The 2014 Toyota Avalon Hybrid is the type of a luxurious car that Lexus would design if it built a Toyota. Seriously, the big and luxurious sedan is not only comfortable and quiet but also extremely fuel efficient. In fact, the 2014 Toyota Avalon Hybrid gets a combined 40 MPG. We know it is economical, but is it fast?
In another accurate, fun and informative TFLcar video review Nathan and Roman test the 2014 Toyota Avalon Hybrid from 0-60 MPH in regular and Sport modes to see if Sport mode is any faster. Who will prevail: Nathan or Roman? Watch this to find out.
The Lamborghini Huracán is an all-new vehicle that sports a 610 horsepower (at 8,250 rpm), 5.2-liter V10 that makes 413 lbs-feet of torque (560 Nm) at 6,500 rpm. This is a direct-injected engine known as “Iniezione Diretta Stratificata” which makes a cleaner, meaner machine. According to Lamborghini, the top speed of the Lamborghini Huracán is about 202 mph (325 km/h) and 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) takes just 3.2 seconds. Despite the massive performance, the Lamborghini Huracán complies with EU6 emissions regulations.
Sweet mother of speed – it’s painfully sexy.
“The power of the V10 engine is brought to the road via the new 7-speed dualclutch transmission ”Lamborghini Doppia Frizione” (LDF) and fully electronically controlled four-wheel drive system. The different driving modes of the Huracán can be selected via a driving dynamics selector switch in the steering wheel – from traction-oriented on the road to extreme performance on the race track,with three setups of the dynamics system: STRADA, SPORT and CORSA. The different modes ensure extensive modification in road behavior of the Huracán.
In particular they influence the set-ups of several systems, such as the gearbox and engine behavior, the sound, the four-wheel-drive system and electronic stability control. The Huracán’s carbon-ceramic brakes are a standard feature for consistently superb braking performance. The ”Lamborghini Dynamic Steering” variable steering ratio system and magneto-rheologic suspension damper control are both available as options for further customization of the Huracán’s dynamic behavior. They are also calibrated via the three different dynamic set-ups.” – – Lamborghini Media
The Huracán name is based on a fighting bull (Spanish Conte de la Patilla breed) from 1879.
“The interior is dominated by an innovative cockpit. A 12.3 inch full-color TFT instrument panel delivers all car information to the driver, from rev counter to navigation maps and infotainment functions, and can be configured by the driver in different setups. Fine Nappa leather and Alcantara distinguish the interior, with several color combinations offered to ensure broad individualization options. The design of dashboard and central tunnel underline a new lightness inthe interior. Superb craftsmanship guarantees the highest quality and sense of luxury throughout.
Systematic lightweight design and Automobili Lamborghini’s extensive expertise in carbon fiber come together in the Huracán’s new hybrid chassis — an integrated structure of carbon and aluminum elements. With a dry weight of 1,422 kg it enables not only the excellent power-to-weight ratio of just 2.33 kilograms per horse power, but also guarantees race-car precision without standing stiffness.” – – Lamborghini Media
The Lamborghini Huracán will be produced at the Automobili Lamborghini headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese. The Lamborghini Huracán will make its world public debut at the Geneva Motorshow 2014 and delivery to the first customers is planned for the spring of 2014.
Speaking of the Lamborghini Gallardo, check out this golden oldie video with Roman in a Lamborghini near Rome.
Easily amused by anything with four wheels, Nathan Adlen reviews vehicles from the cheapest to the most prestigious. Wrecking yards, dealer lots, garages, racetracks, professional automotive testing and automotive journalism – Nathan has experienced a wide range of the automotive spectrum. His words, good humor and videos are enjoyed worldwide.
Here’s Lamborghini’s take on the Huracán’s styling and design: The new Huracán revolutionizes the design language of the Gallardo and is pure in its lines: precise technology and top level craftsmanship meet an audacious design with sharp edges, monolithic and sculptured volumes and precise surfaces. The starting point is the silhouette of the Huracán, born out of the desire of creating an automobile, whose profile is defined by only one line that merges the front with the cockpit and the rear of the car. The lateral windows come together to create a hexagonal form inserted like a glass jewel in the car’s profile.
