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Jaguar XJ Supersport (2010) CAR reviewBy Phil McNamara20 April 2010 10:36
The Supersport is the cream on top of Jaguar’s new XJ range for 2010. The supercharged V8-powered limousine is the flagship, a full-fat experience in which only 5% of XJ customers will indulge. How does the £87,455, ultimate version of Britain’s S-class drive? That’s not a Jag XJ, that’s a Citroen concept car! Whatever happened to drawing rooms on wheels?Unless you’ve been taking a shower of Bobby Ewing proportions, you’ll have spotted the design transformation of Jaguar’s saloons. The 2010 XJ takes the boldness of the 2008 XF and twists, gambling on a radical-looking limo in a conservative market segment. It’s an imposing mash-up of limousine stature and sporty details, such as the diving roofline, colossal grille, 911-style flared hips and 19-inch wheels as standard (the Supersport rolls on 20s). The brutish XJ looks like nothing else in its class, whereas its predecessor looked identical to its forebear. That’s progress, with bells on.The cabin trumps its avantgarde exterior. Every dashboard is wrapped in luxurious leather, and glinting round vents and a big, concave steering wheel evoke ‘50s Americana. Genuine wood inserts flow from the doors around the dash-top to form a prow like a boat’s, meeting in an understated Jaguar plaque below the centre of the windscreen.Jaguar chauffeured journalists in long wheelbase XJs (around £3000 for the extra legroom) through dark Parisienne streets. The Eiffel Tower glowed yellow overhead, visible through the standard double-section glass roof, complementing the gentle blue haze of the interior lighting. A wonderfully atmospheric experience, enhanced by a cabin that positively reeks of luxury and character: eliminate the badges and customers could mistake it for a Bentley’s. It makes the German interiors look cheap and dowdy.
Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.4 TB 170 (2010) CAR reviewBy Chris Chilton12 April 2010 23:30
Alfa Romeo is launching the new 2010 Giulietta to replace its 147 in the heartland mid-sized hatch. So the new Alfa Giulietta faces up to some pretty competent machinery, such as the VW Golf, Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra.What’s going on? I thought Alfas were meant to look great and be terrible to drive. Let’s hope this one drives better than it looks... We assume you’re talking about the Giulietta's less than beautiful face on this new C-segment fighter. Granted, it’s bland and formless after the chiselled muscularity of the old 147, but we’ve got modern pedestrian crash legislation to thank for that. The Giulietta's snout is a grower anyway and the rest of the shape makes up for it. The chunky hind quarters mean you need to move up from the basic 16in rims but the rear three-quarter view is swoopingly fantastic to these eyes.The new 2010 Giulietta looks much bigger than the old 147 It is, but that’s because Alfa has replaced the 147 with two cars: the smaller three-door Mito and the five-door-only Giulietta. The big hatch is fractionally bigger than a Golf with a generous 350-litre boot and a back seat that doesn’t quite offer best in class accommodation (the squab is too low and kneeroom only average) but is at least competitive.
How to take the perfect oversteer photographBy Tim Pollard16 April 2010 15:28
Poring over the photos from our May 2010 cover shoot, we were struck by a sequence of frames showing ace photographer Paul Barshon at work. We'd gathered together eight of the greatest Quattros ever conceived by Audi to celebrate 30 years of fast four-wheel drives and writer Jethro Bovingdon was out to prove a point. Namely that Quattros will drift. If you're violent enough with the throttle/wheel/angle of attack.But as well as a stunning sequence of sideways shots, we were impressed by just how close Barshon was to a very crossed-up, 1.7-tonne Audi supercar. Designer Alex Tapley, who rattled off the behind-the-scenes shots above, reckons he was less than six feet away from a £112,000 accident.'Get close, close your eyes and hope for the best,' laughs Barshon. 'You just go by feel. When I shoot bikes, I get them coming one foot away from me. In fact I've been hit twice by motorcycle mirrors – one hit my camera and left me with a black eye for a week.'It's all about creating drama. You want to put yourself in a position that creates drama and that's why I get as close as possible to the subject. You have to have a driver who knows what he's doing and whom you trust. Jethro was inch perfect.'I like to shoot at slow shutter speeds to create drama and actually wanted to get closer still.'Oh, and one last thing for us mere amateurs. Don't forget to take the lens cap off.
Lexus LS 460 LClick to enlarge pictureLexus LS 460 (© Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.) Lexus LS 460
Obviously, $84,125 is hardly bargain pricing for a vehicle, but consider that a Lexus LS 460 L ($70,925) outfitted with the Executive-Class Seating Package ($13,200) gets you most of what you get in the aforementioned Maybach 62 at about one-fifth the price. You have your reclining rear seats (one of them has a footrest) with — ooh, la, la! — lumbar massage; primo leather; a wood-trimmed table; and a cooler for drinks and such.Click to enlarge pictureLexus LS 460 (© Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.)Lexus LS 460An extra $2,080 will upgrade you from the standard 10-speaker stereo to a 19-speaker 450-watt, Mark Levinson surround-sound system.Read: Lexus Targets the Mercedes-Benz S-Class with a Sporty LS 460
Maybach 62Click to enlarge pictureMaybach 62 (© Mercedes-Benz USA) Maybach 62
Oh my! Did we just say "cheap seats?" Not so in the Maybach 62, a $392,750 luxury land yacht for wealthy folks whose time is too valuable for them to drive themselves. Certainly it's hard to find a bad seat in a car where everybody gets Grand Nappa leather, auto-adjusting belts, heated and cooled seats and a 600-watt, 21-speaker Bose surround-sound audio system.Click to enlarge pictureMaybach 62 (© Mercedes-Benz USA)Maybach 62But the Maybach 62's luxury amenities definitely have a rear-seat bias. Built into the rear-center console is a compressor-driven refrigerator. Each rear seat has its own folding table surfaced with your favorite lacquered wood. The seats not only recline, but have extendable footrests. The rear passengers have their own sunroof made from electro-dimming glass that turns from transparent to opaque at the touch of a button, and champagne flutes come standard.
By Sam Foley of MSN Autos In most vehicles, the front seat sees most of the action. According to the latest census data, 75.5 percent of Americans drive to work alone every day. Many pickup trucks and sports cars don't even have rear seats. And the automotive vernacular bemoans the "back-seat driver," labeling him or her a crank and a nudge, who has no business meddling in the act of operating an automobile. In other words, back seats are largely ignored, left fallow or covered in fast-food wrappers and old soda cans — and if there are to be occupants, it is best if they just buckle up, pipe down and enjoy the ride.
Traffic Fatalities Drop to Record LowTraffic deaths on U.S. roads have declined for the fourth straight year.
By the Editors of Consumer Reports Driving Into the Sunset (© Digital Vision/Getty Images)Click to enlarge picture Traffic fatalities in 2009 reached the lowest level since 1954, according to preliminary statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The estimated toll for 2009 fell to 33,963 deaths, a drop of almost 9 percent from 2008's tally of 37,261 deaths.If the final numbers hold true, then 2009 will mark the fourth year in a row of declining traffic deaths on U.S. roads. Total deaths have been reduced even while the number of cars and drivers have increased. Miles traveled has stayed the same. That's demonstrated by significant drops in the fatality rate, which looks at deaths per 100 million miles traveled. The fatality rate itself has also declined for years on end, dropping from 1.46 in 2005 to 1.16 in 2009. Full 2009 fatality statistics will be available this summer.
