Monthly Archives September 2014

Today Dodge released the fuel economy number for the 707hp 2015 Challenger SRT Hellcat. Results are:

– Challenger SRT Hellcat with 8-speed automatic transmission: 22/13/16mpg (hwy/city/combined)
– Challenger SRT Hellcat with 7-speed manual transmission: 21/13/16mpg (hwy/city/combined)

Next, a bad news for those who want to buy this muscle car: because of the low combined fuel efficiency rating, the Challenger Hellcat will trigger the Federal Gas Guzzler Tax. Based on the 16mpg combined rating (falls in the “>= 15.5mpg, <16.5mpg” bracket), the gas guzzler tax will be $3,700 for the 2015 Challenger SRT Hellcat...

For those who wanted to but missed the chance to order the 1927-unit limited production of the 2015 XC90 First Edition, here is a news that may probably make you feel better: Volvo has announced the R-Design trim for the 2015 XC90, which includes features that the limited-production First Edition won’t have.

New features for the XC90 R-Design trims include exclusive upgrades to both of the exterior and interior materials and styling. The R-Design trims are available for all powertrain selection (from T5 to T8 models).

For the exterior, R-Design trims has a redesigned grille, lower front spoiler, window in silk metal, R-­Design dual tailpipe surround, integrated bright ro...

Recently BMW has signed a 3-year contract with Baidu, a Chinese technology company, to collaborate on the self-driving car development. For those who are not familiar with Baidu, here is something easy to understand: Baidu is the Chinese Google.

According to the contract, after the 3-year term, BMW will build a highly-automated self-driving car, which can run on China’s public road. The reason why BMW selected Baidu as collaboration partner, is because Baidu has the map data and all related information service which BMW currently does not have...

Review Index

2014 Toyota Corolla LE – Part 1 (Exterior)
2014 Toyota Corolla LE – Part 2 (Interior)
2014 Toyota Corolla LE – Part 3 (Interior – Electronic Features)
2014 Toyota Corolla LE – Part 4 (Powertrain)
2014 Toyota Corolla LE – Part 5 Chassis and Suspension)

At a glance, it gives you an impression that the whole Corolla family only offers one sole choice of a 1.8L 4-cylinder engine, for the US market. But please pay attention that there are actually two different engines, even though they both has 1.8L displacement.

The one on our LE trim test car is the Toyota 2ZR-FE engine, making 132hp at 6,000rpm and 128 lb-ft of torque at 4,400rpm; on the other hand,...

When talking about the Accord outside of US market, please pay attention that it usually means a different car. For example the 8th-gen Honda Accord in Japan and Europe is actually the Acura TSX in US.

The foreign-market Accord also has another name in China: it is called the Honda Spirior. Last month, Honda revealed the redesigned 2015 Spirior. The higher-level Si trim, can be consider to be the equivalent to the Acura TLX 2.4 8-DCT.

The Spirior has the same wheelbase as the TLX, and the Si trim comes with the same 2.4L direct-injection 4-cylinder engine as in the TLX and also the Honda-developed 8-speed DCT. The 2...