BMW's M4 is an open-air thrill ride

CNET - A retractable hard top may not seem like a great idea for a BMW M performance car. It not only adds weight, but that weight shifts the balance of the car, depending on whether the top is up or stowed in the trunk. Most drivers, however, will likely forget those concerns as they pilot the 2015 M4 Convertible down a twisty road and feel the wind and sun.

The open top will let the bark of the 425-horsepower, turbocharged 3-liter inline six-cylinder engine resonate in their passengers' ears -- the note changing dramatically at each shift of the six-speed manual or optional seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Yes, the M4 Convertible should satisfy thrill-seekers as it includes the full range of performance gear available to the standard M4. An available adaptive suspension should help with any weight imbalance from the moveable top and performance settings change the steering response. Throttle and gear-shift response is also programmable by the driver, as is the traction control.   Read More

Geneva Motor Show - 2014 Lamborghini Huracan

2014 BMW 428i Review

Stunning BMW coupe maintains handling legacy

CNET Editors' Rating - 4.0 stars Excellent

$40,500.00  

The good: When equipped with the Dynamic Handling package, the 2014 BMW 428i corners beautifully, while its turbo four-cylinder engine combines power and economy. The coupe design is a thing of beauty, and available cabin tech includes good app support and connectivity.

The bad: In base configuration, the 428i lacks voice command or even Bluetooth audio streaming. The rear seat is only set up for two passengers and has limited headroom.

The bottom line: When optioned well, the 2014 BMW 428i achieves an excellent balance between being an exciting sports car and an everyday driver with modern, connected tech, and it looks good doing it.

Read The Full Review!

Detroit Auto Show - The New Porsche Targa Has a Magical Pop-Top

Wired - Porsche has built the most beautiful 911 Targa in a generation, a gorgeous throwback to the 1967 original that opens and closes in a mesmerizing mechanical ballet that took three years to engineer.

Frankly, we weren’t expecting much from the Targa. Although the original was a clever sidestep around impending safety regulations, later models were simply coupes with oversized sunroofs. But the all-new Targa unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show further proves Porsche engineers are among the best in the world. At the press of the button, the entire roof opens like a flower and the top stows itself.

The Targa was born in the mid-1960s when the U.S. Department of Transportation was seriously considering banning convertibles due to concerns they were deathtraps in a rollover. Some automakers responded by developing T-tops. 

Read More & Watch the Video

Detroit Auto Show: Corvette Z06 delivers 625 hp and it's street-legal

Yesterday, General Motors introduced the extra high-performance Corvette Z06, a fit-for-the-street racecar boasting at least 625 horsepower.  The Detroit Free Press reports:

The 2015 Corvette Z06, revealed in a press conference at the Detroit auto show, shares an aluminum frame with its high-profile sister, the Corvette Stingray, but it’s distinguished by an 6.2-liter “supercharged” V8 mated with a custom-made eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Z06 was GM’s fastest car ever when engineers tested it at the Milford Proving Grounds, Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter told reporters.

It also boasts a tremendous amount of “downforce,” an engineering term describing a car’s ability to hug the road when it barrels around corners. Most mass-market vehicles are exactly the opposite: they have too much lift when cornering.

Read More & View the Slideshow!

Ford's self-driving car unveils itself

Well, not exactly. The prototype can't quite manage its own public relations yet, but it can, apparently, "see" in the same way a bat or dolphin can.

CNET - In the future, Mustang Sally might be a robot.

Ford Motor unveiled its first self-driving car this week -- well, a prototype anyway. The Automated Fusion Hybrid Research Vehicle, developed with the University of Michigan and State Farm insurers, will help the storied US automaker "test the limits of full automation and determine the appropriate levels for near- and mid-term deployment," Raj Nair, group vice president, Ford global product development, said in a statement.   Read More

2014 BMW 4 Series Convertible - 2013 L.A. Auto Show

2014 Jaguar F-Type review - A powerful roadster & exotic pet

 

CNET Editors' Rating

 

4.0 stars - Excellent

$69,000.00 

The good: The 2014 Jaguar F-Type boasts excellent power and noteworthy efficiency in both its V-6 and V-8 configurations. The V8 S model is packed to the gills with performance upgrades, yet still feels like an uncomplicated and pure roadster. Plus, it's simply beautiful.

