Reviews

First Drive: 2011 Porsche 911 Speedster

Dec 23 2010

First Drive: 2011 Porsche 911 Speedster

First Drive: 2011 Porsche 911 Speedster

It’s rare. It’s fast. It’s expensive. Meet the 2011 Porsche 911 Speedster. First shown in October at the Paris Auto Show, the $204,400 humpbacked 911 arrives at U.S. dealerships early next year.
On paper, the rear-wheel-drive 911 Speedster appears to be a heavily optioned 911 GTS Cabriolet, albeit one with a bubbled tonneau cover. Having just driven the new GTS with the 408-horsepower 3.8-liter flat-six and Turbo-width rear track, we knew going into this drive that the uprated equipment makes a good foundation for the Speedster. Building on the GTS’ enhanced mechanicals, the Speedster also gets the seven-speed PDK dual clutch, Sport Chrono Plus, Porsche Active Suspension Management and Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes. Take it or leave it, this is the only way the Speedster comes.

Source: AutoBlog

Jeep Extreme Trail Edition Camper Review

Dec 22 2010

Jeep Extreme Trail Edition Camper Review

Jeep Extreme Trail Edition Camper Review

All that stood between us and our chosen camping spot was 100 yards of loose rock – Precambrian granite that formed slippery masses of pebbles and shards, which ranged in size from as small as a quarter to larger hunks resembling a freshly sharpened axe head. It’s difficult to walk on with hiking boots, let alone drive across.
Did we mention we had no intentions of pitching a tent? No, what we had in mind was a fire, a few hot dogs and a nice warm bed with a roof over our heads. There are only a few vehicles in the world that we would trust with the success or failure of our weekend getaway, and the Jeep Wrangler happens to be one of them.
Better still, we were piloting one of Jeep’s shiny new Trail Edition Campers, which was firmly attached to the trailer hitch of a Deep Water Blue 2010 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. This, boys and girls, is how camping is done properly.

Source: Autblog

2011 Kia Optima 2.0T – First drive

Dec 20 2010

2011 Kia Optima 2.0T – First drive

2011 Kia Optima 2.0T First drive

By this point, you should know all about the excellent new turbocharged, direct-injection four-cylinder engine from Hyundai and, by extension, Kia. We’ve spent plenty of pixels gushing about the engine’s power and efficiency when lodged in the nose of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T, and judging from our time behind the wheel of the 2011 Kia Optima 2.0T, the engine is no less at home lighting up the tires of the newest sedan from Kia. Buyers looking for a four-door with a little more edge than the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry or even the embiggened Sonata will be happy to see that the newest interpretation of the Optima wears some seriously aggressive sheetmetal outside to go with some of the best power and fuel-efficiency in the mid-sized sedan class.
Kia says that the Optima 2.0T was built to be the Sonata’s more menacing cousin, and in addition to the sedan’s brawny lines and 274-horsepower four-cylinder turbo, the company’s engineers folded in a firmer suspension and reworked power steering system for a more athletic driving experience. The changes may not be enough for us to call the 2011 Optima 2.0T a sport sedan, but they do serve to give the vehicle a significantly different flavor compared to the 2011 Sonata. We jumped into the driver’s seat of the 2011 Kia Optima 2.0T SX to find out just what those changes meant on the road.

Source: AutoBlog

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