The certainly didn’t need a refresh. With more than 10,000 units flying out of showrooms each month and a growing list of awards and accolades under its belt, the Korean automaker’s boxiest compact is a success story regardless of the angle.
Yet, after just two model years, has invested significantly in its little four-door. Emerging at the 2011 earlier this year was this considerably updated 2012 Soul sporting a freshened look, innovative new technology and two new powertrains.
These aren’t maneuvers from an automaker scrambling to play catch-up. Rather, these are the actions of a company not satisfied with being merely competitive in this important youthful segment. Kia doesn’t want to play. Kia wants to win.
Last week, we crossed the expansive Pacific Ocean to get an early drive of the vehicle that promises to leave many , and engineers flustered – scratching their scalps – wondering how to close the gap.
While you might find some buyers who’ve stretched their finances from the or they were going to buy to afford a , something tells us most Bentley drivers have got cash to burn. Burn on stuff like dinners at , plush leather , custom and solid gold sunglasses.
Wait, what was that? That’s right, solid gold sunglasses – just the thing every Bentley driver should have, especially when riding in the new . Fortunately, Bentley offers just such an item, in conjunction with its (rather unfortunately named) merchandising partner Estede.
The sunglasses won’t keep you from contracting herpes or some other VD, but they will set you back at least $11,000 for the 18-karat white or rose gold frames, or upwards of $45k for the platinum ones. They’re all hand-made in Germany with Zeiss polarized lenses, and feature Bentley-designed details and individual numbers.
Only 100 examples of each will be made in various precious metals, and have apparently been selling out in markets like China, Hong Kong and Russia. Details in the press release .
Ukraine has released the skinny on what some other parts of the world can expect to see from the . It’s impossible for us to say who, besides Russia, will be getting this Camry variant, but we do clearly spot a front fascia that’s a good bit different than what’s available here in the land of the free. The lower air intake boasts a slimmer profile for less of an open-jaw look. Likewise, the rear valance has gone under the knife with additional detailing that abandons the rounded profile of the American car.
The final package may be a bit more refined in style, though mechanically the two sedans remain more or less identical. Buyers in the old country can lay their hands on the same engine options as their American counterparts. Those include a 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder good for 18 horsepower and a 3.5-liter V6 with a snappy 268 horsepower. Toyota calls the vehicle a “business sedan,” and according to our Google translator, prices start at $33,050.
Sit in a new , and you’d be forgiven for not wanting to ever get out. The interiors outfitted by Crewe’s craftsmen are about as stately, plush and coddling as they come. But that is bound to change rather quickly if you succumb to the temptation of taking your meals in the back seat of your new . Fortunately, there’s a dining room that can give you the same ambience without the danger of spilling caviar all over the quilted leather and thick-pile carpeting.
At Mosimann’s – an exclusive private club in the Belgravia district of London that happens to be one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world – you’ll find seven private dining chambers, each dedicated to a specific luxury brand. Montblanc, Davidoff, watchmaker Parmigiani Fleurier and crystalmaker Lalique all have rooms at the club founded in 1989 by a Michelin-starred master chef in a converted church, but Bentley’s is the latest to have been refitted.
The room centers around a dining table crafted out of walnut burr veneers and surrounded by fourteen green leather dining chairs. The walls are lined with photographic art depicting classic Bentley automobiles and furnishings made from the same materials – from the woods and leathers to the door handles and knurled metal fixtures – as used in the company’s vehicles. There’s plenty more to delve into in the press release after the jump, but it’s best to let the stunning results speak for themselves in our high-resolution image gallery.
is facing a rash of complaints about automatic transmission failures in the company’s trucks and SUVs, according to The New York Times. Certain 2005-2010 , and models may have an issue with their radiators which could cause coolant to mix with the automatic transmission fluid. That’s not supposed to happen, and it could cause premature failure. Nissan, meanwhile, has extended its warranty coverage, but only on the radiators. Owners, meanwhile, say that they’ve been stuck with expensive transmission repair bills since the warranties run out at 80,000 miles.
The NYT reports that Nissan extended its radiator coverage in October of last year after the company discovered that internal oil cooler tubes may crack and leak. The Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association, meanwhile, says that the radiator coolant tanks themselves are rupturing, which then allows the fluid to mix with coolant before being pumped back into the transmission.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received upwards of 200 complaints on the issue, though it’s still unclear at this point whether or not the government agency is looking into the problem. For its part, Nissan has said that if the problem occurs on vehicles still within warranty, any transmission repairs would also be included in the coverage.
