Fun Facts

Last week, BMW removed the silk covers from the all-new BMW 3 Series G20. It is possibly the most important car revealed at the Paris Motor Show and definitely the most important car BMW revealed in the last three or so years. Yet, even on the photographs, one could definitely see that the 3 Series grew quite a bit. BMW reported a 2.9 inches increase in length. When I was working on that BMW 3 Series piece I was wondering just how big the new 3 Series really is.

The answer surprised me. The new BMW 3 Series G20 is bigger than the BMW 5 Series E39. Ok, not exactly longer, but I’ll get to that in a jiffy. Considering the E39 is basically my favorite car, I was almost annoyed, but then reason took over. I asked myself, how did we become so strangely obsessed with size and getting things bigger?

Revealed at “The Quail” as part of Monterey Car Week, the new Bugatti Divo represents the next step into the extreme for the company that produces the fastest car on the planet - the Chiron. The new car takes a slightly different approach to life compared to the Chiron. Apart from being extremely fast and ridiculously powerful, the Divo moves a bit more to the dynamism and cornering abilities, so the top speed is its second priority. While it is based on the Chiron, the Divo feels like a new car, and this made me list a number of facts and differences between the Divo and the Chiron.

Now, I did say that the top speed feels like it’s only the second priority for the Divo. Well, that second priority is at 236 mph.

Buick wants to do with its Avenir trim much the same what GMC did with its Denali. It is a pseudo-luxury sub-brand created to move usually mediocre cars into the world of utmost luxury.

Up until this point, Buick did just that with the Enclave Avenir, the LaCrosse Avenir, and the GL8 Avenir (only available in China,) but they’ve just revealed that the Avenir luxury trim will land on the Buick Regal Sportback.

In an expected turn of events, the Avenir trim line garnished the 2019 Buick Regal Sportback with serious luxurious gear differentiating it from the current top of the line trim called the Preferred II.

“Avenir sales have exceeded our expectations,” said Phil Brook, Vice President, Buick and GMC Marketing. “Buick customers value the exclusive styling, premium features and convenient experience Avenir provides, and we are excited to extend that successful formula to Regal.”

For now, the 2019 Buick Regal Avenir is available only in the Sportback guise with a 2.0-liter, turbocharged engine developing 250 horsepower, with a front wheel drive, and advanced nine-speed automatic transmission.

For a lot of us, buying a car comes with a lot of anxiety, especially when it comes to models that are going to cost a lot of money. But there are some models in the market that provide us with what we want out of a vehicle at costs that aren’t going to burn holes in our pockets. These models can either be attractive, have posh interiors, provide ample amounts of power, or are just fun to drive. In some cases, some cars check off more than just one criteria, though all of them have one common factor among them. They all cost at or less than $35,000.

Have you ever seen a front wheel drive car making a one wheel burnout? You have? Great! That’s the problem many manufacturers have been trying to circumnavigate or completely resolve on FWD cars. Not so much to deter you from making one wheel burnouts, but to make the car corner better and safer with putting down the power to the wheel that actually has some grip. The reason a FWD car (or any car for that matter) tends to send power to the wheel with least grip is the so-called open differential - a system designed to send power to the wheel with 50 percent of power reaching one wheel and 50 percent the other. However, as opposite wheels on cars must spin at different rates (like when cornering), the open differential cannot be locked, thus allowing for some extreme tendencies to send the power through the path of least resistance. Simply said - to the wheels with the least grip. Using this system saves a ton in R&D, the simple design of open differential makes it cheap to produce, and it doesn’t put too much strain on the various drivetrain elements. However, some tend to make fun of open diffs. “They are just like a one-wheel drive.” Is there any truth to this? After all, the power always goes to the wheel with the least resistance.

While an open diff works great in normal conditions (on a surface and in conditions that provide similar grip to both wheels,) more extreme circumstances (cornering fast, driving on slippery surfaces and the like) do limit its effectiveness fast. That is why manufacturers found a number of ways to circumnavigate these problems with mechanical means. Those cars using systems to defeat the limitations of open diffs are usually in the upper echelons of the car world, and I am presenting you nine of them.

Hot hatches have a major problem on their hands. Perhaps one they will not be able to overcome. Ever. This is the plot:

You are in your late twenties or early thirties, and you want something mad, rowdy, and catchy for yourself, but, as usual, the budget is a bit tight. A hot hatch seems to be the perfect fit for your dream Sunday morning stint in the mountains (or the occasional illegal drag race in the middle of the night down in Mexico.) A lot of “hothatchness” now resides in the 300 horsepower range, can hit 60 mph in low 5 sec (some even quicker) and have features with strange names like torque vectoring, damper control, dual-axis struts, and titanium exhausts.

Perfect!

