As a frequent business traveler and a Hertz Gold Member I've had my share of Fusions, Mustangs and Tauruses (Taurii?). On a recent trip to the Bay Area I was surprised to see a utility-company-white 2006 Toyota RAV4 parked in space #312 at San Jose's Norman Y. Mineta International Airport. My company requires…
Mass Displacement: PistonHeads Drives the Weineck Cobra
What do you get when you stick an Englishman behind the wheel of a berzerker German interpretation of an iconic American adaptation of a British sports car? How do you handle an English country lane in roadster with 12.9 liters of V8 (780 ci) under the hood, a billet crankshaft the size of Martin Short and more torque …
Rental Car Reacharound: 2007 Dodge Caliber
On a recent trip to Reno, I was "upgraded" to a 2007 Dodge Caliber by the good folks at Enterprise. (Having reserved an economy-class car, I was surprised that they would call the Caliber something other than that.) Approaching the car, my wife actually said it was "cute." I was expecting her to hate it, given Dodge…
Test-Drive Video: Crikey, the Holden VE Commodore SS-V
Our mild obsession with / jealousy of Australians' access to muscle cars continues with a video from Drive.com.au of the Holden VE Commodore SS-V carving up the Holden test track in Victoria, with one of the company's engineers at the helm. Nine'een inch wheels, big V8, a lotta fun to drive. Roight!
Herefore Art Thou: First Drive of the Holden Commodore VE SS-V
What does a billion bucks buy you? If you're GM's Aussie Holden division, it's a kiss on the cheek from the 6.0-liter V8 gods and a rear-drive platform that will affect many more of the General's products. Not enough? It'll also buy into production the Commodore VE SS-V, one of those distinctly Australian muscle cars…
Hype Hypercar: Driving the Ascar KZ1
Our mate Nick Hall points out that anyone and his Uncle Enzo can build a light, fast supercar to challenge those at the top. Building a supercar that won't cause shaken-driver syndrome over anything rougher than 60 grit sandpaper is a bit more involved. That's why at the way top — the mid-six-figure and up, top —…
Defying the World Cup: Fifth Gear Drives the 2007 Audi TT
The UK's "Fifth Gear" defies the juggernaut known as the World Cup (a capital offense in many localities) to test drive Audi's new TT in Germany Austria. They found the TT's met a few of Audi's stated, er, goals, such as to make the new model more of a driver's car than the rather aenemic previous version had been,…
Dan Neil Likes the Acura RDX, He Really Likes It
Dan Neil's back. Right, he never left physically, but if we're being honest (and we pretty much are), we'd been detecting a slight leak from his characteristic wit of late. If his Muse had left the building, she was only out for lattes (or a Double-Double with extra avocado). Neil's prosiness is back, and it's trained …
Rental-Car Reacharound: Call of the Mild - The Chevy Impala
Approaching the rental lot at the Manchester, NH airport, I was struck by the sheer abundance of Chevy Impalas. Seems the erstwhile Ford Taurus has finally met its match — so much for GM kicking its rental habit. With keys in hand, I set off to sample Chevy's latest full-size offering, a silver LS model with a mere 70 …
Ach! Rapide!: AutoBild Tests Aston's New Four-Door
Our multilingualist friends at Eurocar Blog clued us to AutoBild's test drive of the upcoming Aston Martin Rapide. What do the Germans have to say about it? (phonetics ours):
