You’re completely right about the heater blower thing. I had a 1998 Buick Lesabre that did exactly that, and it had the same automatic climate control module that had been used by Cadillac several years earlier so I would guess those cars did it too. It’s such an obvious thing to do and one that would have been hailed…

I always found it hilarious that they didn’t even bother with brand-specific keys. No matter how cheap or how expensive your car, you got a generic GM-branded key.

The new one is much better, it’s almost exactly the same as what Audi is using in the A3/Q3, and some of the last model years of the previous-gen A4.

My current car has the switch designed in such a way that you can’t leave it in the off position, which I think is fantastic attention to detail. It’s on the turn signal stalk and you have to twist it down to go from auto to off, but it re-centers at auto, meaning the next time you turn on the car it’ll be back to…

Of a generation?! It’s not even the best livery on the grid this year.

I can’t help but feel that the divergence you’re alluding to exists only in Talladega Nights. Formula 1 is far more British than it is French, and calling Nascar macho seems a bit outdated. I think “out of touch” is far better; maybe even “tone deaf”. Not too many other sports needed to ban the displaying of…

It’s a good way to have a new car every few years, and not have to think about maintenance or repairs other than an annual oil change. I love it personally, probably won’t ever finance a car ever again.

The problem is that the Mazda3 isn’t actually in this segment. They’re trying to position it as a non-luxury offering to compete with the pseudo-luxury A3/A-Class/2 series GC segment but at a lower price. All those cars have GTI-levels of power, so Mazda saw a need to bump up the power for people buying based on the…

As someone who went from a gen 3 Mazda3 (IRS) to an Audi A3 (also IRS) and now back to a gen 4 Mazda3 (torsion beam), I really don’t see the difference. I’d argue it handles quite a bit better than the Audi actually.

They used Crocodile Dundee in their ads for the outback didn’t they? I could sort of see where the confusion comes from if that’s all you’d ever see of the brand.

I mean, TGT just didn’t pick up from where top gear left off. The studio segments were largely uninspired, especially the celebrity segments.

This would have been underwhelming even if it was a mid-cycle refresh. But if this is actually the new car, then it’s just plain lazy.

Great news! The chassis could definitely handle more power, and if it’s going to have the same output as what you get in the CX-5 turbo, then this thing suddenly turned into a GTI/Si competitor; but with a much nicer interior.

This isn’t a brand new C63, what are the odds it was modified and the speed limiter removed? Given a long enough straightaway, I wonder if the speed was recorded accurately.

Wow I didn’t realize they were even selling the FWD version anymore in the US... Canada only has the 45TFSI AWD version now.

My lease is up in a month. I need a new car. There are lots of people who still need cars.

This is a damn shame. I’ve long been of the opinion that VW could stand to make a larger gap between the GTI and the R (or even move both of them upmarket a bit), with the R getting that glorious 5-cylinder engine.

There’s a blue one like this in my office parking lot, somebody’s winter car. And based on the engine note, it appears to be V8-swapped for added effect.

We should be looking at what happened during SARS. The effects of various flus aren’t true comparisons.

AWD is not a replacement for winter tires. If you drive in a region that has snow accumulation of any kind, do yourself a favor and get winter tires. They’re absolutely money well spent.