course it's another kind of ugly people are concerned about today. Heading southwest down a remote road on Vancouver Island in an American-plated WRX, I'm not exactly behaving like an ambassador for my country. These are some of the most challenging roads in North America, winding their way through the coastal mountains along ancient logging trails, the road bears the ravages of harsh winters; its two lanes rippled, rutted and patched beyond repair, concrete barricades serving as buffers when the going gets too rough.

Unlike the firmer, louder and more focused 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, the new 265 HP WRX eats all this up. As untroubled by the bumps as it is by the limited passing opportunities afforded by the few straights — after all, double yellows are just lines painted in the road — it leaves law abiding traffic in the wake of its new, louder exhaust.

A year ago this wouldn't have been the story we would have written. A competent but uninspiring drive, the 2008 model forsook performance for practicality in an attempt to broaden the brand's performance appeal. It didn't work, the WRX's traditional focus and involvement were mistakenly left out, resulting in a car that alienated its core audience while retaining enough awkwardness to miss the mass market, too. That car lives on in the form of the 2009 Subaru Impreza 2.5 GT, a car the company expects to make up only a small fraction of Impreza sales. Meanwhile, the WRX has been rethought from head to toe. Gaining better judged, firmer suspension all-round, thicker anti-roll bars, STI seats and most important of all, an STI-spec turbo. The WRX now hits 60 in 5.4 seconds before reaching 140mph (limited) and will retail for "under $25,000."

All of this works to create a faster, better handling, more controlled car that encourages the kind of three-figure, "sure, we can make it" passing that's proving so unpopular with the locals. Stopping for a quick opportunity to mark my territory behind a tree, the 10 cars that were just passed all at once get a chance to catch up and let me know just what they think of my bad behavior. I probably shouldn't have passed them all again within the next mile, but then America's honor was at stake; we do have a reputation to maintain.

But it wasn't just passing for passing's sake. My assholery had a purpose: to find corners unencumbered with traffic. Where the STI's suspension only really works on reasonable surfaces and requires a huge amount of belief in the ultimate ability of its vague chassis, the WRX revels in reassurance, never feeling like it'd be possible to run out of grip, even on the worst surfaces Canada could throw at it. You can thank Subaru's Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive for this. Sure, it's nothing new, but unlike both the STI and 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo MR, here it's tuned for the road, not the track. In that environment, it means more speed, more involvement, more fun and an increased propensity to seek out corners with enough room to exploit it. While this on-road ability does lead to decreased on-the-limit track performance when compared to the other cars, it makes the WRX faster, more involving and more rewarding in the environment where it will be driven most. Or here in Canada, where we probably shouldn't drive again for a while.

Driving sucks in New York. Not only are the roads pot-holed, third-world battlefields, but local drivers treat them as such, doing everything possible to kill their fellow commuters. All this is made worse by the cops; their numbers swollen post-9/11, they prowl the streets like sharks, looking for anyone that stands out to punish with the full force of the law. You'd think driving a bright red Evo here would be a bad idea, but the thing is, it's not.

In MR trim, the Evo gains sound deadening, higher-quality suspension and bunch of toys like a decent stereo and satellite navigation. Then there's the gearbox. Called Twin-Clutch SST, it's Mitsubishi's version of a dual-clutch automated manual, and it's probably the best I've ever used.

Those features combine to create a car that's smooth-riding, well-controlled, quiet inside and that makes carving through gaps in heavy traffic completely fuss-free. None of that should sacrifice performance, while the suspension and gearbox will actually work to improve it.

Swipe the shifter that looks like it belongs in a manual over to the left, and you're in full-manual mode. No computerized brain tells it when to shift, leaving you in complete control. Well, at least once you've pulled away. The lack of a clutch to dump keeps take-off (and attempted donuts) wheelspin-free while high-rev launches require the use of a special launch control only available in Super-Sport automatic mode. Shifts are immediate and come when called for, never once beeping in protest instead of delivering the downshift required.

Cruising along slowly through the overcrowded suburban roadways, the MR's promise is ever-present in its immediate direction changes and ability to leap out of merge lanes. Its classier, toned-down looks don't draw attention the way the carbon-clad Evo IX I pass does, maybe due to the proliferation of down-market models like the Ralliart that share near-identical body addenda. The rear wing remains huge, but too many wannabes mean that, now, wings no longer signify performance. Cops we pass hardly take a second glance, more upset by Mitsubishi's manufacturer plate than the car's intent to speed.

