Tag: drive

First Drive: 2014 Maserati Ghibli

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Maserati, First Drives, Luxury

Italy Passionately Returns To The Sport Sedan Game

2014 Maserati Ghibli

In its 99-year history, Maserati has arguably never made a vehicle as important as this all-new Ghibli.
Of course, there have been countless styling breakthroughs, mechanical advances and technical innovations, but no single passenger car has been required to bear the weight of the Italian company like its brand-new sport sedan. If the Ghibli succeeds, Maserati will welcome tens of thousands of new customers and, most importantly, celebrate a rekindled relationship with demanding North American buyers. If the Ghibli fails – well, the truth is, nobody has written an option for failure.

Maserati officially introduced the Ghibli at the Shanghai Motor Show earlier this year, promising a driver-focused sedan that was smaller and more agile than its redone Quattroporte flagship, one capable of battling BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz in quality, performance and most importantly, price.

After months of staring at the pictures and poring over the specifications, it’s finally time to drive it. To end the speculation, I boarded a new 747-8 and flew one-third of the way around the world to land in beautiful Tuscany. My task? Put the all-new sport sedan with a heart built by Ferrari through its paces on Europe’s demanding asphalt.

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2014 Maserati Ghibli originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 Jun 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2014 Fiat 500L

Filed under: Wagon, Hatchback, First Drives, Fiat

Unexpectedly, This Opposite Attracts

2014 Fiat 500L

Back in 2007 when the Fiat 500 was launched, I was unrepentantly nuts about the thing. From the first time my eyes clapped on the Nuevo Cinquecento at the Geneva Motor Show that year, I wanted one. Since there were no plans for a North American model at the time, I had to settle for purchasing a 1/18th-scale diecast at the expo. When Fiat finally returned to the US and the Cinquecento went on sale in 2011, I was no less excited.

And then I drove one, and the bloom was off my little Italian rose. Oh, I still appreciated its size and high style, but I found it wholly unsatisfying to drive, something that wouldn’t be rectified until the Abarth arrived. It wasn’t that the standard 500 was slow – I expected that – it was that its wonky driving position, lackluster transmissions and ropey steering all stood in the way of appreciating its other virtues. The Abarth’s characterful powertrain would eventually come along to alleviate most of those pains, but not all of them.

Now with the advent of the 500L for 2014, it appears I’m living the same scenario, albeit in reverse. My first encounter with this new, larger Fiat was also at the Geneva show, only this time, when the sheet was yanked off its flanks in 2012, I didn’t like what I saw. The Italian marque hadn’t just name-checked the Cinquecento with this larger five-door, it attempted to appropriate its amusing and iconic design by repeating key styling elements like its circular light fixtures and simple chrome bar grille (collectively known as the “whiskers and logo face”), along with rounded interior forms painted in body colors. To my eyes, the design just didn’t work, yet I was still intrigued about the promise of a larger 500 and more polished driving experience.

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2014 Fiat 500L originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Mercedes-Benz, First Drives, Luxury

A Really Hot Little GT Plants The Seed For A Better AMG

2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG

Mercedes-Benz has AMG on an impressive growth curve these days, the official name of the effort being Performance 50. By the 50th anniversary of AMG in 2017, the Mercedes performance division will produce 30,000-plus units per year, up from today’s 20,000 or so. In addition, AMG will boast a catalog of 30-plus models, and a greater dedication to making AMG cars truly nimble performers in every sense will be a priority. Within that very full agenda, this new CLA45 AMG is certain to be an important contributor on all accounts.

The thrill monitors at AMG have a long-established reputation for creating large, open-road rockets that err on the side of brute force and everyday comfort over zippy, tight-feeling sports car finesse and balance. The strategy has worked wonders for the company’s sales ledger and created handsome levels of profit per unit, but entire developing sectors of the premium hot-car market have been knowingly left out of the AMG equation. While there are exceptions, AMG has never been considered a maker of truly agile machinery that’s easily tossed around.

The very first thing that we notice while driving the CLA45 AMG – on schedule for North American deliveries beginning in November with a reported starting price of $47,450 – is exactly how lively its new 4Matic chassis can be. It’s an entirely new feeling for an AMG, and it’s entirely welcome by us. Some will complain about the price being asked for this super CLA-Class, but this little sedan is a true AMG of the new genre, and as such, it might just be something of a bargain.

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2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe

Filed under: Coupe, Mercedes-Benz, First Drive, Luxury

Entry-Level Benz Finally Drops A Set Of Doors

2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe

2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery

For those that remember it, the secretary-special two-door CLC hatchback, built on last-generation C-class bits and pieces, was rather embarrassing for Mercedes-Benz. It was a dumpy thing, but at least Daimler was smart enough to not even attempt selling it in the States.

