nyar neh: September 2009

Monday, September 28, 2009

McLaren F1

McLaren F1: 240 mph, 0-60 in 3.2 secs. BMW S70/2 60 Degree V12 Engine with 627 hp, base price is $970,000. Check out the doors, they looks like bat wings, maybe Batman need to order one and paints it black

Koenigsegg CCX

Koenigsegg CCX: 245 mph, 0-60 in 3.2 secs. 90 Degree V8 Engine 806 hp, base price is $545,568. Made in Sweden, it is aiming hard to be the fastest car in the world, but it has a long way to go to surpass the Bugatti and the Ultimate Aero.

Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo

Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo: 248 mph, 0-60 in 3.2 secs. Twin Turbo All Aluminum V8 Engine with 750 hp, base price is $555,000. Smooth and bad-ass, will make you want to show it off non-stop.

Bugatti Veyron

Bugatti Veyron: 253 mph, 0-60 in 2.5 secs. Aluminum, Narrow Angle W16 Engine with 1001 hp, base price is $1,700,000. With the highest price tag, no wonder this is rank #2.

SSC Ultimate Aero

SSC Ultimate Aero: 257 mph, 0-60 in 2.7 secs. Twin-Turbo V8 Engine with 1183 hp, base price is $654,400. Tested in March 2007 by Guinness world records, The SSC Ultimate Aero takes the lead as the fastest car in the world beating Bugatti Veyron.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

2009 Chevrolet Corvette

The big news in the Corvette camp this year is obviously the ZR1 supercar, the 638-hp rocket that’s the capo di tutti capo of Vettes. We’re seduced by Chevy’s new missile, but we can’t include it in our 2009 awards because it has a base price that’s some 34 grand north of our maximum base price of $71,000 (2.5 times the average transaction price for all light-duty vehicles sold in 2008). That cutoff (down $1000 from 2007) also eliminates the Z06, an ’08 listee whose ’09 base price has crept over the line.

But never mind. Extensively updated last year, including a useful infusion of horsepower, the standard Corvette coupe and convertible continue to deliver a level of performance and style that’s unbeatable for the money.

Beyond its credentials as an outstanding high-performance buy, we’ve also been impressed by the ongoing improvements in Corvette assembly quality, materials, and everyday comfort.

Cadillac coined the “American Standard for the World” mantra, but in the world of sports cars, those words describe the Corvette.

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 3-door targa or 2-door roadster

BASE PRICE: $47,895–$52,550

ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 16-valve 6.2-liter V-8
Power (SAE net): 430 or 436 bhp @ 5900 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 424 or 428 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm

TRANSMISSIONS: 6-speed auto with manumatic shifting, 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 105.7 in Length: 174.6 in Width: 72.6 in Height: 49.0 in
Curb weight: 3200–3350 lb

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 15–16/25–26 mpg

2009 Cadillac CTS / CTS-V

Last year, the redesigned CTS was the second Cadillac to win a 10Best Cars award (the first was the 1992 Seville), and this year, it’s the first Caddy to become a 10Best repeater. We were impressed with its dynamics, its upscale interior, the performance of its optional 304-hp, 3.6-liter direct-injection V-6, its slightly softened but still distinctively edgy styling, its overall refinement, and the fact that it offers manual as well as automatic transmissions.

We’re still impressed. But impressed is a tame descriptor for our response to the V version of this car. Overwhelmed is more like it. Like the CTS, the CTS-V is far more refined in its second generation. But that’s not the first thing that grabs the driver’s attention, particularly if his right foot is flat to the fire wall and he’s rowing through the six forward speeds.

When that’s happening, the center of the driver’s universe becomes the super-Caddy’s 6.2-liter, supercharged V-8, which is busily churning up 556 horsepower. And if the road is challenging, the driver’s reward includes amazing agility and response.

Cadillac has created many memorable cars. This one is unforgettable.

