Photographs by Jack Baruth

It would be poetic to say that the return of the Great American Sedan was announced as the speedometer of the 2010 Taurus SHO swept past the one-hundred-and-twenty-mile-per-hour mark with the insouciant prowess of a young Mark McGwire taking practice swings in the batter’s box. And it would be more than delightful to describe the way this big sedan trail-braked into an off-camber hairpin, smoking in sideways and providing my dry-heaving fellow member of The Press As A Whole the most panoramic view possible of the Great Smoky Mountains above the spectacular dashboard and sculpted bonnet while the steering spoke to me with crystalline clarity and the transmission snapped off two flawless downshifts. Or I could describe how, on a hill so steep walking it would be a challenge, the twin-turbo SHO squeaked its front tires for a nearly imperceptible moment before swapping drive to the back wheels and rocketing us up the slope with the force of a small-block Chevy.

The truth of the matter, however, is that I knew everything I needed to know about the 2010 Taurus when I was handed a floppy-looking interior door skin.

Continue reading 2010 Ford Taurus and Taurus SHO — The return of the great American sedan.

In a recent column, I detailed my experience driving the Switzer P800 Nissan GT-R. This outrageously powerful vehicle was as fast as any reasonable person could possibly want… but there was something missing. What was it? Perhaps it was the frisson of complete and utter terror. If that little chill is what you seek, Switzer is now ready to provide it in their “P800″ conversion for the Porsche GT2.

Continue reading If 800 Horsepower Was Fun Before, Imagine It In A Car That Wants To Kill You!

Click for Larger Image

Story by Jack Baruth, photographs by Jack Baruth and Ford

Highway 1 is Northern California’s “Shoreline Highway”. Green hills to the right, blue water to the left, blue sky above, blue Mustang surrounding me. Second gear in the 2010 Shelby Mustang GT500 reaches above the speed limit on pretty every road in the United States, and it gets there quickly. Traffic ahead but the road doubles back along the coast and I can see the gap. So… See the gap, apply the throttle, make the pass. With a muted supercharger whine, the big blue snake lights both rear tires and transports me to redline in the space of thought. Time for third, I think. It’s good for One. Oh. Eight. Or thereabouts. And it, too, arrives with a tire-spinning fanfare. Across the crown of the road and the “Botts dots” send the rear end wagging. Left. Right. Left. Power is still on. The oscillation is violent but it’s as regular as a grandfather clock. The shift light flashes: a bright red “SVT” logo. Let’s settle it down. Let’s reach for fourth. And that, dear reader, is where we must draw the curtain. For now, anway.

We know the GT500 is fast. In its previous incarnation, we pedaled one around MSR Houston just as quickly as a Lotus Elise. It takes a lot to get a two-ton, iron-block, traditional ponycar around a road course at Lotus velocities, and Ford’s SVT division knows the secret formula to make it happen. But this time, the Blue Oval boys are promising more than just raw speed for the revised GT500. By applying a series of incremental improvements and changes to the platform, many of which were previewed in the mega-buck GT500KR, Ford believes that it has created a pony which is both powerful and refined. “You’ll get some track time,” we were told, “but it’s on the road that you’ll see the real difference in the new car.”

Oh, there’s that phrase. “New car.” Exactly how “new” is the 2010? We covered many of the differences in our 2010 Mustang GT test, but the Shelby is, in fact, more heavily revamped than the normally aspirated models. Not only does it benefit from all of the “regular” changes, there’s far more differentiation between it and the cooking GT than there was in the previous model. Ahead of the A-pillar, only the fenders are shared with regular Mustangs. A new bonnet design addresses the problem of “hood shake”, while Shelby-specific bodywork can be found from the unique nose to the faux-diffuser surrounding the four-inch exhaust tips. The rear badge is applied with wide letter spacing in true Sixties style, a minor touch which required a fair amount of production-line engineering to accomplish. Ford’s worked very hard on the Shelby’s detailing. The overall effect is a visual home run: cohesive, trim, and unbelievably aggressive, all at once. And there’s more to see once you open the door.

Continue reading 2010 Mustang Shelby GT500 First Drive: Even faster, but not as furio… angry.

Hopefully, one day far into the future, I’ll be able to sit my grandchild on my knee and say, “Old Pappy was there.” There on the day that the first real, intended for mass consumption electric car (or rough draft prototype of the first) was unveiled to the public. There’s a couple of reasons why this dream sequence might not come to fruition. First, I’m not exactly a paragon of health (though my blogger’s physic is quite impressive). Second, selling an all electric car that gets to 60 mph in under 6 seconds, goes for 300 miles between charges (in top battery trim), seats seven (yeah, seven) and is built right here in Southern California for just $50,000 is, um, tenuous. But then again, you haven’t met Elon Musk.

