may be small—smaller than even a Mini Cooper—but it’s a heavy car.
With a curb weight of about 2500 pounds, the 500 Abarth isn’t pound-heavy—it’s heritage-heavy. Just look at all the stylized scorpion badges. The 500 Abarth has eight of those badges on its exterior alone, if you count the wheel centers, and all of them remind you of one thing: a reputation for performance that’s as large as the 500 is small. Continue reading
BMW is slowing development of its so-called 0 Series, the front-drive sub-1 Series that’s a reaction to Audi’s A1. Word is BMW has come to realize it’s working on FWD from both sides. The i3 and i8 electrics will be FWD-based. The all-new 2013 1 Series will be FWD too, though only the hatchbacks sold outside North America. The next 1 Series coupe and convertible remain RWD. BMW already has, of course, a competitor for the Audi A1, called the Mini. Continue reading
WHEN IT COMES to filling the tire tracks of a storied model like the Defender, there’s no way to make everyone happy. External forces are at hand. It doesn’t meet U.S. safety requirements or stricter Euro Union C02 standards, it’ll hurt LR’s American Corporate Average Fuel Economy ratings, and SUV buyers continue to move away from hard-core off-roaders toward crossovers. If Land Rover wants to bring the Defender back to the U.S.— and seems it does—big changes must happen. Continue reading
WHILE THE AUTOMOTIVE world turns its attention to the new age E-Type, to be based on the C-X16 concept unveiled at last fall’s Frankfurt show, well-heeled Jaguar buyers recovering from various recent global financial crises can get their kicks with the brand’s most powerful drop-top ever.
Jaguar unveiled the convertible body XKR-S at the Los Angeles International Auto Show. Continue reading
LET’S PUT THIS fallacy to rest. The 2013 XTS is not Cadillac’s new flagship. Its base price will probably be close to that of the CTS, though with the new Cadillac User Experience (CUE) infotainment system and all the features of the topline Platinum trim level, it will top out a bit higher than a non-V CTS. It won’t come anywhere near the Ciel concept-inspired RWD S-Class-size sedan GM tentatively has under development. Continue reading
Explorer is o start, despite less than enthusiastic reviews. Meanwhile, the Flex, which shares the Explorer’s platform, founders in the marketplace, after four model years, though its boxy body provides a roomier, more useful interior and reviews have been mostly positive. Last year, the Ford Transit Connect outsold the Flex. Continue reading
TOYOTA rushed a cut-rate version of its current Prius into development when Honda announced a sub-$20,000 price for the Insight a couple years ago, but the loss-leader never came to production. Turns out the incremental costs involved with adding crank windows and the like to the Prius weren’t recoverable, and anyway, there was no need to worry. Insight sales provided no serious competition. Continue reading
Road Conditions Can Change in the Blink of an Eye. The Rogue’s Intuitive AWD Adapts 33 Times Faster Than That Blink.
If you remember that little hammer your doctor taps on your knee, you know human reaction time is pretty fast. In fact, we react in just a third of a second. But when you’re on the road, you might want something quicker than that. Like the intuitive AWD system in the Nissan Rogue that automatically adjusts to 1 changing road conditions 30 times faster I than you can blink. So you’ve got maximum grip when you need it and maximum efficiency when you don’t. No matter what the road is like. It’s innovation that adapts.
Stay on Course, No Matter the Road:
Grip is one of those things you don’t appreciate until you start to lose it. Like when you accelerate through a turn and the wheels spin at different rates, pulling you off course. To correct this, every hundredth of a second Rogue’s intuitive AWD system calculates changes in your wheel speed, steering angle and yaw rate. It then adapts and distributes power between the front and back wheels. All to help keep your car going where you want it to.
You Don’t Need All-Wheel Drive All the Time:
Sensing changing road conditions is great, when hey change. But what about when they don’t? ‘he Rogue knows when you’re just cruising down the highway. So its AWD system transfers 100% of the power to the front wheels to give you maximum efficiency in static conditions. But the second those conditions change, it’ll give you the grip you need, faster than you can tell someone about it…