R.I.P Maybach

What’s the average lifespan of the Maybach brand? Well apparently about 10 years.

If Autoweek is to be believed, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t, Mercedes-Benz is going to kill off the uber luxury mark in 2013. Mercedes resurrected the Maybach brand back in 2002 but sales have been disappointing ever since the launch. As a result, Mercedes made the obvious decision.

But if you are indeed in the 1%, then don’t fret because the two models currently sold under Maybach, also known as the 57 and the 62 (the latter is pictured above), will continue on once the next generation S-class arrives. They will officially be named the S600 Pullman and it will be Mercedes’ answer to Bentley and Rolls Royce.

This is also unfortunate for rapper Rick Ross who foolishly decided to name his record label Maybach Music Group due to his love of Maybachs. Not the best idea in hindsight. Oh well.

[Autoweek]

Oh Hi: 2013 Infiniti JX

Nissan and premium division Infiniti are well known for making boldly designed crossovers, but unfortunately that sometimes meant that functionality took a backseat to style. Well, not anymore.

Infiniti has released the new JX crossover which blends both style and function together nicely. Case in point, the swoopy elegant design actually has enough room for third row seats for 7 passengers. The JX successfully blends in the Infiniti corporate look, all while retaining its own individuality.

Under the hood you’ll find a 3.5 litre V6 making 265 horsepower and 248 pound feet of torque connected to a CVT automatic transmission. The JX will be all-wheel drive while an independent front suspension takes car of the load up front and a multi-link suspension takes care of the rear. It also comes with ventilated disk brakes, covered by 18 in or optional 20 inch wheels.

Inside is typical Infiniti quality fit and finish with all the goodies you’d expect such as a Bose stereo system, active cruise control, lane departure warnings, cameras pretty much everywhere and an industry first system that actually stops the JX if something is directly behind you and the driver fails to notice in time while reversing.

The JX will go on sale in the spring of 2012 as 2013 model.

[Infiniti]

Official: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth

Fiat released an official image of the 500 Abarth a  while back and now we have even more images and official specs to digest.

The 500 Abarth will, as speculated, use a 1.4 litre Multi-Air engine that is both intercooled and turbocharged to 160 horsepower. 16 inch wheels are standard with 17′s optional (it’s also optional to have them painted either white or black) along with an upgraded rolling stock, suspension and brakes.

Inside you’ll fine highly bolstered bucket seats, a flat bottomed thick rimmed steering wheel, turbo boost gauge, shift light and sat-nav.

No price has been mentioned yet which I suspect will be the main factor of whether 500 Abarth sales keep an upward trend. And you know Fiat 500 Abarth vs. Mini Cooper S comparos are just itching to get underway so this should make for a very interesting segment.

Head over to Autoblog for more pics.

[Fiat]

Calgary to Use ‘Noise Camera’ to Ticket Loud Vehicles

Shhh! If you live in Calgary you might want to think twice about adding an intake to your vehicle. That’s because the police in Calgary have teamed up with a company that procudes what it calls Noise Scan – a camera that comes to life through sound. If your car is too loud it will snap a pic of your vehicle’s license plate and you can then look forward to a $200 ticket in the mail.

Each Noise Scan costs roughly $112,000 but the police in Calgary were lucky enough to snag one for free as a part of a pilot project.

So, what’s the point of it all? Well apparently the creator of Noise Scan, Mark Nesdoly, decided to create it because one night a bunch of motorcylces drove by his house and woke up his daughter. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the only reason why we now have another cash grab for the government. Pretty sweet, eh?

That said, I can somewhat relate to Nesdoly’s frustration as most of the time when you are having a pleasant conversation on a nice summer’s day it will be rudely interupted by a bunch of Harley’s roaring by. But that still wouldn’t anger me enough to invent such a device, I would just chalk it up as a minor nuissance. And it’s not as if it’s the owner’s fault that the particular vehicle he/she is driving is so loud (unless they modded it for that purpose). Case in point, have you ever heard the exhaust note of a Maserati Quattroporte? If you haven’t, click the video above. Not only does it sound like a symphony of greatness, but it’s probably just as loud as certain motorcycles and that’s certainly not the fault of the owner that their vehicle comes that way from the factory.

