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Jaguar XFR-S pitted against Mercedes E63 AMG

It was Steve Sutcliffe at Autocar who got the tough job of comparing the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG to the limited edition Jaguar XFR-S on the track and sheep-strewn British B-roads. In UK spec both Mephistophelean sedans wrangle the same 542 horsepower, but step out of the corral and things look to weigh heavily in the Mercedes' favor: it has more torque, it's lighter, it's quicker from 0-to-60 and it's less expensive.
But that's on paper. Sutcliffe was given the job to see what effect all those letters and numbers had on the real-world driving experience. One of them is "an absolute hoot at the track" with great steering and weight management, one is "magnificent." To find out which is which, watch the video below.

2015 Volkswagen GTD

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part
Back in 2010, we attended the launch for the sixth-generation Volkswagen Golf GTD, an event set on the scenic roads of the cult car's natural habitat - southern Bavarian curving two-lanes complete with shocking views of the majestic Alps. We've now returned to the exact same location for the Mk7 GTD that will come to North America in - brace yourselves - mid-2015 as a 2016 model. It's like anticipation gone bad in light of the spoiled immediacy of today's Internet Age.
On the very positive side, while the US never got the last GTD, at least we are assured of getting this one. And it's a better car than its predecessor, and better is better in our book, so the wait may be worth it depending on how rabid you are for a hot diesel Golf. Will our GTD be built in Puebla, Mexico, along with all other Mk7 Golf models bound for North America? That's a question VW experts couldn't yet answer for us.

Will Nissan's Cummins deal upset Ram's marketing mojo? [w/poll]

Ram has used Cummins engines in its heavy duty trucks since 1989, and it is the only pickup truck brand to use products from the Indiana-based engine maker. With the announcement that the next Nissan Titan will also use a Cummins powerplant, and a Nissan spokesman having already said "We will definitely leverage the Cummins brand name," a piece in Automotive News wonders whether the deal will affect the way Ram markets its tie-up with Cummins.
The question really is, how intense is this competition? While it is the first time that trucks from two different brands have used Cummins engines, they'll be two different engines in two different kinds of trucks; Nissan is going to put a 5.0-liter turbodiesel in a non-heavy-duty Titan, Ram only uses its 6.7-liter, inline six-cylinder turbodiesel in heavy-duty offerings. The diesel that Ram will offer in its light-duty, half-ton 1500 is a 3.0-liter V6 EcoDiesel with 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque - compared to about 300 hp and 550 lb-ft expected from the Titan's Cummins - and its marketing so far has focused on the fuel economy gains.
If Nissan was going to prove its commitment to the segment, it had to do something compelling. If we're talking about sales competition between Ram and Nissan, Ram has sold 201,633 trucks as of July this year, up 24.2 percent, 31,314 of those sales coming last month; Nissan has sold 10,020 Titans through the end of July, down 21.1 percent, and just 1,168 in July itself. Nissan's new truck boss - who hopped there from Ram - said that buyers have asked for a powerful turbodiesel in something other than a heavy duty pickup, and from what we've read on various comment boards, the pickup truck crowd is excited about Nissan's move.

Jaguar crossover won't be based on Evoque or have off-road chops

Jaguar's long-rumored crossover won't be built on the same platform as the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, says the Australian site Car Advice. The future of the new CUV remains uncertain, but if Jaguar does dip its toes into the SUV/crossover pool, though, the new vehicle will likely be a car-based soft roader, lacking (or perhaps more appropriately, not needing) the off-road-engineered chops inherent in Land Rover's small CUV platform.
Jaguar product planner Steven De Ploey explained to Car Advice, "There's many groups around the world [platform sharing] - obviously Volkswagen Group is doing it all the time - but I think we have to be careful. He added, "Jaguar is something quite different... It's about capability, but very much on-road focused capability." That seems to gel with our suspicions that the XQ, as it's expected to be called, will share its platform with an upcoming small Jaguar sedan, the oft-rumored X-Type successor.
Still, we'd recommend taking any mention of a Jaguar crossover with a grain of salt. Based on many of the (quite compelling) statements made by De Ploey against a Jag crossover and previous statements made by Jag's design boss, Ian Callum, the case against a leaper-bearing crossover seems strong. If a high-rider were to arrive from Jaguar, though, the article insinuates that it'd be more in line with the BMW X6 or upcoming X4 - sort of a coupe-based crossover. Like we said, grain of salt. If a Jag crossover is going to arrive soon, the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show is the most likely locale for its debut. We'll find out in a few weeks.

