SEE THE FULL COMPARISON:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/

What comes after Z?, we wondered when Nissan let the stage go black in 1996 and officially bid farewell to the Z-car at an event at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Sales of the twin-turbo 300ZX had been declining as fast as applications for library cards, so Nissan simply stopped selling the car in the U.S. It made us wonder where the Z fit in Nissan’s future.

The answer came in 2002, when the Nissan 350Z appeared, a serious sports car that seemed to measure itself against the Corvette in both speed and style. It brought people back to Nissan, but lots of the young enthusiasts didn’t know what an icon the Z had been for the company since its inception in 1970.

With the 2009 Nissan 370Z, all that changes. As a Z should be, the 370Z is a statement of purpose, not just another car on the showroom floor. With this second-generation version of the revitalized Z, the car has moved on from affordable performance to something that brings new descriptions into play — not only like quick, fast, strong and powerful, but also gorgeous, luxurious, nimble, graceful, delicate and smooth.

This is a car so good that it makes you wonder what kind of car it is: a sports car, a sport coupe or a muscle-bound pony car? And that’s where the 2008 bmw 135i comes in, a pocket-size BMW M3 with an affordable price tag to match.

Duration : 0:3:15

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Technorati Tags: 135i, 2008, 2009, 370Z, auto, BMW, car, Edmunds, Inside, Line, motor, Nissan, vs.

2009 International Car of the Year.

The Nissan GT-R has been rated the coolest trend car of? today by the very famous german car magazine “Auto Bild”.

Nissan claims the GT-R can reach a top speed of 192 mph (309 km/h), Motor Trend recorded a top speed of 195.0 mph (313.8 km/h). It has been tested to achieve 0-60 mph (97 km/h) times as low as 3.2 seconds with launch control and 3.9 seconds without (improved to 3.5 seconds in models produced since March 2009). Autocar achieved a 0-100 mph (160 km/h) time of 8.5 seconds.

With a manufacturer claimed lap time of 7:26:7 min on standard Japanese market tires, the GT-R is currently one of the fastest production cars to lap the Nürburgring circuit.

The GT-R currently holds a lap time of 1:19.7 around the Top Gear Test Track, equalling that of the Ferrari 430 Scuderia.

Road & Track were able to achieve quick lap times with the car on Buttonwillow Raceway, clocking in approximately 5 seconds faster than the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and Porsche 911 Turbo.

On Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, Edmunds were able to achieve lap times that were approximately 1 second slower than a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 with the GT-R.

Several automotive journalists, including Chris Harris of Autocar, Jethro Bovingdon of Evo, and Jason Barlow of Top Gear (magazine) have compared the GT-R to the Bugatti Veyron. Harris and Bovingdon both labeled the GT-R a “baby Veyron” in their respective comparison tests of the car.

The production version of the GT-R debuted at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, launching in the Japanese market on December 6, 2007. The U.S. official launch was 7 months later on July 07, 2008. Universal Nissan in Los Angeles provided a customer with the delivery of a new GT-R, fresh from the production line at 12:01 AM, on July 7, 2008. The Canadian launch was also in July 2008. Europe became the third consumer market, where it launched late in the year. The large disparity in initial marketing between these regional releases is due to Nissan having to build GT-R performance centers where the car is serviced. Also the engine and rear-mounted dual-clutch gearbox are built by hand, thus limiting production to around 1000 cars a month.

* Top Gear Awards 2007 – Supercar of the Year 2007
* Automobile Magazine – 2009 Automobile of the Year
* Evo Magazine Car of the Year 2008
* Edmunds – 2009 Edmunds’ Inside Line Editors’ Most Wanted Awards: Instant Classic
* Motor Trend – 2009 Motor Trend Car of the Year
* 2008 Japan’s Most Advanced Technology Award
* Popular Mechanics – Automotive Excellence Awards 2008 (Design)
* 2009 International Car of the Year

Duration : 0:7:40

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Technorati Tags: 2009, amazing, best, bugatti, car, CARS., Dreamcars, Drive, engine, fast, Ferrari, Gear, GT-R, GTR, Japanese, lamborghini, Nissan, Nordschleife, Number, of, Pilot, Porsche, R34, R35, race, Record, Run, Sexy, Skyline, speed, sports, Stig, Supercar, Test, the, Top, track, Tuned, Tuning, world, Year

