Why you should buy this car: You're committed to buying a great-handling $30,000+ sports sedan, but the BMW 3-Series is too much money and the Subaru WRX STi is too much car. Being behind doors as thick as a bank vault's keeps your panic attacks at bay.
Read MoreExterior Design *** The S40 could be the best-worst looking car on the road. On one hand, its design is a thrillingly modern (or postmodern, if you re French) comment on traditional Volvo blockiness; on the other it s an awkward, slabsided mess. And that s not just from different angles - that s the same angle on different days. Go figure.
Read MoreWe re piloting the 2006 Volvo S40 T5 AWD test car through a mid-October rainstorm, both hands to the wheel, right foot goading the accelerator, eyes scanning for semis in the mist. We're swathed in a billion bucks worth of safety technology - a kind of structural beneficence granted by a kind country where 1,600-pound mammals tend to meander haphazardly into traffic. We show our appreciation for Volvo's thoughtfulness by dropping down a gear, shooting across two lanes, carving past a garbage tru
Read MoreExterior Design ***** The Sonata s schnoz is the fifth grill treatment across Hyundai s current model range. While it does nothing for the Korean manufacturer s branding, it s a segment winner: completely unobjectionable and instantly forgettable. From the side, the Sonata is an Audi doppelganger (especially where the rear pillars join the beltline). We d like to see Hyundai establish a unique design language based on Korea s artistic heritage. They want to sell cheap cars to risk-aversive, valu
Read MoreHello, my name is Robert and I m a sports car snob. [Hello, Robert — ed.] It s been a week since I last drove a Porsche. I ve had a rough time since then, but like the last guy said, it s all about taking life one nondescript set of wheels at a time. In fact, I was really proud of myself when I watched the lady who brings me the test cars drive off in the C4, leaving me with a Hyundai Sonata. I swear I didn t cry or yell or act out or anything. Sure, I was a little depressed. And I guess I shoul
Read MoreWhy you should buy this car: Because you re not a getaway driver, but you d sure as Hell like to be.
Read MoreExterior Design: ***** The 911 s highly-evolved form is a bit like democracy: you love it to the very core of your being, but you re not in love with it. The new gen 911 s Coke-bottle-meets-suppository shape is slightly more emotive, but it s still a sports car in an Armani suit: elegant without drawing attention to itself. In fact, let s face it, the damn thing needs spizzarkle. The beefier, wide-hipped C4 s adds a welcome bit of blingage, though not enough to worry the in-your-face aerodynamic
Read MoreThe Porsche 911 Carrera 4 has been described as the Swiss Army knife of sports cars. Hmmmm. As far as I know, no homicidal maniac has ever practiced his wet work using one of Switzerland s multi-bladed marvels, whereas the new C4 can dissect a twisting road and leave it for dead faster than you can say Benchmade Gravitator. Sure, the C4 is great in the snow, practical for kids and stuff, and cruises highways with mindless ease. But the all-wheel-drive Carrera is sports car as Armani-clad psycho
Read MoreWhy you should buy this car: You're a multiple-personality type seeking a luxury fix, but would rather not have to pop a dramamine every time you buckle up. Or you'd rather be in a sports car, but have kids (or more than one friend) or suffer from that fear of being flattened by a wayward SUV. If you're a retiree who wouldn't be caught dead in an "old guy's car" you probably won't do much better for the money. Of course, you could just head for Barrett-Jackson and pick up a '69 Firebird.
Read MoreExterior Design: **** With the Altima and Maxima starting to look like fraternal twins by 2002, Nissan resolved to keep designers of the next-generation models as far removed as corporately possible - the Altima team at Nissan Design America in La Jolla, California and the Maxima team at the Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi, Japan. As a result, the two cars became more like distant cousins, with the Maxima getting the most distinct corporeal arrangement in the entire US sedan market. One star w
Read MoreThe Nissan Maxima SL would have made a hell of a Buick. One shake of its golf-bag-devouring bustle, one blip of its throttle, and the fictional Buick Maxima would have drawn a crowd of Geritol guzzlers on the lookout for something Detroit is loathe to give them: a hot toddy spiked with a shot of adrenaline. A measured dose of Cialis, not a foot bath in Epsom salts.
Read MoreWhy you should buy this car: The MX-5 is the bonsai tree of sports cars: a perfectly formed thrashmobile writ small. All the roadster s major controls work with infinite precision and perfect linearity. There s so much intimate feedback through the wheel, pedals and seat that the Moroni Monroney [window sticker] should include a XXX rating. For people who drive for driving s sake, it doesn t get much better than this — at any price.
