2016 Jaguar XJ: Faster Computers Tech Up the Refreshed Flagship Sedan
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– Lo! News from an oft-overlooked corner of Mercedes-Benz’s droptop lineup: For 2016, the SLK-class roadster drops its manual-transmission option—it was the only U.S.-spec Benz available with a stick—and swaps its standard turbocharged four-cylinder engine for a new (more powerful) turbo four. A new automatic transmission and a name change from SLK250 to SLK300 also accompany the changes.– – It’s worth noting that the four-cylinder SLK’s new name will be short-lived, as next
-Few brands have ascended from near oblivion as convincingly as has Kia. Run your eyes down the flanks of the resculpted 2016 Sorento and it’s hard to envision products that were once bait for subprime buyers shopping for low monthly payments. Kia’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty introduced more than a decade ago helped erase some memories of bottom-of-the-barrel quality and subpar resale values in preceding years. But the advent of Peter
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– Alfa Romeo’s new 4C Spider is not a convertible in the sense that, say, an Aston Vanquish Volante is a convertible. Instead, the flyweight Alfa features a roll-up soft top that can be stashed in the car’s diminutive trunk, leaving just enough room for a slender knapsack and a sack lunch. Alternately, a lift-off carbon-fiber hardtop is available for $3500; this panel is not stowable in the vehicle. The
– Denizens of Multnomah County, Oregon, rejoice, for your automotive lord and savior, Fuji Heavy Industries, has announced the cash layout required to purchase yourself a brand-spankin’-new 2016 Subaru Forester, a vehicle as at home on the streets of Portland as it is in the wilds of neighboring Skamania County, Washington. (We really just wanted to type “Skamania” because it makes us think of thousands upon thousands of lumberjacks skanking
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– Looking to do some al fresco motoring, Italian-style? Well, good sir, consider the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider. It’s out this summer for $65,495. – – That’s $10,300 more than the coupe, which finally launched last fall after what seemed like an eternity of mythical storytelling that promised Alfa would return to America. It has, and so far (through May) 386 4C coupes have been sold, most all of
– Looking to do some al fresco motoring, Italian-style? Well, good sir, consider the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider. It’s out this summer for $65,495. – – That’s $10,300 more than the coupe, which finally launched last fall after what seemed like an eternity of mythical storytelling that promised Alfa would return to America. It has, and so far (through May) 386 4C coupes have been sold, most all of
– – The French are nothing if not proud, even if often for no particularly good reason beyond being French and proud. But the Le Mans 24 Hours provides a chance for some tricolor waving on a scale that the country’s beleaguered auto industry rarely gets the excuse for. Which is why, we presume, Renault used the event to show off the latest in a long line of Alpine