Car News Articles

This gray Nissan GT-R, caught while being unloaded from a truck at Nissan’s Nurburgring workshop, is suspected of being a prototype of the long-rumored GT-R Spec V.

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The Saturn Aura is about to become obsolete. GM’s European wing has officially leaked photos of disguised Opel Insignias on test. Insignia replaces the Vectra, which is the Aura’s donor car. The Insignia will be revealed at the London Motor Show on July 22.

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DETROIT — Gas prices in Michigan are up 5 cents over the past week.

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Born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents, Nissan Europe’s design chief Alfonso Albaisa decided against following the family tradition of training as an architect.

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The words ‘Renault’ and ‘premium quality’ are unlikely bed fellows. Who’d rate a Laguna on a par with a C-class? We remain sceptical, but Renault boss Carlos Ghosn reckons the French company’s latest family car is so well built, it challenges the premium players for quality. In his speech at the Frankfurt Motor Show, he claimed it was so well built, ‘you can even put the key card through a washing machine and it will still work.’

A small claim, but CAR thought we should put it to the test. Cue associate editor Tim Pollard, a Hoover washing machine and one Renault Laguna key card. Will it survive half an hour of spinning and wringing? Watch our tongue-in-cheek film below to find out…

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Porsche will upgrade the 911 this summer, in the latest of a long line of improvements to the 40-year-old sports car. It will be on sale in UK showrooms in autumn 2008 and those evolution-not-revolution looks hide a raft of technical changes including (finally!) a new twin-clutch gearbox.

The 997’s engines will get direction injection - as the Cayenne did - to lower emissions, improve fuel consumption and increase power. And that double-clutch gearbox, called PDK in Porsche speak, will allow electric-fast gearchanges and improved economy.

Porsche 911: the engine

The 3.6- and 3.8-litre flat six boxer engines will gain the same direct injection system that the Cayenne received early in 2007. In the controversial SUV that brought a little extra gruffness, but 10-15 percent more power and torque, and a similar reduction in fuel consumption.

PDK transmission

After much delay, Porsche will finally announce its Porsche Doppel Kupplungen gearbox. Its new partners at the VW Group stole a march on the Stuttgart manufacturer with DSG, and only now is Porsche getting its own system. Let’s hope it’s been worth the wait.

Click ‘Next’ to read about the interior of the new 911

CAR Online has driven nearly all of the current 911 range. Browse our 911 drives in the Related News links below

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Felipe Massa grabbed the lead from pole sitter Robert Kubica at the start and held on from there to win the Bahrain Grand Prix. Massa’s Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen passed Kubica early and finished second. Kubica, driving for BMW Sauber, settled for third. Raikkonen and Kubica are the only drivers to earn two podium finishes in three races so far this year. Raikkonen also took over the points lead from Lewis Hamilton, who had problem on the start and then ran into the back of rival Fernando Alonso early in the race. Hamilton eventually finished 13th and Alonso was 10th.
Read more and get results here.
– Michele Vincze

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I like trends. While I don’t necessarily bite on every jelly shoe or skinny/flared jean that comes my way, I do enjoy a good, fun shot at something novel. We’ve written about a few trends here, but none more important than the teen driving trends we’ve discussed in the past few weeks. You know, like the scary one about the increasing odds of tweens dying in a car accident. There’s also the trend of fewer 16-year-olds getting their driver’s licenses, which often only means they’re riding more with their friends — thus, less seat-belt wearing and more sketchy car behavior.

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This is a big weekend for tuning cars in Japan. Out in Nagoya, the annual Exciting Car Showdown is drawing big name cars from all over Japan. There won’t be too many Evo’s and Impreza’s there,however, as tomorrow is also the day of the much anticipated ‘08 edition of the Hyper Meeting at Tsukuba Circuit. That’s where I will be, so I wasn’t able to get out to Port Messe in Nagoya for the ‘Showdown. Luckily, I was able to find a few photos from the first day of the event thanks to こてぴんさん.

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According to Automotive News [AN, sub], GM’s top quality executive is touring the country telling dealers that a large percentage of consumer dissatisfaction with the quality of GM products comes down to slack dealer prep. No really. Jaime Hresko said that “40 percent of the problems that show up on GM quality reports from sources such as J.D. Power and Associates are related to vehicle controls and settings — not manufacturing issues that stem from vehicle design or assembly.” Hresko is asking GM retailers to complete a thorough pre-delivery inspection of “issues that routinely irritate customers and may poison satisfaction reports.” We’re talking “memory and personalization features,” including seat and mirror settings, clocks, radio stations, computer and navigation system settings.” Hresko’s exhortation is not without reason. As TTAC has pointed out before, J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Survey (to which Hresko was alluding) is inherently flawed, measuring little more than consumer expectations and doing so over a ridiculously short time period (90 days). Still, maybe GM’s top quality guy should be concentrating more on his side of the ledger. I mean, any study that names the Pontiac Grand Prix the best anything (Best Large Car) can’t be all bad– you know, as far as GM’s concerned. 

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