‘18 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE TRACKHAWK: STEALTH SUPERCAR!

‘18 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE TRACKHAWK: STEALTH SUPERCAR!
Dan Scanlan test drives a 707 horsepower Jeep Grand Cherokee that thinks it’s a Hellcat…and performs like one. Yeah, it's got a Hemi! At first glance, this looks like a plain white Jeep Grand Cherokee. Then we fire up the ‘18 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk designed by FCA’s SRT team, to pound asphalt instead of mountains. There’s a Challenger Hellcat under that air scoop-sculpted hood - a supercharged 707 horsepower, 6.2-liter Hemi - that lets out a scream when we launch. This is an SUV w...
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‘17 ALFA ROMEO GIULIA QUADRIFOGLIO: FOUR-DOOR FURY!

Intrepid tester and Alfa owner Dan Scanlan blogs about Alfa’s latest Giulia. ‘It’s a superbly capable sports sedan, an absolute blast to drive despite some tiny flaws.’ I love Alfas and own an ‘88 Alfa Romeo Milano Verde, the Quadrifoglio four-leaf clover-badged ancestor of the Giulia and its last rear-wheel-drive model until now. When Alfa Romeo left the U.S. in 1993, its only two models were an aging Spider and a sleek front-wheel-drive 164 Sport sedan. Neither was a ringing reminder of ...
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‘17 JAG F-TYPE SVR: KITTY KITTY BANG BANG!

It prowls the streets with a ferocious growl, while its bite seems to melt rubber and asphalt. It has a very angry face, blogs Dan Scanlan. It’s the latest supercharged cat from Jaguar, with a tiger under its alloy bonnet and an explosive snarl from its quad exhaust. Meet the F-TYPE SVR, which lives up to Jaguar’s claim of being the “lightest, quickest, most powerful” member of its line.The F-Type SVR’s supercharged 5-liter V-8 serves up 575-horsepower and 516-pound-feet of torque after and...
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’17 MERCEDES-BENZ SL65: SUNSHINE SUPERCAR!

“Dial ‘SL65’ if you want a classic aluminum-bodied two-seat roadster with an abundance of luxo-tech and V12 power,” blogs Dan Scanlan. Inside the ‘17 Mercedes-Benz SL65 Roadster’s sleek-but-familiar frame resides a supercar’s worth of power - a handcrafted twin-turbocharged 6-liter V-12 with, delivering 621 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque at a low 2,300 to 4,300 rpm. And, builder Antonio Donadai’s signature on its carbon fiber engine cover! This SL is the seventh in a series of arg...
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‘16 VW GOLF R: SCALDING HOT HATCH!

‘This is my favorite hot hatch, coming alive when we played and feeling fun when we commuted. But it is pricey,’ blogs Dan Scanlan. I realized that my blue 4-door Golf R is a muscle car and a family car when I parked it between a replica Cobra and a ’57 Ford Fairlane. The 292-inch, 206 horsepower Fairlane could sprint to 60 mph in 11.2 seconds. A real 427 Cobra would take 4.5 seconds to get to 60 mph. The turbocharged 292 horsepower VW could go to 60-mph in under-5 seconds.The Golf R is a ...
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‘16 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE SRT: HEMI HAULER!

This Jeep Grand Cherokee is the biggest beast in the SRT family, and the most luxurious and all-weather capable, blogs Dan Scanlan.  Birthed by the Street and Racing Technology team responsible for the V-10 Dodge Viper as well as the Charger and Challenger SRT392s and Hellcats, this hunkered-down Grand Cherokee commands respect both on and off road. “Regular” Grand Cherokees make do with a 3.6-liter V-6, a 3-liter EcoDiesel or a 5.7-liter V-8. But our 5,600-mile-old Grand Cherokee SRT h...
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‘16 LAMBORGHINI HURACÁN SPYDER: AWESOME!

The Huracán Spyder is the only way to fly, blogs Dan Scanlan. Nothing beats the sound of a mid-engine Supercar. So when Lamborghini introduced the V-10 Huracán, we couldn’t wait to drop its top and check it out. The wait was worth it. We let its naturally-aspirated, 610-horsepower 5.2-liter V-10 sing and still heard the Aventador with a 740-horsepower V-12 hammering away in front of us down a sunny Florida road. Say buona giornata (good day) to the Huracán Spyder. A Lamborghini Huracán Sp...
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‘16 DODGE SRT HEMI HELLCAT: SMOKE ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM!

It’s a well-mannered hooligan, a bad boy that can haul people and butt with style  and smoke, blogs Dan Scanlan. Just take a drive in my neighborhood – any street will do. You’ll see a lot of Hellcat traces left behind – twin rubber stripes departing from many stop signs. Sorry Dodge – the Hellcat with 707 Hemi horsepower generating 650 pound/feet of ground-pounding torque made me do it. And, according to Dodge, it has a top end of 204 mph! Dodge says the Hellcat’s SRT Hemi has the ...
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‘16 MINI COOPER S CLUBMAN: ROOM & ZOOM!

The bigger MINI Clubman may not be as much fun as its smaller siblings, but it’s an all-round sporty four-door with room, utility and a bit of Brit cheekiness,   blogs Dan Scanlan. It is a question for the ages: Can a four-door MINI be as much fun as a two-door? And will a MINI Cooper S version with four doors be even more fun? The first Mini in 1959 started out as a tiny and economical family car, until people found out how much fun it was to play with. Then racecar maker John Coope...
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‘16 AUDI TTS: GOLF R IN A BESPOKE SUIT!

It’s all there, hidden under a sleeker skin with big wheels at each corner. Bottom line – Teutonic exotic bliss in a sleek if slightly derivative shape, with power and great grip, blogs Dan Scanlan. This is the Audi TTS, its arcing body a Nano Gray metallic suit over the good stuff from the VW Golf R. Now the question is whether losing real back seats and storage room is a sacrifice, or is the TTS the way for two to go? The Volkswagen Golf R’s good stuff – turbocharged 2-liter inline fou...
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