First official 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class exterior image leaked

Thanks to some quick-triggered spy photographers in the right place at the right time, we've already seen our first undisguised images of the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Now, BlogAutomobile from France has managed to get a hold of what appears to be the first official image showing the exterior design of the big luxury sedan. Of course, Mercedes-Benz has already released a select batch of images showing the car's interior.

The car in this image appears to be identical to the car photographed back in March right down to the color, multi-spoke wheels and even the license plate. With the extra effect added into this image, it practically confirms that it is a leaked press photo. Have a good look then let us know what you think in the Comments.

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Volkswagen introduces R-Line accoutrements for new Golf

Volkswagen has rolled out three new R-Line packages for the Golf, comprising exterior and interior kits along with a Sport Pack. Any one of them can be had on the Comfortline or Highline trims, but for different prices. The exterior add-ons include logos, new front and rear bumpers and a rear spoiler, new side sills and a black diffuser. It runs 995 euros ($1,297 US) on the Highline, 1,180 euros ($1,538 US) on the Comfortline.

The interior package includes items like aluminum-look instrument and door panels, new door sills, a black headliner, stainless steel pedal caps and sports seats. It goes for 640 euros on the Highline trim or 945 euros ($1,231 US) on Comfortline. You can add Vienna leather to that, upgrading from cloth, for either 1,755 ($2,287 US) euros on the Highline or 2,115 euros ($2,756 US) on the Comfortline.

Finally, the Sport package gets a new suspension and revised steering, plus tinted windows. It's the most economical of the lot, needing just 430 euros ($560 US) for both Comfortline and Highline. The Salvador wheels in either 17- or 18-inch sizes can finish the whole thing off.

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Rolls-Royce Wraith convertible planned, SUV rumors kicked to the curb

Seeing as it adheres to the exotic car template we've known for years, it should surprise no one that the next model from Rolls-Royce will reportedly be a convertible version of the Wraith. When the coupe is on its way to dealers at the end of this year, company CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös has told Autocar that the British luxury marque start applying itself to the convertible.

At no time will they apply themselves to an SUV, though. Still sticking to its brand-value guns, Müller-Ötvös says that an SUV wouldn't have that trademark Rolls-Royce feeling and that such a vehicle hasn't even been discussed. Having heard this before from other brands, we can't help but suspect that one day in the future we'll hear the phrase, "Oh, but this is the Rolls-Royce of SUVs."

The investment in an SUV would also mean a huge investment in the factory at Goodwood, however, since Wraith production is expected to need three shifts and raise levels to near capacity. And forget about building anything from The Spirit of Ecstasy somewhere else, Müller-Ötvös saying, "Rolls-Royces are built in Goodwood."

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Diesel, hybrid sales rocket past overall US market growth rate

Hybrid sales have grown rapidly in the US during the past couple of years – well outpacing the overall automotive market – and it looks like diesel sales are beginning to follow that trajectory as well.

US hybrid light-duty vehicle registrations have jumped 34 percent from 2010 through the end of 2012 and diesel sales are up 24 percent to about 797,000 from about 641,000 two years earlier, diesel advocate Diesel Technology Forum says (citing a study conducted by R.L. Polk at the DLF's request). The important thing to note is that, during the same period, total vehicle registrations were up less than three percent, indicating that more consumers are turning to green vehicles in order to address rising gas prices. It will likely not surprise anyone that California, Massachusetts and New York had the fastest growth rates for diesel sales.

We've been tracking all green vehicle sales in our monthly series as you can see in the March 2013 numbers, the latest available. Last year, Volkswagen boosted its clean-diesel sales by 32 percent to almost 82,000 vehicles, while Audi diesel sales held steady at about 7,200 units.

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DC Design plans Avanti facility in India by 2014

According to a story in the Economic Times of India, the DC Design Avanti is on its way – but it's going to take a couple of years. Company founder Dilip Chhabria told the paper that he plans to have a manufacturing facility in the Sanand, Ahmedabad district in Gujarat state, India by next year with a production capacity of 3,500 units.

