Turns out the Electric Green Ford Focus RS we saw last week is more than just a show car. Ford has admitted the little green hulk is essentially the finished vehicle, minus some fine tuning. Now, depending on which side of the fencepost you sit on, an inline-five with 275 HP and 295 lb-ft of torque mated to a six-speed in a car the size of a Focus RS, along with all kinds of fancy suspension trickery, is either a magical, amazing thing OR the obnoxious boy-racer bodywork rubs you the wrong way and totally ruins whatever genius lies underneath. Either way, our Euro brethren will soon have another magnificent compact car to dangle in our faces. Damned forbidden fruit. Full details below.  read more »

The newly-announced 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX will make its public debut at X Games 14, to be held in Los Angeles, Calif. July 31 August 3. Boasting engine and handling upgrades, the 265 horsepower WRX will be on show at the Subaru display in the Sponsors Village. A 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX will be awarded to the Subaru Most Outstanding Athlete of the Games recipient. We are excited to be giving the 2009 WRX its debut at X Games, said Tim Mahoney, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Subaru of America, Inc. The X Games exemplify the lifestyle of the WRX buyer. The games are all about speed, power and daring creating the perfect venue to launch the new WRX. Subaru Rally Team USA drivers Ken Block and Travis Pastrana will be piloting all-new rally cars based on the Subaru WRX STI.. This year they will also be joined by legendary BMX star Dave Mirra and 2004 World Rally Championship Production Class titleholder Niall McShea. Mirra will partner with co-driver Alex Kihurani and McShea will team up with co-driver Marshall Clarke for the Rally Racing Super Special on August 3. In 2007, Tanner Foust, driving for an independent team, took the Gold in a Subaru WRX STI, continuing the Subaru winning streak started in 2006.  read more »

Some of us spent a large portion of our youth preparing for the coming apocalypse. No, not in the creepy our mom was Sarah Connor sense, but in the totally normal and respectable type of advanced weapons and survival training that everyone does when theyre 12, right?  read more »

Our impromptu review of the 2007 Fiat 500 revealed few weaknesses in the little car but chief among them was the less than satisfying engine performance. Well, now Abarth has announced production for an up-powered version of the reborn Cinquecento. The 1.4-liter gas engine gets a turbo to bump the power from 100 bhp to 135 bhp at 5500 rpm. That 35% increase in power pushes the 0-to-62 mph time down to 8.2 seconds. Along with the power boost, the new Abarth 500 gets a revised nose and snazzy paint jobs as well as bigger wheels and tires. We're waiting for Abarth to send us one just like we asked for last December.  read more »

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 »

This may actually be one of the most Jalopnik cars in existence and, as a shooting brake, it fits within our day's wagon theme. What makes it such a Jalopnik ride? Start with the fact that it's based on the Porsche 996 Carrera but upgraded to use natural gas, giving it 420 horsepower and 413 lb.-ft. of torque. Then realize that it's a wagon/shooting brake concept with room for four. Finally, remember that it is able to convert itself into a two-seater small truck. Porschaminowagon! Perfect for a Klan rally on Tatooine, as pictured above.  read more »

First production Porsche to top 300 kilometers per hour. On its own, a rather impressive standard to bear, but coupled to the tectonic shift in technology necessary to reach that milestone, the Porsche 959 stands as a true engineering masterpiece. The mythic beast that dominated many a boyhood bedroom poster wall came into being during a strange time in Zuffenhausen. Things were bleak for Porsche's traditional rear engine layout--the 924 and 944 were chipping away at the paradigm--and many wondered quietly how much longer the 911 would remain relevant.  read more »