Ford is playing a familiar tune with the new Fiesta. It goes like this: Take a hot product from the European portfolio, adapt the car to U.S. regulations, and spread the development cost over another continent. It sounds simple, but the Focus and the Contour—Ford’s previous attempts at a “world car”—showed the complications associated with that orchestration. The Contour’s size (and especially its back seat) was too small for American tastes, and the Focus, while a sales success, was plagued by recalls in the switch to North American production.

With the Fiesta, Ford is hoping three’s the charm. We drove the European version of the car, and our impression is that it has what it takes to be a hit. We’ll see if that’s still true when production begins early next year at Ford’s plant in Cuautitlán, Mexico.

At 155.5 inches long, the Fiesta is 19 inches and change shorter than a Focus sedan and plays in the subcompact segment with the likes of the Honda Fit. Both the Fiesta and the Fit have the same basic jelly-bean silhouette, which maximizes inter­ior space, but the Honda, with an extra 6.1 inches of length and marvelous folding rear seats, wins on cargo size and versatility. When folded, the Fiesta’s rear seats don’t make a flat load floor, but the Honda’s do. Read more »

There are plenty of people, including us, who wonder why BMW is building an M version of the X6. The answer seems to parallel the punchline of the joke about a canine licking himself: “because it can.” Also, everybody else is making a high-performance SUV. The Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, Porsche Cayenne, Infiniti FX50, and Range Rover Sport are all evidence that more than a few people want an SUV with a sporty on-road demeanor. This being BMW, the X6 M and its mechanically identical sibling, the X5 M, aim straight for the top of the muscle-SUV mountain—it’s no coincidence that the two Bimmers’ 555-hp output bests that of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S by 5 ponies. And just to throw more mud in Porsche’s eye, the X6 M base price of $89,725 undercuts the top Cayenne by $34,690.

The highlight of the X6 M is the engine with its trick exhaust manifold. Based on the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8 found in the X6 xDrive50i and 7-series, the M engine gets two twin-scroll Honeywell turbochargers fed by a newly patented exhaust manifold. The manifold’s tangle of piping in the valley of the V-8 routes to each scroll the exhaust from two specific cylinders. The two cylinders are 360 degrees apart in firing order, ensuring that the exhaust pulses spinning the turbos are smooth. The result is almost no turbo lag.

Unlike other M cars, there are no radical changes to the suspension and bodywork. Springs, bushings, anti-roll bars, and the two-stage electronic adjustable dampers are all stiffer than those of the standard X6, but the components are virtually the same. On the outside, the M model gets massive front air intakes below the grille for its larger intercoolers, quad tailpipes in back, and M-badged gill vents on the front fenders.

The X6 M also keeps the six-speed automatic transmission, although the M version uses an aluminum transmission fluid pan with cooling fins in place of the plastic pan on the regular X6. To enact quicker shifts more befitting of an M car, the engine cuts ignition and throttle to reduce the torque load during gearchanges. In standard drive mode, the transmission keeps revs below 4500 rpm to conserve fuel. Since the 500 lb-ft of torque is available as early as 1500 rpm, this efficient programming doesn’t noticeably impact normal driving.

In both Sport and full-on Manual modes, the engine will run all the way to redline and hold gears. The X6 M also comes with a launch-control function that will handle the shifts as long as you keep the gas pedal planted to the floor. Hold your foot down for just 4.3 seconds and you’ll see 60 miles per hour fly by—and that was achieved without launch control enabled. With launch control, we think a tick or two could easily be shaved off. Our X6 M got to 100 mph in 10.7 seconds. For reference, the Cayenne Turbo S hits 60 in 4.4 seconds and 100 mph in 10.8. (Does that $35K price difference look even more substantial now?)

Amazingly, considering its 5254-pound curb weight, the X6 M does more than go fast in a straight line. Lapping the Road Atlanta racetrack during our preview drive, the X6 M flew around corners with awe-inspiring ease. It’s huge yet easy to drive quickly and displays tremendous capability—it’s a glorious contradiction of a vehicle. Both the steering and brakes could offer more feedback, but that’s probably a tall order for a big vehicle with 20-inch tires. But the fact that the X6 M is faster around the Nürburgring Nordschleife faster than the last-generation M3 pretty much says all you need to know about its overall performance. BMW says the suspension tuning for the X5 M is slightly different due to weight and balance, but that it should prove just as capable as the X6 M.