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear- or 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

BASE PRICE: $36,880–$59,995

ENGINES: DOHC 24-valve 3.6-liter V-6, 263 or 304 hp, 253 or 273 lb-ft; supercharged and intercooled pushrod 16-valve 6.2-liter V-8, 556 hp, 551 lb-ft

TRANSMISSIONS: 6-speed auto with manumatic shifting, 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 113.4 in Length: 191.6 in Width: 72.5 in Height: 58.0 in
Curb weight: 3900–4300 lb

FUEL ECONOMY (mfr’s est):
EPA city/highway driving: 13–18/19–26 mpg

2009 BMW 3-series / M3

What are the key elements of automotive perfection? From our perspective, the list of qualifications includes eager responses, supple ride quality, smooth power, supportive seats, athletic proportions with limited front overhang, attractive styling with familial features that endure through the generations, a car that is always entertaining to drive.

For us, the sum of those attributes is epitomized by the BMW 3-series. Not only is this true for 2009, the addition has been coming out the same way now for 18 years: a string of consecutive 10Best Cars appearances that’s unique in the 27-year history of these awards.

Renewed in 2006, the U.S. line of the 2009 3-series includes the broadest array of models in its history: four body styles, including folding-hardtop convertibles; four engine options, including a 3.0-liter, turbo-diesel inline-six and, a first for this family, a V-8. The latter is the 414-hp, 4.0-liter V-8 that propels the latest M3 coupe, sedan, and convertible to the threshold of supercar territory. There are even three transmissions, including BMW’s first dual-clutch automated manual gearbox.

Is this perfection? History has shown that there’s always room for improvement. But even so, in our view, no current family of cars comes closer to that elusive target.

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine; rear- or 4-wheel-drive; 4–5-passenger; 2-door coupe, 2-door convertible, 4-door sedan, or 5-door wagon

BASE PRICE: $34,225–$68,675

ENGINES: DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter inline-6, 230 hp, 200 lb-ft; twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter inline-6, 300 hp, 300 lb-ft; twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter diesel inline-6, 265 hp, 425 lb-ft; DOHC 32-valve 4.0-liter V-8, 414 hp, 295 lb-ft

TRANSMISSIONS: 6-speed auto with manumatic shifting, 7-speed dual-clutch automated manual, 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 108.7 in Length: 178.2–181.8 in Width: 70.2–71.5 in Height: 54.1–57.0 in
Curb weight: 3350–4150 lb

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 13–23/20–36 mpg

Monday, September 21, 2009

Maserati GranTurismo

Few brand names in the automobile business—or any business, for that matter—can match the bitchy, prosodic fabulousness of “Maserati.” And few cars in the world can match the voluptuous regality of Maserati’s GranTurismo. In other words, it’s beautiful whether you’re saying it or seeing it. Compared with the similarly designed Aston Martin DBS (long hood, front-midship engine layout), the GranTurismo succeeds not with ornamentation but through the emotional, almost whimsical curvature of its plus-size body. The fact that a raucous, Ferrari-derived V-8 resides under the long hood is just icing on one helluva beautiful cake.

Aston Martin V-8 Vantage

It is entirely accurate to consider Aston Martin’s little V-8 Vantage a seven-eighths-scale DB9. Roughly the same size as a Nissan 350Z and only a little bit quicker, the V-8 Vantage is nonetheless much, much pricier. So how can Aston get away with charging $80,000 more for the V-8 Vantage? Simple: The V-8 Vantage is absolutely gorgeous. With the same long-hood, short-deck formula as that of its larger sibling, but with a slightly different styling edge in the form of large wheels and a ducktail tush, the V-8 Vantage offers a rarely achieved balance of beauty and sportiness, proving that classic GT proportions are indeed scalable.

