Report: Lamborghini drops plans for Estoque four-door coupe

Lamborghini has reportedly shelved plans to build a new four-door coupe based on its stunning Estoque concept car from last year’s Paris Motor Show. The company’s R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani revealed last November that the car could be released as early as 2011 but stressed that that the business case was still being made [...]

Opel Escapes Clutches of GM

GM has had its hands full lately. As the automaker plans to get rid of or minimize a number of its brands, including Saturn, Saab, Hummer, and Pontiac, GM has officially announced that it will be spinning off Opel into its own brand. The German subsidiary of the American conglomerate has already asked the German [...]

Audi A4 Allroad quattro revealed ahead of Geneva Motor Show debut

Audi has expanded its A4 range with the introduction of the all-new A4 Allroad quattro, a taller and tougher version of the A4 Avant wagon with permanent AWD and off-road capability. Making its world debut at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, the A4 Allroad is packed with a range of new features including Audi’s drive [...]

Audi A4 Allroad quattro revealed ahead of Geneva Motor Show debut

Audi has expanded its A4 range with the introduction of the all-new A4 Allroad quattro, a taller and tougher version of the A4 Avant wagon with permanent AWD and off-road capability. Making its world debut at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, the A4 Allroad is packed with a range of new features including Audi’s drive [...]

Nissan GT-R with gearbox update still posting quick ETs

Nissan confirmed earlier this month that it was installing a new software update for the gearbox in the GT-R that is designed to minimize stress levels placed on the dual-clutch unit during hard launches. The software update affects the way the vehicle launches from a standstill in two main ways. It increases the allowable rpm [...]

Audi releases details for U.S.-spec Q5 ahead of March launch

Audi first debuted its all-new Q5 midsized SUV as far back as the April 2008 Beijing Motor Show but the vehicle is still more than a month away from its U.S. debut. Set to go on sale this March, Audi has confirmed that it will be available with a 3.2L V6 FSI direct injection engine, [...]

Ford launching dual-clutch transmission in U.S. in 2010

In the never-ending pursuit of efficiency, performance and smooth power delivery, the next step forward for many carmakers is the adoption of the dual-clutch transmission. Once the province of high-end performance cars, dual-clutch units have been finding their way into everyday vehicles from Volkswagen, Volvo, Audi and more for years. Now Ford has announced its [...]

Australian firm working on beefed-up Nissan GT-R gearbox

Rumors, reports and even the odd video of its slick dual-clutch AWD gearbox grenading itself into oblivion have plagued the Nissan GT-R since shortly after its release into the wild. A short while later we learned that using the undocumented AWD launch control feature could void the relevant sections powertrain warranty, Nissan followed that up [...]

2008 Mitsubishi Evo GSR: Why True Manuals Shouldn’t Die

We all know that the death of the real manual transmission is near. I mean, Porsche now quotes the acceleration numbers from its new PDK tranny instead of the manual, and Ferrari is so proud of its clutchless system that it doesn't even [...]

First the GT-R and Now This: The 370Z Debuts

With the LA Auto Show in full swing, it was finally time to officially take the covers off the 2009 Nissan 370Z. We’ve talked about the new Z car plenty here at Import RPM, and we’re excited to see it in person in LA.
Some things we already knew about the 370Z, while other new details [...]