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A little over a month ago, I got a call from Jonny. Something was up. He was excited and anxious, and before the words "MacKenzie offered me a job, and I've accepted" came out of his mouth, I knew he was off to greener pastures.

I'm proud of a lot of things at Autoblog, but getting Dr. Lieberman on board is near the top of that list. And now he's gone, taking the Senior Editor position at Motor Trend after the buff book's editor-in-chief called and said, "We need to talk." Plenty of people have moved on from Autoblog over the years, but given Jonny's penchant for prose and never-say-die attitude, we asked him to pen a farewell letter before heading off to do some ludicrous comparison test for MT. You'll be missed, sir, so the floor is yours... one last time.

Damon Lavrinc - Senior Editor

Working at Autoblog has been one of the best experiences of my car-writing career. As you may or may not know, if there's a website about cars, odds are it's hoisted my byline at some point. From The Truth About Cars to Jalopnik to Clunkbucket and most points in between, I've cranked out some auto-centric virtual ink nearly everywhere. But Autoblog was the feather in my digital cap. No car website commands more respect, is more widely read or opens as many doors. And yeah, a pretty big door just got opened for me.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderful men behind the screen. I've worked at some sites filled with mega-friendly people that weren't capable of pouring piss from a boot. Other places were hyper-competent and staffed almost totally with assholes. Autoblog combined near-ruthless professionalism with the kind of positive working environment you only dream about in any job. It really is a wonderful operation, one that sent me Japanese whiskey as a wedding gift. Thanks to Damon Lavrinc for always being in my corner and John Neff for not only giving me the chance, but for running such a tight ship. I'd like to thank especially Drew Phillips, "my photographer," for putting up with my right foot on all those canyon runs.

But of course, it's not all roses and sunshine. There are quite a few things I regret. In true Butthole Surfers fashion, allow me to quote, "Well son, the funny thing about regret is, it's better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you haven't done." Sadly, while there's nothing I regret doing at Autoblog (well, maybe SEMA), there's a whole slew of things I regret not doing. With that in mind, here's a small list of stuff that for one reason (lazy!) or another (extra lazy!) I never got around to sharing. Read on...

There was a time was when any serious discussion of "hot hatches" – small, lightweight economy cars pumped full of go-fast parts and body modifications of dubious taste – always included the Honda Civic Si. Back in the day, the D16Z6-engined Si would routinely do battle against the Volkswagen GTI and Nissan Sentra SE-R for import tuner supremacy. Times, however, change.

These days, the battle for hot hatch supremacy starts and essentially ends with turbocharged beasties like the Mitsubishi Evolution and Subaru WRX/STI, with a dash of MazdaSpeed3 or Mini Cooper S thrown in for flavor. The Sentra SE-R is little more than a sad shell of its former self (a fact we find odd considering just how much cache Nissan has built up for the brand with its exotic-destroying Godzilla GT-R) and the Volkswagen GTI has evolved into an entry-level Audi – lots of interior and NVH refinement, but lacking the kicked-in-the-you-know-where power necessary to keep up with the all-wheel-drive Japanese kids. But what about the Civic Si? Where does it fit into the import tuner lexicon, especially when loaded up with lots of Honda Factory Performance (HFP) parts? Make the jump as we attempt to find out.



Photos copyright ©2010 Drew Phillips / AOL

There has always been a glaringly obvious gap in Mitsubishi's current Lancer lineup. On the bottom is the... Lancer, a biggish-for-its-class economy car that no one particularly likes – at least that's what the sales charts would indicate. It's slow, filled with cheap plastics and dull. It hasn't even proven to be all that reliable by Japanese small-car standards, but at least it looks good. At the top of the heap and on a wholly different plane sits the Lancer Evolution. It's the giant-slayer, David, the little car that humbles supercars. It's also the hottest of the rally-inspired all-wheel-drive turbocharged pocket rockets. The Evo's only real competition is the Subaru WRX STI and, let's be honest, the Evo has been the better car for years now (Subaru has just updated its warrior for 2011, so a new comparison is in order). Its handling is more precise, yet at the same time more insane. The Mitsu is rawer, rougher, tougher and most importantly faster, even though it's down half a liter on the WRX STI in terms of displacement. Don't read this wrong, the STI is a fine backroad killer. But the EVO is more homicidal.