You’ll buy one and be happy for a short while. However, after you actually find out that you simply do not have the time to visit twisties in the mountains (or will ever go down to Mexico, for that matter,) a strange thing will happen. The Audi SQ5 diesel SUV with a mildly reprogrammed ECU will line up next to you. Behind its wheel sits a middle-aged man with a smirk on his face, eager to impress whoever sits next to him. Your hatch and your heart are ready to rumble.

Launch control on, sweaty palms on the steering wheel, and eyes on the traffic light.

Let’s go!

Plot twist:

The black diesel SQ5 TDI SUV will smoke you, literally and figuratively. You’ll try to reason with the situation driving in your hot hatch with massive exhausts, shouty spoilers, and red paint job, but deep down you will have one thought, and one thought only - “WTF am I doing with my life?”

Do you not think this is a problem? Just take a look at how many overpowered SUVs are sold every year!

Now, this may not be the only reason why hot hatches are going overboard with power, technology, and, ultimately, price, but it is a part of it. Apart from being fast, they need to be cool or incredible in some [expensive] way and offer something more than just being fast.

These are all hot hatches with engines developing 300 horsepower or more. They were all made to liven up your life before someone with an SQ5, or its likeness takes it away from you in 5 seconds. Or less.

Revealed at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Maserati Levante GTS showed that Maser knows a thing or two about making really fast luxurious cars. SUVs or not. It does not matter to them. The new car features a Ferrari-built 3.8-liter, turbocharged, V-8 with 542 horsepower, can accelerate to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds, and it can hit a top speed of 181 mph. It is the supercar of SUVs. Or as Maserati would put it, the new Levante GTS is the Maserati of SUVs. I like this one better.

While this sounds really impressive, this is not the first time that Maserati smashed a Ferrari V-8 into the Levante. Only a few months ago, the Italian company revealed the Maserati Levante Trofeo with the same V-8 only tuned up to 590 horsepower. That one is a tad faster, a tad meaner, and $50,000 more expensive. Why in hell is the Levante Trofeo so much more expensive than the Levante GTS that is priced at $120,000?

With so many cars running up that awesome Hillclimb at the Goodwood Estate, one would expect to see a number of epic crashes. Well, not so much this year, but out of 8 or nine crashes, I have singled out 5 of the most amazing. We are lucky to have such a fantastically organized event where drivers can unwind their wheels and actually enjoy themselves.

Not crashing is actually a big thing here as a majority of the cars are, basically priceless. Imagine crashing a Rally Repsol Ford Escort from before. Or the Pre-war Silver-Arrow. This goes to show all the commitment and risks the drivers are prepared to take to be the best at Goodwood.

After all, we can see all the racers hitting the apexes and definitely following the famed words of Mario Andretti - "If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough."

I will be blunt - the public anticipation for the new Toyota Supra is overwhelming. I do not remember such a worldwide craze for a new car since the Tesla Model 3 debut a few years back. However, the Supra is decidedly different compared to the Model 3 - in its layout, in its character, and in its purpose. This is the second modern Toyota sports car (first being the GT86), and it builds on a massive legacy of its four predecessors. I cannot even grasp the risk Toyota took upon itself to make a car like this. The Japanese Automaker has some balls. With the first dynamic public debut at the hill climb of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Toyota Supra A90 showed a few quirks we did not know about before. Considering all the hype building up in advance, the debut itself was a bit underwhelming. Yet, an army of curious eyes and ears saw and heard things.

I am sharing with you five things we have learned from the Toyota Supra prototype at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

When Johan de Nysschen joined Cadillac in 2014, it seemed as if the luxury brand would finally reinvent itself. Marketing operations were moved from Detroit to Manhattan, a project that cost nearly $13 million, and a new strategy was penned. Among them, Cadillac began working on new crossovers, a flagship sedan, and replacements for the ATS and CTS. Four years later and De Nysschen was sacked, a move that raises questions about Cadillac’s future.

With the man seen as a visionary out of the picture, will Cadillac remain faithful to its original strategy to roll out one new model about every six months until 2022? And if so, what new markets will the luxury carmaker enter this time? We already know that Caddy is working on a replacement for the CTS, called the CT5, as well as a smaller CT4 for the compact market, but what happens after that. It’s difficult to predict, but I have my own list of cars that Cadillac should build as soon as possible in order to become relevant on the luxury market.

Continue reading for the full story.

If you’re in search of an SUV or CUV, then a decision has to be made - Do you need two-wheel drive or all-wheel drive?

The short answer to this question is as simple as it gets - if you have the luxury to think about 2WD and AWD, realistically, you do not need an AWD system. At all. AWD is one of those things that when you need it, you just know you need it, and you know why you need it. You would not be thinking of 2WD in the first place. Nevertheless, manufacturers seem to throw a lot of money into promoting AWD systems for their SUVs. This has become a feature that translated from something one may consider a driving aid to a mere entry on an options list you could mark. I submit to you five things to think about before opting for AWD.

