2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Review: A lot of people give nicknames to their favorite cars. “Old Betsy” has given way to a lot of catchier, more contemporary and more personalized monickers. This one could be “Silver Bullet,” or maybe “Blue Streak.” It also could be called outrageous, because in this fuel-economy-conscious era its primary objective is to be mind-boggling fast, every time you touch the throttle, in any of …
2013 Ford Mustang Review: Ford succeeds on looks, speed and ride for 2013 model. Ford has hit a series of home runs with its Mustang lineup, and the newly freshened 2013 Ford Mustang, powered by a stout V-6, is the latest round-tripper. Ford succeeds on looks, speed, handling and ride. My test car was a light silver Premium model, a step up from the base Mustang. Both feature the same …
The 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8 clearly is a muscle car. This beast looks the part with sculpted metal – bulging fenders and hood with deep troughs, scooped out door panels and a spoiler on the trunk. But it’s the power the SRT8 packs under the hood that will stress your tendons. The Charger is powered by a 6.4-liter HEMI V8 with 470 horsepower and similar torque rating. Dodge lists the …
Everything about the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 feels stiff, like a strong, tightly wound spring: steering, suspension, shift linkage, throttle, clutch, brakes and even the optional racing seats. This is serious iron, as American as pizza and the president. No other nation builds a car like this, with its grumbling V8 engine, solid rear axle, close-ratio shifter and a suspension system snubbed to within inches of farm-wagon ride quality. …
The dog days of late summer can wear you down with the last blast of heat and humidity, but there are some automotive remedies. The worst dog days are not at all depressing if experienced from behind the wheel of a convertible. There are a growing list of drop-tops, and if you want to be sure no dogs are allowed, consider as an assortment that includes a BMW, such as …
A group of Dodge and Chrysler engineers who mostly loved high-performance cars worked behind the scenes to try to bolster some sporty vehicles with sizzling performance. In 2002, that group gained respectability with the title of SRT, standing for the models modified up to Street and Racing Technology standards — following up in various degrees from the 2003 Dodge Viper sports car. With Fiat only a year into taking ownership …
What do you say about a two-seat car that costs more than $73,000, does not have air conditioning, an adjustable driver’s seatback or even a proper inside door handle? If you’re any kind of a car nut, you say it’s wonderful. It’s the Porsche Cayman R, the all-out near-racing version of the German manufacturer’s mid-engine sports coupe. It’s a stripper, but not in the usual sense of a car that …
There was a little deja vu when the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 first appeared for a one-lap test drive. We were gathered at the spring Midwest Auto Media Association (MAMA) Rally at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., and among the gathered cars for media hot laps was a glistening white Mustang Boss 302. It was particularly glistening because a torrential downpour hammered the area all day. But it didn’t …
