Wednesday, September 19, 2012

2012 Mini Cooper S Roadster review notes

EXECUTIVE EDITOR ROGER HART: The 2012 Mini Cooper S Roadster brings out a rush of different emotions. I love the 1.6-liter four-banger; it revs freely and is a smooth runner, with more than enough bite to keep the driving interesting. The six-speed manual has decently short throws and is fun to row through the gears. But the fun for me basically ends right there. There's a ton of cowl shake—so much, in fact, that my radar detector was...

McLaren P1 prototype storms Paris motor show

Twenty years after McLaren first entered the supercar ranks, the now-mythical F1 has a true spiritual successor--the P1. The range-topping McLaren debuts as a prototype at the Paris motor show. A production version will be revealed in 2013 and it's expected to launch within a year. It joins the MP4-12C coupe and spider to form a potent lineup aimed at netting McLaren as many as 4,000 sales worldwide by the middle of the decade. The P1 is believed...

2013 Mazda CX-9 debuts before Australian show

Mazda will fully reveal the 2013 CX-9 SUV at the Australian International motor show in October. It appears that Mazda couldn't wait that long, as the company just released a few images of the redesigned people carrier, which now looks like the big brother to the CX-5. It features the Kodo design language that we've seen at several auto shows, which lends it a sportier look than previous models. Mazda says it upgraded the interior design...