Kurt Ernst, Contributor
Articles
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By now, nearly everyone in the United States, racing fan or not, has seen Jeremy Foley and Yuri Kouznetsov’s horrific crash during Sunday’s Pike’s Peak Hill Climb. The driver and...
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2013 Jaguar XJ Preview: Jaguar's Flagship Gets New Engine, AWD, New Model
There’s plenty to like about Jaguar’s range-topping XJ sedan, available in both standard and long wheelbase variants, and the changes to the model lineup for 2013 are aimed at improving sales without compromising the XJ ownership experience. The biggest change for 2013 is the addition...
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2013 Jaguar XF Preview: New Engines And All-Wheel-Drive Enhance Product Line
Jaguar may have redesigned its XF luxury sport sedan for the 2012 model year, but that doesn’t mean there are no changes for 2013. In fact, the just-announced powertrain changes for the 2013 Jaguar XF lineup may be more significant for the car’s future than last year's changes. To...
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Chris Harris Compares The Scion FR-S... To The Nissan 370Z? Video
When it comes to lightweight and affordable rear-drive sports cars that you can buy new in the United States, the list is indeed a short one. In fact the only cars that come to mind for us are the new Scion FR-S (and its fraternal twin, the Subaru BRZ) and the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Yes, we know...
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Can A New Process Make Flat Tires A Thing Of The Past?
Over the years, experience has taught us one thing time and time again: when something sounds too good to be true, chances are good that it won’t deliver as promised. That’s why we’re somewhat skeptical about a new tire-coating process, described in The Detroit News, that promises...
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Bentley's Continental GT Speed Climbs The Hill At Goodwood
Bentley chose to use this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed to unveil its fastest-ever production model, the new Continental GT Speed. Powered by a twin-turbo W-12 engine rated at 616 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, the all-wheel-drive coupe can sprint to a top speed of 205 mph...
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To promote the 2013 Grand Prix of America at the Port Imperial Street Circuit in Weehawken, New Jersey (which F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone remains less than optimistic about), Red Bull Racing recently...
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2013 Hyundai Genesis Sedan Gets Changes To Engine Lineup
In 2012, Hyundai upgraded the Genesis sedan lineup with the 5.0-liter V-8-powered Genesis R-Spec. All models, including the 4.6-liter V-8 and the 3.8-liter V-6, received Hyundai’s new eight-speed automatic transmission. Finally, the 3.8-liter Genesis sedans got a boost in output to 333...
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Mercedes-Benz Marks 105 Years of Four-Wheel-Drive
In 1907, Damiler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), the predecessor of today’s Mercedes-Benz, launched a revolutionary commercial vehicle it called the “Dernburg-Wagen.” Billed as the first commercially available four-wheel-drive vehicle, the Dernburg-Wagen also featured four-wheel...
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Italians Shed Supercars As Tax Raids, Austerity Measures Continue
For wealthy Italians with a passion for supercars, life continues to get harder and more expensive. Once a symbol of Italy’s passion for automotive design, cars from automakers like Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini are now triggers for ongoing stings from Italy’s Guardia di Finanza...
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Steven Tyler showing off his Hennessey Venom GT Spyder at Pebble Beach
Aerosmith front man and now-former American Idol judge Steven Tyler is also a car guy and a motorcycle guy. Like the rest of us, he enjoys hitting up car and motorcycle shows as his schedule permits; the difference is, we don’t get to show off our $1.1 million Hennessey Venom GT Spyder at the...
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Ford Marks 20 Years Of SVT Performance With Past And Present Mustangs
Ford’s Special Vehicle Team, or SVT, has been making Mustangs (and other Ford products) faster since the debut of the SVT Mustang Cobra in early 1993. To honor the 20th anniversary of SVT, Ford will roll out a special display in Mustang Alley at this year’s Woodward Dream Cruise. Over...
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As automakers look to meet ever more-restrictive emission standards and ever-increasing fuel economy goals, automatic start stop systems, which shut down an engine after a few seconds of idle and...
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Rallying Is Harder With Only Three Gears: Video
Under the best of circumstances, rallying is among the most extreme forms of motorsport on the planet. Drivers spend an entire stage running on the very edge of control, piloting cars on surfaces ranging from gravel to snow to sand to mud to pavement (or any combination of these). Mistakes can be...
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Rare, Depression-Era Cadillacs On Display At Pebble Beach
In the 1930s, customers could walk into a Cadillac dealership and configure a car with various body styles, including a convertible top. If luxury car sales were hampered by the Great Depression, sales of luxury convertibles (especially those in the Cadillac’s price range) were even bleaker...
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Is Mercedes Planning To Pull Back From F1 In 2014?
Since its return to Formula One on a full-time basis in 2010, Mercedes-Benz has sunk a considerable amount of money into the Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team (now the AMG Mercedes Petronas F1 Team) with very little to show for it. Despite the success of the Mercedes-engined Vodafone McLaren Mercedes...
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Vintech To Debut Porsche 550 Tribute At Pebble Beach
While most car enthusiasts know the Porsche 550 in its Spyder, or open-top, form, Porsche also produced a limited number of 550 Coupes, primarily for competition in endurance racing events. As stunning as the Porsche 550 Spyders are, we actually prefer the lines of the 550 Coupes. Apparently...
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2013 Mercedes-Benz E400 Hybrid Priced
If you’re looking for a fuel-efficient Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan, your choices in the U.S. market really come down to two models: the diesel-powered E350 BlueTec or the E400 hybrid, which relies on both a V-6 gasoline engine and an electric motor to return up to 24 mpg in the city and 31...
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Jay Leno is not a Ferrari guy, or more specifically, he’s not a modern Ferrari guy. His issue with cars like the Ferrari 458 Italia is simple: there’s nothing under the hood that an owner...
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1956 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta, 1 Of 9 Built, For Sale In Monterey: Video
Ferrari’s 250 GT series debuted at the 1956 Geneva Motor Show, bodied by Boano and for sale to the public for homologation purposes. Racing versions of the car, known as ‘berlinettas,’ were bodied by Scaglietti using thin-walled aluminum, minimal interior appointments and plastic...
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2012-13 Mercedes M-Class Floor Mats Recalled For Pedal Entrapment Risk
Mercedes-Benz has announced the recall of 8,675 pairs of floor mats for M-Class vehicles from model years 2012 and 2013. While there is no defect with the vehicle itself, customers who have purchased Mercedes-Benz all-season rubber floor mats may experience pedal entrapment of the accelerator...
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Could Lotus End Up Building The Infiniti Emerg-E And Renault Alpine?
It’s no secret that the Infiniti Emerg-E range-extended electric car concept, one of the crowd-pleasers at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, was built on a Lotus Evora platform. Though rivals on paper, Lotus and Infiniti are both working with the UK’s Technology Strategy Board to...
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Will The DeltaWing Racer Live On In Indy Lights?
The futuristic DeltaWing racer, originally proposed as a new chassis for Indy Car, last saw action at this year’s running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A fan favorite (because everyone loves an underdog), the Nissan-powered DeltaWing was retired by a crash early in the event. Despite an epic...
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Lincoln To Focus On Targeting Highest-Volume Luxury Segments
Lincoln may be Ford’s in-house luxury brand, but don’t expect to see a flagship concept like Cadillac’s stunning Ciel from it in the near future. Instead, Lincoln’s product plan calls for a focus on building competitive products for the highest volume luxury segments. While...
Kurt Ernst