At first I thought our Ford Edge test car was a DUB edition, with the big chrome 20" wheels and 245/20 Pirellis. Turns out this wheel/tire package is an $895 option on the AWD Limited. And with the navigation and whatnot, this baby optioned out to around $38,000–a pretty hefty chunk of change.

Like the Hyundai Santa Fe we reviewed last week, the Edge is a mall cruiser, but without the off road pretensions. And it has a lot in common with the Mazda CX-7. But while the Mazda comes with a turbo four banger, the Edge comes with a 3.5 liter V6 that puts out a healthy 265 hp. Then again, the Edge weighs around 4,300 pounds, so it doesn’t exactly scoot. Which brings us to one of the main issues with this vehicle: the gas mileage is quite poor. We averaged around 18 mpg. Now, maybe that didn’t seem so bad when the Edge was first introduced almost two years ago, but that’s gonna be an major barrier for a lot of people these days. And all that weight also means that the Edge doesn’t handle all that well, either. It feels big and porky. So what’s to like? Quite a bit, actually. Continue reading…

Continue reading "2008 Ford Edge AWD Limited" »

Here’s a new pic of MotorworldHype’s SEMA-bound IS F. What you see here is a a plug for the front lip. The final piece will be made from vacuum bagged dry carbon fiber. Be sure to check out their ride page for more pics, including some shots of their new blue Alcantara seats.

CarDomain member Chris Castagna (AKA crc930) was chosen to be one of thirty drivers to compete in this year’s 2008 VW TDI Cup sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing. As of this Saturday’s race at Iowa Speedway, he is the championship points leader. The season is just three races away from wrapping up at Road Atlanta, where the season points champ will be awarded $100,000. The points champ will also get an additional $150,000 if they sign a contract with another pro team within six months of winning. Be sure to visit Chris’s Jetta TDI ride page to wish him luck and to check out some awesome racing pics.

Remember the first Nissan SE-R? The car magazines went completely nuts for it back in the day. Well, Motive Mag thought it would be fun to pit the rusty, 135K mile example below against a brand new SE-R Spec V. Their conclusion? The new "Sentra has lost its magic. The Spec V is a better car than the 1991 model, but it’s not a better SE-R." Read the full article at Motive Mag.

Ok, full disclosure here. I don’t really "get" the whole SUV thing. When I was in high school, one of my best friends had a Jeep Cherokee which we often took up to Lake Tahoe to go skiing. It worked ok, but I always thought my other buddy’s Saab was a better snow car. Now, I definitely get Wranglers and 4×4 pickups if you are hardcore about going off-road. And I get full size trucks and SUVs when you have to tow or haul stuff. But most of the smaller or mid-size SUVs you see on the road these days… dunno. Seems like most of them are designed for the mall. And the Santa Fe Limited AWD definitely seems like a mall vehicle. Continue reading…

Continue reading "2008 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited AWD" »

Here’s the EVO X that Vivid Racing is building for SEMA this year. The car features a body kit by Valdi Sport and the Agency Power twin scroll GT35R turbo kit helps get this beast up to 650 hp. Check out the Vivid Racing ride page for more pics and all the specs. We’ll have more updates on this car as we get closer to SEMA.

The Lexus IS F that 0-60 Magazine is building for SEMA just got a custom GReddy exhaust. The system is made up of 70mm full dual piping to 60mm quad piping finishing with four 115mm tips. Sounds pretty tough in this clip! More details and pics on 0-60 Mag’s IS F ride page.

When I saw this Invidia Q300 exhaust over at World One Performance on their 2008 STi project car, I had to love it despite the drain-like exhaust inlet. So what do you think? Yeah or nay? Two more pics after the jump.

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RJ De Vera and the guys at MotorworldHype are building the third SEMA-bound Lexus IS F to be featured on CarDomain. For wheels they selected Volk TE37s (the shot below is just a teaser–the final wheels will look a bit different from the one in the pic). Then they took the car to Street Concepts, who wasted no time in pulling the interior apart. Be sure to check out their ride page for more pics and details, and stay tuned to the blog for future updates.

Ryan’s beautiful new Audi A5 came with an electronic parking brake. I’ve been trying to remain open minded about all the electronics they’ve been dumping into new cars these days, but honestly, I think this is pushing it a bit too far. Ryan kindly gave me a little demonstration of how this thing works in the video below. I also have some interior pics after the jump, including the hilarious oil level readout on the MMI display. And of course you should check out Ryan’s ride page.

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