Dick Van Dyke escapes his flaming Jaguar on the 101

Actor Dick Van Dyke was caught in a dangerous situation on a Los Angeles highway (who are we kidding, every situation on an LA highway is dangerous), when his Jaguar XJ spontaneously caught fire. The 87-year-old actor/comedian pulled to the side and attempted to call emergency services when another motorist pulled him from the car. There seems to be some confusion as to whether Van Dyke was passed out or merely calling emergency services.
According to the photos and video from NBC and The Today Show, the car was thoroughly cooked in the blaze and is now a total loss. After the incident, Van Dyke's wife, Arlene, posted that the actor was "fine," sharing a Vine video of the star, the car, and a few CHP troopers that were on hand. Later in the day, Van Dyke tweeted a photo of his toasted sedan, saying, "Used Jag for sale REAL CHEAP!!"
You can view the Today show segment on the incident as well as Arlene Van Dyke's Vine video, below.

C7 Corvette Stingray could get start-stop tech to save fuel

Chevrolet chose not to include fuel-saving stop-start technology in the 2014 Corvette Stingray package, but future Corvettes may get it as government-mandated fuel economy requirements are raised. To explain why the launch-year model doesn't have the technology, Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter simply says, "It is more mass and more cost," Edmunds reports. As sports car enthusiasts, we like the sound of that.
Juechter has them at heart as he relates why stop-start systems aren't valued by Corvette customers: the "real environmental value is zero," he says, and it is perplexing why the "great-sounding engine" should be shut off at every stop. He's got a point, but the reality is that engines use fuel and create smog at idle. "Customers will have to put up with changes from what they traditionally expected in order to get better fuel economy," Juechter says.
Despite eschewing stop-start, the new Corvette's fuel economy reportedly increased by almost 12 percent over the 2013 model. A Stingray equipped with the seven-speed manual transmission is rated at 17 miles per gallon city and 29 highway, which are very good numbers for a sports car with a 6.2-liter V8 and 455 horsepower.

Brabus gives AMG crossovers 700 hp and a stance to match

If you're looking for a big SUV with big muscle, Mercedes has plenty to offer from its own AMG range. But if even that's not enough, Brabus is here with some even more tantalizing options on offer. Set to debut next month at the Frankfurt Show is the Brabus B63S 700 Widestar. The package is available for both the ML63 and GL63 AMG, but the bottom line is the same: 700 horsepower and 708 lb-ft of torque, making these modified SUVs even more powerful and almost as torquey as the twelve-cylinder G65 AMG.
Brabus started out with the 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 and replaced the turbochargers, intake and exhaust, remapped the ECU and had to electronically limit the torque to prevent shredding the drivetrain. Top speed has also been limited to 186 miles per hour to save the tires, but the 0-62 time is down to a claimed 4.4 seconds for the ML and 4.6 for the heavier GL.
Of course, Brabus being Brabus, it has also upgraded the aerodynamics and the rolling stock and the suspension (we hope the brakes as well, though the press release makes no such mention). The body kit makes the ML 2.4 inches wider and the GL 3.1 to give both even more presence on the road and accommodate wheels as big as 23 inches. And of course the German tuner offers a wide array of customization options for the interior. Extra extra, read all about it in the press release below and check out both beasts in the twin image galleries.

