Report: Jaguar F-Type Greenlighted, But Still In Design Stage

Ever since Tata began its purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover, the word from the top has been that the F-Type was a priority. New reports out of the U.K. this week reveal that the car now has the greenlight, and is currently in the initial design stage. The report, which quotes CEO Carl-Peter Forster as saying, "we like the idea, we support the idea...We are at the clay model stage, tweaking the idea here and there," doesn't give anything in the way of concrete info on the F-Type, but the fact that it's moving forward from idea toward design concept bodes well for those that have been waiting patiently for several years now. Hints and rumors that the F-Type would be on its way have been making the rounds in various permutations since at least...

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Posted in: Automotive,Car,Jaguar

See popular writers & articles across High Gear Media Related Topics Buick & Test Acura & America Fiat & Videos Suzuki & Audio Lexus & Government Write for us Seeking experienced, talented automotive writers Learn More 2010 Geneva Motor Show: Lotus Evora Carbon Concept

Lotus is unveiling yet another concept car based on its Evora platform but while the previous 414E Hybrid isn’t exactly what you would call production ready, the new Evora Carbon Concept on show at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show is certainly something we could see appear in showrooms within the year. The Lotus Evora Carbon Concept car emphasizes the automaker’s motorsport credentials and features a number of elements lifted directly from the Evora race car used in the FIA GT4 series. These include exposed carbon-fiber pieces as well as Alcantara accents around the cabin. The striking white concept car is also finished in an advanced water based pearlescent paint that contrasts with the weave on the carbon-fiber panels. Meanwhile, the carbon-fiber...

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First 2010 Lotus Evora Delivered In U.S.

The wraps first came off the 2010 Lotus Evora back in July 2008 but despite the car looking production-ready engineers had plenty of fine tuning to complete before it could finally go on sale. Now, finally, Lotus has confirmed that North American driving enthusiasts and car aficionados will soon have their chance to slide behind the wheel of an Evora as it will become available in early 2010 and be priced from $73,500 (plus a $1,175 destination charge). Though the Evora has only been shown on a few occasions thus far in the U.S., approximately the first two months of production are already pre-sold. If you still haven’t had your chance to see the car, Lotus is sending two Evoras on a tour of its 44 dealers across the country. The Evora...

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2011 Lexus LFA

We've been spying the 2011 Lexus LFA, off and on, for over a year. We've seen it testing all over Europe. It's even contested the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in race car form--twice. But today the car was revealed during a brief test drive in Miami just before its official unveiling, which takes place this week at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. The car has been in development for the past nine years, during which time a total of three different concepts have been revealed. Output will come from a 4.8-liter 72-degree V-10 engine and peaks at 552-horsepower at a lofty 8,700 rpm and 354-pound-feet of torque at 6,800 rpm. Best of all, the car’s sonorous V-10 will happily spin all the way to a 9,000 rpm redline. To achieve this level of performance,...

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2011 Jeep Wrangler Mojave: 2011 New York Auto Show

Jeep's always made the New York Auto Show its home for worldwide reveals, and the 2011 show's holding to that line with the 2012 Grand Cherokee SRT8 and this special-edition Wrangler, the Mojave. The wheel-and-tire package gets its name from the California/Nevada desert, and the paint colors are inspired by the same--the palette's limited to a choice of tan, white and black. The seats are embroidered with lizards, which also show up on the running boards. For the Mojave edition, the removable hardtop is painted body-color, and the Rubicon Wrangler's 32-inch wheel package is added. As with other 2011 Jeep Wranglers, the Mojave has a new interior with higher-quality plastics, more storage, and the option for a USB port and a media center...

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Posted in: Automotive,Car,Jeep

See popular writers & articles across High Gear Media Related Topics Green & Porsche Cayenne Aston Martin & Green Ferrari & Sports Car Chevrolet & Dealers Lotus Esprit & Fuel Write for us Seeking experienced, talented automotive writers Learn More Ferrari 458 Italia Named International Performance Car of The Year

  An international jury of auto reviewers named the Ferrari 458 Italia International Performance Car of The Year last week in New York. It’s no secret the Italia is the best V-8-powered, mid-engine Ferrari ever built--and yes that includes the F40, and the GTO. The Italia is faster and balanced better than both of those cars, previously considered the “ultimate” of the eight-cylinder cars from Maranello. According to the World Car Awards jurors, “The replacement for the F430 Fiorano has been voted by nearly every possible ranking this past year as the best performer hands down. The WCA's would love to break ranks with the crowd, but we also put the 458 Italia squarely among our top three world performance cars. Whether on the track or...

