Car Throttle

The Chicago auto show is upon is, which means... well, some facelifts, some new models, but not huge news like Detroit or Geneva.  Still, new stuff!   Inside: Two new Acuras, perhaps the world's most powerful 4-seat production convertible, minor facelifts for a Datsun, a big ol' GMC, and a sweet new Kia they need to make pronto.  Oh, and some bad news on Fisker. Acura officially debuted two new production cars - the ILX (pictured above) and the new RDX.  The ILX takes over for both the Canadian-market CSX sedan (Civic based), and will replace the US-market TSX sedan (Euro Accord-based) as Acura's entry-level model.  Why don't they call it the Integra?  Dunno.  Power comes from three sources.  The base model has a 2.0L I4

Next year, the Corvette will be eligible for AARP membership.  America's sports car will be turning 60 years old, and the boys at Chevy have a surprise planned for the anniversary: the 427 Convertible.  Thankfully it's more than just a stripes and stickers package, (I'm looking at you, 40th Anniversary Corvette!) what with the LS7 under the hood. The 427 Convertible will be the first time that the Z06's LS7 (7.0L) V8 will be available in a drop-top Corvette.  Previously, the top dog convertible was the Grand Sport, which featured the LS3 6.2L V8 with goodies like dry-sump lubrication and launch control.  With 427ci of displacement, there's now a healthy 505bhp and 470lb-ft torque, making it the most powerful convertible 'Vette they've made yet.  A

I'll get straight to the point, this is the fastest and most powerful convertible Jaguar have ever made. If you happen to be near or in Los Angeles you can go and see it in the flesh with your own eyes at the LA Motor Show this week! The XKR-S cabriolet is fitted with the same 5.0L Supercharged V8 that you find in the coupe which produces 542bhp and 502 lb ft of torque. That means 0-60mph in 4.2 seconds and going up to 100mph only takes 4.5 seconds longer. This all adds up to a limited top speed of 186mph. To make all these figures possible, the supercharged V8 has had changes to the fuel mapping system and an active exhaust

For those who love the idea of the Mini Coupe but don't want a roof that looks like a baseball cap, I bring great news. Mini has released images of a new convertible version of the coupe called the Roadster. The new Roadster has a fabric roof, just like in the bigger Mini Convertible, but unlike it's bigger brother, the fabric roof folds away into its own storage compartment instead of lying on the back end. The roof is semi-automatic meaning that to put it down you would unlock a latch yourself and then the roof will fold away by itself. There are other differences with its bigger convertible sibling. The Roadster sits 20mm closer to the ground, the

The Ferrari 458 Italia is, by most accounts, already one of the most desirable cars in the world.  The mix of jaw-dropping styling, spine-tingling sound and acceleration, modern luxury, and cutting-edge technology means there's not much to criticize except the price tag.  So how do you make something many judge as perfect to be even more desirable? Well, cut the roof off.  Sort of.  While the F430 Spider (and the 360, 355, and 348 before it) all used power-folding cloth tops, the 458 Spider uses a metal lid.  Unlike most folding hard tops, there's very little origami occurring.  The roof is one single piece that hinges behind the passenger compartment, the tonneau flips up from the rear, and the roof flips under it, above the

Cadillac has been making cars people under AARP admission age actually want for a few years now.  Being a legitimate BMW competitor is a big step for a company that once peddled wares to those tired of their Buicks.  The resurgence at GM is alive and well - 10 years ago, who would have thought that Cadillac of all brands would be selling a 556-horsepower, 6 speed manual sports wagon that can rip off 4.0 second 0-60 times? What they don't really have is a "halo" model.  An exorbitantly expensive top-of-the-line vehicle that's more concerned with "look what we can do!" than profit margins.  And while the Ciel concept (from the French word for "Sky"), which debuted today at Pebble Beach, might not be that

I tested a Fiat 500 Sport about a month ago, and with a few reservations, I loved it.  Cute, characterful, fun to drive, well-equipped, efficient, reasonably priced; I've been extolling it's virtues to everyone that'll listen since then.  Fiat's only been back in the US now for a matter of months, but they've already added a second model to their lineup: the 500C.  As the name would suggest, it's a convertible - sort of.  So what's different?  How does it work?  And how does it compare to the 500 hard-top?   Read on to find out. The biggest difference between the 500 and the 500C is obviously the roof.  While a normal 500 has a metal roof and a hatchback, think of the 500C as having

Bangle.  Chris Bangle. That's all I can think of when I look at a BMW Z4.  I can see his trademark styling all over these cars, and when Bangle's Bungles first started hitting the road, all it made me want to do was punch babies and scream.  "How can he do this to us?  Our cherished BMWs!  He's ruining them!" But you know, the Z4 has been on US roads now since 2002.  That's 9 years to soak up the Z4's unusual styling, and to be honest it's rather grown on me.  Not to mention the fact that the Z4 wasn't actually styled by Bangle, the styling was directed by Bangle.  So if you want to punch someone, look up Anders Warming. Really though, the (E85-chassis)

Continuing along with the rest of the new stuff at NYIAS this year, welcome to Part 2 of our "best of the rest" coverage, a sort of all-at-once splurt of information to keep you up to date on the latest developments, without boring you to death with new paint colors for the Kia Optima.  Here we go. 2012 Subaru Impreza Sedan/Hatchback Subaru has finally come to their senses with the Impreza.  While it's always been a relatively fun-to-drive car even in non-turbocharged form, it hasn't really experienced great sales in the economy-car market compared to more conventional rivals.  The biggest reason would be the big-car fuel economy in a small, unrefined package.  The current Impreza 2.5i makes a fairly impressive 173bhp from it's single-cam 2.5L horizontally

We showed you a spy photo of the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet yesterday. The real, official thing debuted at the Los Angeles Auto show today, with a price tag and lots of pictures, and I have to admit that I'm still just as confused as I was before. The whole idea behind the CrossCabriolet is to provide a convertible for people that want a useful, comfortable, spacious convertible - not an impractical sports car.  There aren't many convertibles that can seat 5 people in comfort along with carry a lot of luggage, and most of them have absurd price tags.  (The Bentley Continental GTC comes to mind, here.)  So a Murano convertible makes some sense in theory, actually - it's just the execution is a bit hard to