It debuted at the Tokyo motor show last October. Now, the BMW 1-Series concept that lit a magnesium fire in our naughty bits is coming to Chicago. Officially, it's the BMW Concept 1-Series tii; unofficially, it's several shades of Teutonic radness. Let me count the ways: It recalls the heady days of mid-period BMW road racing, evokes the original (E30) M3 and cribs its halo from the early '70s BMW 2002 tii.  read more »

With a numbered limited edition of only about 500 and a one year lease price of about $820, the MINI E won't be finding a whole lot of takers, but its still a car that will attract a lot of interest. The two seat all-electric car delivers 204 HP and 162 lb-ft of torque and runs on 28 kWh of a 35 kWh capacity battery made of 5,088 individual lithium ion cells and will take the MINI E a full 156 miles before a recharge at it's dedicated wall box is needed — a scant two and a half hours for that job! Acceleration is a brisk but not blinding 8.5 seconds to 62 MPH and top speed comes when you reach 95 MPH. With such low production numbers, this MINI is more of a field test for the real life of an electric car and the results will be used in future vehicle developments. Complete details below along with a nice rant if you scroll all the way down.  read more »

BMW has released the MSRP for all of the 2009 model line-up for North America including the pricing and new option package details. The car in the lowest end is the 128i Coupe which comes in at $29,200. On the high end was the brand new M6 Convertible for a hefty $107,500. As far as options, it looks like a heated steering wheel is going to become part of most cold weather packages, and Active Steering will no longer be available on 128i or 328i/xi models. Finally, if you want a double-clutch gearbox on your M3, youll need to pony up an extra $200 in addition to the base manual transmission option cost of $2,700.  read more »

It was perhaps inevitable that once we had two legitimate and well-financed electric car companies, we would have allegations of back-stabbing and industrial espionage as they race to produce the first high-end hybrid electric sedan. Tesla Motors says it has...


Chuck Squatriglia

Five-cylinder engines have long been an Audi trademark. First used in 1977 in the Audi 100/5000, five-cylinders took Audi upmarket and clearly differentiated the brand from the competition. The Audi 200 Turbo, with its 170-hp inline-five, became the world's fastest four-door in 1984; the 315-hp, Audi 80based RS2 Avant of the mid-90s was the most extreme station wagon of its time; and Audi won several rally championships with the five-banger Quattrothe S1 Pikes Peak had almost 600 hp. In the mid-90s, Audi dropped the five-cylinder engine and its characteristic, subdued growl in favor of more conventional four-cylinder and V-6 engines. Brand aficionados howled in futile protest, and engineering guru Ferdinand Pich, who had developed the five-cylinder engine but later moved on to become head of VW, said he never quite understood why the engine had been dropped. Its Back!  read more »

Designed and engineered to reaffirm its place as a desirable and affordable entry point for the Acura sedan range, the all-new second-generation 2009 Acura TSX is larger, more agile, more powerful and even "more Acura" than ever before. The 2009 Acura TSX made its world premiere at the on-going 2008 New York International Auto Show . Carefully crafted to honor the original TSX's vision as a world-class sports sedan, the TSX has significantly evolved to offer more comfort, safety, convenience and driving performance - dramatically raising the standards for Acura's entry-level sedan . With sharp-edged and athletic styling, a powerful, clean and efficient i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine, a choice of automatic or manual transmission, and the kind of driving character that's an Acura trademark, the 2009 TSX continues as a valuable asset to the Acura division - and to a loyal following of customers. Major advances in handling agility, safety features, emissions reduction, ride smoothness and quietness, and interior comfort and convenience features all contribute to the new TSX's added appeal.  read more »

Aside from a sexy prototype and a few photos, no one's seen much of the plug-in hybrid Fisker Automotive is working on, but with powertrain testing reportedly underway and an infusion of cash just around the corner, the company already...


Chuck Squatriglia

Abstract: 2008 Beijing Auto Show Debut Cars: The 2009 Audi Q5.

For months now we've seen spy photos and heard speculation about Audi's new Q5 CUV. Now, we finally have the official news on the latest entry from Ingolstadt. Unlike its big brother the Q7, the Q5 doesn't share an architecture with a VW model.

The Q5 bears a strong family resemblance to the A4 Avant, while at same time being distinct. When Audi designers were discussing the rationale behind the styling, they began with the beltline that's found on all the newest four-ringed offerings.
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Black Tie Gala, Food, Booze, The New Audi A4 and Miss America After a very long week in the office, I was looking forward to a relaxing Friday night with my girlfriend. I had been talking to a few of my co-workers and one of them mentioned they were going to the Philadelphia Auto Show's Black Tie Gala event that evening. Having lived in the area for the last couple of years, it was something I always wanted to do. The reason I hadn't gone in the past is because the price tag for the event was rather steep - $200 for the evening. Seemingly every year the price had gone up, and for whatever reason I just dealt with general admission to the venue. Over the past few years I'd grown weary of car shows being mobbed by people to the point where you really couldn't get a good look at anything for more than a few seconds, as people would shuffle you out of the way for their 10 second chance to glimpse an exotic auto. Taking a picture was impossible as well, because even if you had enough space to take one someone would walk into your path. This brings me to another point: anything really worth looking at is completely roped off from the general public. I left the office that day and I told my co-worker to let me know how the event west, as I had explained to him (and now to you) my gripes with past auto shows. On the way home I was enjoying the fact that the week was over and looking forward to my vacation the following week. I then received a text message from my girlfriend and based on an unforeseen family obligation my Friday night suddenly freed up completely. As luck would have it I was still able to get my hands on a last minute ticket, so I drove home to get suited up for a fun night ahead. Not wanting to leave my S4 at the mercy of the local parking lot attendants I wisely took the train to the Philadelphia convention center. I also didn't realize the event would also include an open bar for the night. In retrospect it was quite fortunate that I took the train. I arrived at the event and I was one of the first few people in the door at 7pm on the dot. I figured that the allotted four hours would provide plenty of opportunity to see everything.  read more »

Like all children of the Back To The Future generation, we can vividly remember the moment Marty spies his nemesis Griff Tannen in his hover BMW during the second installment of the futuristic trilogy — though we were never huge enough fans to track down the original movie car, buy it and attempt a complete restoration. Jeff Chabotte on the other hand, did just that. The fan of all things McFly bought the BMW 633 -based "hover craft" from a fellow BTTF fanboy. Chabotte then restored the car to movie condition — obviously, and sadly, without flight capabilities.  read more »