Monthly Archives March 2015

The 2015 Durango R/T does not receive any mechanical update, and it seems Dodge is more focusing on how to make its exterior/interior look better.

Today from the announcement from Dodge, the major two changes in the 2015 Durango R/T :

1. New Radar Red Nappa Leather Seats
2. Standard 20-inch wheels with high-gloss Granite Crystal finish

See the below press release for more details.

For those who are in the market of buying the Audi A6, if the bigger discount on the 2015 model seems tempting to you, you may want to think twice now, since the 2016 model has some fundamental enhancements which you should seriously consider.

You may have already known major changes in the 2016 A6 are in:

– Upgraded engine output (2.0T: 220hp => 252hp, 3.0T: 310hp => 333hp)
– Minor tweaks to the exterior styling
– Better graphic chips for the LCD display

However, there is at least one more critical improvement made to the 2016 model: the front-end and passenger cabin structure are strengthened, and are more stiff to achieve the “Good” rating in the latest IIHS small ove...

Please do not be confused by its name: the 2016 Mercedes GLE Class is not a new model, it is just the current M Class with a new name.

For the 2016 model year, Mercedes-Benz renames the current M Class to be GLE Class. Major changes are in the updated interior styling, and also the AMG model is expanded to two trims, both get a bump to its power output. More specifically:

– The GLE300d is the current ML250 BlueTEC
– The GLE350 is the current ML350
– The GLE400 is the current ML400
– New model: GLE550e 4Matic, 329hp V6 + 114hp electric motor, combined output: 436hp, 479 lb-ft of torque
– The Mercedes-AMG GLE63 output is upgraded to 550hp (from current ML63 AMG’s 518hp); G...

Kia is going to debut the all-new 4th generation Optima (2016 model year) on Apr.1, at the 2015 New York auto show. Today it released the first official image, as shown below.

We do not have further information regarding the 2016 Optima, we will report back all detail information after its NY debut next month.

We have been extensively covered the 2016 Cadillac ATS-V since last May, 2014. For our previous reports about the ATS-V, please see here. Originally Cadillac said the ATS-V’s 3.6L twin-turbo V6 engine is capable of 455hp and 445 lb-ft of torque, 0-60mph only needs 3.9 seconds, with top speed 189mph.

Today Cadillac announced that the final output spec of the ATS-V will be higher than the original estimate, now SAE-certified at 464hp and 444 lb-ft of torque. 0-60 time is reduced to 3.8 seconds.

Please note: if you read Cadillac’s previous press release, it mentions for the ATS-V there is “structural stiffness increased by 25 percent”. Please do not be confused about this...