MOTORTREND - July 26th, 2008

Still edgy after all these years

By Todd Lassa

It’s not easy to replace flame surfacing, the Bangle butt, and iDrive with a new car that’s just as radical. Without appearing to try, BMW has pulled this off with equally controversial styling and potentially infuriating new technology. American luxury-car buyers will have the choice of just one version when it launches in November: the 750i, which means we get it only with the new 4.4L twin-turbo V-8, making 407 hp and 442 lb-ft in Euro trim. The engine first appeared in the X6, in which it is rated 400 hp and 450 lb-ft for the U.S. BMW says fuel efficiency is 1.8 percent better than the outgoing 750i, achieves ULEV2 and EU 5 emissions standards, and is the most efficient car in its class.

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BUSINESSWEEK - Marketing July 11, 2008, 12:29PM EST

The Milwaukee motorcycle mecca will showcase Harley-Davidson’s history, creating a shrine for bikers

by Matt Vella

Cue Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild. On July 12, famed American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson (HOG) will kick-start its latest creation, throwing open the doors to a $75 million brand museum on Milwaukee’s South Side.

The Harley-Davidson Museum was designed and curated by New York’s Pentagram and is intended as a mecca for motorcyclists, housing artifacts such as the hogs owned by Elvis Presley and daredevil Evil Knievel as well as the company’s earliest and rarest models. Harley-Davidson, which has seen sales cool since a 2006 peak of nearly 350,000 bikes, hopes the shrine-like site will help maintain and develop the brand’s already devoted following and attract more than 300,000 visitors annually. “It’s simple. We hope to build and strengthen the bond with our riders,” says Stacey Schiesl, the museum’s director, of the institution’s mission.
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MOTORTREND - July 13th, 2008

By Andrew Strieber

There have been many imitators over the years, but when you’re in the market for a comfortable, everyday car that’s as equally at home canyon-carving at triple-digit speeds as it is taking the kids to school, the BMW 3 Series is hard to beat.

Introduced as a 2006 model, the fifth-generation of BMW’s iconic 3 Series sport sedan has continued this tradition — especially after receiving a much-needed horsepower upgrade the following year. But recently, the Munich automaker’s rivals have been catching up. Offerings from Mercedes, Infiniti, Cadillac, and Lexus now offer the 3 Series the stiffest competition it’s seen in some time.
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BUSINESSWEEK - Auto News July 9, 2008, 3:50PM EST

photo by: Eric Gallina

by Sam Livingstone

Why do people like some cars and dislike others? There are all sorts of reasons for sure, but there aren’t so many cars that one both likes and also dislikes. The BMW X6 takes this a stage further in being a design that is likable and unlikable for the same reason.

Discounting the Ssangyong Actyon, the X6 is the world’s first SUV-coupe crossover (the Munich-based manufacturer calls it a Sports Activity Coupe). And in marrying of these two leisure lifestyle-signifying car types we have the crux of the X6 identity, and the reason we both loved and hated it.

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International Herald Tribune - Published: July 4, 2008

The electric G-Wiz from GoinGreen of Britain is eco-friendly and hideous. (Richard Seymour)

By Alice Rawsthorn

LONDON: They’re the most expensive things that most of us buy except for our homes. They’ve spawned a huge media industry of magazines, television shows and Web sites. Whichever one you choose is thought to reveal a great deal about your character, taste, income and whether or not you’re a heartless gas-guzzling polluter. Why then are so many cars so ugly?

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Silicon Alley Insider - Dan Frommer | July 6, 2008 12:30 PM

It’s that time of year: Time to get off the grid for a weekend, a week, or if you’re lucky, a month. We thought we’d share some of our favorite travel sites for planning trips, looking for city info, and staying in touch on the road.

Trip Booking

Kayak.com: The best-designed (and seemingly most complete) airfare search engine. The user interface is simple and lightweight — not a big noisy mess like many of its rivals.
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MOTORTREND - Road Tests

By Matt Stone

Photography by Matt Stone, Roberto Carrer

It’s too bad that car noises don’t translate well to print. But the most committed among us know what “Wum-wum-wum-whhoooooooooom-pahhh or “wwaaaaaAAAAhhhhhhHHHH!” sounds like. Or what it means to talk about a car while using your hands to illustrate the curve of the road you just smoked through, or what steering inputs it takes to negotiate a particular corner. If all this makes sense to you, then you’ll feel the emotional heat that boils out of Ferrari’s new 430 Scuderia.

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