Gear Patrol

The original Hyundai Azera wasn’t exactly sure what it wanted to be, despite Hyundai’s goal of slotting it between the Sonata and Genesis sedans. The placement made sense, given the huge gap in pricing between the two aforementioned cars. And though the Azera was a practical bargain with its roomy interior and V6 engine, it…

The wraps have just come off the 2014 Lexus IS before its official unveiling at the Detroit Auto Show, and the redesign effort has definitely not been wasted. More sculpted and aggressive than the car it replaces, the new IS sports the trademark spindle grille currently found on the LS, GS and ES. The fat…

Crossovers are here to stay, so we’re happy to welcome ones that get our blood racing. The soon-to-be-released 2014 Audi SQ5 is just such a heart thumper. The SQ5′s rather robust 3.0-liter V6 TFSI engine has an output of 354 horsepower and 347 lb-ft of torque — more than in the S4 or S5. It’ll…

The 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan is sharp, but it just might be upstaged by the sportier-looking 2014 E-Class coupe. A huge grille and massive air intakes on the fascia set this two-door apart from its big brother. The coupe also retains a previous E-Class design — large haunches over the rear wheels — which is…

Ah, those childhood days when you turned your parents’ kitchen table into your Revell model building station. But now you’ve got a job, and your own kids, who care more about their smartphones than about creating fine small-scale automotive replicas. Do yourself a favor and take back your inner maker with Papercruiser foldable PDF models ($3-$7).

The niche Italian supercar known as the Evantra impressed us when it launched two years ago boasting a flat six engine with 600 horsepower in the turbo model and a 0-60 time of around three and-a-half seconds. But that’s nothing compared to the 2013 7.0-liter V8 Mazzanti Evantra, which billows out a kidney-crushing 700 horsepower…

It’s high time your Cats of the World coffee table book got moved to its rightful place… storage. In its place, lay down something your friends won’t mock you about: The Porsche 911 Book 50th Anniversary Edition. With 304 pages and 250 stunning color photographs shot by automotive photographer René Staud, the book covers the…

Lexus, once the darling of middle-aged Asian-American women everywhere, is focusing more nowadays on driving experience as opposed to driving you to boredom. Lexus has also revised their design language to be more edgy, adventurous and sporty in appearance — relatively speaking, of course. What they’ve wrought is more than just a new brand-identifiable spindle grille, and it’s a change in the right direction. We’ve been tracking Lexus all year and even got in some track time in their new GS sporty sedan earlier this year; we came away impressed.

We love the rip-roaring sound of a Bentley with the top down, and if you mate it with the locomotive torque of a monster W12 engine, everyone’s happy. This is exactly what you get with the 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible. 616 horses, 590 lb ft and 0-60 in about 4 very fast seconds….

Previous Boxster owners were largely perceived as the type of people Ron Swanson might hate — pastel wearing, shoulder sweater draping, Mediocre University Honors graduates who yearned for the 911 Cabrio but either couldn’t afford it or couldn’t muster the skills. Of course, it was a Porsche, so it drove well and handled well, but aside from the S model, it seemed to lack that Stuttgart Blitzkrieg-like power that Porsche drivers expect. So with this new generation of the German roadster, Porsche decided to make it worthy of her pedigree.

If Gumpert vehicles were as homely as their name, they might look something like this, but lucky for us, the German manufacturer makes some of the fastest and best handling supercars in the world and thankfully survived insolvency this past summer. Based on photos of their next design, the Gumpert Tornante, it looks like all…

You don’t have to believe that the end of the Mayan calendar signifies the beginning of the end, you just have to go to your local theater and see how many apocalyptic movies are out. It’s like we want it to happen. Whatever the case, make sure your bug out bag is ready, have ample…

To the average man on the street, the difference between the 2013 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the The 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class will likely go largely unnoticed — but well-informed GP readers will have the leg up. Much found in the Sindelfingen, Germany-built sedan and wagon is new, and all the internal and external changes debut at…

When it comes to BMW M cars, it seems there can never be enough horsepower. Clearly, that was the philosophy behind powering the 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe. What is arguably BMW’s best looking vehicle gets bumped up to the Motorsport division from whence all good things Bavarian come next year, and the payoff is…

Americans know what Americans need, and sometimes a big, bad pickup truck is just what the doctor ordered. But that doesn’t mean brute strength shouldn’t have a dose of refinement. GM’s top dog trucks, in the forms of the 2014 GMC Sierra and sister vehicle, the Chevrolet Silverado, have just been unveiled, and we like…

2012 was a banner year for cars here at Gear Patrol. We tested our mettle in the driver’s seats of some great automobiles: Lamborghinis, Porsches, Bentleys, Jaguars, Audis, Mercedes, and Land Rovers, to name a few. 2013 should prove to be even better, as a slew of new cars beckon us to be experienced. So, as we gird our automotive loins, check out our wish list — whose tires we’d like to burn in 2013.

