Car Throttle

The joys of being an automotive journalist at an established print magazine? Spending your days testing vehicles like these for the rest of the world to pore over. Ironically, this test incorporates three of our most favorite vehicles from Audi, BMW and Cadillac all into one test - imagine that! One of which, the RS5, was just announced as coming over to the United States. There is no loser here - each one of these is fantastic high-end, high-tech machinery that we would love to have in our drive way. But what is the best of the bunch? Both Car and Driver and Motor Trend undertook similar tests, and produced video footage to prove it. C&D's footage-only video is first, while MT with its video review is second.

25 years is a silver anniversary, and a big milestone for a nameplate to reach. 25 years just so happens to be approaching for one of the most recognizable performance models for enthusiasts since its introduction, the BMW M3. Of course, it wouldn't be 25 years without a special edition model, and BMW has released just that to commemorate the occasion. It is dubbed Frozen Gray. The color is - you guessed it - gray. As far as the car's appearance, the unique color and special 19-inch wheels are the only differences over the standard M3. It looks cool, but perhaps not as exciting as another special edition M3 model, the orange GTS. Unfortunately, that car didn't make it to our shores. Inside, there is Fox Red and black

I left off with my previous post covering the BMW CCA V@V event somewhere in the E21 3-series era. There's a lot more German eye candy to drool over, so grab your mouse and a towel - it only gets better. I realized after posting the last article that one picture of a bunch of E30 M3's simply isn't sufficient for the magnificence of these homologation hooning specials.  While many of the box-fendered E30's were simply stock survivors (impressive enough), some of them were remarkably perfect example of this rare racer-with-a-plate. Now, I'm not 100% sure, but those look like E34 M5 "Ninja Star" wheels with black-painted centers.  Can't say I've ever seen that before - it's a good look for the E30, though.  There's no way

As far as new cars go, I'm not a big fan of BMW's. They've gotten big, fat, pointless, and impossible to maintain (with a few exceptions.)  But when it comes to classics, BMW's are one of the brands that really get my blood flowing.  So when my friend Paul told me there was going to be a classic BMW show at a vineyard in northwest North Carolina, I was interested to say the least.  It turned out to be one of the best shows I've been to in a long time - the amount of rare, desirable and perfect metal there was almost mind-blowing.  I shot nearly a gigabyte of photos (at a reasonable resolution) so even though this post is going to be a long

The BMW lineup is known as the "Ultimate Driving Machine" for the level of performance delivered by standard cars in the lineup. While that might be changing a bit with cars like the X1 being added, for the most part it rings true. The BMW M3 takes that even further, by any measure an impressive performance vehicle. BMW took the formula a step further with the orange, overseas market-only M3 GTS. Now comes speculation that BMW could be even going beyond that, with an M3 GTS-R. If a power bump, upgraded suspension and braking system, aerodynamics tweaks and a dieting program for the sold-out M3 GTS wasn't enough for you, more could be coming. More as in more weight reductions and more power, as well as further changes to

Last year, BMW released the most high-performance, hardcore M3 ever - the GTS. Sadly, it is German-market only special edition. Being limited production and with a pricetag of around $145k we doubt many would be able to experience it. That said, this year's run of 25 units has already been sold. BMW says it was "Born on the Racetrack to Live on the Streets” - and we would be inclined after seeing this video below. Take the powerful M3, more tuning and reduce weight from the 3704 pounds of the stock M3 to 3285 lbs and this is what you get. Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR_noVwr-58&feature=player_embedded

The BMW M3 is a perennial performance favorite, along with its bigger brother the M5. With that as a canvas, tuners sure have a lot to work with. Enter Vorsteiner, a company known for its GTS3 modification to the BMW M3. If that wasn't enough, they are introducing the GTSR3 package  to take things to another level. The new car is limited to only 100 units. It is like the GTS3, only on steroids. That means its like the coolest M3 ever. Lean and mean in matte green- check out that blacked-out BMW propeller logo. Nice! There is a whole new carbon fiber front bumper with modular splitter, front and rear fender flares, side skirts as well as a wide-stance rear bumper with integrated carbon fiber diffuser. Engine changes include

BMW has been putting an emphasis on new performance lately, in addition to efforts to expand the lineup by going down market. In the past few years, the X5 and X6 M has been added, and rumor has it that a M performance model for the 1-Series is in the works as well. BMW recently announced the M3 GTS, the highest performance M3 to date. Being German only and with no plans for it to be available in the United States, some increased performance for the M3 could be on the way. (BMW M3 Sedan from the United Kingdom Pictured) As if it really needs it! More performance = more $ though. Bimmerfile is the site with the scoop, saying to expect a similar competition package to the

The great thing about manufacturers competing with each other is that we, the consumer, wind up the inevitable winner. While Audi, Mercedes, and BMW continue to produce ever-more-powerful cars just to keep up, we get more and more choices.  When the (B8) Audi S4 came out last year, it narrowly managed to capture the "most covetable small sports sedan" title from the previous standby choice, the twin-turbo 335i.  The supercharged V6 Audi has a more sophisticated AWD system, more power, better fuel economy, and just in general a little bit more of everything. Well of course BMW isn't going to just sit on it's hands and say it's good enough.  That's not the nature of the beast.  And although it hasn't been officially announced yet, it's one

On Thursday, BMW unleashed their high-performance M3 GTS. The GTS is a $170K, lightweight take on the M3. "Born on the Racetrack to Live on the Streets" is BMW's tagline for the GTS. No new pictures have came out since Thursday, but something better has.

BMW has released not one, but two videos showing the car doing a bit of track time. The first was just a teaser. Unfortunately, the car isn't slated to come to the United States. Oh BMW, you do tease! I've included new high-resolution versions of the previously released GTS images in addition to the videos. Enjoy!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7wh2FixhXs

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