Preview: Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Concept

[svgallery name=”Porsche_918_Spyder_hirez”] Along came an electric Spyder On the road to production, Porsche previews its hybrid super sports By John LeBlanc CARMEL VALLEY, CALIF.—The idea of an electric-gasoline hybrid with supercar performance is the automobile industry’s version of man’s goal to reach the moon in the 1960s. Over the past year, Audi, Ferrari, Lotus, Mercedes-Benz […]

The Crank: Ford thinks knowing your horoscope makes for better driving

Going against every known study proving modern drivers need less, not more distractions while behind the wheel, Ford keeps making its Sync system even more complex. Remarkably, Ford is adding daily horoscopes (along with stock quotes, movie listings, airlines, rental cars and hotels) to vehicles equipped with the cloud-based SYNC app Traffic, Directions & Information […]

Video: More of the “fastest M3 ever”

By John LeBlanc Just as we had the unveiling of the “fastest ever 911 ever” this week, fellow German automaker, BMW, has released the requisite Nürburgring video of its own “ultimate” ride: the M3 GTS. The Bavarian lads teased us last November. But we now know the ultimate M3 delivers 444 hp and a claimed  […]

Video: Aston One-77 hits the test track

By John LeBlanc If Aston Martin’s restyled-Toyota-iQ-based-Cygnet (debuting this week at the Geneva auto show) has created any doubts of the brand’s purity, crank up your speakers and listen to the soundtrack of a prototype of its One-77 super car on track. Close your eyes, and the Aston sounds for all the world like McQueen’s […]

Bye-Bye 2009: Worst New Car of the Year

Story and photo by John LeBlanc Of the more than 100 new vehicles I drove this year, I have to admit none could outdo last year’s Dodge Nitro for outright ineptness. But then, perhaps thinking that it was concerned about a repeat award, Chrysler didn’t make one of its four-cylinder Sebring sedan’s available for me […]

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