Search results for: porsche
Throw Down: Mazda RX-8 R3 Stands All
We were recently lucky enough to have Mazda’s RX-8 R3 in the Winding Road office for a week. Truly touched by the car’s utter brilliance for a relatively small sum of money, Editorial Director Tom Martin declared that he could justify the Mazda’s abilities versus any sporting car on sale today.
Blog: Is The Jaguar XJ A Panamera Beater?
Well, folks, after a day spent driving the new XJL and the Panamera back to back, I’m here to tell you that the luxury sedan market has new players intent on upsetting the proverbial apple cart. As Seyth indicated in his coverage of the new XJ, Jaguar is back in a big way. As a measure of just how far Jaguar has progressed, my recent time in the XJL suggests that Porsche, more than BMW or Mercedes, is the required comparison. Lexus really doesn’t merit mention in this company. How times change.
Quick Drive: 2010 Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie 4×4
Let’s not mince words. Dodge’s Ram 2500 Laramie 4×4 is not one of those kinder, gentler pickup trucks you’ve read about that claim to possess certain car-like virtues. No sir, this is a big, burly, muscular, manly truck that looks down (quite literally) upon most of the vehicles with which it shares the road.
Winding Road Issue 59 Is Now Available!
In this issue of Winding Road, we put the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG up against the Jaguar XFR for some serious driving. Find out who came out on top.
Blog: What Is The Lotus Evora?
As I stepped into the Lotus Evora, it occurred to me, as it might to you, that I knew the car had received its share of plaudits, but I wasn’t exactly sure what character was really being delivered. “Well”, thought I, “let’s see.”
Third Look: 2010 Nissan Altima 3.5 SR
In spirit, this Altima stuck me as a rather “American” car. Sure, the final assembly point is Smyrna, Tennessee, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean that the overall Gestalt of the car struck me as consistent with what the former Big Three have done well over the years.
Race Preview: 2010 24 Hours Of Le Mans
While the rest of the world may have their eyes on South Africa this weekend, if you are a race fan, your bottom should be firmly planted in front of the television for the greatest endurance race of them all. This weekend marks the 78th running of the 24 Hours Of Le Mans.
Ford Kills Mercury, Diverts Resources To Lincoln
Ford has announced the discontinuation of its Mercury brand, in the midst of financial reshuffling that will see an increase in funding and new models for its Lincoln brand. Mercury, which, last year, only made up 0.8 percent of Ford’s 16 percent market share will end production in the fourth quarter of this year.
First Look: 2011 BMW 5-Series GT xDrive
Designed to compete with the likes of the Porsche Panamera and Mercedes-Benz CLS, the BMW 5-Series GT is a bit of an oddity. Not swoopy, low to the ground, or very sporty looking, the 5GT occupies a niche within a niche. Being a 5-Series though, it should come as no surprise that it is a pretty good drive.
Quick Drive: 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster Touring Sport
Every time I finished a driving session in our test 370Z Roadster I had the thought “this is really a fun car to drive”. With the exception of the base coupe, I’ve driven all the variants of this new generation of the Z, and the Roadster now climbs to the top rung of the ladder alongside the Nismo version.
Driven: 2010 BMW 135i Coupe
In 2008 the boys from Munich brought the 1-Series over from Europe, and it looked like the prayers of many enthusiasts had been answered. Once again, there was a small, fast, maneuverable BMW available, and we get a week to test it out.
2010 World Car Of The Year Winners: It’s A Volkswagen World
On April 1st at the New York International Auto Show, the sixth annual World Car Awards were handed out and the Volkswagen Group made out handsomely.
Winding Road Issue 56 Is Now Available!
In this issue of Winding Road, we drive the 2011 Aston Martin Rapide, and find out why a four-door could be a big hit for the prestigious brand. Plus, this newest issue is full of other great stuff, including 2011 Infiniti M56 S, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR Touring vs. Audi S4, 2010 Porsche GT3 RS, and much more.
Driven (In The Freakin’ Snow And Ice!): 2010 Lotus Evora
Proof that the new mid-engine V-6 Lotus can do it all in good hands.
Driven: 2011 Aston Martin Rapide
Few companies are as enthroned in their heritage and trying to diversify as is Aston Martin. The (count ‘em) four-door Rapide is finally here, and it could be a hit.
Secondhand Gems: $17K Front-Drive Heroes
Front-wheel drive gets a bad rap. Not every performance machine on the planet needs a buffet of horsepower and torque driving the rear wheels. And yeah, torque steer can sometimes be a handful, but then again, reining in a Corvette ZR1 on an aggressive launch isn’t exactly a simple case of point and shoot. Like it or not, plenty of really great cars tend to be overlooked just because they’re labeled as wrong-wheel drive, and folks, that’s just a shame.
Driven: 2011 Audi A8 4.2 FSI
So, the battle is on. This new A8 needs to sell 4,500 units per year in our country to put a smile back on the faces of company management in Ingolstadt. Can she hack it?
Rally America Sno-Drift 2010—24 Years of Opposite-Lock Excitement
Just a few hours north of the Winding Road garage, a somewhat unorthodox racing event has been occurring since 1973. Unorthodox, that is, for racing enthusiast in the United States. Rally racing is a huge deal in just about every other part of the world, though it never really caught on in the States until a YouTube Gymkhana hero and a former motocrosser with a penchant for backflipping just about everything got involved. Going into 2010, more than a few eyes are now watching the Rally America series with keen interest, and Winding Road will be there for the kickoff event of the season—Sno-Drift 2010.
Driven: Commuter Cars Tango T600
This year’s North American International Auto Show featured a street sign-labeled area titled Electric Avenue. The cars featured there were not produced by big, well-known automakers, but rather startup electric car companies with a vision of cleaner future transportation. Underneath the main floor in the large basement of Cobo hall, there was a small track offering drivers the chance to test drive some of the electric cars. Of the cars offered were the CT&T eZonem Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the Think City, and by far the darling of the test fleet, the Commuter Cars Tango.
Driven: 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Supercharged
Perhaps the fat years for vehicles like the supercharged version of the Range Rover Sport have come to an end (or have nearly come there). Yes, Land Rover is still certainly more than willing to sell you one of its towering, racecar-fast SUVs, and there are probably more than a handful of well-off customers that are willing to buy. But the underlying era that gave birth to this category of super-fast SUVs has long since passed in the eyes of most who follow such things—dealt a dual deathblow by the fuel price spike of 2008 and the concurrent economic collapse. There’s something about losing your job and your life savings that makes you not want to burn four-dollar 97 octane at a rate of one gallon per 12 miles (or worse).
Driven: 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport
How many Elons do you have on your Rolodex or Blackberry, hmm? Elon Musk, chairman, product architect, and CEO of Tesla Motors is the only Elon we know. His name just gets cooler and rarer by adding the Musk.
