Ably Carrying The Banner For Internal Combustion
Forget the Mazda CX-5. The Mazda3 still carries the sales gravitas that the CX-5 aspires to, but for now, the C-segment sedan and hatchback that has provided eight years of sales bedrock is still the most important Mazda model. That's why, after making hay with the debut of the CX-5 crossover and its innovative Skyactiv powertrain, the tried-and-true Mazda3 was the next in line for the engine, transmission and aero-tweak hat trick that's allowed the car to claim a 40 miles per gallon highway fuel economy rating.
Putting a new engine in an older car as a way to boost interest and sales isn't a new idea, of course. Sometimes it works, and other times it's not enough to re-float sales that have run aground on the sandbar of customer ennui. The Mazda3 has also consistently pleased enthusiasts, so we wanted to find out how its comportment has changed after the heart transplant. Continue Reading on AutoBlog.com.
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Boiled Down, But Still Delectable
It is nearly impossible to avoid reminiscing about the 1983 Volkswagen GTI while driving the 2012 Volkswagen Golf R. As you may recall, "the original hot hatch" arrived on our shores seemingly eons ago with a naturally aspirated 1.8-liter four spitting out just 90 horsepower. While hardly brawny, even in an era of wheezy outputs (the 1983 Mustang GT 5.0 generated just 175 horsepower), its low curb weight of 2,100 pounds and a base price of $7,995 made the range-topping Rabbit not only light, tossable and reasonably quick, but very affordable.
Fast forward nearly three decades to the 2012 Volkswagen Golf R, a direct descendant of that first-generation GTI. Thoroughly modernized, and riding on a sixth-generation chassis, the new two- or four-door range-topping Golf boasts a bit more displacement and gobs more horsepower. But that is not all today's hot hatch has gained. With innovation and refinement come mass and cost - both of which have risen dramatically over the past three decades.
After falling head-over-heels for the 2012 Golf R after our first drive of the Euro-spec model in Switzerland last spring, it was time to put one in our garage for a longer run on domestic soil. With an eager and open mind, we welcomed the Golf R into our lives for a week. While we didn't have a chance to toss it around a closed racing circuit, we did put in several hundred miles on the highway, wrung it out on Mulholland and frolicked in wet Southern California mountain snow. In the process, we not only learned plenty about Volkswagen's hot hatch, but we met several other Golf R drivers who were more than willing to talk to us about their own experiences. Continue Reading on AutoBlog.com.
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Baby Buick Makes Quiet Case As An Almost-Luxury Car
It's no secret that
Buick is one of the most prominent automakers in
China, but the vehicle that's leading the charge in the People's Republic may come as a surprise. The top-selling car in the world's largest auto market last year was the
Buick Excelle, a C-segment sedan that just so happens also to be a version of the
2012 Buick Verano that's now on sale here in the United States.
The Verano has only been on sale here for a few months, but as you might expect, U.S. buyers aren't quite as excited about the latest Buick offering as our Chinese counterparts, at least not in the early going. March sales came in at a modest 2,497 units (the Excelle family scored 23,179 April sales in China), making the Verano the least-purchased Buick for that month, while April's 2,989 units were just enough to beat the
Regal in Buick's sales portfolio. Do Chinese buyers know something that we don't, or does the littlest Buick just need time to win us over?
Continue Reading on
AutoBlog.com.
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