Read MoreMan, remember when Saleen Mustangs used to be a stripe, engine and interior package slapped on a Fox-Body GT; essentially Shelbys for the late '80s? Well, with the introduction of the Speedster and Scenic Roof S281 models, those days are as toasted as a box of Thomas' English Muffins in a chemical-plant fire. The Scenic Roof offers a glass top (which begs the question, why didn't they just give it the Full Roth treatment and go the way of the bubble?), that reportedly "captures nature s unsurpas
Read MoreThe guys at Swedespeed posted some shots of Volvo's newest modded up off-road concept car, the XC70 All Terrain (AT), which it plans to unveil at the SEMA show next week. Inspired by the Baja 1000 race, it's got tons of performance and off-road tweaks, including a worked-over (Garrett turbo, modified software) version of the 2.5-liter inline five from the R sport wagon, producing 408hp. Too much to list. Make offer.
Read MoreOh happy, joyous, carefree day of days. To anyone who has ever replaced a nearly full can of WD-40 because they lost the red straw (or worse, stolen a replacement straw from a can on the store shelf — you know who you are, cretin), raise an aerosol can in a silicone-y salute. The WD-40 people recently issued a press release announcing the arrival of the Smart Straw, an invention that makes the old, detachable straw obsolete. The company is officially launching the new can of silicone at the SEMA
Read MoreIt exists! Along with a sporty little hardtop convertible, one of the models in Malcolm Bricklin's plan to import Chinese-built Chery cars to the US is a crossover wagon, which Bricklin unveiled in concept form at the Shanghai motor show late last year. Now, The Car Connection has procured some shots of a close-to-production version in partial anti-spywear, as it was being transported to a Ford transmission factory in Cologne, Germany. It's got a distinctly MPV-like height, which will go over pe
Read MoreJalopnik s exploration of the tension between art and commerce in the review sections of various US car mags continues. Meanwhile, we couldn t help but notice a stunning example of this literary sub-genre in the 11 October issue of Brit weekly Autocar. Although Spyker doesn t advertise within Autocar s glossy pages, Chris Harris article on the Dutch automaker s C8 supercar is the single best example of this car sucks but I m not going to say so in so many words review we ve ever read to date. As
Read MoreAgain, LeftLane News holds its ear to the European buzz machine, reporting on a story in an unnamed French magazine that Nissan is working up a 450Z sports coupe — powered by a worked-over version of the 4.5-liter V8 US buyers know from Infiniti's M45/ Q45 / FX45. The new sportster will likely find a spot between the 350Z and the upcoming GT-R in Nissan's line — unless of course Nissan launches the US GT-R as an Infiniti, which we're not betting on. We're assuming that V8 is the "punchier engine
Read MoreWe once asked a Swedish friend of ours why the engineers of that nation are so obsessed with automotive safety. She simply replied, "One word: 'MOOSE!'" Apparently the engineers in Munich didn't get the moose/elk memo, because when the Swedes put the car through their standard elk-avoidance tests which requires a sudden sharp swerve, the 5-series failed the loaded-down portion, although it passed the unloaded, driver-only section. Apparently, the ESP isn't engaging quickly or forcefully enough,
Read MoreWe love the Hecklerspray guys, and apparently, that groovy kind of love is reciprocal. We linked to their bit on the Volvo 245 last week, and this time around their Chris Laverty takes on the Fiat X1/9, a lovable little Bertone-designed mid-engine car that never really caught on in the states, but it deserved to. Somewhat of an Italian Fiero, the diminutive two-seater was also confusingly sold via Fiat dealers as the Bertone X1/9, which we suppose also somehow kinda makes it the spiritual forebe
Read More· Nano Nano: Scientists Build Molecular Car But will we find parking at the molecular level?
Read MoreMan, we are so behind the curve on this one. But forgive us if you've seen this parody of the F&F franchise, "3 3ast 3 3urious." It's really one of the funniest parodies we've seen in a while. The way the narrator gets frustrated by all the 3s substituted for letters nearly put us away.
Read MoreGM Retirees may have to unfix some of their fixed incomes to pay up to $752 each year for health care if a cost-cutting agreement between GM and the United Auto Workers is ratified by UAW workers next week. Hourly workers would defer $1 per hour in future raises and pay more for prescription drugs. All in all, the deal is expected to save GM 3 billion a year before taxes, an amount analysts estimate will translate into a reduction in cash outflow by $1 billion. Reaction from workers, who blame G
Read MoreAt the 2001 Tokyo motor show, the weird geniuses at Japan's Mitsuoka Motors showed off the radical Orochi concept, based on the Acura (Honda) NSX, appearing to be the result of a botched George Barris experiment involving a late-model Mercedes-Benz SL, a Lamborghini Murci lago and five or more hits of brown acid. This year, the company unveiled a spider version of the Orochi, literally "nude top," in Tokyo this week. We're not sure if it still rides on the underpinnings of the discontinued NSX,
Read MoreGod knows why GM introduced their car blog. I suppose somebody s teenage son thought they should have one, so have one they do. The electronic dialogue s net effect on GM is precisely nothing — save the chance it affords kvetchers and kiss-asses to parade their prejudices. And yet Maximum Bob Lutz persists in posting. Once again, his unedited comments offer a fascinating (if unintentional) insight into the strategy and mindset of GM s top car guy.
