Car Throttle

Top Ten lists are a longstanding tradition with automotive journalism outlets. And why not?  People love a Top Ten list (it gives them something to argue about!), and man, they're not exactly hard to throw together.  The issue is that the vast majority of them are fluff, crap, really just a slap on the back to whichever manufacturer schmoozed that rag the most that year. ('’) Well we here at CarThrottle don't subscribe to that happy, shiny version of things.  To be honest, a large number of the cars on our roads are complete, total junk.  This has always been obvious.  The world's full of Chrysler Sebrings and Kia Amantis.  But there are even cars trying to pass as performance vehicles (which is a heavy focus

Tiny economy cars are, by nature, not all that exciting. The challenge is creating one that's both good at being a cheap economy car, as well as being a car people actually want to own.  Whether it's related to how expensive gas has gotten lately, or the fact that it's just an attractive car, it would seem Ford already has a home run with the Fiesta even though it hasn't hit dealers yet based on the press hype around the car. The new Fiesta has been on sale in Europe for about a year now, and has been flying off lots like it had wings and was free.  Ford is using the Los Angeles motor show to debut their sub-Focus entrant for the US market, and it's

I've been waiting for this one for a while now. There's been a severe market shortage of small, fuel-efficient, genuinely fun-t0-drive two-seat coupes, pretty much since Honda dropped the CR-X and replaced it with the useless del Sol.  It's of no surprise, then, that it would be Honda to pick up the mantle of the tiny two-seat pocket rocket with a modern interpretation of the beloved CR-X. And you can't say the time isn't right for such a car.  These days, everyone's concerned with efficiency, but that doesn't mean people don't still care about fun.  This strategy is the whole reason that Honda sold every CR-X they could import in the '80's, even with the ridiculous Honda dealer price gouging that was routine back when there was

Excuse me for being excited, but it's been a while. And by a while, I mean 12 years.  And by "it" I mean the introduction of a new 9-5.  We've heard a lot about the car that is to save Saab (if anything will) here on CarThrottle, but Saab has finally put out it's official set of press releases for the new 9-5 and now we've got all the little details to share with you.  On paper at least it looks extremely promising in a lot of regards, but the proof's in the pudding...  or at least behind the wheel.  Still, get 'em while they're hot: new Saab 9-5 specifications! As you probably know, the new 9-5 sits on the Epsilon II chassis shared with the Opel

Fast wagons are cool. I don't want to hear any whining, it's the truth and you know it.  With that out of the way, the pool of truly fast wagons has just grown by one, and I have to say I'm pretty smitten. The E63 wagon isn't a new concept - in fact, they've been selling E63 AMG's in the US the last few years - but this is AMG version of the new E-class wagon.  So while the engine doesn't change (much), the body of the blitzen Benz is all new, and man is it good looking.  With a nod to Autoblog for these images, wouldn't you say this is one of the meanest looking wagons ever made? The engine is still AMG's bespoke 6.2L 32v

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It's worked for a lot of cars in the past, hasn't it?  How about the Jeep Cherokee?  The Fox-platform Mustangs?  One could definetely say that Mini has a tried-and-true formula, and thus "ain't broke."  But apparently Mini's strategy of selling cute, sharp handling sports cars disguised as hatchbacks (to the rate of 30,000 units YTD in the US, which by the way is about 23,000 more than BMW's own attempt at small premium cars, the 1-series Coupe) isn't enough, and they're adding more models. Now, I think this is ridiculous, but I suppose diversity isn't a bad thing.  We've already covered the interesting looking Mini Coupe here, but the interesting news is that it and a drop-top sibling are

There's a metric ton of exciting new metal coming out at Frankfurt this year. The list is pretty long:  R8 drop-top, Ferrari 458, a bunch of cool concept cars, a new Bugatti, supercars galore, little diesel-hybrid things, and god knows what else.  What am I most excited about the debut of, though?  ...A Volkswagen Golf.  Well, this Volkswagen Golf, to be particular. This is the new Golf R20, the high-performance variant of the new MKVI Golf/Jetta chassis.  You may notice a name change, and you're not to be blamed for thinking it isn't for the better.  The R20 replaces the Golf R32 as the top dog in VW's staid, sensible family hatchback range.  Where as the previous Golf R32 had a howling 24v 3.2L VR6 motor (a

It's sad, but it seems that Audi has finally figured out how to make a proper Saab. What am I talking about?  Alright, if I told you that there was this really nicely equipped car with four doors and a visible hatchback, tons of grip, lots of safety equipment, refined and modern design, and an engine that combines tons of power with surprising fuel economy...  You'd probably think it was a Saab. But sadly, this is the real world, and modern Saabs continue to disappoint.  Hey, something had to take the spiritual place of the 9000 Aero.  I suppose I'm fine with the fact that it's an Audi.  And why am I whining, then?  Well, mainly because Audi hasn't see fit to stamp "export to USA" on

I gotta say, I'm getting pretty sick of it. By "it" I mean the constant stream of newly released tasty hot hatches that will never see the light of day in the US.  I can dream, though, right?  There's liable to be a few such debuts at the Frankfurt show, and we've already covered one - the luscious Fiat 500 Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari.  It's also likely we'll see an RS version of Audi's attractive A3 hatch, packing my personal favorite current production engine - the TT RS's 5-cylinder DI Turbo motor.  And you can add Alfa Romeo to the list of manufacturers I hate, because they're debuting an especially tasty version of the adorable little MiTo hatchback. Called the Quadrifoglio Verde, it sits above

Frankfurt seems to be the show to debut your exotic supercar at this year. Already we've got the Mclaren MP4-12C, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing, the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Audi R8 Spyder, and probably the Noble M600.  Add the topless variant of Lamborghini's wild Reventon supercar to the mix, and it looks like it's going to be a killer show this year, economy-on-life-support or not. I honestly thought the Reventon was done at this point; it was limited to 25 units of production and all were sold to rich oil sheiks, or something.  Apparently Lambo isn't done with this futuristic-looking range topper, or perhaps they want something mental to compete with the Aston One-77.  The Reventon is still just a Murcielago with a really cool