Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Shelby GT500 Mustang

Sometime around late 2003, I first saw the car that was at that time still known as Condor. Condor was the Ford internal code name for the SVT version of the yet to be publicly shown S197 Mustang. At that time, most everyone outside of Ford was still anticipating that this car would be the new Mustang Cobra. Somewhere along the line to launch, Ford had settled its long standing conflict with Carroll Shelby and Condor ended up wearing one of the other classic Mustang badges from the '60s. The Shelby GT500 eventually started rolling off the Flat Rock, MI assembly line in both coupe and convertible forms for the 2007 model year.

Ford recently dropped off a Grey 2008 GT500 coupe at the Autoblog Garage for a few days, and we just had to share. By coincidence, the GT500 arrived about three weeks after the Mustang Bullitt we reviewed. While the Bullitt was about as understated as a modern Mustang can get, the GT500 is anything but. The Shelby is slathered in stripes, badges, spoilers and driving lights. The GT500 also has a very different powertrain from the Bullitt. Find out how the GT500 compares to the stealth 'Stang after the jump.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Pontiac G8 GT

As a tyke I staged an all-out assault on my parents' better judgment for a G.I. Joe hovercraft. Not three months had passed following their surrender when I ransomed my mischievousness for the next toy my happiness hinged upon. Oh, that hovercraft? Forgotten. The auto industry works the same way. We often convince automakers that we'll buy every cool car they'd make if they would just grow a pair and build 'em. They do their part and then... we don't. The trust is broken and we're back to buying what automakers know will sell.

After much whining from performance enthusiasts, the rear-wheel-drive 2008 Pontiac G8 GT is finally here and at first glance is packing almost everything we wanted. Will GM be made to look like the pushover parent and left paying the bill for this Aussie import while customers shift their attention on to the next big thing, or will the G8 turn out to be the toy we never tire of? Read on to find out.


All photos © 2008 John Neff / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Toyota Corolla XRS

The Toyota Corolla hasn't stirred passion since the AE86, so it's forgivable to greet an all-new version with a yawn. The Corolla recipe has been refined to the point of grand success for so long now that changes must be approached carefully. A new version must not upset the car's combination of refinement, value, and durability. To be sure, the 2009 Corolla is likely to continue the model's grade point average full of red circles from Consumer Reports. Objectively, it's tough to top - subjectively, not so much.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for high-res gallery of the Mustang Bullitt

My earliest memory of falling in love with a car was a Mustang. As a kid, a friend of our family had a blue 1969 Mach 1 with the Shaker hood scoop, louvers on the rear window and the little wing at the end of the rear deck lid. From that time forward I've always had a thing for Mustangs. One of the most famous car-related movies (OK, it wasn't really car related, but it had Steve McQueen, cars and a chase scene) has to be Bullitt. Having grown up in the '70s and '80s, I somehow never actually got around to watching Bullitt until about three years ago when it arrived in the mailbox courtesy of NetFlix. I can't say I loved the movie, but Det. Frank Bullitt had the hottest ride in San Francisco, bar none.

Ever since the current S197 Mustang debuted in late 2004, Ford has been putting out a steady stream of limited volume special editions in order to keep sales boiling. The latest is the 2008 Mustang Bullitt, and it is to my eyes the best Mustang yet. It carries the classic proportions and cues of the late sixties 'Stangs without any of the tacked on froufrou found on some other specials or even the current standard Mustangs. Read on after the jump for more on why this Bullitt is special.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe

Honda's Accord has grown at every redo since the model's inception, and this latest version is no different. We've already tried out the sedan, so we borrowed the two-door version to sample the Coupé lifestyle, wherein you actually pronounce those acute accents. Our first impression is that the Accord Coupe is the best Monte Carlo never made, while retaining a fundamental core of Hondaness. Accords have always been half cool, half dorky, with the scale tipping one way or another depending on the generation. This latest one continues that trend, and we wanted to find out if the 2008 Accord Coupe is crushingly cool or heavily noisome.


All photos © 2008 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.

