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

Cars and Coffee is always an opportunity to see both the newest, coolest stuff (the first Nissan Leaf I saw was at Cars & Coffee) and some old classic iron as well.  It seems like each month there's a "star," a car that people crowd around to get their first good glimpse of.  Guess what it was this month? If you guessed it was the Fisker Karma, you'd be correct.  There was a crowd around the Finnish-built extended-range electric vehicle like flies around a pile of rotten fruit.  Errr, bad metaphor.  And if that looks like a GM LNF (which I really need to stop writing about), that's because it is.  This is the first Karma I've seen in the flesh, and the overall impression

Every car lover's calender starts with a new batch of machines on show in Motor City. I'm talking, of course, about the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. The city is famous for being the beating heart of the American motor industry and at the start of every year all the world's manufacturers congregate and show off their new products to see what our stateside friends think of their latest offerings. Here's a half-time round-up of the motors on show for 2012 from each stand from the day so far. Bentley Two new Continentals broke free from the covers at the Bentley stand; the V8 coupe and V8 GTC Cabriolet. Little differences to tell these from the bigger W12 on the outside include a gloss black

If I were to make a list compiling the positive and negative things about the Mustang Shelby GT500, it'd go a little like this.  On the plus side:  Enough power to pull an entire trailer park.  Enough power to eclipse the sun with tire smoke on accident.  Enough power to win a tug-of-war with a Panzer tank.  Enough power to stand up at the United Nations and bang it's shoe on the table screaming "we will bury you!" and everyone takes it seriously. On the negative side:  it's heavy, it's got most of it's weight on the nose so it's either understeering or killing you, it's expensive, it gets 0.3 miles to the gallon, it's slathered in Shelby stickers, and most of all:  with the 412bhp

Here's Part II of the SEMA Preview coverage.  Alternative title: Turbos, widebodies, big brakes and roll bars, oh my!  In the previous post I covered GM, Mopar, Mazda, and Hyundai.  Now we're moving on to Toyota.

Toyota, Lexus, and Scion have always had a strong presence at SEMA. This year will be no different, with all three divisions bringing concept cars in a futile attempt to convince us the brand is still interesting. Toyota's "big announcement" was the introduction of the F-Sport package for the new-generation Lexus GS350 sedan, which makes the car better looking (negotiable) but not any faster. The exterior gets 19" alloy wheels with 235/40/19 tires (RWD F-sports get 265/35/19 rears, AWD's are square), a more aggressive front

That's right, muscle car fans, Ford's seminal brawny coupé is abandoning its 1960's tribute act styling and going back to the future. It's a brave move, given that the recent 'Stangs have been such an overwhelming success, and that the car now faces its toughest competition since its birth, alongside the reborn Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger. So, why are Ford fixing the decidedly unbroken formula for the next car? Design boss J Mays, champion of 'retro-futurism' and he who penned the 2005 model going strong today, says it's time for a new car "to win all of the Mustang faithful yet bring the brand forward as well." Basically, it's got to walk the tightrope of hinting it's a Mustang, but "signal the Mustang has another 50

Ford's new 5.0L "Coyote" V8 is a potent motor. My short time behind the wheel of a 2012 Mustang GT left me with surprisingly little negative to say about the Mustang itself, and a mix of shock and admiration for the new 32v quad-cam V8.  It's such a quantum leap forward for Ford's pony car that you're left sort of wondering what planet it came from. An engine this good does a 3,600lb Mustang wonders.  So there's no doubt shoehorning it into other places will work wonders, too.  How about under the hood of a brand-new Ford Ranger pickup truck? This 2011 Ranger was brought to Blow-By Racing in Delray, FL for an infusion of a little more power.  Out went the old 4.0L Cologne V6,

I always make it out to Raleigh's Cars & Coffee event the first Saturday of every month. It's always worth it, even though I abhor waking up early, because there's always awesome stuff to see.  A lot of the same cars show up, so I won't show pictures of stuff you've already seen - for those you can check previous Cars & Coffee coverage here, here, and here. For starters, here is one of 337 Porsche 959's ever built, which was Porsche's rolling technical showcase that blew everything else out of the water in the 1980's, and set the standard for supercar performance.  None were ever imported to the US; it's likely this one has been fitted with the Canepa Design engine

Ford's iconic Mustang musclecar got a significant revamp for 2010, and a pair of new engines for 2011. While the 2005+ Mustangs have always been pretty nice cars with a decent amount of punch, for a while they were playing for customers without any real competition.  With the introduction of the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger, Ford needed to up the ante: the 315bhp GT just didn't have much to say against the 426-bhp Camaro SS. The battle-tested 4.6L "modular" V8, which powered Mustang GT's from 1996-2010 has finally been retired, and replaced by a thoroughly modern V8.  The return of those oh-so-familiar 5.0 badges to the flanks of the Mustangs mean a nearly 100-horsepower bump over last year's model, but don't be fooled into thinking

A sales race that CarThrottle has consistently covered is the one between the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang. The Mustang, with its universal appeal and wide model range, has historically outsold its cross-town rival the Camaro. When the Camaro first launched, it was speculated that it would surpass Mustang sales, at least in the first year. That didn't work out though due to its late start. Last year, was the first full year of sales between the two. Despite Ford fielding the improved 2011 Mustang, the Camaro managed to outsell the Mustang by 7,655 units. This year, the Chevrolet Camaro gets a convertible variant as well as a high-performance ZL1 model to stir interest. Camaro Convertible sales haven't managed to kick in yet in a