Inside the MR you feel like an escaped convict, the car's promised performance making itself evident through the aggressive shifting, fierce acceleration and immediate responsiveness, but conveying those experiences in a manner that's positively refined. Cover up the plasticky interior, and this combination could spell M3.

It's really hard to write a remarkable review about an unremarkable drive. But maybe that's the most remarkable thing about the MR. Not only did it make the shittiest roads in the world tolerable, but it did so in a package supposedly capable of rivaling cars like the Porsche 911 GT3 RS or Ferrari F430 once the going gets more glamorous. To that ability I can't attest, but stuck in rush hour, I know which car I'd rather be in, and I'm excited about the possibility of owning a car of this caliber that's equally capable in the everyday grind. 

Photography: Björn Schütrumpf

The Ralliart is a hybrid of a different sort. It takes bits and pieces from other Lancer models: The engine is a 2.0 MIVEC straight out of the Evo X but detuned via intake and ECU changes. The exhaust is Evo X. The chassis is Lancer GTS. The hood is Evo X. The AWD system is Evo IX. You get the idea — it's parts-bin engineering, but the good kind. And it trades many of the Evo's all-out race compromises for a larger dose of convenience and comfort.

That's what makes the car interesting to me, more so than some higher-strung alternatives. Why? The Evo is a rocket ship, but I've got a wife and a kid, and I live on a writer's salary. The Ralliart is a Lancer someone like me can justify. And, at a price expected to come in under $27k, one I can afford. Question is, can I live with it?

Not if I want to shift for myself. The Ralliart is saddled — or blessed — depending on how you look at it — with a dual-clutch manumatic as its only gearbox. Mitsubishi calls its system Twin-Clutch SST, and it returns quick, positive shifts. But it's not a 6-speed stick. I'm writing it off in my mind when I remember that sitting in traffic on I-75, this tranny will give me the best of both worlds. A compromise for my station in life. I'll let it slide.

Aside from the paddle shifters, the interior is unremarkable and adequate for anyone used to compact cars. The materials have decent texture, but they're mostly hard plastics with a dull sheen. And, quite unlike some of the compacts we've experienced recently, the doors close with a hollow metallic sound that reminds me of my father's '82 Civic. Yeah, I'm surrounded by airbags, but a little extra metal wouldn't hurt my feelings either.

But boost forgives many sins. The 235hp MIVEC 2.0 is all base Lancer below about 2,800 RPM, after which torque shows up; it's not intrusive, nor is it the dreaded "on/off" turbo switch, but the car subtly changes character. Mitsu lit says that 253 ft-lb is available from 2,500-4,750 RPM — and that's pretty much the only place it's available. Fortunately, the Twin-Clutch SST will happily let you play in that sweet spot all day long. The fat steering wheel, another item borrowed from the Evo X, along with point-and-shoot handling courtesy of AWD and good electronics, makes the car an effortlessly fun toy when you want it to be.

But it doesn't have to be. It's not an Evo, but I can't use a race car. I drive in Detroit, where just about every road is a straight line pockmarked by what looks like an allied bombing campaign. I drive in traffic. I haul stuff home from Costco. With niceties like 60/40 split-fold seats and a trunk uncluttered by the battery, I can accomplish those tasks in the Ralliart.

Mitsubishi's Lancer Ralliart is fun as hell but it doesn't punish you for being a normal Joe. It's the Evo substitute for working stiffs like me who have to drive in the real world. After all, I don't mind compromising, but I don't like to suffer.

The Lincoln MKS is the biggest car I've driven in 6 years, I'll admit. It rides low enough to the road that I'd be concerned about scraping its cute-as-a-penny bottom in more than a few steep driveways, but it does look pretty damn cool — much more so than any Lincoln we've seen since the era that brought us Ben's personal project car hell. In the pre-driving presentation the design guys kept droning on and on and on about their new paint color "tuxedo black," which contains bits of glass to make it sparkle in a different way. But then they told us we'd be driving for two hours before getting to the next presentation, so I was more concerned with running for the bathroom and missed the assembled auto journalists making cute cooing noises when they got outside and saw it in the sun. At least I think they were. It was either "ooooh!" or "eeeeww!" — it's hard to tell from the bathroom stall. But it really does look like they poured glitter in the paint, though, so I felt like maybe it wasn't a total "old person" car.

