A sedan car is a four-door vehicle, with a separate hood covering the engine in the front, and a separate trunk for luggage at the rear — the achetypical 3-box car. However, other variations of the body style exist as well, including two-door and hatchback/fastback models.
Toyota is expanding its Corolla lineup with the addition of two new special editions based on the LE and S trim levels. The new Toyota Corolla LE and S Special Edition will be limited to 7,500 units (2,250 LE models and 5,250 S models) and will be priced at $20,550. The model will be available starting April.
The LE Special Edition will be offered with a unique Black Currant Metallic exterior color and will sit on 16-inch alloy wheels. For the interior, the model will add heated, Beige-leather-trimmed seats, and Display Audio with Navigation and Entune. "Special Edition" floor mats and exterior badges will remind you are driving a Corolla that’s just about as special as they come from the factory.
For the S version, Toyota will include a unique Hot Lava paint and 17-inch alloy wheels. The model will also come standard with sport fabric seats and Display Audio with Navigation and Entune™. Just like with the LE version, the new S Special Edition gets "Special Edition" floor mats and exterior badges.
Click past the jump to read Toyota’s full press release.
The upcoming Maserati Ghibli has been taken out for another testing session, most likely the last one before the car’s official debut at the Shanghai Auto Show in April. The new Ghibli will take on models like Mercedes E-Class, Audi A6 and BMW 5-Series.
Ghibli will be built on a shorter Quattroporte platform and will be offered with both turbocharged V-6 engine as well as the new V-8 engine borrowed from the larger Quattroporte. Both engines will be mated to an eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox. We expect to see the same performance numbers as in the Quattroporte — the V-6 should boast a 177 mph top speed and the V-8 may hit 191 mph.
The base version will be priced at about $68k and the top version will be about 20 percent more expensive. Full details will be unveiled next month during its official debut in Shanghai.
Just the other day, we reported that the new Scion FR-S (and all its derivatives) could also get a sedan and a shooting brake version in the near future. The announcement was made by Scion FR-S chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada, who reported that the car’s body has been designed to support many more styles than just the coupe and convertible.
Today we have created a rendering of the possible sedan version that may help you better understand what it may look like. As you can see, the body remains very similar to the coupe version, but it gets an additional two rear doors and, of course, increased cabin room.
Under the hood, we would expect to see the same engine used in the coupe: a 2.0-liter front boxer engine that delivers a total of 200 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque. The engine would mate to the same six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission.
We highly doubt that this model will ever see the light of day, but it is an interesting concept nonetheless. If it ever does hit the market, we wouldn’t expect to see it for at least five years.
Jaguar certainly knew what it was doing when it presented the XKR-S at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, as it has stolen the hearts of many car enthusiasts and also proven to everyone that Jag is still capable of developing amazing sports cars. As everyone expected, this was just the beginning of a new series of high-performance sports car. This was confirmed at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show, as that R-S lineup has been expanded with the incredible XFR-S.
After we have seen it in many times testing on and outside of Nurburgring, Jaguar has decided to use to finally unveil the new high-performance sports sedan. Unfortunately, supply to U.S. customers will be rather limited and the price will be astronomical.
The problem is that everyone knew what the new XFR-S will bring, especially after the firm’s global brand director Adrian Hallmark said in an interview: "’I can confirm there is a project to transfer the upgrades from the XKR-S to the XFR." The question remains: how this upgrades transformed the XFR-S’ performance figures?
Updated 03/20/2013: The XFR-S made its racing debut at Goodwood today,. It was driven by 1988 Le Mans 24 Hour Race winner, Andy Wallace. You can see the images of this Italian Racing Red XFR-S in the gallery.
Hit the jump to read more about the 2013 Jaguar XFR-S.
We have been keeping close tabs on the updated 5-Series and we have caught some pretty nice spy shots. Unfortunately, the testers have done a pretty good job keeping the revisions hidden. We saw a few leaked images last month, but the source was not very reputable. The covers were blown off once again today, as Auto Zeitung is obviously doing a piece on the facelift and an image from this article has oozed its way onto the information superhighway. This new image confirms that the previous leaks were accurate and gives us a little clarity.
From the looks of this leaked image, all of our suspicions are accurate. The image reveals that the grille is fully modified and the lower air dam is now wide open, giving the 5er a rather odd-looking smile. The only area that we were initially incorrect on is the headlight design — they do not go all the way to the grille like they do on the 3-Series. Another area we were slightly incorrect was the hood, which features larger ridges and a deeper valley down the center of it.
