AUTOMOBILE101 BLOG

If we must remember that a kiss is just a kiss, then it seems doubly likely that a grin is just a grin. Not long ago  Motoring said it believed  Ford was working on a Fiesta RS ; when the mag asked  Ford  Performance Europe boss Leo Roeks if he planned something hotter than the  Fiesta ST , Roeks put on "a broad grin" and said, "I can't tell you, but I'm very busy." Turns out that grin meant nothing, at least according to  Ford  of Europe design director Amko Leenarts. He told Dutch publication  AutoRAI , "The performance of the new  Fiesta  ST is already such a high level that a more powerful model is not necessary." While Leenarts believes the Fiesta ST doesn't need any more performance juice beyond its 197 horsepower, the competition takes a different view. At the beginning of the year,  Volkswagen suggested its 197-hp Polo GTI  chassis leaves potential performance on the table, so a  harder, more powerful Polo  wo...

Th e outgoing Acura MDX has nothing to be ashamed of , but the thing about refreshes is that the engineers and product teams always have something to fine tune. Some of it is planned in advance — the cosmetic upgrades and the A-Spec trim were probably always part of the product roadmap. But there are also some tweaks that seem to be a response to customer feedback. Let's take a closer look. Most important, some of the goodies reserved only for the old Sport Hybrid will now be available on all  MDXs . Notably, the Active Damper System — a continuously adjustable valve that controls the flow of hydraulic fluid within the damper — is available on non-hybrid MDXs for the first time. The system has several settings, from plush to firm.  We found this system worked very well  on the Sport Hybrid during our first drive, so it's a useful upgrade that buyers will be able to readily appreciate. Next up is an A-Spec appearance trim, which looks sportier but doesn't offer any add...

Florida man ... it's a term that always delivers on its promise to readers. In today's installment, a Florida man was arrested after a woman complained that his vehicle had butted into the back of her car repeatedly in a McDonald's drive-thru line in Vero Beach. The woman pointed out the vehicle to a responding deputy, and the police report says the driver, Earle Stevens Jr., had an open bottle of Jim Beam in a brown paper bag in his front seat. As they made their introductions, he reportedly told the deputy he felt "pretty good." The deputy reports that Stevens said he'd never had a valid Florida  driver's license . When asked if he had been drinking, Stevens allegedly said yes. Ah, but not while driving, according to this distinction: "He further explained that he was not drinking while the car was moving and only when he stopped for stop signs and traffic signals," a court document states. Stevens allegedly said he'd had "about three ...

The Kawasaki Z900RS Café looks fantastically retro for a new bike. With some simple detailing and well-chosen colors, the bike looks like something built several decades ago — and it's coming to America, too,  as  Japanese Nostalgic Car  reports . The bike is inspired by the 1972 Kawasaki Z1 model, and it's based on the already retro Z900RS seen in the gallery above. True to the café racer ethos, it looks lighter and more agile than the RS. The racing-inspired cowl and the lower, blacked-out handlebars along with the higher seat give the bike a sportier look. Power comes from a 900cc straight-four, which makes 110 horsepower and 73 lb-ft of torque. The Z900RS version of the same engine has more power, and the Café's unit has been detuned, but Kawasaki claims this has been done to bring peak power 1000 rpm lower in the rev range to make it feel more old-school. There are three color choices, ranging from Stormcloud Blue to Metallic Graphite Gray and finally the very ...

Despite this lineup gap lasting for two decades, Lexus decided to finally attempt filling it with a seemingly quick-and-dirty solution: Lengthen the  RX 350 , shoehorn in a third row, add an L to the name, wipe hands together, call it a day. The resulting  2018 Lexus RX 350L  does indeed have a third row of seats and is generally a far superior vehicle to the GX. It's better to drive, massively more efficient, and its beautiful interior is up to the current Lexus norm. The cargo door doesn't swing into the curb. Plus, unlike some other slapped-together lengthened jobs over the years like the  Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT  or even the long-wheelbase  Range Rover , the  RX 350L  doesn't suffer visually for its extra inches. In fact, it can be difficult to tell the L apart from a non-L unless the two are parked together in profile. If everything, the extra 4.4 inches of length might actually improve the RX's proportions from certain angles. Of course,...

The next Mercedes-Benz S-Class  has been spied once again. This time, though, we get to see the redesigned flagship luxury sedan from outside  and the inside. The car still looks very evolutionary from the outside, but the inside suggests more radical updates.  Starting from the outside, we can tell that the overall profile of the car won't radically change. It's still a long, rear-drive sedan with graceful curves. The nose looks slimmer and lower than  the current model , thanks to headlights that appear to be sit lower and have less vertical area. We can also spot a clear crease that runs the length of the body and follows the curve of the window sills that sit just above it.  Inside, the S-Class seems to ditch what's become a signature Mercedes design: the ultra-wide tablet-style instrument panel. Instead of having one large rectangle encompass a pair of screens that stretch over the center stack, this prototype has just one screen in front of the driver. It'...

 Automakers are scrambling to ship vehicles to the United States to pre-empt possible higher tariffs, according to port data, port officials and logistics companies. Data from a number of U.S. ports showed a surge in vehicle exports and imports in May, as U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up pressure on China and Europe to drop tariffs on U.S. vehicles and make other changes to their trade practices. May is the most recent month for which figures are available. The Trump administration's tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports are due to go into effect at 0401 GMT on Friday, which is just after midday in Beijing. In the United States, the ports of Baltimore, Jacksonville, Florida; and Brunswick, Georgia - the three leading U.S. ports for importing automobiles - in May unloaded a combined 23,000 more cars than they did a year earlier. Auto exports out of Baltimore and Jacksonville that month were up 39 percent and 19 percent, respectively, port officials said. At the port of L...