crossovers

  • The CW Is Planning A Major Four-Way Superhero TV Crossover

    Crossovers have fuelled the comic book world for decades. The CW have announced that the network is gearing up for a mega four-way crossover with Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. Now that Supergirl has officially moved from CBS to The CW for its second season, the network’s chief Mark Pedowitz told reporters at its upfront presentation, “It.

  • 5 Fast Facts: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica

    Chrysler says its all-new 2017 Pacifica will re-invent the minivan segment, offering higher-than-ever levels of technology, functionality, and versatility. The new Pacifica, which replaces the outgoing 2016 Chrysler Town & Country, comes with a gasoline or hybrid powertrain, with the hybrid version achieving the equivalent of up to 80 mpg in city driving, per the EPA. ...

  • 2017 Ford Escape

    Ford attempts a greater Escape.

  • Early-Build Tesla Model X SUVs Face Quality Issues

    Michael Karpf flew earlier this month to the Tesla Motors factory in Fremont, Calif., to pick up his new Model X electric sport-utility vehicle—known for a 200-plus mile battery range and Tesla C...<br clear='all'/>

  • Russian Counterterror Troops Tackle Training Exercise With One Heck of a Bang

    No serious injuries, but someone's ears are going to be ringing. ​

  • 1,100 Miles, One Old Car, Many Epiphanies

    Jamie Kitman scratches the itch of buying an old car and driving it a thousand miles home, in search of America's lost character.

  • Lincoln sees strong initial demand for new Continental

    The car that Lincoln says will be responsible for reinventing its image and its portfolio has 40,000 potential buyers. The 2017 Continental flagship sedan has generated a considerable amount of interest among the media, and now Ford Motor Company's [NYSE:F] luxury division has put a figure on the number of people it says have expressed considerable interest. According to Automotive News (subscription required), Lincoln told dealers gathered at the NADA Convention last weekend that its pre-sale "hand-raiser" list of interested parties for the Continental has exceeded that of its new MKX, which went on sale for the 2016 model year.

  • Volkswagen Goes Whimsical With T-Cross Breeze SUV

    For a company still grappling with a scandal over diesel emissions, Volkswagen has chosen a strangely happy concept car to reveal at the Geneva Motor Show.

  • Tips for Safe Winter Driving

    Winter driving brings inherent risks. But you can put the odds in your favor with proper preparation, car maintenance, and driving techniques. Keeping up with car maintenance year-round is impor...<br clear='all'/>

  • American Road Deaths Spiked In 2015, And No One Knows Why

    In the past decade, American roads have grown marginally safer to motorists and pedestrians, with the lowest annual death toll ever in 2014 Today, traffic safety officials warned that those trends reversed last year with a vengeance.

  • One Company Is Selling Location Data for Billions of License Plates to Police

    A private company called Vigilant Solutions owns 2.2 billion photographs of car and truck licenses. Is this a violation of privacy? ​

  • Car Hacking Growing More Likely, Security Experts Say

    Automotive software experts say the question isn't whether hackers can take control of a vehicle, but when a group will pull it off successfully.

  • Lamborghini's Hong Kong dealer has two $4.5 million Veneno Roadsters in stock

    Let me ask you a question: What's better than one $4.5-million, 740-horsepower Lamborghini Veneno Roadster? The answer is two, of course. See also: End of an era: Land Rover Defender production stops today If the car's looks, power and price tag weren't staggering enough, realizing that only nine of the hypercars were ever built and this sight becomes even more impressive. Image: Lamborghini Hong Kong I call it not a sports car or supercar but rather a hypercar for good reason. The 6.5-liter V12 engine will rocket the Veneno to 60 mph from a standstill in 2.9 seconds on the way to its 220-mile-per-hour top speed. And occupants get to experience all the sonorous splendor of that powerful V12, too, as the Roadster offers no roof. Now, I don't mean that they can remove the roof, etc. Instead, the Roadster simply has no roof at all. Understandably, you will want to check the weather report before you leave the house in it. Image: Lamborghini Hong Kong While certainly rare, the Veneno Roadster is virtually commonplace compared to the Veneno Coupe of which Lamborghini only built two. Likely, you'll never see those two parked side by side in a dealership window. But I am hoping we will anyway. So, if you happen to be in Hong Kong, rush over and check these beauties out for yourself. And tweet me a pic or two, won't you? Image: Lamborghini Hong Kong <em></em>