It would be the fourth DC facility in the country. The factory would produce 1,000 models of the cars DC already makes on top of 2,500 examples of the Avanti or an SUV that DC plans to reveal next year.

DC Design has occasionally called the Avanti a supercar, but it more often refers to the red wedge as a sportscar, an appellation that is more in line with its specs; when it was revealed last year the mooted engine was a 2.0-liter Ford EcoBoost with 265 horsepower. Chhabria said he is targeting aspirational young executives ready to spend 25-30 lakh rupees (about $46,000-$55,000 US) for his offering. He plans to keep them special by only building 4,000 of any DC model, then moving on to the next.

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Virtues of '13 Civic: Low spiffs, high sales

LOS ANGELES -- Honda's redesigned 2012 Civic was much maligned, but it's hard to call it a flop. Though slammed for a cheap-looking interior, bland exterior styling and a carryover base engine, the Civic sold so well last year that many dealers weren't sure the decision to fast-track a major midcycle change was such a great idea.

The Civic outsold the Toyota Corolla for the first time since 2002, but it needed an assist from some big, un-Hondalike incentives.

Honda has turned off the incentive spigot for the 2013 Civic that arrived in January -- and so far, so good. The revamped car is winning over consumers who are looking for more than just the deal of the week.

Transaction prices on the 2013 model are way up compared with prices of the outgoing 2012 Civic, according to TrueCar Inc.

"It's not time for a victory cigar just yet, but we're pleased with the market acceptance," said Mike Accavitti, American Honda's head of automobile operations.

Critics say the 2012 Civic's interior was a collision of angles, mismatched colors and low-grade plastic, developed in a recession when Honda planners figured car shoppers would want a cheaper economy car.

Honda guessed wrong. The Civic was so stripped of content that Consumer Reports took it off its "recommended" list.

Despite the bad reviews, Civic sales last year surged 44 percent to 317,909 units, outpacing the Toyota Corolla, even though the Civic had no fleet sales and the Corolla did. But most of the Civic sales did come with major incentives on the hood.

"Nobody in their right mind enjoys incentivizing a vehicle," Accavitti said. "We have been able to drastically reduce incentives but maintain our [sales] leadership, because the product is that good."


Dan Robertson, general manager at Smail Honda Village in Greensburg, Pa., says the 2013 Civic is doing better at winning converts from rival brands. His store sells about 30 Civics a month, and grosses are up about $300 in the first quarter compared with last year, he said.

"Interest is way up," Robertson said. "We've actually had people trade '12s for '13s."

In addition to fixing the interior layout, upgrading its materials and modifying the front and rear fascias, Honda included standard Bluetooth, Pandora Internet radio, SMS text messaging and a rear backup camera on the 2013 Civic, and bumped up the starting price by just $160.

"Civic is doing phenomenal in its refreshed state," Accavitti said. "It continues to bring young customers to our brand."

Dave Conant, whose Conant Auto Retail Group in Los Angeles includes the biggest Honda store in the country, was among those who said buyers loved the 2012 Civic. A few months ago he suggested that dealers would have done fine with no change at all.

But last week Conant said: "This Civic has restored my confidence in Honda's ability to compete. The Civic is the real deal, the strongest car in the segment.

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Mercedes' GLK, then C class, will get four-cylinder diesel

NEW YORK -- For the first time in nearly three decades, Mercedes-Benz will offer a four-cylinder diesel engine in the United States when the GLK250 BlueTec compact crossover goes on sale Tuesday, April 30.

The GLK250's all-aluminum 2.1-liter twin-turbo diesel also will replace a 3.0-liter V-6 diesel in the restyled E-class sedan in September and will be used in the redesigned C-class sedan in 2015.

Mercedes last offered a four-cylinder diesel here in 1985, in the 2.2-liter 190D.

