The 2013 Dodge Dart is certainly not your Dad's Dart. Unlike the old car, this new model is based on the European Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

Dodge stretched and widened the car for America but kept the Giulietta's Multiair engine. Dodge also changed the interior to make it more like the rest of the brand's car.

The Dart features a duel cloth transmission as well as a massive 8 inch touch screen. We had a chance to check out the new Dart at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show.

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The 2012 VW Beetle and Nissan Altima Coupe are the ultimate Bachelor and Bachelorette cars. But which one gets the rose and which one has to leave.

In this special year's Valentine's Day Mashup review we see which car is the better his and her drive. Is the red 2012 VW Beetle the better car for him or is the 2012  Nissan Altima Coupe the better ride for her?

Check out the review below to find out.

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What can be better for a car aficionado than carving a mountain road in an open roadster on a pleasant sunny day? While almost any convertible would make such a drive enjoyable; those looking for an extra adrenaline rush of a high revving exhaust note and slamming their own gears require a special car.

One such car is the Honda S2000. While the standard S2000 is one of the greatest sports roadsters in its own right; the folks at Honda sprinkled additional performance magic dust on the limited edition “Club Racer” CR model. This factory tuned car may be a little too harsh on the mountain or canyon road, but it feels at home on the race track as its name suggests. Major manufacturers don't often release such track focused cars for general sale, and this makes the CR even more exciting.

Desirability:

So what makes this roadster a top performer in the twisties? The S2000 is all about the numbers. It all begins with the front mid-engined and rear wheel drive chassis that allows for the 50:50 front/rear weight distribution. Then, there is the high revving 4 cylinder 237 hp VTEC motor that lies at its heart. In fact, this car should really be called S2200 CR since its using a torquier 2,157cc engine that was around since 2004.

The compact and lightweight motor has one of highest specific output for a naturally aspirated production engine. Only the Wankel rotary has higher horsepower output per liter. The Club Racer's overall curb weight is 51 lbs less than that of a standard S2000. The car's 94.5 inch wheelbase is shorter than any of its competitors and allows the driver's bottom to be right next to the drive wheels, which further enhances the cornering feel.

The Club Racer model is distinguished from its standard brethren by: stiffened suspension, quicker steering, unique wheels with wider stickier tires, a removable hardtop that takes place of the standard folding soft top, and tuned front and rear aero bodywork among other tweaks. Although, Honda claims a drastic reduction in high speed lift the enlarged front splitter/spoiler and the huge rear wing appear somewhat adolescent. No matter, the CR is a laser sharp focused version of one of the best critically acclaimed and celebrated roadsters of all time. Did I mention that the chief engineer for the S2000, Shigeru Uehara, is the same guy who brought us the NSX?

Rarity:

Honda had originally planed to produce between 1,500 and 2,000 CRs, but when all was said and done the records show that only 699 of them reached the US market. Out of these, just 59 cars were delivered that had the A/C and audio system delete option. The CRs came in four exterior colors: white, yellow, blue, and black. There were just 90 cars in the “Grand Prix white” color, 140 in “Rio Yellow pearl”, 200 in “Apex Blue pearl”, and 269 in “Berlina Black”. Refer to this page for further production number breakdown. This truly is a limited edition car.

Verdict:

The S2000 CR is an ultra rare factory tuned car and its desirability and rarity combine to make it an interesting collector's item. A country wide used car search yields just five CRs with between 10K and 35K miles and an average asking price of $28,000. This average price is higher than that of the base S2000 of the same vintage, and this will continue since CRs are so rare.

Automobile Magazine Review

Andre Smirnov is a Software Engineer by trade and a life-long automotive enthusiast.  On the weekends - you may find him at a car show, an auction, watching a race, or tinkering in the garage.  When not working or spending time with the family - he often scours the internet and other media for various automotive, mechanical, and computer related information.

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The BBC car series Top Gear is back again with Season 18 Episode 3.

In this newest episode James gets to test the Vauxhall Corsa VXR Nurburgring with the help of the Stig.

Meanwhile Jeremy & Richard help choreograph a car chase scene.

In the reasonably priced car Ryan Reynolds shows that he knows a thing or two about going fast around BBC's Top Gear Track.

