Kurt Ernst, Contributor
Articles
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In many ways, Infiniti is a luxury automaker in search of an identity. Its claim to fame has always been building luxury cars with a performance edge, yet the automaker has no flagship sports car to... -
2014 Acura RLX May Be Built In The United StatesA “perfect storm” of market conditions may prompt Honda to move assembly of its upcoming flagship, the 2014 Acura RLX, from Japan to the United States. First, the stigma that U.S.-built luxury cars can’t rival the build quality of Japanese or German models is no longer valid. BMW...
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Mark Pombo's Horrifying Road America Crash: VideoRacing has gotten much, much safer through the years, and we say that’s a good thing. While speeds have crept ever higher, cars have gotten stronger, tires have become more durable and in the event of a worst-case scenario, safety equipment such as seats, helmets, roll cages and fire suits...
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Power Boost For 2013 BMW 5-Series And 6-Series V-8 ModelsIf you’re in the market for a 2013 BMW 5 Series or 6 Series with a V-8 under the hood, we’ve got some good news for you: the more powerful twin-turbo V-8 used in the latest 7-Series and the 6-Series Grand Coupe will soon find its way into 5 and 6-Series models. Word from Car and Driver...
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FIA Championship-Winning Ferrari F40 GTE Up For SaleIf you have a thing for rare Ferraris with a racing history, this one-of-seven-built 1992 Ferrari F40 GTE may be just what you need to complete your collection. It’s got a well documented racing history, and is one of just two Ferrari F40s to win an FIA Championship, specifically the 1994...
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BMW And Toyota Cooperative Hybrid Deal Imminent: ReportThough most BMW and Toyota owners probably don’t realize it, the two automakers are already partners in developing next-generation lithium-ion battery technology. In exchange for access to Toyota's battery technology, BMW has agreed to supply Toyota with its advanced-technology, low-emission...
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Track days are growing in popularity all over the world, and so are track-day-only cars. While hustling a Corvette around your local road course is undeniably fun, it’s not as much fun as... -
Lazzarini Design Wants To Build A Ferrari-Powered Fiat 500The idea of shoehorning a big engine into a small car is nothing new, and off the top of our collective heads we can name examples like the SHOgun, a Ford Fiesta infused with Taurus SHO power; the Mallett Pitbull Solstice, stuffed full of Corvette LS2 V-8 and Volkswagen’s own Frankenstein...
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Chevy Wants To Teach You The Joy Of Rowing Your Own GearsAfter years of declining market share, sales of manual transmission cars are oddly on the rise. Take Chevy’s compact Sonic, for example: something like one-in-five leave the dealer’s showroom with a manual transmission. Just a few decades back, learning to drive a manual transmission...
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2013 Audi Allroad Configurator Now OnlineAudi of America has launched a configurator microsite for the all-new 2013 Audi allroad.
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Simraceway Teams With Dario Franchitti On IndyCar SimIf you’re a fan of IndyCar racing, there will soon be one more reason to download Simraceway: Dario Franchitti has been consulting on an IndyCar version of the PC-based racing simulator. When the sim is released, it will feature all current IZOD IndyCar and Firestone Indy Lights teams...
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Is This The Rumored Pagani Zonda R Evo? VideoOfficially, the Pagani Zonda’s production run lasted from 1999 through 2011, with just 206 examples ever built. Toward the end of the car’s production run, beginning in 2009, Pagani produced a track-only version of its supercar called the Zonda R. Only 15 Zonda R models were built over...
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If you thought you’d missed your chance to pick up a new Saab before the now-semi-defunct brand was gone for good, despair not: additional units, leftover from port inventory will be heading to... -
2012 BMW M6 Coupe And Convertible Mega-GalleryWe’ve already given you all the news that’s fit to print about BMW’s 2012 M6 Coupe and Convertible models, including our first drive report on the open air version, published earlier this month. We’ve praised the M6’s TwinPower Turbo 4.4-liter V-8, which makes 560...
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Don't Fine Drivers For Speeding - Pay Them To Obey LimitsBehavioral psychology tells us that there are two ways to modify human or animal behavior. Negative reinforcement, as the name implies, generally involves something unpleasant in reaction to an undesired behavior. Positive reinforcement involves some sort of reward for acting as desired. Generally...
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MINI Countryman Coupe (Paceman) To Debut As 2013 ModelJust a few days back we brought you the latest spy shots of MINI’s Paceman concept, and now we have a few more details about MINI's upcoming model to share with you. First and foremost is an official name change - when the car hits dealer showrooms, it will be called the MINI Countryman...
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Ford May Have Built The Perfect... Password Manager?Near Field Communication (NFC) keys are nothing new to the auto industry, which has embraced the concepts of keyless entry and push-button start on a near-universal basis. Getting into your car and starting it without having to dig for keys adds convenience, but will likely pay big dividends when...
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Maserati Shows Off The 2013 GranTurismo Sport: VideoMaserati's 2013 GranTurismo Sport, seen in the accompanying video, replaces the outgoing Maserati GranTurismo S.
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We’ve all been there before: one minute, you’re driving down the highway wondering why the band Boston still gets so much airplay, and the next you’re swerving to avoid some bit of... -
McLaren Automotive Reflects Back On Its First YearIt’s hard to think of McLaren as a new company; after all, the company founded by racer Bruce McLaren has been building race cars since the 1960s. McLaren was also the company behind one of the most lust-worthy supercars of all time, the McLaren F1. Despite this history, McLaren Automotive...
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Jaguar To Show 2014 F-Type Prototype At GoodwoodJaguar’s upcoming 2014 F-Type roadster won’t hit dealers until the middle of next year (assuming no significant project delays), but Jaguar is already hard at work drumming up attention for its upcoming sports car. The luxury automaker has already released camouflaged teaser images of...
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Scion Explains The Limited Slip Differential In The 2013 Scion FR-S: VideoTraction isn’t something that most drivers think about, since under normal weather conditions, at or near posted speed limits, there’s plenty to go around. On the race track, however, the ability to get power to the ground becomes critical. Enter the limited-slip differential, like the...
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Things Go Wrong Quickly In Amateur Open Wheel Racing: VideoLet us preface this by saying we’re not here to assign blame or point fingers. Instead, we offer up this video as evidence that things go from good to bad very quickly in amateur open wheel racing. As Autoweek relates, Doug Peterson, the driver of the Formula Mazda in the video, brought an...
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Lexus Leads All Automakers In Latest J.D. Power SurveyThe latest round of the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study has been released, and Japanese luxury automaker Lexus repeats as the highest ranking brand for the 14th time in the past 23 years. Lexus buyers reported just 73 problems per 100 (PP100) vehicles, far lower than the industry...
Kurt Ernst