Then they partnered me up with another to-remain-nameless reporter and we went rock-paper-scissors for who got to drive first and I lost, damn him. He started up the car and admitted he doesn't own one and never drives, so I knew I'd at least have one up on him even if he did go first. But for the moment, I looked at the route of windy back roads and hoped to God the airbags worked as we started off. Since he had to pay so much attention to the road, I got to play with the gadgets — it didn't read my off-brand MP3 player (but I guess if you buy a $46,000 car you'll probably also have an iPod), the jukebox selection was lame and just as I was settling on a musical choice the ass coolers kicked in. The seat blows cold air on your butt, which feels good for about a minute before it feels weird to have cold puffs of air constantly assaulting your ass and thighs.

But, it turns out, even with one of the world's least experienced drivers at the helm, the car handled pretty good, and I only worried about going off the road three or four times, so I looked around some more. They designed the glove compartment so that only one edge shows (which sounds good, but really just makes it easier to manufacture). For as big as it looked on the outside, it wasn't really all that spacious. The dashboard is all stitched leather, the seats were comfy and the moonroof extends into the back seat besides — but while opening it is pretty intuitive, it isn't quite as easy to get it shut. I probably should've read the manual, but I didn't want to be too much of a girl.

It was also a damn quiet ride, which made it hard to hear the engine shifting on the hills and such, but the tachometer said that, even on hills, the RPMs were pretty low. It's also a little strange to be roaming around the Virginia countryside (looking out for cops, even) in a huge car that feels like something a driver would drive you around in if you had a driver, but maybe that's just me.

When we got to switch positions, I realized that my companion was a rather unassertive driver. My concerns about pickup and handling were pretty much assuaged when I had to take a left turn across 4 lanes of highway traffic to head back to D.C. and laid rubber in the parking lot and didn't fishtail in the left lane, though I'm not sure he felt the same way about it.

As a short person, my problem with driving big cars is that I often can't visualize the corners because I can't get up high enough or forward enough without bumping my chest up against the steering wheel. Somehow, despite the size, I was able to get the MKS's seat adjusted to a point where I didn't feel like the air bag would kill me in a collision and I could see enough of what I was driving to take curves at appropriate speeds without worrying if I was over the line, and I never once felt that sliding sensation that the car was about to lose it no matter what the curve was or how fast I stopped. For a car that's bigger than my dining room, that's a pretty impressive accomplishment.

My biggest concern, other than not getting pulled over by the cops when my lead foot got the better of me, was how much gas I was using. On a 20 gallon tank, we went somewhat less than 200 miles on back roads (most of which was not in traffic, thankfully) and used up about half a tank, meaning we'd spent about $40 in gas to just tool around. Do people still buy huge leather-filled cars with backseats they'll never use (and navigation systems that will tell them sports scores, but not while the car is moving) when gas is this expensive? It was a question that I pondered pretty heavily as I sat in traffic in I-66 on the way back into the city to give the car back and retrieve my cuckolded Corolla.

As we mentioned last month, Saab is using the limited-edition Turbo X as a way of introducing the Haldex-sourced XWD system — as well as more turbos and a more distinct styling — to the entire lineup. With a 286 HP turbocharged V6, 294 lb-ft of torque available at 2,150 RPM and that high-tech all wheel drive system mated to either a six-speed manual or a paddle-shifting six-speed auto, this Saab doesn't look much like the 900's of yore — and it doesn't perform like one either.

So what's it like behind the wheel of this terror from Trollhättan? On the short closed course and the available public street routes, the Turbo X is practically heroic. Pegging the throttle not only rewards with a glorious engine note somewhere between "angry four-banger" and "loping V8," but when the well-executed torque curve pins you to the seat as you hit a long straight, the car feels like a performance car is supposed to feel — like you're a test pilot hurtling upward into an ever-darker pool of blue sky.

The first time I used the throttle to steer the car through a fast sweeping corner, I found myself wondering if we had been dropped off into a parallel universe. In past Saabs, the only thing the throttle was good for was acquainting you with the curb. Second and third for the notchy manual transmission are like some kind of magical happy fun-time selectors. At the limit of grip, the car communicates beautifully, so easy to balance you'll find yourself plotting your next four-wheel drifting opportunity.

Throughout the tests I left the traction control in full nanny mode to simulate true Saabiness. To my surprise I was happy to find the Turbo X's nanny was the lazy kind, only checking in every once in a while to make sure you're not about to stuff it into a post, but generally letting you run true to course. I pushed both the sedan and the SportCombi hard, and never once found the traction control a burden. Speaking of the two models, here's a funny little secret — if you don't look in your rear view mirror, you'll never be able to tell the two apart on the track.

