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 MARK GILLIES

In case the F430 wasn’t fast (or good) enough.

The great thing about the 430 Scuderia”a faster, lighter, and even more compelling version of the F430”is that Ferrari didn’t have to make it. Automakers create new versions of their existing models to stimulate sales, but with North American waiting lists at two years for the F430, Ferrari didn’t need to drum up showroom traffic.

Ferrari people say the primary reason for building the Scuderia is that it showcases the company’s racing technology in a street car. Another reason is that, historically, Ferrari has built more extreme versions of its entry-level sports car, going back to the F355 Challenge in 1995. And Lamborghini, its northern-Italian rival, has just introduced the Gallardo Superleggera, while Porsche, its perennial competitor, is continually making go-faster versions of the 911. (more…)

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BY STEVEN COLE SMITH, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JARED HOLSTEIN

The ‘all-new’ Liberty gets no powertrain improvements and a Dodge Nitro“like makeover. Will a Trail Rated badge and a mondo sunroof be enough to make it sell?

Jeep debuted the Liberty for model-year 2002 as the replacement for the 18-year-old Cherokee. The company was hopeful that it could move maybe 160,000 copies of the Liberty in the U.S. per year, and even now, the little SUV that could still does. Jeep sold 133,557 of them in 2006”that’s down from almost 167,000 in 2005, but it’s still a respectable number.

The company figured a six-year model run is long enough, and so the second-generation Liberty debuts at the New York auto show. To what extent Jeep is changing the looks of what has been, next to the Grand Cherokee, its bestseller”well, that’s a bit of a surprise. As with the larger Commander, Jeep has taken the 2008 Liberty in a moderately retro direction to the point where, as the photos suggest, it looks like a slightly shrunken Commander and uncomfortably close to its mechanical twin, the Dodge Nitro. And since the Commander has not exactly been flying out of dealerships, even with $3000 rebates, we’d suspect there’s a little trepidation at HQ in Auburn Hills, Michigan, not to mention at the assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio. (more…)

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BY AARON ROBINSON

The graying roadster attacks the track.

Warning! Auto racing is spectacular and exciting, but can be dangerous! The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course posts this caution next to the drivers bathrooms, so it’s probably worth repeating in this introduction to the Honda S2000 CR. For the CR”the initials stand for Club Racer”is about rubber-chunking, brake-burning, wall-fanning track work. You wouldn’t really want the shale-stiff CR for anything else, which is perhaps why Honda plans to sell only 1400 copies of the circa-$38,000 CR in 2008. (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 ALISA PRIDDLE

Pacifica output takes a mini break to meet dealer demand for minivans, while Chrysler also prepares to build VW minivans next year.

Consumers waiting for the launch of the new 2008 Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Grand Caravan take heart. Chrysler this week marked the production launch of the new minivans with the segment’s most innovative seating, at its Windsor, Ontario, Canada, plant. The people movers should be arriving in showrooms in October.

To ensure enough to meet high dealer demand, Chrysler is temporarily halting production of its Pacifica crossover in Windsor to dedicate the entire plant to minivan output for a couple months. The Pacifica will be reintroduced in late September or early October. (more…)

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BY STEVE SILER

You think Bond would approve? Actually, he already did.

To most James Bond movie hounds, Daniel Craig was the star of the most recent James Bond film, Casino Royale. But we speculate that most Car and Driver readers were more interested in seeing his new ride, the Aston Martin DBS, than the hunky new Bond boy. Unfortunately, Bond rendered the slinky supercoupe’s appearance to more of a cameo than a starring role, choosing to roll it several times in a ditch to save his damsel in distress within just minutes of hitting the engine start button for the first time (indeed, some of us might have chosen to save the car). (more…)

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BY ERIK JOHNSON

A turbocharger roosts under the HHR’s retro-styled hood.

As Chrysler uses Detroit’s annual Woodward Dream Cruise to roll out another snoozer special edition of the extremely long-in-the-tooth PT Cruiser”this time the Sunset Boulevard Cruiser, inspired by a street 2300 miles and several tax brackets away from Motown’s famed avenue”Chevrolet has decided to inject a little bit of muscle into the event. Make that a very little bit of muscle, because the bow-tie brand has seen fit to unleash upon the world the Chevrolet HHR SS, which is, of course, based on the diminutive HHR trucklet. (more…)

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