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Beloved in France, the Renault Twingo that arrived in 1993 was undoubtedly one revolutionary little car. Small, but with a roomy (for its size) interior, the Twingo ’s big round headlights and squat stance earned it the nickname of la grenouille (“the frog”). Roughly 2.4 million copies were sold during its life span, but after 14 years on the market and a couple of mild face lifts—plus countless special editions—the original frog had finally croaked its last. The new, more refined and mature Twingo arrived in France this past summer and officially bid adieu to the wide-eyed headlights and egg-shaped body of the original. Unlike its equally new big brother, the Laguna, the tiny Twingo manages a smidgen of cuteness. Its tall greenhouse, very short front and rear overhangs, and upright silhouette have a jaunty charm. Far from being as adorable as the new Fiat 500, the Twingo is at least as visually appealing as the similarly sized Toyota Aygo or Volkswagen Fox. The Twingo’s 141.7-inch...

Nothing turns heads like a sexy convertible wearing Pininfarina badges on its flanks. The Italian design firm is world famous for creating pulse-quickening exotic cars such as the Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano and Maserati GranTurismo. However, the Pininfarina-badged droptop we recently took for a spin proudly wears a blue oval in the center of its grille. The Ford Focus coupe-cabriolet is designed and built by Pininfarina at its factory in Turin, Italy, at a rate of roughly 20,000 per year. It might not have a prancing horse or trident on its hood, but the Focus is hardly a shrinking violet when it comes to drawing attention. As we drove through posh Parisian neighborhoods—where any other Ford would be considered so déclassé—the coupe-cabriolet got plenty of admiring glances. Interesting Design The front end is filled with four large grilles, a pair of fog lights, and just the right amount of chrome to be tasteful but not tarty. A bold crease flows up from the headlights and hood before w...

We're 20 feet from a production-spec 2009 Nissan GT-R at Sendai Highland Circuit, a raceway north of Tokyo. After years of staring at various concepts, prototypes and Nürburgring test mules of the GT-R , it's finally time to drive the finished product.An engineer waves us over after making his final checks, then hands us the keys with a smile so big you'd think he'd been knocking back Kirins since sunrise. We suspect he already knows what we came here to find out. Does the 2009 Nissan GT-R really deliver the performance of the Porsche 911 Turbo for half the price? Time to find out for ourselves. Getting Acquainted With Godzilla Unlike most supercars, the GT-R doesn't sit only 2 inches off the ground, so it's easy to slide into the driver seat. This is a Japanese-market car, so we're on the right-hand side, which makes everything feel awkward. The seat is firm and narrow, and the high center console gives the cabin a tight, cockpit-style feel. Start buttons...

The 2007 Ford Mondeo is what remains of Ford's last attempt to build the "world car." Back in the days of former Ford CEO Jac Nasser, we were told that if Ford could just build one car for the whole of mankind instead of a bunch of different platforms for every little Ford region, we'd all end up with better cars. They would be cheaper, too. Ford Chairman Alan Mulally is once again talking about rationalizing the number of different platforms that Ford builds around the world. Now that America is suddenly interested again in efficient sedans, could the all-new 2007 Ford Mondeo be the right kind of car for America? Making Modern Power More than 70 percent of Mondeo models sold in Europe are powered by diesel. There are three turbocharged common-rail diesels to choose from, and their output ranges from 99 horsepower to 138 hp. Four gasoline engines are also part of the model mix, and their output ranges from 123 to 217 hp. The Mondeo Titanium X that we spent time in ...

Previews With the GranTurismo coupe, Maserati invites comparisons to the Mercedes-Benz CL550, BMW 6-series, and Jaguar XKR. But mention that the XKR costs some 26 grand less than the GranTurismo’s base price of $114,650, or that the Jaguar is almost 300 pounds lighter than the GranTurismo’s claimed 4150-pound curb weight, and the Maserati folks shrug it off with lots of hand gestures. The same thing happens if you mention that the similarly priced BMW M6 has 95 more horsepower and 44 more pound-feet of torque than the 405 horses and 339 pound-feet of torque that come from the GranTurismo’s 4.2-liter V-8. “Power is not our race,” they say. On the other hand, the GranTurismo has something the BMW and the Jaguar don’t—two back seats with space for standard-sized humans. As does the Mercedes CL550, but the GranTurismo’s claimed 0-to-60-mph time of 5.1 seconds is 0.2 second quicker than what Mercedes estimates for the Benz. The Maserati lacks the electronic gadgets available on the Benz, ...

