Nother CarGuy

This year’s Geneva Auto Show in March will feature the word premiere of the  new generation Seat Ibiza , but we won’t have to wait that long for our first look at the Spanish supermini.  These images arrived courtesy of Poland’s  Motofilm  on the eve of Seat’s 2017 Ibiza launch event in Barcelona  on Tuesday, January 31 . The exterior design is an evolution of the current Ibiza and is heavily  inspired by the latest Leon  – so much so that the uninitiated would probably have a hard time telling the new Ibiza apart from the Leon just by looking at the pictures without having a sense of its size.  Inside, from the single picture we have in our hands, it appears that Seat has given the Ibiza a less playful and more mature and premium look with angular lines, and a large screen for the infotainment system dominating the center console.  We’ll have to wait for a while to learn everything about the fifth-gen Ibiza, but don’t expect any major s...

Rolls-Royce has  pulled the plug  on the seventh generation Phantom, following 13 years of production. Commissioned by a renowned Rolls-Royce collector, the final example is a one-off special, based on the long wheelbase version of the car, and featuring a long list of items that mimic a 1930s  ocean liner . Finished in Blue Velvet and  completed with  a twin coachline with ocean liner motif to the shoulder, this special Rolls also benefits from a solid silver Spirit of Ecstasy, and pinstripe tires. Its  maritime theme is continued inside , where the automaker added two clocks, in tone with the classic ship radio clocks. Both are housed within a grooved bezel with 24 time zones, allowing owners to rotate them in either direction, depending on what part of the globe they are in. Another special touch is a hand-cut wake effect on the lambswool carpets, created by the brand's craftspeople. Powering it is the 6.75-liter  naturally aspirated V12 lump ...

Toyota has officially lost its title of the world’s biggest automaker to  Volkswagen  following the release of its 2016 sales figures. Last year, the Japanese company sold a total of 10.175 million vehicles worldwide compared to the 10.31 million sales recorded by Volkswagen. This comes despite the fact that Toyota’s sales increased by 0.2 per cent last year across its Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino Motors brands. The impressive sales of  Volkswagen  are also particularly surprising considering the brand’s ongoing issues related to the dieselgate scandal. Fortunately for the brand, surging sales in China helped to offset any struggles in America and Europe. Toyota  was the largest carmaker by sales every year since 2012 and first took the crown from General Motors in 2008.

Just when you though Aston Martins couldn’t become  more beautiful , the British brand has just taken the top off the Vanquish S Volante. As the name implies, the new convertible is based around the immensely pretty Aston Martin  Vanquish S  unveiled late last year. That means that it continues to be powered by a naturally-aspirated 5.9-liter V12 engine delivering 594 hp at 7,000 rpm and 465 lb-ft of torque at 5,500 rpm. As with the coupe, drive is then sent to the rear wheels courtesy of a re-calibrated 8-speed Touchtronic III transmission. Compared to the run-of-the-mill Vanquish Volante, the  S-badged model  also benefits from a new exhaust system with quad tailpipes. retuned suspension components and updated anti-roll bar bushes. Among the most obvious visual tweaks a carbon fiber-clad front fascia and splitter, new aerodynamic side skirts and an overhauled rear-end with a menacing diffuser, the aforementioned quad tailpipes and a flurry of carbon accen...

Carefully tucked inside the text that accompanies the  'Aesthetics A' sculpture , which previews the design language of its entire family of compact models, seems to be a general reference to the rumored A-Class-based sedan: " the design team now presents the vision of a saloon car in the compact segment ".  Not to be confused with the successor to the sportier CLA saloon, the A-Class sedan will more directly rival  BMW's China-only 1-Series sedan  and Audi's A3 sedan. It will be based on the MFA2 platform, shared with the next generations A-Class, B-Class, CLA and GLA and is expected to join the family in a standard wheelbase for select global markets, which won't include North America, and a long wheelbase, aimed exclusively at China.  It was recently reported that Mercedes-Benz will preview the A-Class sedan with a concept model at this year's Shanghai Auto Show in China.  Also rumored to join the Mercedes compact family is another compact SUV, w...