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2011 Mazda MX-5 Miata

The 2011 Mazda MX-5 Miata follows a special formula that's made this model a standout in the market for more than two decades: bring a classic roadster look into the modern age with excellent reliability, great handling—and now, the past couple of years, a weather-tight optional power-folding hardtop. The catch is that Key Takeaway The 2011 Mazda MX-5 is a back-to-basics sports car that you don’t have to drive fast to enjoy—and it has way more practicality than you’d probably expect. there aren't a lot of frills—but plenty of thrills, for sure. Key Takeaway The 2011 Mazda MX-5 is a back-to-basics sports car that you don’t have to drive fast to enjoy—and it has way more practicality than you’d probably expect. The Miata remains available...

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2011 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution / Ralliart

The Basics The 2011 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart is an affordable sedan fitted with impressive performance upgrades, while the 2011 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is a sophisticated, no-holds-barred flagship that offers track-honed features and the Key Takeaway The 2011 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Ralliart have are sharp-edged, athletic performers but come up short in refinement—which might not make them the best pick as everyday drivers. capability to outperform some sports cars costing several times as much. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Ralliart look more like well-done tuner cars than sophisticated performance machines—and like an economy car on steroids through and through. Take a look a little closer at these cars' details and silhouettes...

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2010 Los Angeles Auto Show: 2011 Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet, With Live Shots

This one came way from left field. Or was it right field? Whichever way, for months we've known that some sort of Murano convertible was in the works. The bathtub-like convertible, based on Nissan's stylish mid-size crossover, might very well be the world's first all-wheel drive crossover convertible, as the automaker claims. But, the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet, which is headed to production, is weird—and not, from initial pictures, necessarily in a good way. Just from this side profile, we're seeing a likeness to the PT Cruiser Convertible, or to the much-maligned, yet cult-followed Suzuki X90—though, of course, scaled up. The automaker faced some serious challenges in making the CrossCabriolet—namely body rigidity. To keep the body...

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Posted in: Automotive,Car,Nissan

2011 Suzuki Equator

The Basics When Suzuki decided too many of its two-wheeled owners were turning away from its car brand, it didn't have many options at hand. Building its own truck for American customers would be a fiscal folly. So instead of tooling up, it picked up the phone and ended up with a rebadged Nissan Frontier to sell as its first modern pickup for the United States. The resulting Suzuki Equator returns for the 2011 model year with no changes, but with the Frontier's goodness still intact. Available in Extended Cab and Crew Cab models, the Equator has the Frontier's wide portfolio of talents, with marketing that's pitched more at the recreational and off-road users Suzuki thinks it has sewn up with its motorcycles, ATVs and jet skis. The Equator...

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Posted in: Automotive,Car,Suzuki

2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK 350: First Drive

The 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK still may be the least honed, least intense of the trio of pricey German roadsters, but it's ripened over its 15 years and three generations. New for 2012, the latest SLK has pretty much steamrolled over any trace of its dainty past and hot-paved it with real, substantial, and sometimes intoxicating sports-car urgency. Argue if you want in favor of the Porsche Boxster's no-compromises chassis, or the BMW Z4's now-outed closet speed freak. The SLK holds its own: it grips and grunts with its own visceral pulse--and hot-lapping the volcanoes and valleys of Spain's Tenerife Island proves that it's still a three-way arms race. And still a very small, very exclusive club. With a new model comes an evolved look heavily...

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Posted in: Automotive,Car,Mercedes-Benz

Toyota To Build A New 8-6, The FT-86

A spiritual successor to the vaunted AE86 Corollas of the mid-1980’s, the new Toyota FT-86 (shown above in concept form) will share those cars’ winning attributes of rear-wheel drive and a good-power-to-weight ratio. The FT-86 will improve upon the AE86 however, with the adoption of Subaru’s flat-four engine. The flat four will sit lower in the engine bay, lowering the car’s center of gravity and thus improving its willingness to change directions quickly. In other words, the FT-86 will be responsive, and it will be a handler. It couldn’t come a moment too soon for a company whose high performance successes are all in its past. The company that brought us the 2000GT, Supra, MR2, Celica, and the aforementioned AE86 Corollas, has, of late,...

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Posted in: Automotive,Car,Toyota

Audi Shows R8 Spyder GT Sketches

Those who routinely read between the lines are no doubt nonplussed to learn Audi is doing a Spyder version of the R8 GT. In fact, we openly speculated Audi would eventually offer an open version of the car back in March when pricing was announced for the coupe. Scheduled for launch in the early part of 2012, after debuting at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the R8 GT Spyder is indeed slated to be reality. Propelled by the same 5.2-liter, 560-horsepower V10 found in the R8 GT Coupe, the R8 GT Spyder would easily be the fastest open car Audi has ever produced for the street. Just as the closed version of the German exotic sports car is a limited run one off, the Spyder is expected to be a limited edition model as well. While the U.S. market was slated...

