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Showing posts from January, 2019

Cupra to reveal coupe-crossover as first standalone model

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Autocar's image of what the Cupra coupe-crossover could look like First Cupra model with bespoke styling will make its debut at Geneva motor show Cupra will launch a coupĂ©-SUV with bespoke styling at the Geneva motor show this year, helping the performance brand to distinguish itself from parent company Seat. The new model, rumoured to be called Terramar, will be the first from Cupra whose exterior design is a unique departure from Seat’s range . It adapts the bodystyle of the 20V20 concept seen at Geneva in 2015, but with a radically different look distinguishing the model from other, similar-sized Volkswagen Group SUVs. It will be wider and lower than Cupra’s first model, the Ateca , featuring a sloping roofline, pronounced rear haunches and a front-end design that takes inspiration from the Tarraco large SUV . Autocar understands that the new SUV won’t be totally new under the skin, however, and is likely to adopt the engine and running gear from the current Cupra Ateca.

This car museum is a three-ring attraction

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The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus earned its title as “The Greatest Show on Earth,” in part, because it provided not one, not two, but three rings of entertainment under its big top. You might say the same thing about the Sarasota Classic Car Museum, which is located in the circus’ long-time winter-weather...

2020 Subaru Legacy joins the tablet-sized touchscreen fad

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The 2020 Subaru Legacy will make its debut at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show, and it's climbing aboard the tablet-type touchscreen bandwagon. In fact, it will be the first time a mainstream automaker integrates a vertical touchscreen into a sedan. The Japanese brand teased the 2020 Legacy's interior on Thursday and the teaser shot shows a tablet-like...

2019 Chevrolet Corvette Final Edition lands in Europe

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Chevrolet Europe has launched the 2019 Corvette Final Edition in the old world, and it could mark the beginning of the C7-generation's parade lap. The brand revealed the Final Edition car on Wednesday and said its appointments will be available for either the Corvette Grand Sport or Z06 coupes. The base Stingray variant misses out on the special...

Welcome to the new Motor Authority

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The paint is barely dry, but I'd like to welcome you to the new Motor Authority. This is no mid-cycle refresh, folks. Motor Authority's look is completely new with a more responsive and dynamic layout. Open the homepage and it's instantly clear things have been cleaned up with more white space, less clutter, and a greater emphasis on the latest...

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham won't be in "Fast 9"

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Don't look for the characters Luke Hobbs or Deckard Shaw to make an appearance in the next installment of the "Fast and Furious" franchise, simply titled "Fast 9" for now. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who portrays Hobbs, told MTV News in an interview published Monday that neither he nor Jason Statham, who plays Shaw, will appear in the next film. He...

Land Rover nixes plans for an ultra-luxurious Range Rover SV coupe

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The Land Rover Range Rover SV coupe is dead before it truly ever took its first breath. The British luxury SUV maker confirmed the ultra-posh two-door model will not enter production. Auto Express first reported on the Range Rover SV coupe's premature death and confirmed the decision with Land Rover on Wednesday. The brand showed off the...

Mercedes-Benz to unlock optional tech for a price after cars are bought

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Mercedes-Benz will leave the door open to sell owners optional features in its cars even after they've taken delivery. The brand said Tuesday that it will include a new feature within its Mercedes Me application to purchase some features for the A-Class and B-Class small cars and the GLE-Class SUV in Europe after the initial point of sale...

Green giants: 2019 Dodge Challenger, Charger add Sublime paint

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The 2019 Dodge Challenger and Charger are going green in a literal sense. The brand announced Wednesday that both cars now offer the Sublime paint color, which last appeared in 2015. The Challenger could be had in Sublime four years ago, but the color was last seen on a Charger in 2007. Specifically, Dodge built a limited run of Charger R/T...