Thankfully, the decidedly easier-on-the-eyes C204 C-Class Coupe has just arrived, and we’re getting this hot toddy. So what took Stuttgart so long to bring us this no-brainer variant of the C-Class? Were they worried about coupe clutter between the CLC- and E-Class? Too many two-doors, too soon? Funnily, we asked, and all we heard back were sheepish “We were waiting for the mothership to come around and give us the go-ahead for this car” comments.

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2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2012 Fiat 500C

Filed under: Convertible, First Drive, Fiat

Pop-top Cinquecento Makes For A Sunny Disposition

2012 Fiat 500C

2012 Fiat 500C – Click above for high-res image gallery

What price the sun? That’s the question Fiat is asking potential buyers of its new 500C. All else remaining (mostly) equal, would $4,000 come between you and the chance to have bright, unfiltered Helios riding shotgun? Or, using forty Benjamins to mark your steps, would you gladly throw the money down and do a Tarantella from the $15,500 Fiat 500 to the $19,500 Fiat 500C?

While logic doesn’t own a car in this segment, we can say this: Having spent an afternoon whooping it up in the 500C through the winding lanes of upstate New York, wallet aside, when compared to the hardtop model, the 500C is all gain and just a pinprick of pain.

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2012 Fiat 500C originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 May 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Saudi woman’s “right to drive” protest video circulates online despite gov’t. efforts

Filed under: Government/Legal, Videos, Middle East

Women's right to drive bumper sticker in Saudi Arabia

Manal al-Sharif’s campaign for women’s right to drive – Click above to watch video after the jump

The Arab Spring has brought a wave of change and reform to the Middle East, but that tide has seemingly stopped at Saudi Arabia. According to The New York Times, the Saudi government has effectively squelched a movement championed by Manal al-Sharif. The woman wasn’t campaigning for the overthrow of the government or the death of the country’s leaders. Instead, she was simply demonstrating for women’s right to drive in her country. Sharif posted videos of herself driving on YouTube and started Facebook and Twitter accounts that prompted other Saudi women to do the same.

That’s when the Saudi government stepped in. Sharif was arrested for her transgressions and her videos were removed from YouTube. Later, a Facebook page she had set up to instruct other women about how to get involved was deleted and a duplicate of her Twitter account began posting messages indicating that she had stopped her efforts.

But this is the internet, and nothing is gone forever. Copies of Sharif’s original message have reappeared on YouTube and an Al Jazeera report on her campaign is still available. You can check out the full report at The New York Times and watch the videos after the break.

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Saudi woman’s “right to drive” protest video circulates online despite gov’t. efforts originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 May 2011 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Passat

Filed under: Sedan, Volkswagen, First Drive, Diesel

Americanized Sedan Shows Its German Roots

2012 Volkswagen Passat

2012 Volkswagen Passat – Click above for high-res image gallery

The 2012 Volkswagen Passat is facing a kind of perfect storm of skepticism from long-time fans of the brand. Volkswagen has wasted no chance to tell the world that the company’s newest sedan will be custom-tailored to the American market, with styling and packaging tweaks designed to set the vehicle apart from its European counterpart. If that weren’t enough, the new North American Passat will also carry the distinction of being the first VW product to be built at the automaker’s brand-new assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

VW fans have always embraced the German flavor of their vehicles, but as the company pushes toward its (massively ambitious) goal of selling 800,000 units per year by 2018, we can expect to see more market-specific products in our neck of the woods. That trend kicked off with the 2011 Jetta – a vehicle that sacrificed interior materials and suspension refinement to meet a lower price point while growing larger to accommodate American tastes.

Does the Passat share a similar fate? When the sedan first debuted at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, it came packing a host of styling cues lifted directly from the smaller Jetta. That lead many onlookers (ourselves included) to conclude that in creating its new mid-sized sedan, Volkswagen had simply supersized the Jetta.

Fortunately, that’s not the case.

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2012 Volkswagen Passat originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 May 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2012 Toyota Prius V

Filed under: Hybrid, Wagon, Technology, Crossover, Toyota, First Drive

Toyota Masters The Art Of The Conjunctive

2012 Toyota Prius V

2012 Toyota Prius V – Click above for high-res image gallery

The hybrid lexicon is a language built on a foundation of disjunction. Buyers may have phenomenal fuel economy or space for kids and cargo. You can embarrass your neighbors at the fuel pump or have a satisfying driving experience. In fact, opting for a battery pack is so fraught with compromise that it’s almost as if hybrid manufacturers have completely deleted the conjunctive ‘and’ from their diction. Even so, that fact hasn’t stopped buyers from seeking out electrified vehicles in increasing numbers.

