What in God’s name were they thinking? We’ve seen this new corporate grille on the A6, but that was accompanied by smooth, flowing, curves; I’m still reserving judgement on whether the A6 is a successful design. In the new A4, the pronounced snout and sneering headlights remind me of some kind of mechanical pig with wheels. Worse still, it seems they’re trying to follow Bangle’s design aesthetic, as seen in the new 5. According to the article, there’s not much different under the skin either, which means that they’re messing around with the car just for the sake of messing around.
Hard to believe there’s already a replacement for the 360, but here it is:
Check this out:
What’s the most significant feature of the Ferrari F430, the replacement for the 360 Modena? The clue is in the name: it’s the all-new 4.3-litre V8 engine.
This generates 483bhp, or 83bhp more than the regular 360’s 3.6-litre V8. Ferrari’s latest supercar is good for a 0-62mph time of precisely four seconds and a top speed of 197mph – that’s an increase of 11mph over the 360.
4.3L? That’s nuts. And that 0-62 time is pretty crazy, too. My guess is that this car will easily go for a shade under $200k, which probably means that the rich have gotten richer since the 360 first came out. Well, if you can’t swing 200 large, you can probably pick up a used 355 for 90 and have money left over to pay the insurance.
BMW’s fourth-generation M5 will feature a 5.0-litre V10 engine producing 507bhp and 383lb ft when it arrives in Britain next spring – making it the most powerful road-going vehicle the company has ever produced.
Woah.
While this car isn’t as ugly as all the other Bangled models, it has a distinctly Japanese look to it. What in the world?!
1. Buy under time pressure. 2. Inspect the car without a friend. 3. Forego the dealer inspection.
I followed all three of the steps outlined above, and started paying for it from day one.
Almost as soon as I got the MR2, I noticed a weird periodic grinding noise coming from the rear. Turned out the wheel bearing needed to be replaced. Fuck. That cost about $800 in parts and labor, and I could have avoided it if I had actually taken the car to get the safety inspection done.
The latest drama with the MR2 is a problem with the engine–some kind of periodic clanking sound coming from inside the block. Toyota wanted to charge me a few hundred dollars just to open up the oil pan and figure out what was wrong. Ugh. I took it to two other mechanics and they refused to work on it–the first one said to take it Toyota to get the engine overhauled, the second to get a used engine installed. My dad found a shop in K-town that would do the swap for $1500, which we figured was the best price we were going to find.
Hopefully this engine swap will take care of the remaining problems and keep the car running long enough for me to sell it next year.