Unfortunately, no details were revealed about the powerplants, but we expect to see a new in-line six cylinder to replace the N55. We’ll find out all of the official details in Shanghai!
If you ask a Bimmer fan which is the best model launched on the market in the past few months, the M5 will most likely be on the top of the list. In fact, even the guys over Top Gear were impressed by the sports sedan. So, why update it? Well, because you can!!
Vorsteiner, for example, has prepared a tuning kit for the M5 that includes a new aerodynamic kit made in carbon fiber, new wheels and numerous performance products.
For the exterior, the new kit includes a new add-on spoiler, a new splitter and for the rear, a new deck-lid spoiler and a new lightweight trunk lid with integrated wing profile. The tuner also replaced the rear diffuser, so it now integrates the new exhaust system offered in two versions: either stainless steel or titanium.
The Vorsteiner M5 will be offered with new forged wheels offered in various sizes, depending on customer’s wishes: 20, 21 or 22 inches. For the interior, the modifications are limited to embroidered floor mats and trunk mat accessories.
The new BMW M5 kit will be available starting April 2013.
We’ve known for quite some time now that Jaguar has been working on a smaller luxury sedan that will take on models like BMW 3-series, Mercedes C-Class and Audi A4. After much speculation, the car has finally been taken out for a test session and the first details suggest the model could be named the XS.
The mule caught testing today is a chopped-up Jaguar XF and is testing the suspension and powerplant, which is apparently a diesel unit. Along with the engine tested here, Jaguar will also offer a turbocharged four-cylinder engine for the base model and a supercharged V-6 for the top version.
The car is internally known as project X760 and will initially be offered as a sedan, but Jaguar will also offer station wagon and a crossover variants. We also expect a more powerful R version with its sights set on the M3 and C63 AMG.
You have to remember that this is just a mule and looks nothing like the final product. Expect the Jaguar XS to hit the market in 2015.
Back in 2007 Daimler, Renault and Nissan signed an agreement that will bring new models and technologies to all the three companies. For Daimler, this partnership will bring a new model placed under the current A-Class that is rumored to be called the X-Class.
The new X-Class will be launched in 2018 and will be built on the next-generation Renault Clio platform as a competitor for BMW’s front-wheel-drive vehicles.
Mercedes will try to keep the price as low as possible - somewhere in the €20,000 area ( around$26,000 at the current exchange rates) and for this the new X-Class will be heavily influenced by Renault and Nissan models, but it will still offer the minimum of luxury offered by the Mercedes models.
Under the hood, the upcoming X-Class will get a new 1-liter three-cylinder and a 1.5-liter four-cylinder, while a hybrid or an electric version and a double-clutch gearbox are out of the question.
The X-Class will be offered in both sedan and crossover variants and Mercedes expects to sell around 100,000 to 150,000 units annually.
With Daimler choosing to cut the Maybach brand, there is now a huge gap in the luxury automaker’s line of vehicles. Despite how hard Mercedes tries, it simply cannot compete with super-luxury brands, like Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Well, that was until Mercedes announced a Pullman edition – longer – of the upcoming revised S-Class.
Even with that announcement, we still have no clue when the model will be unveiled or exactly how long it will be. That is, until today, as our slick spy photographers have snapped seven shots of the 600 Pullman and one of those images caught the new S-Class sedan in front of the 600 Pullman. You can clearly see that the 600 Pullman is a good 6 to 12 inches longer than the already-long S-Class. This extra length is thanks to the addition of longer B-pillars and significantly longer rear doors.
We expect to see a twin-boosted V-12 engine under the 600 Pullman’s hood initially, but don’t be shocked to see a hybrid drivetrain to make its way onto the market. We’re not too sure if the Pullman will make it to the U.S.
In an interview with AutoGuide, Scion FR-S chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada, explained that the Open Top Concept was the next logical step for the GT 86, but he also confirmed that the company is not done with exploring possibilities with the FR-S lineup. Tada explained that the he wants to do with the sports coupe the same BMW did with the Mini family.
It looks like Tada is set on pushing the car’s body to its limits and wants to add at least one sedan and shooting brake version - the latter one being specially developed for his five dogs. His words, not ours.
In the same interview, Tada talked about the new collaboration between Toyota and BMW that will bring a new sports car to the two companies’ lineups. The company is hoping to obtain "a product that none of us could have imagined; something more than anyone expects." We are wondering if this new sports car will also end getting more body versions like Tada would like to see from the FR-S.