Low, sleek and yet self-consciously aggressive, the 2008 Aston Martin DBS is the ultimate expression of the contemporary Aston Martin . The 2008 Aston Martin DBS is the car that Aston CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez describes as "thunder and lightning." Aston Martin must achieve the prestige of Ferrari to survive as an influential manufacturer of sports cars, and that means the DBS must measure up against the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. A Surprising Start For the DBS, Aston Martin presents you with a plastic controller topped with a crystal, described as an ECU — Emotion Control Unit. (Well, it'll be stainless steel and a sapphire if you actually pay the $265,000.) It slots into the center of the starter button, which then glows warmly red as the 5,935cc V12 comes to life. This is the same Ford-designed engine featured in the DB9, still assembled by hand in Cologne, Germany. It's been slightly revised for the DBS, and the changes include a taller 10.9:1 compression ratio and a by...

our first clue that something's up on the 2008 Saab 9-3 sedan and SportCombi wagon will be the conspicuous lack of Saab's traditional black body-side moldings. Your second clue is the new face inspired by the Aero X Concept. To find your third clue, bend down on the ground and have a look underneath. Ya sure, that's a rear differential. Come January 2008, the 9-3 will apply power to all four wheels. And while it represents a break with tradition, the all-wheel-drive 2008 Saab 9-3 Aero XWD could save this brand from sales obscurity. Only the Swedes Say It This Way Saab says XWD should be pronounced "Cross-Wheel Drive." It hardly rolls off the tongue, but this fourth-generation Haldex-engineered system breaks some new ground. Like other electronically controlled, on-demand all-wheel-drive (AWD) systems, this one has its own computer that talks to not only the AWD system but also the stability control and the engine. The actual torque transfer between the front and r...

From the moment you prod its starter button, the 2008 BMW M3 surprises you. Its 4.0-liter V8 is quiet — possibly too quiet — and settles to a lazy, subdued burble. It's obviously a very different kind of engine than the inline-6 that powered the old M3, and for a moment you wonder if the gang at BMW M have botched up the world's finest high-performance coupe. But then you find a clear stretch of road and depress the accelerator. The big V8 takes a giant gulp of air and the 2008 BMW M3 starts to come alive. At first you'll find yourself instinctively changing up a gear at 6,500 rpm, but then the engine's only starting to get into its stride. You find patience and let it rip all the way to 8,400 rpm, when you've got 420 horsepower in full cry. Now you realize that BMW's in-house performance shop got it right. Big-time right. The 2008 BMW M3 is more than you expect. A Porsche 911 With Four Doors Consider this. The benchmark car for the new 2008 BMW M3 has not been ...

There's a well-known saying that involves beauty, eyes and beholders. Normally this is a backhanded compliment. Rest assured we're not suggesting the 2008 Volvo XC70 looks like it wandered into the Ugly Forest and ricocheted off a few trees. On the contrary, it's actually quite handsome. We're talking about inner beauty, the kind your mother wants you to see in others. Several manufacturers have built reputations on driving dynamics and feature content. But that's flashy beauty. Volvos are better known for safety and their pragmatic appeal, which isn't nearly as sexy unless you're into Swedish homemakers. The XC70's modus operandi has always been to offer enough visual braggadocio over the straitlaced V70 to catch the wandering eye of consumers in the market for an all-weather, all-terrain SUV, only one that's as safe and practical as only a Volvo can be. Volvo has stuck to the playbook with the 2008 XC70. It's the innocuous, clean-cut do-gooder ...

It's the fourth lap and I'm beginning to get the hang of getting the most out of the 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. Nudge the brakes to settle the rear of the car, flick the steering wheel into the corner entry while grabbing 2nd gear with the shift paddles, then turn sharply but not so aggressively as to accelerate the weight transfer, and finally allow the inside tires to mount the painted curb at the apex as we nail the throttle hard. An early whiff of understeer quickly but progressively gives way to mild oversteer as the 6.2-liter V8's prodigious reserves are unleashed to the rear wheels and the limited-slip differential goes to work, bringing the tail of the car around on the exit as the tires scramble for traction. Keeping our right foot planted on the floor, the slip angle increases until we're grappling with a full quarter turn of opposite lock. We can't help but laugh out loud as we grab a fleeting glance in the rearview mirror and see a trail of white tire s...

Previews Chinese cars are now on sale in Europe, so we go for broke and try one at top speed on a German autobahn. Yes, Chinese cars are coming to the U.S. The catch is that no one, not even the Chinese car manufacturers themselves, can provide a clear answer as to when and how. But we wanted to see how a Chinese car fares on real roads—and we wanted to know right now. The opportunity came courtesy of Brilliance Auto, a car manufacturer based in the northeastern Chinese town of Shenyang. If the name Brilliance rings a bell, it’s probably because the company has been licensed by BMW to build and sell 3- and 5-series sedans for the Chinese market since late 2003. Our test drive would not be in some Brilliance-built Bimmer, but in the company’s very own BS6 sedan (known as the “Zhonghua” in China). To put the car through its paces, we hit a hectic mix of city streets, country roads, and arrow-straight autobahns in Berlin, Germany. Why Berlin? Because Brilliance is the first Chinese manufa...

