Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Porsche Boxster and CaymanThe hallmark of a true sports car is how well it involves its driver in the driving. Although the Boxster and the Cayman differ in character—roadster versus hardtop—they’re alike in terms of how well they communicate every nuance of mechanical information to the pilots and how accurately they convert driver inputs into response. This is the essence of the car-and-driver connection, and few sports cars do it better.
Jaguar XF -
In our first hands-on report concerning this new car [March 2008], we described the XF as “an athletic five-seater that defies ancient traditions.” That’s a key point, because Jaguar had been mired in a styling rut, perpetuating past designs to the point of irrelevance. We’ve heard a few pundits suggest the XF “doesn’t look like a Jaguar.” To which we say: Right, and none too soonThursday, November 12, 2009
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Mazda modernized the concept of the classic British roadster with the original Miata in 1989, and two decades later, the process is still in progress. Suspension tuning strikes an inspired balance between everyday comfort and track-day readiness, there’s enough power to make a track day rewarding, the transmission is race-car crisp, and the steering provides that rare sense of connection that makes the car an extension of the driver’s will.
Monday, November 9, 2009
2009 Chevrolet Corvette
The big news in the Corvette camp this year is obviously the ZR1 supercar, the 638-hp rocket that’s the capo di tutti capo of Vettes. We’re seduced by Chevy’s new missile, but we can’t include it in our 2009 awards because it has a base price that’s some 34 grand north of our maximum base price of $71,000 (2.5 times the average transaction price for all light-duty vehicles sold in 2008). That cutoff (down $1000 from 2007) also eliminates the Z06, an ’08 listee whose ’09 base price has crept over the line.
2009 Cadillac CTS / CTS-V
Last year, the redesigned CTS was the second Cadillac to win a 10Best Cars award (the first was the 1992 Seville), and this year, it’s the first Caddy to become a 10Best repeater. We were impressed with its dynamics, its upscale interior, the performance of its optional 304-hp, 3.6-liter direct-injection V-6, its slightly softened but still distinctively edgy styling, its overall refinement, and the fact that it offers manual as well as automatic transmissions.
We’re still impressed. But impressed is a tame descriptor for our response to the V version of this car. Overwhelmed is more like it. Like the CTS, the CTS-V is far more refined in its second generation. But that’s not the first thing that grabs the driver’s attention, particularly if his right foot is flat to the fire wall and he’s rowing through the six forward speeds.
2009 BMW 3-series / M3
What are the key elements of automotive perfection? From our perspective, the list of qualifications includes eager responses, supple ride quality, smooth power, supportive seats, athletic proportions with limited front overhang, attractive styling with familial features that endure through the generations, a car that is always entertaining to drive.
For us, the sum of those attributes is epitomized by the BMW 3-series. Not only is this true for 2009, the addition has been coming out the same way now for 18 years: a string of consecutive 10Best Cars appearances that’s unique in the 27-year history of these awards.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Defending world champion Valentino Rossi claimed pole position for the British Grand Prix here on Saturday.Tuesday, July 7, 2009
U.S. Grand Prix 2009 : Victory for Pedrosa
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa stormed to a flag-to-flag victory in the U.S. Grand Prix before a sun-drenched crowd of nearly of over 46,000 on the challenging Laguna Seca circuit within sight of the Pacific Ocean in Monterey, California.
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) made a robust challenge to Pedrosa, closing onto his rear tire in the final turn. Pedrosa, however, was resolute, and used the power of the Honda RC212V to cross the line with a gap of .344s. Rossi was second and his teammate Jorge Lorenzo was third.
The Repsol Honda rider took a narrow win in the 2009 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca over Fiat Yamahas Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The 2009 Nissan GT-R
The 2009 Nissan GT-R delivers the kind of supercar performance that stuns enthusiast magazines and consumer auto Web sites alike—at a price point that’s at least half of its true competitors. In the words of Edmunds, “The 2009 Nissan GT-R delivers true supercar performance in a user-friendly package for less coin than a base Porsche 911.”
