General Motors has announced that they will soon unveil a new compact car called the 2010 Chevrolet Cruze, ready for release by mid-2009. The fact that it will be launched at the 2008 Paris Auto Show in October, and that it will also be available in the United States, hints at a new “world” car that will rival the Toyota Corolla and the Ford Focus in international reach. The car has already been spotted undergoing testing in USA.
Ford has revealed the 2009 Focus RS hot hatch that they’re going to show at this month’s London Motor Show. Along with all the body-kit pieces you see in the photos, the car will pack a 295 hp 2.5-litre turbocharged 5-cylinder, using 410 Nm of torque through the front wheels, good for 0-100 kph runs under 6 seconds.
I was pissed when my PR dodo told me he arranged a test-drive during my self-imposed break from road tests. It didn’t help matters when he said the only car he managed to get was a Ford Focus. I went and picked it up today, with a minor confusion as Ford and Jaguar/Land Rover are separating their offices, for obvious reasons. On top of that, the tester turned out to be the 1.6-litre version, instead of the larger-engined one. However, it is in Ghia trim, with upgraded 16-inch wheels and 205/55 tyres. After taking it away and pulling it through some corners,
The new top-rung version of America’s favourite sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, has managed to a pull off a time of 7:26 minutes at Germany’s famed Nurburgring racetrack, driven by a GM development engineer. The ZR1 thereby beats the amazing 7:29 set by the “basic” Nissan GT-R recently (after setting 7:38 on a wet track earlier). However, the ZR1 has a tough battle ahead, as the prototype lightweight Nissan GT-R V-Spec has already been casually timed doing 7:25, while the pricey Lexus LF-A prototype has already pulled off a 7:24. Honda is already testing an NSX prototype,
Since one of our readers, Ali Z.Tabrizi, brought up the Cadillac BRX in a message to me, I figured I’ll use this vehicle to introduce the new incarnation of the Future Car Preview section, now rolled into this blog itself. As for the pictured Caddy, it is the Provoq concept, which was supposed to become a new crossover called the Cadillac BRX. The word now is that this will simply replace the slow-selling CTS-based SRX, thereby becoming the 2010 Cadillac SRX.
I figured I should go over Dubai’s heavily-hyped hybrid taxis a bit more, considering the general media is happy just reprinting press releases. Operated by the much-loved Road & Transport Authority (RTA), the cars — five Chevy Malibu Hybrids and five Chevy Tahoes Hybrids — are beginning their one-year trial to see if they survive the Middle Eastern heat and whether they actually save any fuel in this publicity stunt.
We spent the entire morning today at the Dubai Autodrome, driving around in the most unusual vehicle, at a German manufacturer’s launch event. But we will talk about that drive later, because we came home to have a new unrelated test-drive car delivered to our doorstep. And that new tester is the CSV CR8, which belongs at the track, but just to clarify, it’s not the car we drove at the track. As tired as I am, I took the CR8 for a 2-minute spin before typing out this note. And I am already sold on it. It is the most pleasurable driver’s car I’ve had the opportunity of piloting in the past year.
BMW, Hyundai and Hummer all have new GCC-spec cars lined up for the latest model year.
The 2009 Mazda 6 has finally been launched in the United States. It is interesting to note that the American version is actually a bit longer compared to the GCC model, with unique front and rear designs. Even better are their engine choices.
The American-built 2009 Honda Pilot has been unofficially unveiled in the United States. To be called the Honda MR-V in the GCC, it is definitely not a looker. It seems like Honda’s original design team went on vacation after the Civic redesign back in 2005, and hasn’t returned ever since.