5 Nisan 2014 Cumartesi

2014 BMW M4 Convertible

BMW has been rolling out some intense products this year, especially the new 3- and 4-Series lineups, complete in their sedan and coupe variations. Beyond that, the M version of each have stirred even more commotion in the industry, but one car was missing – The M4 Convertible. Today BMW corrects that as the German automaker divulges all the details and images of the new 2015 M4 drop top.

If you’ve read anything on the new M4 Coupe, the convertible will be highly familiar. Power still comes from the 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged inline-six that’s mated to either a six-speed manual or seven-speed M-DCT transmission. The other go-fast bits like the uncompromising suspension, massive brakes, and free-flowing exhaust are all carried over. The big news with the car is its three-piece retractable hardtop. With the push of a button, the top folds itself like a piece of origami in just 20 seconds and at speeds up to 11 miles per hour. Cargo room has improved of the last generation M3 Convertible, gaining an extra 0.7 cubic feet of room with the top up and an impressive 7.8 cubic feet of extra room when the top is folded down. Unfortunately, the extra space and all the drop-top hardware comes at a heavy cost — an extra 525 pound cost over a comparable M4 Coupe. The news of the M4 Convertible comes before its official debut at the 2014 New York Auto Show happening April 16. Though BMW is only jumping the gun by a few weeks, the information gives us a chance to really dig into the M4 Convertible once we see it roll across the all-important New York stage. More details will roll out soon, so stay tuned.

2015 Subaru WRX

Just in time for some weekend daydreaming, Subaru launches its online configurator for the all-new 2015 WRX and WRX STI , though this one doesn’t contain nearly the options a few of the other configurators we’ve recently seen.

What you can chose is one of three trim levels with the standard WRX model and two trim levels with the upgraded WRX STI. With its base price starting at $26,295 the WRX makes a good bargain for someone looking for an AWD car that can handle a leisurely drive one minute and burn up a dirt road the next. Moving upward from there is the WRX Premium, adding a moonroof, fog lights, headed front seats, and a rear spoiler. Topping out the WRX list is the Limited trim which included leather seats, LED headlights, and keyless access and start. Jumping up to the racier WRX STI gets you many things — the most important of which is the 305-horsepower version of the 2.0-liter, boxer engine. Also included is the driver-controlled center differential and Brembo brakes. The top-dog range topper is the WRX STI Limited. That bad-boy gets leather seats and, more importantly, a set of 18-inch aluminum-alloy BBS wheels. Checking the box for the STI Limited will automatically set you back $38,495. Performance does come at a price.

2014 Volvo S60 T6 R-Design

WEST COAST EDITOR MARK VAUGHN: Even though the 2014 model has a facelifted front end and redone interior, the Volvo S60T6 R-Design still manages to give me the anonymity I crave with the sporty feel I love. Anonymous and fun to drive in the city -- that's what I'd say after a weekend in it.

Unless you have a BMW M5, hardly anyone's going to take a larger sedan like this to an autocross. So rather than alienate most buyers with a harsh suspension fit only for a racetrack, Volvo has managed to straddle sporty and luxurious and deliver a car that makes everyday urban driving a little more fun than it might otherwise be. The R-Design trim level gets actual performance enhancements, too, and not just those stickers and wings. Yes, it gets the silly aerodynamic cosmetics that I would just as soon do without, as well as the R-Design aluminum inlays and sport pedals, but it also gets stiffer springs, bushings, sway bars and monotube shocks. It rides more than a half-inch lower than the stock S60, too. The result is a practical sedan that is remarkably comfortable yet still mostly responsive for spelunking into city traffic. Maybe if I'd entered it in an autocross, I'd notice different handling traits exhibited only at the limit like, maybe, understeer. But I didn't. On empty freeway interchanges taken much faster than those yellow recommended speed signs suggest, it held on smoothly. From a standstill, it got to 60 mph in just 5.0 seconds, a figure that would surely have dropped by half a second if I could have switched off the traction control. As it was, TC and DTSC eliminated any benefit that might have come from brake-torquing off the line, leaving a half-second's worth of launch time at the starting line. Stomp on the gas and it sort of sits there as five tenths tick on by. Then off it goes, the shifter in Sport and the six-speeds clicking off as you vroom away. After the suspension upgrades, the next best thing I liked was the R-Design seats. They grasp your gizzard like a long-lost lover and don't let go until you're ready to leave, which might be a while. The rest of the interior was fully functional and not at all hard to live in.