But that's the manual transmission. What about the Black Knight's snazzy six-speed manumatic? Good, but not great. If you find yourself unable to coordinate clutch, shift knob and wheel simultaneously (sorry boss!), it's a good alternative. Dropped onto the track in full auto, shifting lags and doesn't quite deliver what the engine and XWD system are capable of. Switch it into manumatic via the "+/-" gate and it's a whole new animal. While the shift points remain a little muddy, the system will generally obey your commands and allow you to abuse the rev range with abandon. If you bounce between second and third, performance is pretty respectable. If you let it hang in a gear, it actually feels like a manual transmission — stabbing the throttle will give the same instant-on power feel.

On the street and in traffic, the cars have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde quality to them. They're perfectly happy to plod along in Boston's cramped streets and the light — almost too light (Hey, maybe we're starting to see why Wert's normal high-intensity foot-mashing was so dangerous!) — clutch won't tire even the weakest of left leg. However, drop either transmission down a cog or two and that gorgeous exhaust note fills the cabin, encouraging and calling out to you to engage in random acts of silliness.

At the end of the day, the 2008 Saab 9-3 Turbo X isn't some kind of Saabvior, it's more of a missionary man for the brand. With only 600 slated for US shores and half already spoken for, the Turbo X won't be setting any sales records, but it will be raising eyebrows. Saab is having a very "Cadillac in 1999" moment, checking out the market and thinking "Hey, we could really shake things up here." The Turbo X manages to maintain a lot of what's great about a Saab, while eschewing those stodgy stereotypes and pushing the limit on the brand's past. It manages to surprise and delight just by existing. We just wonder how all the patch-elbowed tweed jacket-wearing college professors feel about that.

Kicking the tires:
First walk around the car is impressive, especially for the high-end models (€14,500). The 500's design is harmonious in every detail. This particular dealer is smart enough to have a vintage 500 right next to the new one; the size difference is astounding. We mistook the old 500 for a roller skate at first glance.

Warming the seats:
We're not ashamed to say that the interior is the best part of the nuova 500. The fit and finish is spectacular. The haptics should make the guys over at Lexus think twice about their quality. We know, we know, it sounds crazy, but it's really that good. One weird aspect is the lack of a traditional glove box. In its place is a Lotus Elise-like shelf. If you have your heart set on a place to store contraband, you can order a cool little storage box that goes under the passenger side seat bottom. Shockingly, if you put two six footers in the car, there's still plenty of legroom in the back. Rear headroom, on the other hand, is a struggle. Hopefully your friends are short or don't mind having their heads bash against the roof.

On the road:
Our tester was equipped with the top shelf petrol engine, a 1.4L 16-valve four pot good for a hundred horsepower and mated to a manual six speed. Even though the engine in the tester has the highest output currently available, (Abarth, you can toss us a tester any time) it's sort of a buzzy, lazy lump. Take off is peppy, but it's a flat experience after first gear. Engine braking is not a possibility as the RPMs just jump up to redline without actually providing any resistance. The car tosses into the corner happily, but the crappy tires on the test car protested loudly. We'd be interested to know how cars equipped with better shoes perform. Amusing for this segment is the "Sport" button. As far as we could tell, the purpose of the button was to light up the "Sport" indicator light, that's it.

Bottom Line:
The 500 is very pretty, very comfortable, a sipper of fuel, and great as a daily driver in the cramped streets of Europe. It will probably do very well considering the low price, handsome styling and three-page long options list. We're definitely smitten with the great interior and we like the packaging better than the Mini. If Fiat ever plans on bringing it over to the US, they'll need to rework that motor to have a chance of competing with the unter-Bimmer, but we see great possibilities in this little car.

First up, price: The 2008 Chevy HHR SS will set you back $22,995. That's for the manual, and trust us, you're going to want the manual. If for no other reason than the slushbox sucks up 25 hp. As for Maximum Bob, before taking to the track he and I both made a beeline for the extra large helmets. "I have a big noggin, 7 3/4," he said to me. "7 5/8" I answered back. "You're a pinhead!" was his retort. And that's my story, for now — come back on Monday for the full review but rest assured the world's fastest breadvan still retains the title.

For immediate release

2008 HHR SS FAST FACTS
• Engineered and developed by GM Performance Division
• 2.0L Ecotec turbocharged and intercooled engine with 260 horsepower (194 kW)
• GM Powertrain Sweden five-speed transmission with enhanced shifter feel/placement
• Nürburgring-tuned FE5 Sport suspension delivers 0.86 g grip (with manual transmission)
• SS-specific appearance, including new fascias, rockers and rear spoiler
• 18-inch high-polished forged aluminum wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport tires
• SS-specific interior with new sport seats, A-pillar boost gauge and more
• EPA-estimated 29 mpg highway with the manual transmission
• On sale: fourth quarter 2007

CHEVROLET INTRODUCES TURBOCHARGED 2008 HHR SS

DETROIT - During the nation's largest celebration of automotive heritage, the Woodward Dream Cruise, Chevrolet introduced the newest member of the prestigious SS family: the 2008 HHR SS.

