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Torque is described as a force that tends to turn things and, in the case of the 2009 Jetta TDI, its abundance turned me into a fan of this latest in a long line of Volkswagen "oil-burners" by providing strong performance and flexibility along with exceptionally high levels of fuel economy. Torque is what you get when you, for example, tug on the handle of a wrench to tighten or loosen a nut. Doing so exerts a twisting force still expressed here, in Ye Olde English, in lb-ft, as nobody on this side of the Atlantic has any idea what a newton-metre is. Torque in an engine is generated by burning a fuel/air mixture in a cylinder, with the pressure of the expanding gases pushing the piston, which is linked to the crankshaft by a connecting rod, downwards. As this occurs, the angle generated by the crankshaft "throw" increases and the rod, like the wrench handle above, rotates the crank. And that, with a few things such as clutches and transmission gears in between, is w...

If the 2009 Infiniti G37 Convertible is the answer, the question, Alex, is, “What took them so long?” Indeed, the first and last droptop Infiniti before the new G37 Convertible was the 1990-’92 Infiniti M30 Convertible, a rebadged Japanese-market Nissan Leopard without its roof. The current Infiniti G-series models inevitably indulge in sharing its “FM” platform with the Nissan Z-models, but with two decades of maturation at Infiniti the model line is more independent and the G-series not the stopgap the original Infiniti M-series was. The subject 2009 Infiniti G37 models were designed from the outset to accommodate the convertible version. It’s not a conversion or chop-topped Coupe. But it’s also not a roadster, like the topless version its corporate cousin S-cars, but a convertible with a with a rear seat. Never mind that it’s a bit snug back there, real adults will fit. The only way that will happen with a Z roadster is by putting the extra people on the rear deck like homecoming ki...

BMW North America has just released the U.S pricing for the new 2009 BMW Z4. As expected, there is a price increase over the previous Z4 generation, but still significantly lower than the German pricing. The BMW Z4 is all new for 2010, and the updated roadster will be ready for production later this spring. BMW gave the Z4 sleeker sheet metal, a folding hard top, and upgraded powertrains, but the biggest change could be to its price tag. Buyers looking for a new Z4 can expect to plunk down $46,575. That's a big jump from the base $36,700 of the 2008 Z4, which packed less power and less road presence. The 46 large is also exactly the same price as the Z4's nemesis; the Porsche Boxster. The 2010 model will net you a 258-horsepower inline six capable of hitting 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. The base Bimmer will also come standard with leatherette seating surfaces (upgrading to Kansas leather tacks on another $1,250). The 306-horsepower, twin-turbo Z4 sDrive35i will cost a whole lot more,...

A Mustang with a Track pack? Corvettes and Vipers grab the glory for Old Glory at temples of speed such as Le Mans. The lumbering, log-axle Mustang is just a quarter-miler for the tattoo-and-tobacco crowd, right? Actually, mes amis, the Mustang is America’s other road-racing workhorse. It has its own pro series, the eight-race Mustang Challenge. And there were more than a dozen Mustangs on the grid at Daytona this past January when a Roush-prepared Mustang finished second in the three-hour Koni Challenge race. It made all its rights and lefts better than Porsche 911s and BMW M3s. No, we wouldn’t expect that hierarchy to hold on the street, even if the 2010 Track-pack Mustang GT is billed as the hairpin-and-carousel king of the newly reskinned Mustang lineup. Still, Ford’s old pony has a long history of making incremental improvements as it ages, and the Track package shows that the late-night lights still burn in some windows at Ford. Building a Track-pack Mustang on the order form sta...

Since the success of the retro style Fiat 500 that came out in Europe, it should come as no shock that a 2009 Fiat 500c is on the way. This is a great version of the car that now has a great drop top to go with it. The design of this soft top does not make it your typical convertible car at all. However, the main goal was to make this car stay true to the original 1957 open top model cars, and

There are a lot of great cars out there, but the Jaguar XK series offer both sporty features and luxury all rolled up into one. The 2009 Jaguar XK Series is a 2 door, 4 passenger sports car. It comes in both a hard top and convertible model.When the car first comes out, it is going to come with a standard 4.2 liter engine. It's going to be a V8 with over 300 horsepower! Of course, even with this