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PickupTrucks.com has gone and thrown the latest batch of half-ton pickups into a cage match to see who would come out on top. The site put the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, 2013 Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan through a battery of tests. Those included 0-60 miles per hour acceleration, 60-0 mph deceleration, fuel economy, a hill climb, and payload and towing. They even threw the rigs on an autocross course to evaluate overall handling. Each truck was given points based on how it scored in each evaluation.

Who came out on top? Somewhat surprisingly, the 2013 Ford F-150 walked away with the gold, though fewer than 50 points separated first and fourth place. Head over to PickupTrucks.com to read the full evaluation and the final results. You may be shocked to see exactly where some of the segment's newest additions placed. You can also watch a video on the test below.

Aston Martin has pulled back the sheets on the company's new Gulf livery for this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Penned by Jonathan Wesley, the Number 97 Vantage GTE will wear the colors throughout race week as the car prepares to compete in the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans. Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Peter Dumbreck will all take turns behind the wheel of the car. Wesley said he designed the livery using the four Gulf corporate colors arranged from lightest to dark, with the right side painted white and the left painted dark blue to symbolize the change in race conditions from daylight to dusk.

Fans chose Wesley's design from a spate of others as part of a Gulf contest. As a result, the designer will spend Le Mans weekend as a VIP guest with Aston Martin. The company says the No. 97 car will compete along with four other Vantage GTE bruisers, but will be the only one to carry the special livery. You can read the full press release below for more information.

J.D. Power and Associates has released its annual Initial Quality Study, and this year, Porsche and General Motors took the spotlight. The study, which asks new car owners to report problems experienced during the first 90 days of ownership, found that overall, the industry averages 113 problems per 100 vehicles.

Porsche managed a score of just 80 problems per 100 vehicles, while GMC took the second spot on the podium with 90. Lexus filled out the top three with 94 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by Infiniti at 95 and Chevrolet at 97. The study also looks at specific models, and found the Lexus LS to enjoy the best initial quality at 59 problems per 100 vehicles.

Interestingly enough, the report found that around two-thirds of most owner problems experienced in the first 90 days are attributable to vehicle design instead of mechanical failure. Specifically – echoing a refrain we've been hearing for the last few years – owners are having a hard time figuring out how to use the technology present in their new vehicles. Head over to the J.D. Power site for more information, or scroll down below for the company's related press release.

It looks as if the Local Motors Rally Fighter will soon have some competition. The Korres Project 4 boasts a 7.0-liter LS7 V8 lifted from the Chevrolet Corvette Z06. With 505 horsepower shoved into a 3,527-pound package, the creation should have no trouble covering ground very quickly. Dimitris Korres, the Greek architect behind the Project 4, says his creation can clip to 60 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds on its way to a top speed of 186. That's all par for the course, but it's the machine's innovative suspension that makes it stand out from the crowd.

Capable of increasing or decreasing its ride height as necessary, the Project 4 can cover all sorts of terrain at speed. With locking differentials front, center and rear, the creation has the potential to be very impressive. You can check out a pair of videos below for a better look. Note that the photos in the gallery show the bruiser with its body panels removed for a better look at its innovative suspension and bare aluminum chassis, and check out this link for more.

Recent reports have suggested that Chrysler may soon phase out its long-running Dodge brand, and while the company remains mum on the subject, you can't blame analysts for thinking that's the direction the Pentastar's everyday brand is heading. After all, Chrysler has shown a willingness to shutter brands, having killed off Plymouth back in 2001, and it's putting big dollars behind its bid to build Fiat into a North American force. Chrysler also recently took the step of spinning off its trucks into the stand-alone Ram brand and relocated its halo Viper supercar under the SRT banner.