2015 Audi A8 and S8 get some new goodies

Luxury car buyers are a demanding bunch. They've got this crazy notion that just because they're spending the better part of a hundred grand on a top-tier luxury sedan, they should get the very best and the cutting edge of what the industry has to offer. That has tended to come down to the S-Class even when it had grown long in the tooth, and now that Mercedes-Benz has rolled out an all-new version, the competition is falling all over itself to release updates to keep their flagship sedans in the running. Jaguar did that just yesterday with its XJ sedan, and now Audi has revealed the latest revisions to its A8 range.
Set to debut at the Frankfurt show in just a few weeks from now, the latest A8 (and its performance version, the S8) benefits from a series of stylistic, powertrain, and technology upgrades. Among the most prominent, of all things, are the new Matrix LED headlights that can automatically lower the high-beams for oncoming vehicles, with integrated turn signals that light up to point in the direction the driver's about to turn. But that's hardly the end of the story.
Audi has apparently reduced the output on the 3.0-liter supercharged V6 to from 328 horsepower to 310 but raised the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 from 414 hp to 435, which now offers a 0-60 run of just 4.5 seconds. That's just three tenths behind the S8, which remains unchanged at 513 hp, as does the 493-hp 6.3-liter W12. The 3.0-liter TDI is up from 247 hp to 258, the 4.2-liter TDI grows from 345 hp to at 385 (with a massive 627 pound-feet of torque to boot) and the hybrid that offers a combined 245 hp and 354 lb-ft. That makes for one massive array of engines globally, although only some of them will be offered Stateside. Each is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive, but thanks to the A8's lightweight construction, it's lighter than any other all-wheel-drive model in its class.

More details on next Audi A4 mooted, including PHEV

With just under two more years until the next-gen Audi A4 hits the streets, it's not surprising that details are starting to leak out. The Brits from Autocar are reporting some information on the 2015 A4, although it isn't clear where any of it came from.
The most substantial news might be in regards to the plug-in hybrid version of the car. We've known for a couple years now that an A4 PHEV was being planned, but the report indicates that a trio of plug-in configurations are being planned, equipped with a 2.0-liter gas engine, a 2.0-liter diesel engine or a 3.0-liter supercharged V6. All engines will be paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, and the A4 plug-in is said to have an all-electric range of up to 31 miles.
In terms of styling, the next A4 shouldn't stray too far away from Audi's current design language, but it will introduce a new version of the automaker's signature grille. Despite being about the same size as the existing A4, the fifth-generation model will drop some pounds thanks to various weight-saving techniques with the most obvious being aluminum body panels. Based on this info, we should see the A4 sedan and wagon in April 2015, an Allroad later in the year and a redesigned A5 lineup hitting the scene in 2016.

MI man injured in crazy Nissan Titan crash caught on video

Earlier today, a man from Kentwood, Michigan was seriously injured after a bizarre accident on Interstate 96 outside of Lansing. While he's expected to make a full recovery, it's the footage captured by another driver that makes this incident so remarkable.
The 59-year-old driver of the Nissan Titan involved in the crash was towing a trailer when he hit the median and was catapulted over a guardrail into a local creek. A driver that was traveling alongside caught the entire incident on Vine, creating a disturbing loop of the truck flying through the air, before disappearing from view.
The man was recovered by rescue services, taken to a hospital, and is expected to make a full recovery. It's unclear what caused him to lose control and end up on the median. Scroll down for the six-second Vine video.

2014 Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra first pickups to ace updated NHTSA tests [w/video]

General Motors has just become the first pickup truck manufacturer to receive five-star overall vehicle scores in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's New Car Assessment Program. The updated safety standards, which went into effect in 2011, are more strenuous than the previous NHTSA curriculum and involve collecting both more and more substantial data, reflecting the improved safety inherent in newer vehicles. This feat is made more impressive by the fact that both Ford and Ram have released brand-new trucks since the new testing went into effect - GM's victory is no technicality.
The rating only applies to the redesigned, light-duty Silverado, Sierra and their upmarket variants, High Country and Denali, respectively, while only Crew Cab variants were tested. Considering that the four-door body style will make up 60 percent of GM's light-duty truck sales, the exclusion of the other variants seems reasonable.
This news is sure to be yet another feather in GM's pickup-oriented cap. Be sure to scroll down for video of the crash testing, as well as the full press release from General Motors.

