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This first look from Motor Trend highlights some of the long-overdue changes made to the GM full size offerings.

Of note are standard stability control, more efficient engines, an available 6.2l Al block VVT engine with 400hp, a six speed auto, less chintzy interior, more differentiation between brands, and reduced NVH (noise, vibration and harshness).

We are shocked that so many people have been buying the GM full size offerings in recent years given that the competition has clearly moved the game on.

Hopefully these revisions will be thorough enough to remain competitive until the next (overdue?) redesign…

BMW has a habit of telling the public things won’t happen (to keep us from waiting to spend on products that are available now perhaps?) and then letting them happen anyway.

Case in point: we were told there would be no coupe version of the Z roadster this time around, and yet one is on the way. (You have to wonder if the car would ave ever made it into production had Porsche not decided to build the Cayman).

And just last night we trailed an undisguised, production ready M roadster through the Santa Monica mountains for nearly an hour – from the sound of it the car will come with the same ageless 333hp inline 6 used in the current M3 and the last M coupe and roadster, not the 4.0 V8 derived from the new M5’s 5.0L V10 that’s slated for the next generation M3…

If the Z4 platform wasn’t saddled by horribly artificial electric power steering and bumpy, slipery run-flat tires, we’d be salivating (but it is so we’d opt for the Porsche products instead). I wouldn’t be surprised if those are the first things BMW M engineers get rid of…

Given the spectacular horsepower and torque output of AMG tweaked Mercedes Benzes in recent years, its hard to believe they are based on standard production engines.

It used to be that among BMW, Mercedes Benz and Audi only BMW went through the trouble of starting ‘from scratch’. Audi would drop the same engine used in their A6 or allroad in the S4, Mercedes strapped a supercharger to their standard V6 or V8 and BMW would push their normally aspirated motors to higher specific outputs and rev limits.

But now Audi’s gotten serious – witness the high revving marvel placed in the upcoming RS4:

Without the assistance of turbos or superchargers, the cooling and accurate fueling benefits of direct injection help this 4.2-litre V8 to produce a vaguely ridiculous 414bhp at 7,800rpm and 317lb ft at 5,500rpm. It combines the low-rev tyre-mangling twist of a small block Chevy V8, with 90 per cent of the torque available from just 2,250rpm right up to 7,600rpm, and yet also revs every bit as manically as a Honda VTEC unit, shrieking all the way to 8,250rpm… [Top Gear]

Mercedes has volleyed back by giving AMG the money to design an engine from scratch for the first time in history (even the Maclaren SLR has the ‘same’ engine used in various AMG models).

Automobile’s Mark Gilles goes into more detail in this piece.

UPDATE: We hear the first AMG model to use the new engine will be the ML63 AMG. (Yes, we think it’s a tad absurd too).

Car and Driver does a quick A:B comparison in their October issue – click here to read their surprising conclusion…

UPDATE:

C&D has since flip-flopped, which should be a lesson to anyone who bought the car based on a ‘ranking’ rather than the subjective impressions that make up the driving and ownership experience.

They explain thusly:

Last October, we compared the all-new Mazda MX-5 and Pontiac Solstice—for about eight hours. That wasn’t enough time to settle the dispute. We were still messing around with the Solstice’s knurled seatback control when a Pontiac emissary arrived, demanding the return of his keys. And, in any event, finding suitably twisty roads in Michigan’s farmland is [near impossible]. So we don’t apologize for this MX-5/Solstice redux.

The V6 isn’t terribly refined, though, and you certainly won’t rev it just for the sensual experience. Nor is it particularly characterful, a feature that has traditionally marked out Saab turbo units – it feels a bit too GM-corporate. And while its power and torque are impressive, there’s no disguising which wheels are driven as you’ll feel it through the steering wheel, especially on tight, twisting roads. Otherwise, the Saab’s handling is composed and well balanced, but just not as engaging and entertaining as the best.

source: 4Car Feature – Saab 9-3 SportWagon

You can read the review by following this link. Here are some excerpts:

...slightly detached dynamics…

...The SMG can be operated in normal, automatic mode, but you won’t want to do that because the shifts are slow and clumsy. The manual mode involves shifting either with the paddles mounted behind the steering wheel or the gearlever. The driver can select a shift mode that ranges from lazy and smooth, to sudden and brutal. To be honest, we couldn’t find a happy medium, mainly because this gearbox just isn’t intuitive in the way a good manual is. For us, this resulted in slightly less confidence through very high speed corners.

...remains a little remote, a little less engaging and involving than the best (for which, read Porsche). And the M6 badly needs a good manual shift.

When ordering your new Ferrari 575M, be sure to specify the Fiorano handling pack, which includes stiffer springs that lower the car by 15mm, a larger rear sway bar, new software to firm up the steering assist and the dampers, and high-performance brake pads (as opposed to?).

With the kit, the 575M placed 2nd of of 20 cars in CAR’s ‘Performance Car of the Year test, and was praised for its:
chuckable feel
handling balance
throttle adjustable drift angle

Without the kit, the 575M placed 15 out of 16 in Autocar’s ‘Best Driver’s Car 2002’ test. The testers were heartbroken, lamenting:
unsettling amounts of front dive and rear yaw under braking
poor steering feel
a corkscrewing motion when exiting corners under power
a general lack of damping
soft rear springing

You’d think that the softer car would excel at road use, but Autocar found the 575M “lacked control” at road speeds. They’re not the only ones: evo magazine kept to public roads, and was perplexed to find:
alarming front-end lift under acceleration
excessive rear lift under braking
mushy brakes

They also had trouble with the suspension running out of travel on imperfect (read: most) roads, allowing periodic contact between the front end and the pavement(!). Not so with the Fiorano pack: “On twisting, heaving pavement, the 575M will walk away from the EVO VII or Impreza STi” (also tested and widely considered among the fastest A-to-B devices on real roads) [CAR].

I’m the last person to claim that the firmer of two available suspensions is the default choice – many times the opposite is true. It is therefore essential to drive the suspension you’re about to order; reputation -as this example shows – is not enough.

Considering the comission a Ferrari salesperson makes on a sale, he should be more than willing to comply – the question is: will yours?