Performance

Discover Ralph Lauren's car collection

The Discovery Channel airs a one-hour special this Saturday night, October 6, about the incredibly rare and classic cars in Ralph Lauren's collection. Didn't know Ralph Lauren was a car collector? He has more interests than designing clothes, and in this special you will get to see cars from a collection that's usually kept far from the public eye.

Among our favorites is the 1929 Blower Bentley because, according to Ian Fleming's books, it was what James Bond drove. The Blower Bentley is a big touring car with a 4.5 liter engine. Blower refers to … Read more

2008 Infiniti G37 photos

Infiniti gave us a couple of hours with its new G37 coupe, the car known in Japan as the legendary Skyline. Along with lusting over the 330 horsepower engine and the sleek exterior design, we found some very novel tech features in the cabin. We will have a full review of the G37 in about three weeks, but take a peek at these early shots.

Click here to see photos of the 2008 Infiniti G37.

Mitsubishi Evo X goes on sale

That's right, the 10th generation of the World Rally Car version of the Mitsubishi Lancer, a car made famous by enthusiasts and in video games, goes on sale today, October 1. But it will only be available at Japanese dealerships. Still, the timing suggests that we won't have to wait too long in the U.S., maybe just the amount of time for a cargo load to cross the Pacific. Also, one of the top features we are looking forward to, the dual clutch SST transmission, won't be available until November, so Christmas isn't coming early … Read more

Lexus getting into the aftermarket business

Now here's a teaser. We got an e-mail from Lexus' PR firm this week informing us that Lexus is going to be debuting a "new performance accessory line" at this year's SEMA show. Like the rest of the automotive world, we are already salivating at the prospect of the IS-F sedan, which will be coming to our shores next January, but the press release's headline suggested that Lexus will offering tuner kits and the like to those who don't have $60,000 to drop on a factory-pimped model.

The trouble is, despite the alluring … Read more

These tires repair themselves

Self-driving vehicles, self-parking cars, self-repairing paint ... and now self-healing tires? Michelin says it has accomplished this feat by using manufacturing techniques that mold the tread of its XDA5 in three dimensions. What that means to us commuting plebs is that the tire features a tread that somehow regenerates itself as it wears off. It sort of acts like an onion: As the tire wears, the tread reveals new grooves and tread blocks within. Once again, technology aping nature.

Unfortunately, this isn't multi-layered, so you won't be getting treads that last forever. Just a touted 30 percent extension in … Read more