New 2008 Chrysler Sebring Car

The Chrysler 300 was the first Detroit sedan in a long while to really set the country on fire. At the same time, it also introduced a new concept: Chryslers, apparently, don't have to be mediocre. Predictably, when they're not mediocre, they sell. The 300 looks cool, is fun to drive, and in 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 form, is seriously fast. As a result, more than 300,000 have left dealer lots since 2004. And as for the new Sebring sedan? Its styling is divisive at best, it lacks the driver involvement of even a Honda Accord, and its most notable element is its radio (see sidebar). Not exactly a recipe for success. As a package, the Sebring doesn't have anything inherently wrong with it. Performance and quality levels are finally in line with those of the average Japanese mid-size four-door--albeit one from seven or eight years ago. Value is arguably excellent; the base Sebring offers front, side, and side curtain air bags as standard, for example, but costs $1735 less than last year's car. Cornering stability, maneuverability, and ride comfort are all improved. And while the steering still lacks feedback, it's at least linear in feel and nicely weighted--something the 2001-05 Sebring sedan never could lay claim to. The key ingredient of the 300's goodness is that Hemi. Unfortunately, the Sebring's top-spec engine, a relatively torquey 235-hp, 3.5-liter V-6, is no Hemi. It has neither the refinement of a Toyota V-6 nor the character of Honda's six. And while the 3.5-liter's standard six-speed manu-matic shifts smoothly and intuitively, the four-speed automatics mated to the 2.4-liter four and the 2.7-liter V-6 are somewhat clunky and rough. Unfortunately, "better than last year" isn't the kind of ammunition that makes for great cars (let alone good ones). And ultimately, it makes us wonder: Why shouldn't the Sebring be something more? Why can't it blow the Accord and the Camry out of the water? If the 300 has taught us anything, it's that Chrysler can rally the troops and build something truly special. This isn't.

New 2008 Chrysler 300C CRD Car

Saint-Genis, France - It's always nice to get a gift from your rich German uncle.

Mercedes-Benz has handed off a 215-hp, turbocharged and intercooled, 3.0-liter diesel V-6 to the Chrysler Group, which has stuffed it under the hood of the 300 sedan. With 376 lb-ft of torque, just 11 lb-ft less than the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, this engine propels the 300 to62 mph in 7.6 seconds, only 1.2 seconds slower than the Hemi. And it returns an average of 29 mpg when cruising at 80 mph. Unfortunately, the 300C CRD (common-rail diesel) isn't offered in America.Since few drivers employ maximum-acceleration takeoffs in daily driving, you really don't notice the difference between the 3.0-liter turbo-diesel and the 5.7-liter Hemi most of the time. The diesel's abundant torque, available from idle, means that the car always feels lively. The 300C CRD's top speed is 141 mph, but we stayed at legal speeds except for a few uphill autoroute stretches, where the big sedan easily rocketed to 120 mph before we backed off. Fuel consumption was 27 mpg--city, highway, and uphill sprints combined--whereas we averaged only 19 mpg during our year with a Four Seasons Hemi-powered 300C. Not surprisingly, European-market sales of the 300 have risen sharply since the diesel became available. The CRD is markedly faster and more agreeable to drive than 300s with the anemic, unrefined 2.7- and 3.5-liter gasoline V-6s (the thirsty Hemi simply is not a reasonable choice for Europeans), and it is by far the cheapest to run in the range. It is also truly satisfying to drive. Chrysler now offers the Mercedes diesel in the U.S.-market Jeep Grand Cherokee, but Americans should also be offered the 300C CRD. When low-sulphur diesel fuel and the latest wave of emissions controls arrive in the States, people will be seriously surprised by just how good diesels have become while they weren't looking.

Renault Megane II Car 2008

To Americans, Renault is synonymous with bad quality and lousy reliability. These days, however, la Regie is responsible for some stylish and thoroughly well engineered cars, which are as reliable as anything on the European market and nicely screwed together, too.Whatever one thinks of the exterior of the Megane II hatchback—and we rather like the formal proportions to the hindquarters that remind us of a 1920s limousine—the interior is superbly wrought. Indeed, the soft-touch plastics that swathe the dashboard and center console and even surround the window lifts and door pulls are up to Volkswagen standards and make most of the small cars on sale here, whether from Japanese or domestic manufacturers, look decidedly cheesy. Sure, we were driving the upscale Privilege trim level, which costs the equivalent of $20,000 without the British sales tax of 17.5 percent, but all Meganes have the same elegant interior architecture and high grade materials. There's some suitably quirky Frenchness, too, with a flat card taking the place of a key: slot it into a hole in the center console and then hit the Start/Stop button to get going.