Read MoreLexus took the wraps off the concept sedan that likely introduces the design direction of its next-generation flagship LS. His sleekness uses V8 power augmented by a gas-electric hybrid-drive system and AWD. Word is, this arrangement will be become the new LS standard. No word on whether BMW will sue for infringement of its 7-Series trademark rear-end.
Read MoreThe boys swaddled in blue ovals have been remanded by the courts to fork over nearly four mil in restitution to the family of a woman killed in a rollover accident in which she died. The vehicle? Predictably enough, a Ford Explorer. Now, we've never been really big on Fords constructed after 1932, but that's a personal preference. Setting that aside, driving any manner of body-on-frame, pre-ESP SUV or truck assumes a greater matter of personal responsibility, both for oneself and for others (and
Read MoreThe British press likes to pretend they've got it all figured out. Of course, so does the American media, but the Brits do it with such a blend of understatement and outright paranoia coupled with a soul-grating "tsk-tsk" that it's really hard not to admire from a certain perverse point of view. This time they take on the American educational system, bringing up the case of a certain Krystal Brooks of Kentucky, a teenager who outran the destiny laid out for her in the adult industry by her paren
Read MoreWe've long maintained that a '32 Ford hot rod might be the ultimate car for a teenager. Every part imaginable is still in production, it's simple to work on, a rollcage can easily be added for more protection in an accident, powerful four-wheel disc brake systems are plentiful, and the engine power can be progressively and inexpensively upgraded as their driving experience increases. If something gets pranged, you simply replace it. But some kids just have to have a BMW. Reader Bill wrote in aft
Read MoreAutomotive writers serve three masters: their readers, the publication and the manufacturers who supply cars — but not in that order. While you re guessing who goes where, October 17th s AutoWeek provides yet another off-kilter example of a tri-cornered car hack struggling to balance these forces. Steven Cole Smith supplies this week s lesson in comedic tightrope walking: a review of Jaguar s Super V8 Portfolio entitled More Super Than Clark Kent. Hang on; shouldn t that be more super than Super
Read MoreMan, did we ever see this coming. While brand erosion's been a problem for American automakers since the 1970s, their latest bout with employee pricing caused all three of the Big Two-and-a-Half to take a hit in the cred department, according to a survey by badly-branded brand researcher Branddimensions. The issues at hand? Perception that the vehicles being offered at a discount weren't of the quality of non-discounted vehicles from foreign lands.
Read MoreWe received an irate e-mail from a reader accusing us of being "corporate tools" because we hadn't written enough about the workers' side of the Delphi debacle. In the interest of not appearing any more toolish than normal, we think that its tragic that many people (Delphi, we may remind you employs 185,000 workers worldwide) are in danger of losing their livelihoods. And it's a shame that much of it's due to corporate mismanagement. But it's also due to more competitive offerings from other man
Read MoreUK blogger Tom Garner has been covering the Pea Car, used in an ad for frozen vegetables, for days. Considering we've never actually seen the ad, we're kind of in the dark as to the car's allure, other than for the feat of materials engineering that permitted it to be in the first place. As far as the "Pea Car song" goes, unless someone from across the pond decides to capture it on MP3 and send it over, we're stuck just imagining it to the tune of "We Are the Champions."
Read MoreOh ye of much to say, rejoice with your bad selves. Starting today, Jalopnik is rolling out reader comments, beginning with select posts. Here's the catch: We're very busy fielding offers from the world's supercar builders for us to flog their products mercilessly at high rates of speed (um, yeah) and therefore have little time left for moderating comments. For that reason, we're following the lead of Gmail, and making comments invite-only.
Read MoreWhile Milo Aukerman and Bill Stevenson were hanging out in their van drinking bonus cups and waiting for no girls to call them in the middle of the night, little did they know that two decades on, van culture would be on the brink of extinction. The San Francisco Chronicle's Peter Hartlaub has crafted a loving ode to vanning; from '70s bong rips to '80s vigilante action with B.A. Baracus, to no-budget punk rock tours.
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