Audi A3 priced new Tweaked

Audi gave up the niceties on the European-spec A3 past this year, but it took until today for it to unveil what changes will have over to the U.S. kind when the 2009 A3 goes on deal later this month. A rapid inspection of the exterior and glasses doesn't tell much, but dig a little deeper and the revisions become palpable. The fascia has been tweaked with a few cues from the lately revamped A4, plus new LED daytime running lamps, and redesigned rollers fill the swing wells, hitting Audi's possible Magnetic Ride suspension logic.

The five-door's powertrain choices linger, with both a 2.0-liter turbocharged four or a 3.2-liter V6, and all-veer-plunge is finally unfilled as an option on the 2.0T rank. Previously, Audi's mound-depart help was only open with the S-tronic dual-grasp transmission, but it's now standard on models fixed with the six-alacrity handbook. Pricing has been set at $26,920 for the front-wheel-drive, six-hurry manual kind equipped with the 2.0T, while the top of the line 3.2-liter Quattro variant comes in at $36,975.

VW Microbus Mew Model

The 2001 VW Microbus view was truly cool; so much so that it looked like it was headed for 2005 production. Then the venture ongoing receiving exclusive at the same time the U.S. buck began to hit the skids. So, then-boss Bernd Pischetsrieder swung the axe, and it curtains for the retro breadbox. Fast-cheeky to the dowry. Instead of a spiffy new Microbus, we now have the Routan, which is fake German for "Dodge Caravan." Not very exciting, to say the slightest.

A renewal of Flower Power's allowed vehicle seemed hopeless -- until now. The Sydney Morning Heralded rumor that VW's entertaining the possibility of a 21st-century Microbus built on the same platform as the new sedan that'll pe shaped at VW's Chattanooga, TN resource. An anonymous "boss Volkswagen officer" told the paper that European production's mainly a non-starter, and Volkswagen Group of America's Jill Bratina played it coy, adage only that a minute vehicle line out of Chattanooga is "conceivable in the foreseeable future." A locally-built, car-based Microbus is an idea that sure piques our benefit. How about yours?

Fiat 500 Castagna tenderizes

Calling your retrofitted little runabout a tender is apparently all the rage these years. The craft-based theme was just adopted by BRABUS, which balancing a smart fortwo with one of its warp-enabled SLRs. Now, Castagna does the same with Fiat's retro-fied 500. In detail, this isn't the first time that the Milanese coachbuilder has shaped such a procedure, using the MINI Cooper platform just a few years back in the same take way.

In its transformation from athletic little vehicle to a bigger vessel's vessel, the roof, stalk and top are jetisoned in errand of a print layer with which to dodge the stage. On the inside, the routine guts are distant and replaced with teak lumber and rattan slim along with all new seats. As a concession to emissions, the gasoline powerplant is yanked in promote of sails a new electric motor and batteries that are supposedly able of powering the tender some 80 miles at speeds up to 86 miles per hour. No rowing mandatory.

Project B Mustang concept debut at SEMA

Believe it or not, but the car above is based on the existing generation Ford Mustang. We don't have a lot of minutiae, but we do know that it's a Ford model car codenamed "Project B" that is being built by Galpin Auto Sports and will unveiling at the SEMA show in November. Power will come from a twin-supercharged Mustang V8 that has been stroked to 5.0 liters. Massive wheels, 24 inches in the rear and 22 inches up front, overwhelm 16-shuffle Wilwood brakes.

Our sources say that this will also be the very first car to figure Ford's back generation SYNC technique. The theory definitely has an interesting originate, and we're anxious to see the wrecked result in November. Check out more photos and drawings in the gallery below.

Heavy-duty Jeep J8 New diesel wrangler

Who doesn't get the Jeep J8? Um, that would be the United States, Home of Jeep. Hardly seems bright... Considering that cute much every other country in the world gets a crack at the mega-Wrangler, which comes equipped with a 2.8-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel with 158-horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque mated to a five-haste preset transmission. Memo to Chrysler: The Wranger is screaming out for a small displacement diesel engine. No?

Fine. We can understand the actuality that this engine isn't skilled for auction in the States and it would be steep to make ensuing. At slightest the Pentastar mark could suggest the J8's near 3,000-crush goods part via rear sheet springs and reinforced casing in its home advertise. Still no dice? Could we at slightest get the elevate bed as an option on the Unlimited framework? Not liable, would be our best suppose. Oh well, we can fancy.

SPG Sexy Car

 

Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Version-R

A “mini” EVO? Well, not exactly as the new Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Version-R is basically a tuned up Colt Turbo. Ralliart has given the Japanese compact hatch an aggressive look with a new body kit.

The mechanical changes –from what I can read from the translated kit, seem to be located in the stiffened suspension, the bigger brake discs (from the European Colt Turbo) and a new exhaust system that slightly improves the 1.5 Turbocharged engine (154PS/6000rpm, torque 21.4kg-m/3500rpm).The Ralliart Version-R kit is also available with Mitsubishi’s compact MPV edition of the Colt, Colt Plus.

If you still think that this hot hatch is underrated, Ralliart has the answer for you as Mitusbishi’s official tuner has a bag of tricks that upgrade the car’s appearance and –or- its dynamics.

2012 Honda Civic coming in April, all variants to launch in quick succession

A Civic for everyone. That was Soichiro Honda’s motto when rolling out the original Civic, and it’s one to which his company intends to stick with the launch of the next-generation model. When the all-new 2012 Civic is launched in April, Honda will roll out a whole variety of body and propulsion configurations within mere weeks of each other, instead of letting months pass between the debut of one model to the next.