It wasn’t that long ago that driving a Ford was done simply out of loyalty to Made in the USA. They were cars made in America for America, and though “this land is your land, this land is my land” is a nice sentiment, most vehicles from “our land” were built from a “this is how we’ve always done it” mentality. No real innovation. No real style. No real appeal.

Is BMW making their lineup more confusing or more distinctive? Hard to say. As rumored several years ago, BMW is finally doing away with their 3-Series coupe nomenclature and making their 2-doors consistent with even-numbered badging, a la 6-Series. The all new BMW 4-Series Concept reveals what the coupe version of BMW’s segment-leading, bread-and-butter 3-Series…

The new 2013 Porsche Cayman borrows plenty of tricks from its droptop Boxster brethren, including double stacked headlights, an integrated rear spoiler, gaping side-scoops as well as a new front clip. Combined with a slightly longer wheelbase and wider track – this evolution of the Porsche progeny is a raw and visceral looking little beast…

To find gifts for those men who consider driving simply a way to get from point A to point B, head to the nearest Brookstone. For those impassioned drivers you know — the ones who have 5W-30 running through their veins, love talking about tire aspect ratios and own some kind of driving/riding apparel (which…

If you needed any more proof that Jaguar is serious about performance driving, the newly unveiled 2014 Jaguar XFR-S ($99,000) should wake you up. Yes, it’s as serious as it looks. With a 5.5-liter supercharged V8 that provides 550 horsepower to the rear wheels, this top-of-the-line XF cat gets 0-60 in 4.4 seconds and tops…

If you owned a fully restored drop-top vintage Porsche 356, our guess is that it would see the light of Sundays only: to be washed, paraded around afterwards and stared at lustfully by onlookers. Southern Revival documents the simple story of Ken Sirlin and his 1962 Porsche 356 Cabriolet. Purchased in 1985, while living in…

How do you really define overkill? Is 510 horsepower too much or just being prepared? If your $100K luxury SUV can climb a 45 degree muddy slope in a forest, but only goes on grocery runs, does it really make a sound? The 2013 Range Rover Sport Supercharged answers the question, “what if you wanted…

The BMW X5 xDrive35d is a mouthful, an earful and a pocketful all at once. Its visually eclectic nomenclature is BMW speak for all-wheel drive and a diesel powertrain. Yes, we said diesel. Get used to it, because the clean-burning fuel is here to stay — providing both efficiency (relative, of course, for something this…

From the revamped A-Class to mysterious Affalterbach gems, Mercedes knows a thing or two about pushing the boundaries of automotive design. Most of their time has been spent developing on-road capabilities — but at this year’s LA Design Challenge, Mercedes gave us a look into the off-road future with their Ener-G-Force. For Mercedes, this isn’t…

If you’re wearing your finest cowboy boots, a $1,000 matching hat with a brim the size of a satellite dish and a mustache that rivals Sam Elliot’s, boy have we got the truck for you. The all new 2013 Ram 1500 has been redesigned inside and out to accommodate the rough and tumble — but…

In the world of exotic Italian automakers, the Lamborghini name needs no introduction — especially with the legacy of V12 superbeasts like the Miura and the Countach. Such icons adorned the walls of many a high school boy’s room just a few decades ago, and still ring true in our memories as a couple of…

If you’re into thimble collecting or love to break a sweat zipping through the woods on your adult tricycle, then the Otokar Cobra is undeniably the wrong kind of vehicle for you. Built for equal parts protection and destruction, the Cobra will assuredly get you to the front of the line in any zombie-fueled traffic…

The original Audi allroad Quattro, sold between 2000 and 2006, was one righteous automobile. Built like a tank, powered by big horsepower numbers, designed for actual rough terrain, and with creature comforts and an actual height-adjustable suspension, the first allroad still garners respect from the automotive cognoscenti. Though a decent number were sold in both…

The Lamborghini Aventador is unquestionably a land rocket. Trust us. We’ve driven it, and we’re still trying to massage our organs back into alignment. Now that Lamborghini has pulled the curtains back on their roofless V12-powered Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster (~$381,000), we’re prepared to search for our scalps after a quick jaunt around the block….