Back to that gap. In the middle of its arch rival's portfolio has long lived the WRX, Subaru's Goldie Loxian sportster, which is very fast, very nimble, but very well priced (it still starts at under $25,000). The WRX has long threaded the needle between excellent all-around performance and the customer not being able to afford a higher monthly payment. Subaru, therefore, has sold a ton of them, for not only does the WRX offer all that power and rally-bred oomph at a low price, it can be had as a wagon. Mitsubishi had nothing until this year, when the Japanese industrial powerhouse brought over two new flavors of its hopped-up Lancer, the Ralliart and the Ralliart Sportback.

Today we're taking a look at the supposedly more practical of those two additions, the five-door Sportback. When the pictures of the Lancer Sportback Ralliart started spilling onto this here internet, Yours Truly was especially excited. The main reason being that for the past eight years, I've owned a WRX wagon in one form or another. Biased? You could say that, but at that same time, I've been driving Evos against STIs and have remained aware (perhaps painfully aware) that the Evo is the sharper blade. Perhaps, then, the Sportback Ralliart could be my next fast and furious wagon, or at least go wheel-to-wheel with its competition from Fuji Heavy Industries? Hop the jump to find out.



Photos copyright ©2010 Drew Phillips / AOL

Do you like noir? No, not the perfume, the literary and film genre. You know, hard-boiled crooks, wise-cracking private eyes, Los Angeles under cover of night and blondes so blonde they'll kill you dead. Those blondes are, of course, are better known as femme fatales, and in truth, the color of their hair doesn't really matter. Think Theda Bera, Rita Hayworth, Mary Astor, Barbara Stanwyck and Marlene Dietrich. And let's not forget the lovely Lana Turner – she's the one, in a case of life imitating art, with the daughter that killed Mickey Cohen's strongman/goon Johnny Stompanato. In other words, women so pretty you'd throw your life away just so they know you're throwing your life away.

Here's the free, online-encyclopedia definition of femme fatale in case you're still wondering: "An alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous and deadly situations."

Let's state up front that the 2010 Aston Martin Rapide is not, to our knowledge, unsafe in any way, shape or form. But man, oh man, is it seductive enough to make us overlook every single bad thing about it. That, or walk into an uncovered manhole cover while staring at it. Anyhow, "irresistible desire" and "compromising situations" are this British superstar's raison d'etre. Philip Marlowe would eat his fedora just for a ride. Thankfully, we had to perform no such theatrics: Aston Martin simply let us borrow their car.



Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright ©2010 Weblogs, Inc.

There are a couple of salient points about the new Chevrolet Camaro that are inescapable. First, it has the looks that kill. And whether or not you dig the Camaro's aesthetics, you can't deny it stands out from the crowd. Actually, that's not the right way to put it – a new Camaro in a mall parking lot is like an economists' convention crashed by Kiss.

However, much like the infamous New York rock band that always looked mean and scary but actually wrote some pretty pop-centric stuff, the Camaro might look like a sports car, but it's not. Sure, in SS trim you get General Motors' awesome LS3 6.2-liter V8 and all the power that entails (426 horsepower, 420 lb-ft of torque), but the choppy suspension and near-two-ton bulk drag the Camaro down from the sports car it could be. And if the recently reborn for 2011 Mustang GT is any indication, the sports car it should be.

But what if... What if you could change the suspension, reduce unsprung weight and up the power to deal with the Camaro's bulk? What would you have then? Could some serious tuning turn the Camaro into a serious sports car? Legendary Corvette tuner Callaway has taken on just that task with their new SC572 (manual) and SC552 (automatic) new age ponies. We drove 'em both, and the results are... jump.



Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright ©2010 Weblogs, Inc.

The crossover is the high-fructose corn syrup of the automotive world. Think about it: Rather than using real sugar, Pepsi opts for a cheaper, highly refined and processed sweetener. Which, according to lots of studies, is pretty bad for us. Why would they do that? Higher profits, pure and simple. Likewise, CUVs offer all of the space of a comparably long station wagon or hatchback, get inferior mileage, don't handle as well, take longer to stop and in most cases offer none of the utility of a true off-roader. But guess what? They pull in fistfuls of greenbacks for auto companies.

Like high-fructose corn syrup then, car experts ("Hi, Mom!") can scream out their lungs until they're blue about the benefits of a more sensible, safer, smarter product (again, wagons). Yet consumers simply don't listen. The fastest growing automotive segment is – of course – the small CUV. Like the Snickers bar, the Twinkie and a twenty-piece Chicken McNuggets meal with BBQ sauce (all of which is mostly corn syrup), they are here to stay, forever. Buyers just seem to like the looks and the perceived safety that a high-riding vehicle affords them. Plus, for those with infant children, not having to stoop down to strap Junior into his car seat is the most luxurious feature on earth. With all that in mind, some CUVs are better than others – and not only in terms of looks, but also handling, packaging, content and value. Is the new 2011 Kia Sportage one of them? Read on to find out.



