First Drives

Three-Pointed Star's Cash Cow Gets Significant Updo On sale since 2009, with some enhancements already done in early 2011, the eighth-generation W/S 212 Mercedes-Benz E-class has once again been put under the knife to stay in step with the automaker's never-ending desire to be the world's Number ...

A Blue-Blooded Valentine I need you to understand what it's like to drive this car. I'm not talking about your ability to comprehend the words on this page or process the figures that surround the 2014 Porsche Cayman S, but rather what it feels like to take control of a car conceived, designed, ...

Good. But Good Enough? Spoiler alert: The 2014 Acura RLX is a good car. But that shouldn't come as a surprise. Despite the fact that Acura is subject to a lot of criticism for things like its odd positioning in the automotive landscape, questionable styling choices in recent years, and the fact ...

What Dreams May Come The Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster left me stupefied. Despite my experience with countless other high-powered exotics on a variety of racing circuits, including nearly all of its Gallardo siblings, the all-wheel-drive, 700-horsepower flagship dropped my jaw to the ...

Big Changes Below, But Just A Little Off The Top It happens all the time. Three or four years into an automobile's lifecycle, the manufacturer goes back to the drawing board, making what it hopes are vital improvements to keep its product at the top of the sales charts. It's true of the vehicle ...

The Imperial Super Star Destroyer of SUVs Andrew Polsinelli, Land Rover North America's head of product planning, told us this is what owners requested of the new, fourth-generation Range Rover: "Don't change it, just make it better." Superficially, the request appears to represent that species ...

Kia Tries Yet Again To Prove That Compact Sedans Are Its Forte For those keeping track, the introduction of the 2014 Kia Forte sedan marks the second time in five years that Kia has completely redesigned its compact sedan offering. Put another way, car shoppers have now had three entirely ...

Hitting The Mainstream Sweet Spot The Forester does quite a bit of heavy lifting for Subaru. What was once a plucky little all-wheel-drive utility box has matured into a competitive crossover that accounts for a quarter of the company's total sales in the US. With those numbers continuing to ...

Brash Bruiser Loses Top, Gains Weight, Still Makes Friends Everything we said after driving the RS5 coupe still rings true, even after Audi has gone and ripped off its metal roof, replaced it with a big cloth version, and tossed us the keys. The 2014 Audi RS5 Cabriolet is another bold, ...

Downsizing For BMW's Front-Wheel-Drive And i Futures Output is quoted at 175 horsepower and BMW says it will hit 62 mph in 7.0 seconds. The red five-door BMW 1 Series seen in this photo gallery has little to do with what is actually of importance here. What we've just tested at an airfield ...

Evoque's Older Brother Gets Some Love Brands like Jeep, Land Rover and General Motors' now-defunct Hummer all come from rich military backgrounds, with their forebearers having proven their ability to tackle just about any terrain, from desert to jungle. Each has faced the difficult challenge of ...

Honda Builds The Crossover Of Bikes Here in the land of Harleys and highways that stretch to infinity, Americans don't care much for sensible motorcycles. Unlike the majority of global bike buyers, North Americans tend to choose escape over utility, performance over practicality – that's ...

Obsessively Maintaining the Status Quo Genchi Genbutsu and Waku-Doki. These are Japanese terms we heard quoted by Toyota representatives when describing its 2013 RAV4. Apparently the first one means "go and see for yourself" and the second means "heart pumping, adrenaline racing." Nice ...

Bavarian Hustler Gets Solid Update Including Stunning New iDrive For a while now, the absolute and rather uncontested king of big luxury executive sedan sales worldwide has been the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Among the obvious competition, there has been an almost unspoken agreement that this is so, ...

For Those Who Want Their Top Trim 3 Series Greener The business case is pretty simple: BMW wants a green (or blue, if you like) "liaison" line of models between its standard lineup of cars and the upcoming mega-wow i models. This maximizes choices, fills all niches, and buys time while BMW waits ...

Vastly Upgraded Italian Speed Sedan Kicks Off Brand Renaissance The sixth-generation Maserati Quattroporte is big – and not just because it's 6.5 inches longer than before with a wheelbase that stretches 4.3 inches beyond its predecessor. The new Quattroporte is big also because it's a ...

A Carbon-Fiber Successor To The Flagship DBS A terrible wave of sadness engulfed me from the driver's seat of the Aston Martin as its speedometer needle crept towards 130 miles per hour. My anguish only grew as the upcoming corner filled the windscreen. As my right foot pressed firmly against ...

City, Slicker We admit it. We have no earthly idea how this whole thing is going to shake out. Typically, after driving a new car or truck, we come away prepared to hazard a guess as to whether said model has a good chance of being a sales success. We've amassed enough time watching the ...

Rebranding When Reinvention Is Requisite Lincoln – pardon us, the Lincoln Motor Company – assures us that Ford is committed to its success. The awkwardness of the statement (which feels vaguely like your mother telling you that she loves and supports you regardless of what everyone ...

No one was comparing the IS to the BMW 3 Series, and for Lexus that was a problem. At the beginning of 2011, we rocked up to the parking lot at Southern California's Santa Anita Raceway to test the 2012 Lexus GS. This was the first sedan in the luxury brand's lineup to reset its intentions ...