Alan Mulally talks about why Ford's Falcon had to die

When Ford made the decision to end production of the Falcon sedan and Territory CUV in Australia, it wasn't a popular move Down Under. The large, four-door Falcon had been in production for 50 years, and while Ford has reaffirmed its commitment to the Australian market, it's understandable that some people still aren't all that crazy about the Blue Oval's decision.
Speaking to CEO Alan Mulally after Ford's Go Further event in Sydney, Australian site Go Auto reports that the decision was not one made lightly, and that the automaker is doing everything possible to respect the Falcon and Territory's "stakeholders." It's an interesting piece that shows a softer side of a corporation, while demonstrating that Ford is doing everything in its power to make the end of production as smooth as possible for all parties.
Head over to Go Auto for the full series of remarks from Mulally, and then let us know what you think of Ford's handling of the Falcon and Territory discontinuations, in Comments.

Happy 60th to the VW Karmann Ghia

Volkswagen's product portfolio may be as extensive these days as any other carmaker in the business. But if you still think of the original Beetle as synonymous with the brand, that's probably because a) you're old and b) the Beetle was the company's only product until the mid-50s.
Sixty years ago Wilhelm Karmann (founder of the eponymous coachbuilder) was in Paris for the auto salon and met up with Luigi Segre and his team from Carrozzeria Ghia who showed him what was essentially a "Beetle in a sports coat." A month later they showed it to Volkswagen chief Heinrich Nordhoff who, setting aside his conservative tastes, approved it for production. And so the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia was born, giving the German marque a second product line. It still used Beetle mechanicals and was built at the same Karmann factory in Onsabrück that was already assembling the Beetle Cabriolet.
It took another couple of years to put the design into production, but from 1955 to 1974, Volkswagen and Karmann built 362,601 coupes and 80,881 of the subsequent convertible that arrived in 1957. Today the Onsabrück factory is part of the VW Group, handling production of the Golf Cabriolet, XL1 and Porsche Boxster and Cayman, and with that original Karmann Ghia prototype as part of its factory collection.

Mercedes tests upcoming S65 AMG at the Ring

A two-and-a-half-ton luxury sedan wouldn't exactly be our first choice for a romp around the Nürburgring. But then Mercedes-AMG has a way of exceeding expectations. To get the new S-Class to run to sixty in 3.9 seconds, Benz's performance studio fitted the S63 with a 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 that sends 577 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels. But the boys in Affalterbach aren't done just yet. Before the fat lady that is the S-Class sings its swan song, AMG will follow up with the yet more powerful S65.
Expected to debut towards the end of the year in LA, the new S65 AMG is expected to pack even more muscle than the outgoing model's already-astonishing 621 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque, channeled from its 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 to all four wheels instead of its predecessor's two. Considering that the S63 dropped half a second off its 0-60 time from one generation to the next, we could be looking at a run as quick as 3.6 seconds for the new S65. And as you can see from this spy video shot at the Nürburgring, for all its heft, the new king of the performance sedans will do more than just go in a straight line.

Tesla to be named Tuosule in China

Tesla is not Tesla anymore, at least in China. The Palo Alto-based manufacturer has apparently given up on the fight over its name, for the time being. The name "Tesla" was trademarked by one Zhan Baosheng in 2006, while the American EV company didn't attempt to claim it until 2009 (we reported on this development a few weeks back).
Of course, trademark squatters aren't really a new thing, particularly in China. Earlier this month, we told you about a car company that is attempting to patent a Volkswagen design before the German manufacturer could even bring it to market.
Since the California electric car manufacturer can't go by Tesla in the Asian automotive market, it's reportedly elected to be known as "Tuosule." First reported by InAutoNews, the Tuosule name apparently comes from a transliteration of "Tesla" to a dialect of Chinese spoken in Hong Kong. This was the second time Tesla has gone to court over its name. The first time was to reclaim the name "Tesla Motors," which it achieved by purchasing the name from its owner, Qiao Weiwei, but that name apparently isn't licensed for automotive use.