Couple that with long-held gossip that the full-size Dodge Durango utility vehicle and the Avenger sedan are both living on borrowed time, and you've got a dwindling product portfolio. That would leave Dodge with the Dart compact (a model that isn't selling particularly well), the Charger (which has a mechanical twin in the Chrysler 300) and the Challenger, which could be supplanted by a rumored Chrysler/SRT Cuda. On the people-mover front, Dodge offers the aging Journey and the Grand Caravan, which is the twin to the bigger-margin Chrysler Town & Country.

Stories for some time have pegged Chrysler as only moving forward with one minivan, though there has been some waffling as to whether the next-generation MPV would wear the Town & Country badge or that of the Grand Caravan. A new report out of Canada – where the vehicles are built – says that the winner in the sippy-cup derby is the next Chrysler Town & Country, which will carry a 2016 model year designation. In addition, sources report that T&C production at the Windsor Assembly Plant will be joined by an as-yet-unnamed large near-luxury crossover for 2017, another long-rumored model that could be similar in concept to the long-defunct Pacifica. The brand for this new model? You guessed it – Chrysler.

Jaguar's new F-Type is a pretty potent little pouncer. And while we do love a good roadster, many of us at Autoblog are perhaps more excited about the upcoming hardtop version of Jag's stylish new entry-level sports car. Why? Because even here in heavily camouflaged prototype form, the thing looks really, really good – the sleek roofline blending rather nicely into the F-Type's shapely rump, allowing for better distinction of its pronounced hips over the rear wheel wells.

Mechanically speaking, the F-Type Coupe should be identical to its droptop sibling. That means the supercharged 3.0-liter V6 and 5.0-liter V8 engine lineup should carry over unchanged, though we've heard rumors about a four-cylinder application as well. There's also talk of hotter R, R-S or R-S GT models coming down the pipeline, and based on what we've experienced in things like the XKR-S, we certainly can't deny the allure of such a model.

It's unclear exactly when Jaguar will show the production F-Type Coupe (at the Frankfurt Motor Show, perhaps?), but the car is expected to go on sale sometime in 2014. Check it out in our latest spy gallery, above.

With five months left until the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder enters production, Porsche engineers are still putting the hybrid sports coupe through a battery of last-minute tests. To give us new reasons to ogle over the car – as if we needed any more – Porsche has released a short video showing the 918 Spyder undergoing shakedown tests in the hot Nevada desert. And you can't drive through Nevada without visiting Vegas, too, right?

Although there's really nothing new to see in this video, it's still fun to watch as Porsche approaches one million test miles logged on this exciting new high-performance model. One interesting part (at around the 0:37 mark) shows the car taking off under electric power and then transitioning to engine power, which results in a mix of whirs and growls as the 918 Spyder switches from a 127-horsepower electric vehicle to an 887-hp hybrid supercar. Scroll down to watch – and hear – Porsche's latest creation in motion.

Unexpectedly, This Opposite Attracts



Back in 2007 when the Fiat 500 was launched, I was unrepentantly nuts about the thing. From the first time my eyes clapped on the Nuevo Cinquecento at the Geneva Motor Show that year, I wanted one. Since there were no plans for a North American model at the time, I had to settle for purchasing a 1/18th-scale diecast at the expo. When Fiat finally returned to the US and the Cinquecento went on sale in 2011, I was no less excited.

And then I drove one, and the bloom was off my little Italian rose. Oh, I still appreciated its size and high style, but I found it wholly unsatisfying to drive, something that wouldn't be rectified until the Abarth arrived. It wasn't that the standard 500 was slow – I expected that – it was that its wonky driving position, lackluster transmissions and ropey steering all stood in the way of appreciating its other virtues. The Abarth's characterful powertrain would eventually come along to alleviate most of those pains, but not all of them.

Now with the advent of the 500L for 2014, it appears I'm living the same scenario, albeit in reverse. My first encounter with this new, larger Fiat was also at the Geneva show, only this time, when the sheet was yanked off its flanks in 2012, I didn't like what I saw. The Italian marque hadn't just name-checked the Cinquecento with this larger five-door, it attempted to appropriate its amusing and iconic design by repeating key styling elements like its circular light fixtures and simple chrome bar grille (collectively known as the "whiskers and logo face"), along with rounded interior forms painted in body colors. To my eyes, the design just didn't work, yet I was still intrigued about the promise of a larger 500 and more polished driving experience.

