NEW TRUCKS

2014 Fiat 500L

Phew! Latest Real-Life Photos Show a Much Cuter 2014 Fiat 500L

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The all-new 2014 Fiat 500L is exploring its new home in America! A cute couple guides us on this scenic photo shoot through seaport towns, cities, and the countryside. It is a relief to see the 500L looking cute – because that is a critical part of its selling proposition. Hip moms, cool dads, and bright colors are all in the 500L playbook. But even parents have a sense of style! And the first few sets of digital renderings really made the 500L look strange. Yes, it is still the same design – but now it is an adorable odd …

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Best of Awards – Coolest SUV Stance – Dodge Durango Rallye and Blacktop

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The new Durango is a completely different machine from the first two generations of large SUVs from Dodge. Where those rigs really drove like trucks, with graunchy diffs and a stiff ride, the new Durango feels just as butch – but now far more nimble and polite in town. There is no harshness whatsoever from the RWD or optional AWD setups, and this is still one of the only rear-drive-based, seven seat crossovers on the market. Yes, there is the Tahoe, but that really moves the trucks up a size (and garage) class too far, for some. Tow ratings and …

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2014 X5 with and without M Performance Parts

2014 BMW X5 – Before and After M Performance Upgrades

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The BMW X5 is hotter than ever before. In December 3rd’s WSJ, BMW even cites huge international X5 demand as one of the reasons BMW may lose the number one U.S. luxury sales rank to Mercedes-Benz for 2013. Fun fact: the BMW Spartanburg plant is the largest exporter of American-made cars. In the whole country. Beating all the U.S. brands!  (These are official BMW cargo ships, by the way, not grey-market exports.) It seems this America-focused truck is far hotter than BMW ever expected in even its most traditional markets. The draw of seven seats and the latest BMW  style …

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2014 Ford Transit Connect – Hot Wheels Concept Shows Widebody Style, Cool New Nose

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The SEMA show is not my favorite. In a bit of an rough mood this morning, and not holding back much. Imagine walking around a normal auto show, like Chicago or Detroit, but instead of perhaps 70 brand displays, there are 70,000. Such is SEMA. You might like a car, never know what it was or where it came from, and never see it again. So many tuners and OEMs descend on the Vegas strip every November — it can be hard to keep track, let alone care. But then there is that one… The 2014 Ford Transit Connect is …

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2014 Volvo XC60 Buyer's Guide 56

Volvo XC60 Buyer's Guide Info, Galleries and Videos

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It is just a Volvo kind of morning here in Chicago. Snow has been falling for two days, and the temps are extremely frigid. My Subaru had major struggles getting up and out of the steep driveway, thanks to my amazing decision not to shovel. My poor Subaru Legacy GT. What a hard, battered life it leads. Most of the damage sustained by the car has been off the pavement. Something about huge, huge turbo power and AWD has led me — time and time again — to take the low-slung LGT off-roading. Much as I love the Q-car appeal …

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New Volvo XC Coupe Concept Previews Stunning 2015 XC904

New Volvo XC Coupe Concept Previews Stunning 2015 XC90

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Volvo is heating up! Literally – warming themselves in the cold winters up north with visions of how pretty the 2015 XC90 needs to be. The Swedish team has developed some scientific assessments of car styling that use heat maps to identify viewer emotions. As the viewer’s eye circles the car, tracking software is able to learn and highlight the areas of the car design they like best. Sounds completely absurd, like something from science fiction? Nope. The Swedes know many things about cold versus hot temperatures. As shown in the below graphics, the Best of 2013 Award-winning Concept Coupe’s …

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Mega Galleries: Big and Tough 2014 Toyota Tundra Outside and In – from SR5 to Platinum and 1794

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With all this love and attention lavished upon the GMC Sierra at Spaceport America, the seven available styles of 22-inch rims for the Silverado High Country, and some Super Duty love — it is time for the Toyota Tundra in all its glory. This is only a truck that can be jabbed at from afar. Up close, the width and height of this machine immediately shuts your mouth. Enjoy these mega galleries, with particular attention to my favorite: the Tundra Limited with the dark wheels! 2014 Toyota Tundra – Exterior Galleries 2014 Toyota Tundra – Interior Galleries  

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Best of 2013 Awards: Turbo Sports Car, Under $25,000 – Nissan Juke NISMO

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The Juke NISMO as the turbo sports car of the year? In this budget range: you bet your alcantara headlining and carbon-fiber diffusers! The NISMO Juke makes no apologies for being different from the norm. After spending a week with the Juke NISMO earlier this fall, I discovered a fun-to-drive car that is nimble and toss-able in all situations. It also turned heads like a GT-R on roads filled with boring tan sedans. The unusual headlamp setup of the Juke is brought to life with the GT-R’s white LED accents in the lower bumper area. With the LEDs blazing white, …

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Hot New Wagons 2014 Volvo V60 13

Hot New Wagons: 2014 Volvo V60 Coming to U.S. with R-Design and Polestar Trims

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The Volvo V60 is an exciting new entrant for the Swedish luxury brand. This core Volvo model was initially left off the American price sheets in favor of the much larger V70 and XC70 Cross Country, but Volvo has now come to its senses! What the V60 offers is the mid-size package from the S60 sedan, including all the latest styling updates and tech enhancements inside. The R-Design’s new T6 engine promises about 304 horsepower and a ~5.7-second sprint to 60 mph, while the Polestar could bring up to 375 horsepower for a sub-5-second sprint time. Polestars come with AWD …

