Cars

On the face of it, it’s funny how many people give their car a name. A lump of smoky metal you drive hither and thither hardly seems worth investing with a soul and a title, no matter how smooth the ride is, how much power the engine produces, or how great the deal is on its car insurance.

But people do fall in love with their cars and end up giving them a personality – so it’s not just common a VW be dubbed or a Chrysler be christened,

Word on the street is that the all-new compact Nissan Sylphy that was revealed at the 2012 Beijing Auto will be introduced into the North American markets as the 2013 Nissan Sentra. I’m glad the car is coming here and not that silly name.

Nissan stated that the 2013 Sentra will be “based on the Sylphy” but we’re pretty sure that the difference between the two cars will be minimal and limited to trim accents and such. The pictures below show wood trim on the Sylphy which will likely be removed on the 2013 Sentra.  This new design appears to have borrowed design cues from the older sister, the new Nissan Altima which happens to be a beautiful car.

The Scamander all-terrain amphibious vehicle is the creation of Peter Wheeler, former owner of British sports car maker TVR. The unique looking vehicle is built to perform on the road, rough terrain, and even on water. The Scamander concept started back in 2003 but Peter Wheeler never did see the completion of the project as he passed away in 2009.

Wheeler’s wife and a team of engineers continued to work on the project to completion as Peter Wheeler would have wanted. Although the Scamander performs very well off-road, the vehicle is actually rear-wheel drive and powered by a 3.0-liter Ford Duratec V6 and features a four-speed automatic gearbox.

McLaren’s street car offerings have doubled (to two) with the introduction of the all-new MP4-12C Spider.  The car features a retractable hard-top, making it the second mid-engine car with a retractable hard-top (the 458 Italia Spider was the first).

The McLaren MP4-12C Spider transforms from a coupe to a convertible in less than 17 seconds with the flip of a switch on the lower center console.  The roof can be raised and lowered while the car is traveling at speeds of up to 19 mph (30 km/h).

I wasn’t aware Land Rover was working on an all-new Range Rover lineup for the 2013 model year, but thanks to our Russian comrades who got a hold of some unofficial pictures of the 2013 Range Rover, we can now see the luxury SUV in all its glory.  I’m sure Land Rover will be releasing a full press package soon with more pictures and full specs, and I’m also sure they’re not very happy with autowp.ru for ruining the surprise.

The first thing you’ll notice with the 2013 Range Rover is how similar it looks to the Ford Flex, but with design elements from the Evoque – especially in the front of the vehicle.  I’m guessing the Rover looks like the Flex because in these pictures, the Land Rover’s suspension is in the low position, giving it the same long look of the Ford Flex.

All eyes are on the 2012 Paris Motor Show and car manufacturers from all over the world are bringing out all their secret little toys they’ve been working on. The ultimate driving machine, BMW, is showcasing their new BMW M Performance Power Kit at this year’s show in Paris. The power kit is only for the 2.0-liter diesel variants in the 1, 3, and 5 Series.

Reprogramming of the ECU and a larger charge air cool boost helps the 2.0-liter motor increase horsepower from 184 to 200. The maximum torque is also improved from 280 ft-lb to 310 ft-lb of torque. These performance enhancements allow the 120d, 320d, and 520d to improve their acceleration of 0-100km/h by up to one second compared to the standard models.

The Toyota Avalon is a car that we normally wouldn’t write about because it’s ugly, boring, not luxurious enough, and mainly because it’s driven by people who are over 100 years old.  Toyota is trying to change the Avalon’s image by introducing a sportier new model for 2013.

The 2013 Toyota Avalon does look like it will appeal to younger buyers, buyers who are in their 60’s, which is a big step forward ;).  But seriously, it doesn’t look too bad and is a major improvement over the previous bland models.  I like the side view and the rear end is pretty sexy (as sexy as an Avalon can get)