Improving awesome! _ Driving the new C 63 AMG S coupe is an exercise in restraint. I suspect that owning one, then, will be that and many more things. The car’s purpose is simple. To be the best C-Class ever. And it just might be. Along with its sedan counterpart, the C 63s are head and shoulders above the rest.… Read more →
The Ace of Laguna Seca _ Carroll Shelby would be proud. No question. Were the Godfather of factory performance still here to take one of these out for a rip, he’d be impressed. Undoubtedly. Perhaps even in tears. They’re that good. The 2016 Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350R are not only the most powerful naturally-aspirated ’Stangs Ford has ever built,… Read more →
From Le Mans To Your Driveway _ The Audi R8 supercar has been a bright star for the Four Rings since its 2007 debut. On the street and the racetrack. The company has sold nearly 27,000 of the road-going versions worldwide to date, and the second generation R8 – launched at the Geneva Motor Show last spring – is already… Read more →
Kick-Ass Caddy for Grocery Gettin’ _ The new ATS-V has little more than half the displacement of the even newer CTS-V. It develops 464 turbocharged horses compared to its brethren’s 640 supercharged Detroit ponies (on two fewer cylinders I might add). It starts at nearly $26,000 less than the CTS-V. There’s clearly a little bro, big brother relationship going on… Read more →
Manual GT4 Exists to Excite _ The Porsche Cayman GT4 does not pretend to be something it isn’t. So, what is it then? The all-new GT4 is pure unadulterated fun for the enthusiast driver, and it is available exclusively with a six-speed manual transmission to appease purists. Compared to the GTS, it is lighter (by 35 kg, for 1,340 kg… Read more →
AMG! Better When Wet? _ I’ve driven many AMGs the past few years, but none have gotten me as excited as the new 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT. Even the bodacious SLS AMG – now officially my second favourite AMG – no longer has the same appeal. With a $149,900 entry ticket, the uprated GT S coupe is a stout performer right… Read more →
The Sultan of Studio 63 _ (Yawn) My chauffeur seems slightly miffed. “The guy behind just turned left,” he says while checking the rearview mirror. “On the straight!” he chuffs before saying something in German to a colleague over the two-way radio in his right hand while nonchalantly holding the steering wheel with his left. My German is at best… Read more →
Track-Tested to the Driveway _ Just days before the L.A. Auto Show last fall, Cadillac hosted Ignition in Austin, Texas for an exclusive event at the Circuit of the Americas that included a sneak peek at the brand’s latest track weapon – the stunning Cadillac ATS-V.R race car – and hot laps with Johnny O’Connell in his 2014 Pirelli World… Read more →
SUPERCORVETTE _ Spoiler Alert: Every time I think about the Corvette Z06, my mind wanders to the scene in Pulp Fiction where boxer-turned-fugitive Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) and lover Trudi (Bronagh Gallagher) flee town on a stolen motorcycle on the advice of mob boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), who lost a lot of money on Butch after he threw his… Read more →
Indulgence yes! _ From the front, the 650S looks like the McLaren P1. From the rear, the hindquarters taken from the 12C make it look like a spaceship! It certainly screams ‘Hey, look at me!’ and it blasts off like a rocket. That it costs more than many houses, I can only imagine what the neighbours were thinking. The interior… Read more →