Also by night is the Huracán unmistakably a Lamborghini. Not only are the main headlamps equipped with full LED illumination, but all other light functions also feature state-of-the-art LED technology as a standard feature for the first time in the segment.
It’s not at all unusual to see someone trying to sell their car on Craigslist, nor is it unusual for someone to shoot some video to accompany the listing, but making it so good that Nissan buys back their own car, now that’s something.
The brilliant ad was created by Luke Aker of Ikonik Films in order to sell his 1996 Nissan Maxima. What was so special about the car? Nothing. Not a darn thing. In fact, the old girl has some serious wear and tear.
The seats are worn to the point of splitting open to reveal their yellow foam-filled innards. There appears to be a missing light or two. Oh, and the front bumper is being held on buy a ratchet strap. It is, in every sense of the word, a used car.
Yet Aker made a video worthy of a newly launched supercar. It’s got grainy black and white images to show, I don’t know, the coolness of old stuff? It’s got a voiceover by a very refined British gentleman, and it’s got clips of the car in all its glory or lack thereof. He then topped it all off my naming the video “Luxury Defined.”
This crazy video was so good that it caught Nissan’s attention who then promptly bought the car for $1,400 in cold hard cash. They rebought their own car. Now the question is, what to do with the thing? They’re actually turning to the public for ideas and, whoa baby, are there some doozies out there.
Some are suggesting they fix it back up to its former glory and then auction it off for charity. There’s also talk of pimping it out into something worthy of the Fast & The Furious franchise. A few people would like to see it with a jet engine and some would like to see it meet its doom in grand, fiery style. You have to wonder how the heck the people at Nissan are every going to make a choice!
Here’s the video that started it all…
And here’s our video of a much newer, shinier 2013 Nissan Altima vs Maxima 0-60 Mashup Review…
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.
We need your help. We want to tell the unknown story of Czech Auto maker Tatra with an epic trip from Prague, CZ to Pebble Beach, CA in a 50-year-old Tatra 603.
This year the world’s most prestigious auto show will feature classic Tatra cars in a special class in 2014. We plan to document the story of Tatra by driving a Tatra 603 from the car’s home country to the trim and neat fairways of the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Tatra is the third oldest car manufacturer in the world after Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot, yet if you were to ask your neighbor, chances are they’d never heard of the storied Czechoslovakian car and truck builder. Yet Tatra, and their chief engineer, Hans Ledwinka, played a direct and influential role in the design of the car that you and your neighbor are driving today.
In fact, Tatra has such and important role in the design of today’s cars that the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is celebrating the historical Czech Automotive brand with a special class this year.
We will be announcing more updates on a regular basis: details of our route and who the guest drivers will be. You can also go to Prague to Pebble or Bust page for more details.
Being known as the safety-minded automaker, Volvo has proved it once again with their 2014 Volvo S80 sedan earning a 2014 Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The new safety standards set by the IIHS include the small overlap test; a test that has proven difficult for many automakers. Volvo says, “In the test, 25 per cent of the front end on the driver’s side strikes a 5-foot-high rigid barrier at 40 mph (64 km/h)” It is the equivalent to hitting a tree, guardrail, utility pole or another vehicle.
“Our safety cage features a robust design with a blend of different steel qualities. The new IIHS test programme confirms the exceptional crashworthiness of this patented solution. Similar mixes of steel qualities are used in all current Volvo models, and the technology will be further enhanced in the upcoming models developed on our Scalable Product Architecture,” says Thomas Broberg, Senior Safety Advisor at Volvo Car Group.
Volvo is reasserting themselves into the North American market with a slew of new or highly revised vehicles. The 2014 Volvo S80 represents the top of the line of the Volvo product line. The 2014 Volvo S80 is their largest and most luxurious sedan. The 2014 Volvo S80 represents one of the vehicles Volvo is trying to make so safe that it will (one day) eradicate death and serious injury in accidents.
“The IIHS Top Safety Pick+ emphasizes the sustainability of our safety leadership. We are moving closer to our aim that by 2020 no one should be injured or killed in a new Volvo. Our long-term vision is that cars should not crash,” adds Thomas Broberg.
Institutions like the IIHS will begin testing and rating vehicles for collision avoidance systems. Auto braking, collision avoidance and pedestrian safety will (eventually) be rated on IIHS’ Top Safety Pick+ scale.