Police are choosing SUVs over sedans with greater frequency

Our report on the newly EcoBoosted Ford Police Interceptor Utility (Explorer to the rest of us), had a segment on the need for more space in police vehicles, due to the amount of equipment officers need to carry on a day-to-day basis. Judging by the comments from that post, there are some who question that reasoning.
Now, though, there's further evidence supporting our claim that the police car isn't really a car anymore. Rather, SUVs are becoming the dominant vehicle for police departments around the country, according to a report from The Detroit News. Demand is growing for larger vehicles, with the Explorer PI, which was expected to take 30 percent of Ford's LEO sales, capturing around 70 percent so far this year. That's not a fluke.
The Explorer has outsold the Taurus with the 5-0 this year, while General Motors is planning on a jump in Tahoe year-over-year sales. The police market, which used to be dominated by the Ford Crown Victoria, is now home to three manufacturers, with all three pushing larger offerings that can more easily cope with the daily demands of life as a police vehicle. "It's not a fad. This is where the industry is moving," Ford's fleet brand marketing manager, Jonathan Honeycutt, told The Detroit News.

This is Nissan's 2014 Detroit Auto Show concept

During a media event in Los Angeles today, Nissan flashed a few images of a new concept car that will be unveiled at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show in January. According to Shiro Nakamura, senior vice president and chief creative officer of design and brand management at Nissan, this unnamed concept has a "very strong design signature" and shows "[Nissan's] future design direction."
It's certainly quite sleek, this concept, yet specific elements like the front fascia and taillamps are evolutionary steps from what we're seeing on some of Nissan's newest products. Those rear lamps look like sleeker versions of what the Sentra wears, and that grille appears to be a more stylized version of what the next-generation Rogue has been seen sporting.
As for what, exactly, this concept previews, that's still up in the air, though our best guess is that it hints at a Maxima successor. After all, Nissan did confirm to us that a new Maxima is currently in development, and showing this concept in early 2014 lines up with our predictions that the next-generation sedan should arrive in time for the 2015 model year.

There will be no Veyron 'successor,' says Bugatti, but there will be a 'replacement'

Stop dreaming about a rumored upcoming Super Veyron, reportedly with 1,600 horsepower and a 0-60 sprint of 1.8 seconds, as it will never materialize despite countless reports to the contrary. That is the official word from Bugatti President Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber, who sat down with us at Pebble Beach this past weekend to extinguish the gossip and discuss the future of the supercar.
As you may recall, Bugatti has promised a total production run of just 450 Veyrons. To date, they have delivered about 390 vehicles, including countless special edition models like the recent Legends models that debuted in Monterey. While early cars made 1,001 horsepower (like the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, pictured above, which we photographed during our review), all of the remaining production - expected to last until 2015 - will be fitted with the 1,200 horsepower version of the quad-turbocharged W16 powerplant that will push it to 254 mph. Despite a slew of limited edition models, there will be no further engine enhancements.

Honda Accord, Civic are America's most stolen cars

The National Insurance Crime Bureau has released its latest Hot Wheels study on the most popular stolen cars and trucks for 2012. The study has changed a bit from past years, with the new findings listing only the make and model of each vehicle, while taking into account all model years in its totals. Previous iterations only focused on the most stolen vehicles of a particular model year, with that make and model not appearing anywhere else on the list so as not to appear to call out a particular car. Confusing, eh? Said another way, in previous studies, if the three most stolen vehicles were the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Belchfire Turbo from Fictitious Motors, only the model year with the highest number of thefts would make the list.
The new study takes all model years into consideration while breaking down the number of vehicles stolen per model year in a full, in-depth report. Separately, the NICB is also listing the top 25 new vehicles stolen in 2012. That list is limited exclusively to model year 2012 entries.
Honda took the top two spots in the most stolen vehicles list, with 58,596 Accord models stolen and 47,037 Civic models stolen. The study is interesting, though, in that the most recent model year for the Accord is 1997, while the most recent the Civic is 2000. In fact, Hondas from 1990 to 2000 make up 16 of the top 20 cars stolen in 2012, according to the NICB. Compare that with the MY2012 list, where Honda's vehicles are eleventh and fifteenth, and it looks like the Japanese brand has been beefing up its theft control.

