Car Throttle

The McLaren MP4-12C is a supercar that has been in the works for quite some time. McLaren Automotive has put a staggering amount of attention to detail in to the car, obsessing over the final product. That has resulted in a bit of time before announcement last year and delivery of the production model next year. CarThrottle attended a preview of the vehicle last month and was quite impressed with what we saw. One of the few things about the car that hasn't been known for certain - pricing information, has now been revealed for global markets. Until now pricing for the MP4-12C has been pegged in the $250,000-range. While the United States has yet to see pricing officially released, that looks to have been

Cheap tires anyone? The Red Audi A4 1.8TFSI S-line that I last wrote about was previously running some pretty good Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires. Sometime after writing the article about its exhaust system mod, the A4's proud owner - Zairul - took a good look at the A4's tires as he had to take a long, 1,000km round trip for an upcoming festive holiday. That long hard look translated to a requirement of new threads. Another round of extremely good, but hard riding Michelins or something else? You see, Zairul reckoned that the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 made his Audi suffer from a harsher ride than what was expected. The Audi basically came on these 245/40/18 tires, which gave fabulous grip, wet and dry. It

The current Viper saga is finally coming to a close. Last year, the future of the car was in doubt as Chrysler hit financial hard times. After they attempted to sell and only received one long-shot bid from the now-defunct Devon Motor Works, many thought they would be shuttered. However, the Viper plant was actually the first Chrysler plant to resume production after the bankruptcy. It was then announced that a new model would be introduced in 2012, in cooperation with "Italian operations." The current model's production is being ended soon to preserve the value of the current run. As such, the last run of current Vipers is set to end this summer, with the 50 Final Edition models. As far as special models go, the Final Editions are pretty

Its no secret that those of us at CarThrottle are big Audi fans. The two-doors (of course) are our favorites. Other than the R8 for its budget supercar qualities, the A5 and TT would have to be our two favorites, and they have the advantage of being more attainable. Last year, the Audi A5 got the brand's 2.0-liter TSFI four-cylinder instead of the 3.2L six. That dropped the price by $4,700, to $36,000. The TT is getting that same engine for 2011, making 211 horsepower. That is an increase of 11 horsepower from the 2010 model, but the big news is the increase in torque - by some 51 pound feet, to 258. From there on out, the changes get a lot smaller - per usual for a mild freshening. Details

For all the excess of yesterday's post, why not counter that with a little bit more understated and, a-hem, responsible SUV. In this case, it's the latest version of Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, the G350 which now features a BlueTEC Diesel plant under it's large, square hood. No, the Mercedes Geländewagen isn't the freshest face on the block, it's been around, more or less unchanged since 1979, but it seems to be one of those evergreen designs that keeps selling, and Merc keeps updating where applicable. In this instance, the German automaker installed a new, state-of-the-art BlueTEC diesel into their wheeled box. The G350 has a new V6 diesel mill that puts out a respectable 210 horsepower and a very respectable 398 lb-ft. of torque. It also gets

Why Volkswagen, why? Why on God's green Earth won't you sell something like the Polo here in The States? Yeah, I know, market research says blah-blah-blah, but this car, specifically the Polo BlueMotion could fill a hell of a great niche (if you ask me). And it seems to be about as big as a Golf from a few gens ago, so why not? VW just started taking order is Europe for this latest addition to their Polo line. The Polo, which some term a supermini, can be had in the German home market for €16,500, which is about US$24,200 at today's exchange rates. Seems like a good price for a well screwed together car, if you ask me. And it seems like it would a real

There has been a bit of a pre-Christmas lull in automotive news, but everything is set to return in full force with the the North American International Auto Show taking place next month. Mercedes-Benz is making use of the opportunity to release information and pictures on the new E-Class Cabriolet. The new E-Class Cabriolet is the replacement for the vehicle previously known as the CLK Cabriolet. For this generation, Mercedes is calling them E-Class Coupe and Cabriolet, despite still being based on the smaller C-Class model. The Cabriolet is a traditional convertible, using a fabric soft top, but that doesn't mean that it isn't technologically advanced. Mercedes has a motto of  "four seasons, four personalities" with the Cabriolet, and there are a number of things that are designed

With McLaren branching out developing a complete lineup of supercars, Mercedes-Benz decided it was time develop a new one of its own. Uniquely, the job was tasked to Mercedes' in-house performance division, AMG. AMG is best known for it's performance variants of Mercedes models, but this was an all-new, dedicated model apart from anything else currently in the Mercedes lineup. European pricing information on the car has been announced has been announced. It is surprisingly less than what what was projected, coming in at 149,000 euros (around $223K USD at current exchange rates), before the 19 percent value added tax that brings retail price for the standard car to 177,310 euros ($266K). For America, the price before VAT should be closer to the pricetag we will get.

Acura's latest product, the "four door sports coupe" ZDX, is set to go on sale December 15th of next month. With the on-sale date fast approaching, the company has released pricing information and fuel mileage estimates on the ZDX. This follows BMW's release of pricing information for the 5-Series Gran Turismo. Acura has chosen to price the ZDX right in the middle of the $40K-range, coming in at $45,495. At that price, standard features include "the world's longest panoramic glass roof" and a hand-stitched leather dash, center console and door panels. The ZDX comes available with one engine across the lineup - a 3.7-liter VTEC V-6 that provides 300 horsepower and 270 foot pounds of torque mated to Acura's Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). It also achieves class leading

Suzuki is a brand that has a history in motorsports - dirtbikes, ATVs, motorcycles - you name it and Suzuki makes it. Not only that, they rank quite highly in doing so. Ask about their automobiles on other hand and you'll get a different answer, as Suzuki has found it difficult translating that excitement to its automotive division. That is something they are looking to change with a product offensive here in the United States. That plan begins with the Kizashi - its name translated from Japanese means "something great is coming." Today Suzuki has announced pricing for the trim levels of the entire lineup. There are four: Kizashi S, SE, GTS and the most upscale model,  SLS. As rumored, the base Kizashi S comes in at only $18,999.