The Megane is sold with 1.4-, 1.6- and 2.0-liter gasoline engines as well as 1.5- and 1.9-liter common-rail diesels. The diesels are the nicest to drive, with the 1.9-liter four making 118 horsepower and an amazing 221 pound-feet of torque at an equally astonishing 2000 rpm. All that low-down lugging power ensures the Megane 1.9dCi covers ground remarkably swiftly, aided by a very sweet six-speed manual. Top speed is 122 mph, 0-62 mph is claimed to take 10.5 seconds, and real-world overtaking is remarkably easy. The engine is super smooth and quiet, too: We'd reckon that nine out of ten Americans wouldn't be able to tell what type of engine this is. Better still, in a place where fuel costs $5 a gallon, real world fuel economy of around 40 miles per (U.S.) gallon makes a huge amount of sense.

It's not all good. The Megane is a great highway cruiser, but once the road starts twisting and the surface starts breaking up, the car's MacPherson strut front and rear torsion beam suspension can't quite cope. The car tends to float too much over crests and suffers from lateral motions on bumpy back roads, while the steering is a touch inert. The chassis is competent and the car can be hustled rapidly and safely, but it's hardly inspirational.

Would the Megane catch on in the States? In Privilege form—with power locks and windows, steering column radio controls, automatic air, et cetera—it costs about the same as a well equipped VW Jetta or Golf. It isn't any more entertaining to drive, but is more stylish inside and out and would be a great freeway ride or city commuter. Whether anyone at Renault really wants to try out the American market again is a moot point-and with Nissan doing so well, why bother? What we really like about the Megane, though, is that its design team, led by the underrated Patrick Le Quement, has really managed to come up with a distinctly national style in a way that the multicultural design teams at other major makers-GM and Ford in the U.S. among them-have failed to do.

New 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 Track Experience Car

As journalists, we're accustomed to hearing well thought out, carefully planned marketing spin from expertly trained PR professionals. And we're usually very good at ignoring it. We smile at the nice PR rep, grab the keys, and formulate our own opinion.

Porsche reps don't give us lines of BS, though - their company is one of precious few that sell their cars based on engineering merit, not marketing slogans. So when Porsche product reps speak, we listen. And when they say that the GT3 is the closest thing to a race car you can get for the street, they ain't kidding.

We all know that the 911 is the quintessential sports car. You've heard us say it over and over again. It's an everyday supercar. It's rewarding, capable, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Well, I've just driven the 911 GT3 on the track, and to hell with everyday cars. To hell with supercars. In fact, to hell with my own personal 911. By comparison, the GT3 makes it (and just about every other car on the planet) feel like a softly sprung Buick Roadmaster.

I've driven open-wheel cars with less communicative steering. I've driven race cars whose engine sounded only a fraction as testosterone-laden as a GT3's. But I have never, ever driven a car that likes to dance like the GT3.

The GT3's handling is so fluid it could win Dancing With the Stars. Its engine sings so powerfully that it could win American Idol. And it's so down-to-business that it would win The Apprentice in one episode.

Luckily, my drive didn't end disastrously. But unlucky for me, I got to drive the GT3 in the first session in the morning at Barber Motorsports Park, a track I had never before driven. As I became more familiar with the track in successive sessions - in a Cayman, a Boxster S, a 911 Targa 4S, and finally a 911 Turbo - my lap times got faster and faster.

On the track, its 415-hp, 3.6-liter flat-six pulls to its 8400-rpm redline, gear after gear, with such smoothness you can't believe it's not butter. And with such immediacy that you can't believe it's not turbocharged. Cornering grip is blackout-inducing, thanks in part to the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires, but even still, there is no body roll. None - not even during tank-slapper slides that would send ordinary 911s into orbit. A little opposite lock and some carefully applied throttle will pull you through, as if the GT3 were a go-kart.

