We just got back from the greater New York City area, where we covered the latest stop of the 2019 Hot Wheels Legends Tour. More than 300 folks registered their cars to compete for top honors, and the parking lot was packed all morning. We spotted several built VWs, a number of tuned imports, and
Month: June 2019
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sonic Automotive Inc. is moving its Long Beach Mini store in California into its nearby Long Beach BMW dealership and plans to fold a second Mini franchise inside a new BMW store it expects to open late next year in Houston. The nation’s fifth-largest dealership group is believed to be among the
By Simon Alvarez Posted on June 30, 2019 Being a relatively young carmaker compared to rivals such as Mercedes-Benz and McLaren, Tesla has dealt with growing pains over the years. Critics of the company have aggressively honed in on these challenges, constantly accusing the company of producing cars with bad build quality and substandard paintwork
Much like everyone else in the automotive industry, the Volkswagen Group launched a slew of SUVs in recent years to satisfy the ever-increasing demand. Across its mainstream, premium and luxury brands, the automaker has offerings in all sizes aimed at all types of customers. There’s – inevitably – some overlapping, though, and nowhere is that
Online disruptors have dramatically changed how we spend our money, whether on food delivery, taxis, TV shows or vacations. But while research into car buying has emphatically moved online, the actual car purchase has remained stubbornly linked to a physical dealership. The absence of an Uber or Deliveroo for car buying means automakers haven’t felt
Jeep can’t actually sell a Wrangler or Gladiator with a V-8, so by god, the aftermarket will carry the torch. Meet YouTuber TheStradman, a mad man who plans to stuff a supercharged 7.0-liter V-8 into a 2020 Gladiator pickup. You know the engine better as the Hellephant crate engine Mopar revealed last October. It makes
The 71-year-old driver of a Jeep Cherokee has been arrested after he ran over and killed two sunbathers at the Sand Swimming Hole in Washougal, Washington. Local media reports that elderly driver David E. Croswell drove into the park and onto the beach at approximately 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. He was seen driving erratically throughout
Halfway through 2019, General Motors is running short on time to meet its goal of launching a large-scale fleet of robotaxis by the end of the year. Dan Ammann, the company’s former president who now leads its autonomous- vehicle unit in San Francisco, has GM Cruise cranking away to meet the ambitious plans, but it
Although Duncan’s original motivation was just to import the Figaro, once he’d established the pipeline to locate, purchase, import, and title cars from Japan, it only made sense to expand it to include other JDM cars, too. Now, Duncan brings in utterly unremarkable RHD mini-SUVs for rural mail carriers who want an affordable vehicle with
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. — Some days on his way to work, Miles Brandon lingers along the roundabout that takes him from Interstate 5 to the gleaming Mazda dealership he recently built here by the busy Southern California freeway. “When I come to work in my Miata, I can do an extra lap if traffic
Integrated fender flares make the body 3.5 inches wider, which makes room for new 20-inch by 11-inch carbon black forged wheels wrapped with wider Pirelli 305/35ZR20 tires for better grip and handling. Before, the widest tire the Charger could take was 275. A wider body also allowed engineers to upgrade the suspension, Kuniskis says. The
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will idle its minivan assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, for five weeks this summer as it makes improvements and conducts maintenance, the company said. The Windsor factory, which produces the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan, will be down starting the week of July 8 through the week of Aug. 5. “Windsor’s
A Tesla owner has captured on dashcam a road-raging BMW owner vandalizing a Model 3 and now they are hoping that the footage will help find the culprit. Cory Janney, a Tesla Model 3 owner from the San Diego area, says that he was pulling into the parking lot of a local mall when he
Those looking to get a spacious car these days more often than not of put a number of crossovers and SUVs on their list. However, there are other vehicles that would do the job even better – and we’re not even talking about the large estates, but something that’s fallen out of favor with most
Five Japanese automakers including Subaru Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. are each investing 2 percent in the on-demand, self-driving vehicle service set up by SoftBank Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. Mazda, Suzuki, and Subaru, Isuzu Motors and Toyota’s compact car unit Daihatsu will each invest 57.1 million yen ($530,620) in the venture
