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This SEMA special drag race is absurdly awesome

The SEMA Show came and went last month, and it showed us a ton of heavily modded goodies to dream about during the long, cold winter. The Motor Trend Channel on YouTube is keeping the party rolling a little longer, though, with a drag race inspired by the aftermarket event. All of the hosts were supposed to borrow a vehicle from the show for the big race, but only two of them actually cajoled companies into lending their wares. Still, the result includes four very cool and extremely different examples of the breadth of the automotive hobby. First up, there's a 1955 Chevrolet with a 535-cubic-inch (8.8-liter) Hemi V8 stuffed under the hood. Appropriately, it's dubbed the Blasphemi, and with skinny tires up front, fat rubber in the rear and a stripped interior, this this is made to go very fast in a straight line. Next, there's a stock Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat boasting 707 horsepower. Plus, host Jessi Lang has her dog riding shotgun for the race. A Chevy Sonic RS with some body mods, downpipe and intake is also competing. Finally, the most bizarre of the quartet is a custom 1958 Jeep Forward Control with a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 and treads to replace the wheels. Obviously, the Blasphemi and Hellcat are the only two that really have a chance of winning, but check out the video to see which one crosses the finish line first. News Source: Motor Trend Channel via YouTube Aftermarket Chevrolet Dodge Jeep Truck Coupe Hatchback Off-Road Vehicles Racing Vehicles Performance drag race dodge challenger srt hellcat

2018 Hyundai Accent vs subcompact sedans: How it compares on paper

Hyundai first revealed the new 2018 Hyundai Accent a few months ago, but that debut was in Canada for the Canadian-market car. We didn't get our look at the U.S. version until just recently, which is when we also finally got plenty of specifications on the little car. So as we did with the Genesis G70, we've brought you a breakdown of the Accent's specs and some of the segment's best and most popular: the Nissan Versa, Kia Rio, Chevrolet Sonic and Toyota Yaris iA. Before we get to the chart, let's give you a quick reintroduction to the 2018 Accent. The subcompact is completely new this year, and under the hood is again a naturally aspirated 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. It makes 7 fewer horsepower and 4 fewer pound-feet of torque than the outgoing model with totals of 130 horsepower and 119 pound-feet. This drop in power probably won't be noticeable, though. It's also available with either a manual or automatic transmission, both featuring six speeds. Fuel economy hasn't been announced, but the Rio's numbers below are probably a good indicator as they share powertrains. The one thing that isn't available with an Accent is a hatchback. According to Autoweek, the hatchback was canned with the assumption that hatch buyers would simply purchase an example of the upcoming Kona crossover. But if you want a traditional subcompact hatch from South Korea, Kia is happy to oblige, as the Rio is still available as a hatchback. Learning that the Kona may have killed the Accent hatch causes us to wonder if Kia brought the Rio hatch to the U.S. because it wasn't planning on offering the Stonic. Related Video: News Source: Hyundai, AutoweekImage Credit: Hyundai Chevrolet Hyundai Kia Nissan Toyota Sedan nissan versa hyundai accent kia rio toyota yaris ia

Consumer Reports declares most and least loved cars [w/video]

Consumer Reports is crunching the numbers from its annual owner-satisfaction survey, and part of that process is finding out how attached drivers are to their cars. CR simply asks readers of models up to three years old if they would buy the same vehicle again in light of their entire ownership experience, and tallies the results. After looking at the responses for about 350,000 vehicles, it turns out that people really love a certain California-built, electrically powered luxury sedan. That's right, this year's the overall winner was the Tesla Model S with a whopping 98 percent of owners saying they would purchase another one (the Model S also won this award last year, with 99 percent satisfaction). The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray came in a close second with 95 percent of drivers hoping to park another one in their garage. A few models weren't quite so favored, though. The Nissan Versa Sedan was the least loved model among its owners; a mere 42 percent said that they would purchase another. The aging Jeep Compass didn't do much better, with just 43 percent of drivers willing to buy the softroader again. On average, about 70 percent of owners say they would buy their car again, and only four cars ranked below 50 percent in CR's findings. Check out the video above to see some of the winners and losers in a few of CR's categories. If you're a subscriber, you can check out the full list on its website. Related Gallery Consumer Reports Most Loved Cars 2014 Related Gallery Consumer Reports Least Loved Cars 2014 News Source: Consumer Reports - sub. req., Consumer Reports via YouTube Chevrolet Ford Mazda Mercedes-Benz Porsche Subaru Tesla Ownership Videos car ownership