With that said, the GT3 is a neutrally balanced race car, which means that oversteer is always one little mistake away. For an experienced racecar driver, it's a tool to help turn the car. For an inexperienced driver, it could be disastrous, especially because Porsche Stability Control isn't an option on the GT3.

But not once - not for a second - did I smile the way I did while driving the GT3. Not even when the Turbo's monstrous boost slingshot me out of second-gear corners. The Marketing Guys might tell me that the Turbo is the flagship of the 911 lineup, that it's almost as fast as the GT3 around a track, and that it makes a better daily driver. But on the track, there is simply no contest.

I'm ruined for life; I might never enjoy driving another car on the track again. The GT3 is that good. And that's definitely no line of marketing BS.

New 2008 Mini Cooper Clubman

Tiny machinery is almost universally satisfying. A friend of mine once dismantled a perfectly healthy 350-cc four-cylinder engine from an early-1970s Honda motorcycle just because he wanted to see what its pint-size pistons looked like. Once it was apart, he stared endlessly at the tiny wrist pins and nickel-sized valves. At the bar that evening, people gathered and gawped at a Lilliputian piston-slash-shot-glass, unable to stop turning it over in their hands. For whatever reason, miniaturized machines fascinate.

And so I found myself in a dingy parking garage in central Spain, taking delivery of a Mini Cooper S Clubman and unable to stop staring at the car's back end. I found myself ogling the tiny twin rear doors--the Clubman has twin clamshell rear doors where the ordinary Cooper has a traditional hatch--clicking their latches and opening them over and over. Two tiny doors, two tiny rear windows, two happily symmetrical tiny wipers. Same deal as with the Honda tiny moving parts, huge satisfaction.

At first glance, you'd think that those doors were about all the Clubman had going for it. Its looks -- an odd mix of taffy-stretched Mini Cooper and retro-pretentious bread van -- are an acquired taste. And its 100-inch wheelbase and 155-inch length (3.2 and 9.4 inches longer, respectively, than those of the ordinary Mini) don't bode well for preserving the nimble reactions and feisty likability of Minis past.

That's ironic, because the charm of Minis past is exactly what the Clubman aims to mine. The car takes its name from the shooting-brake-style Mini Clubman Estate wagon from the 1970s and early '80s. That vehicle -- a mildly updated version of the similarly styled Morris Mini Traveller and Austin Mini Countryman -- wasn't imported to the United States, but it was relatively successful in Europe and the rest of the world. Like its predecessors, the modern Clubman is little different mechanically from its smaller siblings; the dampers, stability control, and ABS have all been recalibrated for the Clubman's larger dimensions and greater weight, but drivetrain options are identical to those in the rest of the Mini lineup.

Once you finish playing with the rear doors -- and, believe me, this can take a while, especially for mild obsessive-compulsives like yours truly -- and climb behind the wheel, you're met with immediately familiar surroundings. The Clubman sports the same dash and basic interior layout as the ordinary Mini, albeit with three more inches of rear legroom and another eight cubic feet of cargo space when the seats are folded. A third side door sits behind the passenger door (think Mazda RX-8) and aids access to the rear seat. There's even a nifty little "Clubman" sill plate.

Overall, the Clubman doesn't feel that different from a normal Mini. The extra length and wheelbase manifest themselves in slightly better high-speed stability, and ride comfort has been improved a bit over the standard car, but little else stands out. The rear seat is roomier but still slightly claustrophobic, the chassis is ever-so-slightly less willing to rotate in tight switchbacks, and rear visibility -- owing to the thick C-pillars and the central post created by the twin rear doors -- stinks.

That's about it.

Still, there's a lot to be said for charm, and surprisingly, the Clubman produces a fair bit of it. It'squirkier and more esoteric than the ordinary Mini, and the neat little unique-to-the-Clubman styling touches -- twin rain-gutter ridges in the roof panel, rear doors with cutouts for the taillights -- are strangely satisfying. The added practicality goes a long way, too. If you're not the autocross or track-day type, the Clubman (and its extra cargo space compared with the standard Mini) makes a great deal of sense.

People don't buy Minis because they make sense, though; they buy them because the cars are a happy mix of functionality, look-at-me quirkiness, and fun. And the best Clubman endorsement was probably given by a kid I saw at the Detroit auto show in 2006. Walking up to Mini's Clubman concept car with a couple of his friends, he pointed and said, "Dude! Check out the rad tiny doors!"