The GLK250 will be the fifth diesel-powered model in the Mercedes-Benz USA lineup. The S-class sedan and the ML and GL crossovers are available with V-6s. The three bigger vehicles aren't likely to get the four-cylinder diesel, Mercedes executives said last week at a press event here.

The GLK250 BlueTec engine gets 20 to 30 percent better fuel economy than a gasoline-powered GLK, said Bart Herring, head of product management for Mercedes-Benz USA.


Mercedes says the crossover gets 24 mpg city and 33 mpg highway, compared with 19 mpg city and 24 highway for the GLK350 awd with a 3.5-liter V-6 gasoline engine. The GLK250's diesel, which is teamed with a seven-speed automatic, produces 200 hp and 369 pounds-feet of torque.

Mercedes expects sales penetration to mirror that of the two larger crossover diesels -- 14 percent for the ML in 2012 and 25 percent for the GL.

The base price is $39,459, with shipping, or $536 more than the six-cylinder GLK350 with awd.

Mercedes-Benz will offer the GLK diesel only with standard all-wheel drive because 65 percent of its crossover buyers choose that transmission. Last year Mercedes-Benz sold 29,364 GLKs in the United States, up 21 percent from 2011. The GLK competes with the Audi Q5, Acura RDX, BMW X3, Infiniti EX and the Range Rover Evoque, none of which are available with a diesel.

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Chrysler investing $20M in Toledo plant to support 9-speed auto production

In 2011, Chrysler announced a $72-million investment in its Toledo Machining Plant to modernize production of the eight- and nine-speed torque-converters for automatic transmissions made there. That upgrade work won't be finished until Q3 of this year, but Chrysler has already announced a further $19.6-million investment to increase production capacity for the nine-speeders.

The extra units will be necessary because the nine-speed transmission they'll be mated to is going into three popular models: it will debut on the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, then go into the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart. The company predicted that this year alone it would sell 200,000 units equipped with the nine-speed tranny, and it is spending some $374 million in addition to the investment in Toledo to upgrade production capacity for it.

The work attached to this new investment won't begin until Q3 of 2014.

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Mercedes CLA to get shooting brake variant too?

As stylish as the new Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class already is, it sounds like the automaker is considering a shooting brake version similar to what was recently introduced for the larger CLS-Class. What Car? recently talked to Mercedes design boss Gordon Wagener, who indicated that a cargo-friendly version of the swoopy sedan may be in the works.

Having driven the CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake last year, we could certainly see a CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake being quite a lustworthy ride, but like its bigger brother, we would be surprised to see the CLA-Class Shooting Brake show up in the US. In the same interview, Wagener also shot down rumors of a coupe or convertible version of the A-Class, upon which the CLA is built.

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Boston bombers were tracked using Mercedes mbrace

We now know Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the two brothers said to be behind the Boston Marathon bombings, planned to head for New York City to detonate more improvised explosive devices. As it turns out, that plan was foiled by the quick thinking of one Mercedes-Benz owner, diligent police work and the Mercedes-Benz mbrace system. When the brothers carjacked a 26-year-old Chinese entrepreneur identified only as "Danny," they didn't realize his Mercedes-Benz M-Class was equipped with the mbrace system, which can call for help in the event of an accident or track the vehicle in the event of a theft.

According to reports, the Tsarnaev brothers held Danny hostage for nearly 90 minutes while they drove around Boston forming a plan until they had to stop for fuel. When one of the brothers went inside to pay, the other put his gun down for a moment. Danny took the opportunity to unlatch his seat belt, open the door and run to another nearby gas station, where he told the owner to call the police.

When police arrived, they used the mbrace system to track the SUV after receiving Danny's permission, and it wasn't long before a shootout between police and the brothers ensued.

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Range Rover Spotted!!!!!