Among those variants, we can expect both a sedan and a coupe, with several conventional gasoline engines on offer – including natural gas and hybrid versions – as well as the sporty Civic Si.

The new Civic, previewed recently at the Detroit Auto Show, was slated to debut in 2009. But when the global economy started going south, Honda sent the design back to the drawing board for a nearly complete overhaul before it ever saw the light of day. The result is expected to be much roomier than the current model, though the exterior design hasn’t changed all that much.

BMW X1 U.S. debut delayed due to high demand in Europe

American buyers may have to wait a little bit longer before sinking their teeth into the upcoming BMW X1. According to Automotive News, the CUV has been more popular in Europe than the German automaker originally anticipated, and as such, BMW is experiencing a bit of a supply crunch. As a result, North American buyers won’t be seeing the X1 at the end of this year as originally expected. Instead, it’s beginning to look like the vehicle won’t show up here until early 2012 at the soonest. Automotive News reports that the X1 went on sale in Europe in November of 2009.

Since then, the high-riding hatch has sold out in every market it’s touched. BMW says that it fully expects the X1 to be a low-volume model here in the land of the free, with sales lodged somewhere in the same realm as what the current 1 Series Coupe and Convertible. Even so, the company says that it’s shooting for around 8,000 units per year. With the larger, more popular X3 just now hitting dealerships, the X1 will likely serve to fill a slot for buyers looking for a compact luxury crossover.

Chrysler planning hybrid minivan for 2013

Chrysler, the automaker at the forefront of the minivan movement back in the 1980s, is seriously rethinking its family-hauler business. As we reported earlier, Chrysler will be scrapping one of its two minivan twins by 2013, making room for a smaller micro-van to launch within the next few years – a vehicle that will compete with the likes of the Ford C-Max and Mazda5. Now, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has reportedly confirmed that a hybrid version of the company’s next-generation minivan is on its way, scheduled to debut by 2013.

The powertrain slated for use in the hybrid minivan will use the same powertrain technology that we’ll be seeing in the gasoline-electric version of the Chrysler 300 sedan, also set to launch in 2013. The new van will be built at the automaker’s Windsor Assembly Plant in Canada – the factory where both the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan are built today.

2011 Subaru Forester

In the years since Subaru last gave its workhorse flat four-cylinder engine a significant revision, an entire generation of customers has gone from pulling up their Huggies to donning college graduation gowns. More than two full decades have passed since the company’s engineers seriously sat down to re-examine the engine’s architecture, and in that time, there’s been an explosion of automotive technology geared toward squeezing every last bit of energy out of a drop of gasoline. With fuel economy and emissions standards growing tighter by the day, the minds at Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru’s parent company, unveiled the third-generation of their boxer engine recently.

But at first blush, the new heir to the Pleiades throne looks to be little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor. Horsepower, torque and fuel economy figures are all within a shave of the old engine’s numbers, and while the company’s competitors are investing heavily in direct-injection systems, Subaru passed on this tech all together. Where was the improvement? Judging by the specs alone, we had to wonder why Subaru went through the trouble of building an entirely new facility just to produce what looked to be the same old beating heart we’d known and loved for years. We jumped behind the wheel of the 2011 Forester to find out just what had changed beneath the hood of its all-wheel-drive family hauler.

2011 Subaru Impreza WRX

One point three inches. How much difference can it make? That depends on what you’re measuring. If you’re comparing the 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX to the 2011, that small measurement makes all the difference in the world.

If you’re a Subie fan, you’ve already read our First Drive. The headline news for the 2010-to-2011 changeover is that the WRX gained the STI model’s widebody fenders and 1.3-inch wider track. Wanting to know whether the growth in girth made any difference to the affable and relatively affordable WRX, we decided to spend some quality time in the example you see here.

We learned plenty. Many things work well for the practical enthusiast. Others, not so much.

2011 Bmw z4 Perfect Car

2011 Toyota Highlander

After more than a decade of wild growth and nearly limitless prosperity, Toyota experienced an unthinkable 2010 – the bandwagon derailed in a very ugly, very public way. Embarrassing recalls played their role in the Japanese automaker’s uncharacteristic slide, but even though that public black eye is beginning to heal, Toyota is still grappling with an aging product lineup. The Camry and Corolla still sell in massive numbers, but they’re growing long in the tooth. Admittedly, the latter received a very mild refresh for 2011, but the competition has caught up with each in every category that counts. It’s much the same story for Toyota’s truck and SUV portfolio, where the RAV4, Tacoma, FJ Cruiser and Tundra are hardly spring chickens.

Compounding the issue is the lukewarm response to some of its newly refreshed. The styling remains staid. The interiors are no longer class-leading. The powertrains and fuel economy have done little to separate them from the rest of the pack. Still, not all Toyota models are headed off the reservation. The redesigned Siennahas been well-received and is doing good work on the sales floor. The same can still be said for the Prius and the redesigned 4Runner, which is selling far better than its predecessor. The subject of Toyota’s latest refresh and the vehicle featured here, the 2011 Highlander, has been consistently successful over its lifespan. Will new tweaks to the seven-passenger crossover help this perennial top-seller stay near the top of the pack, or could the lack of a more comprehensive redesign relegate this CUV to also-ran status?