2010 Mercedes-Benz E550 Sport vs. 2009 BMW 550i Sport vs. 2010 Jaguar XF Premium @ INSIDELINE.COM:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=149766?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..1.*

Building an ideal executive-style luxury sedan is not an easy task for a carmaker. If the car turns out too soft and isolated, you lose enthusiasts who aren’t quite ready to retire in a Lexus. Too complex or high-strung and you risk alienating your technology-challenged, soft-in-the-middle buyers who expect a measure of mindless comfort. Get the balance just right, and your five-passenger $60,000 midsize sedan will both impress with remarkable dynamics and indulge with palpable comfort.

We’ve gathered three such vehicles for this comparison: the 2009 bmw 550i, 2010 Jaguar XF Premium and 2010 Mercedes-Benz E550 Sport.

The 2009 BMW 550i is widely regarded as the benchmark among sporting luxury sedans with its imposing modern design, 360-horsepower 4.8-liter V8 and legendary sporting dynamics. For a car that’s been around for five years, its reputation remains consistently impressive.

All-new in ‘09, the Jaguar XF now is available in a midlevel model, and this Jaguar XF Premium includes not only a new 385-hp direct-injection 5.0-liter V8 but also more standard features. Riding a 1st-place finish from the last time we collected four similar cars in 2008, the Brit car should be taken seriously.

The new-generation 2010 Mercedes-Benz E550 Sport stands a very good chance of improving on its previous 3rd-place finish. Sure, the 382-hp 5.5-liter V8 is a carryover item from the outgoing E-Class, yet Mercedes-Benz has spent a considerable sum to refine this ninth-generation E-Class into a car meant to define this segment of sedans.

Duration : 0:4:18

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Technorati Tags: 2009, 2010, 550i, auto, BMW, British, car, E550, engine, european, GERMAN, Jaguar, luxury, mercedes, mercedes-benz, motor, Premium, sedan, Sport, v8, vs., XF

We pit our favorite super sedan from Munich, the bmw M5, against Motowns all-new CTS-V. First up, we head to the test track to see which car puts down the best numbers.

Duration : 0:3:27

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Technorati Tags: 2009, BMW, cadillac, cts-v, ctsv, M5

From the 2009 New York Auto Show, Cars.com’s Joe Wiesenfelder takes a look at the 2010 volkswagen Golf and 2010 Volkswagen GTI. They compete with the Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Matrix, Mazdaspeed3, and Subaru WRX.

Duration : 0:3:47

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Technorati Tags: 2009, 2010, auto, CARS., carscom, GOLF, gti, mazda, mazdaspeed3, new, ny, rabbit, show, subaru, Volkswagen, vw, york

Funny audi R8 commercial from december 2008. The über cool Audi R8 ends up being in caught in a tight place in this cool Audi ad. Who said the perfect hostage? V8 version shown. Directed by Anders Wils / anders(a)twintwin.org. More Audi commercials and other funny commercials: www.andco.dk

Duration : 0:1:1

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The new BMW Vision EfficientDynamics combines superb driving performance with extremely low consumption. A hybrid drive system and a revolutionary design are among the highlights. The film reveals how a sustainable, but enjoyable future bmw will look like.

Duration : 0:3:49

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Technorati Tags: 2009, battery, BMW, car, carbon, concept, Dynamics, Efficient, electric, environmentally, fresh, friendly, future, hybrid, IAA, joy, light, of, power, sustainable, the, Vision

Cars.com’s Kelsey Mays gets a first look at the 2009 audi A4. It competes with the bmw 3 Series, Cadillac CTS and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

Produced by: Matthew Avery

Duration : 0:3:11

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Technorati Tags: 2009, 3series, a4, Audi, BMW, cadillac, CARS., carscom, cclass, cts, door, Drive, driving, european, four, g35, headlights, infiniti, IS, LED, Lexus, mercedes-benz, race, sedan, speed, sports, track