RideLust

Thumbs Up: One of the most entertaining front-wheel-drive cars on the market.

Thumbs Down: Unless you’re Tanner Foust’s size, you’ll look comical driving it.

Buy This Car If: You want the most fun for the least amount of money.

When Fiat returned to the United States with its Fiat 500 city car, initial reviews were mixed. Some found its European charm irresistible, while others found its diminutive size terrifying to drive in traffic. One thing that most who test-drove the Fiat 500 agreed on was this: although the handling was go-kart like, the car really needed an infusion of horsepower to deliver entertainment value to driving enthusiasts. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Stylish, comfortable and solidly built.

Thumbs Down: Quirky controls, unreadable 160 mph speedometer.

Buy This Car If: You’re shopping for a compact luxury crossover with a just-right blend of size and amenities.

The romantic notion of the SUV is this: buy one, and you and your family will be taking trips through the jungles of South America, or perhaps spending weekends exploring ghost towns in the Colorado Rockies. The reality, however, seldom plays out that way, with most SUVs reserved for hauling the kids to and from soccer practice, retrieving groceries or picking up dry cleaning. In fact, the harshest conditions most ever encounter are snow-packed roads or gravel parking lots. Read More…

This week on Ignition, Carlos Lago takes out Audi’s new for the U.S. RS5 Sport Coupe. Based on the successful Audi A5, the RS version is powered by a 4.2-liter V8 that makes 450 hp and 317 lb-ft of torque. Power is put down by way of a 7-speed twin-clutch auto that can be shifted manually by way of some flappy paddles on the steering wheel. Keep in mind though that this car is no lightweight. In fact it tips the scales at over 4,000 lbs. thanks largely in part to its all-wheel drive system. Does all that girth mean that the RS5 is too fat to be fun, or does Audi do a great job of masking all that weight with its stellar electronics. Click through to find out.

Source: Youtube.com

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Thumbs Up: Believe the hype: the Evoque is as good as critics say it is.

Thumbs Down: All that style and luxury carries a hefty price with it.

Buy This Car If: You want the most stylish crossover on the market today and can swing the price of admission.

When the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque debuted in late 2011, we quickly got tired of reading all the praise heaped on Range Rover’s latest model. It seemed like no one had a bad thing to say about the stylish crossover, and the Evoque just kept winning accolades month after month. Since launch, it’s picked up eight awards that we’re aware of, including the 2012 North American Truck of the Year, the 2012 World Design Car of the Year, 2012 Best of the Best from Autoweek, 2012 SUV of the Year from Motor Trend and the 2011 Car of the Year from Top Gear. Read More…

OK MINI – you’ve done it. You’ve made this die-hard muscle car guy see the light with your little hot-rod roller skate. It handles like a go-kart, has great power and the uncanny ability to plaster a smile on the face of anyone who drives it. This is the 2012 MINI JCW Cooper Coupe and after spending one week and more than 1,000 miles with this little bad-boy I can tell you hands down that this thing is a f*ckin’ riot. I picked up my red and black coupe at San Francisco International airport. I was tired, hung over and quite honestly not in the mood for a road test, much less a spirited drive home. However once I laid eyes on it all that changed. Sitting before me was the little beastie you see here. It looked wickedly bad-ass with its red hat and black trousers and stood out like nothing else in the lot. It was, for lack of a better description, a big middle finger being flipped to the rest of the cookie cutter transportation that littered the lot. Hell, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t psyched knowing that this one was mine.

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Thumbs Up: Perhaps the best ride quality of any luxury sedan.

Thumbs Down: Peculiar off-idle stumble makes smooth acceleration difficult.

Buy This Car If: Crossing time zones on interstate highways is your idea of the ideal vacation.

When it comes to full size German luxury sedans, there’s no shortage of choices on the market today. If your tastes run towards comfort and luxury, it’s hard to go wrong with an S-Class Mercedes-Benz. On the other hand, if you enjoy the occasional open-throttle blast up a canyon road, the Porsche Panamera Turbo S may be better-suited to your expectations. In between these bookends lie the Audi A8 and the BMW 7 Series. Read More…

Thumbs Up: This cat has claws, not what you expect from Jaguar.

Thumbs down: Good luck finding one, since they’re sold out.

Buy This Car If: You’re looking for the most powerful production Jag ever built.

Jaguars, of late, have not been known for their razor sharp handling. Even so-called sport models have grown soft over the years, and seem to be aimed more at providing a comfortable ride to the country club than at strafing apexes at Sebring. Recent Jags that we’ve driven have been plenty fast in a straight line, but have been saddled with too soft a suspension or too narrow a tire. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Stylish, comfortable and affordable.

Thumbs Down: No cloth seat option.

Buy This Car If: You’re looking for a sedan that stands out from the herd.

Nowhere is it written that affordable cars can’t be stylish, yet many automakers seem content to churn out the same blandly-styled boxes, year after year, generation after generation. Volkswagen’s dynamically styled CC sedan (or four-door coupe, if you prefer) breaks from even its own conventional sedan designs to give buyers a bit of high-end European style at a (relatively) affordable price point. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Surprisingly fun to drive with the five speed manual.

Thumbs Down: Lack of footwell room is a deal-breaker for long trips.

Buy This Car If: You want a fuel-efficient commuter that delivers inexpensive topless fun.

Driving in Europe is a lot different than driving in the United States. To begin with, gasoline is roughly twice as expensive as in the U.S., and viable solutions for public transportation abound. We’d guess that, on average, Europeans live closer to work than their American counterparts, so those who do drive to work are content to drive smaller cars. Factor in narrower roads and limited parking, and anything larger than a MINI Cooper becomes a liability, not an asset. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Seamless and abundant power in a comfortable and stylish wrapper.

Thumbs Down: Needs more tire.

Buy This Car If: You want a luxury sport sedan alternative to the BMW 550i.

If you think Jaguars are stuffy luxury cars, down on performance and soft of suspension, Jaguar’s midsize XF sedan will change your mind. Available in hot, hotter and hottest, even base models get the benefit of a 5.0-liter V-8, good for 385 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque. The entry level car will run you from 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds, and that’s the slowest model in the XF bunch. Read More…