A crossover SUV or XUV is an automobile with a sport utility vehicle appearance but is built upon a more economical and fuel-efficient car-based platform.
BMW brought out the X6 in the second half of 2008, and with a few years of experience in the market, the SUV is now ready for a minor facelift to keep it refreshingly attractive. And when we say minor, we really do mean minor, because you need to look very close to see the changes in this facelift.
The facelift starts off with redesigned fog lights, headlights, and taillamps with a new adaptive LED option, and moves on to newly designed bars, new paint finishes, light alloy wheels, and leather trim. And that’s pretty much it.
The US market will get its usual xDrive50i powered by a 4.4-liter 400 hp TwinPower Turbo V8 and the X6 xDrive35i with a 300 HP TwinPower Turbo inline-6. However, for the first time, the BMW X6 will be able to be ordered with an M-Performance package that adds a few ponies and a meaner look.
On the US market, the new BMW X6 will go on sale in the spring of 2012.
UPDATE 01/26/2012: This review has been updated with the official images and specs for the BMW X6.
If there was every any skepticism surrounding the Nissan Juke-R, this amateur video of the Nissan UK project taking on some of the world’s most powerful supercars is all the evidence Nissan needs to validate the tuned-up crossover.
The site of this race is the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai, where the Juke-R incidentally served as the official safety car. We can imagine that this race was set up pretty quickly with the Juke-R taking on a Lamborghini Gallardo, a Ferrari 458 Italia, and a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG on a short and improvised sprint track.
With the credentials of the European exotics, it appears that the Juke-R has some serious competition - at least until the light turned green. That’s when the Juke-R simply flexed its GT-R-powered muscles, blasting the three exotics like they were plastic traffic cones.
Surprising is an understatement, but we do have to pay attention to the track conditions. It wasn’t the best one for racing, but all things considered, elements included, the Juke-R more than held its own against three of the most powerful exotic cars in the world.
After teasing the SUV for quite some time, Buick has finally dropped the cover off the all new Buick Encore - General Motors’ response to the Audi Q3 and the BMW X1. The Buick Encore will begin arriving at U.S. Buick dealerships in the first quarter of 2013.
The 2013 Buick Encore will offer contemporary styling, signature QuietTuning technology, and a host of features and amenities customers have come to expect from Buick. It will join the current Buick line-up with models like the Verano compact luxury sedan and the Regal GS sport sedan, both combined with the fuel-efficient eAssist "light electrification" technology.
The new 2013 Encore is powered by a new Ecotec 1.4L turbocharged four-cylinder engine that delivers a total of 140 HP and a peak torque of 148 lb.-ft. The engine is mated to a standard Hydra-Matic 6T40 six-speed automatic transmission.
UPDATE 01/19/2012: Buick has unveiled the first promotional video for the new Encore crossover. Enjoy!
Hit the jump for more details on the 2013 Buick Encore.
Remember when Porsche released the Cayenne? Remember all the people in their Porsche owners club shirts sitting around and telling you about how this new SUV was a disgrace to the Porsche logo and that all the company should design and produce are 911 variants?
While they might have had a point, the Cayenne sold like bottled water and like this water in plastic, it’s completely pointless. People don’t need this much power from something that will be used to haul around families. Yet, it became the automaker’s best selling model, despite its looks.
Now, to put the owners club folks in the mental home, Porsche is created a smaller SUV, the Cajun. No, it’s not intended for people in New Orleans, but it is intended for people who found the Cayenne to be a bit too large and fancied something a bit more crossover like.
Porsche officially confirmed the small SUV in an official statement detailing their hopes for the vehicle: "Under the working name "Cajun", this efficient and sporty model will further expand the world’s most successful Porsche segment in the SUV sector. In addition to the new Cayenne, which has clearly consolidated its market position as the most successful sporty SUV in the premium segment, the "Cajun" will also have a very positive impact with its typical Porsche features such as light weight, ease of handling and agility. As an attractive entry model in the Porsche world, the "Cajun" will attract new and even younger customers to the premium brand along with the Boxster, the market leader in the segment of two-seater, mid-size sports cars."
UPDATE 06/07/2011: Looks like the Cajun may be getting its power from a powerful diesel engine from sister brand, Audi. According to Autocar, Porsche is planning on dropping Audi’s 3.0-liter V6 diesel producing 309 bhp and 479 lb-ft of torque into the small SUV. This news comes along with plans to build the Cajun on Audi’s Q5 platform which will end up saving a lot of money and will help bring the two brands closer together.
UPDATE 07/15/2011: AutoCar has posted today a series of images of the upcoming Cajun, that according to the British magazine are the first leaked in-house computer renderings of the upcoming baby Cayenne. As you can see from these renderings, the exterior of the Cajun is likely to draw heavily on 911 design cues, while part of the interior elements will be shared with the next-generation Boxster.
UPDATE 01/05/2012: Porsche has officially confirmed that the new Cajun will be offered on the North American market starting 2013. Next to it, Porsche will also be offering the Cayenne diesel and the Panamera GTS.
The Nissan Juke-R that was revealed late last year caught a lot of people by surprise, not so much because it was done under our noses, but more so because it was a Nissan Juke being given such an impressive tuning program.
All that being said, some people have taken the Juke-R as a peg for their own programs for the Nissan crossover, including the boys over at Fox Marketing Cars. When they first got hold of what Nissan UK was building with the Juke-R, lightbulbs went off in their heads. So they went out and took a Nissan Juke and went ahead and built their own specially-tuned vehicle, called the "Juke-S."
Full details have yet to be revealed, but Fox has given us some tidbits of information to nibble over, particularly the impressive engine upgrade given to the crossover’s 1.6-liter MR16DDT engine that delivers 190 horsepower and 177 lb/ft of torque. Thanks to a turbo and intercooler upgrade, Fox Marketing was able to spike the Juke’s output all the way up to 400 horsepower.
Other upgrades given to the Juke include a new body kit, an eye-catching BASF Foxy Orange paint finish, a new set of 20" wheels with 14" six-piston caliper brakes, and an interior that will feature a pair of Yonaka Ronin racing seats.
Fox Marketing is preparing the car for its debut in the coming months to coincide with their 12th year anniversary. We’d love to see how the finished product turns out because looking at those two photos of the car, we can’t help but think just how hot it looks.
