life

Insider: How Do You Extend The Life Of Your Car?

by

There aren’t too many financial investments we make that match the investment we make when we buy a car. And it’s about more than the money aspect, too — we develop an emotional attachment to our vehicles. We spend so much time in them, that it does weirdly feel a little sad when we have to give them up, or when they’re not working as well as it should. It’s in our best interests, both financially and lifestyle-wise, to make our vehicle last as long as possible. But how can we do this? We take a look at a few …

Keep reading

2017 FORD FOCUS RS Stealth Grey 22

Insider: Four Ways A Car Improves Your Life

by

Learning to drive and taking to the highway in your own car can open-up so many opportunities, from getting to work and carrying out family duties to going on a road trip, the benefits are endless. Yes, you should try and keep active by walking and cycling too, but here are four ways that a set of wheels can improve your life. Boosting work prospects If you don’t have your own car then, when it comes to work, your career prospects can be quite limited, in a few different ways. If you’re restricted to public transport or your feet, then …

Keep reading

P90246489_highRes

4.0s 2018 BMW M4 CARBON Leads 4 Series Refresh

by

The 4 series will bring some updates to its style, tech and powertrains for the 2018 model year.  Some news out of the UK market this morning offers a first look at the refreshed M4, 430i and 440i Coupes, Gran Coupes and Convertibles. Detail tweaks to the lighting — adding a more boxed element to the LED DRLs, primarily — in what BMW calls its new Icon Adaptive LED lighting will now be available on the M4.  The M4 Carbon is a fresh option package that pulls some of its race-ready pieces from the $130k M4 GTS.   The new M4 Competition …

Keep reading

Top 10 SUPRA-Tastic Design Details – Toyota FT-1 Concept + 88 NEW Photos

by

NEW FT-1 photos?  Yes ALL NEW…? Sortof. We posted these originally on laptop in Santa Cruz, and the results were iffy.  So we went back to the originals, starting again and bringing the FT-1’s details to high-res glory! The most striking things about the FT-1 in person are its captivating beauty, extremely long-hooded proportions, and intense aero detailing. A stunning car. Let’s appreciate its top 10 design details from up close. The design of the FT-1 is visibly alive.  Functional ventwort in a dozen places around all side brings the wild, swooping fenders and hood into sharp relief.  The aero cuts and ground-effect details make …

Keep reading

Renault_71370_global_en copy

2016 Renault TALISMAN – Pricing and Trims from €27,900

by

Updated 11.1.15 with French prices and new photos.         Welcome to the top of the Renault range: the new Talisman sedan. This fresh D-segment saloon is a larger and more plush big brother to the Laguna — promising world-class comfort, design, luxury and technology. All with a completely fresh design and dimensions to compete with the BMW 5 series. A total length of 4.85-metres is fairly gigantic for a front-drive luxury sedan in France. As the segment’s built-in government and livery driver pool looks to Germany for their fleets, the large car market in France is fairly …

Keep reading

2016 Renault Talisman 14

2016 Renault TALISMAN Is All-New French Flagship Saloon

by

Welcome to the top of the Renault range: the new Talisman sedan. This fresh D-segment saloon is a larger and more plush big brother to the awkward Laguna — promising world-class comfort, design, luxury and technology. All with a completely fresh design and dimensions to compete with the BMW 5 series. A total length of 4.85-metres is fairly gigantic for a front-drive luxury sedan in France. As the segment’s built-in government and livery driver pool looks to Germany for their fleets, the large car market in France is fairly depressed and likely to continue deteriorating. As the Citroen C6 and …

Keep reading

2015 ALPINE Celebration Concept 18

2015 ALPINE Celebration Concept – Mid-Engine 2016 TT-Fighter in HD LeMans Lap

by

Surprise reveal for the next chapter in Alpine sportscars! This 2015 ALPINE Celebration Concept is a mid-engine prototype that represents the first look at the brand’s move to a stand-alone marque in the RenaultSport fleet. Initiated as a collaboration with Caterham a few years ago, the plan was to acquire a low-cost and proven sports-car chassis from the English. Custom bodywork and RenaultSport engines would provide authentic French zing for the machine – which would become a halo sportscar for the entire Renault/Dacia lineup — worldwide. HD Le Mans Lap Renault ran into major troubles synchronizing its big-company safety, reliability …