Subaru To Tap Toyota Expertise For 2012 HybridSubaru is looking to
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Jorge Lorenzo takes win in manic bike swap race
Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took a stunning second win of the season in Le Mans today, negotiating varying track conditions and a change of bikes to lead from the first lap to the flag and take the championship lead. It was a doom-laden day for his team-mate Valentino Rossi however as the world champion slid off early on and then had a ride-through penalty to compound his misfortune.With the track still wet from a rainy morning all riders started the race on rain tyres, with the mechanics readying the dry bikes in pit lane in anticipation of an early change as the track dried out. Lorenzo, starting from second, slipped a place at the start but had passed both Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa by the end of the first lap to take the lead. By lap five a dry line had begun to appear and a few riders chose to make early pit stops to change bikes. The 22-year-old Spaniard however was feeling comfortable and had an excellent pace on his Bridgestone wets and so he stayed out, constantly stretching his lead. In the end he was the last of the front-runners to pit, a gamble which paid off brilliantly as he was by then nearly 34 seconds clear and was able to rejoin the race in the lead on lap 13. Once he had bit of heat in his slick tyres the youngster put his head down and kept his nerve for the remaining 15 laps and he eventually took the chequered flag an impressive 17.710 seconds clear of second-placed Marco Melandri.
It was a day of stark contrasts on the opposite side of the garage, with Rossi forced to make an incredible four visits to pit lane. The Italian was in second behind his team-mate when he elected for an early bike change, coming in to swap onto his second M1 on dry Bridgestones after just five laps. The change went smoothly but the track was still damp in places and he went down on the next lap whilst trying to warm his tyres up. He returned to the pits next time around to swap back onto his other bike, with the rules stipulating that he had to keep one wet tyre with the second bike change, but a problem with his pit-limiter meant he was penalised for speeding on exit and forced to return once again two laps later to perform a ride-through penalty. His final visit to the garage came on lap 11 when he changed once again onto a fully-dry machine, but by then he was some two laps adrift and he finished in 16th.
Lorenzo’s 25-point haul takes him into the lead by one point and he now has 66 points to Rossi’s 65. Stoner has the same points as Rossi but lies third as the Italian has more second places, and Pedrosa follow in the standings. With just nine points separating the top four the next round in Mugello is sure to be a thrilling spectacle.
Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1 Time: 47′52.678
“Never in all my dreams did I imagine this situation today – winning the race and leading the championship. This season I have been much more calm and careful and so I was really upset after the crash in Jerez because I didn’t expect it! Today has made up for that though. I had a very good pace with both types of tyre and the strategy of our team worked perfectly. I felt happy to stay out on the wet tyres for such a long time and in the end I think we changed at exactly the right time for our race; there was some luck on our side but we were also strong, calm and careful and this paid off. It was the first time in my life that I’ve had to change bikes during the race and I was very nervous, but it went smoothly and I was able to rejoin in the lead. I’m sorry for Valentino because it was bad luck to crash, but now we are nearly on the same points and it seems like the championship is starting again! I want to thank my team because they were very clever today, I’m so happy to be here and to have won a third MotoGP race.”
Valentino Rossi - Position: 16th Time: +2 Laps
“I had difficulties from the start today and I really could not ride my bike to its best. Already by the fourth lap I felt that I was quite slow and that I couldn’t ride as I wanted. I decided to change bikes early because usually this strategy – being among the first to change the bike pays off. Of course I knew that I had to warm the tyres up a little bit but I crashed anyway in that corner because at that point the track was still wet and I just didn’t ride into it in a calm enough manner. Luckily I was able to make it back to the pits and I changed again, but the rule says that if you change the bike again then you have to use one wet tyre, and so this is what we did. When I started that time, the pit-limiter on my bike was not on and so I was given a ride-through for speeding, but by that time it was too late for our race anyway. We’ve had problems throughout the entire weekend with the set-up of the bike and today I was just hoping that I could stay with the riders in front and get some important points for the championship. Now we go to Mugello, my home GP, where I will perhaps be even more motivated than usual!”.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Race 5 Mugello Circuit, Italy - Race Result
Monday, May 4, 2009
Rossi takes first win of the season
Valentino Rossi celebrates podium at Gran Premio bwin.com de España
A crowd of more than 120,000 fans at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit witnessed a victory for Valentino Rossi in the first European race of 2009.