Toyota has sold over one million Prius models in the United States since the vehicle first debuted a decade ago. That number blossoms to two million if global sales are accounted for, and the model’s popularity has helped usher in a bloom of hybrid products from over 16 manufacturers. The technology may not be the perfect solution to our fuel economy concerns, but the Prius has taken off in ways that would have been difficult to imagine when the first gangly example whirred off the line.

Now Toyota is set to grow its Prius lineup with three new models. In fact, Bob Carter, Toyota division group vice president and general manager, says that the Japanese automaker fully expects the Prius family to become its best-selling product line in the near future – beating out internal combustion titans like the Camry and Corolla in the process. As a result, the company is planning to unleash of a barrage of products that include a model based on the Prius C Concept, a plug-in version of the hybrid and the taller, boxier Prius V. The thought is that a few simple variations on the company’s successful battery-powered recipe will offer buyers solutions that the conventional Prius simply couldn’t match. The only question is whether or not the will respond to what is effectively a few clever re-body jobs. If the Prius V is any indication, the answer is a resounding yes.

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2012 Toyota Prius V originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 May 2011 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Why you shouldn’t steal a GT500 and drive through deer country

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Ford, Humor

shelby gt500 hits deer

Ford Shelby GT500 meets a deer – Click above to watch (NSFW) video after the jump

The internet is an amazing place. There’s so much information available for free and people from across the globe can communicate instantly. A flip-side to the amazing power of the internet can be revealed by digging through any forum. While most forums are filled with people who enjoy discussing a shared passion, they also become home to folks who enjoy spouting off ridiculous falsehoods and creating a vision of reality that doesn’t quite exist. That practice can invoke internet justice, and one member of SVTPerformance.com found out this out the hard way.

A video was posted to YouTube, which showed a man driving a Ford Shelby GT500 down a dark road. Amidst the howl of the car’s supercharger, the occupants talk about what it would be like to hit a deer on this road… and then they hit a deer. The rest of the clip involves yelling, not safe for work language and the driver fleeing the scene after running an oncoming car off the road.

The sleuths at SVTPerformance.com identified the driver as board member “Grant218” (later changed to “Grant Theft Auto”). Grant explained that he borrowed his dad’s GT500, and the damage isn’t as bad as it seems. After reading through many (many) pages in the thread, we find out that Grand stole the car from a man he knows, put over 300 miles on the Shelby(!) and then tried to return it and hide the damage.

Moral: You can’t hide the truth from the internet. Click past the jump to watch the clip, then join us over at SVTPerformance.com as we continue to dig through the hilarity that is this thread. We’re going to warn you though, the language is NSFW, and the thread will suck up the rest of your life the day.

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Why you shouldn’t steal a GT500 and drive through deer country originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2011 Saab 9-4X

Filed under: Crossover, Saab, First Drive, Luxury

Against The Odds, Saab’s First Crossover Comes Good

2011 Saab 9-4X

2011 Saab 9-4X – Click above for high-res image gallery

As we assembled media and executives sat down to dinner in Washington, D.C. the night before driving the 2011 Saab 9-4X, a waiter leaned over my shoulder with a bottle of sparkling water and poured it into a waiting rocks glass filled with ice and a lemon. He paused, staring intently at my glass. Clearly flummoxed, the dinner service ground to a halt. “May I, sir?” As I had no earthly idea what was troubling him, I nodded. “Certainly.” He picked up the glass, reached into its mouth and fished out the lemon only to squeeze it with much theater. The wedge yielded but a drop or two of juice. “Dry!” he pronounced with a mixture of pride and embarrassment. Perhaps reading the confusion on my face, he followed this proclamation by saying “You can ‘ell becooze…. it was… ah…. reluctant to float.” He then disappeared into the back of the restaurant for what seemed like minutes, reemerging with a new glass filled with ice and a noticeably plumper wedge of citrus riding atop the rim of the glass.

You just never know what’s going to hold up a car launch.

Stick around in this business for a while, and you’ll see how labor unrest, cash crunches, bad mergers and natural disasters can wreak havoc on a new automobile’s gestation and production schedule. We thought we’d seen it all, but the poor folks at Saab are surely trying for some kind of record with the number of calamities threatening to scrap not just the launch of this 9-4X, but the Swedish brand altogether. In fact, this handsome looking crossover is already late to the party – it was originally slated to launch in 2009 alongside its General Motors’ platform-mate, the Cadillac SRX.

Given the strong initial sales of the SRX, you might think that Saab’s ownership expects big volume out of its first proper crossover (the late and not lamented 9-7X was an SUV and the 9-3X is little more than a wagon on stilts). But based on our conversations with company officials, not so much – they’re looking to shift just 10,000 units globally in 2011 – a seemingly trifling sum until one looks at Saab’s miserable sales figures worldwide. Continue reading…

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2011 Saab 9-4X originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 May 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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