Dan Neil: Rumble Seat
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The 556-horsepower sedan is a speedster that provides superb cornering and control in a refined and seductive package.
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Dudes, it’s as sleek and cool as a certain sports car. There’s even a TV. But what if you want toast?
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Europe’s Car of the Year is fun to own and drive -- not least because of its fuel economy.
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Where are the hot-cool small cars, the drive-all-night cars, the panties-on-the-mirror cars?
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The total family package is high-functioning and deserves a good home.
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And it’s solid and safe, with charisma to boot.
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Thanks to the A4, a troubled Audi was recharged in the ‘90s. This time the brand doesn’t need saving, but the sedan comes back looking like a hero anyway.
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A rejiggered product from Down Under, the G8 tries hard to please. Just don’t compare it to the BMW 5-series.
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The popular crossover has lost the boxiness and gained a few inches. In other words, there’s more space for your legs, plus the skis, bikes or kids.
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Growing numbers of travelers venture to remote and fragile places knowing that their presence makes matters worse. Here’s a solution.
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As a reborn pony car, the fuel-inefficient Challenger is a retro stallion
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The GM import is as entertaining and nimble as its German cousin, the Opel Astra.
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Finding solitude in Joshua Tree National Park -- albeit with a satellite phone, GPS unit and locator beacon. Call it ‘e-survival.’
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The sedan has the requisite sparkle and performance, but feels like a luxury car wrapped around an economy powertrain.
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The best-selling small SUV in Europe vrooms to American shores.
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A marvel of power and speed, the all-wheel-drive GT-R coupe is so safe and serene that it’s curiously lacking in thrills.
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The new luxury sedan has all the sparkle and power you’d expect. If they could just do something about that grille.
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The 200-mph supercar, basically a Porsche Motorsport version of the 911 Turbo, is all the scarier for its effortless ways.
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The Murano’s new front looks more aggressive, but not much has changed on the road.
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The 135i packs a lot of oomph into its little body, but those looks . . .
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The little car that could grows out but, whew, not up with the Clubman.
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In looks, ride, even in sound, a Ford Mustang edition pays proper homage to a legend.
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The eight-speed IS-F brings swift splendor to the high-performance luxury club.
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The new Audi TT is a bolder, sleeker version of its old self. Yes, still the designer’s dream car.
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Computer-like precision kind of takes the fun out of it.
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A sneak peek shows the truck-nugget tackles today’s big issues: driveability, fuel efficiency, space.
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The Subaru Impreza WRX STI is still rowdy enough to delight true believers. Yet nuance is part of the story in ’08.
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Infiniti’s feisty little hatchback protects car and driver with its lane sensors and AVM cameras.
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The Tahoe Hybrid is smart, smooth and strong, but it’s a lot of vehicle for a little environmental progress.
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Heavy on the technical -- and on the bulk
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It’s average, but that’s a good thing.
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Mercedes GL320 CDI is just fine, but it’s another SUV in a world that should be thinking green.
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From stem to stern, Audi’s S5 Coupe is one smooth operator, all refinement and lubriciousness. Get it on the highway, and it moves like greased lightning.
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Plagued by reliability issues, the company is doing damage control with its new C-class.
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The Chrysler Town & Country Limited -- quick, comfortable and commodious -- is a patriarch among minivans.
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Overindulgence done right, Mercedes-Benz’s CL63 is luxe lightning.
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If you didn’t sign up in 2004, you’re outta luck.
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The Accord EX-L’s quieter, safer, more middle-of-the road. Just like its target audience.
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Automobile Columnist
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Upgrades inside and out give the coupe a more refined feel.
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The late actor’s Ferrari goes to auction this week. Auto critic Dan Neil slips into a machine from another age and drives like a Bullitt.
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With a nifty and satisfying sport-utility like this in its portfolio, the automaker may save itself yet.
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Chrysler’s ’08 Sebring Convertible has a nifty roof mechanism. But things go down quickly from there.