If you own a , you better keep one eye on it at all times. According to the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), the Escalade is still the apple of a car thief’s eye. The large luxury SUV is six times more likely to be plucked away by thieves than average. If you happen to have the truck-like EXT Escalade, you’re in even worse shape since 14 out of every 1,000 vehicles insured wind up with a theft claim.
On the flipside, if you’re the proud owner of an then you can rest easy. Car thieves aren’t hunting for your particular mid-size luxury sedan. Want to know what vehicles round out the top and bottom ten from the perspective of a car thief? Well, at least according to the HLDI. for the full press release.
Interestingly, General Motors decided to respond to the HLDI’s findings, and you can find the press release from Cadillac after the break as well.
recently revealed the ahead of its reveal, and the Internet is already buzzing with probable varieties of the stylish subcompact. designer Seljakboy (A.K.A. Ivan Martinović) turned in his own interpretation of a hotted-up version, the Up! GTI.
First impressions? We like what we’re looking at, and we hope Volkswagen takes a peek as well. The wheels, black and red trim and center-mounted exhaust outlets in the back all give the standard Up! a visual punch that would look perfect on a sporty version. Check it out for yourself in the gallery.
What happens to German cars when they’ve outlived their lifecycles? Some die off like any other model line, but others get turned into more budget-oriented vehicles with new badges.
Take the old , for example, whose platform was recycled into the and then, in turn, into the . Same with the old that was turned into the Chrysler Crossfire. often continues producing its old vehicles after they’ve been replaced, offering them in markets like South America and Canada. But when the was replaced, it was transformed into a new flagship model for Seat.
The Exeo has only been on the market for three years, but the B7-generation A4 on which it’s based (and by “based,” we mean a few fresh body panels and some new badges) dates back to 2004. That’s seven years ago, and that makes the Exeo a dated product. So Seat’s toiled to keep it fresh by launching this facelifted model. But though you might think they’d have made it look less obviously like an Audi, to our eyes it looks like they’ve done precisely the opposite.
Improvements center around a revised front end with bi-xenon headlights and available LED daytime running lights, a touched-up interior and updated powertrain. That last bit includes upgrades to the 2.0-liter common-rail TDI, now mated to a new CVT with stepped changes.
The revised Exeo sedan and wagon will be unveiled in full at the upcoming , but while it won’t be coming to the States, you can read about it now in the press release after the jump and check it out in the high-res image gallery.
Libyan leader (ex-leader?) Muammar Qaddafi apparently had some unusual items in his personal collection. Rebel forces stormed his compound this week, and we now know he had , and, oddly, a doorless, all-electric (similar to the model shown above).
According to (), Qaddafi had “many” electric cars, and the Fiat 500 was converted to battery power in 2009 by of Milan, Italy. Aside from the powertrain swap – giving the 500 a 34 kW electric motor with two “mammoth” batteries that offer a range of 260 km (160 miles) – the “mysterious client” who ordered the car demanded:
“Interior cream with green trim, sandy-colored soft top, green and gold bodywork.… on the left upright, a back-lit image of the Lion of the Desert, on the A-pillar on the right, a circle with the symbolic representation of the Libyan society. On the nose, instead of the Fiat brand, a logo with the black silhouette of Africa, with Libya highlighted in green [Note: this translation has been slightly edited].
Sounds intense, so it must have given the anti-Qaddafi forces quite a thrill to drag the 100,000-euro custom ($144,000 USD) through the streets as a spoil of war. Corriere Della Sera hints that this particular car might live a nice second life – once it’s repainted. Check out pics of the actual car being pushed through Libyan streets at the link below.
When rolls in to next month for the first auto show of the season, it will have the largest display the company has ever mounted at a car show. And among them will be a roadgoing version of the V12 Zagato that will see production.
Well, almost, but not quite. Aston will actually be displaying two examples of the coachbuilt special in Frankfurt, which are, as best we can tell, the only two it’s built to date. They’re called Zig and Zag, and they’re the two vehicles it raced at the Nürburgring to show what they were made of. Zig was built specifically to race and will be displayed in its full competition trim. Zag is the vehicle that wowed the crowds and the judges at Villa d’Este and was then converted to full race spec as well.
That second vehicle will now be converted back – in appearance, at least – to roadgoing trim to give us a glimpse at what the half-million-dollar coachbuilt supercar will look like when it reaches customers’ garages. It’ll also be the first time the car is shown at a major auto show, although we recently .