The bad: Cabin tech feels like an afterthought. There's no voice command for navigation or hands-free calling. The Meridian "premium" audio system's distorted bass reproduction was disappointing in a car of this price.

The bottom line: We fell in love with the gorgeous curves and excellent performance of the 2014 Jaguar F-Type, but middling tech and a very big price tag have us looking twice at its German competitors.

Read the Full Review

BMW roadsters: A journey from 1929 - 2013

BMW is a company that pretty much everyone loves. The cars it produces are regarded as some of the best in the world, and as it covers all niches there's a BMW for pretty much everyone. We took a look at the history of its roadsters to see just how far the firm's come since the early 20th century.

CNET - Drew and Alex love their sports cars - the freedom they afford the driver combined with speed and eye catching looks are, all told, rather lovely. BMW does roadsters really very well indeed.

Using traditional BMW design cues and engineering to create fast, good looking, brilliant to drive cars that are attainable dreams for the vast majority of people. The boys decided to look at BMW's roadster background, Drew casting a bearded eye over the classics and Alex looking at the more modern 'Z' cars. There's some real unicorn cars in there. The 328, for example, is a pre-war race car that boasts a 2.0-litre six cylinder engine and a 90mph top speed. However, it's also achingly beautiful and is an utter joy to drive.

BMW's roofless legacy: The roadsters - Picture Gallery

 

Read More & Watch the Video

4G cars are coming, but we won’t have much choice in how we connect them

Gigaom - Soon we’ll be able to connect our cars directly to the mobile internet just like our smartphones, but unlike your smartphone your new car is going to be linked to a specific carrier.

4G cars are making their way to the U.S., starting first with the Audi A3 and eventually a whole fleet of GM vehicles. Embedded LTE could soon be streaming music to our dashboards, providing real-time traffic alerts to our nav systems and downloading Thomas the Tank Engine reruns for Junior to watch in his car seat.

The car will become a new type of connected device like our smartphones and tablets, and like those gadgets our 4G cars will require data plans. But unlike the smartphone and tablet, we’re not going to have a choice on what carrier we buy those plans from. It might seem absurd, but in the U.S. our 4G cars are going to be linked to a specific carrier, just as the first three generations of iPhones were tied to AT&T.

That’s the opposite approach to what automakers are doing in Europe. The Audi S3 debuted in Europe with a distinctly European mobile connectivity model. A slot in the dash will take any carrier’s SIM card, and the Gemalto machine-to-machine communications model embedded in Audis supports multiple European GSM, HSPA and LTE bands. You can thank Europe’s coordinated approach to mobility for that flexibility — a single module can cover almost every carrier’s network in almost every country on the continent.   More

Trying to Break the Mold for Mercedes Cars - The New S Class Coupe Concept

Black box: The snitch inside your car - Soon the federal government will require ALL vehicles to have them

Vehicle Diagnostics by Delphi - Track your car's location and health

Verizon Wireless 
 

$249.99

The good: The Vehicle Diagnostics system keeps track of your car's location and fuel level, and sends alerts for maintenance issues. Users can access data on the Web or through a smartphone app.

The bad: Without an existing Verizon data plan, it costs $35 per month to run the Vehicle Diagnostics system. It does not track fuel economy.

The bottom line: Delphi's Vehicle Diagnostics system works best as a tool for parents who let their kids drive the family car, as it shows the car location and will trigger an alert if the car leaves a proscribed area.

Read the Full Review

Porsche - Tradition: Future - The 911 50th Anniversary Edition

Aston Martin reveals Batmobile-like anniversary speedster

 

To celebrate 100 years of Aston Martin, the car company has unveiled the CC100 concept car, which looks like something Adam West's Batman might drive in 2013.

It looks strangely like something Adam West's Batman might drive in 2013, but Aston Martin's 100th anniversary CC100 speedster wasn't designed with superheroes in mind, camp or otherwise. Instead, the yellow-and-blue-gray speedster is an homage to the company's heritage as a manufacturer of luxury sports cars.      More

Aston Martin's crazy concept speedster (pictures)

 

  

New BMW 6-series takes dictation, shows virtual gauges

BMW will offer this special edition of the 2014 6-series, called 

the Frozen Brilliant White Convertible.

