As we spent January and February preparing for a winter that never quite did arrive, our 300C continued to consume miles at a steady pace. In the seven months since the sparkly gray Chrysler arrived on our doorstep, we’ve managed to push the odometer a few ticks beyond the 20,000-mile mark, largely via trips close to home. One staffer did test the 300C’s reputation as a capable highway cruiser with a 2600-plus-mile trek to Florida and back, the car’s longest journey to date. (more…)

While LeMons organizers make no secret of the fact that their hearts are with the cars that never belonged in the same time zone as a race track and machines that aren’t even cars at all, there’s still a contingent of hard-core racers bent on getting the most laps in the race and spraying $1.99 bottles of “champagne” on their teammates in the winners’ circle. As any driver who has competed in a LeMons race will tell you, taking the overall win is tough as hell; make even one small mistake in a typical race and you’ll lose the lead forever. I’d say that we have perhaps a dozen teams across the country that have the requisite combination of professional-grade drivers, reliable car, and crew discipline to contend in every race they enter. Here’s a selection of some teams to watch this year. Read full story »

For most of its history, the Volkswagen Jetta was the three-box version of the two-box Golf hatchback, which also meant that the performance-oriented Jetta GLI was simply the sedan version of the coveted 10Best-winning GTI. The Jetta’s sixth-generation makeover, however, included plopping the four-door onto new underpinnings. The idea was to give it a bigger back seat, a larger trunk, and reduced complexity to better compete with the likes of the Honda Civic, the Ford Focus, and the Toyota Corolla. (The Golf will move to VW’s new MQB architecture.) (more…)

Perhaps you’ve seen the TV ad showing a CX-5 zoom-zooming across a dry lake and then whistling past an array of scientific apparatus, staffed by a bevy of guys in lab coats who seem to be deliriously happy with what they’re witnessing. The spot suggests a dynamic trait—speed—that isn’t readily apparent in the CX-5’s real-world persona. Or, more accurately, acceleration, since speed can be summoned. Eventually. (more…)

Volkswagen is showing a factory-apprentice-tuned GTI at the annual Wörthersee festival in Austria, an annual celebration of the GTI and all things VW. The GTI Black Dynamic is mostly SEMA-esque fare, so don’t expect to see any of its mods on a factory-built production car.

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According to Lexus, the last examples of the maker’s HS250h luxury hybrid sedan rolled off the assembly line in January 2012. Based on the Euro-market Toyota Avensis, the HS250h debuted in 2009 as the luxury maker’s entry-level hybrid offering. Read full story »

Toyota’s Gazoo Racing is entering a pair of race-prepped GT 86s (the Toyota-badged sibling of the Scion FR-S) in the 24 Hours Nürburgring endurance race, in addition to its successful LFA race car. Read full story »

On Tuesday we posted an audio recording of a mystery car’s exhaust note. To hear it again, click play above. Only a couple of you figured out that this week’s sound came from the 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 R-Spec. The refreshed Genesis coupe’s raspy, rorty noise comes from its updated 348-hp V-6 engine—that’s 38 hp more than the 2012 model.

Like that sound? Download the MP3 and quiz your friends, make your own ringtone, or just lull yourself to sleep with sweet, sweet vehicular ear candy.

2013 Hyundai Genesis 3.8 R-Spec MP3 (Right-click to Save As…)

Volkswagen always brings cool stuff to the annual Wörthersee GTI meet—the event has previously hosted gems such as the Edition 35 GTI and the Golf R Cabriolet—and this year is no exception.  However, the best of this year’s batch of awesomeness has to be this Polo WRC Street concept, which previews a production model set to go on sale next year. Of course, we don’t get the normal Polo here in the States; thus, don’t expect to see the WRC Street anywhere but Europe.

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