Wagons Straightline Archives

If you're this new driver, approximately 4:44. In her defense, the spot is ENORMOUS, it must be difficult deciding exactly where, and at what angle, to park that tiny car.

(*video contains grown-up language. Headphones or mute*)

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Categories: Miscellaneous,SMART,Wagons

 What do you love about the Cadillac CTS-V? If you answered "the motor, duh" you can probably skip this. If you answered "the sweet Recaro seats, microfiber steering wheel and the giant V-series spoiler" then this is up your alley.

Cadillac has just announced the Touring Package for the Cadillac CTS Sedan and Sport Wagon and the CTS Coupe. "The new Touring Packages give CTS buyers access to some desirable V-Series elements, in a more-approachable format." The CTS Sedan and Sport Wagon come with either a 3.0 or 3.6-liter V6 while the coupe is only available with the 318-horsepower 3.6.

The touring pack on the 3.0 runs $2,065 and includes 18-inch pearl nickel finish wheels; dual exhaust; dark finish grille; HID headlights; V-series spoiler/tail light (not on wagon); suede seat inserts, steering wheel and shifter; midnight Sapele wood trim and metal pedals.

Add it to the 3.6-liter CTS and you're out $2,810 but you get the bitchin' Recaro seats and 19-inch polished wheels with either all season or summer performance tires in addition to everything else.

Starting price for the 2012 CTS is $36,790 for the sedan, $39,590 and $39,890 for the Sport Wagon.

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Categories: Cadillac,Coupes,Sedans,Wagons

This week a freelance photographer working in Malibu made rent for the month by snapping photos of a rumpled Richard Dean Anderson standing next to his dead Audi Allroad.

Anderson, known to children of the 1980s as TV's MacGyver, apparently made no attempt to dive under the hood and fix his Audi. And who can blame him entirely? Twenty-first century luxury cars have all sorts of built-in countermeasures to foil would-be MacGyvers and protect their manufacturers from litigation.

After the jump, a CBS clip of old-school MacGyver jimmying a fix for a busted brake line on an eastern-block police cruiser. It looks... quaint. Not that anyone will watch it because of the cloying 30-second Disney ad that precedes it.

(The Daily Mail)

Photo credit: AKM Images

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Categories: Audi,Celebrities,Wagons

First shown in Paris last year, the Nissan Townpod is definitely a concept and absolutely podlike. Can't comment on its townworthiness at this time. 

Said to be an EV -- this is in Nissan's EV-centric booth, remember -- the Townpod is a compact HHR-shaped thing that is intended to be equal parts commercial-grade van and daily driver. Think configurable, like a Ford Transit Connect. Only smaller.

It's definitely user-friendly. For your viewing enjoyment across the jump, I give you a gallery of the Townpod showing off wide-opening cargo access and suicide doors. And who doesn't love suicide doors? 

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Categories: Concept Vehicles,Electric Vehicles,Nissan,Tokyo Motor Show,Wagons

In an odd but not unheard of move, Jaguar is providing spy shots of the new XF Sportbrake. This isn't the first time we've seen manufacturers sending out their own spy photos, but it is the first time that they've A) Done so via twitter and B) added a twitter tag to the actual vehicle.

The Jag-owned twitter @Sportbrake is mostly full of references to people who have asked for, and received, the hand-out shots of the new Jag wagon. As we get closer to the car's release, though, they may turn to talking about things like the actual car.

But until they do, we have these photos.

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Categories: Jaguar,Wagons

There's nothing we don't dig about John Hennessey's personal Cadillac CTS-V "HAMMER WAGON." Just last week we had a video of the 707 horsepower wagon running 190 mph in the Texas Mile and now we've got it on the drag strip.

Thanks to some grippy drag radials, the wagon puts down the power just fine en route to a 10.69 second pass at 134. When we tested Hennessey's V700 sedan -- on street tires and without a prepped launch pad -- we ran an 11.6 @ 127.6.

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Categories: Cadillac,Tuners and Modifications,Videos,Wagons

There are countless tuning companies out there who claim massive horsepower and then there's Hennessey Performance Engineering. Hennessey 'gets it.' They get that people buying a $30,000 upgrade kit for a $60,000 car want to see what they'll get. They get that the kid commenting on YouTube today is the guy who will, in ten years when he sells off a tech company, remember that bitchin' Hennessey he saw and spend some cash.

They also get that watching a 707 horsepower Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon do 0-189.7 in the Texas is mile is awesome.

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Categories: Cadillac,Tuners and Modifications,Wagons

It was at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show that Mercedes-Benz revealed the stunning CLS Shooting Break Concept. The company later said that the CLS Shooting Brake (Yes, they changed the spelling of "break") would be in production and ready for launch by 2012.

Now we finally have visual proof that the concept is still around and nearly ready for the original sale date with only a thin strip of camo hiding the wagoney part of the CLS.