(Credit: BMW) 

 

 

CNET - BMW announced new features for its 2014 6-series model today, including an advanced voice recognition system that can take dictation from the driver and send out an email or text.
 

The tech arms race between BMW and Audi is yielding some amazing cars, such as the Audi S7 we recently reviewed. BMW fights back with its newly announced 2014 6-series, featuring revised cabin electronics that will not only take dictation and send out emails for the driver, but also debuts a new digital instrument cluster.

 

BMW touted the new voice recognition system for the 6-series in a press release today, noting its simplified voice commands and control over most cabin tech features. The new system will let drivers activate a dictation mode, having the car transcribe emails and text messages. The car reads out the resulting text and includes voice controls for making simple edits. The driver can send the text to anyone in her paired phone's contact list through email or text message. 

 

More 

2013 BMW 750Li Review

$90,500.00 

 

CNET Editors' Rating

4.0 stars - Excellent  

 

The good: Active suspension technology and four-wheel steering make the 2013 BMW 750Li handle exceptionally well. Data connections allow Google local search and social media interaction. The navigation system includes broad traffic coverage and Bang & Olufsen audio delivers excellent sound.

The bad: Acceleration comes on unevenly, and the idle-stop feature will annoy some drivers. The cabin tech interface needs some refinement so as to make audio sources and music libraries more accessible.

The bottom line: The 2013 BMW 750Li does double-duty as a freeway cruiser and a getaway car, whether you drive it yourself or hire a chauffeur. A wide array of connected features add new capabilities to the already first-rate navigation and stereo systems.

 

Read the Full Review

 

BMW Concept 4 Coupe takes over where 3 Series left off (pictures)

 

DETROIT--At the 2013 North American International Auto Show auto show, BMW's Concept 4 Series Coupe indicates a future design direction for the company, and fills a hole in the lineup. The car serves as a more focused sport vehicle than the current 3 Series, which became watered down when BMW attempted to make it suitable for both performance and luxury seekers. Design cues seen on the front are the light pipes around the headlights and machined, inset pieces on the intake.

View the Photos!

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Coupe Debuts at the Detroit Auto Show

 

2014 Corvette Stingray debuts with rev-matching 7-speed

Lighter, more powerful, and featuring higher tech, Chevrolet's newest 'Vette may just be the best ever.

CNET - DETROIT--Chevrolet has pulled the covers back on what is easily the most hotly anticipated (and worst-kept secret) of the 2013 Detroit auto show: the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.

Only three Corvette models have ever borne the name Stingray: the mid-'60s second-generation model, the third-generation car produced through the '70s and into the '80s (arguably the most iconic), and now the seventh-generation (C7) 2014 model. Chevrolet states that it's reviving the name for the 2014 model year because it is the best 'Vette ever. Well, it's not like Chevy would claim anything less of its newest halo car, but the automaker does seem to have the numbers to back it up.

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray debuts in Detroit (photos)

 

The new 6.2-liter, direct-injected V-8 will make an estimated 450 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. The automaker is estimating a 0-60 time under 4 seconds and over 1G of cornering grip. 

Making use of cylinder deactivation technology, Chevrolet is also claiming better fuel economy than any generation of Corvette before it.

 

Power flows through a seven-speed manual transmission that uses an Active Rev Matching technology similar to that of the Nissan 370Z's. As the driver moves the shift lever into a gear, the 'Vette's computer blips the throttle to match the wheel speed for a smooth ratio change when the clutch pedal is released.

More

 

2013 Porsche Boxster Review

Buffer Boxster goes from cute car to sports car

CNET Editors' Rating

3.5 stars -Very good

$49,500.00  

The good: The 2013 Porsche Boxster is a fantastically well-balanced vehicle, offering the right amount of power, responsiveness, and grip for a grin-inducing ride. Optional PCM infotainment system checks all of the right tech boxes. The power retractable top is well designed and can be operated at up to 31 mph.

The bad: Fold-away cupholders are among the worst in the business. Expensive options rapidly drive the Boxter's price up.

The bottom line: The 2013 Porsche Boxster delivers fantastically balanced performance and full-featured tech, but avoid expensive luxury items for the best value.

Read the Full Review!