2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RS - Car News

Porsche is setting up a killer one-two punch for this year’s Frankfurt auto show. Alongside its range-topping 911 Turbo, the company will debut its most visceral offering, the snarling 2010 911 GT3 RS. Based on the already primal GT3, the RS gets another 15 hp from the 3.8-liter flat-six for a total of 450, or more than 118 hp per liter. A racing machine tamed for street use, the GT3 RS is hardly just about horsepower. It gets a wider track, it weighs less, and it produces more downforce than the GT3.

2010 Toyota Prius: First Drive

Unfortunately the design of the 2010 Prius is mostly indistinguishable from the ’09 model, which is a shame because Toyota has done a lot to improve the car. In fact, Toyota is taking a big step with this third-gen platform, in an attempt at moving it from a niche market science project to a mainstream auto.
To do this, the 2010 Prius has two very different sides to it. In order to appeal to a larger audience Toyota is making it easier to use while offering plenty of high-tech gadgets that will draw in up-market customers.

lotus car

Lotus Cars is inviting Lotus owners to an Ultimate Track Day to be held at Silverstone on Monday 17 October 2005.The aim is to give all Lotus owners the opportunity to drive their own car on the 1.639 mile National Circuit. Lotus Cars also said it was keen to make the day stand out from any most such days so the plan is to include the following additional attractions on the day:* Lotus Service Clinic – Lotus technical representatives on hand to chat to customers about their cars

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And so the Multipla went on, happy about being aesthetically challenged against a tide of blandly inoffensive family boxes. But then came facelift time in 2004 and Fiat, out of the blue, made it all normal, like any other people carrier. Gone were the torches and the mismatching upper section, replaced by regular headlamps and a windscreen that actually looks like it fits the car properly, for shame. Still, Fiat must be doing something right because it's still on sale today, 11 years later.

Fiat Multipla

Fiat's unique take on the people carrier is the second product of Chris Bangle's off-piste pencil on this list. The 'three-plus-three' MPV was almost terrifying in its ugliness, yet, somehow, that imbued it with an appeal unmatched by anything else - a quirk that ensured the 1998 Multipla became the choice for the thinking family. That's despite a front-end that eschewed headlights in favour of six pocket-sized torches.

BMW

Few cars are as Marmite as the 2001 BMW 7 Series, the Bavarian flagship that unleashed the full fury of chief designer Chris Bangle's 'flame surfacing'. A true adjective generator, most of them negative, the car was nothing if not opinion dividing. Well, that's not quite true: it was unanimously regarded an ugly beast. Some, however, found beauty in its incoherence; others thought it a crime that BMW would create such a controversial look for a segment so conservative. Still, it was arguably better to gamble on a relatively low seller than, say, Bavarian bread and butter like the 3 Series.

2006 Acura TSX

Acura TSX - 2006 Review: When choosing an entry-level luxury car, some people want a car that exudes status like a Mercedes-Benz C230, others want the handling and performance a BMW 325i delivers, and then there are those who follow their heart and go for the looks of say, an Audi 2.0T or Lexus IS 250. But the secret is that Acura builds a car that meets all three criteria, while providing great value. It's the Acura TSX.

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50p worth of chrome 'accenting' around the headlamps was about it, and that was back in 2006; the 9-5 is still on sale today, nearly 12 years since it first replaced the old 9000. Plus, inexplicably, in 2007 Saab decided to give the much newer 9-3 junior executive a facelift too. The result? A very near copy of the 'new' 9-5, which, to continue our earlier analogy, is like waking up to find the surgeon has made you look like your granddad.

Saab 9-5, A chrome spectacle

The Saab 9-5 was already way over the hill by the time the Swedish maker got around to facelifting it, so you'd think it would give its flagship saloon a pretty comprehensive refresh to keep the executive buyers happy. Sadly, the cosmetic surgery Saab bestowed upon its big Swede were, frankly, bizarre. Imagine, if you will, going to a plastic surgeon for a chin tuck and a bit of forehead smoothing, then waking up to find your doctor has simply replaced your contact lenses with a set of sunglasses acquired from a McDonald's Happy Meal.

Subaru Impreza, Addicted to surgery

Legend has it that even as the first iteration of the second generation Impreza was being unveiled to the eager public, the facelifted version had already been signed off. That's confidence for you. Again, that's just a rumour, but we wouldn't be at all surprised if it were true; the bug-eyed 2001 Impreza looked dopier than Stan Laurel.
By 2004 the facelift was unveiled, which dramatically changed the look of the front end, mostly because it fulfilled that basic tenet of car design that the front and back should at least look remotely connected. But it still wasn't enough - a second facelift in 2006 sharpened the whole thing up once again and made the Scooby, to coin a phrase, the car it always should have been.