That’s funny, my dad didn’t buy it because he wanted to stick with Saabs. He ended up getting a Saab 9000 (built on the same platform as the 164, along with the Fiat Chroma and Lancia Thema), which I occasionally got to drive when I first got my license. The Saab was sadly not a Turbo, but rather a 9000i 2.0 that was…

Yes, I would be tempted by that with a manual transmission. I still remember trying to convince my dad to buy a beautiful Alfa 164 with a manual transmission and the lovely-sounding 24v V6.

Does the regular Giulia sound particularly good? The Quadrifoglio sounds amazing, but I think the regular direct injection four-cylinder sounds pretty much like any other DI engine.

On what basis do you have this faith? And what environmental cost will we accept to find these raw materials? What we’re already doing today (for example, using Chinese coal power to refine lithium) is already hardly a small environmental footprint. It’s like Germany’s greens decommissioning their nuclear reactors so…

Somewhat related, I witnessed a dad doing the school drop off in a new Model X today. My son’s school has quite a tight circular driveway, and the yoke looked incredibly awkward to manage. Despite this, I think they are still selling more of these than (for example) Mercedes sells GLSs.

While companies like Lamborghini have announced their death of their gas-powered V12s, McLaren has decided that the company will be working on the next generation of hybrid ICE engines.

A few points: yes the TH guys were concerned about the brakes, but if anything the steering was an even bigger issue; CCBs don’t stop a car any faster than steel brakes, so the main use case of slowing down a fast, heavy car on the road is no different between good steel brakes and CCBs; on a drag strip blast, the…

Not only the handling, but the ride on this generation of X3 was terrible.

Agreed. This generation of X3 was pretty vile to drive and not even that practical. The idea that it is somehow close in terms of driver engagement to a 3-series of the same era is ludicrous.

It is a really stupid option if you’re not tracking the car, and it’s really stupid to track a Plaid. Most of the reviews say that the steering is terrible on the track, and it’s a very heavy car, so I can’t imagine it would be anything but terrifying to drive this hard on the track. Also, there really aren’t many…

Yes, came here to say this - 20% VAT will be included. All UK prices are required to include tax and be “on the road,” including any other charges / fees.

Or the i4 M50. Probably a lot of urban / suburban customers for the S4 who are cross-shopping EVs. The M50 starts at $67k, which is close to the S4 Prestige.

So it’s a huge issue, but there isn’t any actual data to say it actually is a huge issue, and the data that does exist (from Electrify America) says it isn’t a big issue... But there is a couple in Florida who think someone might have it in for them.

A good counterpoint to the “cars are so expensive now” argument. In 1990, a base BMW 325i was $24,650 US, which is $57k US today, or slightly more than a base RWD M340i. The M340i has more than twice as much power, accelerates to 60 in 4.4 seconds vs. 6.9 seconds, has luxury equipment that was unheard of in 1990 and…

Yes, this was maybe peak Top Gear. Mind-blowing that they could actually do this (and get the budget to do it), but also with the key elements of it being slightly low-rent feeling, with sheds and cups of tea mixed in with the actual rocket science. It also felt far less contrived than many of the later big stunts -…

Not the worst of the worst, but pretty close to it.

The only possible explanation for this is that a Mercedes executive has a “really smart kid” who works at Urban Mobility Solutions.

Agree on the Model Y. The ride quality is really awful and I don’t like the user interface. For me these are dealbreakers. But for a roomy car with lots of equipment, a great EV powertrain, and access to the best charging network by several orders of magnitude, it’s easy to understand why it’s popular.

Seriously, go out onto the street and survey 100 passers by. Ask each of them if they would prefer a Subaru or a Tesla. Return here with the results.

I think the GranTurismo S had the automated manual as standard until 2012, and then as an option (with the ZF auto as standard) when it was replaced for the 2012 - 2019 by the GT Sport.