As one of the best organized automotive manifestations in the U.K., the Goodwood Festival of Speed reached international fame really fast after its debut year in 1993. New car exhibitions coincide with the fantastic hill-climb course over which cars of all ages and shapes compete over a period of three days. The event gathers hundreds of thousands of people every year at the Duke of Richmond’s Goodwood Estate with some of the attractions including car testing, helicopter pleasure rides, music entertainment, extraordinary dining experiences, and much more.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed made such an impact on the world of cars that it shifted the car exhibition paradigm from something like an Auto Show to a three-day family event. The Goodwood Festival of Speed is like the Disneyland of cars, but there’s a lot of history behind the event, and this is its story.

Whether you’re a fan of electric cars or not, there is one indisputable fact that all of us have to come to grips with. Electric cars aren’t figments of science fiction anymore. They’re not even novelties anymore. Electric cars are real, and they’re going to take the auto industry over. In the years to come, more electric cars will hit the streets, and we best get used to them. The good news is that, as the industry shifts to electrification, there are some electric cars that are worthy of the hype being bestowed on them. You might even say that these EVs could shape the future of the industry as we know it.

When you think about it, Chevrolet is a producer of cheap, mass-produced cars. Its cars aren’t exactly something we’d call premium, however, some names under the Chevrolet umbrella definitely have that premium feel to them - most notably the Camaro and the Corvette. Have you ever witness someone comparing these two with the likes of BMW M cars or even Ferrari cars (in the case of the ZR1, for example). I am sure you have.

So, yes, these are Chevrolet’s halo cars- those which can, unlike the Trax or the Cruze, compare outside their imaginable segments. What if Chevy plans to do the same with the Blazer? To transform it from a classic cheap crossover to something one may even consider comparable to certain premium cars. The Blazer definitely has the right name and, probably, the right looks on top of that.

In this article, I will explore five ways the Blazer could compete outside its class. Maybe with cars such as the Jaguar F-Pace, the Infiniti QX50, or the Acura RDX. These are all five-seat, luxury, midsize crossovers, just like the Chevy Blazer. So, for the sake of this article, let’s forget about its true competitors - the Ford Edge, the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Nissan Murano, and the Subaru Outback.

As the only 8-passenger SUV in the segment, the Honda Pilot discovered a dedicated base of customers on the U.S. market. In an effort to advance their strategy, the company revealed a facelifted 2019 Honda Pilot only days ago along with the introduction of a smaller, updated 2018 HR-V. Naturally, Honda continuously probed the market, identifying the most important challenges customers faced when using the car. In that regard, Honda updated the Infotainment system, integrated more standard safety gear and, most importantly, brought back the volume knob. And yes; the problematic 9-speed transmission has been comprehensively overhauled as well.

Below are the five most important changes Honda made to the 2019 Honda Pilot.

Two-hundred, forty-two years ago, the Continental Congress declared the 13 American colonies to be independent of the British Empire, giving birth to the good ‘ole U.S. of A. Since then, we’ve busied ourselves by fighting wars, inventing stuff, and perfecting the art of consumerism, but who cares about all that - you’re here for only one thing. You want the cars, those tire-shredding, gas-gulping, speed-making all ‘Merican sports cars, baby. Welp, we’re gonna give ‘em to ‘ya, so put down that M-80 and read on.

Continue reading for the full story.

First introduced in 2001, the Aston Martin Vanquish enjoyed its position at the top of Aston’s lineup for roughly 17 years, most recently with the highly impressive Vanquish S released in 2017. Now, however, the Vanquish must give way to the even-more-impressive DBS Superleggera, the British brand’s latest V-12-powered range-topping super GT car. Indeed, the DBS Superleggera is truly a mighty thing to behold, but how mighty is it next to the outgoing Vanquish? Read on for the details.

Continue reading for the full story.

Making performance versions of performance cars somehow seems like a needless operation, but the likes of the Ferrari Speciale, the Porsche GT3 RS, or the Lamborghini Performante showed there is a market for these types of performance cars. Within the McLaren macrocosmos, we have the so-called LT line up. It is still a small lineup, but with the recent introduction of the fascinating, 600LT, the LT offering now includes the 675LT, the 675LT Spider, and the 600LT. However, there was a fourth LT car. The one that all modern McLaren LT performance beasts take a bow to. Their grandfather, if you like - the McLaren F1 GTR Longtail.

Matured under the watchful eye of McLaren racing engineers in the 90s for the 1997 racing season, the McLaren F1 GTR Longtail had such an imposing expression that it became an icon.

The McLaren Long Tail history may not be long, but it is full of cars that moved the bar within their respective segments.