“We welcome that the major rating institutes are now beginning to integrate collision avoiding technologies into their test programmes. This gives consumers a better insight into the advantages of auto brake systems. It will also drive the implementation of these technologies through the vehicle fleet,” says Thomas Broberg.
Speaking of safe vehicles, check out the safety and security of all-wheel drive with this 2015 Subaru WRX review!
Easily amused by anything with four wheels, Nathan Adlen reviews vehicles from the cheapest to the most prestigious. Wrecking yards, dealer lots, garages, racetracks, professional automotive testing and automotive journalism – Nathan has experienced a wide range of the automotive spectrum. His words, good humor and videos are enjoyed worldwide.
Windshield wipers are a standard feature on cars for obvious reasons but that might not be the case for long if McLaren has their way. They’re currently in the process of developing a system that will keep your windshield clear without the need of those pesky, streak-prone wiper blades.
This is where it all starts to go a little high-tech sci-fi. The system they’re developing is based on one used in fighter jets and involves high frequency sound waves. You know that sound a dentist’s drill makes? It’s sort of like that but without all the unpleasant dental side effects.
The general idea is to have ultrasonic transducers bounce waves across the windshield. These would in turn keep rain, snow and all those bug guts in the summer from sticking.
It’s hard to imagine not needing windshield wipers, but there was a time when drivers had to make do without them or any way of clearing things up to see. The first windshield wipers came into use in 1903 and were patented by an American property developer named Mary Anderson
Her not at all high tech invention was a simple arm with a rubber blade that was operated by the driver using a lever. It was seen as being a possible safety hazard due to the distraction of the blades cutting across your vision, but by 1916 they were pretty much standard in all cars.
McLaren is keeping quiet about the exact details of how their new system will work because they don’t want anyone else getting it figured out first. If they’re successful, then we should see the first cars with this new technology rolling off the line sometime in 2015.
Those cars will, being McLarens, be priced out of most people’s reach at $250,000 plus, but if the technology is successful, then it will eventually find its way to the mass market. Get ready to say goodbye to your wipers.
Check out this video of another great British car, one that still has wipers…
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.
TFLcar is starting a new “How-to” video series with our Technology Editor – Nicole Wakelin. This time it’s about pairing your Windows smartphone to a 2014 BMW 335i GT and its iDrive system. The iDrive system has been updated for most 2014 models with a faster processing power and a new iDrive Touch controller. However, the basic iDrive featured remain the same across all recent BMWs.
Watch this video to see how to pair a Windows smartphone with BMW’s latest iDrive system:
Steps:
1. Make sure car and phone are both on.
2. From main menu, Select “Multimedia”.
3. Select “Connections” at the bottom.
4. Under Bluetooth, select “Add New Device”.
5. Select “Bluetooth” on Windows smartphone, under “System Applications”.
6. “Tap to pair” on BMW from smartphone menu.
7. Click “OK” on smartphone and BMW to confirm the pairing code.
Get past their odd names and you may find that the 2013 Ford C-MAX and its sister C-MAX Energi are surprisingly good hybrid crossover vehicles.
STATS
Starting Retail Price
As Tested Price
HP / Lb-Ft
2013 Ford C-MAX Energi
$32,950
$32,950
188 / 129
EPA Rating MPG
As Tested MPG
Rating: BUY IT!
44 / 41 Combined 43
New for 2013, the C-MAX/C-MAX Energi front-drive, four-door compact hatchbacks are virtually unchanged for 2014. They’re designed to directly compete with the top-selling Toyota Prius V and seat five, although the center of the rear seat of the C-MAX Energi I tested is too stiff for longer trips.
The C-MAX and C-MAX Energi use a two-liter four-cylinder gas engine and electric motor. Both have a combined 188-horsepower rating, which gives them lively acceleration and good highway performance, although they’re rather heavy.
The transition between electric and battery power is seamless. Both use a smooth CVT automatic transmission.
The main difference between the C-MAX and C-MAX Energi is that the C-MAX is a gas/electric hybrid, while the C-MAX Energi is a gas/electric hybrid that calls for a battery plug-in, using a standard 120-volt outlet or a 240-volt charging station.