In April, Mazda introduced a marketing campaign titled "Game Changers" to showcase how certain people have made significant impacts in their respective sports, and now it's the Japanese automaker that is changing the game by creating an innovative way to launch a new product. Mazda is teaming up with Xbox to offer a first-of-its-kind live-streaming global debut of a new product. Mazda didn't say which model will be debuted, but our guess is that it will be the next-generation Mazda3.

The actual reveal will take place at 9 pm on June 26 during a live concert from the band Metric in New York City, but there will be other live events preceding the concert in Melbourne, St. Petersburg, Istanbul and London. Mazda will be promoting the event on social media using the hashtag #GameChanger, and there is also a contest on Xbox where one winner will receive $2,500 to attend a music event of their choice. Scroll down for the full details of the contest and vehicle debut event.

Back when the first Tesla Model S electric vehicles were rolling off the assembly line in California, CEO Elon Musk was literally checking each vehicle before it went out into the wild. As production ramped up, this was no longer possible. And, not that we're suggesting the two issues are directly related, now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Tesla are announcing the first big Model S recall. Tesla's first NHTSA recall affected the Roadster back in 2009.

The Model S recall affects 1,228 vehicles that were made between May 10 and June 8 of 2013 and is about a possible failure of the seatback mounting. Specifically, "an improper method for aligning the left hand seatback striker to the bracket may have weakened the weld between the bracket and the frame of the vehicle." What does that mean? "In the event of a crash, the left hand seatback may not stay mounted, increasing the risk of injury to passengers."

"Tesla has revised assembly procedures and retrained manufacturing technicians."

The problem happened because Tesla redesigned the joint between the bracket and vehicle to "improve function and reduce weight," and the new joint was put into place May 10. The new bracket worked just fine, but then, "on June 7, 2013, a technician on the assembly line was adjusting the alignment for the newly designed left hand second row seat striker utilizing a slide hammer when he noticed the action caused the striker to become loose. ... Upon review, Tesla Quality determined that the weld and bonding between the second row left hand seat striker mounting plate and the vehicle was compromised due to this method of adjustment." Since then, "Tesla has revised assembly procedures and retrained manufacturing technicians."

There have been no complaints or reports of injury about this issue. Tesla will repair the issue in the affected cars, but has not yet said when. Owners should be on the lookout for notification from Tesla if their car is subject to the recall.

You can read more in these PDFs (1, 2), which are letters between Tesla and NHTSA regarding the recall. You can also find more information on the NHTSA site by searching for campaign number 13V249000, and the text of the recall can be seen below.

So much for Carbon Motors. The would-be police pursuit vehicle manufacturer has officially filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (read: liquidation) according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. The company officially lists its liabilities at $21.7 million and its assets at a mere $18,976, including one prototype, a few bits of furniture, books and the company's intellectual property. Some of the largest debtors are investors and suppliers, including BMW. The German automaker claims Carbon Motors owes them some $3 million.

Carbon Motors built a business model around for its diesel-powered E7 police car by securing a Department of Energy loan through its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program for $310 million, but the US Government denied the company's application in March of 2012. From that point, it was evidently only a matter of time before the company caved in on itself. The warning signs were already thick on the ground when it was revealed that the company had quietly pulled out of its Connerville, Indiana plant back in April.

Bankruptcy protection shields Carbon Motors from lawsuits against the manufacturer. That's good news, considering three former executives have already filed a lawsuit against the company earlier this year for $600,000 in deferred wages.

There is no doubting that fuel economy has become an important factor in the highly competitive fullsize truck market, with the Ford F-150 EcoBoost V6 and Pentastar V6-powered Ram 1500 setting quite a precedent in recent years. Now it's General Motors' turn. The General has just announced that the new base V6 used in the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 models will return an EPA-estimated 18 mpg city and 24 mpg highway in two-wheel drive trim, regardless of cab configuration.

