Best Looking Modern Engine Bays

With the ever growing trend of manufacturers adding more and more plastic into the engine compartment it's become significantly rarer to find modern vehicles with visually appealing engine bays. However, there are always exceptions to all trends and there are new vehicles out there with great looking engines and engine bays. Without further ado here are the best looking modern engine bays.


Ferrari 599 V12



Audi RS4 V8



Chrysler SRT8 V8



Bugatti Veyron W16



Ford Mustang 5.0 V8



Ferrari 458 Italia V8



Mercedes Benz 6.3 AMG V8

2012 BMW 650i Convertible Design Analysis

At the past LA Autoshow BMW released photos of its third generation 6 series convertible. The latest six series stays true to its Paris concept, changing little in the process of going to production. BMW did throw a curve ball by first releasing photos of the convertible ahead of the coupe. The latest six series certainly makes amends many of the styling transgressions of the last generation, especially in the trunk and headlights area. One journalist described the trunk of the last three series as if someone backed in to a guard rail and dented the trunk. The new six series fixes these shortcomings with a sharp taillight and trunk area. The front of the six series is follows the same general design as the latest seven series, yet integrates well with the rest of the convertible design. Overall the latest sixth series features a significantly cleaner design that does wonders for BMW's top of the line convertible. The torquey turbocharged V8 engine and crisp styling makes the latest six series convertible a serious contender in the grand touring category. Take a look at the photos of the 2012 six series convertible below.

2012 Audi A6 Design Analysis

Audi unveiled its seventh generation A6 sedan this past week and now it's time to analyze its design. Unsurprisingly, the A6 follows a similar design pattern as the A8 and to a certain degree A4 and A7. It also keeps design elements from the previous generation A6 as well. As a brand Audi has prioritized a single cohesive design language between its models over the past few years. This is perhaps the biggest downfall for the new A6 as it lacks some of the excitement associated with new model reveals. Aside from lacking the surprise factor, the A6 nevertheless has a strong and clean design. The all LED headlights look extremely sharp and are better integrated than those of the latest A8. The A1 inspired taillights however look to take a step back from the ones on the current generation A6. The A7 inspired interior does not disappoint and keeps Audi's interior reputation intact. Overall, the A6 features a design that can be considered on the conservative side with a mix of clean lines that like many other new designs is likely to look better in person than in pictures. Nevertheless, here are some (63 to be exact) photos of the new A6 along with two videos to help you form your own opinion.

Volt Gets Its EPA Sticker Also

Hot on the heels of the EPA announcement that the Nissan Leaf will get 99 MPGe, the Chevrolet Volt received its own EPA sticker today. Unlike the all electric Leaf, the Volt is a plug in hybrid and thus has three distinct fuel economy figures. On a full battery charge the Volt will travel about 35 miles while getting 93 MPGe, or only slightly worse than the Leaf. After the initial battery charge runs out the Volt consumes gasoline like a regular car. The EPA rates the Volt at 35 city and 40 highway when running purely on gasoline, these numbers place it slightly above compact cars fuel economy wise. Overall, the EPA predicts that through a mix of electric and gasoline driving the Volt on average will achieve 60 MPG combined, this places the Volt 10 MPG ahead of the Prius. Of course this estimate depends on the amount of driving done with the gas engine running. A long highway drive with no opportunity to recharge will push the MPG down towards 40, while short trips around town will have the Volt's average over 60. While the Volt didn't live up to Chevy's 230 mpg hype claim, its electric efficiency is only slightly behind the lighter Leaf's and respectable in gas only mode.

With both the Leaf and the Volt ready to go on sale this December the electric vehicle battle is on and it's up to the consumer to see which vehicle they prefer. Looking solely at the EPA ratings, the Volt gives up little efficiency while providing a significant range advantage.

LA Autoshow Favorites

With the LA Autoshow behind us it's time to take a look at the best production and concept cars from the show. The list of production models making their debut was significant. Chrysler and Dodge unveiled significantly updated versions of their mid-size sedans and minivans along with the new Durango and Charger. Nissan unveiled its new Quest minivan along with the first convertible crossover in the Murano CrossCabriolet. The Buick LaCrosse with E Assists is interesting as well as it promises high fuel economy from a mild hybrid system. Nevertheless, the CLS 63 AMG takes the best production debut category with its matte paint, huge power, and bold styling. The original CLS is widely known as a styling icon, and it appears that the second generation CLS, at least in the AMG form, does not disappoint.








Mercedes Benz CLS63, click to enlarge

On the concept side, he Subaru Impreza Concept and the Nissan Ellure take the honors as best concepts. Both concepts aim to give the public a preview of how their future production sedans will look like. The Impreza concept gives a good preview of how the next Impreza sedan should look like minus the typical show car elements. While Nissan says that the Ellure concept is not a preview of any specific model in its lineup, don't be surprised to see some of its styling elements in the next Sentra and Altima.



Subaru Impreza Concept



Nissan Ellure Concept

EPA Gives the LEAF 99 MPG

With the Nissan LEAF set to go on sale this upcoming December, the EPA has finally given the car its official fuel economy sticker. Officially the LEAF will have a city rating of 106 MPGe, 92 MPGe highway and 99 combined. Naturally because the LEAF is powered solely by electricity it doesn't use any gasoline, but the EPA is calculating its "fuel economy" ratings on energy consumption. Thus the LEAF consumes electrical energy at a rate equivalent to a gasoline powered car achieving 99 miles per gallon combined. The EPA also estimates that on a full charge the LEAF should be good for about 73 miles of travel. Needless to say these ratings put the LEAF ahead of any other mass produced car to date.

Unrelated But Awesome

Here are the two pieces of automotive news from the past couple of days that are completely unrelated but nevertheless very interesting. First is the first official photo of the upcoming Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. Even though Nissan had confirmed its existence a while ago not many believed that Nissan would actually take the top of its well known crossover. The CrossCabriolet represents a new vehicle segment being formed in front of our eyes, which makes it an exciting debut at the upcoming Los Angeles autoshow. As far as the design of the crossover convertible, the transition looks good so far, but we have to wait for top-up pictures before assigning a final verdict.



The second exciting piece of news is Lamborghini's reveal of its brand new 700 horsepower V12 engine. The 6.5 liter V12 features a new design and is said to be lighter than the previous V12s which all shared a common heritage dating back to 1964. Along with the new V12 Lamborghini also revealed a new automated manual gearbox that promises extremely fast shifting times. The V12 and gearbox combo will go inside the Murcielago replacement in early 2011. The latest rumor indicates that it will be called the Aventador. The Aventador and its new V12 are especially exciting because they represent what could be one of the last pure supercars.