For a closer look at what to expect of the roadgoing version, take a gander at the pair of images released and the press release after the jump.
to present roadgoing production V12 Zagato in Frankfurt
Now that we’ve seen the updated and , not to mention the already-on-fire and , it’s time for the rest of the mid-size sedan players to freshen up their offerings. looks to follow suit later this year with the all-new , which our spy photographers recently caught testing with a very revealing camouflage treatment.
Up front, the new headlights and grille take a swoopier shape, as do the foglights below. (Squint, and you may see a bit of in that front end – just sayin’.) Out back, the taillights get a similar dose of rakishness, probably akin to what we’ve been seeing on Nissan’s latest designs – the , and .
Reports have indicated that Nissan will offer a new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine in the Altima, and if so, it’s unclear whether or not the older, 2.5-liter naturally aspirated four will stick around. Expect the 3.5-liter V6 to still be the range-topping powerplant, with six-speed transmissions (manual and CVT) to be offered throughout the range.
If you had to pick which model in the lineup packed in the most new features, which would you choose? The ? The ? You might want to try the new B-Class on for size, because according to Daimler, its newest model encompasses the most new developments ever launched on a single vehicle.
For starters, the premium compact minivan/hatchback debuts a new front-drive platform for Mercedes, which will also go on to underpin a new A-Class and a whole raft of derivatives as well. It also features a new family of four-cylinder engines (both direct-injection gasoline versions and common-rail diesels) and new six speed manual and seven-speed dual-clutch transmissions with integrated stop/start and regenerative braking systems. The new B-Class also includes a staggering array of available safety systems, including Adaptive Headlamp Assist, Blind Spot Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Attention Assist, Speed Limit Assist and Active Parking Assist, Brake and Hill Hold functions, Linguatronic and Distronic Plus.
The new B also offers more space for both passenger and cargo over the model it replaces, while returning improved aerodynamics which, together with the new powertrain family, delivers better fuel economy and emissions figures. The one-box design takes its cues from recent Benz concept cars and looks significantly more sculpted and dynamic than the outgoing model, which was rather conservative in its styling in the first place and has since grown long in the tooth.
Mercedes will officially pull the veil of the new B-Class at the next month before European buyers can begin taking delivery in November. The question is whether this second-generation model will make it to American showrooms, where its predecessor did not. Canadian buyers have had the outgoing model at their disposal, but whether this heralds the arrival of front-drive Mercedes in the U.S. market () is a matter we’ll be monitoring closely. In the meantime, you can dive into the full details in the extensive press release after the jump and the high-res images in our mega gallery for more.
B-Class revealed ahead of Frankfurt… but is it coming here?
We’re not exactly sure when it happened, but pickup trucks have long since elevated themselves beyond mere tools of the trade. Once bare-bones, utilitarian hardware with more capability than comfort, the truck has evolved into a status symbol. Move out of any urban center and into the surrounding sprawl, and lifted, diesel-chugging, three-quarter-ton pickups are fairly commonplace nowadays. And we’re not just talking about rides parked outside work sites, mind you. These days, you’re every bit as likely to see them parked outside the local Panera.
As you might expect, automakers are happily feeding the fire, offering a range of trucks that few will use to farm or do backbreaking labor, despite monikers that suggest otherwise. Names like King Ranch and Laramie have fed buyers a line of very profitable trucks loaded with leather-swaddled cabins and every imaginable creature comfort. General Motors is no stranger to this approach, as its GMC Denali line now extends to its monster-sized pickups. We slid behind the wheel of the to see just how the big gilded beast fits into America’s pickup truck landscape.
Though several automakers have celebrated their centenary recently, most haven’t been around that long. has, though, and not only that, it’s been in the UK for 100 years, too. The Blue Oval has set to staging a series of celebrations to mark the occasion, culminating in the Ford Centenary Tour traversing the British Isles.
The celebratory road trip started in London last week and will end on September 18 at the Goodwood Revival, but on its way, it swung through Glasgow, Scotland, where Ford commissioned a group of artists to repaint the in their own style.
The six graffiti artists affiliated with the Recoat Gallery installed themselves in downtown Glasgow and repainted the car in front of a gathering crowd. In case you missed it, you can check it out in our own gallery and read about the artists in the press release .