New Mercedes Unimog debuts to the cheers of little boys everywhere

The Mercedes-Benz Unimog, the superhero villain of the off-road world that's just waiting to make the jump to Transformer, has been completely upgraded for its new generation. There are ten models, expanding the range and getting new designations across the traditional all-terrain series and the implement-carrier series. Panoramic cabins get more visibility, multifunction steering wheels and better dash clusters, improved HVAC and a three-mode central tire inflation system. Outside, there are new items like LED headlights and daytime running lamps in the bumper, roof-mounted windshield wipers and a front-camera monitor for the implement carrier.

The new engine lineup is compliant with Euro VI, featuring four- and six-cylinder BlueEfficiency engines putting out anywhere from 156 horsepower to 354 hp. Powerplant placement has also been tweaked, the chassis members getting a revised curve to place the engine a bit further back and lower, maintaining off-road clearance and lowering the Unimog's center of gravity. The new location of the engine means the cabin has more room, and the wheelbase is shorter. Combined with a higher turning angle, the Unimog has a smaller turning radius than before.

The implement carrier gets what's called a "synergistic traveling drive," the bonus being that drivers don't need to stop in order to use an attachment – a hydrostatic transmission works with the regular manual transmission at up to 31 kilometers per hour for seamless switching.

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Audi testing long-tail version of R18 e-tron quattro for Le Mans

Race teams are always looking for ways to shave hundredths of seconds of their lap times. Case in point: Audi is making some slight changes to its prototype racecar to make it ever so much more slippery as it cuts through the air.

Debuting at the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa on May 4, Audi will be testing a long-tail version of its R18 E-tron Quattro racecar. As its name suggests, the long-tail car gets a lengthened rear section with the goal of improving aerodynamics. The long-tail will be run alongside the standard version of the racecar as a testbed for possible changes that might be in store, heading into the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Audi did not say how many inches were added to the racecar, but as you can see in the image above, "long-tail" definitely doesn't take on the same meaning of classic long-tail cars of the past such as the Porsche 917.

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Japanese government chides Mitsubishi over recall delays

An official with the transport ministry in Japan has some stern words for Mitsubishi, taking the carmaker to task for not being more proactive and honest about its recalls. An investigation into The Tri-Star last December found Mitsubishi was tardy investigating problems and didn't explain itself forthrightly to the transport ministry about the issues. None of Mitsubishi's actions were illegal, and we should stress that this is a dialogue with Mitsubishi in Japan, not Mitsubishi Motors North America.

The official advised the automaker to, "Come up with plans for improvement, implement them and report them to the ministry." It looks like the company will get more practice than it wants in that department, having to announce another recall for the Outlander PHEV over software and hardware glitches. Those recalls come just after Mitsu finally figured out the problem with overheating lithium-ion batteries that caused a production halt of the plug-in hybrid SUV.

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2014 Toyota 4Runner revealed at Stagecoach Music Festival

Toyota has just pulled the sheet off its updated 2014 4Runner at the 2013 Stagecoach Music Festival near Palm Springs, California. Toyota is the title sponsor at the festival, and claims that this is the first-ever global reveal of a new automobile at a major music festival. We're also guessing this is the first time that the 4Runner has seen duty inside what looks like a vintage circus act's cage.

We can see from the photos that the body-on-frame SUV has received a freshened look with new smoked light fixtures front and rear, along with a boldly reworked front fascia and grille. The profile view seems largely unchanged, though there are new wheel patterns on offer.

The 4Runner will continue to be offered in three trims, including SR5, more luxurious Limited, and off-road-ready Trail specification. Both 4x2 and both part- and full-time 4x4 models will continue to be available, all will be powered by the same 4.0-liter 270-horsepower V6 and five-speed automatic as last year.

Other changes for the 2014 model year include a retouched interior featuring new Optitron gauges, a multi-information display, and changes in trim. On the entertainment front, there are new head units with Toyota's Entune infotainment technology and an in-glass antenna replacing the previous mast unit. The optional navigation unit features a seven-inch screen.

