| BMW X6 Invents a New Niche
BMW's new X6 pre-production concept car pushes the design innovation pedal to the metal. The X6 is making its press debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show, and will hit showrooms in 2008. It's the silhouette that causes a double-take. Huge wheels and a SUV-like body capped with a sportscar roofline. BMW's goal with the X6 was to marry the brawn and offroad qualities of an SUV with the sportiness and sleek lines of a coupe. They call it a Sports Activity Coupe. A Porsche's Cayenne may drive like a hot rod, but it doesn't pretend to be a coupe: The Cayenne really looks like an SUV. The X6 looks like nothing on the road today. "It says I've got the muscles to take on any road, any time. But at the same time, it's dressed up," says BMW Group Design Chief Chris Bangle. "It's like a powerful athlete wearing fine clothes — you can still see the muscles rippling under his shirt." Now the question is, will buyers prefer an SUV in athletic gear or one dressed to kill.
Riding Shotgun in Baghdad with Blackwater's Security Detail
It's 11 am in Baghdad. Another hot, hazy day in this brown, boxy city. At Gate 12 in the Green Zone, home to the Iraqi interim government and coalition headquarters, a collection of GMC Suburbans, BMW 7s, Nissan pickups, SUVs reinforced with crude steel plates, armored sedans painted orange and white to look like taxis, and armored buses called Rhinos all idle in the shimmering heat. In a three-story house across from a field of smoldering trash and broken concrete slabs, team leader Miyagi conducts the morning briefing for the dozen or so security contractors who work the Blackwater Mamba PSD--Private Security Detail. "New day, new mission," he begins. This morning the mission is to escort three outgoing Blackwater contractors to the airport after a 90-day rotation in-country.
2007 BMW X5 3.0 si Review
When it debuted seven years ago, the X5 was a very BMW take on the then-new crossover SUV concept. SUVs in those days were generally ponderous utility-oriented trucks, the antithesis of all that BMW had built its reputation on. The X5 was different. Made in America (Spartanburg, South Carolina, to be exact) primarily for the American market, the X5 had nearly all of the handling and performance virtues of its sedan or wagon relatives, with extra ground clearance and an appropriate rugged look. It looked like an SUV, but BMW called it a "Sports Activity Vehicle", or SAV, and registered the term and abbreviation. To say it was successful would be massive understatement. But seven years in today's ultracompetitive automotive industry is an eternity. All of the X5's competitors have been renewed in that time, and that left it lacking in some areas.
For Carmakers, High Performance Equals High Profit
In March, Lexus is launching a high-performance division. Called the F—for "Flagship"—the first model will be the sporty, $56,765 Lexus IS F. Several more F models are in the pipeline, including a luxury sedan and an SUV-wagon crossover. This represents a radical departure for Lexus, which has enjoyed enormous success as Toyota's (TM) luxury brand, despite being often faulted by driving enthusiasts for making cars that are unexciting, albeit attractive, well-built, and competitively priced. Now obviously Toyota's top brass wants to change this impression—and that is something that should concern executives at the high-performance divisions of its luxury rivals, specifically Mercedes-Benz (DAI), BMW (BMWG), and, increasingly, Audi (NSUG). Mercedes offers an AMG version of nearly every model it sells, including light trucks.
New Lexus line races into
In March, Lexus is launching a high-performance division. Called the F—for "Flagship"—the first model will be the sporty, $56,765 Lexus IS F. Several more F models are in the pipeline, including a luxury sedan and an SUV-wagon crossover. This represents a radical departure for Lexus, which has enjoyed enormous success as Toyota's luxury brand, despite being often faulted by driving enthusiasts for making cars that are unexciting, albeit attractive, well-built, and competitively priced. Now obviously Toyota's top brass wants to change this impression—and that is something that should concern executives at the high-performance divisions of its luxury rivals, specifically Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and, increasingly, Audi. Mercedes offers an AMG version of nearly every model it sells, including light trucks.
Rally against smoke
Cinnamon is a food product. Cinnamon is not inherently harmful to people unless they have an allergy. It's unfortunate you are allergic to it, especially since it's so wonderful! But cigarettes are not food. They serve no purpose other than to make people sick and poor. They are harmful to everyone whether they are allergic to cigarettes or not. Comparing cigarettes to cinnamon is ridiculous. Try again. " .
Pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears Hosts Super Bowl Bash!
Again, file this one into the "Probably Not True But Funny Celebrity Gossip You Should Read For Entertainment Purposes" category. Star Magazine needs to start signing some of its writers to contracts to write novels, because some of the stuff they make up is great. With her mother, Lynne Spears, in L.A. to be near Britney (who's getting treatment at the UCLA psych ward for bipolar disorder), Jamie Lynn Spears supposedly took advantage of her freedom and threw a Super Bowl party! The pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears and Casey Aldridge, the boy she says is her baby's father, had a bunch of friends over to "Serenity," her mother Lynne's Kentwood, La., mansion, for an impromptu bash! With booze! Casey Aldridge and Jamie Lynn Spears: Pregnant and partying? Shortly after 2:00 p.m.
Stayaway Reebok fans: What's the answer?
BOLTON Wanderers are banking on new boss Gary Megson delivering results that will lift them clear of the relegation zone and ease growing concerns over a dramatic drop in attendances. Crowd figures at the Reebok have slumped to a record low as the Whites have struggled at the wrong end of the Premiership. And, while they are considering a range of incentives to boost gates, they don't expect any significant improvement until the team starts climbing the table. "The stark reality is that the club is struggling on the pitch," commercial director, Gareth Moores, said. .
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