Meandering along Sunset Boulevard through Beverly Hills, swank California home to movie stars and media moguls, we're ensconced in a GT-style machine that presents a tightly sculpted body and muscular fender bulges rippling around enormous low-profile tires with a sensuous arch of a roof drawn over the cockpit. And beneath the exaggerated prow there's a powerful engine primed with enough horsepower to spin those rear rollers till the rubber rubs off. Read More »
2012 Ford Taurus SHO Performance Mid-Size Sedan
For those who count, the power numbers work out to 104 horsepower per liter. The twin-turbo-six ties to a six-speed electronic automatic SelectShift transaxle with steering-wheel paddle shifters and standard all-wheel-drive (AWD) traction. ...Ford's muscular sedan looks classy in a bold design for the body with arching silhouette and taut character lines cut into flanks between bulging wheel arches -- note the powerdome hood and flashy three-bar grille forward of articulated front fenders, or that decklid spoiler flying off the tail. Read More »
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Performance Coupe
Holy Seatbelt: This thing, feeling like some vintage rocket-charged racer, rips around Ford's track at triple-digit speed while delivering a deep-bleat blast from quad exhaust pipes at the tail.... the limited-production 2012 Mustang Boss 302 based on the 2011 Mustang GT but packing a kick-butt 5.0-liter (302-cubic-inch) V8 tied to a six-speed manual transmission with a 3.73:1 rear-axle ratio, torque-sensing (Torsen) limited-slip differential, Brembo front brake calipers, adjustable shocks, 19-inch speed-rated performance tires and Recaro bolstered front bucket seats. Read More »
2012 Ford Focus Compact Sedan And Hatchback
Flash forward to Ford's 2012 lineup and Focus emerges in edgy new designs constructed on a front-wheel-drive platform with the wheelbase stretched some six inches longer than previous iterations. Styling of the body appears aerodynamic and different in a rounded form but with sharply creased planes and a steeply raked windshield. Read More »
2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser Compact SUV
Boxy square with chiseled shoulders and a flat roof floating over the five-passenger cabin with narrow windows in the image of an armored military vehicle, Toyota's dedicated off-road SUV looks like it came out of the Auto Nouveau School of Chunky Car Design. Read More »
2012 Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0T Compact Crossover SUV
Fact is, Volkswagen's Tiguan, an agile and downright gutsy Crossover SUV which bears a peculiar name, has attitude. The sleek five-door hatchback wagon, with seats for five in a well-stocked cabin, has a tight structure and precise mechanical components derived from German engineering, plus the muscle of a high-tech turbo-charged four-cylinder engine. Read More »
2012 Volkswagen Eos Subcompact Hardtop Convertible
The name comes from the goddess of the dawn in ancient Greek mythology and the revamped vehicle from Volkswagen adopting this moniker makes the sun come up every time you tap a console toggle and switch it from a retractable hardtop coupe (with built-in sunroof) to a streamlined open-top and airy convertible. Read More »
2012 Volkswagen Beetle Compact Hatchback
The 2012 Beetle tester is a new third-generation design that replaces the New Beetle with a longer, lower and wider vehicle which rides on a platform from the revamped VW Golf with front-wheel-drive orientation and offers several powertrain choices but deletes the word "new" in the nameplate. Read More »
2012 Toyota Prius v Mid-Size Hatchback
It teams a thrifty but conventional 1.8-liter four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle engine that sips gasoline with a pair of high-voltage and high-torque electric motors -- one to turn the front wheels and the other to work so many power accessories as well as crank up the four-pack engine and recharge a load of on-board batteries. Read More »
2012 Toyota Prius c Subcompact Hatchback
Aimed at young shoppers seeking a fuel-thrifty small car packing high-tech hybrid hardware, the new subcompact-size Prius c employs Toyota's proven Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) system and earns downright impressive fuel economy numbers of 53 mpg City/46 mpg Highway. The itsy-bitsy economy car provides room for up to five riders on comfortable seats with a pair of buckets in front of a bench for three and room at the rear for cargo due to the hatchback roofline. Read More »