The HHR SS combines all of the style and capability of the popular HHR family with uncompromising performance, including a turbocharged and intercooled engine that produces 260 horsepower (194 kW), unique exterior styling and a SS-specific interior. The vehicle was developed by GM Performance Division (GMPD), with a team of engineers and designers dedicated to crafting high-performance vehicles.

"With its muscular stance, turbocharged power and track-capable handling, the HHR SS is a worthy addition to SS lineup," said Ed Peper, Chevrolet general manager. "It also reaffirms in a big way Chevy's commitment to the sport compact market."

Standard features include unique exterior appointments, with all-new front and rear fascias, new front grilles, a rear spoiler and 18-inch polished forged aluminum wheels wrapped with Michelin performance all-season tires. Inside, SS-embroidered sport seats - with ultra suede inserts - a new gauge cluster with 140-mph speedometer, an A-pillar boost gauge and a new, driver-oriented steering wheel and shifter support the serious driving capabilities.

Along with its high-performance attributes, the HHR SS comes standard with a host of safety and convenience features, including the StabiliTrak electronic stability control system and four-wheel disc brakes with ABS. Optional equipment includes side-impact air bags and a power-operated sunroof.

"This vehicle delivers all of the style, comfort and convenience found in the HHR portfolio, but also offers outstanding performance and versatility without sacrificing fuel economy," added Peper. "There's simply nothing else like it when it comes to four-door driving fun for the value."

The HHR SS arrives in dealerships in the fourth quarter of 2007.

An SS from the get go
The '08 HHR SS was engineered by GM Performance Division and is the first SS model developed since GMPD was charged with overseeing all of the "go, stop and turn" requirements demanded of any new Chevrolet wearing the SS badge.

"Beginning with HHR SS, all future SS models will have superior power, braking and handling capabilities for maximum credibility with our customers and enthusiasts alike," said John Heinricy, GM Performance Division executive. "The SS badge represents high performance, and the HHR SS delivers with a fully-integrated, balanced driving experience."

To that end, the HHR SS was engineered to offer more than simply increased power. An all-new FE5 Sport suspension was developed and tuned at Germany's famed Nürburgring racing circuit. It includes specific stabilizer bars, spring rates and damper tuning - all designed to complement the turbocharged powertrain.

Consequently, the HHR SS delivers a sports car-like maximum lateral grip of 0.86 g (with manual transmission). The brake system is enhanced, too, with a four-wheel disc system and standard ABS. StabiliTrak electronically controlled stability control system is standard.

The HHR SS's performance rubber meets the road via Michelin Pilot Sport MXM4 P225/45R18 tires mounted on 18-inch polished forged aluminum five-spoke wheels.

SS style
The HHR SS is distinguished on the exterior with several unique features:
• New air dam-style front fascia with fog lamps
• New mesh-style upper and lower grilles
• New rear fascia with outlet for single bright exhaust tip
• Rear spoiler (mounted above rear glass)
• New rocker moldings
• Body-color door handles, mirror caps and rear license plate surround
• SS badges on the front doors and rear liftgate

Large, five-spoke 18-inch polished forged aluminum wheels and performance tires are standard and are tailored with the specific body enhancements to give the HHR SS a lower, performance-oriented stance. Likewise, the available exterior colors enhance the sporty nature of the vehicle. They include Victory Red, Black, Light Tarnished Silver Metallic, Mystique Blue Flash Metallic and Sunburst Orange II Metallic.

Like the exterior, the interior is unique to the HHR SS, including SS-embroidered sport seats with suede-like UltraLux inserts, a specific gauge cluster, an A-pillar-mounted turbo boost gauge and a new shifter arrangement. Three interior color combinations are available: Ebony, Light Grey and Victory Red.

Chevrolet is one of America's best-known and best-selling automotive brands. With the largest dealer network in the United States, Chevy is the leader in full-size trucks and the leader in sales of vehicles priced $35,000 and above. Chevrolet delivers more-than-expected value in every vehicle category, offering cars and trucks priced from $9,995 to $83,175. Chevy delivers expressive design, spirited performance and great value with standard features usually found only on more expensive vehicles. More information on Chevrolet can be found at www.chevrolet.com.