There has been no detail given as of yet as to what decible level will trigger the Noise Scan but the Calgary police have stated that they will provide free clinics for people who are concerned their vehicles might be too loud. Not sure what that would entail, but at least the option is available.

What do you think of the new pilot project? Do you think it’s worth it? Do you find exhaust notes of certain vehicles to be a problem where you live? Sound off in the comments.

[Calgary Herald]

Test Drive: 2011 Mazdaspeed3

By Kevin Harrison

It costs about $30 million to go to space. Seriously, if you have the dough you can be one of the few people on Earth to ever leave it. Seeing the moon, the stars and even looking back at your home planet would be thrilling to say the least. But then there’s that price tag. Even billionaires, I suspect, would have a hard time swallowing that bill.

So, what can we do for cheap thrills? Well I recently went to see a movie where the real draw was cheap ticket prices that evening. But considering how uncomfortable the chairs were, the schizophrenic audio and the movie itself being about as interesting as a gnat, the thrill part of equation was severely lacking. Cheap yes, thrilling no.

So where is the balance between value and thrills? Mazda thinks they have it nailed down in the form of the new Mazdaspeed3. They’ve been at it since the inception of the Mazda Protege MP3 back in 2001. Have they perfected the recipe?

Read the rest of this entry »

2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe to Become More Powerful

Hyundai is significantly boosting the power on the impressive Genesis coupe for 2013.

The 2.0 litre turbo will now make 275 horsepower and 275 pound feet of torque, up 65 horses from the current unit’s 210 horses. The V6 will now produce 350 horsepower and 295 pound feet of torque. The V6 uses the same direct injection technology found in the 2012 Genesis sedan, but Hyundai actually made it more powerful than the sedan’s 333 horses and 291 pound feet of torque. Each engine can be mated to an optional 8-speed automatic or a 6-speed manual. This update makes the Genesis coupe the most powerful in the segment in which it competes. If Hyundai manages to keep the price down, that is tremendous value. As the Gensis coupe is already a capable vehicle, this will surely make it better.

Along with the power upgrade, the Genesis coupe will get a facelift for 2013. Wearing a more corporate look, the Genesis coupe’s front facia ads a newly redesigned grille and headlights.

The 2013 Genesis coupe will debut at the Detroit Autoshow in January 2012.

[Carscoop]

Volvo Canada Offering Power Upgrade to T5 Owners

I recently had the opportunity to review the 2011 C30 T5. My conclusion? A very capable, fun to drive hot hatch. The turbocharged 5 cylinder engine is quite good. But now Volvo is giving current T5 owners the opportunity to make it even better.

If you are the current owner of a 2008+ C30, C70 or S40 with the T5 engine, Volvo will upgrade your engine with 23 more horsepower and 29 more pound feet of torque for $1,295. That will give your Volvo a total of 241 horses and 236 pound feet of torque. Considering the price and the fact that it will not void your warranty, that’s a pretty good deal.

“Our performance-minded customers have demonstrated that there is interest in developing warranty-friendly performance upgrades for their vehicles,” said Carol Kitchen, vice president of customer service for Volvo Cars of Canada, “This Polestar tuning program allows driving enthusiasts to unlock the power potential of our engines.”

Volvo received immensely high praise when they teamed up with Polestar to produce the C30 Polestar concept earlier this year.

Sounds like Volvo is very close to perfecting the performance + safety recipe. Exciting!

Would you pay for the performance upgrade?

[Volvo Canada]

Cadillac Spings A Leak: XTS Unintentionally Revealed

Oops!

Looks like someone at Cadillac might be in some deep doggy-doo as an official photo revealing the new XTS sedan was mistakenly placed on the company’s website. The image has since been removed, but obviously the damage has been done.

The XTS was slated to officially debut at this year’s LA Auto Show. It’s looks are fairly in line with the concept that debuted at least year’s Detroit Auto Show. It takes Cadillac’s sharp edge ‘art & science’ desisng and softens it down all while remaining quite eye-catching and well proportioned. Originally expected to compete with the likes of the BMW 7-series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the XTS will be smaller in size and thus makes it more of a 5-series and E-Class competitor.

More details on powertrains will likely become available at the official launch. Stay tuned.