While these figures don't go so far as to earn GM any "best-in-class" fuel economy claims (thanks to the 25-mpg Ram 1500 HFE), this new 4.3L EcoTec3 V6 does edge the F-150 and Toyota Tundra while boasting best-in-class numbers for torque, payload and towing capacity among six-cylinder rivals. This all-new engine produces 285 horsepower and 305 pound-feet of torque, and it gives the 2014 Silverado and Sierra the highest towing rating among standard V6 models with a 7,200-pound towing capacity – besting the Ram by 700 pounds, the base F-150 by 1,100 pounds and coming within 200 pounds of the V8-powered Nissan Titan. Scroll down for the official press releases from Chevrolet and GMC.

Behold the 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante in all its convertible glory. Like its hard top twin, the convertible Vanquish boasts a 5.9-liter V12 engine with 565 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque. That thrust is good enough to push the car to a top speed of 183 miles per hour, and Aston Martin says the 2014 Vanquish Volante is the first of the company's convertibles to bow with body panels comprised entirely of carbon fiber. It also offers the stiffest body structure in the history of the automaker's droptop efforts.

The machine's power three-layer top can be put up or down at speeds of up to 30 mph and can do its dance in around 14 seconds. Interestingly, designers went with a full-length windshield, which runs directly up to the cloth top. there is no sheetmetal (or in this case, carbon fiber) header between the glass and the roof. Very cool.

A six-speed automatic transmission handles shifting duties and a new set of springs and dampers help cope with altered dynamics of the convertible. Aston Martin claims the 2014 Vanquish Volante offers up a weight distribution of 51:49, and a set of carbon-ceramic brakes help bring the whole party down from speed. If you want one, get ready to shell out at least $297,995 for the pleasure. Deliveries are set to begin early next year. Check out the full press release below once you stop gawking at the gallery above.

While its dealer body has been clamoring for new and larger models, Fiat has actually done a pretty good trade selling all manner of 500 variants, from the standard hatchback and 500C cabriolet to its Abarth models, 500e electric runabout and special editions like the Gucci.

Fiat USA was a little slow out of the gates as it built up brand awareness and its dealer network, but it's now chugging along, with combined 500 model sales outselling that of its arch rival Mini (provided you subtract the Countryman crossover, a model for which Fiat has had no direct competitor up until this point). Franchisees are finally about to get the bigger, broader-appeal model they've been seeking in the form of the five-door 500L, but Fiat is still going to be devoting a lot of attention to their whisker-faced icon, the Cinquecento.

As proof, at the first drive event of the 500L in Baltimore, Fiat North America boss Jason Stoicevich confirmed that his company will produce a production version of the 500 Cattiva concept shown at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Stoicevich wouldn't divulge the model's pricepoint or availability timeframe, but he told us, "I can guarantee you it will happen. I just can't tell you when."

The Cattiva is based on the middle-child 500 Turbo, and is essentially a trim-and-tape package, albeit a very attractive one. It includes rich 'Rame' (read: copper) paint with black trim, including 'Nero' gloss black light housings front and rear and a matching roof-mounted spoiler along with unique charcoal 16-inch alloys. Inside, changes are limited to a 'Matte Nero' instrument panel and trim, along with silver stitching on the black sport wheel and shift knob. No word on any improvements to the Turbo's 135-horsepower, 1.4-liter MultiAir four-cylinder, but at least that should keep the price from rising much above the standard 500T's $19,500 MSRP. As far as timing goes, we're thinking that this model won't be too far down the line after the company launches the 500L.

Back when it revealed the 500 Cattiva concept, Fiat also showed a matte gray Tenebra showcar that builds upon the even hotter 500 Abarth, but Stoichevich declined to comment on that concept's chances for production.