BY AARON ROBINSON, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MORGAN SEGAL

Quicker than a Subaru WRX, this new Lancer model offers fun on the run.

Mitsubishi knows the name Ralliart isn’t spoken with much reverence among American gasoline punks. That should change. Mitsubishi has watched Subaru ring up healthy sales with the mid-grade WRX, which neatly slots between the 87-octane Impreza and the high-test STI. (more…)

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BY CSABA CSERE

Traction that finally matches the power and balanced handling.

As engine outputs have risen over the past 25 years, front-drive cars have migrated towards four-wheel-drive to give their over-burdened front tires a break. Even Saab has finally capitulated with this 9-3 Turbo X.

A Haldex 4.0 center coupling shifts as much as 90 percent of the engine’s 280-hp output to the rear wheels via electronically controlled wet clutches. Its little digital brain anticipates when power is needed in back even before the tires slip. An electronically controlled clutch pack in the rear diff prevents side-to-side slip, while the traction control takes care of the front wheels. (more…)

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BY JARED GALL

The GTI moves asymptotically closer to perfection.

A select handful of cars offers a rare level of all-around excellence that sets them on a plane seemingly untouchable by their competitors. Premium branding is often part of the price of admission to this level of perfection, but the people’s car company”Volkswagen”sees no reason it can’t play here, too, granting its R32 levels of polish and balance more often associated with pricier brands. (more…)

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BY TONY QUIROGA, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY

Despite its humongous size, it’s a pickup that’s easy to live with.

With the discontinuation of the Ford GT, we wondered, What’s the best vehicle in Ford’s lineup? After trying out the 2008 F-250 Super Duty, we’re thinking a case could be made for this pickup.

When put up against its classmates, the heavy-duty Dodge Ram and GM pickups, the redesigned 2008 Super Duty brings home an impressive report card. (more…)

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BY PATRICK BEDARD, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MORGAN SEGAL

Swedish Sportswear: The Volvo S40 four-door went in for spa treatment, came out 200 pounds lighter and looking absolutely Milano.

If a new model looks like fun”and this sparky little Volvo bobtail surely does”then its maker is figured to be shining up to the Hip, Hop, Kickin generation, those active lifestylers still 20 years short of their first wrinkle. And as it happens, Volvo admits to wistful longings for the 28-to-38 crowd”They don’t call, they never drop by!

But take it from us, there’s nothing about this perky C30 that’ll turn off the Modern Maturity set, starting with the base price of $23,445. A Volvo in sportswear is still a Volvo. (more…)

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BY ERIK JOHNSON, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JORDAN BROWN AND THE MANUFACTURER

The difference between paper and pavement is staggering.

Sixty mph in 4.8 seconds. A quarter-mile time of 13.6 seconds at 102 mph. Braking from 70 mph to a stop in 162 feet. On paper, it looks like this test subject is a mildly interesting performance car with an above-average ability to go and a somewhat ordinary ability to stop.

On pavement? Oh, on pavement the whole script flips. It isn’t until you whirl the wheel of the car to which those numbers are attached that you realize what an incredible machine you’re piloting. It amazes like a Dwyane Wade drive to the hole; nothing should be able to move the way it does. It is, in short, breathtaking. (more…)

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BY TONY SWAN, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY

They were thinking of calling it the 501.

The elasticity of all-new gets a test here, as Ford stretches the words to surround this large front-drive sedan, known previously as the Five Hundred. Tepid sales and a new CEO led to the revival of a once-bright nameplate, even though that name had been dumped after years of sedans whose appeal seemed limited mostly to rental fleets. (more…)

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BY AARON ROBINSON, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MORGAN SEGAL

Options are a mere $52,710.

Nabbing a Lamborghini for testing involves trying to chisel into a press-car calendar thick with celebrity-studded red-carpet parties hosted by the likes of Donatella Versace. It isn’t easy getting on the schedule. Lamborghini’s silk-suited brand managers are hyping a fantasy lifestyle, and we in the grubby Fourth Estate have nothing to offer against a Donatella photo op except burned-up clutches and chunked tires. (more…)

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BY DAVE VANDERWERP, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY

Connoisseurs wanted: BMW blesses Alpina’s super 7-series for the U.S.

In the company’s words, Alpina builds fine automobiles for the connoisseur. These are big-torque BMWs with automatic transmissions, more of a luxury bent than BMW’s own high-performance M cars.

The first thing one of these connoisseurs might notice on the Alpina B7”it amounts to a hot-rodded 7-series”are the mammoth, concept-car-worthy 21-inch, 20-spoke BBS wheels. That’s because they are simply spectacular to behold. And that’s before they start moving; then the spokes blend together in an envy-inducing blur. Splendid. (more…)

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BY AARON ROBINSON, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MORGAN SEGAL

Ferrari introduces the everyday Enzo.

Using your vehicle respecting the environment will be your contribution towards environmental protection, reads page seven of the Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano’s 198-page owner’s handbook. The manual diligently advises drivers to avoid sharp and frequent accelerations and to upshift at only 2/3rds of the speed permitted for each gear or, say, a modest 114 mph in fifth. (more…)

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