Continue reading Tesla Model S Concept Debuts

The Mercedes-Benz F-Cell Roadster is the result of wild imaginations and the technical expertise of over 150 trainees and dual education students.  Taking over a year to conceptualize and build, Mercedes-Benz says that this fuel cell powered roadster project focused on integrating alternative alternative propulsion systems with hands on experience.

The F-Cell Roadster is an allusion to the 1886 Benz Patent Motor Car, and is powered by a 1.2Kw fuel cell system at the rear.  Mercedes-Benz says that the roadster has a top speed of 25km/h and a range of 350km.

The media brief says that this car was built and it exists, however these images look more like highly detailed renderings than actual studio shots.  I guess we’ll see if the F-Cell Roadster really exists at an upcoming motor show. 

Full F-Cell Roadster gallery after the jump!

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz Trainees “Build” A Car: The F-Cell Roadster

Tired of your watch and luggage not matching your vehicle of choice?  Porsche has the answer for you with their new Porsche Design Edition of the 2010 Cayenne GTS.  The Cayenne PDE 3 features a Lava Grey exterior with special black stripes and blacked out headlamp housings.  B and C-pillars also get the blacked out treatment along with the window surrounds and door handles.  On the inside, the Cayenne PDE3 features an exclusive black leather interior with contrasting red stitching throughout along with an alcantara headliner, center console, and seat centers.    

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Porsche Design Edition without throwing in some cool accessories to go with the Cayenne.  For this third Porsche Design Edition, Porsche will be throwing in a matching four-piece luggage set as well as a Porsche Design Type P’6612 chronograph watch.

Limited to just 100 units, this special edition of the Cayenne will go on sale in the U.S. the second half of 2009 with an MSRP of $89,900. 

[View with PicLens]

 

Click for Larger Image

Though there seems to be an exodus out of this year’s NAIAS, some manufacturers ARE still planning on debuting their latest and greatest creations at the Detroit show. Mini is one of those manufacturers, and will be unveiling the next-generation of Cooper Cabrio. This new model is more powerful, more efficient, and safer than the outgoing model.

Power for the base Mini Cooper Cabrio comes from a 1.6L engine producing 118hp, while the hotter Cooper S Cabrio gets a turbocharged 1.6L engine which produces 172hp. Mini says that these engines are up to 19% cleaner and more efficient than the engines in the previous model. While the EPA numbers for the new Cabrio have not been published, we can expect them to be close to the hatchback version’s numbers.

The Mini Cooper Cabrio retains the same sliding soft-top roof style as the previous generation, which Mini says can be retracted fully in just 15 seconds. To add to the safety of the Cooper Cabrio, Mini has added a single-piece rollbar behind the rear seats which can deploy automatically in just 150 milliseconds.

Pricing for the new Mini Cooper Cabrio starts at $24,550 for the base model, and $27,450 for the Cooper S Cabrio with deliveries starting on March 28, 2009.

Click for Larger Image

Yes, we’re back for another week of SSL Radio. Supposedly, the automakers are heading back to Congress this week to beg for their lives, but we’ll have to wait and see if anything actually comes out of it. Aside from that, there’s not that much going on, so we’ll have to see what we can dig up to send your way in glorious podcast format.

On 12/1, we start off by reviewing the stuff that we missed over the vacation (it wasn’t that much), and the news from Monday (which was even less).

And we enter the week of the American holiday of Thanksgiving, which means diddly-squat will be happening this week in automotive news. Enjoy your day off, everyone, we’ll be here, desperately combing for anything to talk about.

For 11/24, due to reasons beyond my control (read: college), the actual podcast will be going up tomorrow. However, as for right now, we have the text of what you’ll be hearing me say later on tomorrow, anyway! It’s situated right below the jump.

11/25 is the first victim to fall prey to the ravages of the Thanksgiving vacation, as we talk about rumors surrounding a new range-topping VW Scirocco and the mass exodus from the upcoming 2009 North American International Auto Show. It’s only 2:36 people, you can’t even boil an egg in that amount of time.

[display_podcast]

Continue reading Speed:Sport:Life Radio: Turkey Week Edition

Click for Larger Image

Porsche has released the first photos of what it is calling the Panamera Gran Turismo, the first four-door in Porsche’s lineup. Officially, Porsche will be marketing the Panamera as a four-door grand touring sports car, meaning potential Maxima buyers will have another choice to consider.

The Panamera will feature three engines, ranging from a 300-horsepower V6 to the range topping direct injection 500-horsepower turbocharged V8. Power will get to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox or Porsche’s new seven-speed PDK Doppelkupplungsgetriebe transmission. We’ve found that Doppelkupplungsgetriebe is a far more impressive in conversation than double-clutch, so practice up on your German.

Porsche says that the Panamera will make its world debut in the Spring of 2009 and will arrive at U.S. dealers in the Fall of 2009.

As a side note, after looking at these photos for a few days, I’m convinced that rear end is something that only Sir-Mix-A-Lot could love. What do you think of the Panamera? If it were YOUR money, which sport four-door would you buy? We love to see your comments!

Click for Larger Image