2006 Nissan Murano S Sport Utility 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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2020 Colorado Winter Driver's Notes | Behind the Wheel S02 // E12

2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 I’ve had bad luck with SUVs this winter. Especially performance ones. First, I got a 2019 Range Rover Sport SVR delivered on summers right as two feet of snow fell, rendering it undriveable. Then, coronavirus cancelled Easter Jeep Safari as well as my trip out to Moab in the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Diesel. Thankfully, when this 469 horsepower luxury mall crawler was dropped off, the sun shone down and the snow (mostly) held off.  The first thing that I noticed was there were a few blank buttons throughout the cabin, something that you may see in an entry model vehicle, but IÂ’m not accustomed to seeing in an AMG. Not a great look for a vehicle with an $80,000 price tag. Thankfully that was where the disappointment ended. As soon as you press the start button, the engine fires up and the exhaust note is incredible. Hopping on the highway ramp near my house, I floored it, and the biturbo V8 had me pressed back into the driver's seat, and this wasnÂ’t even the S version that our staff drove last year. Inside and out, the GLC 63 was everything youÂ’d expect from Mercedes. The interior was immaculate, and while the infotainment wheel and touch pad may take some getting used to for someone who isnÂ’t familiar, by now I have it down so that I can use it without looking. And while the V8 left me smiling ear to ear, I was most impressed by the amount of useable interior space there is. I happened to be moving at the time of this review and while all of my large furniture was shoved into the back of a moving van, I was able to fit almost everything else in the back of the GLC. 2019 and 2020 Fiat 500X Trekking ItÂ’s hard to say goodbye to an AMG and then turn around and be excited when a Fiat 500X pulls in your driveway (I know, I know, automotive journalist problems). That being said, when the red Fiat pulled up, I found myself admiring it. I am very familiar with the 500X. Back in 2016 Autoblog had one for a year as our long term test vehicle. I drove that car everywhere, multiple trips up north in Michigan, and even tracked it at Gingerman Raceway for a few laps before the brakes started smoking.  The 2019 model I had in my driveway and the 2020 model I drove in the snow up in the mountains feel very similar to that car. The interior is stylish and surprisingly roomy. The greenhouse is airy.

Chevy Volt 'acceptable,' Nissan Leaf 'poor' in new IIHS safety tests

Ford C-Max Hybrid also scored "acceptable" rating. With US Nissan Leaf sales up almost 30 percent during the first half of the year, the only thing that might be able to stop the battery-electric vehicle is a good, stiff barrier. Unfortunately, thing's aren't always pretty when that happens in the real world, according to new tests from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Things with the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in are a little bit rosier, though. The two plug-in vehicles were part of a batch of a dozen vehicles that just went through the IIHS's "small overlap" test, in which the driver's side front corner of the vehicle is crashed into a rigid barrier at 40 miles per hour. Out of the dozen, only the Mini Cooper Countryman was given a "good" rating. Five vehicles, including the Volt and the Ford C-Max Hybrid, were rated "acceptable," two were "marginal" and two, including the Leaf, were "poor." Plug-in vehicles are unique in the crash-test context because of their relatively large battery sizes. In the Volt's case, the driver had a "low risk" of injury, said the IIHS. But the Leaf's crash substantially pushed back the instrument panel and steering column, creating a scenario where the driver was "likely" to sustain leg injuries. The batteries in both the Leaf and the Volt passed safety tests specifically targeted at things like thermo and electrical properties and overall integrity. "Nissan is proud of the Leaf's 'Good' rating in all other IIHS tests, a 4-star NCAP rating from NHTSA and its IIHS Top Safety Pick rating in all previous years since the car's release," the company said in an e-mail sent to AutoblogGreen. "As for the performance of the 2014 Leaf in the 'small overlap frontal test,' Nissan will continue to review these and other results from the IIHS 'small overlap frontal test' as we seek opportunities for improvement." Check out the IIHS's press release and small car crash-test video footage below. Range of ratings: Small car ratings run the gamut in challenging small overlap front test The Mini Cooper Countryman is the only small car to earn a good rating among the latest group of 12 cars subjected to the Institute's small overlap front crash test. Two electric models and a hybrid also are in the mix, with varied results. The electric-powered Chevrolet Volt (with a gasoline engine "range extender") earns an acceptable rating, while its battery-electric rival, the Nissan Leaf, earns a poor rating.

The art of racing the Nissan GT-R

There's no question that the Nissan GT-R is one of the very fastest cars that money can buy, and that its sophisticated all-wheel-drive system and active suspension give its drivers an absurd level of control at speed. In fact, the GT-R's technical brilliance and video-game quickness often spur armchair critics to make absurd claims that kind of amount to: "The car basically drives itself."
Having a bit of fun with those particularly salty members of the peanut gallery, YouTube producers at That Racing Channel have put together an instructional video about the finer points of GT-R driving and street racing. Scroll down below to get an idea about just how difficult Godzilla can be to keep hold of at the limit.