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 STEVE SILER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MORGAN J. SEGAL

The quickest BMW you can get that doesn’t start with an M (until the 135i arrives, that is).

It used to be easy to write about the BMW 3-series. For the most part, we knew what we were gonna say before we ever got in the car. On the other hand, there were nuances about the character of the car that were extremely hard to put into words to convey just how good these cars feel. But we’d try, and it usually came out in the form of unbridled praise for perfect steering, elegant interior simplicity, and a brilliant ride-and-handling balance.

Maybe BMW got bored of hearing the same thing over and over again, because suddenly we had to come up with new words to describe the 3: controversially styled, technologically overwrought, and now this: quicker with the automatic. (more…)

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BY LARRY WEBSTER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY G. RUSSELL

A six that runs like an eight.

With its revamped V-6 engine now making 302 horsepower, Cadillac seems to be making the case that the optional V-8 is no longer necessary. (more…)

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BY DAVE VANDERWERP, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY

Getting by on good looks.

Despite finishing last in three comparison tests, the original TT still managed to leave a mostly positive impression”a testament to how far looking good gets you”even though, as sports cars go, it wasn’t great to drive. (more…)

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BY RAY HUTTON

In the realm of the incomprehensible.

Readers of our November 2005 cover story on the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 were treated to the visceral experience of driving the world’s fastest production car to an astounding 253 mph, with our mostly fearless editor-in-chief at the wheel, goose bumps and all. (more…)

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BY JOHN PHILLIPS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY G. RUSSELL

A really big bang for the bucks.

Like the Tucson and Santa Fe before it, Hyundai’s third crossover SUV”and easily its largest”is named after a sunny tourist destination. In this case, the Mexican state of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico, a region renowned for umbrella drinks and for depleting the wallets of bleary-eyed Americans. (more…)

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BY LARRY WEBSTER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARKUS LESER

Heaven can wait.

Ferdinand Porsche would be proud of the Carrera GT. The company he founded in 1948 has produced an amazing string of sports cars that was only recently interrupted by”of all things”a truck. (more…)

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BY LARRY WEBSTER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL DELANEY

Only the Bugatti Veyron is faster.

It’s been more than five years since our backsides were intimate with the carbon-fiber seat of the only supercar made in Sweden, the Koenigsegg. That’s probably long enough ago that you’re saying out loud, Koenigswhat?? (more…)

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BY CSABA CSERE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY PLANET-R/RANDY LORENTZEN

Do 750 horsepower and 140 mph in the quarter make for street cred in the supercar class?

What supercar owners want more than anything else is street cred. It’s that indefinable blend of sleek and sexy styling, outrageous power, and genuine racing heritage that motivates a few people to put down the price of a decent house on a car intended primarily to impress friends and deliver weekend thrills. (more…)

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