AUTOS
The all-new 2016 Volvo XC90 is an alluring proposition, and not just because of its Swedish good looks and airily plush interior. While the T6 base drivetrain is no slouch, cranking out 316 horses and 295 lb-ft of torque from a 2.0-liter four-cylinder that’s both turbo- and supercharged, the real engineering feat is the T8 plug-in-hybrid drivetrain that Volvo claims is good for 400 horsepower and 59 MPGe. Today, Volvo revealed how
– Overwhelm the senses or starve them. Connect the driver so completely with the car that he has to duck to avoid the crankshaft throws, or isolate the cabin so absolutely that its occupants feel cleansed by its serenity. Constant stimulation or sensory deprivation? When engineering an expensive car, a path must be chosen. READ MORE ›› –
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-Just before it crashed to earth in a smoldering knot of bankrupt wreckage, one of America’s crooked savings-and-loan institutions, amidst much panicked parboiling of hooks and ledgers, described its lack of cash as an “ephemeral fiscal shortfall.” Imaginative euphemisms are an American tradition. Recall, for instance, one other: “the unfair advantage.” That was the annotation Roger Penske and Mark Donohue, throughout their long partnership. affixed to what was, in less
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Audi’s Prologue family of concept cars has a new biggest brother. The third in the line that brought us the Prologue coupe at the L.A. Auto Show and the Prologue Avant wagon at the Geneva show, meet the newest member: The Prologue Allroad. – Look closely at that image above: It’s not black-and-white, but it might as well be. The Prologue Allroad wears a subtle hue of Dehua White, making
– A Nissan Rogue hybrid? Sounds like a vehicle that would win the blessing of Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, who is known to be very bullish on battery electric cars taking over the industry. Lending more specific credence to the rumor, a Japanese engineer just told Automotive News that Nissan may give us a Rogue hybrid. Are your electrons getting excited, crossover buyers? – – The suggestion comes from Nobusuke Toukura,
– If the exterior of the 2015 Mercedes-Benz ML250 pictured here looks nearly identical to the 2014 ML350 it replaces, that’s probably because it is. Comprehensively overhauled for the 2013 model year, the ML’s styling will get updated for next year—when it also adopts the GLE-class nomenclature—but for now the minor change in diesel ML badging is all that’s new outside; it acknowledges the arrival of Benz’s 2.1-liter dual-turbo diesel
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– The next generation of the BMW X1 will be moved to a front-wheel-drive platform and lose its optional straight-six engine, but that doesn’t mean its maker isn’t prepared to go even further downmarket: German publication Auto Motor und Sport has issued a report that the Bavarians are working on a smaller subcompact crossover SUV that they speculate will be called the Urban Cross. – The new model will share its platform with the Mini lineup, the next-gen X1,