Under the skin of McLaren's MCLExtreme 2050 Formula 1 concept

McLaren Applied Technologies recently revealed a radical vision for how Formula 1 could look in 2050 - the 300mph 'MCLExtreme' proposal

Skoda Octavia vRS Challenge adds more kit and chassis tech

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Black trim inside and out, racing-inspired limited-slip differential and lap timer define sportiest vRS yet Skoda has launched a fully loaded special edition of its Octavia vRS hot family car, called the vRS Challenge. The new version of the hot family car features a claimed £4535 worth of extra equipment over the standard vRS while costing just £2460 more. It's available in both hatchback and estate forms. The extra features are mostly aesthetic, with the vRS Challenge featuring the same 242bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine featured in the  vRS 245 DSG . This means the Challenge will crack 0-62mph in around 6.6sec in hatchback form and puts out 273lb ft of torque.  That being said, the vRS Challenge does come with a motorsport-inspired VAQ limited-slip differential, which is capable of transferring increased engine power to whichever front wheel has the most grip under cornering. The vRS Challenge also comes with dynamic chassis control (DCC), which is an £850 option

2019 Kia Forte vs. 2019 Hyundai Elantra: Compare Cars

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They may not look like siblings at first glance, but the 2019 Kia Forte and 2019 Hyundai Elantra have a shared lineage that makes these two compact sedans easy to compare. Well, for the most part. In our ratings, it’s nearly a draw between these two compact sedans. The Forte ekes out a win in our ratings, with a host of caveats. MORE: Read...

VW buggy, Porsche 911 Hybrid, Shell chargers, Tesla profits: Today's Car News

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Tesla reported profits, and revealed new model lineups for its Model S and Model X—and another price cut. Volkswagen announced it will build a concept electric dune buggy for the Geneva auto show. Details of the upcoming Porsche 911 Hybrid have emerged. And Shell has bought its first charging network in North America. All this and more on...

8 things you need to know about the 2019 Mercedes-Benz G550 and AMG G63

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The 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen doesn’t look much different than the boxy SUVs from each of the 40 years preceding it. Typically, if a vehicle is indistinguishable from its predecessors, that’s a bad thing. The Mercedes-Benz G-Class is anything but typical. I went to San Diego, California to spend some time with both the 2019...

Tesla-like touchscreen to take center stage on 2020 Subaru Legacy

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The 2020 Subaru Legacy that will debut at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show in early February will feature a vertically arranged touchscreen for infotainment not unlike that used on Tesla and Volvo vehicles. Subaru released a teaser image of the 2020 Legacy's dashboard but didn't specify the screen's dimensions. MORE: Subaru Forester: The Car...

Tesla revamps Model S and X lineups without battery size numbers

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As Tesla struggles to balance prices to maintain profitability in the face of lower tax credits for its cars, the company is simplifying its Model S and Model X lineups. After Tesla cut prices across the board to make up for a reduction in the federal tax credits and CEO Elon Musk announced earlier this month that the company would stop taking...

Drivers far more likely to talk on phone than text while driving

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A new study from the IIHS makes it clear Americans aren't giving up their cell phones behind the wheel, but there's some good news. The IIHS published the results of a study last week and found that drivers are more likely to talk on the phone than text. The study surveyed 800 drivers across the U.S. and asked about their phone habits while...

Kia Rio crash test, Motor Authority redesign, VW beach buggy revived: What's New @ The Car Connection

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2019 Kia Rio nabs Top Safety Pick award The 2019 Kia Rio may be an inexpensive subcompact car, but the IIHS awarded the sub-compact car a Top Safety Pick award. Uber to offer free rides to fans of Super Bowl loser There will be one silver lining for Los Angeles Rams or New England Patriot fans on Super Bowl Sunday: they may be able to snag a free...

Porsche 911 Hybrid sports car tech will arrive in two forms

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Porsche is known as an engineering company. Its technical solutions are often complex and unusual, but often provide inspiration for others to follow. Now details have filtered out about Porsche's new hybrid-electric powertrain for its upcoming 911, which could inform what engineers are thinking about in terms of bringing hybrid power to other...

Hyundai design boss, Ford designs in virtual reality, 1990 Mazda Miata: Today's Car News

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We sat down for an interview with Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai-Kia's new global design boss, and learned that he has an obsession with Porsche 911s and is into purity of design. The man who replaces the legendary Peter Schreyer has his sites set on legends, not just sales, but you'll be surprised to hear his definition of the term crossover. Ford...

