Hennessey Performance

April 10th, 2010

Making fast cars faster
By Nauman Farooq

Hennessey Performance has been around for awhile now. They first made headlines when they started tuning the Dodge Viper back in the early 1990’s. They had turned a fast car into an absurdly fast car.

In recent years they have tuned everything from Chevrolet Corvette’s to the Ford F-150 Raptor truck. But these masters of speed weren’t content, and they recently began work on a project that would require more than just adding some turbos and superchargers.

The result is the Hennessey Venom GT, a fully modified version of the Lotus Elise. While it shares some basic structure to the Elise, the Venom GT is much bigger and packs a 1000 hp punch. Read the rest of this entry »

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Acura TSX Sport Wagon

April 7th, 2010

New wagons dominate 2010 NYIAS
By Nauman Farooq

Generally, station wagons have not been very successful in North America. People on this continent have much preferred to buy an SUV or a cross-over rather than a wagon.

So it has certainly come as a big surprise to see all the new wagon models recently going on sale. Honda just launched the Accord Crosstour a few months back, and Subaru came out with another new Outback wagon.

More surprisingly, Cadillac recently launched the CTS Sport Wagon (now also available in “V” trim); Kia has just announced production of their Forte wagon, and now onto the latest addition to this list, the Acura TSX Sport Wagon. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chevrolet Cruze Eco

April 5th, 2010

A green car with active aerodynamics
By Nauman Farooq

Green is the key word in the auto industry these days. Not only are consumers more sympathetic towards climate change and the effect cars have on our environment, with the price of gasoline going up every year, they don’t mind saving a little at every fill up.

So far the solutions towards getting better fuel economy have been restricted to diesel and hybrid powertrains, but Chevrolet has now come up with a rather ingenious, simple and cost effective method to achieve incredible fuel economy.

Chevrolet just showed their latest system at the 2010 New York International Auto Show, in their latest economy car, the Cruze Eco. Read the rest of this entry »

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2011 Mercedes-Benz R-class

April 4th, 2010

New look for an aging model
By Nauman Farooq

Facelifts are big in Hollywood. Many in the industry believe that a well executed nip and tuck can prolong ones career by a few years. Nowadays, even car companies are going that route.

Rather than come up with an all-new vehicle, car companies are doing mild styling tweaks to keep their aging models looking fresh. These facelifts are becoming more and more popular since most car companies have been a bit strapped for cash and this is an easy way to get a few more years out of an old product.

Mercedes-Benz is the latest company to jump on the facelift train with their 2011 R-class.

The R-class originally was launched back in 2006, and is as close to a luxury minivan as you can get. While it offered great practicality and impressive performance, its sales have been anything but stellar. Read the rest of this entry »

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2011 Kia Optima

April 4th, 2010

New mid-size sedan is big on style
By Nauman Farooq

The Kia Optima (Magentis as it’s called in Canada) has been around for 10 years now, and is probably one of the most overlooked cars in its segment of mid-sized sedans.

While it has always been a good, reliable car, due to its boring exterior design and cheap plastic interior, it is one of those cars people don’t notice much.

They will however notice the one though. Unveiled last week at the 2010 New York International Auto Show, this new Optima might just get enough attention to cause people to walk into lamp poles.

While style is a very personal choice, this new Optima will undoubtedly get praise from everyone. Read the rest of this entry »

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2011 Infiniti QX56

April 4th, 2010

Infiniti launches new flagship SUV
By Nauman Farooq

In the Middle-East, one of the most popular SUV’s around is the Nissan Patrol. Its ruggedness and off-road capabilities has made it a favorite among those who like to play in areas where roads don’t exist.

In North America we sadly don’t get the Patrol, but now we will be getting something that is almost its twin brother. Meet the 2011 Infiniti QX56, a vehicle that shares quite a few parts with the new Patrol.

However, while the Patrol is targeted as an extreme off-roader with luxury bits thrown in as well, the new QX56 is targeted towards the premium SUV buyer, whose off-roading adventures are usually limited to parking on the green at the golf course. Read the rest of this entry »

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Geneva: Production models coming this way

March 11th, 2010

Hot and interesting, all-new or fully redesigned

By Marc Lachapelle

The Geneva auto show was again replete with gorgeous European cars that will sadly not cross the Atlantic but thankfully also several that will, in addition to new entries from Asian brands making their world début at Palexpo.

The Audi RS5 rolled in, powered by a 450-hp, direct-injected version of the excellent 4.2-litre V8 that is bound to find its way under the glass rear hatch of the R8, along with its 7-speed dual automated clutch gearbox. No date set for RS5’s arrival on this continent, though. As well, the A1 compact hatch was shown in Geneva with a hybrid powertrain but is unfortunately not yet ready for prime time in North America. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid concept

March 9th, 2010

Extended-range sports car at the electronic vanguard
By Marc Lachapelle

Lotus is back in F1 this year and Colin Chapman’s philosophy lives on in the cars designed by Group Lotus, owned by Malaysian carmaker Proton. In Geneva, Lotus Engineering unveiled the Evora 414E Hybrid, a concept that embodies its core principles: lightweight construction, efficiency, leading-edge electronics and exceptional dynamics.

Based on the new 2+2 sports car that will be coming to North America this year, the Evora 414E Hybrid is named for the 414 horsepower (in PS, the German measure) produced by its innovative plug-in and extended-range hybrid powertrain. This equates to 408 SAE horsepower and Lotus says its hybrid sports car can sprint to 100 km/h in about 4 seconds. About as quick as a supercar or the all-electric Tesla roadster, largely built at Lotus cars, by the way.

Each of the 414E Hybrid’s rear wheels is driven by an electric motor that produces 204 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. By modulating the output to each wheel individually Lotus uses ‘torque-vectoring’ to define the car’s handling. The system should finely control understeer and oversteer, prevent slides as would a conventional yaw control system and enhance high-speed stability. Agility and turn-in are also improved beyond steering input by accelerating the outside driven wheel a touch more. Read the rest of this entry »

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Aston Martin Cygnet

March 8th, 2010

By Nauman Farooq

The name Aston Martin holds lots of street cred. Just utter its name to anyone and immediately they imagine a sleek and sexy super sports car that James Bond goes to work in.

You’d have to imagine really hard to picture agent 007 in their latest offering though. It’s called the Cygnet, and it’s their first ever attempt at a city car.

Aston Martin believes the Cygnet is a “tailor-made solution designed for the heart of the city.” The whole idea is, that since most major city centers are clogged with traffic, hence highly unsuitable for a supercar like their flagship DBS, you can still have a city car that has most of the style and luxury of an exotic car, but in a much smaller package. Read the rest of this entry »

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Smart trip north to Inuvik 2010

March 8th, 2010

Tiny ForTwo a novelty turned protector after crossing Arctic Circle in mid-winter
By Michael Bettencourt

Inuvik, NWT – The ‘Inuvik or bust’ message scrawled into the slush-covered rear of our tiny Smart Fortwo somewhere north of Whitehorse was not meant to be taken literally. But in the midst of a 2,610 km trek to Inuvik, the furthest north one can drive in Canada and likely North America year round, it seemed like only one would prevent the other.

And it almost did.

But first, think of a checklist of things you’d want in a vehicle for a long road trip up north in the middle of winter: all-wheel drive or 4×4 traction to help get through deep snow, high ground clearance (ditto), and plenty of cargo room for extra food, emergency supplies, and warm weather gear would all be high on the list. Our two-seat Smart, a city commuter more used to battling parking police than high polar winds, had none of these. Read the rest of this entry »

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