Click image for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI

I remember the last red Subaru I drove. I was in high school, and the car was my dad's – a new '88 GL wagon with an automatic and push-button 4WD on the shifter. I dug that Scooby. It wasn't powerful but it was fun -- especially when it snowed. Somehow I managed to avoid bouncing it off a lamppost while sliding it around corners. This had much more to do with luck than skill, as I was in high school and clearly an idiot. But I digress -- after all, this isn't about my dad's old GL. It is, however, about a red Subaru – the new Impreza WRX STI, to be specific. If this thing was around back during my neighborhood rally-pretender salad days, I'd probably just be getting my license back right about now.


All photos Copyright ©2008 Alex Núñez / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for high-res gallery of our time with the 2008 Volvo C30

We've been told for so long that hatches don't sell here in the U.S., so it's surprising to see a new crop of two-box premium cars going on sale. MINI started it with its R53 Coopers; retro flash met modern dash and it sold successfully enough to warrant an upgrade to the R56. Volvo's got the same lust for entry-level customers to its premium wares, so on the scene rolls the C30. Based off the S40, the C30 reaches back over three generations of boxy-but-good styling to a time when Swedish cars wearing the alchemist's symbol for iron had curves and a shooting brake profile. Hatch/wagon/brake/estate - call it what you will, Volvo's hoping it can call the C30 a success.


All photos ©2008 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Subaru WRX

Last year when the 2008 Subaru Impreza debuted at the New York Auto Show, many fans of the road-going rally car were taken aback. The older, aggressively styled four-door sedan now had a decidedly pedestrian look to it. Worse still, the cool looking mini station wagon of the previous generation had been dumped in favor of an oddly proportioned five-door hatchback. We only got to see the base and WRX versions in New York and had to wait until the Tokyo Motor Show in the fall for the hard-core STI variant. When the STI did finally appear, it had shifted from the four-door to the hatch body style. Fortunately for Subie fans, the aggressive bulging fenders and super-sized rear spoiler remained from the previous car, although the proportions still look a might peculiar.

The countdown to the inevitable EVO-STI showdown had begun. Unfortunately, you won't be seeing that battle here just yet. We did, however, have the opportunity to review a new WRX and spend a few days with an STI model only a week apart. Since we'll soon publish a solo In the Autoblog Garage review of the STI, we want to focus here on the two rally-inspired Imprezas and how they compare in day to day use.



Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid, Alex Núñez / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for high-res gallery of the Infiniti EX35

Infiniti first showed the world its new EX35 as a concept at last year's New York Auto Show and then put it on sale in fall essentially unchanged. Although the Acura RDX has been described as a sports car in CUV clothes, it's based on a fundamentally front-wheel-drive architecture. If Honda had instead taken the S2000 roadster, stretched it and jacked it up a bit, they would have come up with something more akin to the EX35. In fact, that's almost exactly what Nissan did.

The EX35 is based on the platform of the G35 sedan/G37 coupe and, of course, the fun loving 350Z. If you want a crossover with sports car genes, it would be hard to find something more suitable. Of course, wearing a badge from the Infiniti side of the family tree means getting a handsomely tailored suit and all the latest high-tech gizmos to go along with the go-fast hardware. It also means a few sacrifices to ultimate utility, but we'll get to that after the jump.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

click above to view high-res gallery of the 2008 Nissan Altima Coupe 2.5S

Coldest day of the year. Single-digit, negative windchill cold. The rented Sony Digital Beta machine almost fits into the trunk of the newly minted Nissan Altima Coupe. The speakers for the Bose stereo hang down too low and block what could have been a glove-tight fit. Time for plan B. While the boffins at the video equipment rental house are watching from the window, I back the car into the middle of the parking lot to swing that big coupe door out as wide as it'll go. Okay, does the front seat lie flat? No... damn. The back seats do fold down and the front headrest is removable. Hmm. Front passenger seat slid all the way forward and reclined all the way back gives me *just* enough room to cram the big broadcast unit into the car where it has a cozy space to rest. That'll learn ya to buy a coupe. Expect scenes like this to be oft-repeated if you carry more than a messenger bag with your car.

Let's get this out of the way; the Altima Coupe is not a poor man's anything. Its looks certainly set expectations. There's plenty of Infiniti G37 in the lines of the Altima Coupe, but it can stand on its own considerable merits without basking in the halo of some other cousin with totally unrelated architecture. The 2.5S Coupe is more 912 than 911, more 318 than 335, which is not an entirely bad thing. It's shorter, lower and lighter than the sedan, and the happy vibes are served up in big portions.


All photos ©2008 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.