Mercedes reveals S500 plug-in hybrid, rated at three liters per 100 km

The third model in the lineup of Mercedes-Benz S-Class hybrids has arrived: the S500 Plug-in Hybrid brings with it a 0-to-62 mile-per-hour time of 5.5 seconds, 30 kilometers (nearly 19 miles) of electric-only operation and a fuel economy rating of three liters per 100 kilometers on the European cycle (78.41 mpg US, though that's not apples-to-apples). Those numbers outdo those of the second-generation S400 Hybrid and S350 BlueTEC Hybrid. In fact, that mpg figure is better than the Audi A3 1.6 TDI Ultra that was introduced earlier this month with a European rating of 3.2 liters per 100 km (73.5 mpg).
The miserly beast runs with a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 engine tied to an 80-kilowatt electric motor, its lithium-ion batteries containing ten times the energy of those in its S-Class hybrid siblings and chargeable from a port on the rear bumper. There are four drive options, two that select between either full hybrid cruising or electric power only, and two that manage battery usage.
Also helping to manage the battery are the second-generation braking system that first uses the car's electric motor to initiate deceleration, a haptic accelerator pedal that lets a driver know when he's about to engage the combustion engine and the Intelligent Hybrid energy management system. It uses COMAND navigation data up to eight kilometers ahead of the car to oversee battery usage, adjusting how the electric assistance system is used based the likely of the route.

Next Nissan Titan will get turbocharged diesel V8 from Cummins

Toyota might be content to eke out an existence in the fullsize pickup market with its lightly refreshed Tundra, but Nissan looks like it'll be a bit more aggressive with its next-generation Titan. The next Titan will make use of a 5.0-liter, turbodiesel V8 from Cummins, the Japanese company announced at the start of its Nissan 360 industry showcase.
Nissan's commitment to a fullsize pickup isn't really open for debate - it made waves back in April when it lured Fred Diaz, CEO of Chrysler's Ram pickup division, down to its Franklin, Tennessee headquarters. But this news of a monster turbodiesel is big. As of this writing, only Ram is set to offer a diesel engine in a non-heavy-duty pickup. Its 3.0-liter, EcoDiesel V6 will arrive in the Ram 1500 in the not-so-distant future, but that engine will still be a far cry from what's promised with this Cummins mill.
The 5.0-liter V8 is expected to generate well over 500 pound-feet of torque - likely closer to 550, based on the language in the press release - along with over 300 horsepower. Those figures aren't just a shot across the bow of Ford, Chevy, GMC and Ram, they're an opening broadside, meant to demonstrate Nissan's willingness with its next light-duty truck. As Diaz said, "There is no question that the new Titan will turn heads, and with the available Cummins 5.0-liter V8 turbodiesel, we expect to win new fans and attract buyers looking for this unique configuration."

Toyota discontinuing FJ Cruiser after 2014 model year

The Toyota FJ Cruiser is not long for this world. According to the manufacturer's own fleet website, the rugged FJ will be discontinued after the 2014 model year, with the companies final orders due in June of next year.
Toyota first launched the FJ Cruiser in 2006 as a 2007 model, and aside from minor year-over-year changes, it has not been substantially updated. The FJ is the modern successor to the original FJ40 Land Cruiser that Toyota produced from the 1960s all the way up through 1984, when the automaker decided to better focus on its larger, four-door Land Cruiser line. Currently, it uses a 4.0-liter V6 engine with either rear- or four-wheel drive, and is available with either a five-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission. Interestingly, word of the FJ's demise comes not long after Toyota's US boss, Bill Fay, reaffirmed his company's commitment to body-on-frame trucks in late July.
Also of interest, Toyota's fleet website states that the 2014 model year Prius range will have "minor updates," though it's unclear what those are as of this writing. When Autoblog reached out to confirm these developments with Toyota, spokesman Curt McCallister reminded us, "As is our corporate policy, we don't discuss future products beyond the present or upcoming model year."