2009 Pontiac Solstice Coupe

Although most of the cars in this group are rather costly, beautiful cars are not the exclusive domain of the rich. For proof, we submit Pontiac’s upcoming Solstice coupe. Little more than a Solstice convertible with a bit more sheetmetal and cargo space, the Solstice coupe joins the Cayman in proving that more is indeed more when it comes to beauty. With well-integrated rear flanks, a radius-edged liftback window, and a double-bubble targa top, the hardtop corrects the Solstice convertible’s greatest flaw: its wretched fabric roof, which neither fits nor looks right. The Solstice coupe is easy on the eye from any angle, and at an estimated $25,000 when it hits the market early next year, it’ll be pretty easy on the wallet, too.

2009 Audi S5

Current Audi/Lamborghini/SEAT design chief Walter de'Silva has designed many beautiful cars during his illustrious career. But even after designing the mouthwatering Audi R8, de'Silva himself called the Audi S5, along with its less powerful, somewhat more subdued A5 twin, the most beautiful car he has ever penned.

One of the most passionate designs ever to come out of Germany, the S5 wears a perfect balance of masculine and feminine elements, mixing a strong, assertive gaze with elegantly flowing fenders and a thick fuselage offset with delicate brightwork. Sporty accents to the S5 include a squared-off chin, subtle sill extensions, a slightly longer decklid, and four wonderfully vocal tailpipes—all without detracting from the coupe’s innate beauty. Best of all, it sets the tone for the styling of Audi’s lineup henceforth. Lucky us.

2009 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class

Beauty is seldom encountered among four-doors since, in the car world, accumulating doors usually means subtracting style. But the Mercedes-Benz CLS-class proves that sedans can be beautiful, too. Sure, the CLS cheats a bit, achieving its captivating looks by incorporating some coupe-derived design elements such as a low, chopped roof and slim windows, and this translates into a cramped rear seat that holds only two people—short people. This car is best enjoyed from the outside, where light streaks over spectacular arching body contours like shooting stars. It is at once delightfully simple and wonderfully extravagant, and we celebrate it as an experiment in style that went very, very well. Fast forward to Pebble Beach 2058, and you can bet there will be a CLS or two on the lawn.

2009 Porsche Cayman

The Boxster is bitchin’, but the Cayman is beautiful. Yes, they’re more or less the same car, but the Cayman proves there’s something about a well-rendered roof that takes a good-looking car and drops it off at the doorstep of gorgeous. In our book, it is just as purposeful but even more sexy than—dare we say it?—its big brother, the legend itself, the Porsche 911 Carrera.

Blessed as it is with balanced mid-engine proportions, roof contours that drip down into the swollen fenders, and a smart, determined gaze, the Cayman makes its driver look as good as he or she feels. And as we’ve said many times before, when you drive one, you feel pretty good.

2009 Audi R8

Before the R8, the thought of Audi building a credible supercar was audacious enough. That it could make one that would be so arousingly beautiful was simply unfathomable. But with the R8, Audi has brought the world a car that performs like a true supercar and is sculpted in double-take sheetmetal. Certainly helpful is the fact that Audi owns Lamborghini and thus has proven supercar innards—in this instance, those of the Gallardo—at its disposal, as well as a number of excellent powertrains capable of launching the aluminum-bodied sexpot forward as if it were shot from a cannon. All that was left, then, was to wrap it in something beautiful. And that Audi did.

2009 Lotus Elise/2009 Ariel Atom

Beauty is not always purely a matter of the aesthetic. To those more technically minded (as are several of our editors—Csere, VanderWerp, you know who you are), beauty can be a more cerebral, associative, objective factor. Although the eensy, insectile Lotus Elise and the skeletal Ariel Atom are not necessarily beautiful in the traditional sense, the fact that they weigh next to nothing yet offer more power than many sport-utilities can make a math-minded car enthusiast drool at the sight of their unconventional bodies like Pavlov’s dogs in a bell factory. We’re talking 0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds for the 2000-pound Elise and three seconds flat in the 1400-pound, 245-hp Atom (a 300-hp model is also available). You don’t have to be a spreadsheet to get turned on by that.