1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata: 100 Cars That Matter

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Small roadsters were a dying breed in the 1980s. A decade earlier, tiny British and Italian sports cars darted across Europe and America, but by 1989, most were history. It was up to the 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata to rekindle their spirit. Mazda took a decades-old concept and smartly updated it with the Miata in 1990. The Japanese roadster showed the...

Stewart: Lewis Hamilton's F1 success can't scare British rookies

Lewis Hamilton's career does not give Britain's new Formula 1 rookies an unrealistic benchmark because there is an element of luck involved, reckons three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart

Shell acquisition of charging network Greenlots points to juice as the new gas

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Electric cars are getting the attention of oil companies. On Wednesday, one of the largest fast-charging networks in the U.S., Greenlots, announced that it had been bought by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell—via the subsidiary Shell New Energies US LLC. Greenlots includes more than 350 mainly DC fast charge stations across the U.S., the kind...

Government funds research into anti-pothole technology

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Funding of £22.9m will research new road surface technologies, including those that can harvest solar power and stop potholes from forming The Government has announced that it will begin real-world tests of new road surface technology that will seek to identify a more effective method of repairing potholes – and even stop them forming in the first place.  The scheme, announced by transport secretary Chris Grayling , is called Live Labs and will operate with £22.9 million of government backing. So far, eight authorities have elected to take part, including Buckinghamshire, Staffordshire, Kent, Birmingham and Reading.  Each location will try a different type of technology. Central Bedfordshire won a £1.05m share of the funding to test solar power in footways and a “power road” solution that collects geothermal energy to de-ice car parks and bus stations, preventing pothole formation. Cumbria has been allocated £1.6m to extend its existing plastic roads trial and produce guidance on t

Mercedes-Benz EQV electric people carrier due at Geneva

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Fifth all-electric Mercedes model to rival Volkswagen ID Buzz MPV; production version expected to launch in 2022 Mercedes-Benz will unveil an electric MPV concept at this year’s Geneva motor show, previewing a rival machine to the forthcoming Volkswagen ID Buzz. Confirmed at the launch of the facelifted V-Class MPV , the Concept EQV is described as a ‘near-series study’ that will likely closely mirror the production version. It's the fifth  confirmed vehicle in the German firm’s electric EQ range , following the EQC SUV that launched last year and the forthcoming EQA hatchback , EQB small SUV and EQS luxury saloon . Those models, along with the EQV, are all due to go on sale by 2022. Mercedes-Benz Vans board member Wilfried Porth described the EQV as the firm’s “next big statement” in the class. The production model will be developed by Mercedes’  van division and closely related to the firm’s future electric commercial vehicles, in the same way the V-Class is heavily based

New 2019 Mercedes-Benz V-Class MPV gains more power

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Refreshed large MPV gains new diesel engine, revised styling and features from elsewhere in the Mercedes range Mercedes-Benz has updated its V-Class  with refreshed exterior and interior styling and a new 2.1-litre four-cylinder diesel engine that produces 236bhp in its highest state of tune. The large MPV, based on the Vito van, was first launched in 2014  and has now been updated to bring its styling and technology more in line with the rest of the Mercedes range. It will continue to be offered in three different sizes (Standard, Long and Extra Long) and will be followed towards the end of ths year by  Marco Polo and Marco Polo Horizon campervan versions. The previous V-Class’s 2.1-litre diesel engine has been switched for Mercedes' four-cylinder OM654 unit, which will be available in two states of tune. The V250d produces 187bhp and 324lb ft, matching the output of the previous highest spec , while the V300d makes 236bhp and 369lb ft, with the ability to briefly offer an a

2020 BMW 8-Series Gran Coupe spy shots and video

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BMW has just launched a new generation of its 8-Series but this time around there will be more body styles than just a coupe. We've already seen the covers come off an 8-Series Convertible and now we have revealing shots and video of a tester for the 8-Series Gran Coupe undergoing cold-weather testing on public roads. Despite the coupe in the...