2012 GMC Acadia Denali

The Denali designation is reserved for the most luxurious and most heavily stylized versions of GMC's creations - and the Acadia Denali variant of the full-size Acadia crossover is no exception to the tradition.

The Acadia Denali is available with either front- or all-wheel-drive, and features the same direct-injection 3.6-liter V6 engine seen lesser Acadia models. 

The engine is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission to help give FWD models an EPA-estimated 17 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway. AWD models return 16/22 mpg. The Acadia is also capable of towing up to 5,200 pounds when properly equipped.

Acadia Denali buyers have the option of seven- and eight-passenger configurations. 

Range-topping Caterham sports car coming in 2015

U.K.-based Caterham’s street-legal lineup is essentially made up of Lotus Seven replicas available with a panoply of modern four-cylinder engines.
The small company has confirmed that it is working on an all-new sports car that will not be a variation of the iconic Seven. It is scheduled to bow in 2015 and will be the brand’s flagship, sitting above the Seven as a more expensive offering.
In a lot of ways the next Caterham will be the anti-Seven. It will have a fixed roof, fixed doors and be available with creature comforts such as air conditioning and an infotainment system. Caterham wants it to be the kind of sports car that can be comfortably used as a daily driver.
That doesn’t mean that the company is building a car that will go head-to-head against the ultra-luxurious Mercedes-Benz CL-Class. With a base price of approximately £40,000 (about $65,000), the upcoming model will be similar in spirit to the Lotus Elise.
“We want to make affordable sports cars. We’re going to stay within the areas that we’re good at; we know what we’re not good at and we’re not going anywhere near that. Our cars are going to be raw, they’re going to be drivers’ cars. We have started with the driving position and worked outwards”, said company CEO Ansar Ali in an interview with the U.K.’s CAR Magazine.

2012 Aston Martin Rapide

The Aston Martin Rapide is a four-door ultra-luxury sedan that borrows styling elements and mechanical components from the brand's elegant DB9 coupe. Though many of its rivals serve up more space for the rear passengers, the Rapide does offer enough room for four adults to go along with its exotic looks.

Like Aston's other models, the Rapide is built on the company's VH (Vertical/Horizontal) architecture -- the same that underpins the DB9. The Rapide also shares its twelve-cylinder powerplant from the DBS, DB9 and Vantage models.

Built by hand, the 6.0-liter V12 engine produces 470 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 443 pound-feet of peak torque at 5,000 rpm. A specifically tuned six-speed Touchtronic 2 automatic transmission allows the driver to change gears automatically or manually via the steering column-mounted magnesium paddles.

As one can see, the production version is very similar to the concept car, but does swap out quad-air intakes for upper and lower grilles. The rear of the car has strong family ties to other Aston Martin models, and sports 'smoked' rear taillights.

Continuing its series of firsts and oddities for the brand, the Rapide is the first ever Aston Martin built outside of the United Kingdom, thanks to a partnership up with Magna Steyr. Given a strong interest in the Rapide, Aston Martin says it will build between 1,000 and 2,000 units per year, up from an original estimate of 500 or less.