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Audi TT Ultra Quattro Concept does 0-100 in 4.2 seconds and has a top whack of 278kmph

Shedding weight seems to be the mantra for automotive manufacturers. We saw Range Rover shed around 400kg from its flagship and now here is Audi who have cut excessive flab from the Audi TT and converted it into the Ultra Concept. This particular concept has been designed keeping in mind the Worthersee festival, an annual Audi- and Volkswagen-only car show. The TT Ultra Concept uses a potent 310PS/400Nm 2.0-litre TFSI engine for propelling it and also has Quattro all-wheel drive helping it put all the power down to tarmac. Modifications made to the standard TT’s engine include revised crankshaft, crankcase, flywheel, balancer shafts and the sump. All these results in shaving off nearly 25kgs.

 To reduce weight further, the TT Ultra Quattro Concept gets carbon fiber trim inside the cabin and then there are those lightweight seats from the R8 GT. The body shell of the car weighs just 206kg and this excludes the 98kg amounting to detachable body parts. The TT Ultra Quattro’s Concept uses CFRP for the central tunnel, roof and B-pillar as also the rear end. Use of CFRP wheels results in further weight reductions of nearly 20kgs.



This weight-saving talk and tech pegs the Ulta Quattro Concept at a kerb weight of 1,111kg giving it a power to weight ratio of 279PS per ton with a 0-100kmph run achieved in just 4.2 seconds and a top whack of 278kmph. Supercar territory then!

By Team Overdrive
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2013 Volkswagen Polo GT TSI in India first drive

 Don't be surprised by the name of this car because that is exactly what the badge on the rear of this car says. There is no reference to the Polo in the badging anywhere on this car. Volkswagen claims that this is the Polo but other than the familiar silhouette there is nothing else to identify this as a Polo. Flare up the arches, change the grille, add in larger tyres and this could be the Golf (a larger hatchback Volkswagen sells in Europe and elsewhere) for all you know. However for familiarity sake I will refer to it as the Polo GT TSI. Essentially the Polo GT TSI is the car Volkswagen should have sold in India in the first place not the Polo with the 3-cylinder engine that felt more like it belonged in a field outside Gurgaon drawing water from a bottomless well.

The 1.2-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged direct injection petrol engine defines the Polo GT TSI. It is Volkswagens 'Hope' diamond and it will in time, actually sooner rather than later, become a legend in our market. This car will replace the Polo 1.6, the very same engine that is also used by the Polo's larger sibling, the Vento. I am convinced the 1.2 TSI will become a icon of our times and like the Swift set new benchmarks for enthusiastic motoring for the masses, the Polo GT TSI will establish a new benchmark as the hot hatch of this decade.
Interestingly the Polo GT TSI isn't about performance, that is its secondary objective. It's primary directive is to optimize fuel efficiency which at nearly 18kmpl as claimed by ARAI is one of the better recorded figures amongst the current crop of hatchbacks. This 1.2-litre engine generates 105PS of max power at 5000rpm and 170Nm of max torque between 1500-4,100rpm. This is the first time a turbocharged petrol engine has ever made it into a hatchback. When it kicks in at just around 1700rpm the hundreds of explosions in the 4-cylinders go supernova. The effect is simply spectacular, no petrol hatchback can claim to make you feel that shove, diesels probably do but never has a petrol been able to generate that sort of G force the Polo GT TSI is capable of. Momentum builds up rapidly and in an outright drag every other hatchback will be left several lengths behind. Better tyre profiles than the 180/60R15 it comes with would have provided better acceleration as these tyres are prone to breaking traction if you pounce on the throttle from standstill.

Interestingly the Polo GT TSI isn't about performance, that is its secondary objective. It's primary directive is to optimize fuel efficiency which at nearly 18kmpl as claimed by ARAI is one of the better recorded figures amongst the current crop of hatchbacks. This 1.2-litre engine generates 105PS of max power at 5000rpm and 170Nm of max torque between 1500-4,100rpm. This is the first time a turbocharged petrol engine has ever made it into a hatchback. When it kicks in at just around 1700rpm the hundreds of explosions in the 4-cylinders go supernova. The effect is simply spectacular, no petrol hatchback can claim to make you feel that shove, diesels probably do but never has a petrol been able to generate that sort of G force the Polo GT TSI is capable of. Momentum builds up rapidly and in an outright drag every other hatchback will be left several lengths behind. Better tyre profiles than the 180/60R15 it comes with would have provided better acceleration as these tyres are prone to breaking traction if you pounce on the throttle from standstill.