Photos by Jonny Lieberman / Copyright ©2010 Weblogs, Inc.

As we see it, there's one major problem with the 2011 Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible. No, not the $280,000 asking price, or even the give-us-a-break curb weight of 5,269 pounds. We also aren't talking about the fact that this basic chassis has been around since 2003. Nor are we concerned that there exist very few places on earth where you can even maybe-kinda-sorta properly experience the thrust of the Supersport's twin-turbo 6.0-liter W12's profligate output. Get this: 621 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 590 pound-feet of torque available between 2,000-4,500 rpm. Did we mention this one's a convertible?

Furthermore, the topless Supersports' problem does not involve the fact that there are very, very few people in its target demographic. You know, the guy that wants to take three members of his family for a ride at 197 mph with the top down (Bentley would like us to point out that with the top up, the Supersports Convertible will hit 202 mph). Thing is, out of the earth's 6.7 billion inhabitants, there will surely be around 400 folks that fit the bill, coincidentally about the same number of these topless Supersports Bentley intends to build. No, the problem with the Bentley Supersports Convertible is that the preposterously humongous carbon-ceramic brakes feel a bit squishy coming down from 165 mph. Mind you, at 130 mph, the stoppers work like anchors.

No one ever said that evolution is pretty. Take the best-of-breed BMW M Division product: the E30 M3. Little more than a homologated race car, the first generation M3 was potent, nimble, and with its small displacement 2.3-liter inline-four fed by a retweaked M1 intake, it was light, too. Long story short, the OG M3 remains an ideal performance car.

Today, we have the X5 M. Looking at the bright blue truckish thing parked in the driveway, it's difficult – if not impossible – to see any sort of relation to BMW's vaunted and aforementioned M3 beyond its badges. You can't imagine what the missing link between the two might be. However, perhaps even mentioning the E30 M3 is being too puritanical. After all, very few vehicles could compare – let alone compete – with the street version of history's most winning road-race car. And you can bet your Roundel subscription that BMW will never competitively race an X5 M.

What then? It's not a newsflash, but the 2010 BMW X5 M doesn't remind you of sporty BMW products of yore. Of course, going back almost 25 years and looking at the first M3 through 1986-eyes, you would notice the hopped-up street car bears basically no resemblance whatsoever to BMW's hottie 1961 product, the Isetta 600. For those of you not up-to-date on your bubble car history, the Isetta 600 was a stretched, four-seat version of the 297cc, one-cylinder Iso-derived Isetta 300. The 600 featured a two-cylinder 0.6-liter moto engine and semi-trailing arm rear independent suspension. Actually come to think of it, the Isetta 600 and the E30 M3 at least shared a rear-suspension design. The X5 M then, in terms of BMW's history, is truly an alien from another world. A world where family haulers thrash muscle cars for pinks. But does any of that matter? Are companies not free to reinvent themselves, especially here in America, where the X5 M is built? Perhaps most importantly, is the X5 M any good, let alone worthy of the vaunted M badge? Make the jump to find out.



Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright ©2010 Weblogs, Inc.

German tuner ABT has released word (and pictures) of the first tuned 2011 Audi A8 we know about, the AS8. ABT freely admits that the new A8 is pretty sporty on its own. Therefore, the AS8 package seeks to "underline" what Audi's already done in terms of huge, sporting luxo-bargeness. To wit, "[ABT] has not changed the elegant glider into a racing car, but carefully into a confident and sporty automobile."

Naturally, ABT started with a version of the A8 we can't get here in the States, the diesel. In stock form, Audi's 4.2-liter TDI V8 produces a healthy 350 horsepower and a yacht-towing 590 pound-feet of torque. In ABT trim however, the sparkless mill churns out 385 hp and a foundation-shifting 649 lb-ft of torque. The car's 0-60 time falls from the factory's 5.5 seconds to around five flat. Quite good for a 4,300+ pound oil burner, no?

