Car Throttle

FINALLY.  The friggin' Buick Encore is here.  All my dreams and prayers have been answered, I'm so excited I can hardly...

...oh, sorry, got caught up in Auto Show mode there.  I'm just glad we don't have to deal with teaser images of a small SUV any more.  Look, I love auto show season.  Even after years of this, it still gets my blood going - who doesn't like seeing new stuff for the first time?  But not everything that comes out at the auto shows are worth an entire article.  Thus, Car Throttle News Bites: Detroit Auto Show Edition.  If you missed the earlier coverage, you can find it under the Detroit 2012 Category.

Speaking of that

The Jaguar product range is a bit limited compared to BMW, Mercedes and Audi. However Jaguar have revealed to Autocar their plans for a new small saloon. It's not a compact executive rival for the 3 Series and A4 as anticipated though, it's actually a rival for cars that aren't even on the road yet. Let me explain what I'm on about, at the Geneva Motor Show back in March Audi revealed an A3 saloon concept which is slightly longer than an A3 hatch but smaller than an A4 saloon and Mercedes have done a rival to this called the CLC saloon which is basically a B Class with a stretched wheelbase but both of these cars are just concepts at the moment. Now Jaguar

The entry-level luxury segment is cut-throat - competition is rife in the form of the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Infiniti G, Cadillac CTS and many others all vying for sales. From this uber-competitive environment, Audi's A4 has emerged a formidable contender and it has helped to power significant gains for Audi as a brand against a history of well-made but inert vehicles. For many, rear-wheel drive is a prerequisite for competition in the luxury segment. For the most part we share that same view. A resurgent Cadillac and Infiniti have predicated their turnarounds upon their rear-wheel drive CTS and G models, respectively. Audi, however, is different. From the beginning it has set out on a course that has stayed true to its brand values that revolve

The world's filled with boring, mundane, unremarkable automobiles. For every SVO Mustang, there are 10,000 Camry LE's.  For every Alfa Romeo Guilia Super sedan, there are an untold bazillion Honda Fits.  That's just how it is: mainstream sells.  As it turns out, very few people actually want the diesel, all wheel drive, manual-transmission station wagon that internet car enthusiasts say would sell like hotcakes. Sometimes, though, some of the most interesting cars out there are born out of some of the most dishwater-dull transportation appliances.  Here's my top ten - as always, feel free to leave a comment telling me what I left out at the bottom!  On we go. 10) Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 Mitsubishi's Galant sedan is... hold on, let me go to Wikipedia, I can't

“Is it rocket science? Well for a newbie yes, it may seem like it. And con men will reassure you that it is and that you need to spend 8 thousand Malaysian Ringgit too.” The quote above came from my pal, Zairul Nizar, who was the owner of the fine Audi A4 1.8TFSI that I reviewed in a previous post. This was the Audi that had engine mount problems and was the Audi choked full of sensors and electronic gizmos. And this isn't the top of the line, full monty R8 or an RS4. Anyway, the local distributor decided to hand him a quote of over $800 for a pair of engine mounts. Now as the car was just out of warranty and being a sensible chap,

Perhaps the fact that most of my recent posts have been how-to articles tells you something about my preferred past time. While I like to write about cars, I love to work on them.  Sometimes that's reversed (see: Saab 900 water pump install), but besides driving, my favorite thing on this earth to do is turn wrenches on a car.  Now, if I didn't take forever and a day to do anything automotive-related, I could probably make some money with this.  But as a whole, I prefer writing about cars for a paycheck and wrenching on them as a hobby; I think if I added stress and deadlines to my wrench-turning escapades it would end in tears. So whenever I get the opportunity to work on

The other day I was listening to my friend explain about his current model Audi A4 1.8TFSI. This car is an amazing car, not because of how it drives or how it performs, but because of all of its systems (it does also drive well by the way). The car is packed full of electronics and sensors that would make the world's most advanced fighter aircraft seem obsolete. Let me tell you readers why I say this Audi is among the world's most complicated piece of machinery made by man, and why it is actually the catalyst towards machines taking over the world. This isn't a car, it's a space station. This friend of mine took it to a garage who is in good relations with the

Audi has been doing very well with it's model line lately, pushing forward as it works to expand it's reach here and abroad. I've been particularly impressed with the three models being discussed in the article, the A4, A5 and Q5. James just did a post covering the A5 Sportback. It's a shame it's not slated to arrive for the United States market! Why global markets would get it and not us - I have no idea. Audi has inched up pricing for the A4 and Q5. The 2010 Q5 now comes in at $37,350 (up $150) for the standard Premium model. Premium Plus and Prestige check in with rises to $41,400 and $48,850 for the Q5. Some option packages have been changed and added, as

From the recent spats with BMW and others bold moves, Audi has definitely been picking fights lately. 2008 was a record year for the brand and they want to keep that momentum going into 2009. The latest ones feature the Audi Q5 crossover launched last month. Way to go, Audi! httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9tzrmUN-7k httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8MTpaBUCpc These latest two ads take shots at Lexus. Kicking them when their down huh? Now doubt Lexus has been really hurting in this downturn and Audi has decided this is the time to really go after them. The Lexus RX is the segment's top vehicle in volume by far so it's the one with the target on it's back. In these ads, Audi is going after one of it's biggest weak points. I think Lexus has some more problems other then

The second-coming of the butch station wagon seems to be upon us. After Saab's debut of theirVolvo XC-clone, the Saab 9-3x, Audi is following up at the Geneva show with their own butch pseudo-off-roader station wagon.  Based on the mid-sized A4 Avant, the A4 allroad Quattro is basically a smaller version of the A6-based allroad, which has been around since 1999. It's a pretty simple formula: take a standard station wagon (or Estate, or Avant, or whatever they're calling them this week), raise the ground clearance a bit, tack on some black rubber body cladding for that "tough" look, and there you go.  This is what Audi's done with the A4 allroad. Outside, to differentiate the allroad from standard A4 Avant, Audi has given it a