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Concept to Reality, Honda Shows Good Design Momentum

Concept to Reality: Honda Shows Good Design Momentum with Vezel and FCEV

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Honda Design. Not two words that make sense together, but that seems to be changing. The latest concepts show great direction, and movement to a new brand style. This is great news for the new, production-ready Honda Vezel crossover, which carries much of the panache of the Urban SUV Concept. But it is even better news for the forthcoming NSX. Whether an Acura or Honda, the bold vision is a relief versus some – private – concerns about the prototype’s appearance. 2013 Honda FCEV Concept 2013 Honda Urban SUV Concept Honda Vezel Hybrid   Honda Vezel Hybrid Official FCEV Release …

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2015 Porsche Macan - Latest Images - CarRevsDaily

2015 Porsche Macan S from $49,900 – Is This Your Next Car?

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My next car? I write about cars all day, every day. But rarely am I so overcome with desire. I want to own, drive, bash, coddle, wash, wax and detail the Macan. I want this Porsche in my garage. So, I ask myself… Is my next car? Is this Your next car? Perhaps in 2020 the Macan will be within reach, financially, for thisguy. Sigh. If your fortunes are better, be careful with this next part. WARNING: These Huge Macan S and Macan Turbo Porsche Wallpapers Are Gorgeous ****May Cause Customizations and Involuntary Pre-Orders**** 2015 Porsche Macan Turbo – Exterior …

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2014 BMW 428i and 435i Make Beautiful, Practical Convertibles

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BMW’s long, low and wide new 4-series is hitting its stride. Of course, the 4 drop-top replaces the previous 3-series convertible line as BMW links its sportiest models with even number badges. Overall convertible sales have fallen off a cliff in the American market in the last few years. Even so, it is not immediately clear if this is a structural change in buyer preferences, a short-term economic side-effect, or if there simply were not the same volume of cheap and dreadful Chrysler Sebrings to prop up the sales numbers. Even “the hot girls” like Jillayne from my high school …

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2013 BMW X4 Concept Gallery

New BMW X4 Teaser Shows LEDetails of 2015 Macan-fighter

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The Concept X4 just had a glitzy dinner, and is en route to a velvet-roped club entrance…   BMW recently released a night-time city teaser of the Concept X4, which is a high-gloss way of imagining what this blue-raspberry performance car will look like ‘out on the town.’ The concept seems dripping with light and far more purity and flow to the surfaces than the X3, and also, far more roof chop than the bigger X6.     2013 BMW X4 Concept – Animated GIF 2013 BMW X4 Concept – Nighttime Teaser Screenshots 2013 BMW X4 Concept Gallery

2014 E250 BlueTEC

2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Style Reset Leaves BMW 528Xi Out Cold

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A hard reboot? The “Microsoft recommended solution” – aka ripping the plug from the wall? Factory settings reset? The new E-Class is so hot. It is as if a paper-clip poked the Mercedes design reset brain for ten seconds consecutively,  triggering a full reboot from core system files. Of course, the most noticeable and memorable part of a pretty car is the nose. This new soft graphic is now looking beautiful from its thrummy E250 base configurations, through the rich E350 sedans, wagons and coupes, on to the E400 Hybrid and E550 4MATIC.   All the way up to the …

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2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited

Hot New Trucks: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo from $29,000

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We all know the new Jeep Grand Cherokee is the best truck ever to don the seven-slat grille. Watching the SRT GC’s launch control starts are intoxicating, and the latest LED style of a pinched horseshoe in the headlight graphic is very appealing. The top-spec Summit trim even brings some heavenly new open-pore woods and fine leathers to the cabin – but at a price. The top Grand Cherokee’s become quite expensive in the higher trim levels – even kissing $50,000 for the diesel engine in some trims. What about a GC for the rest of us? The 2014 Laredo …

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2014 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum Inside and Out83

2014 Nissan Pathfinder – Reviewed in Video and 78 High-Res Photos

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The Pathfinder is a real charmer. With lockable four-wheel-drive and seven seats, it checks many boxes right in the first block. The vastly improved CVT automatic is no longer a sore point, with polite but perceptible downshifts and great cruising refinement and economy.   Powertrain and Towing Highlights   A Hybrid model joins the ranks for 2014, but this press loaner was the loaded Platinum model, which focuses dollars more on luxury and technology in the cabin. Interior Amenities Highlights 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum – Exterior Sunny Day Animation 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum – Exterior Gallery 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum …

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2014 Unimog U5023 Now Packing Scary Style and Tech

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2014 Unimog U5023 Now Packing Scary Style and Tech The legendary Mercedes-Benz Unimog all-terrain trucks are refreshed for 2013 with a comprehensive makeover inside the cabin, underneath that boxed ladder chassis and outside with a menacing new grille and LED lighting. The top of the new Unimog lineup in terms of off-road ability is the new U5023 model, which replaces the previous U5000 nameplates. Sharing the nose layout with its shorter sibling, the U4023, these models are the freshest outside with a dramatic new single-wing grille to house the dinner-plate-sized Mercedes star emblem. This is a unique touch for the …

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2014 Nissan Juke NISMO in 57 High-Res Photos

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2014 Nissan Juke NISMO in 57 High-Res Photos The Juke Nismo is incredible value at just below $25,000 all in, with a choice between a manual transmission and front-drive or a NISMO-tuned CVT auto and AWD with a “V” mode for extra shenanigans.   Sunny Day Gallery     Rainy Day Gallery