Post by Brittany Cermak

Audi Eyeing BMW's Share of the Crossover Segment

Tags: Audi allroad, Audi, Audi Q7, BMW X3, BMW, BMW X5, Lexus RX 300, Lexus, Lexus RX 350, BMW X6, Audi Q5, BMW X1, Breaking News

By Brittany Cermak on February 20, 2013

Currently, Audi only markets three SUVs in the United States—the allroad, the Q5 and the Q7. However, as was announced by Bloomberg yesterday, a Q2, a Q4 and a Q6 are in the works, as are performance “S” versions of their existing SUVs.

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French Driver Flips MINI Cooper

Tags: MINI, Breaking News, Videos

By Brittany Cermak on February 19, 2013

Recently, thirty-four year-old extreme sportsman Guerlain Chicherit became the first person to ever complete an unassisted backflip in a car. At a ski resort in Tignes, France—previously known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics—Chicherit drove a modified MINI Cooper up a 26-foot static ramp. After completing the flip, the Cooper landed on all fours in the snow and secured MINI’s and Chicherit’s place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Though drivers have undoubtedly completed backflips in cars before, Chicherit’s was the first to do so without the use of a propelling ramp. Watch it happen in the above video.

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Love to Drive? You’re Probably Not Driving a Ferrari

Tags: Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Lexus, Breaking News

By Brittany Cermak on February 15, 2013

Are you green with envy over your neighbor’s new supercar? According to a study conducted by AXA—an insurance company headquartered in New York—you shouldn’t be. The company’s Annual Motoring Survey found that while luxury car owners enjoy driving more than non-luxury car owners, the same can't be said about exotic car owners. Apparently, only 57% of Ferrari owners told AXA that they enjoyed driving compared to 68% of Ford owners and 64% of Toyota owners. Makes sense, right?

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Bad Brakes: BMW Recalling X5

Tags: BMW X5, BMW, Breaking News, Recalls

By Brittany Cermak on February 15, 2013

A number of automotive publications are reporting this morning that BMW is recalling approximately 30,000 X5 SUVs. The SUVs, which are from the 2007-2010 model years, were supposedly affixed with faulty brake vacuum pumps. BMW says the pumps may malfunction and leak fluid onto the SUV’s brake hose. If this occurs, the SUV’s power-assisted braking could fail and therefore the distance required for the vehicle to stop will increase. The German automaker fears this may amplify the risk of a crash, and as a result—passenger injury.

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Win a Fisker Karma

Tags: Fisker Karma, Fisker, Breaking News

By Brittany Cermak on February 14, 2013

The Captain Planet Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering the environmental knowledge of the next generation, is giving away a 2-year Fisker Karma lease. While the car itself retails around $120,000, according to the foundation’s website, the lease is valued at $50,000. In order to keep the raffle competitive, the Atlanta-based organization is limiting the number of entries to 200.

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McLaren to Debut P1 in Geneva

Tags: McLaren, Ferrari Enzo, Ferrari, Auto Shows, Breaking News, Geneva Motor Show, Hybrid

By Brittany Cermak on February 14, 2013

This year’s Geneva Motor Show will take place between March 7th and 17th in Geneva, Switzerland. Like always, there will be a number of vehicles making their debuts at the show. One of the debuts we are particularly excited about is the McLaren P1’s. Successor to the British automaker’s F1 supercar, the long-awaited P1 is rumored to have a starting price around $1.2 million. McLaren will likely only make about 500 copies of the car, which they hope will be a direct competitor to Ferrari’s upcoming Enzo replacement. Coincidentally, the F150—as Ferrari’s been calling it—is also scheduled to debut in Geneva.

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Musk’s Comments Add Fuel to Model S Criticism

Tags: Tesla, Breaking News, Electric Cars

By Brittany Cermak on February 13, 2013

As you very well may know, Elon Musk founded Tesla Motors in Silicon Valley about ten years ago. Shortly afterwards, he took on the role of CEO. In addition to that position, Musk currently serves as the electric car company’s head of product design. With that in mind, plus the fact that Musk has been known to be somewhat more vocal and opinionated than the traditional CEO, it’s no surprise that he had something to say when his latest product—the Model S—was criticized in a recent NY Times article.

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Porsche & Lexus Impress in Annual Reliability Survey

Tags: Lexus, Porsche, Breaking News

By Brittany Cermak on February 13, 2013

It’s that time of year again—time for J.D. Power and Associates to announce the results of their annual new vehicle reliability survey. As usual, the market research firm polled car owners across the country and tallied the number of problems they had with their vehicles in the past year. This year’s survey focused on vehicles purchased during the 2010 model year. As The L.A. Times reports, topping the list of most reliable vehicle brands three years after purchase are Porsche, Lexus, Lincoln and Toyota. Not a fan of these marques? You’ll be glad to know that J.D. Power and Associates also found that cars on average are becoming more reliable.

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