Both the turbocharger and the direct injection combine to provide very respectable efficiency, something we commonly witness only in diesels. What make this efficiency even more striking is that its delivered with an automatic transmission. The Polo GT TSI comes with a 7-speed DSG transmission which is a dual clutch automatic transmission. The ratios are spaced optimally to maximize efficiency but it also gives the Polo GT TSI superb drivability. This transmission also has a manual mode that will allow you to select gears but the engine map and the ECU deliver the best results, so best leave it in automatic.

Shifts are reasonably quick but the lack of paddles behind the steering wheel to me was a bit disappointing as the performance demands it. This is because when driven enthusiastically the paddle shifters allow you to prep the transmission to shift into a lower gear when you brake, faster than the transmission can do so. There is a sport mode but what it essentially does is allows the engine to spin to max revs and shift up only when the tacho needle hits the redline. It does not allow for quicker downshifts during braking to keep the engine running in the meatiest portion of the power band, so rev matching is definitely out of the question.

On the handling side nothing changes, the Polo GT TSI feels just as impressive as it always did. The steering has a solid feel to it, thankfully its still a hydraulic unit so the communication channels are always open and the feedback is brilliant. The tyres as I mentioned could have done with slightly wider profiling to give it even more dynamic confidence but even as it is the handling is impressive.

The suspension has a softness to it that you feel when you come across rapidly undulating surfaces. Yet there is enough firmness to keep the Polo GT TSI to maintain a safe and consistent path. The Polo GT TSI could however use larger brakes, these are the same brakes in the conventional Polo and they lack the bite you would need in a car that accelerates this rapidly. ABS too kicks in pretty late and a bit tighter modulation in this regard would only make the Polo GT TSI feel that much safer. Ride quality too continues to be impressive and if comfort was a priority over everything else the new interiors will please you. Personally given the kind of performance this car is capable of the front seats could have done with a bit more bolstering.

So there you have it the Polo GT TSI is astonishing to say the least. Overall though while I do feel there are still areas that Volkswagen could have exploited to the fullest, the Polo GT TSI is still the best halo hatchback in the business today. We haven't had the opportunity to VBox it yet but when we do, we won't be surprised to see that the figures will be the best in class. Rest assured no comparison story will ever be the same again, move over the Swift there's a new hero in town.

By Team Overdrive
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Ferrari 458 Italia becomes most expensive prize ever on Price Is Right

In case you haven't been paying attention, it's "Big Money Week" on the long-running The Price Is Rightte levised game show. In a nutshell, it means that more than a million dollars in cash and prizes are up for grabs for those lucky enough to "come on down," play some games and correctly guess product retail prices.

Moments after opening the show Thursday, host Drew Carey broke the unexpected news. "Today you are going to see the single-most-expensive prize in the history of the daytime Price is Right," he boasted before the curtains were pulled back to review a brand-new Ferrari 458 Italia Spider.

To win the car, the contestant had to play "Three Strikes" – blindly pulling numbers out of a bag and putting them in the correct price sequence before grabbing three dreaded red strikes. As expected, your typical The Price Is Right contestant is about as familiar with today's retail Ferrari pricing as they are with fractional jet ownership. We won't spoil the fun of whether or not a lucky player gets to drive the $285,716 exotic home (and pay a midsize sedan's worth of taxes)

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2015 Volkswagen GTI

North American car buyers get a bit of a slap in the face when it comes to delivery schedules for new the Volkswagen Golf and pumped-up GTI models. We'll just repeat the old chestnut: It's worth the wait... even though it still stinks. This time around, Western Europe is taking deliveries of the new Golf as we speak, and GTI deliveries start between May and July. North America doesn't get the Mk7 Golf or GTI until about July of 2014.

