Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera is no more
March 31, 2008
The last examples of this lightweight model have been built and sent to dealers, so if you’re looking to pick one up you’d better run to your local Lambo store.
In its short production run, 172 Superleggeras were sent to the U.S. But what color were they, you ask? Here’s the breakdown: 46 were painted orange, 45 yellow, 37 black, 34 gray, and 10 white.
But don’t despair; Lamborghini recently announced a heavily revised Gallardo, the LP560-4. The new model boasts 560 metric hp (552 hp to us) and continues to offer all-wheel drive (hence the -4).
Click the links below for coverage of Lamborghinis past and present.
2008 Lexus IS-F Impressive
March 31, 2008
The fellas at Ralph Willis Automotive in Salinas, California cleared their schedule for us to sneak the IS-F onto their DynoJet dynamometer. The results, as you can see from the chart below, are impressive. The IS-F is rated at 416 hp and 371 lb-ft of torque at the engine - and it delivered 333 of those horses and 318 lb-ft of torque to its rear wheels.
Those are impressive numbers given that the engine’s output is funneled through an eight-speed automatic transmission. And how do they compare to the competition?
An RS4 we tested (see the link below to the full story) put out a very close 331 horsepower (and 276 lb-ft of torque) to its wheels. We should mention that the RS4 was tested on a Dynapack, which may be calibrated differently than the DynoJet model used for the Lexus.
As always, it’s not the peak numbers of a dyno graph that are important, it’s the shape of the torque curve. The Lexus’ torque builds in a linear fashion as revs rise, but then things get a little hairy. Torque dips slightly between 4500 and 5000 rpm, and then peaks at 5200.
What happens afterward is disappointing - the curve drops off steeply, confirming our seat-of-the-pants impression that the engine is running out of breath. If you compare the shape of the curve to the RS4’s, you’ll notice that the RS4’s V-8 doesn’t make as much peak torque (it is, after all, 800cc smaller) but its twist is distributed much more evenly over a long rpm range. And from 6500 rpm up, where the Lexus is simply done, it continues pulling - all the way to over 8000 rpm.
The IS-F’s V-8 certainly produces a lot of power and torque. We wish, however, that it didn’t have such a steep dropoff in torque at high revs - that kind of rev-happy motor would suit the IS-F’s track-star personality much better.
Featured Cars Videos From Yahoo
March 31, 2008
Most Expensive Car this Year
March 30, 2008
Even if you can’t afford a luxury car, a look at the ten most expensive options in the industry is halting and raises issues that affect all car buyers. Consider that for the price of some optional extras on this list, you could buy a new Honda or Volkswagen.
Take Porsche’s $16,900 X51 Carrera Power Kit offered on the 911 Carrera S and 4S, for example. According to our independent research, it costs more than a new Volkswagen Jetta and is the most expensive option available on a luxury vehicle from an automaker whose annual production exceeds 5,000 units. For all that money you get a 0.2-second faster 0-60 mph run of 4.5 seconds thanks to some engine tweaks.
If going fast isn’t a priority, but cutting-edge technology is, then you could spend almost double the cost of Porsche’s Carrera Power Kit for high-tech goodies on the Lexus LS 600h L. This rare luxury hybrid sedan is the only vehicle with two outrageously priced packages on our list of Top 10 Most Expensive Options. Together they total more than $24,000.
It’s impossible to know precisely how options will affect resale value, but there are some rules of thumb that can guide choices for those with an eye on maximizing their investment down the road. “When it comes to optional equipment on new vehicles, price doesn’t always guarantee retention,” says Terrence Wynne, the director of analytical services at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).
Experts tend to classify car options within two broad categories, called “hard content” and “soft content.” Hard content items are things like automatic transmissions, navigation systems, and performance- enhancing options. “Typically, hard content items hold their value in the used car market,” Wynne says. Upgraded interior upholstery, special paint treatments, and unique interior trims are all considered soft content and are less likely to hold their value when it comes time to sell the car.
