What a difference a transmission makes. Americans overwhelmingly prefer automatics, by a ratio of more than nine to one over manuals. These days there are a variety of choices: the familiar automatic with four, five, six, seven and even eight speeds; the continuously-variable, which uses belts and pulleys—or, in some cases, gears—to seamlessly transfer engine power to the wheels, and several types of automated twin-clutch or sequential gearboxes that operate …
2012 Fiat Abarth Review: Advertising can be coersive, exaggerated, informative, and meaningful, sometimes just annoying, other times fun. Then there are those special cases, where an ad can be so memorable it could only be improved if you could bring it to real life. Fiat has pulled off one of those special ads, and it started with the Super Bowl and carried through to the introduction of the 2013 Fiat …
Mitsubishi’s Lancer Evolution is far from practical, but it’s a riot to drive. The tested Evo GSR is a handsome, crisply-styled sports sedan that is pricey, almost too powerful for its own good and yet, I loved driving it. It’s based on Mitsubishi’s tame entry-level Lancer, which starts at $15,695 in DE trim. But Evo is miles from being an entry-level machine. The racecar-like turbo-equipped Evo starts at $34,495 and …
Tags : AWD | MuscleCars | SportsCar | |
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 …
Tags : MuscleCars | SportsCar | |
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 …
Tags : Coupe | MuscleCars | SportsCar | |
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 …
Tags : MuscleCars | SportsCar | |
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 …
Tags : Convertible | Coupe | Luxury | SportsCar | |
In the “Happy Days” 1950s, a mild debate broke out over the definition of a sports car. It happened as the original two-seat Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Thunderbird made their debuts. After all was said and done, the consensus was that the Thunderbird, lacking true sports car attributes, was a “personal” car, while the Corvette, which also was bereft of most of those distinctions, was a sports car. The two-seat …