So we approached our first drive of the new GTI with this chip on our shoulder: "You're making us wait? Well, then at least give us the exact car we'll be able to buy. No compromises, mein freund." And so it was that we extracted nearly all of our drive impressions from behind the wheel of what, for the United States, will technically be a model year 2015 two-door Volkswagen Golf GTI Performance with the standard six-speed manual.

This time around, Volkswagen in Wolfsburg and in Herndon, VA, explain the wait in very practical terms. Whereas before it was just a long wait while Volkswagen slowly realized it needed to properly invest in North America, the wait this time is because VW needs to get its Puebla, Mexico, factory completely on-line to build all of North America's Golfs and GTIs. The deadline for this happening is... July 2014. We're still gonna whine about it though, because that's how we roll.

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2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray priced from $51,995*

After months of speculation, Chevrolet has finally revealed the official starting price of the 2014 Corvette Stingray. The base MSRP for the 450-horsepower Stingray Coupe will be $51,995, while the Stingray Convertible will go for $56,995 (*both prices include a $995 destination fee). This means that the price increase from 2013 to 2014 is just $1,400 for the coupe and $2,395 for the convertible – pretty modest increases considering the upgrade in specifications. Of course, neither price accounts for the sort of dealer markup that might grace early C7 window stickers, especially since less than a third of all Chevrolet dealers will be allocated Corvette models to sell at the car's launch.

Now, these prices are for the base car, so if you're wondering how much a fully loaded Stingray will run, Chevy has given us a good indication of that as well. The coupe we saw on display at the Detroit Auto Show(shown above), for example, would run $73,360 including options such as the $2,800 Z51 Performance Package, $2,495 competition sport seats and the $1,795 Magnetic Ride Control option – just to name a few. Stepping up to the 3LT trim level that brings a full leather interior will run an extra $8,005 over the base price.

While $20,000 in options may seem like a lot, this "as-tested" price still has the C7 competitively priced against rival coupes like the Porsche 911 and Nissan GT-R. Speaking of price comparisons, Chevrolet also points out that the C7 Stingray Z51 costs $2,200 less than the C6 Grand Sport while delivering better acceleration (0-60 mph in less than four seconds) and improved track performance (including more than 1 g in cornering).

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Hennessey unleashes 445-hp Ford Taurus SHO

There's plenty to love about the madness that goes on at Hennessey Performance, but for us, it's the fact that the company has no loyalty to any brand or nameplate. If it's quick, it flies at Hennessey. The team recently turned their attention toward squeezing a bit more thrust from the latest-generation Ford Taurus SHO, and the result is the MaxBoost 445. Thanks to a cold-air induction system, new hard piping for the turbo, engine management calibration and a Corsa stainless steel cat-back exhaust, the car dumps 445 horsepower to all four wheels – a bunch more ponies than the standard car's already plentiful 365 hp. It even comes with a 1 year, 12,000 mile warranty.

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2013 Nissan Pathfinder: April 2013

Since our long-term 2013 Nissan Pathfinder joined the Autoblog Garage in late December of last year, the only time I've really spent with it has been during the short periods of time between my co-workers' longer loans. Until now, my experiences with our Mocha Stone tester have been limited to pick-ups and drop-offs at various locations around the greater Michigan/Ohio area, not to mention keeping the vehicle clean inside and out, as well as handling our first bit of scheduled maintenance in late March.

I was pleased, then, to actually be able to spend most of the month of April with our Pathfinder, finally giving me a chance to see what everyone else does and does not like about Nissan's new crossover. But here's the thing: I'm admittedly not the ideal person to test a family-minded vehicle. I'm single and in my late twenties, so something like our other long-term car, the 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo, is better suited to meet my everyday needs.

But as I found after my stint with the Nissan, there's a whole lot to like about the Pathfinder no matter what your lifestyle demands.

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