Keep reading

2015-Kia-Novo-Concept-1ds

2015 Kia Novo Concept Is Surprise 4-Door Coupe for Seoul Motor Show

by

  Some impressive design coming from the latest Kia studio! This concept shows the potential look of a Forte replacement in the coming years. We love the nose best, as the profile and tail are near clones of the just-revealed Optima for 2016. But unfortunately for the production Optima, the Novo is far cleaner and more appealing. Part of what makes the Novo feel cool are its heavily rear-drive proportions and long dash-to-axle ratio in front. But there are more subtle things, too, like the fairly steep windshield angle and the way the hood’s leading edge becomes the grille below. …

Keep reading

2015 Rolls-Royce WRAITH Inspired by Film Special Edition 4-tile

2015 Rolls-Royce WRAITH Inspired by Film Edition Celebrates Frozen Moment BFI Inductee

by

    When a 2-minute launch movie for a car is inducted into the British Film Institute National Archive, you know it must be something special. Both the car and those magical two minutes of cinema are indeed quite special, breathtaking and goose-bump-inducing. The premise of the film ‘And the World Stood Still’ is a man piloting his Wraith through an enchanted, steaming forest when he comes across the living incarnation of the Spirit of Ecstasy badge. For one fleeting, frozen moment, the two have an ethereal bond that is at once serene, lust-filled and slightly fraught with danger. Thematically, the film shows …

Keep reading

2015 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster 1

2015 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster Sextet Lights Up Amelia Concours Weekend

by

If one Aventador Roadster is shockingly loud, low and wide when you meet it in real life… imagine a string of a six blasting around your block for two days straight! Heavenly? Yes. These beasts are truly incredible in the flesh. The candy-colored paints here add a bit of light-hearted fun to what is really the benchmark supercar. Thrills, chills and only a half-million-dollar bill!? Sign me up. The Aventador Roadster is a nice mid-way point before stumping up to the real hypercar heroes — each costing well in excess of a million bucks. Lamborghini has made the Aventador Roadster …

Keep reading

1954 Mercedes-Benz 'Blue Wonder' Race Transporter 55

Racing Icons – 1954 Mercedes-Benz ‘Blue Wonder’ Race Transporter in 69 RARE Photos

by

Part publicity stunt, part engineering exercise — and all fun and playful. The 1950s Mercedes-Benz Racing Division needed a rapid transport vehicle to supplement the big trucks with closed canopies that typically moved racecars and teams among the European circuits. Lower, faster and far more nimble than the big trucks, the Blue Wonder could navigate under any bridge or within any narrow city streets — areas typically off-limits for a heavy heauler. Powered by a race-ready engine from the 300SL and plopped into Mercedes sedan chassis, the ‘Blue Wonder’ was billed as the fastest transporter in the world. A top …

Keep reading

356 zagato

1958 Porsche 356 Carrera Zagato Speedster Is Worlds Only Aluminum-Bodied Example

by

Zagato Classic has recreated their first-ever Porsche project here: a 356 Speedster that was lightened and made quicker for a racing customer in Paris. The tailfins are particularly delightful as functional and style-enhancing elements, as is the lower and lighter windshield. If you are thinking: hey, this Zagato 356 Speedster actually looks much more like the 550 Spyder — you are correct. The commission of a new aluminum body for the steel-skinned 356 meant Zagato could make the car as streamlined as Porsche’s most-successful racer ever (at the time): the 550. Shown below on the grass, you can see the …

Keep reading

hakosuka 4dsc

1970 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R Hakosuka Is Ultimate 4DSC Grand Master

by

This is the second GT-R from RM Auctions recently — with the 1972 H/T coupe earning an impressive $242,000 at RM’s Monterey 2014 auction. That car is its two-door profile is more in line with the eventual GT-R lineage, but looks less like a Bond henchman’s ride than this G-man special. This Skyline GT-R sedan may find fewer general-interest fanboys, but among the cult of the Nissan 4DSC, it is the one to have. Nissan is eagerly cultivating the Hakosuka’s US descent’s return to 4-Door Sports Car glory with the 2016 Maxima, widely expected to debut in Detroit in January …

