Author Archives: Vincent Nguyen

Whatever the name night suggest, you can think of the new Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport as a five-seat alternative to the Atlas. Conceived primarily for the U.S. and Canadian market, it's an example of VW's regional divisions knowing what works for their audience, and the automaker's platforms being flexible enough to drive that understanding right onto dealership forecourts. As I found from behind the wheel of an Atlas Cross Sport prototype, that flexibility comes with pros and cons.

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The Lexus brand was born of an obsession to make the best car in the world. It’s as simple as that. Toyota founder Eiji Toyoda issued the challenge back in 1983: to create a new premium sedan that would go head-to-head with the best from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Hiding under the initial code name of Circle F - which eventually became F1 or Flagship One - Lexus began working on their first car, the LS sedan. Interestingly enough, it was around the same time fellow Japanese carmakers Honda and Nissan were also working on their respective luxury arms, Acura and Infiniti.

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The last time I laid eyes on the ThinkPad 7th-generation X1 Carbon laptop from Lenovo was at CES in early January. Exactly eight months later, a fully-spec’d out review unit landed on my doorstep. Lenovo allows the buyer to customize the X1 according to their needs and, more importantly, what their budget permits.

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There’s a reason why Chevrolet revealed the 2020 C8 Corvette Stingray during the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The new mid-engine Corvette is one small step for Chevy, and one giant leap for the American-built sports car industry. It sounds like I’m exaggerating - maybe even like I'm a star-struck fan - but having had the chance to get up close and personal with the 2020 Corvette I’m pretty convinced it'll create a huge tsunami in the world of high-performance cars.

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The 2020 BMW 2-Series is a sprightly little compact coupe. Available with either a powerful turbocharged four-cylinder or inline-six motor driving the front wheels, the 2-Series have always felt like a proper BMW. If there’s one thing that has been holding back the existing 2 Series from its places as the Ultimate Driving Machine of German luxury compacts, it’s the fact it only has been available with two doors. And with the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and CLA looming in the distance, BMW needed a proper compact four-door to stand a chance.

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Mercedes-AMG recently unveiled the all-new M139 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. It’s a complete redesign of the previous-gen M133 four-cylinder motor in the outgoing Mercedes-AMG A45, CLA45, and GLA45. And, with up to 415 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque available, the M139 earns the title of the most powerful four-cylinder engine in the world.

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The Rolls-Royce brand is known for many things. It can either be the magic carpet ride, or the immensely powerful engines for both motorcars and the aviation industry. Most of all, though, Rolls-Royce motorcars are known for their excellence in bespoke manufacturing. Nothing embodies this more than the new Wraith Eagle VIII.

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Just how far can you squeeze a turbo-four? If you're Mercedes-AMG, then the answer is to record-setting levels, with the new M139 hailed as the world’s most powerful series-production turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four. That's found a home under the shapely hood of the new AMG CLA 45, where it's good for 382 hp and 354 lb-ft of torque. For those keeping track, that’s 7 hp more than the the first-generation CLA 45.

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The Bentley Continental GT W12 is the blueprint for a grand tourer. Handsome and effortlessly powerful, it's more than enough car to have you skip the first class cabin and take your next cross-country jaunt into your own hands. What, then, to make of the 2020 Continental GT V8? If you've come looking for compromise then you're on a fool's errand: while the engine may be smaller, the experience for more enthusiastic drivers is a whole lot bigger.

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You can think of #NEXTGen as BMW’s very own auto show. After all, why share the spotlight when you're not only showing off your latest production cars - notably the gorgeous new 8 Series Gran Coupe, with four proper doors, rear-wheel-drive or rear-biased AWD, and an available inline-six or V8 engine - but explaining your vision of sustainable driving and technology in the not-so-distant future.

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Mercedes-Benz is on an SUV rampage. After unveiling the sleek GLC crossover and GLB compact SUV, we now have the all-new iteration of the full-size GLS-Class SUV. However, this is not my first encounter with Mercedes’ new SUV. The Mercedes-Benz GLS made a splashing debut at the 2019 New York International Auto Show and impressed me with its S-Class levels of refinement, build quality, and premium technology.

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Mercedes-Benz unveiled the concept GLB at the Shanghai International Auto Show, and at the time, it appeared to ticked all the right boxes for a small and capable SUV. It’s built on a compact platform while offering to seat seven passengers with all-wheel-drive, and a modern cabin.

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