Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Jaguar, Reviews, Luxury

There have been very few cars like the 2010 Jaguar XF Supercharged, and that's a shame. Yet it's difficult to explain why this car is so special, so let's just start by describing what it is. You can order Jaguar's S-Type replacement in four flavors (more if you live in a diesel-friendly part of the world). The first and least expensive comes with Jag's tried-and-true 4.2-liter V8 for $52,000, although we're told that the 4.2-liter is now out of production, so get 'em while they're hot. For $5,000 more, you can get the company's new direct-injected 5.0-liter V8 with 385 horsepower, which is most assuredly worth every penny.

Skipping ahead one, the fourth and final flavor is the top cat XFR, equipped with a 510-hp supercharged and monsterized version of the 5.0-liter V8 for $80,000. Put another way, that's $23,000 for an extra 125 horsepower. Worth the stretch? Honestly, when are we not going to tell you to buy a 510-hp vehicle? However, there is a third flavor and it's called the XF Supercharged. Starting at $68,000, the XF Supercharged comes with the same 5.0-liter supercharged V8 as the XFR, albeit "detuned" down to 470 hp and 424 lb-ft of torque.

We know we shouldn't be shocked, but come on. We are living in seriously miraculous times if 470 hp and 424 lb-ft of torque is the detuned version of anything. That's quite nearly Nissan GT-R power, and Godzilla is a supercar killer. Oddly, Jaguar has decided not to make a big deal out of the release of this car (i.e. no launch) and that's a shame, because as you've probably surmised by now, the engine alone makes the XF Supercharged pretty special. Keep reading to learn why this is the Goldilocks of the XF range. In other words, just right.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Jaguar XF Supercharged

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Review: 2010 Jaguar XF Supercharged is the Goldilocks of Q-ships

Review: 2010 Jaguar XF Supercharged is the Goldilocks of Q-ships originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Coupe, Budget, Kia, Reviews

It's time to stop being surprised that Koreans can make good cars. Kia and its sister-brand Hyundai have been doing it for years now, with each successive model being better than the last. Hyundai has been selling vehicles in the U.S. for 24 years, Kia for 16, and they don't deserve bonus points anymore for exceeding expectations. Want proof? Along with Subaru, they were the only three brands to increase sales last year during the Great Recession. The bar has been raised and it's time we take off the kid gloves.

With that in mind, we turn our attention to the 2010 Kia Forte Koup. A brand new model, the Koup joins the Forte sedan in displacing the Spectra, Kia's former best-selling model in the U.S. So the stakes are high for this four-door and accompanying Koup (blech, we mean coupe). We've already sampled the Forte sedan and called it "a stylish, comfortable, frisky automotive companion for surprisingly short dollars." Along with losing two doors, the Koup also gains more aggressive bodywork that suggests the potential for higher performance than the sedan. Does it fulfill that promise or come across as a parts-bin twin with two fewer doors? Let's follow the jump to find out.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Kia Forte Koup

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Review: 2010 Kia Forte Koup SX a beauty queen that can't hide its roots

Review: 2010 Kia Forte Koup SX a beauty queen that can't hide its roots originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedan, Nissan, Reviews

Front-wheel drive is a funny thing. When originally introduced during the Thirties in the Cord 810 (then later in the awesome supercharged 812) and the Citroën Traction Avant, FWD was hailed as a major breakthrough, a wondrous technological innovation that allowed for lower ride height and greatly increased passenger space. Postwar consumers got a taste of the wonders of FWD with the iconic Citroën DS. At the top of its game in the Sixties, General Motors reintroduced FWD to American consumers with two remarkable luxury coupes: the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado. Come the Seventies, Citroën produced what is arguably the greatest GT coupe of that decade, the impeccable (and FWD) SM.

Roll the clock forward to the Eighties and suddenly everything was being tugged around by its front wheels. Honda, Toyota, Nissan, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler all jumped head first onto the FWD bandwagon and, for the most part, they haven't looked back. Granted, Cadillac has rethought which wheels get driven, but with the exception of a dinosaur livery-mobile, there isn't a single rear-wheel-drive Lincoln to be found. Even Volkswagen got in on the transversely-mounted engine madness. This left only the Germans - namely Mercedes-Benz and BMW - to seriously carry the rear-wheel drive passenger car torch for nearly a decade. Sure, Lexus and Infiniti brought out some heavy hitting RWD sedans along with a raft of FWD offerings (M30 I30, G20 anyone?), but Acura never bothered.

The average gearhead hates FWD for all the right reasons (weight distribution, steering feel, the front tires being asked to both propel and turn, etc.), and during a recent discussion we had with a half-in-the-bag PR guy, [NAME REDACTED] exclaimed, "Front-wheel drive sucks!" So, how can a technology go from the penthouse to the doghouse like that? One answer (of many) comes from the Minnesotan economist/social philosopher Thorstein Veblen and his book The Theory of the Leisure Class. Here's a quick, ten-cent Cliff Note version: When electric lighting first appeared, only the rich could afford electric lights. As such, electrically lit dinners were considered romantic and desirable. However, once electrification trickled down to the unwashed masses, only the rich could afford both bulbs and candles. Hence, candlelit dinners became en vogue. Which - believe it or not - leads us very nicely to the 2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport and its $38,384 asking price.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV Sport

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2009 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Review: 2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport is a lot of car for a lot of coin

Review: 2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport is a lot of car for a lot of coin originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedan, Suzuki, Reviews

The 2010 Kizashi will change the way you look at Suzuki. To put it bluntly, the Kizashi is the strongest evidence yet that Suzuki's automotive division is no longer operating on autopilot in the States. And what's more, the brand is showing serious confidence. Consider the vehicles against which the automaker wants you to cross shop its Kizashi: the Acura TSX and Audi A4.

Suzuki has launched a promotion called the Kizashi Test Drive Challenge that will pay $100 to anyone who test drives a Kizashi and still decides to buy the more expensive TSX or A4. After spending some quality time with the model, we don't envy those potential Acura and Audi customers who are unprepared for how difficult their decision is going to be.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS

Photos copyright (C)2009 John Neff / Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Review: 2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS is up for the Challenge

Review: 2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS is up for the Challenge originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Technology, Reviews

It's no secret that we've been openly critical of the prices charged by automakers for built-in GPS navigation systems. Frankly, paying $2,000 or more for an in-dash system when you can buy stand-alone navigation units for as little as $100 is ridiculous. Even the newer, larger seven-inch screen units are now down to as little as $250, and even though they aren't tied in to a vehicles' wheel sensors, they tend to be plenty accurate. Now, however, there is a new option that is even cheaper - as in (sort of) free.

It's only "sort of" free because the Google maps turn-by-turn navigation app is built into the new Motorola Droid smartphone (see sister-site Engadget's full review of the Droid here) that recently became available from Verizon Wireless. In this case, you have to sign up for two years of mobile phone service, which includes a data plan. I've been a Verizon customer for a decade and just happened to be up for a biennial discounted phone upgrade. When the Droid appeared a few weeks ago, the plan to wait until the new year for a Palm Pre was discarded. We've now had the chance to play with the Droid and its new navigation software, so follow the jump to find out if it lives up to expectations.

Gallery: Motorola Droid Google Navigation

Continue reading Review: Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation on Android 2.0

Review: Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation on Android 2.0 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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