Keep reading

z07 gif

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 – Latest Track Photos + 10-Article Roundup

by

If there is one supercar we have covered more than the Z06 this year, we’d be very surprised. The Corvette Stingray is simply so amazing that an upgraded version that is faster, cooler and louder seems like the perfect Ferrari and Porsche-killer. There is not one Gallardo owner who would be disappointed with the Z06’s performance and sex appeal. The latest 30 photos from Chevy show a truly amazing palette of colors to choose from in some nice action shots on the ractrack. No real insights from these photos — aside from the first look at a Z06 without the …

Keep reading

ft1 colors new best of gif

Best of 2014 Awards – Toyota FT-1 Concept Is Stunning Design Triumph

by

Update 3 11.27.14 Has there been another concept with the impact of the FT-1? We cannot think of another vehicle this year that has created more buzz. Of course, the FT-1 is just the leading edge of what many hope will become a showroom supercar in the next few years under the vaulted Supra badge. Toyota’s collaboration with BMW on a future sports-car appears to indicate the eventual Supra will be based of a version of the BMW Z4’s chassis, albeit highly modified for a possible production debut of a hybrid-R electric boost setup. Primary power is expected to come …

Keep reading

ft1 vgt gif312

Toyota FT-1 Vision GT Now Playable in Gran Turismo! 100 New Dynamic Photos

by

Updated 9.16.14 Art Imitates Life. Life Imitates Art. Such a truism is very valid in the case of the FT-1 – which Toyota has just teased in its next form as a hard-core (virtual) racing special. The FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo differs from the road-going version of the car in many standard race-ready ways. Starting from the front: there is a much deeper aero package and chin spoiler, easy-off hood panels with racing latches, upgrades brakes and tires and huge fender-top slats to reduce any trapped air from the wheels. These slats drastically reduce under-hood temps as well as being …

Keep reading

ft1 v2 3

Toyota FT-1 Concept Version Two – World Debut at Pebble Beach in 99 High-Res Photos

by

UPDATED with 99 high-res, real-life photos 8.17.14 The most striking things about the FT-1 in person are its captivating beauty, extremely long-hooded proportions, and intense aero detailing. The headlight units themselves are exposed LED laser lenses, while the lower radiator fans are event more prominent on version two of the car versus version one. Another striking observation that we missed on the red Detroit debut car? The FT-1 is a 2+2!  There are rear seats and a rear strut-tower brace visible on this Pebble Beach car — which is one of the most popular on the concept lawns that also …

Keep reading

ft1 v2

Toyota FT-1 Version Two Brings Sexy Gloss Grey, Aero Tweaks and Near-Production Cabin

by

Just when the FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo is building buzz – Toyota has doubled down on the future Supra joy with version two of this miraculous concept. The new color makes it much easier to enjoy and appreciate the FT-1;s huge panel swoops and shaping – with extra tweaks to the design from extensive time in the wind tunnels. All this bodes very, very well for the next Supra road car – which is widely believed to be in development with the FT-1 detailing at perhaps 95-percent of the final product. One thing…. ? We can’t help but notice that …

Keep reading

FT-1 Vision GT gif header1

Toyota FT-1 Vision GT is Hardcore Racing Upgrade of Road-Going FT-1 Concept

by

Art Imitates Life. Life Imitates Art. Such a truism is very valid in the case of the FT-1 – which Toyota has just teased in its next form as a hard-core (virtual) racing special. The FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo differs from the road-going version of the car in many standard race-ready ways. Starting from the front: there is a much deeper aero package and chin spoiler, easy-off hood panels with racing latches, upgrades brakes and tires and huge fender-top slats to reduce any trapped air from the wheels. These slats drastically reduce under-hood temps as well as being a serious …

Keep reading