2008 Suzuki Forenza Wagon

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New 2008 Saleen S302E Sterling Edition

Saleen Automotive is celebrating its twenty-fifth year in business by offering the first $100,000 new, nonracing Ford Mustang - the Sterling Edition S302E. The "302" refers to the 5.0-liter V-8's cubic-inch displacement, which was achieved by stroking the Mustang's stock twenty-four valve, 4.6-liter mill. An intercooled, twin-screw supercharger and reinforced internal components help the revised engine produce a mind-blowing 620 hp at an enhanced 6400 rpm and 600 lb-ft of torque at 4400 rpm. Saleen reports a 0-to-60-mph time of less than four seconds - about a second quicker than the 500-hp Ford Shelby GT500. All S302Es will feature a six-speed manual transmission, twenty-inch wheels, and we-mean-business brakes.

All those Benjamins also get you a custom-trimmed interior with nicely done leather and Alcantara seats, a sterling silver (yet tacky) serial-number badge, and a push-button starter. Unique touches on the exterior include beautiful silver paint, carbon-fiber front and rear diffusers, a Gone in 60 Seconds Eleanor-like face, and an aluminum hood.

Still, this Saleen doesn't feel or look like a $100,000 car. Exclusivity is a big part of the equation, though, since only twenty-five S302Es will be built. Buyers also receive a custom leather jacket (probably not Members Only, but it'll do) and a first-class plane ticket to Detroit, where they'll tour the factory (where the car was unveiled in January 2008) and dine with a Saleen executive.

For the man or woman who has everything, perhaps a six-figure Mustang makes sense. But we can think of a lot of other cars on which we'd rather blow $100 grand.

Click the link below for high-resolution Saleen S302E images.

2008 Saleen S302E Wallpaper Gallery

You may never see one on the street, so now's your chance to take in this limited-edition Saleen Mustang. The S302E looks pretty mean in silver.

New 2008 BMW M3 Convertible

Just when we thought we'd heard all that BMW had to say during the 2008 Detroit auto show, the company confirmed that a convertible will be joining the M3 lineup. The car's official unveiling will take place at the Geneva show in early March.

A convertible M3 is nothing new, nor are we surprised that one will be arriving on the E93 platform. All three previous M3 generations have been available topless, two of which were brought to the U.S. market. This is, however, the first M3 to get a retractable hardtop in its convertible form.

Based on the 3-series hardtop convertible, the droptop M3 features the same 414-hp V-8 engine as the coupe and sedan. The M team has made improvements to the convertible to improve torsional stiffness, and they've fitted the car with unique suspension tuning.

Convertible-specific features include the same special leather that debuted on the 3-series hardtop convertible. The seats resist heating from the sun's rays when the car is in direct sunlight with the top down. An automatic climate control system that monitors outdoor temperature and sunlight is also standard.

But wait, that's not all. BMW also took the opportunity to tell us about the long-rumored dual-clutch automated manual transmission that will be an option on all three M3 variants. It's called M DCT (for dual-clutch transmission) and has seven speeds like BMW's single-clutch SMG that's an option on the M5 and M6. The M DCT should fix the jerkiness problems seen with the SMG and not only improve everyday comfort but performance as well.

The new gearbox has a system called Drivelogic that allows drivers to select from eleven different shift programs. There are five automatic and six manual programs, including one with launch control that takes advantage of all of the onboard electronics to make you look good in front of your friends.

To keep things smooth - and to hear the roar of the 8400-rpm engine - the transmission will blip the throttle between downshifts if necessary. When a manual program is selected, race-style shift lights illuminate above the tachometer to inform the driver of the optimum shift point. Gears can be selected either by the console-mounted shift lever or paddles behind the steering wheel.

So how quickly does this thing shift? There is a consistent two tenths of a second improvement on 0-to-62 mph times over the standard six-speed manual on all three M3 body styles. The convertible makes the dash in 5.1 seconds (versus 5.3 for the manual) and the coupe - the quickest of the M3 range - gets to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds when equipped with the M DCT.

If you must have all-out speed and wind in your hair, this may be the car for you. Since the convertible adds weight and becomes more flexy, we'll stick with the fixed-roof coupe or sedan M3s. Just make sure it has the slick new transmission.