Of course it would be in very bad form to just hop up the engine and leave the rest of the car stock -- how would anyone know you're driving a tuner? To that end, ABT has gone on and designed a body kit for the AS8. This kit primarily consists of a front spoiler with a splitter, side sills and a rear-end apron enclosing new tail pipes. There's also a three-piece rear spoiler and 21-inch wheels. We've never been totally sold on the looks of the 2011 A8, so while the ABT treatment helps in some respects (the rear looks excellent), it doesn't help much in others. Specifically the droopy looking sides and over-sized schnoz. But hey, at least they're trying.



[Source: ABT]

Those wacky Germans. They're always on the hunt for the next new niche and the second one of them discovers the next big thing in automotive packaging, the others dog pile on. The most obvious example is the Mercedes-Benz CLS – the so-called four-door coupe. Mercedes beat everyone to market with their swoopy, low-slung sedan. Then BMW did the CS Concept, Volkswagen launched the CC, Audi is readying the A7 and BMW will most likely put the four-door Gran Coupe Concept into production. Still not convinced? How about X3/Q5/GLK?

Now it looks as if Bentley is now looking to muscle in on Porsche's new niche, the five-door sport-luxury yacht, the Panamera. What's that you say, Bentley's British? Sure, in execution, but peel back the skin a bit and the Continental rides on a Volkswagen/Audi chassis – the Phaeton and last-gen A8 if you must know. Let's not forget that Bentley's president is named Franz-Josef Pfaegen and that he considers the Continental to be Bentley's, "911." That's 911 as in Porsche 911, not emergency/national tragedy. So yes, Bentley is as German as schweinebraten und hefeweizen.

In a conversation with the actually-British Autocar about the next generation Continental, a source within Bentley admitted that they're looking at adding a five-door Panamera-type hatchback to the super coupe, sedan and convertible line up. They feel there's growth potential in that particular body style. Bentley has been in rapid growth mode since Volkswagen rebooted the brand in 2003 by launching the Continental GT. Adding a five-door would only further expand the brand's appeal to the world's wealthier citizens.

Should Bentley build it? Why not? That said, it should also be building a three-door shooting brake version like Touring Superleggera's doing with the Flying Star. However, a five-door probably has a slightly larger audience. Additionally, if the new Bentley hatch is anywhere near as useful as the Porsche Panamera, owners will love the car. Besides, a Panamera-like Continental will be as close as we'll ever get to a twin-turbo W12, AWD Bentley station wagon. Bring it.



[Source: Autocar]

Well of course they did. If John Hennessey is known for anything, it's strictly adhering to the "Needs more power!" motif. This guy could watch a shuttle launch and return to his lab plotting a third booster. So yes, Hennessey has slapped two turbochargers onto Ford's batty-yet-burly F150-mutant Raptor 6.2 and produced the VelociRaptor 600 and 800, two products that will nicely compliment the existing Hennessey VelociRaptor 500, a supercharged version of the Raptor 5.4.

Through the magic of forced induction, power grows from the 6.2-liter V8 Raptor's stock 411 horsepower and 434 pound-feet of torque to a slightly-goofy 602 hp and 622 lb-ft of twist in the V-Rap 600. Not enough for you? Hennessey either, which is why he's also selling the VelociRaptor 800. Get all the liquids out of your mouth now, as the engine stonks it up to the Texas-sized tune of 810 hp and 745 lb-ft of torque. Can we borrow an exclamation point?

We know what you're thinking -- the Bentley Mulsane's twin-turbo V8 makes 752 pound-feet of torque, besting the Hennessey 800 by seven pounds of twisting force. However, the Hennessey VelociRaptor 800 makes 305 more ponies than the British thoroughbred, weighs less (what doesn't?) and can keep up with the hounds no matter the fox hunt. That said, the Muslanne has a nicer interior. Think we're being silly? We are, because engines like this bend our minds a bit. Remember, 810 hp is nearly 100 hp more than a Ferrari 599XX.

But what if you already have a Raptor 6.2, want more power but don't want two turbochargers? Again, no problem, as Hennessey is also announcing the VelociRaptor 475, that through better breathing and some reprogramming, ups the big V8's output to 475 hp and 485 lb-ft of torque. Dang. Watch the video after the jump.

[Source: Hennessey]

You know the old conundrum, "Fast car slow or slow car fast?" If you've never heard it before, it's a bit of automotive philosophy that asks on a given road, would you rather drive a Lamborghini Murcielago at five-tenths, or a 1982 Honda Prelude until the wheel-bearings shatter? And really, like the sound of one hand clapping, there is no answer. That said, the new 2011 Suzuki Swift is one slow car all of us would love to drive fast.