Valentino Rossi took his first win of the season at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España on Sunday, beating Dani Pedrosa to the line by a 2.7s margin in front of a huge Spanish crowd in Andalusia.
Pedrosa led for the first half of the race having made one of his trademark strong starts from second on the grid, but Rossi took the lead with ten laps to go and did not look back there and his triumph gives him an 11 point lead in the general standings.
The rostrum was completed by Casey Stoner, who trailed Rossi by 10 seconds, the Ducati Marlboro rider moving into second place in the championship. It was the Australian’s first podium appearance at the southern Spanish track.
As was the case in the 250cc and 125cc races the Spanish rider who got underway in pole position crashed out when Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo lost control riding in fourth place with three laps to go, losing ground in the championship race.
An excellent performance from Randy de Puniet, meanwhile, saw the Frenchman bring his LCR Honda satellite machine home in fourth place, having qualified in fifth, to give himself a confidence boost ahead of his home GP in two weeks time at Le Mans.
Another excellent run from Marco Melandri gave the Italian another good points haul in fifth, the former Ducati and Honda rider improving on his good result from last weekend in Japan for the Kawasaki-equipped Hayate Racing team.
Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi rode steadily from sixth on the grid, to come home in the same position, meaning five different manufacturers were represented in the top six.
Monster Tech Yamaha’s Colin Edwards crossed the line seventh, whilst Andrea Dovizioso did well to finish eighth in his third ride for the factory Repsol Honda team having left the track at one stage. Toni ElÃas was the second best Spaniard in ninth for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team, with the top ten completed by Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen.
Sete Gibernau on his return to Jerez could only manage 11th for the Grupo Francisco Hernando team, whilst 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden crossed the line 15th.
The MotoGP stars return to action at the Grand Prix de France in a fortnight’s time.
Valentino Rossi took his first win of the season at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España on Sunday, beating Dani Pedrosa to the line by a 2.7s margin in front of a huge Spanish crowd in Andalusia.
Pedrosa led for the first half of the race having made one of his trademark strong starts from second on the grid, but Rossi took the lead with ten laps to go and did not look back there and his triumph gives him an 11 point lead in the general standings.
The rostrum was completed by Casey Stoner, who trailed Rossi by 10 seconds, the Ducati Marlboro rider moving into second place in the championship. It was the Australian’s first podium appearance at the southern Spanish track.
As was the case in the 250cc and 125cc races the Spanish rider who got underway in pole position crashed out when Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo lost control riding in fourth place with three laps to go, losing ground in the championship race.
An excellent performance from Randy de Puniet, meanwhile, saw the Frenchman bring his LCR Honda satellite machine home in fourth place, having qualified in fifth, to give himself a confidence boost ahead of his home GP in two weeks time at Le Mans.
Another excellent run from Marco Melandri gave the Italian another good points haul in fifth, the former Ducati and Honda rider improving on his good result from last weekend in Japan for the Kawasaki-equipped Hayate Racing team.
Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi rode steadily from sixth on the grid, to come home in the same position, meaning five different manufacturers were represented in the top six.
Monster Tech Yamaha’s Colin Edwards crossed the line seventh, whilst Andrea Dovizioso did well to finish eighth in his third ride for the factory Repsol Honda team having left the track at one stage. Toni ElÃas was the second best Spaniard in ninth for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team, with the top ten completed by Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen.
Sete Gibernau on his return to Jerez could only manage 11th for the Grupo Francisco Hernando team, whilst 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden crossed the line 15th.
The MotoGP stars return to action at the Grand Prix de France in a fortnight’s time.