  • Crazy Money Turning ‘70s Pontiac Trans Ams Into $100,000 Cars

    Let’s say you’re a fan of the second-generation Pontiac Trans Am, that dying ember of the ‘60s muscle-car that made up for what it lacked in horsepower with “screaming chicken” graphics and “Smokey and the Bandit” fame. You can buy a clean, well-cared for example for roughly $10,000—or at least you could until Pontiac owners see this week’s sales results from the Barrett-Jackson auction in Arizona, where Trans Ams have suddenly, puzzlingly, soared to record high prices. Pontiac built 117,108 in 1979 alone, and in the era of smog-controlled V-8s, the fastest factory car of the era would lose a drag race to a Toyota Camry V-6 today with daylight to spare.

  • Here’s How A Chrysler Pacifica Hellcat Might Have Looked

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE:FCAU] has no plans to drop its supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V-8, aka the Hellcat, into the engine bay of the all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, but the automaker’s top designer Ralph Gilles was game enough to draw up a quick sketch of how such a vehicle might be styled, which he posted to his Instagram account.Gilles is a designer who regular takes to the track so it’s easy to see why he’d be motivated to draw up a potential Pacifica Hellcat. The design certainly looks mean but we have to wonder if it would even be possible to fit the Hellcat in the Pacifica.

  • 2016 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h Recalled To Replace Faulty Airbags

    Toyota has issued a recall for roughly 5,000 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h crossovers from the 2016 model year. According to the automaker, the driver's knee airbag module on those vehicles may not have been properly manufactured. As a result, the device may not properly deploy during a collision, which could increase the risk of injury to drivers. It's important to note that this recall isn't related to the ongoing recall of Takata airbags, which now affects around 24 million vehicles in the U.S. While the official Takata recall list includes several Toyota models, it contains only one Lexus: the 2002-2007 Lexus SC. Toyota says that owners of affected Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h models will be notified by mail. After receiving those recall notices, owners will be able to take their vehicles to Lexus dealers, who will inspect and, if necessary, replace the driver's knee airbag. There's no charge for the fix.   For up-to-date information about these and other Toyota recalls, owners are encouraged to visit Toyota.com/recall and run a search using their vehicle identification number, or VIN. Owners are also encouraged to call Lexus Customer Service with questions at 1-800-255-3987.

  • Why you may see more Jeep vehicles on the road

    Fiat Chrysler on Wednesday said that it will build more of its popular Jeep and RAM pickups at its North America plants.

  • Driving The 275-HP Ford Focus ST That You Can Build Today

    Conventional wisdom says 300 horsepower is about the practical limit for a front-wheel-drive car. The Ford Focus ST Mountune MP275 would seem to tread perilously close to that grey area between fun and terrifying.

  • What Cars The Presidential Candidates Should Drive

    From pickups to hybrid SUVs, cars play a huge role in a politician's image. Here's what the current crop of presidential hopefuls should consider:

  • 10 Fuel-Sipping Hatchbacks Worth Having In 2016

    Want to cut fuel costs but still cram in a bunch of cargo? Welcome to the hatchback.

  • 10 of the Most Obscure, Offbeat Muscle Cars

    Most car enthusiasts know about Chevelles and Barracudas, but these cars are equally fantastic.

  • 2017 Chrysler Pacifica: A ‘Paradigm Shift’ For Minivans, As Dodge Preps Crossover