2015 Ford Mustang shows its face in public

Ford is planning some big changes for the Mustang - likely the biggest shift in its iconic pony car since it ditched its previous jelly-bean-ish shape for the retro lines of the current model. Now it's leaving that design behind as well in favor of a more dynamic figure previewed by the Evos concept. But while we've known that to be the case for some time, the only prototypes we've spied to date have been heavily camouflaged. So heavily disguised, in fact, that you can barely tell what's underneath. Fortunately for us, a lot of that shape-obscuring body cladding had to go when it came time for hot-weather testing.
As you can plainly see from the shots above, Ford's development team kept most of the camo in place aft of the A-pillar, but this uncovered nose gives us our best glimpse at the upcoming new Mustang yet. Here we can see the shape of the hood, grille, air dam, air inlets and the outline of the headlights, even if their jeweled intricacies remain obscured, and we can see that the basic Evos shape has been muscled up a bit for Mustang duty.
As for what's sitting under that heavily padded hood, we're not quite clear. Whatever it is - we're thinking a 5.0-liter V8 is likely, possibly along with some smaller turbocharged options - performance should be good considering the rumored weight loss routine the car has apparently gone through. It's intriguing to see a Mustang Boss 302 S following behind, too.

2013 Fiat 500e

A Juice Box With Style And Substance
It happens nearly every day, and as often as not, I'm the guilty party: someone slips an eBay Motors or Craigslist link into the fetid automotive stew that is the Autoblog editors' online chatroom. Typically, it's enough to momentarily derail an otherwise productive dialog about editing a breaking news item or researching an arcane bit of automotive history. Predictably, we've all got our favorites. Once dubbed "Mr. Other Makes" by a former coworker and friend who noticed my penchant for four-wheeled eBay esoterica, I can't help but spend at least a few minutes trawling the online classifieds every night before I go to bed, staring glassy-eyed at some basketcase Bitter SC, Inca-wheeled Saab 99 Turbo, a moonshot Plymouth Road Runner Superbird or resuming my quest to seek out the world's last remaining unmolested first-gen Nissan Sentra SE-R.
Every Autoblog staffer has their peccadilloes, Editor-in-Chief John Neff among them. His classified quests skew toward larger sport sedans that discreetly package big performance. As the former owner of a first-gen Ford Taurus SHO Plus, Neff is a serial viewer of Pontiac G8, Audi S6, Lincoln LS V8 and BMW M5 listings. Yet the current apple of his eye is the 500E. No, not the bubbly electric Fiat shown here that shares its name, but rather the imposing 1991-1994 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, a hand-built V8 monster developed and assembled with Porsche acting as Daimler's skunkworks. A rare car, its values are starting to escalate, a reality that has Neff closer than ever to pulling the trigger.

Jaguar rolls out 2014 XJ updates

It may be an uphill battle with Mercedes-Benz having rolled out its all-new S-Class, but in an effort to entice more customers towards its flagship sedan, Jaguar has announced a series of enhancements for the XJ.
A number of upgrades aim to make the long-wheelbase model that much more accommodating, with new airline-style rear seats that recline, massage and optimize the headroom in the back. The rear suspension has also been recalibrated for comfort, and there's a new optional Meridian sound system with a Conversation Assist feature that uses microphones in the headliner to pick up occupants' voices and pipe them through the speakers to support the art of conversation in motion.
The engine range carries over unchanged, but each engine is now mated to an eight-speed automatic with an available stop/start system which Jaguar says takes less time to restart the engine than it takes for the driver to move his or her right foot from brake to gas. Full details in the press release below.

Toyota nudges US sales projections up to 2.25M

Toyota has raised its expectations for 2013's US sales for the third time since the end of 2012. The new target rests at 2.25 million units, when sales of Toyota, Lexus and Scion are taken as one. Subtracting Lexus, Toyota is still expecting to move over two million vehicles in the US by the end of 2013.
According to a report from Automotive News, the sales expectations came from Bob Carter, senior VP of automotive operations for Toyota USA, during a dealers during a meeting in Atlanta. The heightened expectations go along with Toyota's predictions for the US market as a whole, which it expects to grow to 15.5 million units by the end of 2013.
Besides an overall, national uptick in new vehicle sales, Toyota is also expecting a big push as it puts the next-generation Corolla to market during the second half of this year, along with the Tundra pickup truck. Meanwhile, dealers were shown images of a refreshed Camry, set to arrive in 2015, and reported that it's "more than a nip and a tuck," according to the AN report.

