Car Throttle

2011 was undoubtedly Car Throttle's "Year of the Swede". Thanks to Volvo UK's generosity and support of CT, we managed to get our hands on nearly every model in their line-up from the S60 to the XC60. We even managed to captain some scallywags across The Solent in a Volvo Racing Yacht; definitely one of my highlights of the year. So it comes as no large surprise that we would choose Volvo, especially after the passing of their younger Swedish brother Saab, to kick-start our 2012. However this time we chose to steer clear of the family saloons, older-gen estates and pricey SUV's and instead took on a car right up your alleyway, fellow youngsters. Yes, the 2012 Volvo C30. With a starting price of £14,995 though

Custom, custom, custom. Let me say that again, custom. I'm not just ripping off a catchy EA tagline when I say "It's in the name" because it really is - the smart BRABUS Tailor-Made is tailored to you and it's likely you won't find another one on the road quite like it. So when this fortwo Cabriolet rocked up on my doorstep, I ignored the annoying lack of capitalisation on smart and fortwo and took it for a test drive. The results? Well you can see the funky video on YouTube and in the embed above: 2011 smart BRABUS Tailor-Made ForTwo Review (phew that's a mouthful!) Not familiar with the badge? The chaps behind smart were the same ones behind the swatch customisable watches in the

There's a long precedent of rappers referencing cars in their songs.  It's part of the baller lifestyle: huge house, lots of skeezy women, and a gold-plated Range Rover with 38" gold-plated wheels.  Since rap these days is all about conspicuous consumption, it's part and parcel. But as much as we like seeing Jay-Z and Kanye cut the doors off a Maybach, weld sheet metal fenders on it, and drift it around an industrial parking lot, there's something amusing about local rappers laying down a track about... their Volvo.  Awww, hell yeah son!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKOVF1qwPzI

The above video is by Seattle-area rapper Grynch, and I actually kinda like the song.  I mean, not just because I'm partial to ancient Volvo station wagons - it's a

If you're an avid Car Throttle fan, you'll know that we have a strong tendency to not do things "by the book". Take a simple car video review. Our "in-depth" research on YouTube has found far too many boring car reviewers (read: 50-year-old, bald blokes) who love to spout performance figures, chassis materials and snigger subtle digs at manufacturers who produce car fodder. Whilst there's a room in the reviews market for lateral G-ratings on a skid pan and all the knowledge that the older generation may bring to the table, us young Throttlers are developing videos which give a more rounded view of new vehicles, combined with some attempted banter and searching storylines. And where possible, we like to give individuals other than myself, the opportunity

In the rankings of current automobiles, the Ferrari 458 is near the top for performance.  It's a seriously fast car.  A combination of engineering, Italian want-factor, and space ship styling puts it on the top of a lot of people's Christmas lists.  Even though it's the "baby" Ferrari, it can smoke 99% of cars on the road.  A 4.5L direct-injected V8 in the middle cranks out 562 horsepower, with a 7-speed twin clutch automated manual banging out shifts at the 9,000rpm redline.  Car & Driver tested a 458 Italia against it's two closest competitors - the McLaren MP4-12C and Porsche 911 GT2 RS, and it put a hurting on their test equipment - 0-60 in 3.0 seconds flat, 0-100 in 6.5, quarter mile in 11.0

What's green, potentially venomous and loves to slide? Okay, so your Car Throttle correspondent still hasn't mastered the set-up of a good one-liner, but the answer as you probably guessed isn't your back-garden adder. No. It is instead Skoda's 2011 Fabia vRS and whilst you might laugh that off from merely glancing at the car, let me explain why you'd be foolish to cast this off as a poor man's Polo GTI. Please allow me to firstly guide you to our video review which is embedded above. If you've been watching enough television, you will have seen Skoda's new attempt to re-market the sweet, made-out-of-cake Fabia using the dulcet tones of one Julie Andrews. The time has come however, for the Fabia to be rebuffed as

Toyota FT-86 Concept, Toyota GT-86, Toyota 86, Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ - wow has this car had a lot of names or what? There has been wall-to-wall coverage of Toyota's much-anticpated enthusiasts entry. We're sure it is a welcomed change for Toyota, who has mostly endured negative coverage pertaining to recalls, quality issues and well...boring products. In the United States, the car is badged as the Scion FR-S, and it was just revealed in Los Angeles with few changes and a cheapened interior versus its Toyota counterparts. We thought the era of rebadging was over, but apparently Toyota didn't get the memo - there are very few changes between the Toyota, Scion and Subaru models. Now, two new videos have been released from Toyota and

The 2+2 sports coupe segment is one of the most competitive in the auto industry. In the corner of the rings are heavyweights such as the Audi TT and Porsche Carrera, all the way up to cars with undisputed championships belts such as the Ferrari FF. However, a new fighter has emerged from Continental Europe in the form of the Peugeot RCZ. The famous Pug lion is now surrounded by letters, not numbers, and certainly seems to have the styling to boot. With a sleek and low chrome-insert grille all the way around the derriere to the double-bubble roof and twin sports exhaust, from appearances alone it's clear that Peugeot have come out all guns blazing in an attempt to shake up the TT-dominated market. And at

Form67.net makes some of the coolest videos on YouTube.  They mix art and automobiles better than most of the pretentious fish-eye-lens-and-Supra crowd out there.  Their videos are always worth a few minutes of your time. This new one, "Mechanical Synfonica" is pretty awesome as well.  It combines beautiful women, an Audi RS5 and an E92 M3 battling on a mountain road, and a Symphony.  If nothing else, it'll make you smile for five minutes (and four seconds.)  Check it out:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmYU0mpCQgU

Not a huge fan of a Rieger body kit on an M3, but the scene where the M3 and the RS5 both pull out of the gravel with wheels spinning more than makes up for it in my eyes.  And the contrast of

Nobody is content with their age. The young and juvenile will do anything to grow up quickly and start living life, whilst the old will do almost anything they can to regain their youth. It's one of the overriding themes of life and it's a thought which springs to mind when I muse over Volvo's 2011 V60 sports wagon. It's not just a sports "wagon" either. No, the Swedish manufacturer have labelled this big-booty estate - as we call it here - with the keyword dynamic. Is it just a buzz word? Perhaps. But it's only once you spend a week with the car, as I was lucky enough to do, that you realise that the V60 possibly does contain that special change agent which allows it