If the CLS Shooting Brake does come to the U.S., expect it to retail somewhere north of $80,000. The base CLS in the US starts at $71,300 and comes with a twin-turbo 4.6-liter V8 making 402 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. Don't be surprised to see a CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake shortly after the CLS550 Shooting Brake is officially revealed perhaps as early as Los Angeles.

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Categories: Mercedes-Benz,Spy Photos,Wagons

We don't have great hope that Audi will export the new-generation A6 wagon to the United States. Our doom-and-gloom sentiment has nothing to do with the existence of the A7, and everything to do with commercials like this one. Robotic hummingbirds sipping sweet low-sulfur nectar from refueling nozzles. Soundtrack by a deceased American opera star we haven't heard of but should have. And it's all directed by a British director we haven't heard of who has evidently been allowed to make exactly one feature-length film, which happened to star Michael Caine.

Call it esoteric if you went to liberals arts school, or just call it weird, but it's kind of great. And it's the kind of commercial Audi would never air in the U.S., because, well, because ____________________.

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Categories: Audi,Luxury Cars,Wagons

With a name like Surf, you figured Fisker's Frankfurt debut had to be a concept. And you would be wrong. This so-called five-door shooting brake is based on the Karma and destined for production. Deliveries of the Surf wagon will start at the end of summer 2012, Fisker's Roger Ormisher told Inside Line.

Because it's a wagon, Ormisher added, Europe will be the primary market, taking an estimated 60 percent of customer orders. It's thought that U.S. customers will buy up the other 40 percent.

The most striking thing about the Surf is just how long this car is in person. Lacking a wide-angle lens, we struggled to fit the whole car into our pictures from Fisker's booth. Undoubtedly, it has the same 124.4-inch wheelbase as the Karma, but the wagon looks well over 200 inches long overall. Drivetrain specifications are identical, so we're talking about an extended-range hybrid with twin 150-kW electric motors, a 2.0-liter gas engine (that extends range but never actually drives the rear wheels) and a combined hp rating of 403.

Of course, Fisker's future is far from certain, as Karmas have yet to find their way into very many customers' hands. Colin Powell has his, though, the company announced today. And says Ormisher, EPA certification should be complete by the end of September.

First Drive: 2012 Fisker Karma

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Categories: Frankfurt Auto Show,Future Vehicles,Hybrids,Wagons

We cornered Jost Capito at Ford's Eve of Show event for the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show and started firing questions about the 2013 Ford Focus ST at him. Below is a sampling of his responses:

So this car doesn't use the RevoKnuckle-type suspension setup to control torque steer like the Focus RS did?

Capito: No, for torque steer compensation, we're using an electronic system -- torque vectoring... The RevoKnuckle works mechanically, and the torque vectoring works by engaging the brakes.

So there's a difference in cost?

Capito: Yes. This is software, whereas the RevoKnuckle adds two extra parts. It also adds weight, so we decided for the ST, [torque vectoring] was the right technology. It's track-capable, but compared to the RS, it's less of a track car.

The press material mentions you're using new rear suspension knuckles. Are these for larger wheel bearings and/or brakes?

Capito: They allowed us to fit larger antiroll bars with different routing. We need much more roll stiffness for the ST, but we couldn't get this roll stiffness with the base setup, so we went with a completely new design.

Will the U.S.-spec ST really have summer tires? Will all-seasons be an option?

Capito: We would like to get people to get summer tires and winter tires. With summer tires, you get the vehicle dynamics that it's fun to drive. If you put all-seasons on, you lose quite a bit of that.

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Categories: Ford,Frankfurt Auto Show,Hatchbacks,Tuners and Modifications,Wagons

Ford has released photos of the 2012 Focus ST production car, and sure enough, the five-door hatch looks just like the concept we saw last year in Paris. The little surprise is what you see here: Ford is also building a fantastic-looking Focus ST wagon. For Europe. Only. Sorry.

Both cars will use the drivetrain you've been reading about: a turbocharged and direct-injected, 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder (with variable intake- and exhaust-valve timing) hooked to a six-speed manual gearbox driving the front wheels. Horsepower is rated at 247; torque comes in at 266 pound-feet. Ford hasn't disclosed the rpm thresholds for either, yet, but redline is marked at 6,800.

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Categories: Ford,Frankfurt Auto Show,Hatchbacks,Wagons

Speculation has been hot for more than a year that Buick is going to do a wagon version of the Regal. After all, the Opel Insignia, which shares essentially everything with the Regal, is sold in Europe in both sedan and wagon body styles.

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Categories: Buick,Luxury Cars,Wagons

 Above is the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting brake, a well-received concept that Mercedes-Benz approved for production ( though not approved for U.S. importation yet) starting in 2012. And Mercedes-Benz isn't stopping there, this E-Class based stunner is soon to have a little brother in the form of a CLC Shooting Brake.

Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche has recently approved a CLC-based shooting brake to take on the Audi A5 and upcoming BMW 3-Series GT. It's rumored that it will hit North America in 2014 -- whether that means the US, or just Canada, is up in the air.

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Categories: Future Vehicles,Mercedes-Benz,Wagons

 Last week we posted a first drive of the 2012 Hyundai i40 Touring with the subhead, "The Sonata Wagon We Can't Have." A Sonata with more space sounds like a win-win and, with some minor complaints about seat folding, it was. Trouble is, there are no plans to bring it to the states anytime soon. No matter how hard everyone tries, we just won't take our wagony medicine

Then why is Hyundai bothering to test an already developed car on an LA freeway-- this isn't a car that needs hot weather validation and it's not in death valley--  in plain view of some Edmunds employees? Surely there would be an easier, cheaper way for them to drive the 1.7-liter turbodiesel or 1.6 / 2.0-liter gasoline motors in a Sonata on U.S. roads, but we can't rule this out as simply a powertrain prototype.

Besides, "Hyundai has a Sonata Wagon tested in the U.S." everything is just speculation, but we'll take any glimmer of hope for more wagons. Always more wagons.

Categories: Hyundai,Spy Photos,Wagons

 Stupid sexy wagons. Of course, nothing in the press release re: the 2012 Audi A6 Avant had a thing to do with the United States. The newest wagon of our Lord-of-an-Austrian-estate dreams is going on sale in Europe this summer with a base price of 40,850 euros.

There are six engine options available for the A6 Avant: One I4 and 5 V6s. Five of these engines are forced induction mills and all are direct injection. The best fuel economy comes from the front-drive 177 horsepower 2.0-liter TDI hooked to a manual transmission where it returns 47.04 US MPG (conversion from the Euro cycle, not EPA test). The best performer? a 3.0-liter Twin-turbo TDI with 313 horsepower that gets to 60 in 5.4 seconds. There are some gas motors, too; 300 horsepower from a 3.0 TFSI and 204 from a 2.8.

Gearbox options are six-speed manual, Continuously Variable Multitronic or seven-speed S-tronic.

And then we get to the lightness...

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Categories: Audi,Wagons

Yes, this is going to be another West-Coast automotive journalist fawning over a high-horsepower, RWD station wagon. I fawned over them when I was an East-Coast kid and now that I have the soap box, not much has changed.

Oh, except power outputs. Remember when the '97 Corvette came out with 345 horsepower? That was awesome. This station wagon (err, Estate) has 550 horsepower (with the performance pack) from a 5.5-liter twin-turbo DI V8 and a 7-speed MCT transmission. Torque is a whopping 590 pound-feet (516 without the performance pack). Mercedes will also be bringing an E350 4Matic Wagon with AWD and a 3.5-liter V6 with 302 horsepower.

The 2012 E63 AMG Wagon will be available in the US this fall, but it is unclear if they'll be sitting on dealer lots, or if like the last time, they'll be special order only.

Finally, Cadillac has a rival. Your move, BMW....and I don't mean an M5GT.

Categories: Mercedes-Benz,Wagons

It's Friday, so here's the 658 horsepower Hennessey V650 Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon doing burnouts with the exhaust cutouts wide open.

Enjoy!

(and if you want more CTS-V action, here's our full test of the V700 )

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Categories: Cadillac,Tuners and Modifications,Wagons

Man, do we love wagons. It's not like we have an S4 wagon in the U.S. right now to compare these shots to, but even so, it's clear this test mule cranks up the heat about 10 notches from our long-term 2009 A4 Avant. And then you see the front brake calipers, well, and the RS5 wheels and you know that this is the next Audi RS4 Avant. Probably it's a 2012 model, probably we'll see it in September at the Frankfurt Auto Show, and probably we'll never see it here.

But it's highly likely we'll see an RS4 sedan like before, and just like this wagon and the RS5 coupe, it'll have a direct-injected version of Audi's 4.2-liter V8 with its hearty-beef-stew exhaust note and a twin-clutch automated manual transmission. Figure around 440-450 hp coming together somewhere past 8,000 rpm, around 320 lb-ft of torque and something like a mid-4-second 0-to-60-mph time.

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Categories: Audi,Future Vehicles,Luxury Cars,Sports Cars,Wagons

The drag race of the day goes to Hennessey Performance Engineering for this lineup between the 2011 Nissan GTR and the company's own HPE V650 Cadillac CTS-V wagon.

AWD against drag slicks. 485 horsepower against 650.  Six-speed dual-clutch against conventional six-speed automatic.$81,264 against $79,580.

Who ya got?

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Categories: Cadillac,Nissan,Sports Cars,Tuners and Modifications,Wagons