It looks like and Activision Publishing are , placing battlefield-ready Wranglers in the Call of Dutyvideogame series and selling a real-life version to gamers who wish to shuttle themselves to and fro in rough-and-tumble off-road-ready opulence.
For those unaware, there’s a new version of the video game series heading to store shelves in short order, and Jeep is wasting no time showing its own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to the public.
Interestingly, Jeep decided to bring out its COD 3 Wrangler for the first time at the , sporting all manner of specific gaming paraphernalia; such as new front and rear bumpers (the rear one holds water), mesh reliefs in the hood, flat black wheels with large, blocky tires and large metal emblems.
Expect this latest COD-infused Wrangler to hit the market in the fall, timed to coincide with the release of the affiliated video game. In the meantime, check out some live shots in our image gallery, courtesy of Sidequesting.com.
Get stranded in the waters off a beach in Portugal, and this is what you’ll hope to see pulling up on the shore: the Volkswagen Amarok.
In one of its first applications as an emergency vehicle, the Portugese National Institute for Search and Rescue has ordered a fleet of 14 of VW’s new pickups for its lifeguards to rescue wayward surfers and swimmers.
The vehicles have been outfitted with emergency lights, surfboard racks and special livery derived from the design of the first Volkswagen SAR concept that previewed the Amarok at the commercial vehicle show in Hanover back in 2008.
You can check out the press release after the jump and the pair of high-resolution images in the gallery for a closer look, just don’t expect any slow-motion running shots of Pamela Anderson or David Hasselhoff in their swimsuits.
Formula One drivers aren’t born, they’re made. Sure, a select few enter life with otherworldly reflexes, a sixth sense for speed and the financial backing needed to make it to the top. But there’s a whole mess of steps they need to take before they can get there. And for many – take Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica as a couple of examples – one of those steps is the World Series by Renault. Now, after a long period of development, series organizers have released the new Formula Renault 3.5 that will serve as the training wheels for the next generation of grand prix pilots.
The new FR3.5 is built around a chassis developed with Dallara and packs a 530-horsepower V8 engine furnished by Zytek. Compared with the model it replaces, the latest single-seater is composed of 70 percent new parts, packs 50 more horsepower and is 15 kilos (33 pounds) lighter. As a result, testing showed it to be 2.6 seconds quicker around Spain’s Aragon circuit in Spain than the current model.
It also packs the latest carbon brakes, specially developed Michelin slicks and even a DRS variable rear wing like the one currently used in F1, all there to help aspiring drivers gain their footing on the run up to the big leagues. 26 new cars will be delivered to eager teams in January ahead of the first test session of the WSR season in March. While they’re waiting, you can scope it out right now in our high-res image gallery and the press release after the jump.
A new means you can expect an impending onslaught of new varietals of the iconic sports car. One such expectation is a 911 Turbo Cabriolet, and, true to form, our spy photographers captured a camo-clad example out in the wild.
Since , you should be able to picture a naked Turbo version pretty easily. A large intake is clearly visible, as is the rear spoiler, but the rest should be relatively similar to the non-Turbo car.
Check it out for yourself in our attached image gallery.
had a real hit on its hands (at least initially) when it launched the Neon in 1994. And though it was plagued by early quality issues, it actually had a waiting list to buy one when it first came out. The , however, has been less of a market success.
In replacing the ubiquitous Neon in 2006, went with a pseudo-SUV shape to create a more rugged aesthetic on the Caliber. Quality, unfortunately, wasn’t much better, and the slushy CVT and interior were widely panned – attributes which, as we found in our , were enough to keep the Caliber from being a real success.
Now, five years after its launch, a new report from Allpar says that the Pentastar’s econo-ute won’t see another new year. The model, according to reports, will be phased out by the end of November. Its replacement is widely expected to come from underpinnings, but whether that will come in time for the Caliber’s discontinuation – or for that matter, beat its nagging deficiencies – remains to be seen.
If we had to put a list together of cars that we’re dying to drive, the would be well within the top ten. Mind you, ours would be a big list, too. Apparently we’ll need to recalibrate our roster a bit, because MB may just have a more vicious version waiting to assault our senses.
Our spy photographers have just trained their lenses on a particularly angry-looking C63 Coupe Black Series wearing some bolt-on upgrades. A fixed rear wing is paired with a carbon fiber front splitter, front canards and side skirts. For the moment, we’re going to assume that the engine still pumps out 510 horsepower, but the more aggressive features point to this being a track-ready version of the German super coupe. Check it out from all angles in our high-res gallery.
