Auto News and Reviews

The new 2006 Lotus Exige is a true driver’s car. Ok so the Elise is a driver’s car, but the Exige takes it to a whole new level. Although it may just look like an Elise with a hardtop, Lotus claims that the two cars share almost no body pieces.

The Lotus Exige uses the same 190hp Toyota inline 4 as the Elise. Though slightly heavier, what with the gigantic rear wing and the roof, it still weighs in at just a hair over 2,000 pounds, meaing each horse pulls just 10.6 pounds. Thus the little Toyota engine has enough to get you to 60mph in 4.9 seconds, and to a top speed of about 150 mph.

But as with the Elise, the Exige is not about straight line performance. The jarring ride of the Elise seems downright cushy when compared to the Exige. If you can live with that, though, you’ll find the handling is phenomenal. This is the perfect track day car that can be driven home when you’re done.

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After a three year run that could only be described as “abysmal”, Volkswagen is pulling the plug on the Phaeton in the US. Designed to compete with the likes of the BMW 7 series and the Mercedes S class, the Phaeton V8 started at a whopping $67,500. Throw in an insane 444hp W-12 engine, and the price is right up around $100,000.

It’s not that the car is not luxurious, but rather that most people just can’t seem to fathom paying such an exhorbitant sum for a Volkswagen. Plus, the 5,400 pound behemoth just doesn’t quite have the handling of the BMW, which can be had for about the same price as a V8 Phaeton. Seems to me Volkswagen would have been smarter to sell the car under the Bentley name. $67,500 would be cheap for a Bentley.

Yearly sales figures in the US for the Phaeton are numbered in the hundreds. Volkswagen had predicted that by now this number would be more like 10,000. Oops. The car will continue to be sold in other parts of the world, but sales abroad haven’t been impressive either, so I’d expect the car to be phased out entirely in the next few years.

Technorati Tags: volkswagen, phaeton, bwm, mercedes, cars, automobile

A near-final version of the 4th generation Nissan Skyline GT-R was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show. Nissan has stated that the concept car (shown here) is 90% finished. The car will go on sale in late 2007 as a 2008 model. It will likely be released in the US market as an Infiniti, and the Skyline name will be dropped.

It is truly a stunning car. I have to imagine that the grill and headlights will be toned down a little bit before release, but other than that I think it’s a great looking car. Word on the street is that it will feature a turbo V-6 that will produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 bhp. It’s not yet known whether the car will be rear- or all-wheel drive. Just my guess, but I’m thinking the drifters would be a lot happier if it were rear-drive. Then again, this is a $70,000 car, so maybe the target market would justify all-wheel drive.

This is going on the top of my “when I have a big pile of money” list.

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The 2006 Honda Civic Si has been called the best Civic ever, and more than once. The frumpy itty bitty minivan look has been abandoned for an all new coupe body style. Power has been increased to 197 hp, generated by a 2.0 liter 16v inline 4. This is pretty much the same engine found in the RSX Type-S, for significantly less money. The all new Civic Si starts at just a hair under $20,000.

As with the RSX Type S, the new engine in the 2006 Civic Si is a screamer. 197 hp is achieved by revving the thing to 7800 rpm. iVTEC kicks in at about 6200 rpm, giving a small turbo-like boost all the way up to the redline. While this is certainly fun, if you’re trundling around town in 5th gear at 30 mph, you’ll likely find that punching the throttle does next to nothing.

Overall the 2006 Civic Si is a huge improvement over the previous model, both in style and performance.

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The Honda Accord Hybrid offers spirited performance in a package comfortable for four adults. And it does this while giving you the gas mileage of a gasoline-only Civic. Honda claims 30 mpg in the city, 37 on the highway. Unlike the inflated numbers from the Prius, these should actually be about right.

The engine is a 240 hp 3.0 liter V6, pretty much the same as found on your ordinary Accord. The electric engine delivers another 16 hp and 100 lb-ft of torque. So you actually end up with better performance than with the standard Accord, particularly on the low end. Honda claims 0-60 time is improved by 0.5 seconds, to 7.5 seconds. Not too bad for a family sedan that gets 37 mpg.

Prices start at just under $30,000, about $3,300 more than the non-hybrid Accord.

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If the 300 hp Mustang GT just isn’t doing enough for you, you may be interested in the new Shelby GT500 model, to be introduced next year as a 2007 model. Exact figures aren’t available yet, but it’s going to be equipped with a 5.4 liter supercharged V8, producing somewhere between 450 and 485 horsepower, depending on whom you talk to.

The car is reportedly more of a driver’s car than the previous SVT Mustangs. Handling has been improved, even over the 2005 Mustang GT. Even at a fairly hefty 3850 pounds, the car covers the quarter mile in the 12’s.

Price is expected to start at around $40,000. Where else can you get nearly 500 horsepower for $40,000? Hats off to Ford and the SVT folks.

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The new Chrysler 300 is, to say the very least, an interesting looking car. I’ve heard people saying it’s the best looking car they’ve seen in years, and others have insisted it is the ugliest car they’ve ever seen. Pick up one of these, and you will be noticed.

The 300 is a bargain, starting at just over $23,000 for the base model. Of course, the one I’d really like to have is the Chrysler 300C (pictured here). That’s the one with the 340 hp Hemi and the big bling wheels. That will run you closer to $33,000, still a good deal for 340 hp in my opinion.

If you just can’t get enough power, however, there’s always the ridiculous 300 SRT-8 version. The SRT folks got their hands and this thing and went nuts. It’s got a massive 6.1 liter Hemi that pumps out 425 hp. And of course you need insane wheels to go with that kind of power, so they slapped some shiny 20″ chrome on. Wow.

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Don’t you miss the Chevy Cavalier? Um, me neither. The all new Cobalt replaces that tired model with something that’s actually interesting. It is of course particularly interesting if you spring for the Cobalt SS Supercharged model, which will run you somewhere in the neighborhood of $22,000, putting it in direct competition with the likes of the Dodge SRT-4. The Cobalt SS Supercharged is a good looking car. It’s got a rear wing big enough to make the STi’s cringe in shame. Well, maybe that wasn’t quite the goal, but the rear wing is a little silly.

On to the good stuff. The 2.0 liter inline four cranks out 205 bhp and 200 lb-ft of torque. With a curb weight of only 2911lb, the Cobalt SS Supercharged gets itself to 60 mph in under 6 seconds. Not bad at all for the price!

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The previous Subaru Impreza WRX was a fantastic car. It’s zippy 227 hp turbocharged boxer four left little to be desired. Plus it had four doors, looked good, and offered ample options for easy tuning. The only complaint among most was that if you tromped on the pedal while the turbo wasn’t spooled up, nothing happened.

The 2006 WRX fixes this by swapping in a new 2.5 liter boxer. Horsepower is only increased to 230, but torque improves by 18 lb-ft. The difference is noticable, and the car is infinitely more drivable at low RPM’s.

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