The design language set to be adopted by Mercedes-Benz’s future range of compact vehicles has just been previewed in the form of the Aesthetics A  sculpture . In the coming three years, up to eight models from the German brand will adopt styling inspired by the Aesthetics A, including the  next-generation A-Class  and B-Class. Additionally, successors to the CLA, CLA Shooting Brake and GLA will all receive updated designs, reports  Autocar . Mercedes says that the look previewed by the sculpture is a development of its ‘Sensual Purity’ design language. At the front, these developments include a new grille design mimicking the look first implemented into the range-topping AMG GT-R, dubbed the Panamericana grille. The hood continues to be characterized by aggressive lines and sharp creases. Perhaps the most obvious alteration in the brand’s design language are the simplified sides. Rather than supporting a host of different lines and shapes, the sides now simply con...

If there's one thing that the Volkswagen Group has figured out, it's how to ruggedize its road-going vehicles. You might assume, though, that it wouldn't need to apply that treatment to its SUVs... but you'd be mistaken. Case in point: the new Skoda Kodiaq Scout. Scout , for those unfamiliar, is what Skoda calls its beefing-up program – similar to sister-brand  VW's Alltrack ,  Audi's Allroad , and  Seat's X-Perience  lines. The Czech brand has already applied the treatment to successive versions of the  Octavia ,  Roomster , and  Fabia  – but now it's extending the same (with apologies to the Yeti) to its first proper SUV. Not unlike the  Seat Ateca X-Perience , the Kodiaq Scout is distinguished by features including specific 19-inch wheels, tinted glass, and silver-colored underbody protection, roof rails, window frames, and door mirrors. Since the  Kodiaq  is already a sport-ute, Skoda apparently didn't need to beef up the whe...

Alpine's all-new sports car, believed to be  called the A120 , will come with "remarkable aerodynamics". As revealed in the short text that accompanies these  latest teasers , the French Porsche Cayman and Alfa Romeo 4C rival will feature a "technique carried over from the world of supercars", which sees the addition of a flat floor and a diffuser, incorporated into the rear bumper. Due to this recipe,  Alpine says  that the need for a rear wing has been eliminated completely, thus improving the aerodynamic efficiency and allowing "the design team and engineers to achieve the sleek, fluid upper body shape", which should be appreciated by customers. Powering the  new A120  is believed to be a 1.8-liter turbocharged petrol unit, derived from the 1.6-liter engine that sits under the hood of the  Renault Clio RS . The lump is expected to develop a healthy 250-300 HP, allowing the sports car to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 4.5 seconds, ...

Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen has told the press that the brand will introduce a new crossover, smaller than the  current XT5 , in mid-2018. This new model, tipped to be dubbed the XT3, will be just the one of a handful of new  crossover/SUV  models from Cadillac designed to cash in on the swelling demand for such vehicles. According to de Nysschen, the brand isn’t making the most of these shifting consumer desires. “The core part of our volume lineup is in the market that’s contracting while we are unable, as good as XT5 and Escalade are, we are unable to fully exploit the updraft that’s taking place in the other half of the market,” he said. The Detroit News reports that the XT3 will be constructed at the Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City and that between 25,000 and 30,000 units will sell annually. After the arrival of the XT3, Cadillac will launch a new SUV to slot between the  XT5  and the Escalade and then, a slightly smaller crossover variant...

Teased for the third time in as many weeks since we learned that the company is  resurrecting the devilish moniker , Dodge has exposed the rear end of the Challenger SRT Demon.  And it's looking good, especially with those massive 315/40 Nitto NT05R tires, front and rear, which have been developed  specifically for the muscle car , using "a new compound and specific tire construction", and wrap around the 18x11-inch rims.  By adopting the massive shoes, the Demon becomes the first ever factory produced vehicle  fitted with standard drag radials , which, together with the wide-body kit, contribute to its purposeful stance.  Details surrounding its output remain unknown, but the Demon's power is believed to be greater than the 707 HP and 650 lb-ft (881 Nm) of torque, developed by the 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI V8, in the  Challenger SRT Hellcat . The latter needs just 3.6 seconds to reach 60 mph (96 km/h) from a standstill, and will keep going up to ...