As a bonus review James May also reviews the new Fiat Panda and comes away more impressed by the small Fiat than the Vauxhall Corsa VXR. His Top Gear conclusion is that you can have more fun in a small car with small tires on the road than any car ever developed on the Nurburgring.

Check it out below.

But hurry up and watch it before it gets pulled from the Internet.

BTW: You can watch last week's complete Top Gear Episode by clicking HERE.

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Business travel today is tolerable at best, but can easily turn ugly at the drop of a hat. That's why many business travelers value loyalty programs of such as United Airlines Mileage Plus which holds out the promise of better customer service for frequent-flyers.

Don't believe them.

I'm scheduled to fly tomorrow from Denver to Austin, Texas except that when I was checking into my flight today on-line, I noticed that my name on the ticket was misspelled. Instead of "Roman" the name on the ticket is "Romanw"

The extra and unwanted "W" at the end of my first name could be a problem when I go through TSA security tomorrow.

To correct the matter I called United Airlines Customer Service number. I simply wanted them to correct the spelling of my first name on my flight ticket.

After the usual phone tree hell. (You know, press 1 if you think we really care enough about your business to have you talk with a live human instead of a poorly written and unhelpful voice recognition program)...I was able to speak with some who sounded as if they were in India on the end of a very long string connected to a tin can.

I was informed that the spelling of my name would not be an issue with the TSA. Which to me seemed odd as the voice recording during my wait on hold had specifically warned me that my government issued ID and the ticket need to have the same name.

The unhelpful agent, after telling me that he "appreciated my precious time" told me he could not delete the "W" at the end of my name from my ticket.

So I asked to speak with a supervisor.

After more waiting on hold, and of course another recorded warning about my ID matching my ticket, Ric Vardni, the supervisor, to my great surprised informed me that she could not delete the extra "w", but instead she was cancelling my ticket and issuing a refund that would take between 7 to 10 days to hit the credit card.

Wow, now that's some fast and extremely unhelpful United Airlines frequent flyer customer service. One call to get a simple spelling change eventually turns into a cancelled trip and a blown business meeting.

I asked to speak to her supervisor, but she said that I could only go on United Airlines web site, and write an email asking for the name change.

Which I did.

After filling out the complex on-line form I hit continue and the United Frequent-Flyer web site blew up and gave me an error message stating that the text of my message was too long.

Which it wasn't.

From this first hand experience I can only assume that United Airlines has zero interest in helping their frequent-flyers who spend tens of thousand of dollars a year with them, but instead they would rather refund their money and tell them to check their credit card statement.

I suspect it might be easier to go to the DMV tomorrow morning and try to change my driver's licence to "Romanw" so I can make my meeting tomorrow night, than ask United Customer Dis-service for help.

Thanks United Airlines for leaving this Mileage Plus frequent-flyer in the lurch.

Roman Mica is a columnist, journalist, and author, who spent his early years driving fast on the German autobahn. When he's not reviewing cars for the active set, you can find him training for triathlons and writing about endurance sports for EverymanTri.com. Mica is a former broadcast reporter with his Masters Degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Anybody can race and review a Camaro vs. a Mustang in a straight line. It's been done tens of thousands of times over the years, but what about an off-road race between a Range Rover Sport vs. a Traxxas Slash 4X4?

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Volkswagen says that the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid will get a combined 45 MPG and that will be able to go up to about 40 MPH on electricity alone.

We had a chance to check out the newest addition to the Jetta line-up at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show and ask Volkswagen how the Jetta Hybrid might compete with the new Jetta TDI.

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Sexy women and hot new fast cars go together like peanut butter and jelly. At the 2012 Chicago Auto Show there were plenty of both on display.

Check out this video that highlights the sexy women of the 2012 Chicago Auto show & the new cars they love.

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The 2013 Volkswagen TDI is the 6th diesel powered car in the Volkswagen's American fleet. It official debuted at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show with very little fanfare.

It joins the VV Beetle 2.5 and Turbo as the third variant in the German Automaker's iconic Beetle lineup.

Check out this video of the newest member of the VW beetle lineup.

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CHICAGO - The 2013 Ford Escape  is all new and with the new small Crossover comes a new Ford technology from the European Ford C-Max.

The Escape's hands-free Power Tailgate allows owners to open the car's back hatch with a kick of the foot.

