1995 Lamborghini Diablo Vt Quicksilver Exhaust on 2040-cars

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The Grand Wagoneer is ambitious, but luxury comes naturally for Jeep

The good life is coming easy for Jeep, or perhaps I should say, naturally. The rough-and-tough off-road brand that can credibly claim it helped win World War II is offering a level of luxury that borders on decadent in its latest line of SUVs. After a weekend in the 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, I can reiterate that Jeep’s status as a luxury good producer is legit. Really, JeepÂ’s upward mobility is nothing new. Anyone who has driven a Grand Cherokee in a top trim in the last decade will tell you the materials and layout rival premium brands of all stripes. But jumping up into the Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer (here's our First Drive Review) territory means a different kind of fight for Jeep. ItÂ’s facing off against vehicles like the GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator. The Grand Wagoneer Series III like I tested starts at $104,000, and mine had plenty of options. At this point, Jeep is also taking aim at Mercedes, BMW and frankly anyone who makes a six-figure SUV. ItÂ’s not a Bentley Bentayga rival, but with huge touchscreens, soft saddle brown leather, rear infotainment, massaging seats, and silky McIntosh speakers, the Grand Wagoneer is one of the most well-appointed vehicles IÂ’ve tested. Will consumers pay six figures for a Jeep? Is it a luxury good? My sense is yes to both. Built just north of Detroit, the Grand Wagoneer offers an authentic Team USA vibe that works for things like Shinola and L.L. Bean. Jeep has been named the “most patriotic” brand in the U.S. for 19 straight years, and the Grand Wagoneer and Grand Cherokee L have small flags on their flanks, so thereÂ’s substance to support the marketing and mythology. The Grand WagoneerÂ’s only obvious downside is its fuel economy, which seems woefully behind the times, even for a hulking SUV. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Interior Review | Autoblog Short Cuts Other News and Views: The Lamborghini Countach LP 500 is back Well, sort of. An ‘important collectorÂ’ commissioned Lamborghini to recreate a one-off replica of the original 1971 prototype that presaged the Countach. While the actual car was destroyed in crash testing in 1974 — things were different back then — Lambo painstakingly recreated the car that debuted at the '71 Geneva Motor Show using archival documents and original spare parts. It created new bodywork with modern tactics to get the details spot-on.

Anything but subtle | 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S First Drive

It's just past dawn and I'm running on a thin supply of caffeine and adrenaline, but the 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S I'm chasing around Circuit Ricardo Tormo just made me crack a grin: faint blue flames are simmering deep within the leader's three exhaust pipes, pulsing almost imperceptibly as it whips around the track. Few things about the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 (including its alphanumeric name) were subtle, but the boys in Sant'Agata Bolognese have gone full-bore at refining the famously unwieldy flagship enough to make it drive as capably as it looks. This updated version has been rechristened with an S at the end of its name, and yes, in the twisted microcosm of earthbound fighter jets, flames coming out of hindquarters qualify as subtle. Of course the Aventador S produces more power – to the tune of 729 horsepower, a 38-hp climb from before, with torque only increasing by one, to 509 pound-feet – and the extra grunt affects neither its 0-to-62-mph time of 2.9 seconds nor its terminal velocity of 217 mph. But version 2.0's most notable improvements apply to the big Lamborghini's chassis, which now uses a four-wheel-steering system to countersteer the rear wheels below around 75 mph, and turn them in phase with the fronts for stability at higher speeds. The system responds in 5 milliseconds, and has the virtual effect of shortening the wheelbase by up to 20 inches or lengthening it by 27 inches. In case you're keeping tabs, the extra 13 pounds of the steering hardware are offset by a new titanium exhaust system, essentially rendering the curb weight unchanged. If you've ever tried to toss a boomerang through a maze, you've got a basic idea of what it took to carry an original Aventador through a high-speed corner. The act required some patience to allow the front wheels to dig in and take hold, and even more resolve to wait for the perfect moment to squeeze the right pedal and power out of the apex. Accelerate too early, and you'd suffer terminal understeer until you allowed the weight to shift, likely triggering traction control as you goosed the throttle on the way out. At the Spanish track, the new Aventador manages something the first one couldn't: though it still retains some understeer, it also dances and turns more willingly, snaking its way through each corner with a gratifying combination of weight transfer and grip. Oh happy, fire-breathing day.

The best cars we drove this year

Six hundred and fifty. That's roughly how many cars pass through the hands of Autoblog editors every year, from the vehicles we test here at home, to the cars we drive on new product launches, testing roundups, long-term cars, and so on. Of course, our individual numbers vary due to several reasons, but at the end of the day, our team's repertoire of automotive experience is indeed vast. But let's be honest, some cars certainly stand out more than others. So as the year's about to turn, and as we're readying brand-new daily cat calendars for our cubicles, our editors are all taking time to reflect on the machinery that made this year so special, with one simple, open-ended question as the guide – a question that we're asked quite frequently, from friends, family, colleagues, and more. "What's the best car you drove this year?" Lamborghini Huracan When I review the list of everything I drove in 2014, picking an absolute favorite becomes almost impossible. I mean, how does one delineate between the joy offered by cars as different as the Alfa Romeo 4C, Volkswagen Golf R, Mercedes-AMG GT S and even the humble-yet-wonderful Chevy Colorado? Okay fine, I'll just pick the Lamborghini. I drove the Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 on a racetrack, in the mountains, and along southern coast of Spain. It felt like the king of the car jungle in all of those places, sucking the eyeballs of observers nearly out of their heads as it drove by, and almost melting my brain with its cocktail of speed and grip and intense communication. It feels a little easy to say that the one new supercar I drove this year was also my favorite, but the fact is that the Huracan is one of the finest cars I've driven during my career, let alone 2014. Judge me if you must. – Seyth Miersma Senior Editor Rolls-Royce Wraith There are a couple of ways to look at the question, "What's the best car you drove this year?" In terms of what was so good I'd go out and buy one tomorrow, that'd be my all-time sweetheart, the Volkswagen GTI. Or if I'm just talking about sheer cool-factor, maybe something like the Galpin GTR1, BMW i8, or Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG. But instead, I'm going to write about the sheer opulence of being the best of the best. The hand-crafted, holier-than-thou, shut-your-mouth-when-I'm-talking-to-you supremacy. I'm picking the Rolls-Royce Wraith. I drove the Wraith for a week in April, and was really, really impressed. This car does everything, perfectly.