Check the stats: The wheelbase is nearly two-inches longer while the length has grown by almost 4 inches. The front and rear tracks are wider by a smidge -- seriously, a smidge -- 10mm front, 5mm rear. A 1.2-liter gas engine replaces the 1.3-liter from the previous Swift, but the new mill includes variable-valve technology, so while displacement is down, power is up -- 92 horsepower and 87 pound-feet of torque. True, that's barely enough oomph to get make it up the AMG staircase, but consider the Swift weighs half as much as most cars (the current car is just under one ton) and comes standard with a manual (automatic's an option). Sounds better now, no?

While the exterior hasn't changed much, the Swift's suit appears a bit more tailored. The big news is the interior which has borrowed some dressy, ritzed-up cues from its big brother Kizashi. Will the Swift come to our big-car loving shores? The answer is probably not, even though the Swift should get about 45 mpg and sticker under $10,000. However, Suzuki does need products, and there will be a 1.6-liter Swift Sport coming soon, so who knows?



[Source: Autocar]

Yesterday Lotus did something rather... odd. The Malasian-owned British sports car maker sent the entire automotive world a high-res picture of Stonehenge and announced it represented the, "Dawn of a new era." We initially interpreted this to mean that the new Lotus Esprit would show up in Paris. We still think we're right about that part, but Lotus might have been letting a little bit more cat out of bag than they intended.

According to a report from Malaysia, Lotus owner Proton has hired a plethora of ex-Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin employees (including Frank Tuch, the former Director of Quality Management at Porsche) in hopes of transforming the brand away from Toyota-engined track day novelties (hello, Exige!) into a full-fledged Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin fighting luxury, high-performance brand. Of course that entails abandoning Colin Chapman's maxim, "Simplify, then add lightness," in favor of the German mandate to, "Complexify, then add steel." If you think the Italians are any better, realize that every new Ferrari ships with eighteen miles of wiring. But look on the bright side, the new cars (which will have some sort of hybrid-ness cooked in) could draw power from Chapman spinning his grave.

As we speculated yesterday, the new Esprit will need something resembling a V8 engine (at least) to not only fill the shoes of the old, long-loved Esprit, but also to compete with the world's best luxury/performance machers. Luckily for both Lotus and Lotus fans, engine-supplier Toyota has just such a motor in the form of the IS F's 416 horsepower, 371 pound-feet or torque 5.0-liter V8. Of course, if you want to play in the stratosphere with the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and/or Aston Martin these days, you're going to need at least 500 horsepower. But where would Lotus get an engine like that?

According to the report, the Lexus LFA's 552 hp, 9,000 rpm 4.8-liter V10 could be made available for Esprit duty, though it might be slightly detuned. Still, an aluminum and composite V10 is an aluminum and composite V10. While that might sound odd at first blush, Toyota (no doubt) spent a sick amount of yen coming up with the LFA's V10, but they're only building 500 (or so) LFAs. So why not recoup the pricey development costs elsewhere? Like say in a Lotus range-topper? The question then becomes: Does the world want a 500+ horsepower Lotus dolled up with enough electronic whizbangery to compete with Europe's finest? Only time and the marketplace will tell.



[Source: Paul Tan]

Look what the spies have caught. Fresh from our time in the nothing-else-looks-like-it Cadillac CTS Coupe, comes these furtive shots of what we think is the upcoming Cadillac ATS. We've heard different rumors, but the dedicated BMW 3 Series fighter will either show up in 2013 as a 2014 model, or 2014 for the 2015 model year. Whenever it shows up, the ATS will be riding on a smaller version of GM's new/upcoming Alpha platform, the same basic RWD chassis that will also underpin the third generation CTS as well as the next Chevy Camaro.

We've taken a long, hard look at these spy shots, and have concluded that whatever sits under the CTS shell has had its wheelbase shrunk, leading us to believe this is in fact an ATS mule. The wheels are far too close to the passenger compartment. The other giveaway are the two places to insert fuel. At first we thought perhaps this is an XTS prototype and that the second orifice was (maybe) because of the new big Caddy's plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain. However, we think the vestigial door in the photographs is actually there because of the shortened chassis of the ATS. Also, GM will be placing PHEV plugs on the driver's side for convenience. We've also heard nothing about an ATS PHEV, though an ATS Hybrid has been rumored.

As for the mule in these pictures, here's hoping whatever's under there is worthy of all six ducks.