    The debut of the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica marks a lot more than a name change and a new, sixth-generation version of Chrysler’s minivans. For one, it’s the first minivan on the U.S. market to get a plug-in hybrid version, the Pacifica Hybrid, which will offer 30 miles of pure electric driving on a charge. Secondly, it signals a new direction for these vans—not just in their far more flamboyant styling, but in a package that for the first time won’t be essentially mimicked with a Dodge version. The Grand Caravan and its sliding side doors on the way out, to be replaced this next year by a model that’s expected to offer comparable three-row seating and space but characteristically brawnier Dodge styling and hinged rear doors. <strong>ALSO SEE: Jeep Wrangler Pickup Confirmed: Future Rival To The Ford Ranger?</strong> Last week at the Detroit Auto Show we caught up with Tim Kuniskis, the North American head of passenger-car brands for Dodge, SRT, Chrysler, and Fiat, for some more details. And while he wouldn’t reveal any more information about the Grand Caravan’s replacement, found out a lot more about the how and why the Pacifica took the form it did. <strong>Chrysler minivans winnowed down to one—Pacifica</strong> “It’s going to be ultimately the only minivan in the portfolio, going head-to-head against a long list of mainstream competitors,” said Kuniskis. “So making sure we had all the right package and content, and being able to price this vehicle... you’ll see that we’ll be lined up well against our competitors in the segment.” The Pacifica is built on what’s called the RU platform. The RU vehicles don’t share any likeness, components, or geometric “hard points” with the RT predecessors, which arrived in 2008; and it’s not related to the “short wide” platform that underpins the Jeep Cherokee, among others. It was entirely developed by Chrysler’s U.S. engineering team, with scalability and the easy addition of all-wheel drive in mind, and it can apply to cars, vans, or SUVs, down to compact (D) size. Kiniskis says that the team wanted to overcome the “mental image of a minivan,” and decided on the name change from Town & Country to Pacifica “because as we moved through the development of the vehicle we realized that this is a complete, revolutionary change.” <strong>Not the first time Pacifica has signaled a sea change</strong> Reviving the nameplate might not be a positive to everyone, as the previous Pacifica did suffer from some quality issues—such as transmission woes—but it was noteworthy in design, as one of the first SUVs to undergo a rather revolutionary change, pitting it against the Lexus RX in some respects. Even today, Kuniskis says, they found that the name has “good consideration and awareness.” The spark for emphasizing design this time around came in part from the strong (and mostly positive) reception of the Chrysler 700C Concept from four years ago, which was an early test of the waters for more radical change. Then, Chrysler then wasn't sure what kind of reception the van might get from the press, and thus revealed it in "stealth mode," quietly unveiling it on the auto-show stand, without a conference or immediate press release. “We kind of tested the boundaries of how far can you push the design of a minivan [with the 700C],” Kuniskis said. “From that stage, we took several design concepts out to research, and invited several CUV and minivan intenders to come out and see it. At the end of the day, he says, the takeaway message was that they wanted a stylish vehicle but didn’t want to compromise on the space and comfort of a minivan. “We pushed the design as far as we could,” he added. <strong>A new opportunity with Millennials</strong> Putting more emphasis on design and technology also goes over well with Millennials, who are having kids and looking for family vehicles—and in many cases, entering the vehicle market for the first time, without the preconceptions that Gen X parents had about minivans. The automaker clearly has some big sales hopes for the Pacifca. Chrysler is targeting as many sales as for the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country combined—or about 190,000 sales this past year, when they were down somewhat as the result of four months of assembly plant retooling. On the Chrysler side, the next big step is building the brand, Kuniskis concedes. “You know when you look for well-defined brands in the marketplace, it’s either a product attribute that helps people define the brand, or it’s an emotional, aspirational connection that helps people want to connect with that brand,” he said. “On Dodge we have product plus bad-boy attitude; we’ve got to do a better job identifying a product attribute and an emotional connection for Chrysler, and that’s our next job.” ___________________________________________ <em>Follow The Car Connection on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.</em>

  • The Old And The Beautiful Compete For New Money At RM Sotheby’s

    Flashier, newer cars aren't always more valuable to collectors than more ancient metal, and nothing demonstrates that better than these three oldsters from RM Sotheby's Arizona sale.

  • The Best Small Crossovers, And Why You May Want One

    Tiny crossovers, a segment no one even considered 10 years ago, have quickly become the hottest selling type of new vehicle. Little crossovers make a lot of sense for drivers looking for better gas mileage and more utility.

  • These numbers terrify GM, Ford and the other automakers

    Driving isn’t cool any more.

  • 2017 GMC Acadia: First Look

    GMC’s new runner looks surprisingly masculine, and meaty. It’s a vehicle I’d drive without shame. The whopping 700 lbs. diet is due in part to a significant shrinking of the SUV, both in terms of length and width, squarely placing it in the midsize crossover division. Those weight savings grant you 28 mpg on the highway and an estimated 22 in the city, using the standard 2.5-liter motor.