The 2013 C-MAX lists at $25,200-$28,365, while the Energi costs $32,950. Those prices don’t include a $795 destination charge.
All versions are well equipped with comfort, convenience and safety equipment—unlike some gas-electric or battery-only cars. We’re talking about everything from multi-zone automatic air conditioning, cruise control, keyless entry, and power windows and mirrors. The higher-line $28,365 SEL hybrid adds a power driver seat, heated front leather seats, rear parking aid and keyless start.
The C-MAX reportedly can travel on full-electric mode for about 20 miles at speeds below 62 m.p.h. The Energi plug-in version can travel on electric power alone for about 20 miles at speeds up to 60 m.p.h.
Those, at least, are the claims. As with any electric car, much depends on how aggressively the C-MAX and C-MAX Energi are driven (no jack-rabbit starts!), cold temperatures, number of power-draining accessories used, etc.
The C-MAX Energi, which I tested, reportedly has an overall range of 500 miles. But figuring out fuel economy and driving range with gas/electric hybrids is a headache. For instance, the price sticker on the C-MAX Energi says it’s estimated to get 43 miles per gallon “on gasoline only,” but the car’s computer only read 37 MPG during fairly average driving, using battery and gas power. Some hybrid electric car buyers have complained about optimistic EPA fuel-economy ratings. (Editor Note: EPA website list the 2013 Ford C-MAX at 44 MPG city / 41 MPG highway and 43 MPG combine on gasoline, and 100 eMPG combined.)
The C-MAX is acceptably styled, with a low, aggressive-looking front end that distinguishes it—not that it could be easily found in a large, crowded parking lot. All doors open wide to reveal a nicely finished, quiet interior. Front seats offer good side support, although tall drivers may feel they need more thigh support. And one wonders why there are twin lights on each sun visor if the car is designed to conserve every bit of electricity.
The backlit gauges can be easily read, and there’s a range of instruments related to the electric power system that some will find interesting to glance at—at least initially. Mainly, I suspect drivers likely will be most interested in the miles-per-gallon reading.
Front console cupholders are handy, and there is a seemingly bottomless covered storage bin on the console. All doors have storage pockets. A fold-down center rear armrest contains dual cupholders.
My test car’s $3,080 option group contained items including a handy power hatch, rearview camera, parking technology package and automatic parking. There’s also an $1,195 panoramic sunroof.
The power electric steering is firm, but accurate and feels reassuring. The C-MAX Energi tracked well at highway speeds. Handling was agile, although the car’s weight could be felt in sweeping curves and during quick maneuvers. Traction and stability controls help keep things on an even keel when moving quickly through curves.
The ride is supple. And the brakes stop the car quickly, but feel a little touchy due to a regenerative braking system that helps fuel economy. Apply the brakes and a driver sees symbols on a dashboard diagram that let him know the system is working.
Forget regular cargo space with the C-MAX Energi, as the batteries consume nearly all trunk room. However, the 60/40 split rear seatbacks fold flat, forming a large cargo area.
A prop rod holds the heavy lined hood open, if one dares mess with any of the under-hood electronics. However, fluid-filler areas can be easily reached.
While the C-MAX/C-MAX Energi is primarily a practical car, it’s enjoyable to drive and a nice piece of automotive engineering.
On the TFLcar scale of:
Buy it!
Lease it!
Rent it!
… or Forget it!
I give the 2013 Ford C-MAX Energi a Buy It!
Check out this fun and informative TFL video of the 2013 Ford C-MAX Energi:
Dan Jedlicka joined the Chicago Sun-Times in February 1968 as a business news reporter and was named auto editor later that year. He has reviewed more than 4,000 new vehicles for the Sun-Times–far more than any newspaper auto writer in the country. Jedlicka also reviewed vehicles for Microsoft Corp.’s MSN Autos Internet site from January, 1996, to June, 2008. For more of Dan’s thoughtful and insightful reviews please visit his web site HERE.
The 2026 Kia K4 hatchback gives interested buyers another option in a time where hatches have been losing ground to crossovers. Here are all the details!
Jeep says the Jeep Wrangler 392 V8 is about to meet its maker...but with recent developments at Stellantis we're skeptical that's actually going to happen.