Tesla says Model S crash test score is best NHTSA has ever recorded

We found out a couple of weeks ago that the Tesla Model S aced the crash tests administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. What we didn't know until Tesla filled in some of the details is that the Model S scored more than five stars on the way to recording the best result of any car the NHTSA has ever tested. While NHTSA's highest public rating is five stars, the Vehicle Safety Number it gives to manufacturers can go higher, and Tesla says the Model S scored a 5.4. That's a better result than has ever been achieved in NHTSA testing of a passenger car, SUV or minivan.
Tesla's press release says that after its internal tests showed that it would score five stars on government's crash tests, it addressed any other weak points it found on the vehicle to ensure it would get perfect marks "no matter how the test equipment was configured." It was already going to do well in the frontal test, as the lack of an engine allows much more leeway in creating an occupant-saving crumple zone. And the rollover test was aided by the battery pack being located in the floor. The low center of gravity meant that the Model S couldn't be rolled over "via the normal methods and special means were needed to induce the car to roll."
Nested aluminum extrusions along the hatchback's flanks took care of the side pole intrusion test, the Model S not only scoring five stars but, according to Tesla, leaving nearly nine times more "driver residual space" post-impact than the five-star rated Volvo S60. And when the roof of the Model S was tested for crush resistance, the testing machine broke just after it crossed the four-G mark - the Model S, on the other hand, didn't.

Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG caught track testing

Last week's reveal of the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class wasn't a huge shock. We knew the crossover, which shares its platform with the CLA sedan, was coming, and we had suspicions it'd show up online before its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show. We also knew, because we're talking about Mercedes, that there'd eventually be a hot AMG variant. Much like your friend that enjoys a bit too much Red Bull, Mercedes feels the need to take all of its vehicles up to 11, offering AMG variants of virtually everything it makes.
The new GLA will be no different, as evidenced by this disguised AMG model circling the Nürburgring. Let's ignore the cladding and camouflage for the time being, and focus on what we think we know. The crossover will likely carry the GLA45 designation, and be powered by the same 2.0-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine found in the CLA45 AMG. Expect 4Matic all-wheel drive and the seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission to be donated from the GLA's sedan counterpart. Power should be similar, with around 360 ponies on tap.
As for all that cladding and camo, expect the normal batch of AMG aesthetic and aerodynamic enhancements, along with a set of meaty wheels, as seen on this tester. This is corroborated by our spies, who report that bigger intakes can be seen up front as well as quad exhausts and a diffuser in back. Those AMG wheels are also shielding uprated brakes.

Cadillac Elmiraj has production potential

There are many reasons to love the Cadillac Elmiraj Concept, but not the least of which is how production-ready this big coupe appears to be. Take out the overly fancy interior and a few conceptual elements of the exterior, and this looks like a coupe that could be in dealers now as the successor to the Eldorado.
On top of that, Automotive News is quoting Bob Ferguson, Cadillac senior vice president, as saying that a production version of this car is "very doable." AN adds that if the Monterey showstopper gets the green-light, this car would compete against the upcoming Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe and would based on Cadillac's upcoming rear-wheel-drive flagship sedan due out in 2015. The range-topping coupe would debut sometime after the sedan model. Cross your fingers.

Lexus teases Frankfurt Motor Show concept... is it the RC Coupe?

With the teaser image of the concept car above and the announcement that Lexus will be premiering it to the world at the Frankfurt Motor Show on Tuesday, September 10, you know pretty much what we know. The Japanese luxury brand has decided to to say nothing more. Picture sleuthers have, however, suggested that it is a conceptual preview of either the RC Coupe or the hotter RC-F that will be revealed in Tokyo, or, less likely, the coming NX crossover - and that covers all the bases that we know of.
Along with that, Europeans will get to lay eyes on the GS 300h for the first time, the sport sedan powered by Lexus' 2.5L hybrid powertrain. You'll find a skosh more information in the press release below.