Tests and Features

This may seem anachronistic, but to succeed in the luxury and semi-luxury car category, you have to market an entry-level compact model. It helps increase your total number of clients and introduce them to the brand so that, one day, they might upgrade to a more luxurious model. Audi, BMW …

When Kia unveiled its Soul in 2009, it was a breath of fresh air in the automobile industry. For once, a unique vehicle didn’t go too far. The Nissan Cube (and, later, the Juke) or the Scion xB pushed the envelope a little too far – and they continue to …

In the late fifties, Sir Alec Issigonis, the designer of the game-changing Mini, had his sights set upon an unlikely British icon: the Land Rover. Lured in by the various lucrative military contracts Land Rover had been awarded as a result of their stunningly practical Series I, and later, Series …

The pinnacle for an automobile journalist and the dream of any self-respecting diehard is driving a new Ferrari in the country where it was born. I happen to be both, and I accomplished this feat during the international launch of the Ferrari 458 Spider a few days after it was …

More than a year has passed since Mazda unveiled its SKYACTIV technology, which is designed to cut fuel consumption in both gas and diesel engines. Anyone who follows the automotive news has heard that Mazda has developed various technologies for engines, transmissions and platforms to ultimately improve vehicle performance while …

It's taken BMW, Mercedes, and Audi a long time to bring their respective tuning branches known as M, AMG, and Quattro into the light. Having earned their proverbial wings on the racetracks and rally roads of Europe in the sixties, seventies, and eighties, each of these storied divisions has lent …

For years, the Land Rover name was associated with a rural way of life. Their ads showed stylish people dressed in Barbour coats and Wellington boots stopped in a field next to a Land Rover or a Range Rover. Usually, a dog, generally Labrador, sat quietly next to his master.

Four wheels, 10 cylinders and two doors, or two wheels, four cylinders and no doors? When you’re driving an Audi R8, Sunday drivers become particularly aggravating. They block local roads and crowd the left lane of the highway when all you want to do is unleash the 525 horses under …