13 Gran Coupe M Sport Cold Weather Navigation 20s Hid Premium Sound! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Road & Track names its 2013 Performance Car of the Year

Road & Track recently staged its first annual Performance Car of the Year test, pitting 13 new and updated performance cars against each other on track, then graduating the top six to a road test before picking a winner. Additionally, the magazine staff picked the best automobiles of the year in eight categories.
But first, let's cover the PCotY segment. Here's the list of cars brought to the comparison test: Audi R8 V10 Plus; BMW 435i; BMW M6 Competition Package; Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51; Ferrari F12 Berlinetta; Ford Fiesta ST; Jaguar F-Type V8 S; Jaguar XFR-S; Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S-Model Wagon; Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series; Mini John Cooper Works GP; Nissan GT-R Track Edition; and Porsche Cayman S.
To find out the results of the comparison, head over to Road & Track's website or check the press release below, where you'll also find the magazine's top-rated vehicles in eight categories. Want more? Head over to the 2013 PCotY hub. But before you do that, take a stab at guessing the winner of PCotY (we'll give you one hint: it isn't a Porsche).

NHTSA urges owners of recalled Takata airbag vehicles to take immediate action

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Department of Transportation are taking the unusual step of issuing a followup press release urging owners of certain recalled vehicles "to act immediately" to fix their cars and trucks. The problem in question concerns the repair campaigns for rupturing Takata airbag inflators issued in June and covers a long list of models from Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Infiniti, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Oldsmobile and Pontiac.
While NHSTA doesn't specifically say why the recall is vital in the new release, Toyota's own explanation in its newly announced renotification campaign earlier today sheds some new light on the topic. According to the Japanese automaker, in testing, Takata found a possible link between the rupturing airbag inflators and high humidity. NHTSA is advocating that all owners pursue repairs immediately if they haven't already done so already. This is especially crucial for those drivers especially in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Virgin Islands and Hawaii because of the humid conditions there.
We don't need to tell you how dangerous an inadvertent airbag deployment could be - even in a stationary vehicle - but adding to the Takata issue is fears that the deployment could lead to shrapnel being sprayed into the cabin.

AC Schnitzer's hotrod BMW 318ti remembered by MotorWeek

There are plenty of compact luxury cars available in the US today, including the Audi A3, BMW 2 Series, and Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class. In the '90s, the BMW 318ti tried to offer a similar mix of luxury at a reasonable price, but it never quite found much success in America. The 318ti looked like an E36-generation 3 Series in front but featured a stumpy liftback at the rear. The only engine available in the US was a four-cylinder. If you had the money, though, the aftermarket was ready to give you more power and more aggressive looks. AC Schnitzer dropped a bored and stroked 3.0-liter inline-six under the hood to create a pocket-sized hot rod, and MotorWeek took it for a drive. The model in this video was the promo car for AC Schnitzer's US importer, and it had every upgrade possible to show off what the German tuner's produced. Under the hood, the company installed an upgraded engine with 241 horsepower and 228 pound-feet of torque. For comparison, a US-spec M3 of the era had 240 horsepower and either 225 or 236 lb-ft, depending on the model year. AC Schnitzer also sharpened the 318ti with a suspension overhaul and short shifter. According to MotorWeek's tests, the mods got the hatchback to 60 miles per hour in 6 seconds and gave 318ti laudable handling. So much performance wasn't cheap, though. The upgrades on the promo car cost more than twice as much as the 318ti's base price. Watch this Retro Review to find out the massive amount you needed to pay to get M3 performance in a tiny package. Related Video: