Our spy photographers have captured Kia in the midst of cold-weather testing its fourth-generation Sportage crossover. With a restyled front and rear fascia, along with a new interior, the 2016 Sportage should raise the bar for its category.
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The Fiat 500X represents a lot of milestones for Fiat. It's the largest Fiat 500-based model and it's the first compact crossover Fiat has built, which is remarkable considering that the car it's based on isn't exactly known for its spacious design. To commemorate the arrival of the 500X, Fiat's taking a page from Mercedes-Benz's handbook by releasing a limited number of 500X Opening Edition models that will hit a selected number of European markets.
The 500X Opening Edition will actually come in three different versions, giving potential customers the chance to pick which one suits them best. Two front-wheel-drive options come with either a 1.4-liter Turbo MultiAir II engine that produces 140 horsepower or a 1.6-liter MultiJet II that pumps out 120 horsepower. If those don't suit you, you can opt for the all-wheel-drive model with a 2.0-liter MultiJet II that also develops 140 ponies.
It's unlikely that the 500X Opening Edition will find its way to U.S. shores anytime soon, but if you happen to live in Europe, specifically Germany, France, Italy, Spain or Switzerland, you have an opportunity to avail this special-edition 500X. For a first time model, the 500X Opening Edition could turn a lot of heads.
Fiat's price for the 500X Opening Edition models begins at 21,900 ($27,700 as of 10/14/2014) and goes all the way up to 30,650 ($38,800) for the top-of-the-range 4x4 model.
Click past the jump to read more about the Fiat 500X Opening Edition.
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33 weeks ago, I convinced my boss to let me sit in front of a microphone with two other hooligans and yell at each other for an hour or so about cars. We called it the TopSpeed Podcast and it was good. It was so good in-fact that 225 days later we are still doing it. We are glad that you guys keep listening, commenting and allowing us to continue doing this thing every week.
With that out of the way, I do have to apologize because there will be no show this week. Mark is out driving some cool new cars, Justin is trying to catch up from his vacation time, and I am taking a little bit of time to sit on the beach and relax. That means that Episode 033 of the TopSpeed Podcast will have to wait until next week. I know a lot of you guys have become regulars and can't wait for the show every week, but occasionally we just won't be able to make a show or two. I do apologize, but I promise to make it up to you.
It will be a week late, but the next show should be incredible. I have been driving the Porsche 911, Justin had one of the sportiest crossovers you can buy, and Mark spent a few days beating on basically every single truck and SUV you can buy in the USA. Plus Ferrari announced a brand new car, we have renders of the upcoming Zora ZR1 Corvette, and there have been a whole collection of exciting spy shots to come out over the last week.
Thanks for sticking it out with us for the last seven months. Now take a week off and enjoy yourselves. We will see you next Thursday.
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The Volvo XC90, first introduced in 2003, was a mega-hit, gaining MotorTrend's SUV of the Year in 2003, and the North American Car of the Year award. Even Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson has famously owned three of the previous-gen XC90's and has praised them for being incredibly practical and pleasant to drive. Those are some big shoes to fill for this second-gen XC90, but it seems Volvo is up to the task.
The second generation XC90 will debut in 2015 and is said to be brimming with the latest and greatest automotive technology. To celebrate the year Volvo was founded, the first 1,927 buyers who order their crossover online will get what's called the First Edition XC90. These few lucky buyers will get a fully loaded XC90, with many exclusive items that won't be found on the standard model.
If you want one of these First Edition Swede's you're gonna have to hurry. Alain Visser, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales says, "Those who want to be among the first ones to own the best SUV in the world have to act fast. The huge interest in the all-new XC90 indicates that the First Edition will sell out quickly." Whoever gets one of these First Edition models will get to own a very special version of quite possibly the best all around SUVs on the market.
Click past the jump to read more about the Volvo XC90 First Edition
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Nissan has a lot riding on the success of the Murano. That's not an easy position to be, seeing as the Murano is considered as the halo vehicle for the company's range of crossovers and SUVs, but also has such a polarizing look. So it figures that Nissan is using the New York International Auto Show as the event to introduce to the auto world the new 2015 Murano.
Far more than just a debut of the vehicle, the Murano's attendance in New York will also serve as a showcase for the automaker to introduce its new design language, one that will be used on future production vehicles. Big stakes involved here for Nissan, if people haven't already noticed.
As far as the 2015 Murano is concerned, the SUV's new look isn't the only thing that's worth paying attention to. Far from it, actually. A spacious premium interior is also being offered, as are a host of new safety and connective technology features.
As we anticipated, this new generation for the Murano moves it away from its unconventional look of today and gives it a more mainstream look.
Updated 04/14/2014: Nissan unveiled the official details on the 2015 Murano - with just a few days before the car's official debut in New York.
Click past the jump to read more about the 2015 Nissan Murano.
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| Posted on 07.18.2013 12:00 by |
The San Diego Comic-Con opened up today and what better way to celebrate it than with a comic book-inspired ride? Well, Kia was happy to deliver the goods by way of a Justice League-inspired 2013 Sorento that took a whopping 10 months to complete.
For those that don't know, the Justice League first appeared in The Brave and Beautiful issue No. 28, which was put on shelves in 1960. The original seven members of the famed comic book team were Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter, but many characters came and went through the years. This Sorento features all of the original characters with the exception of the lesser-known Martian Manhunter - in his place is more mainstream Cyborg - painted on each side of the vehicle by West Coast Customs. Each of the characters on this Sorento also had their own individual customized Kia and you can see each one by clicking on each name above.
Up front, the hood features a "Justice League" decal and nothing else, giving the crossover a clean, but still custom, look from the front end. The Kia also received blacked-out upper and lower grilles.
On the inside, the customization continues. West Coast Customs reupholstered all three rows of seats with one character's colors and logo on each seat. Up front, the driver's seat features the Superman logo and red piping, and the passenger's seat features a batman logo on the headrest and gold piping. The three center-row seats features Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Flash logos with their respective colored piping. Finally, the third row of seats feature Aquaman and Cyborg logos with piping to match.
Also customized are the door panels, which feature comic strips on the upper inserts and color-coordinated piping, and the center console with its comic-strip covering.
What's more, is that you can buy this custom rig on Ebay and bidding runs from today through July 27th here. The profits from the auction will go to help the We Can Be Heros campaign, which helps feed starving families in the Horn of Africa. So, not only can you own an awesome ride, but you also help a great cause, it's a win-win situation.
The customization is based on a Sorento EX with a 3.5-liter V-6 engine that puts down 276 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque.
Click past the jump to read more about the Justice League Sorento.
Kia Sorento "Justice League" by West Coast Customs originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 18 July 2013 12:00 EST.
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| Posted on 07.18.2013 17:00 by |
In the 2014 Chevrolet Captiva Sport's senior yearbook, the standard headshot would have been replaced by a blank "No Photo Available." This commercial vehicle sits in the fleet-only section of Chevy's U.S. lineup. These models major on sale price and fuel mileage - but typically include few tech or luxury features and zero trendy styling.
The opposite of trendy, the Captiva Sport is eerily familiar on all American roads. By george! It is the stillborn, second-gen Saturn Vue in a bowtie grille! Additional fender flares and chrome accents appear where there were once maroon Saturn badges.
Reviving this car is a special treatment within General Motors, and only replicated with the (also fleet-only) Chevy Caprice PPV that started life as the 2008 Pontiac G8 GT. What this distinction means for the Captiva Sport is that the vehicles have to be delivered directly to a commercial operator, thereby skipping the local retailer in favor of bulk orders.
The Captiva Sport's big news for 2014 is an updated infotainment unit that now offers Chevrolet MyLink touchscreen audio and mobile connectivity.
The Captiva Sport is therefore a work car for people who might otherwise be in a Malibu Classic (yes, it existed..) or a Cruze - neither of which have AWD winter traction.
The larger Chevrolet Equinox is also on the fleet books for virtually identical list prices. How do they compare?
Click past the jump for the full review of the 2014 Chevrolet Captiva Sport, the only autobahn-tested AWD crossover in the Chevrolet's American commercial fleet lineup.
Chevrolet Captiva Sport originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 18 July 2013 17:00 EST.
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| Posted on 08.5.2013 16:00 by |
The BMW X1 is a fantastic addition to the Bimmer range, as well as to the TopSpeed Garage. During our week testing the M Sport X1 sDrive28i, the car won many friends with its driving environment, striking new-BMW styling crispness and a truly sports-car-like agility versus the larger X3.
The X1 is offered stateside in three trim levels across the turbo four-cylinder 28i and turbo six-cylinder 35i powerplants, with xDrive available across the range. The test car's X1 sDrive28i pairs the base engine with the top M Sport trim level at the top, bringing a beautiful body-color bumper treatment absent from the cheaper 'Sport' and 'X-line' trim packs. The M Sport option also includes a variety of other tasty upgrades, including sports leather seats and handsome special paint and wheel options.
The X1 fills such a successful gap in the entry-level BMW offering that it even caught Audi and Mercedes-Benz flatfooted, with their GLA250 and Audi Q3 competitors still at least a year from reaching American buyers.
The X1 certainly doesn't have the small premium crossover market to itself, but does carve a unique niche with few pretend off-road aspirations and a decidedly performance focus to its V-rated, 18-inch Pirelli's.
This road-going bias helps the X1 to be an agile and playful companion on any stretch of pavement, with a 60 mph sprint just above 6 seconds for both rear- and all-wheel-drive 28i four-cylinders and down to the low 5's for the potent X1 xDrive35i.
All this with a base price just above $30,000 means the X1 is the first affordable BMW entry for crossover shoppers, considering the Acura RDX or the Mini Cooper Countryman.
The full TopSpeed Garage drive review is past the jump, and takes a close look at the coolest performance options and features of the practical but sporty X1 sDrive28i M Sport.
BMW X1 M Sport sDrive28i originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 5 August 2013 16:00 EST.
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| Posted on 03.12.2013 13:00 by |
Nissan is preparing to roll out a new special-edition Juke, except that unlike the Juke-R that has been the subject of numerous dreams and fantasies, the Juke n-tec Special Edition is not to be confused with a performance monster.
Unfortunately, the Juke n-tec doesn’t carry any power enhancements the same way the Juke-R, and to a lesser extent, the Juke Nismo, had it in droves. Nevertheless, the Juke-n-Tec does come with a unique and new feature, namely Google’s Send-to-Car technology.
With this technology in tow, a Juke n-tec owner can make travel arrangements on any form of technological device - a PC, a tablet, or a smartphone - from just about anywhere and then sent those instructions to the car. The Juke n-Tec’s Send-to-Car technology then proceeds to map out the entirety of the trip by itself, including checking for the best route, avoiding traffic and specifying how many pit stops to make. Pretty cool, right?
On top of the Send-to-Car technology, the special-edition Juke also comes with a choice of eight exterior colors, three interior color choices, glossy-black mirror caps, a new set of 18-inch black/silver alloy wheels, the new generation Nissan Connect infotainment system with remote connectivity and a choice of three different engine trims.
Customers can choose from a 1.6-liter naturally aspirated engine that delivers 117 horsepower; a 1.5 dCi with 110 horsepower; and best of all, a 1.6-liter turbocharged DIG-T that produces 190 horsepower.
| Posted on 02.22.2013 09:00 by |
Launched at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, the Kia Soul has soon become one of the best-sold models from Kia in the U.S. The model received its first facelift last year, and now the company decided to bring an all-new model in order to keep interest at top.
Even though the car is heavily camouflaged, it looks like the roofline is slightly lower on the new Soul and the body seems to be a little wider. These updates will offer the new Soul a more masculine appearance.
Other updates includes a typical Kia grille moved up a bit, bigger air intakes, plus redesigned headlamps that now look more square and it received an LED stripe on top. On the interior, it looks like the dashboard has also been redesigned.
Under the hood, you should expect the same engine lineup and transmissions as the one used in the new Kia Cee’d.
Spy Shots: 2014 Kia Soul Caught Testing in Sweden originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 22 February 2013 09:00 EST.
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| Posted on 02.7.2013 11:00 by |
The Geneva Motor Show is set to host one of the biggest showcases of concept cars for the entire year. It seems that every automaker is bringing a concept to the show and, as expected, that includes Japanese automaker Subaru.
One of Subaru’s concept offerings is the Viziv Crossover, a concept model that is expected to preview the next-generation styling language of Subaru’s crossover lineup along with new technologies that the automaker is fixing to use for its future models. Although there’s only one teaser image to look at, there are plenty of notable features about the Viziv Concept that you can take notice of. The most significant, obviously, are those outrageous slit-like LED headlights that, while awesome in concept guise, we’re not entirely sure will ever make it past the concept phase. A trapezoidal grille is also prominently shown in the teaser as is what looks like a front spoiler.
It’ll be interesting to see what Subaru did with the Viziv Crossover Concept. The early returns are definitely promising and if we do say so ourselves, we’re looking forward to seeing the whole thing when the Geneva Motor Show opens its doors in a month’s time.
Subaru Viziv Concept originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 7 February 2013 11:00 EST.
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| Posted on 10.5.2012 14:00 by |
Just about 10 years ago, VW introduced an all-new SUV bearing a name that only those with the most talented tongues could pronounce: the Touareg. It was such an odd name that VW actually made a commercial poking fun at the fact that no one really knew how to pronounce it, much like the Merkur tongue twister in the mid-1980s.
In celebration of its 10-year anniversary, VW is releasing a special edition Touareg Edition X. On the outside, you have a standard Touareg - one of the more stylish crossover SUVs available - but it features a set of 19-inch "Moab" wheels, silver anodized roof rails, bi-xenon headlights with LED daytime runners, and smoked taillights. You also get the "Chrome & Style package, tinted windows, and "Touareg X" logos.
On the inside, your hind side is supported by luxurious Amber Brown Nappa leather in a braid embossed style. You get real ebony inlays on the door panels and on the instrument panel to add a little elegance to the package. The front door sills boast illuminated "Touareg X" decals and you also get color-coordinated stitching on the leather-wrapped steering wheel, gear shifter, and the floor mats.
You have a wide array of engine and drivetrain options in the Touareg Edition X, as there are five different options available, including a hybrid drivetrain. The only option that VW offers us any details on it the 150 kW (201-horsepower) 3.0-liter V-6 TDI engine. This model with the 8-speed automatic transmission runs 61,025 ($79,363 at the current exchange rates). That's a ridiculous 10,500 premium over the base SE model for minimal additions. According to the press release, the Touareg Edition X is available now, but there is no mention of its U.S. availability.
Once VW releases all of the official standard features we can better assess it. For now, it just seems way overpriced.
Vokswagen Touareg Edition X originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 5 October 2012 14:00 EST.
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| Posted on 09.10.2012 17:00 by |
In 2011, Ssangyong debuted the XIV-1 crossover concept, but it never saw production. In 2012 at the Geneva Motor Show, Ssangyong brought the more modern and convertible XIV-2, but it still had no release details attached with it. Now, Ssangyong is bringing another variant to the XIV concept lineup in the form of the E-XIV.
The E-XIV, much like its predecessors, has no anticipated release date, but it is expected to debut at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. The E-XIV is a huge step forward for the developing automaker, as it disposes of the traditional gasoline and diesel engines in favor of an electric drivetrain that uses a small gasoline engine to extend its range.
The details are very scarce, but we can tell that the front fascia of the E-XIV is slightly different than that on the XIV-2, as it lacks the air-intake ducts and plastic insert on the front fascia. In the place of the plastic insert are a series of small holes, but we are unsure of their purpose. On the rear en, you can see that there is really no difference between the E-XIV and the XIV-2, with exception to the illuminated "E-VIX" logo on the rear fascia. We also know that it’ll measure in at 163.2 inches long x 70.8 inches wide x 62.4 inches high and have a 102-inch wheelbase.
On the roof, instead of boasting a "convertible" top, the E-XIV features a glass roof and solar panels, meaning that this hybrid would use solar energy too. That would be a huge revolution in the industry, but it may be purely theory now, in the case of Ssangyong.
We’ll just have to wait and see what Ssangyong rolls out on September 29th to see if this solar hybrid is a reality or just another non-production brainchild.
Ssangyong E-XIV Concept originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 10 September 2012 17:00 EST.
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| Posted on 09.4.2012 12:00 by |
Just recently, we reported that Johan de Nysschen left Audi USA to head up Infiniti, and it appears he is already making some necessary changes. According to Car Sales, Nysschen confirmed that it, like many other automakers, is heading away from V-8 engine configurations to help reduced CO2 emissions and help it meet the anticipated CAFE standard of 54.5 mpg by 2025. He was quoted saying: "I don't think any car that is on Infiniti drawing boards from here onwards we should expect a V8 to be included in that plan"
This means that models like the FX50, M56, and other V-8-powered Infinitis will opt for a turbocharged or supercharged V-6 or 4-cylinder engine. Ironically enough, the sister company of Nysschen’s former employer is going the exact opposite route, cutting out its turbocharged V-8 in favor of a V-12 configuration.
It is admirable seeing luxury automakers willing to take a step forward to help meet the needs of the world, as fuel prices continue to rise. This is a sharp contrast to his former employer stance, as Volkswagen has spoken out pretty harshly against these upcoming regulations and is one of only a handful of car manufacturers that has not signed the CAFE agreement. We wonder if this was a ideological difference that helped push Nysschen away from Audi and VW.
Keep an eye out for the next generation of Infiniti cars to be lacking the all mighty Nissan 5.6-liter V-8 engine and we are now awaiting Nissan to announce a similar changeover. This would entail changes to the Nissan Titan and NV van lineups. Ford has already shown that a turbocharged V-6 engine works great in a pickup truck and we’re sure it translates well to a van too.
| Posted on 08.31.2012 20:00 by |
We spend loads of time reviewing sports and supercars that we tend to forget all about the SUV realm. Back in the 1980s, when the SUV was just starting to become the new fad, there were no performance models to speak of.
In the 1990s, we caught a glimpse of out first true performance SUV, as the GMC Typhoon hit the market in very limited numbers. The Typhoon boasted stout numbers, as GM managed to pump a full 280 ponies from its typically underwhelming 4.3-liter engine. To boot, the Typhoon is still competitive today - in terms of speed - as it hots 60 mph in just 5.3 seconds and clears the quarter in 14.1 ticks.
Unfortunately, the Typhoon was only a 2-door model and lacked the typical SUV utility. GMC also produced a little over 4,000 examples, so they were and remain very scarce. What’s cool though, is just how closely matched the Typhoon still is when compared to today’s performance SUVs. It’ll never beat the likes of the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT or the Porsche Cayenne, but it can certainly hold its own pretty well, especially for a 19-year-old SUV.
We took a look at the current world of performance SUVs to figure out who is top dog. Click past the jump to find out the results.
Sport SUV Comparison: Haulin' Tail and the Family originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 31 August 2012 20:00 EST.
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