[Jalopnik]

2013 Nissan GT-R Gets Power Boost

One of the best bang for your buck super-cars is now going to be even more powerful.

The GT-R will get a 15 horsepower bump to 545 horses as well as an increase in torque to 463 pound feet from 448 pound feet. There’s no mention of an increased 0-100 time yet, but this will likely shave a bit of time off the current GT-R’s official time to be sure, which will translate into a more agile Godzilla on the track.

Also helping out with lap times will be the GT-R’s re-worked suspension along with a handmade dry carbon spoiler for the Black Edition model. The new GT-R will also get an updated transmission that promises to be more refined.

The 2013 GT-R will hit certified Canadian dealerships January 2012.

[Nissan Canada]

Oh Hi: 2013 Ford Flex

It’s not even 2012 and yet 2013 models are starting to show their faces. Case in point, Ford has released images and new details on the refreshed Ford Flex.

The Flex has always been a bit of a polarizing design with some saying the flat white roof is a rip-off of the Mini Cooper while others say it looks like some sort of stretched hearse. Well, Ford didn’t care to tone down the design, in fact they’ve probably made it even more polarizing. This could be a smart move on Ford’s part as unique designs that push the envelope usually end up being embraced in the end.

The front facia is really where the big changes are. A large brushed aluminum bar across the grille is probably the first thing you notice along with re-worked headlights. You’ll notice there’s no longer a blue oval to be seen anywhere up front as Ford decided to just put the Flex’s name front and centre.

Inside a refreshed dash and console can be found which now includes MyFord Touch (an updated version) along with push-start standard and rain sensing wipers.

There are powertrain updates as well. The base 3.5 litre V6 will get a power boost by 20 horses now making 285 horsepower, all while being 1.6 litres/100 kms more efficient. The V6 Ecoboost engine will cary over unchanged.

What do you think of the Flex’s new schauz? Hit or miss?

[Ford]

Nissan Partners With Province of Nova Scotia & Nova Scotia Power

With the leaves starting to change colour and steadily falling to the asphalt, this seemed like a fitting time for Nissan to introduce another kind of leaf to Nova Scotia’s roads: their all-electric LEAF 5-door hatchback.

It was announced yesterday that Nissan Canada will partner with the province of Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Power to introduce the electric vehicle to the province.

“This announcement adds the Province of Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Power to a growing list of like-minded partners equally as committed as Nissan to promote and encourage the adoption of zero emission vehicles as a way to combat climate change,” said Allen Childs, President of Nissan Canada Inc. “As a manufacturer we provide innovative vehicles that Canadians love and want to drive, but our partners play an important role in helping build the infrastructure support for electric vehicles that will make a roll-out of the Nissan LEAF, and other electric vehicles in Nova Scotia possible.”

Indeed a key partner in promotion and building infrastructure is Nova Scotia Power who also announced their purchase of 10 Nissan LEAF’s for its ShareReady Electric Vehicle program. The program will help NS Power to study and understand the impact of electric vehicle use in Nova Scotia.

Here’s hoping I can snag a LEAF sometime soon for a review!

[Nissan Canada]

Oh Hi: 2013 Volkswagen Passat CC

There’s little doubt that Volkswagen is capable of making some extremely gorgeous cars, but in my point of view, the one that really tops them all in terms of design is the Passat CC. While Mercedes-Benz may have created the idea of the curvilinear coupe-like sedan, Volkswagen was the first to make one that didn’t cost as much as a small island.

Now Volkswagen has updated the Passat CC to incorporate more of a family resemblance mimicking Volkswagens new design language. The lower front facia now incorporates Volkswagen’s new signature grille and the headlights are now bi-xenon with LED turn indicators. Out back the tail lights have been re-worked to resemble the regular Passat. While the re-worked tail lights look clean, I actually prefer the four oval tail lights that the current version has. It looked oh-so-good at night. The interior seems to remain largely unchanged.

Also expected to remain unchanged is powertrain options with the 2.0T and 3.6 litre V6 carrying over as well as Volkswagen’s 4Motion all-wheel drive.

The 2013 Passat CC is expected to go on sale in the spring. Click past the jump for a rear snap.

[Volkswagen]

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