Instead of having to reach down and push a button on a key fob or manually open the tailgate (which can be an issues with a handful of groceries) the Escapes owner just kicks their foot under the back bumper. In this technology demonstration from the 2012 Chicago Auto Show a Ford executive demo states how the new tech works.

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CHICAGO – Making its debut at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show is the wild looking KIA Track'ster concept.

The KIA Track'ster concept car is a striking take on the popular KIA Soul. It is a concept only; however, shades of future KIA Souls may be hinted at; or, perhaps a look into the KIA crystal ball as to where their next styling direction may lead. We’re pretty sure that the 247 horsepower engine will not see the light of day in a Soul – but you never know.

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CHICAGO — The GMC Acadia and Acadia Denali get a real renovation externally and internally.

The 2013 GMC Acadia debuts at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show with a new nose, revised/softened sheet metal and a redesigned rear end. An industry first center airbag is new as is the Side Blind Zone Alert with Rear Cross Traffic Alert systems. New wheels, a standard rearview camera and a softer, more sophisticated interior are part of the redesign as well.

GMC’s seven or eight passenger Acadia was introduced in 2007 and this is the first significant update it has received. The front-wheel or all-wheel drive 2013 GMC Acadia will go on sale near the third quarter of 2012.

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CHICAGO — Hyundai takes on the Honda Civic Coupe with the 2013 Elantra Coupe which made its debut at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. 

Sporting the same 148 horsepower 1.8-liter 4-cylinder that’s in the Elantra sedan – the 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe will have a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic bolted up to that engine. Efficiency numbers are an estimated at 29 mpg city and 40 mpg highway. Hyundai has stated that those numbers beat the current Civic Coupe by 11%.

Available in two trims, the base model GS will have an electronic push-button start, Bluetooth, electronic brake-force distribution system, six airbags, stability control, 16-inch wheels and traction control.
The upper market SE will have everything the GS has including: 17-inch wheels, a 7-inch touchscreen navigation/infotainment system with a built-in rearview camera and an iPod/Aux/USB input.

The 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe will be available this spring.

The Elantra GT is back! Hyundai reintroduces the Elantra GT hatchback which was discontinued from the line in 2006.

This new Elantra hatchback is based on the European i30. Power comes from the, now ubiquitous, 1.8-liter, 148 horsepower, 4-cylinder that fills the engine bays of the ever expanding line of Elantras. A six-speed manual and automatic transmission will be available for the 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT.

Slightly larger than the sedan (but about 200-lbs lighter than the Ford Focus hatchback), the 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT is estimated to get 28 mpg city and 39 mpg highway. 

The 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT has 119 cubic feet of total cargo space which is best in class. Standard equipment includes Bluetooth, electronic brake-force distribution system, six airbags, stability control and traction control. A thumping 172-watt stereo with satellite, CD/MP3 audio system, six speakers and iPod/Aux/USB is standard.

The 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT will be available the summer of 2012.

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CHICAGO — The 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 convertible has a supercharged 5.8-liter V8 that makes 650 horsepower.

The monster convertible 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 celebrates the 20th anniversary of Ford’s Special Vehicle Team. Ford engineers built the convertible GT500 to be just as sporty as the hardtop. With an astonishing 650 hp, not only is the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 one of the most powerful V8s on the planet, it’s destine to be one of the fastest Mustangs ever.

Ford announced that the 2013 Shelby GT500’s lap times at Sebring International Raceway are nearly 3½ seconds faster than the outgoing Shelby GT500. 

The 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 convertible gets a new Brembo brake system with an optional Track package with a transmission cooler, external engine oil cooler and rear differential. The Performance package will have Bilstein electronic adjustable dampers which were designed by Ford’s Special Vehicle Team.

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The 2012 Range Rover Sport and RR Evoque are two of the most off-road worthy cars you can buy. But which one is better in the snow?

Or to be even more specific, which one is better in three feet of newly fallen Colorado powder?

We decided to find out in this snow-worthy review by driving both Range Rovers to Gold Hill, Colorado up Lick Skillet Road.

Lick Skillet  Road is one of the steepest country roads in America, and when it snows three feet the road not only gets slick but also very slippery. So which one of these two British cars is the best in the snow.

The old establish Range Rover or the up-stark newbie Evoque. Check out this video review to find out.

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