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2011 Jaguar XJ Supercharged Review: The Perfect Balance Of Luxury And Performance

Today we’ll take the Supercharged XJ out on the roads around Denver and on a road trip to Glenwood Springs to see how the big cat performs. The 2011 Jaguar XJ Supercharged is designed to be a performance luxury sedan and it doesn’t disappoint. It offers the luxury buyer a level of comfort unmatched by the competition, and gives the enthusiastic driver excellent performance. The XJ gets a 385 horsepower 5.0-liter V-8 that is adequate for the average luxury buyer. But for the performance oriented driver, the Supercharged model gets the same 5.0-liter V-8 engine but with a supercharger that adds 85 horsepower and 40 foot-pounds of torque. With 470 horsepower and 424 pound-feet of torque, the Supercharged XJ shaves one second off the 0-60 mph...

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2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe

The rear-wheel-drive Hyundai Genesis Coupe faces off against a wide range of sporty coupes—including American muscle coupes like the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro—and depending on desires this racy two-door four-seater can be Key Takeaway For road or track, the 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe is one of the best performance values on the market. The 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe is attractive, and easy to spot from a distance, thanks to the unique styling using a bold Z-shaped character line visible along the side, plus a dip in the glass toward the rear of the cabin. This dip also serves a functional purpose, helping to make the interior feel more spacious and aids in outward visibility. The interior of the Genesis Coupe is a little more traditional-looking...

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Posted in: Automotive,Car,Hyundai

If you’re in the market for a mid-size hybrid sedan, your shopping list just grew by one. Kia has announced pricing on their 2011 Optima Hybrid, which will start at $26,500 excluding a destination fee of $750. That puts the Optima Hybrid on par with the 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid, which sells for just $175 more. It’s significantly less than the 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid, which has an opening sticker price of $28,405, but surprisingly the Kia is priced above its Hyundai Sonata sibling, which has a base sticker price of $25,575. In terms of fuel consumption, Kia estimates that the 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid will obtain the same fuel economy rating of 35 mpg city and 40 mpg highway as the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. The Kia fares better than the Toyota...

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Posted in: Automotive,Car,KIA

GM Set To Announce Revamped Chevy Corvette Plant

GM is set to announce tomorrow morning that it will spend about $100 million to refurbish the Bowling Green, Kentucky, plant that houses assembly of the Chevy Corvette. The Bowling Green plant opened in 1981, and has the capacity to build more than 30,000 cars a year. Through March 2011, it's built 3,070 cars. Even with Corvette sales up 15 percent so far this year, the plant is running at less than 50 percent of its capacity. For all of 2010, some 15,791 Corvettes were built at the facility. GM has tried in the past to squeeze more efficiency out of the Kentucky plant. The Corvette used to share its assembly line with the folding-hardtop Cadillac XLR, which was produced for the 2004-2009 model years before being cancelled for slow sales. The...

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Posted in: Automotive,Car,Chevrolet

BMW’s new 6-Series Coupe revealed

First came the convertible and finally we get this: the new BMW 6-Series Coupe. The first thing you'll likely notice is that it sports a new found elegance and a touch more styling restraint than its divisive predecessor. Which is good. This third iteration of the Six Coupe will launch later this year - after the convertible - in two guises: the 640i and 650i Sadly, labelling the two GTs appears to have been left to a workie as they no longer match the engine size: the 640i gets a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six engine with 320bhp, while the 650i gets a detuned version of the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 currently startling regretful owners of the X6 and X5 M models. In the Six, it bangs out 407bhp and 442lb ft of torque. Although...

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Audi of America established prices for the limited-production 2012 Audi R8 GT

Only 333 Audi R8 GT models will be built worldwide; 90 for U.S sales Extensive use of carbon fiber parts makes the Audi R8 GT about 180 pounds lighter than the Audi R8 5.2 quattro coupe Modified 5.2-liter engine achieves 560 hp, 0-62 mph time of 3.6 seconds, top speed of 199 mph Audi of America established prices for the limited-production 2012 Audi R8 GT starting at $196,800 at the launch of sales in the U.S. market. The Audi R8 GT is the lightest, fastest and most powerful entry in the Audi supercar lineup, which has won global acclaim. Only 333 Audi R8 GT models will be produced worldwide, with 90 slated for U.S. buyers. R8 GT Coupe (R tronic) $196,800 (excluding $1,250 destination charge, taxes, title, options and dealer charges): The...

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Posted in: Audi,Automotive,Car