Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Audi R8
There's been considerable debate about whether the Audi R8 is a bona fide supercar, able to hang with the best and brightest from Maranello, Stuttgart and beyond. But power figures and price points don't tell the whole tale.
What's been missing from most reviews is how Audi's midship masterpiece handles the rigors of daily duty. And that's what we wanted to find out. So no track tests, no slalom numbers, no skid pad hijinks -- just a comprehensive review to illustrate how the R8 deals with the day-to-day tasks its above-average owner will ask of it. But before all that, let's get one thing out of the way: it's absolutely breathtaking.
Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Nissan Cube
You know that you have a disorder when you're as enthused about an econobox as you are to get seat time in something like a Rolls or Bentley. But that's me, and that's how I felt when I got the call at my desk telling me that my new media ride was downstairs waiting for me. I quietly walked out to the stairwell and then, when the door shut behind me, I bounded down them two at a time, like a kid running downstairs on Christmas day. I stepped out into the sunlight, and there it was in all its delightfully quirky, 100% JDM glory: a 2008 Nissan Cube. And for the next four days, it was mine.
Expansive blue skies set the scene for a perfect spring day in New England as an enthusiastic team from Saab greeted us journalist types and eagerly showed off the Swedish brand's newest top-level sedan, the TurboX. After a quick Powerpoint chat with Saab USA GM Steve Shannon and a stroll under a TurboX that was hoisted on a lift, we were making use of the Big Dig highway improvements on our way to several hours of blissful thrashing. Federal dollars never sounded so good as we held the turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 in first gear, happily snarling along in the upper reaches of the tachometer and turning the underground portions of the highway into a gigantic reverberator.
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Maserati Gran Turismo.
I've been reading an unhealthy amount of car reviews for more years than I dare to count and I'm guessing you're the same. But over the last decade, I've become increasingly selective about which sources and writers are worthy of fulfilling my fix. Money that should otherwise be stuffed away for a rainy day or put towards replacing the waterpump in my E36 inevitably finds its way into the till of my local bookseller when a new issue of Evo or Car hits the stands. While it still seems that a handful of buff books and a select few newspaper writers have the market cornered on the art of road-going storytelling, one light shines in our little corner of the webiverse.
Motive was smart enough to hire Davey G. Johnson, former Jalop contributor and friend of everyone here at Autoblog, to review the Maserati Gran Turismo, and where Davey goes we follow. He recounts his time in the driver's seat of Maser's grand-tourer, providing further evidence that true automotive verse isn't always found on dead trees. These kind of stories continue to solidify the 'Net's grasp on the future of automotive journalism, proving that the medium doesn't matter – the man behind the keyboard wields the power to inspire. Enjoy.
UPDATE: Due to its awesomeness, we are re-running the GT-R drive. Click above to view our massive gallery of the 2009 Nissan GT-R.
With only 20 miles separating us from North Lake Tahoe, it's obvious that I hadn't secured the hood of our Super Silver Nissan GT-R after poking and prodding inside the engine bay. The left side of the bonnet is raised about a quarter-inch and flapping slightly at speed, so we pull off into a newborn subdivision to slam it shut. I step back inside and catch a glimpse of a silver Corvette in the side view mirror. The telltale air intake on the front bumper confirms that the man behind the wheel is an aficionado; it's a C6 Z06 and there's no doubt the driver knows what the GT-R is.
Click above for high-res gallery of our time with the 2008 Toyota Sequoia
Gigantor. The 2008 Toyota Sequoia arrives humongously revised from the already beefy first-generation. The Timberland Mica (Metallic Green) example that Toyota lent us for a week definitely deserves whatever size-related superlatives you can dream up. It's big, it's powerful, it doesn't sip fuel. There is a need and a market for this type of vehicle, however. If Sequoia buyers don't actually utilize its considerable capabilities, that's not Toyota's fault. This year marks the migration of Toyota's full size Sport Utility to the same mechanicals that underpin the new Tundra, ladling on capability to an already fairly competent and refined vehicle.
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.
Gallery: In The Autoblog Garage: 2008 Nissan Altima Coupe 2.5S
Here's a little something we've been cooking up for a while. We've seen your cries for more video reviews, and it's on our minds, too. We've been trying to bring you more video in a lot of ways lately; Chris Shunk recently walked us through the new Grand Caravan, and Damon and Sam shot some video when they went to visit Tesla to drive the Roadster. You can visit our YouTube Channel to see just how many videos we've been producing lately.
We decided to try our hand at producing an In the Autoblog Garage new car review on video, and you'll find our results after the jump. Let us know what you think of our first video review, which stars the 2007 Scion xB, as we hope to make it a regular feature. Also check out Sam Abuelsamid's review of the 2007 Scion xB in written form.
click above image for a high-resolution gallery of the Lexus LS460L
It's tough to pity Lexus LS owners. After all, Executive-Class luxury sedans don't exactly suck. We wouldn't blame LS drivers for feeling pangs of over-inconspicuousness whenever they see a Camry, though. Understated luxury is one thing, but when you're devoting something like two years of the average worker bee's salary to a frivolity such as a luxury sedan, it'd be nice to have at least some indication to the Serfs that you're the better man.
"Look at Me!" posturing is not what we have in mind. There are Lamborghinis and Excaliburs for that sort of disgusting bourgeois putrefaction. Exuding a bouquet of fine taste, class and craftsmanship shouldn't be out of the question for a car such as the LS, however. The LS 460L we drove failed to portray itself as what it aspires to be; the ne plus ultra shark in the S-Class pool. Spend a few more seconds looking and the sheer size of the big Lexus sinks in, but gosh, from 30 feet away you need to concentrate to see something more than a Camry (or the new Hyundai Genesis for that matter).
click image above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Impreza Outback Sport
The standard new generation evolution usually goes like this: bigger, roomier, longer, wider. For some models, it's not such a big deal to go fiddling with the specs, on certain cars it's even a welcome improvement. Subaru, however, has a conundrum on their hands when they go messing with the Impreza formulation. There's a loveable quirkiness to the recipe; start tinkering too much, though, and you'll end up with New Coke.
Thus, it's with trepidation that we sampled the 2008 Impreza. It certainly looks different than those which came before. New duds don't mean an expanded waistline here, the 2008 model actually twirls out considerably less measuring tape in several dimensions than its forebear, while gaining inches and tenths where they make the most difference. Better doesn't have enough depth to fully convey the marked improvements Subaru has made in their entry-level model for 2008. Even stretching to "a lot better" leaves more to be said
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In the Autoblog Garage:2009 Nissan GT-R
North American Exclusive First Drive: Alfa MiTo