Previews After two years of lion styling with housecat horsepower, Hummer’s runt of the litter finally gets a V-8 variant, dubbed the H3 Alpha. With 300 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque, the Alpha’s 5.3-liter V-8 is the mill the H3 should have had all along. Surprise, surprise—we like it better even though we still don’t love it. Not Enough Power? When Hummer introduced the H3, it was steadfast that its new baby had plenty of grunt, although we certainly wouldn’t have used that word to characterize the 220 horsepower of the original inline-five. Still, without admitting fault, the 3.5-liter was hastily bored to 3.7 liters for 2007—and horsepower rose to a still-not-enough 242. We kept bitching. Why were we being so hard on it, GM wondered? Man, had anyone at the company driven it? On the road? Sorry for being so demanding, but we’ve never found 0-to-60 times in the mid-10-second range to be terribly stirring, especially in this day and age when there are SUVs that can be going a...

Alfa Romeo is the Quentin Tarantino of the automotive world. It's been years since either one made something really great, but their fans keep believing that another blockbuster hit is just around the corner. Just as every Tarantino movie is greeted as the rightful heir to Pulp Fiction, so, too, every new Alfa Romeo Spider is expected to rekindle the spirit of the original Spider of the 1960s, which Dustin Hoffman made famous in The Graduate. There is something evocative about that famous badge and triangular grille that lifts even mediocre cars above the mainstream. Here in Europe, people really want Alfa Romeo to succeed. The latest 2007 Alfa Spider is no different. When it was unveiled at the Geneva auto show in 2006, it was immediately named Cabrio of the Year, even though nobody outside the factory had driven it. This new Spider, the Alfisti whisper in hushed tones, will seduce a new generation of American customers. In two years, you will be able to walk into a Maserati deale...

Previews Although the availability of a “real” SUV in the form of the B9 Tribeca bumped overall Subaru sales past the 200,000-unit mark in 2006, sales of the controversially styled mid-size SUV were considered mediocre. In response, Subaru has brought out a hastily revised version. The new Tribeca (thankfully, the confusing B9 prefix has been dropped for the 2008 model) features fairly comprehensive front and rear styling revisions, replacing the controversial Alfa Romeo–like cues with more conventional treatments that more closely resemble the Chrysler Pacifica, particularly with the badge set within a band of chrome atop the grille. Perhaps Subaru should have called it the Chry-beca. Better, however, is the charming flat-six powerplant, which has been boosted in capacity from 3.0 liters to 3.6 liters in the interests of improved performance and economy, with horsepower and torque bumps to match. Here’s where it gets interesting The flat-six engine (or H6, as Subaru calls it) is alrea...

Previews We’re not getting this V-8 diesel here, but we can tell you that the current Q7 flagship lacks soul, and that Audi’s B&O doesn’t stink. At the tail end of our first drive experience of Audi’s mouth-watering A5 and S5 coupes, we were thrust into the driver’s seat of something entirely different in pretty much every conceivable way: the newly minted Q7 4.2 TDI. Some of us rolled our eyes at this, since this particular oil-burner, positioned as the current flagship of the Q7 line (until the V-12 TDI launches) in Europe, won’t be making it Stateside any time soon. Furthermore, Audi didn’t bring any 3.0 TDIs—which we will get late next year as an ’09 model—for comparison. But we set out to learn a thing or two anyway, as the Q7 4.2 TDI represents the interesting combination of a diesel SUV with a performance bent, and where better to explore the limits of this torquiest of all Audis than on the German autobahn? And so we did. No surprises Driving the big diesel Q7 offered absol...

Previews Too much equals not enough? The pricey, portly M6 ragtop trades speed for sex appeal. BMW hasn’t had it too easy from us recently. The Bavarian masters of driving arts once had an easy ticket to a first-place finish in virtually every comparo they entered. But then came iDrive, then active steering, and then everyone’s favorite “whipping tech,” the sequential manual gearbox. You could argue that those technologies, in many cases, created as many problems as they solved, at least from the purist’s point of view. A brighter spot came in the form of the 2006 BMW M6 coupe, a 6-series coupe made even more salivating with zoomier styling, a sexy carbon-fiber roof, and one of the most delicious engines on God’s green earth: a race-bred, heart-pounding, high-revving 5.0-liter V-10 producing an incredible 500 horsepower at 7750 rpm and 383 pound-feet of torque at 6100 rpm. So prolific is the engine that not even the entire alphabet’s worth of techno-acronyms could keep the fun away. Th...

Previews Cadillac’s mid-cycle refresh of the STS doesn’t include a 16-cylinder engine, but it gets a much-improved V-6, anyway. When we first reported on Cadillac’s refreshed 2008 STS from the New York auto show, we quoted the new base engine—a 3.6-liter DOHC direct-injection V-6—at 298 horsepower and 268 lb-ft of torque. Since then, four more of each have been found, bringing the totals to 302 and 272, respectively. That’s just 18 fewer ponies than the optional 4.6-liter Northstar V-8, while the V-6 model will likely cost some $9000 less. Nine grand for 18 horsepower!? That rivals some of the deals you’ll find on Shelby Mustangs. More power, more refinement, more mpg, more gears. We are strong advocates of increasing power in all engines, but this is not an issue we take lightly. Engines can not be merely stronger; we also prefer them smooth and considerate. In this, the STS delights, being noticeably more powerful—up 47 hp and 20 lb-ft on the powerplant it replaces—as well as higher-...