Next year, Lamborghini will have three models in its line-up for the very first time but according to chief executive Stefano Domenicalli, things may not end there. While recently speaking with  Motoring , Domenicalli revealed that there’s a chance a fourth model could be added to Lamborghini’s family in the form of a compact sports car. When asked about this, Domenicalli said “I think the answer is possibly yes. But so far we need to make sure the third model [Urus] will be stable enough to think about a fourth model.” The former Ferrari F1 boss believes that having unique underpinnings for the  Huracan  and Aventador isn’t viable from a business standpoint. Consequently, he revealed his desire to have the brand’s supercars/sports cars all based around a single architecture. “If we talk about super sports cars we need to consider that the right approach would be to be modular. We cannot have two models with two power units, two gearboxes, two chassis, honestly it’s no...

The new Ford GT has certainly managed to capture our attention, but we've been lacking certain key figures. Fortunately the Blue Oval automaker has now released the supercar's full specifications, and they certainly look impressive. For starters, while Ford has promised the new GT would deliver over 600 horsepower, it has now confirmed final output figures at 647 hp and 550 lb-ft of torque. With that much muscle on tap and just 3,054 pounds (dry) to motivate, Ford says the new supercar will top out at 216 mph. Unfortunately it has not released other key performance metrics such as its 0-60 or 1/4-mile time, but it has given us something arguably more relevant to chew on. While  undergoing development  last year, Ford took the new GT to Calabogie Motorsports Park – a four-hour drive (towards Ottawa and Montreal) from the  Multimatic facility  in Markham, Ontario, where  the supercar is being assembled . And the team also brought along a McLaren 675LT and Ferra...

Following months of speculation and spy shots,  Mitsubishi's latest SUV  is finally starting to take shape.  Previewed by an official image ahead of its 2017 Geneva Motor Show premiere, the vehicle shows its profile, highlighted by a slightly sloping roofline, taillights inspired by the  XR-PHEV II Concept , and a modern front end that seems to be in line with the company's latest design language. Mitsubishi doesn’t have much to say about this upcoming Nissan Qashqai rival, but rumor has it that it will  likely be known as the Eclipse . However, under the skin, it will have nothing in common with the  compact sports car , using a shortened  Outlander  platform. Furthermore, the  SUV , whose name has yet to be confirmed, is also expected to get the brand's S-AWC all-wheel drive system, along with a multi-link rear axle. The engine lineup should include a 1.5-liter turbocharged petrol unit, mated to a CVT and AWD, along with a 2.2-liter dies...

Subaru has just released a teaser image of the second-generation XV Crosstrek ahead of the vehicle’s world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show on March 7. The Japanese company markets the  XV  as a Sports Utility Vehicle but in reality, it is an Impreza hatchback with some off-road prowess and a reasonable ride-height. Nevertheless, it has proven popular enough since its 2011 debut to warrant a second iteration. Based on the teaser provided, it is immediately apparent that Subaru has drawn on the  XV Concept of last year  in designing the new model. As such, a new pair of taillights are immediately visible and appear slightly larger and more pointed than those of the outgoing XV.  Further styling upgrades include more pronounced body lines and curves running along both sides, a new set of wheels, updated taillights and an overall sportier profile. Despite these changes, the new XV will be very similar to the outgoing model. As a matter of fact, a manager from F...

Shelby American celebrates five decades from the birth of the original and famous Super Snake with a new, limited Anniversary Edition. The reveal took place at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction, with the 2017  Super Snake Mustang  to be offered in 500 units and starting from $69,995 MSRP.  Shelby American collaborated with Ford Performance on improving the suspension and upgrading the braking system with big Wilwood rotors and six-piston calipers. Ford’s 5.0-litre V8 is now supercharged and makes 670hp as standard, with optional superchargers on offer able to pump out over 750hp.  Shelby claims that a  ‘properly optioned’ Super Snake  can hit a 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds, on pump gas and Michelin street tires, and run the quarter mile in just 10.9 seconds. Each car will come with a Shelby serial number that’ll be registered in the official registry of the brand.  On the outside, the new Super Snake features a new hood, grille, front splitter, rear ...