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First Look: 2010 Land Rover Range Rover
Land Rover is unveiling three models for the New York Auto show, the first of which being the 2010 Range Rover. It features two available engines: a 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 engine that puts down 510 horsepower and 461 pound feet of torque, and a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V-8 capable of 375 horsepower and 375 pound feet.
Driven: 2009 Saleen Dark Horse
For one reason or another, the Winding Road and NextAutos fleet has been graced with a whole lot of Mustangs over the past few months. Whether it be a simple GT, a stock Shelby, or a tuned up Roush, we’ve driven them all. However, nothing seems to compare to our latest Mustang iteration: the Saleen Dark Horse. This car boasts 620 horsepower, 600 pound-feet of torque, and a sub-four-second zero-to-sixty time, making it the baddest Mustang we’ve driven to date. Still, with a limited production run of only twenty-five cars, the Dark Horse will only be experienced by a select few, and we’re happy to have been part of that lucky group.
Driven: 2009 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Supercharged
The Range Rover Sport is a vehicle that can go anywhere, do anything, and look trendy in the process. No, it’s not going to win any awards in within the Green crowd, but for the consumers who actually pay out for one of these (especially in Supercharged trim), it won’t matter. In our week with the Range Rover Sport, we found it to have more than ample performance, relatively good handling (for an SUV), and a pretty luxurious interior.
Driven: 2009 Mazda RX-8 GT
The Mazda RX-8 continues to have us puzzled as to why more of these aren’t on the road. No, the rotary engine isn’t four-season friendly, and neither is the car’s rear-wheel-drive, but when the weather is right, the RX-8 really shines. For 2009, a re-worked exterior sports a slightly more aggressive fascia, and while our Grand Touring model doesn’t have all of the beefy visual add-ons found on the R3 (a new model for ’09), we still had a lot of fun throwing this Mazda into bends and revving the twin-rotor engine way up past 8000 rpm.
Driven: 2009 Hummer H3
The Hummer H3 is an interesting vehicle to drive in light of our nation’s fuel crisis. Off-road enthusiasts and Hummer loyalists appreciate the H3’s off-road capability and style, but the H3 is becoming tougher and tougher to see to new consumers and the automotive press alike. Our test car’s sticker price is just a notch below the $40,000 mark, and while that might seem like a bargain to some, we’d search elsewhere for our SUV needs.
Driven: 2009 Ford Flex Limited AWD
The new Ford Flex arrives into our market at a time when consumers are downsizing from their large SUVs but still need room for the spouse, kids, dogs, etc. The retro-wagon styling of the Flex may steer some customers away, but we rather liked the styling of our Limited AWD test car. Inside, plush materials and high-tech gadgets make this family-hauler a real win. Overall, the Flex proved to be a big step forward for the Ford Motor Company and we hope their future products go in this direction, as well.
Driven: 2007 Bosch BMW 535d
While it may be a year old, the diesel BMW 5-series was never sold in America, but it’s still something we wish we could have the option to shop for in this market. Our friends at Bosch imported a Euro-spec 535d for us to test, featuring a 3.0-liter diesel inline-six capable of producing 286 horsepower and a whopping 428 pound-feet of torque. Our test car also adorned BMW’s M Sport appearance package, available on the European 5-series. This, combined with tinted rear windows and a badge-less rear end made this 5-series our stealth bomber of choice for cruising.
Driven: 2008 Mini Cooper D
We at Winding Road and NextAutos are always eager to test the diesel offerings from global manufacturers and we were grinning with excitement when the folks at Bosch offered us the keys to a Mini Cooper with a 1.6-liter diesel engine. According to Bosch, this Mini will achieve fuel economy numbers in upwards of 50 miles per gallon, which will shame many hybrid offerings currently sold in the States.
Winding Road’s Guide To Winter Driving
Despite the April Issue indication you may have noticed on the cover of this month’s Winding Road (check out our full new issue at www.magazine.WindingRoad.com), it’s actually just around the middle of the long Michigan winter as we write this. That’s bad news for anyone who values anything in the way of a short sleeve or a naturally occurring tan, but it’s surprisingly good news for us driving enthusiasts.
We lean towards that group of people that embrace four full seasons in all of their glory, and love to drive through each of them. Which is why we’ve been paying special attention this year to the motive joys that can be had when our world is white. Be it driving a sports car or a convertible, with a new set of snows or in a frigid testing environment, we’re into winter driving. Find out why.
Just About Right: 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 796
The New Ducati Hypermotard 796 might not be the fastest, biggest, or sharpest bike that money can buy, but it strikes a distinctly adult balance that should tempt occasional riders.