BMW’s new concept unveiled this week was a 600-horsepower plug-in hybrid with 62 miles of electric range. The car is thought to preview a dedicated BMW M sports car to replace the i8 early next decade. Lightyear One A Dutch EV startup by the name of Lightyear unveiled a sedan claimed to offer one of
A woman running across Interstate 30 in Dallas caused a crash between a pair of pickup trucks and, had things gone a little differently, could have easily been seriously injured – or worse… Dashcam footage of the incident shows a woman, appearing to have grey hair and a blue top on, run in front of
Subaru of America wanted the Ascent to outshine the brand’s last three-row crossover, the Tribeca, and Subaru believes that’s happening. The brand sold 69,305 Ascents in the first 12 months, a stark difference from the Tribeca, which sold just 76,774 units in its near-decadelong production run that ended in 2014. For all that the brand
Up to 1967, Ford had the upper hand in Trans-Am racing with its 289. But GM’s entry into the class, with the 302-powered Camaros, meant that Ford needed more power. At that point the Boss 302 engine was little more than a set of engineering blueprints. Ford borrowed a page from its NASCAR engine program
J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study is one race where Dodge has always finished behind the pack. But not anymore. This year, Dodge jumped into the top 10 for the first time, thanks to the segment-leading Challenger and to improvement by the Durango. The brand finished tied for eighth with Lexus and Toyota, ahead of FCA
Government says the move will keep costs down. All new government-funded electric vehicle charge points must have ‘smart’ technology from July 1, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced. After that point, any charge points backed by the government’s Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme must have the ability to receive, interpret and react to a signal,
Our Velar is a sculpture of sweeping exquisite beauty. Even though it has been on sale going on two years, our Byron Blue Velar was still receiving admiring looks from the quickly jaded denizens of coastal Los Angeles. In fact, a Velar has become one of the more frequent luxury vehicles I see in my
With the North American International Auto Show in Detroit moving to June in 2020, a new winter show is afoot. The Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich., outside Detroit, is organizing its own regional auto show to fill the void in January. Organizers are calling the Southeast Michigan Auto Show in early January a consumer-focused
By Simon Alvarez Posted on June 28, 2019 Every so often, an innovator with the capability to inspire and move people emerges. These men and women in the past have left their mark in society, and in this era, one of these innovators could very well be Elon Musk. And as the industrialist celebrates yet
Earlier this month, Honda put the spotlight on the Mean Mower V2 after it secured a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest accelerating grass-cutter reaching 100mph (161km/h) from standstill in 6.29 seconds. It also recorded a top speed run of 150.99 mph (242.99 km/h). Now, Honda has allowed CNET’s RoadShow
UAW members at a Faurecia auto parts plant in Saline, Michigan, ratified a new four-year labor contract Thursday that calls for significant wage hikes and a $2,500 signing bonus, the union said. A UAW spokesperson said Thursday that 83 percent of production workers voted to ratify the deal, along with 93 percent of the factory’s
Bit disappointed by the somewhat down on power CT4-V and CT5-V models Cadillac unveiled in May? Don’t sweat it as the automaker is preparing proper fire-breathing successors to the 464-horsepower ATS-V and 640-hp CTS-V. Prototypes for new CT4-V and CT5-V “plus” models were teased earlier this month at IndyCar’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, and now
American cars are known around the world as being big, heavy brutes and their sheer size (among other things) doesn’t make them that popular outside of the U.S. However, the owner of a Dodge Challenger in Taiwan is probably quite happy they drive a beastly muscle car as opposed to one of the small hatchbacks
TOYOTA CITY — The Akio Toyoda most people see today is the charismatic, car-crazy captain of industry who is just as quick behind the wheel as he is with a disarming, self-effacing joke. He is not just the frontman for the global car-making juggernaut founded by his grandfather. He is also a frontman for the
But Alan has had a different experience and disagrees with Consumer Reports‘ complaint: “Not reacting to brake lights and turn signals might be the right thing to do. Humans often don’t use a signal, or they leave it on and forget about it, which would be extremely confusing and contribute to what Tesla owners know