By Joey Guerra Published 11:24 am, Wednesday, April 11, 2018 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-5', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 5', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-8', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 8', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); Photo: Mike Ruiz, Contributing Photographer / Mike Ruiz Image 1of/8 CaptionClose Image 1 of 8 Vanessa Williams scored a No. 1 hit with “Save the Best for Last.” Vanessa Williams scored a No. 1 hit with “Save the Best for Last.” Photo: Mike Ruiz, Contributing Photographer / Mike … [Read more...] about Vanessa Williams talks touring the world, hearing herself on the radio and ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’
Oscar best picture 2016
DRIVEN: Mercedes-AMG CLA45 review
Oscar Wilde once said: Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess. While that may be a stupid thing to say when it comes to food, with the calories found in our nasi lemak ayam goreng and what not, it certainly holds some truth in relation to cars. Buyers nowadays expect more with their personal forms of transportation – more power, more safety, more equipment, more value, you get the picture. And with demand comes supply, so car manufacturers are more than happy to meet (and exceed) those needs, including Mercedes-AMG. The famed acronym has been on a roll lately, delivering nearly 100,000 cars in 2016 – a 44.1% growth from the year before that (2015). Part of this success comes from the variety of options offered to buyers, including a few entry-level options like the A 45 and the CLA 45. The latter is the topic of today’s review, with the facelifted model going on sale in September last year. The outgoing model is already a formidable performance … [Read more...] about DRIVEN: Mercedes-AMG CLA45 review
DRIVEN: Mercedes-AMG CLA45 – excess is welcomed
Oscar Wilde once said: Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess. While that may be a stupid thing to say when it comes to food, with the calories found in our nasi lemak ayam goreng and what not, it certainly holds some truth in relation to cars. Buyers nowadays expect more with their personal forms of transportation – more power, more safety, more equipment, more value, you get the picture. And with demand comes supply, so car manufacturers are more than happy to meet (and exceed) those needs, including Mercedes-AMG. The famed acronym has been on a roll lately, delivering nearly 100,000 cars in 2016 – a 44.1% growth from the year before that (2015). Part of this success comes from the variety of options offered to buyers, including a few entry-level options like the A 45 and the CLA 45. The latter is the topic of today’s review, with the facelifted model going on sale in September last year. The outgoing model is already a formidable performance … [Read more...] about DRIVEN: Mercedes-AMG CLA45 – excess is welcomed
2017 Hyundai Elantra First Test Review
You probably know Compton as the hometown of hip-hop legends N.W.A, whose rise was chronicled in last year’s Oscar-nominated “Straight Outta Compton” biopic, and current hitmaker Kendrick Lamar, who recently took home five Grammys. Compton lies between Motor Trend HQ and my home in Bellflower, so one night I took the scenic route home in an Electric Blue 2017 Hyundai Elantra. While Compton itself is on the rise, its infrastructure hasn’t yet caught up, making it a great place to evaluate the Elantra’s ride quality — not typically a strength for Hyundai. Potholes, speed bumps, speed humps, expansion joints, lumpy and broken pavement: Google Maps found it all. The engineers in charge of the 2017 Elantra must have spent some time with the team that puts together the Genesis, because the ride was good. Really good, especially for a small Hyundai. The Elantra handled everything Google Maps threw at it with the composure of a larger, more expensive sedan. … [Read more...] about 2017 Hyundai Elantra First Test Review
The CAR inquisition: interview with legendary designer Syd Mead
► We interview the fabled car designer Syd Mead ► Ferrari design boss calls him a ‘visionary mind’ ► His thoughts on the future of design and mobility Despite little of his work existing beyond two dimensions, ‘visual futurist’ Syd Mead has inspired countless professional car designers. He’s worked on vehicle, city and character designs for cult films like Blade Runner and Tron (both 1982) and more recently Elysium (2013) and Tomorrowland (2015), product design for Sony and Phillips – including an electric car concept as far back as 1973 for the latter – plus aircraft, ship and hotel interiors and pretty much anything else you (or he) can imagine. Which is why car designers love him. Ferrari design boss Flavio Manzoni calls him a ‘visionary mind’ while ex-BMW Group design chief Chris Bangle dubs him ‘the Oscar Wilde of designers: when you think you have a new idea, you find he’s … [Read more...] about The CAR inquisition: interview with legendary designer Syd Mead
Mark Walton on solving who is the greatest F1 driver of all time, CAR+ October 2015
► Mark Walton on F1 greats ► How to resolve who is the greatest ► Cloning is the only solution Juan Manuel Fangio is definitely dead. This indisputable fact was confirmed last month when the poor old five-time world champion was dug up and wheeled out of the family crypt in his hometown of Balcarce, Argentina. The legend lives on, perhaps, but the authorities have confirmed that Fangio himself is still very much deceased, and lying in the box he was placed in back in 1995. Fangio was dug up because two men in their 70s say that he was their father, and after a long-running paternity battle an Argentinian judge finally ordered the world champion’s body be taken out of the cemetery and sent down the morgue for a DNA sample to be taken. The results will be known in a month or so. Fangio never married, but he always had a glamorous girl on his arm, so it’s not impossible that there were going to be one or two – or perhaps … [Read more...] about Mark Walton on solving who is the greatest F1 driver of all time, CAR+ October 2015
How can we stay mad at Volkswagen? We test VW Golf GTI Clubsport, CAR+ January 2016
► Flat-out in the fastest-ever Golf GTI ► VW's new Clubsport driven ► 286bhp and 280lb ft of torque on tap The Daily Mail wouldn’t like this at all. Instead of the sound of middle-class indignation and outraged hand-wringing all I can hear is the bellow of tyres squealing on hot tarmac. And the sound of laughter, I can hear that too, and it seems to be coming from me. I can’t help it. I’m peering over the red ‘straight ahead’ marker at the top of an alcantara steering wheel, hanging on like a rollercoaster passenger as the twists and undulations of the Algarve’s mini-Nürburgring unfold before me in a constantly hastening flurry. Over the walkie-talkie rattling in the cupholder a German voice from the pace-setting Golf R ahead urges me on: ‘Speed is good, get closer to me, find ze apex, aim for ze cone! Come on, come on! Use third, flat here, flat!’I’ll level with you: I’m a bit … [Read more...] about How can we stay mad at Volkswagen? We test VW Golf GTI Clubsport, CAR+ January 2016