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The C30 could mark the emergence of a species: Volvo rockinus.
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The classy automaker goes ultra-sassy with a supercar for grown-ups.
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Ford’s new offering is quite a looker, and much more affordable than the luxury brand.
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Looks aside, there’s plenty to praise in the 2008 Scion xB -- more fun, more substance, more room inside. And isn’t beauty an inner glow?
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Pumped up and powerful, this Mercedes brings a racy pedigree to the street.
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SOMEWHERE in Germany, rich guys are geschwinging around in their 400-hp, mega-dollar Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Black Series, the excessively excessive version of the company’s yar little roadster.
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The 2007 Tundra competes in the large pickup market with all the right gadgets
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LAS VEGAS Visitors take laps and clock their times at the speedway.
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You can get away from the dealing and into wheeling, on two wheels or four, tracks or dunes. Racing schools can help kick your visit into gear.
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In Germany, automakers are in fierce competition to come up with the most jaw-dropping shrines. Car-loving travelers, come peek under the hood.
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Porsche’s 911 Turbo for 2007, the class of its class, simply laughs at lag.
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No question, there’s a lot of bunny for the buck here. VW’s re-engineered Rabbit is agile, sturdy and quite a catch.
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With the Sky, GM has polished up its vision for a darty little two-seat convertible. In a Saturn, no less.
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In the Mercedes CLK 63, any pangs of conscience get blown right into the countryside.
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Acura’s RDX isn’t perfect. But it’s fun, attainable and has a lot of personality.
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Heavy and sluggish, the 2007 Caliber forgets about fun. Sorry, Dodge, but what were you thinking?
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The weekly auto review takes a giddy spin down the streets of Pasadena in the world’s first vehicle -- and reflects on an era when wheels like these first touched the pavement.
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Sales and quality are way up at Hyundai. Nevermind that the boss is in jail.
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The carmaker stumbles with Sedona. Nice trimmings can hide only so much.
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But odd snout aside, Jaguar’s XK has a sultry, sinewy style. Sports car fans: Prepare to be hooked.
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The frugal and frisky Mazda5 ‘space wagon’ has a place for everything, including four kids.
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The 9-3 SportCombi is one sweet Swede, a slick wagon that shows what the company can do when it sticks to its roots.
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Volkswagen pulls its fine-tuned Phaeton from the U.S., where performance is important but badge image is everything. Really, it never had a chance.
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Like a Trojan horse, Camry sneaks gas-saving radicalism into a trusted American staple.
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Like other hybrids, this Honda makes you feel good by saving gas. But it looks cool too.
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Think luxurious. Think flash. OK, even hybrid. The Germans are. (Think about that, L.A.)
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Not since torch-wielding peasants chased Frankenstein’s monster through the town square has such a noble spirit been so mercilessly taunted.
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Plenty of pound-feet -- that’s torque -- help make the ultra-performance version of Mercedes’ E-Class one of the best cars in the world, if not the best.
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A lighted fuse of polished elegance and high ambition, Chrysler’s latest riff on the history of car design is bound to hold up well over time.
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If you ever despair that the U.S. auto industry is whirling, slowly but with gathering momentum, down the tubes of history, the second-generation Toyota Prius will give you no comfort.
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The xB from Toyota’s Scion brand is a kind of stereo on wheels, aimed squarely at Japanophile Gen-Y buyers barely old enough to drive. Parents won’t get it, but that’s the point.
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Nissan’s super-sized Pathfinder Armada is aimed squarely at Detroit’s most profitable piece of the SUV segment. But do bigger ends justify bigger means?
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With its futuristic, look-at-me XLR convertible, GM’s luxury brand delivers a diamond in the rough.
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All that’s missing from the well-engineered TL is personality.
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The all-new Bentley Continental GT is a feast for the senses as well a drain on the wallet
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Supercharged and hyperactive, the Mini Cooper gets the ‘Works’
