Toyota will officially announce the launch of the Prius as its own vehicle line at the Detroit Auto Show in January with the introduction of two new versions of the popular hybrid. The unnamed new production model has been teased in the past and is believed to be an MPV-style vehicle with more functionality and...
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Toyota has officially taken the wraps off its new Japanese Vitz model, sold here as the Yaris. That might not at first be obvious, as the sub-compact has received quite the makeover, with an edgier design. It might not get your heart racing, but it won’t send you into a coma where you’ll dream about...
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While we’re thrilled to have the new 2011 WRX STI on sale here, as usual, Subaru Japan has one-upped the U.S. offering with the new 2011 WRX STI Spec C. The Spec C packs 304-hp and 317 lb-ft of torque from its 2.0L powerplant thanks to a revamped ECU and ball-bearing twin-scroll turbocharger. In addition...
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Nissan recently announced it would showcase a total of nine vehicles at the upcoming Tokyo Auto Salon, and the Japanese automaker has now decided to take the wraps off its collection in advance of the show. Above is the Leaf Aero Concept, which Nissan says is a peak into the future at what electric cars...
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Beauty, it seems, is not in the eye of the beholder. True, while there’s some wiggle room for opinion, ugly is ugly and when it comes to the styling of a vehicle, the number’s don’t lie. Acura has been highly criticized for its styling since it first introduced its beak front-end design with the 2009...
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In addition, Lexus will broaden the range of sport packages, offering them on the RX and new entry-level CT models as well as the IS sedan. These sport packages will incorporate different suspension and chassis tuning and where applicable, more performance oriented driveline features.
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Nissan is set to showcase nine models at the upcoming Tokyo Auto Salon, with the star certain to be the GT-R RC (Racing Edition). Based on the production GT-R, the Racing Edition is built by NISMO specifically for track duty and will meet FIA standards allowing it to race in different series throughout the world....
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There are a lot of rumors surrounding the next Subaru Impreza WRX STI, with some reports suggesting it will go diesel, while others point to a hybrid version. And while we don’t yet know what the decided powerplant will be, we can guarantee it will include AWD, go like stink and look awesome! OK, so...
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n the Civic’s case, it drops from a four-star overall rating in 2010, to three, largely due to a side impact test where it earned just two stars. Other small cars fared about the same or even worse.
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Nissan has unveiled the design of its new global compact sedan at the China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition. Going by the name Sunny in China, it will be badged as the Versa in North America. Historically, the Sentra and the Sunny were the same vehicle, but that began to change two model year’s ago when...
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Lexus appears poised to introduce a hybrid version of its ES luxury sedan, based on documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The fact that luxury brands insist on using alphanumeric badges for their cars makes deciphering a new name child’s play. The proposed name for the new model is the ES300h, which...
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The recession may prove to be a saving grace for Acura, which was forced to cancel its plan to be a tier-one luxury automaker as resources and the market for such vehicles dried up. “The direction we were going became irrelevant within 60 days,” said Steve Center, marketing boss for American Honda in a recent...
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Original Wraps has developed a sofware program that allows owners of Nissan’s new commercial van to create their own logos and designs on the Nissan Commercial Vehicle Website.
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The Ariel Atom is one of the most pure driving machines on the planet. It has no doors or windows or roof. It’s essentially an exoskeleton shell with all its moving parts exposed to the elements, including the driver. Since it has very few parts, it is very light and that makes for an incredible...
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Analysts at Goldman Sachs’ Japanese arm have a dim forecast for Toyota, projecting an operating loss through the 2013 fiscal year, with Goldman predicting continued sales downturns in the United States, Europe and Japan, which comprise Toyota’s three biggest markets. Toyota sales, hammered hard by recalls earlier in 2010, are not projected to keep pace...
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Armored cars are an expensive proposition, nearly always costing well above $100,000, and for this reason, they’re rarely anything but luxury sedans or SUVs. The problem with this phenomenon is that the places where armored cars are really needed, discretion is often better than driving an ostentatious bling-mobile. Texas Armoring, one of the leading armored...
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Nissan is keen to maintain the Versa’s appeal as a value driven small car, as a result, the base sedan with a five-speed manual gearbox has a MSRP of $9,990 which is unchanged from last year.
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143,8003 Honda Fit hatchbacks from the model years 2007 and 2008 are being recalled in North America due to a defect that could cause the low beam headlights to stop working. Plating on the vehicle’s headlight connector has been identified as the culprit, with the automaker stating that it “can become warn after repeated use...
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Hot on the heels of Mitsubishi’s joint venture announcement with Nissan comes word that the Japanese conglomerate is developing all of their future products with the ability to use hybrid or electric drive technology. Mitsubishi’s German spokesman, Helmut Bauer, would only give a cryptic statement to a German magazine, claiming that “Every new car we...
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If you’ve ever taken an auto shop class, you’ll remember the shop cars as being anything but desirable. K-Cars, T-Body GM’s and Ford Panthers involved drug related homicides often littered the garage area, while a crusty old teacher instructed you on the finer points of rebuilding a 3-speed automatic transmission. For some lucky kids in Orange County,...
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Finalists for the North American Car and Truck of the Year have been announced, with Chrysler dominating the truck field, and electric vehicles comprising 2/3rds of the car category. The Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee, both built on the same platform, were nominated in the truck category, as well as the re-designed Ford Explorer....
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The 1999 and 2000 Honda Civic Si (known as the SiR in Canada) have been named as Canada’s most stolen cars, with the 2000 model taking the top spot, and the 1999 following it. Previous years have seen the Subaru Impreza WRX, Acura Integra GSR and Integra Type R claim the title, but the Civic...
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The Honda Fit and Mazda 2 will headline a new racing class, known as B-Spec, that’s been designed as a new showroom stock racing series. The rule set is expected to be finalized within the next 60 days, and both the SCCA and NASA sanctioning bodies have expressed interested in adopting the class. Using OEM...
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It follows the format of traditional American large commercial vans like Ford’s E-Series and the Chevy Express/GMC Savanna, featuring body on the frame construction, rear wheel drive and a choice of relatively large capacity gasoline engines.
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