Blog Posts by: Scott Evans  

Based in part on the Leaf electric car, the Nissan eNV200 Concept converts the company’s not-yet-released small commercial van to all-electric power. To covert the NV200 van to all-electric power, Nissan borrowed heavily from its groundbreaking Leaf electric car. The eNV200 uses the Leaf’s 24kWh battery pack and 80kW, 107-horsepower, ...    Read more

We’ve been waiting since February to find out which BMW will be the first to carry a four-cylinder engine in the U.S. after over a decade of sixes, and now we know it will be the Z4 roadster. Officially dubbed the Z4 sDrive 28i, the new entry-level Z4 ...    Read more

March Madness has hit Michigan as Ford has outsold General Motors thanks to a 19-percent growth in sales over the previous year. In total, Ford and Lincoln moved 212,777 vehicles in March, handily topping GM and its 206,621 sales. Ford contributed most of that as always, selling 204,276 vehicles for a ...    Read more

The hits just keep coming. With two Chevrolet concepts already out the door this week, General Motors has turned its attention to Buick, which is teasing the Envision SUV concept before its big reveal in Shanghai. Developed by Shanghai GM and GM’s Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, the Envision concept ...    Read more

The next Chevrolet Malibu is going global. The company has just released this first teaser video and image along with news that the car will debut not in New York but at the Shanghai Motor Show on April 18. The Malibu, previously a North American car only, will become GM’s latest ...    Read more

Ready to turn that tax return into Toronado, but not an expert on classic cars? As you might’ve guessed, there’s an app for that and it could come in handy at the next auction. Be it a long-awaited raise at work or an extra hefty tax return, you’ve ...    Read more

Reviews of the new 2012 Ford Focus have so far been positive, ours included, but Ford wants more. Not from us, but from you. To make sure the Focus launch goes perfectly, Ford is giving the first vehicles off the line special testing and evaluation to make sure they’re ...    Read more

First introduced to Europe in 2003, the Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG) has become a Volkswagen Group calling card as the company sells its 3.5 millionth gearbox globally. Volkswagen claims the six-speed DSG, introduced in the European-spec Volkswagen R32 and Audi TT in 2003, was the world’s first production dual-clutch ...    Read more

McLaren and Ferrari have something of a Northern Europe vs Southern Europe rivalry going with their latest supercars, and now we hear Porsche is thinking of getting in on the action. If there’s one thing every car fan wants to know right now, it’s which car will win the inevitable showdown ...    Read more

A report out of Europe today says that some of Kia’s higher-ups are chomping at the bit for a roadster à la the Mazda MX-5 Miata and are also considering an all-wheel-drive variant of the Soul crossover. “I’d like to have a Kia MX-5,” Kia Europe’s CEO Paul Philpott told Britain’s ...    Read more

From a field of more than 53,000 would-be racers, 16 of the top competitors from the U.S. have been selected to travel to Silverstone in England for the final elimination round of the GT Academy. "Leveraging the power of the PlayStation 3, along with the precision and realism of ...    Read more

United Auto Workers vice president Joe Ashton, speaking before a UAW strategy conference in Detroit, said that GM is planning to rehire roughly 2000 laid-off workers and bring the company back to full employment by September. “Those people will all be back at work in September,” said Ashton, who is also ...    Read more

If you can imagine it, someone has probably claimed a record for it. Does it matter how many people can fit inside a Volkswagen Beetle? No, but people do it. Now the Toyota Prius wants a piece of that action. As you may have heard, Toyota’s expanding the “Prius Family” with ...    Read more

A patent filing has revealed that the dry dual-clutch transmission GM announced it was developing with partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) is in fact a seven-speed front-wheel-drive transmission. While we’ve been aware of GM’s work on a new front-wheel-drive dry dual-clutch transmission, the company and its Chinese partner, SAIC, have ...    Read more

E15 ethanol is expected to hit a pump near you in time for the summer driving season as the EPA wraps up the legal and administrative hurdles remaining before implementation. "We are now in the process of completing a rule that will establish national labeling," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson told the ...    Read more

Kia is recalling the 2006-2008 Optima over an improperly installed shift cable that could come loose and render the shifter inoperable. The Problem: Kia has discovered that the cables on automatic transmission-equipped Optimas built between September 2005 and June 2007 may not have been installed properly. Incorrectly installed cables have the ...    Read more

The Honda Odyssey, Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia have all just been named Top Safety Picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The award is of particular note because the IIHS has recently tightened the rules on the roof strength test. In order to get the nod, ...    Read more

Years of success were thrown into turmoil when founder Steve Saleen left the company in 2007 and after four years of rebuilding efforts, Saleen Performance Vehicles is throwing in the towel and will focus only on aftermarket parts in the future. "We feel it is time to retire the legend and ...    Read more

You've seen supercharged Camaros from Hennessey before, but how'd you like to both see and hear the new 602-horsepower Camaro Convertible the company has built? Keep reading. "We were excited to receive one of the first 2011 Camaro SS convertibles from Chevrolet," said Hennessey founder and president John Hennessey.  "It was ...    Read more

Selling 7000 copies of any brand new car in nine months is no easy feat regardless of manufacturer. When that car's a near-six-figure hybrid, it's unheard of. Your move, Fisker. As you might expect, the size of the market for a car is inversely proportional to its price. Mercedes-Benz, by way ...    Read more

Ready to get on the Lamborghini Aventador waiting list but can't decide on a paint color? No worries, Lamborghini's launched a website where you can see them all and pick your favorite. People who can afford supercars don't typically play around with online configurators. They, or their representative, enjoys an expensive ...    Read more

Fiat had a lot to talk about at the Geneva show, but while the Italicized Dodges and Chryslers may be the big news, we were more interested in a surprise concept called the 500 Coupe by Zagato. Billed as "just a prototype," the 500 Coupe has seen its C-pillars chopped down ...    Read more

Lamborghini's new V-12 supercar, the Aventador, is already a certified hit and it's only been out a few hours. The company announced today that the entire first year of production has already been sold out despite the fact that the official price hasn't been revealed yet. Weighing in at nearly 200 ...    Read more

Tired of the Mazda smile? If you answer yes, we have good news for you. Meet the Minagi (pronounced like Mr. Miyagi), the first Mazda to feature both the new Sky Active technologies and the new Koda corporate design language. We've been loving the Koda-based ...    Read more

It's a just a concept for now, but what you're looking at is essentially the next-generation Audi A3, due out in the next few years. Though billed as an A3, the car actually has more in common with the RS3, which also made the scene at the Geneva show. Under the ...    Read more