My preconceived notion of price about this thing was about $15K more than it actually cost. Even in R-Design trim it was only $44,165. You could get a Chevy SS for that. The SS is more powerful and a half-second quicker to 60, and of course the SS is a little less refined, more of a beast, but it's a delightful beast, if you can imagine that, one you will enjoy wrestling with. The Volvo offers European refinement to go with its sporty character. The SS is a brawling Aussie who's had a few Fosters. You like both of them, but the Aussie will get you in more trouble, which maybe you could stand lately. A comparable Mercedes-Benz (say an E350 Sport Sedan with the 3.5-liter six and seven-speed automatic) is eight grand more, a BMW 535i xDrive Sedan with AWD, 3.0-liter turbo six-cylinder and eight-speed automatic is $10K more; but everybody has those. You're not going to see R-Designs going back and forth on your street. The Volvo is a way to satisfy both the spouse, who wants “a safe car” (said without knowing anything at all about all those FMVSS hoops all cars have to leap through nowadays) and yourself, who wants a “fun” car (said knowing how much fun cars can be). You're both happy and both think you've pulled one over on the other. But you know best, don't you? Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140401/carreviews/140339971#ixzz2y191quvV Follow us: @AutoweekUSA on Twitter | AutoweekUSA on Facebook

2014 BMW 335i xDrive Gran Turismo

car-over or crosscar or whatever it is: Beneath the inexplicable body/badging, there's a BMW 3-series with a turbo straight six-cylinder, and that's a very good thing indeed. Add in the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic and xDrive (one of my favorite systems in snow) and you've got the makings for a brilliant dynamic performer. In that respect, the 335i xDrive Gran Turismo is as good a car as any other F30 3-series. The quirks of the body design throw a few weirdnesses in, however. Extra rear legroom courtesy of the longer wheelbase is welcome and enough to be noticeable. BMW also claims more cargo capacity than the wagon, but we recommended that all that cargo come from IKEA. Flat-pack boxes are about all that's going to fit under the low, wide hatch, and few dogs are going to relish riding beneath the expanse of glass. Girth also comes at a price, in this case paid via the stylists' account. Simply put, the 3-series Gran Turismo is an awkward car, particularly up against the Sports Wagon -- a model that's gorgeous from any direction. Or for that matter the X3.

2015 Cadillac Escalade

On the road, you can feel all 420 horses pulling when you stomp the gas, with a decent V8 roar. We didn't time it, but Cadillac says the Escalade will get to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds. That was sports car territory just a decade or two ago. Power comes on smooth, and stays smooth, even when it drops to four cylinders to save gas. If you put your foot down more than an inch or two, all eight kick back on seamlessly. The company stuck with its six-speed auto, which will hold on to a gear almost to redline. It can also be manually shifted via buttons on the column shifter.

The 2015 Escalade gets the third generation of GM's outstanding Magnetic Ride Control suspension system, with sport and touring modes selectable through a button on the dash. We switched between the two and quickly felt the difference, both on bumpy roads and during lane change maneuvers. The track is wider in the rear, adding to the stability, and we found the overall ride to be stiffer than we expected. It's much less floaty than Escalades past. Speed-dependent electric power steering is standard and we found the SUV easy to keep straight on the road. It rolled over most bumps and potholes without a peep, though the southern roads upon which we tested the car were nearly immaculate. Surprisingly, Cadillac didn't let us take the Escalade off-road. The interior has a good flow to it, and lives up to its “world standard” moniker. Cadillac was quick to point out that all of the stuff that looks like metal is metal, and everything that looks like wood is really wood. The panel gaps are very tight; in fact, we think the Escalade now has one of the best American interiors available, second to the electric ELR. CUE continues as the infotainment system of choice; despite our initial usability complaints, we find it easier to use every time we get into a Cadillac, so owners will probably grow accustomed to the system's quirks relatively quickly. We also love that storage cubby behind the radio controls, and there are a bunch of other spots to hide valuables in the doors and back. For tech fans, the Escalade has five USB ports, five 12-volt outlets, a 110-volt outlet, a rear entertainment Blu-Ray player, can connect up to 10 Bluetooth devices and a 16-speaker stereo that will probably trounce the system inside the club you're about to valet park in front of. The premium trim, which we tested, comes with an array of safety features that could fill a book of its own thanks to its driver awareness and driver assistance packages. Overall, the cabin is extremely quiet on the road, and even quieter at idle. We joked that it almost feels like a stop/start system is shutting things down at idle, with the lack of vibration and noise. To get that serenity, Cadillac uses double-stacked acoustic glass, thick firewall insulation and triple-sealed doors. It also uses microphones and speakers with its Active Noise Cancelling technology to block out any stray sound waves. This being a full-size SUV, we jumped in the second and third rows to get a feel for what a road trip would be like. The second row is fine, but the third row gets tight for an adult in the standard version. The ESV adds a couple more inches of legroom. We could see it housing six or seven grownups for a short drive to a concert or game, but not much more than that. It is still a utility vehicle, Cadillac reminded us, after wowing us with all of the bling. As such, the second- and third-row seats can be folded from a button in the back, and the power tailgate opens with a wave of the foot. That leaves a cavernous 94.2 cubic feet of cargo space.