Ford has announced that thanks to a $550 million investment in their Michigan Assembly Plant
(which used to make gas guzzling SUVs, and now has a 0.5-megawatt solar
system and electric trucks that carry parts around), they will be able
to make 4 different versions of the Focus: the regular gasoline-powered
one, a gas-electric hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, and an all-electric version.
Ferrari tuner Novitec Rosso has applied its high-performance touch to the Italian sports car maker’s polarizing all-wheel-drive FF hatchback, gracing it with 692hp and 527 lb-ft of torque. In addition to the performance modifications, the tuning firm made changes to the FF’s exterior, dressing up the shooting brake with plenty of carbon fiber.
AMG has produced some memorable metal in the 45 years since the tuner began tinkering with Mercedes-Benz cars. The company, founded by Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher in June 1967, is now one of the most important arms in the Benz family. From a surprisingly successful race car to a wild family-mobile, here are our top 4.5 favorite cars created by Benz’s performance division.
General Motors is shuffling several executives across continents, in a bid to better unify the company’s design language across countries. GM Design says the goals of the move include improving the similarity of GM car design in different markets, strengthening executives’ connections with foreign brands, and sharing new ideas among designers.
It's all about the noise. How the mighty 1200-hp W-16 growls like a badly hungover grizzly bear when you punch the gas pedal. The psychotic calliope routine from the four turbochargers as you change gears, a cacophony of chuffs and puffs, whooshes and whistles right behind your head that sounds like you're about to be run over by the 20th Century Limited. And the white-noise roar of the wind over your head as you effortlessly blow through the 200-mph barrier, headed, like a ground-based Chuck Yeager, for the outer limits of road car performance. But there are subtle differences between the Super Sport and the Vitesse. Removing the roof changes the way the air flows around the car, and in a car with the Veyron's V-max, that demands you pay attention to aerodynamic details. The rear spoiler, for example, knows whether the detachable hardtop is on or off the car, and so changes its angle of attack to ensure it delivers the same level of downforce at high speeds (with the roof off, the Vitesse is limited to a mere 233 mph; roof on, it will hit 255 mph). The rear differential oil cooler has been moved from the right-hand side of the car to under the rear diffuser, and the spring rates have been softened slightly to compensate for the reduction in body rigidity.
You may call the 2013 Chevrolet Spark "unique" without upsetting defenders of the English language. "Unique" means "one of a kind," so "very unique" is poor wording, and describing an item as "unique" when there are other things like it is wrong. The Spark is Chevy's new A-segment mini. Three other cars sold in the U.S. compete in this size category, and none is like this Bowtie A-car. It certainly has none of the cartoonish character of the Fiat 500, and it's more than $3000 cheaper than the op-art design, two-door hatchback Scion iQ, a car surprisingly substandard in its driving dynamics, especially for a Toyota product. The only competitor that comes close to the Spark's $12,995 price is the Smart Fortwo, a two-door two-seater that serves as a strong argument for the commuter biking movement.
So this is what it's about. Until this 72-degree summer night in downtown L.A., after a full day of both intense and relaxed driving, I never fully understood the term "Grand Touring." Thank you, Mercedes, for your informative 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster, and its thorough, sonically charged, real-world lesson. Never have I piloted a drop-top with so much personality, so much vivaciousness. This car taught me a lot in one day. First, to be called a proper GT, a vehicle needs to have stunning looks. Quite obviously, the Roadster is attractive, especially with the top down, and might even be more eye-catching than its (barely) faster gullwinged brother. Designers penciled in the aluminum and magnesium ribbed roof with brilliant skill and proportions.
We have to admit that the automotive industry hasn’t evolved all that much in terms of exhaust sound. Nowadays, we’ve got titanium exhaust that save weight and valves that control the note, but that’s about it. However, the latest advances in technology are bringing a novelty to this, in the form of artificial sounds.
