The Completest And Latest Car Review And Update
We learned today that State governments are increasingly turning their attentions to the issue of older cars that are still on the road. As new cars become increasingly more fuel efficient (fingers crossed), and pollute less, should an effort be made to remove older models from active use? Is the preservation of history too important to get rid of them all together? How many cars can we afford to posses as a nation? Shed some light, in comments.
Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Rolls-Royce, First Drive
Click the image above for a hi-res gallery of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe
We were lucky enough to ride in the concept car two years ago, when the now Phantom Coupe was called the 101EX. Our words that day were “You have to build this car.” And we’ve been waiting ever since the end of that sentence for this day to come. It was evident even as a concept that no other coupé — with two syllables, please — promised such a return to Jazz Age glamor, when a gentleman motored from Antibbes to Monaco in a Hooper bodied Phantom II to visit that Polish countess he’d had his eye on. So, when Rolls-Royce called with the invite to Goodwood to drive the new Phantom Coupe from England to Crozet, in the South of France, it would be our chance to see if the promise was delivered. Follow the jump to find out.
Gallery: Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe
All photos copyright Jonathan Ramsey / Weblogs Inc.
Continue reading First Drive: Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe
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Rick Larrick and Jack Soll from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business propose some fascinating insights into the conception of fuel economy metrics and what it means to consumers. While carpooling to work in Soll's Toyota Camry Hybrid, they observed varying fuel economy in relation to road conditions and terrain, and how the current system of rating a car's efficiency in miles per gallon may not be the most accurate or effective.
In this video, "The MPG Illusion", Larrick and Soll propose some interesting ideas and dispel misconceptions that consumers may have when looking at a car's fuel economy. In a study they conducted, they found that driving cars that got 20 miles per gallon over cars that got 10 mpg, actually saved more money and gas than driving a 50 mpg car over a 25 mpg car.
Check out the attached video and share your thoughts below, in comments.
Filed under: Coupes, Supercars, Nissan
Click above to view our massive gallery of the 2009 Nissan GT-R.
Back in the late sixties, automakers sometimes purposely under-reported the true horsepower that their solid-lifter, over-cammed and over-carburetor’d monster V8 engines actually delivered. More recently, some manufacturers have overestimated the real power of their vehicles, which has led some to distrust factory horsepower numbers. Owners of the uber-impressive Nissan GT-R have been wondering if they’ve been lied to regarding real horsepower figures too. But in this case they may actually be getting more than the 480 horses that they had bargained for. In fact, after considering that the coupe is capable of hitting 123 miles per hour in the quarter mile and the fact that it weighs roughly four-thousand pounds, the New York Times Wheels blog estimates that the GT-R really makes 550-580 horsepower at the crank.
While we are certain that the rabid horsepower wars and the debate over the GT-R’s true power as compared to its rivals will rage on, NYT’s estimates are actually pretty much in line with what Motor Trend got after putting the Nissan supercar on the dyno, and that’s a figure that really can’t be argued with. Thanks for the tip, Pete!
Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Nissan GT-R
[Source: NY Times Wheels]
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Filed under: Ford, Volvo, Renault
As Ford reportedly prepares to offload Volvo and dismantle the last remaining vestiges of its once proud Premier Automotive Group, reports indicate that discussions were, once again, held with Renault.
The French automaker was tipped as a potential buyer when Jaguar was on the table, expressing interest in acquiring a luxury brand (and evidently forgetting it had Infiniti up its sleeve). Along with Chinese automakers, Renault has reportedly been in on-again, off-again discussions with Ford over the sale of Volvo as well, though Ford insists that its Swedish subsidiary is not for sale.
[Source: Automotive News - subs. req’d]
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We take the 2-door JK off-road at Chrysler's "What's New for 2009" drive event.
Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchbacks, Volkswagen
Many actors loan out their famous faces to make some extra coin in foreign markets without over saturating their image here in the States. Big screen tough guy Sylvester Stallone is no different, and since he hasn’t had a good financially successful picture since Demolition Man, he was probably pretty excited when Volkswagen of Brazil came calling. Following the jump are two VW commercials for the VW Gol hatchback. The first one is a minute and a half long, and features a Rambo-style helicopter vs. sub-Polo Gol battle royale. And the second one involves a group of curious onlookers honing in on the Gol as it sits parked on the side of the road. Both ads feature a rough-looking Stallone showing up at the end, and even though he only utters a few words, a Portuguese-speaking dub is needed. Hillarious, and kind of sad at the same time. Thanks for the tip, Carlos!
[Source: Argentina Autoblog]
Continue reading VIDEO: Sylvester Stallone shilling for VW in Brazil
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Filed under: Motorsports, Sports/GTs, Euro, Supercars, Audi
Audi has announced that its superlative R8 sportscar will serve as the safety car for the ever-popular DTM touring car championship, having also served in the same capacity for the recently-concluded 24 Hours of Le Mans. Audi’s performance division quattro GmbH prepared a pair of R8s for the German racing series - with the second serving as a “racing taxi” - but noted that, “because the R8 possesses the genes of a perfect sports car”, little in the way of modification for duty was required.
The pair of R8 support vehicles made its debut at the Norisring Speed Weekend yesterday, where Mercedes-Benz beat out the new Audi A4 DTM with a 1-2 finish. Follow the jump for the press release and click on the thumbnails below for our high-resolution image gallery.
Gallery: Audi R8 DTM safety car
[Source: Audi Motorsport]
Continue reading Audi R8 debuts as DTM safety car
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