NADA has created a third category for cutting-edge options that it projects could become hard content items. “These options include emerging technologies like adaptive cruise control, rear park assist, side- view assist, lane-change avoidance technologies, and climate controlled seats, to name just a few,” Wynne says.
If buying a vehicle that will retain as much of its value as possible is your top priority, Wynne suggests to opt for an automatic transmission and the most popular option package for that vehicle. Car dealers can usually tell you what the most popular options for a particular vehicle are and, in fact, will equip most of their vehicles with them.
For instance, the most popular option on the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Wynne says, is the Premium I Package, which costs $1,400 on the C300 and includes rain-sensing wipers, Sirius satellite radio, auto- dimming and power-folding mirrors, heated front seats, and an integrated garage-door opener. It would be difficult to find a C300 at a dealer without this option package, he says.
Many new-vehicle options are bundled together like in Mercedes’ Premium I Package. “The normal concept of a package is that instead of getting A, B, and C separately, you get A, B, and C together, along with D, which you may not have wanted, but the total price for all four items is lower than if you purchased them separately,” says Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at JD Power and Associates.
Mercedes’ Rasheq Zarif, a technology planning specialist, says that besides price, the other major benefit to option packages is that they streamline the purchasing process. “Mercedes-Benz’s tiered option packaging strategy is built to offer simplicity to our customers, while providing value to each package option,” he says.
This is why the Premium I Package is included on most Mercedes vehicles — it’s what most Mercedes shoppers want. On a Mercedes ML350, this $3,650 package includes a navigation system, parking aide, hands-free telephone, an upgraded sound system, and a power-liftgate. If priced separately, these add-ons would run well above the package price.
One question that frequently arises after buyers add all the options they want and transform a $32,400 base BMW 328i into a fully-loaded $51,000 vehicle is whether it would be wiser to upgrade to a model with a higher base price but with fewer options, such as the more-powerful 335i or the larger and more luxurious 5 Series. Ultimately, it’s up to the buyer to decide how much all the “soft content” is worth in the end. “A consumer must make the final decision as to whether it is more important to have the comfort and convenience features, which may depreciate faster, or the upgraded engine or more expensive vehicle class,” Wynne says.
2008 Honda Civic Hybrid Review
March 30, 2008
The Civic Hybrid competes effectively with the Toyota Prius, although gas mileage doesn’t quite match the Prius in around-town driving. If you’re in the market for an affordable small car and aren’t exclusively looking at hybrids, you should also consider Honda’s other well-liked options: the conventional Civic and the Fit.
The 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid garners solid praise for its fuel-efficient value, sleek, futuristic redesign and fuel-sipping habits. As USA Today sums up, the Civic Hybrids are “dandy to drive, nice to view, better than its predecessor and welcome in a time of $3-a-gallon gasoline.” Automobile Magazine compares the Civic Hybrid to one its top hybrid competitors, the Toyota Prius, and finds the former is a “a car that’s better to drive,” while the overall experience is “impressive.” But many others share CNET’s assessment that acceleration is “decidedly underwhelming.”
Most auto writers contend that hybrids should be bought because they save the environment, not a few extra pennies, and the same holds true with the pricey-for-its-class 2008 Civic Hybrid. As Automobile.com says, “doing the right thing has a price,” and owning the Civic Hybrid might be “even more out of reach of those needs driven consumers who could use the fuel savings most.” Although IntelliChoice has not yet issued a value rating for the 2008 model, it gave the 2007 Civic Hybrid a rating of “Excellent” based on the total cost of ownership compared to others in its class.
The Civic Hybrid comes only as a four-door sedan. The 2008 model of the Civic Hybrid carries over from 2007 virtually unchanged, save for a tire pressure monitoring system.
The key to getting the best deal to buy a car
March 30, 2008
On this page, we’ll deal with the first two of those factors: the new car’s purchase price and your old car’s trade-in value.
Purchase Price
The price you pay for a new car hinges on a number of variables. They include but aren’t limited to:
- the invoice price;
- dealer holdback;
- customer incentives;
- factory-to-dealer incentives;
- supply and demand;
- and your car’s trade-in value (in some states). Read more