But does anybody really need a Nürburgring-tuned, four-seat SUV in the first place? We’re not here to pass judgment, but we can tell you that if you want such a thing, the X6 M is the perfect choice.

There are luxurious cars, and there are fuel-efficient cars. There are even some that offer moderate levels of both characteristics. But no vehicle has managed—or even attempted—to take luxury and fuel economy simultaneously to such high levels as has the 2010 Lexus HS250h, the industry’s first dedicated luxury hybrid. Think of it as the Prius of Lexuses or the Lexus of Priuses—your choice—and you won’t be far off.

If any company can pull it off, it’s Lexus. But by Lexus’s own admission, the HS250h is not one of the brand’s so-called no-compromises hybrids—such as the RX450h, the GS450h, and the LS600h—which supplement well-endowed engines with electric power for a driving experience that feels befitting of their luxurious trappings while still delivering better fuel economy and lower emissions. By inference, then, is Lexus suggesting that the HS250h is perhaps a “compromised” hybrid? After our first drive in one on the roads around Newport Beach, California, it became clearly evident that that’s what it is.

“Mooing” Motor and Un-Lexus-y Loudness

So what happens when Toyota takes the small-car chassis on which it also bases the Prius and adds hundreds of pounds’ worth of Euro-market Toyota Avensis–based sheetmetal and luxo gewgaws? Well, for one thing, it gets slower—which is why Lexus deemed the Prius’s 98-hp, 1.8-liter four-cylinder inadequate and replaced it with the Camry hybrid’s Atkinson-cycle, 2.4-liter unit with 147 hp and 138 lb-ft of torque. The nickel-metal hydride battery pack and electric motor conspire with the engine for a system output of 187 hp (the 3050-pound Prius makes only 134 combined horsepower). Hustling the 3740-pound HS250h to 60 mph takes 8.4 seconds, which is 1.4 seconds faster than the last Prius we tested. The HS pays the piper in fuel economy, though, as its EPA city/highway ratings of 35/34 mpg doesn’t even come close to the Prius’s 51/48 figures.

In spite of the HS250h’s alleged acceleration advantage, the Prius and the HS250h feel virtually identical from behind the electrically assisted steering wheel (which, in the HS250h, unlike in the Prius, is thankfully not ovular). Road feel is pretty much zero, even with the optional 18-inch wheels and 225/45-series tires. However, the steering response is direct and reasonably quick. At the same time, the interior sound quality isn’t exactly up to the traditional Lexus-isolationist level. We wish it were, for as much as we like to hear and feel what’s going on beneath us, what we hear and feel inside the HS250h are the droning “mooOOOOooo” of the engine-and-CVT combination during acceleration, along with a fair amount of tire noise and low-level reverberations from road impacts. We understand that less weight is important for any hybrid in the interest of fuel economy—and indeed for any vehicle—but even we would like a few more pounds of sound-deadening material in the HS250h so we don’t have to hear the powertrain’s pitiful drone. We suspect anyone who’s ever owned a whisper-quiet Lexus would agree.

Think you can creep around in EV mode to shut things up? Technically, you can for up to two or three miles, so long as the battery remains above a 50-percent state of charge. This requires the tenderest of right feet (which we admit we don’t have) and only works when not accelerating at speeds higher than 20 mph. Otherwise, the engine fires up.

The HS250h subscribes to the latest craze in hybrids in offering selectable “eco” and “power” settings in addition to a normal mode. Eco mode accelerates battery recharging and retards throttle response to maximize efficiency; power mode does the opposite. Putzing around Newport Beach in the HS250h, we noticed a canyon of difference between the two modes and a commensurate difference between the resulting fuel economy, as well. Employing our best hypermiling techniques in eco mode for many miles, we eked the HS250 to over 42 mpg—although we assure you we made few friends among our fellow drivers along the way. In power mode, we enjoyed crisper acceleration, of course, but had a hard time getting mileage anywhere above the high 20s.

A Little More Luxury, a Little Less Practicality

Okay, so dynamically, the HS250h leaves a lot to be desired. But what about luxury? The good news is that the HS250h offers many more luxury fitments than we usually associate with hybrids. Problem is, so does the 2010 Prius. The list of features that come standard on the HS is long, but not much longer than that of a reasonably well-optioned Prius. And there are many options—such as the odd-but-effective “lane keep assist” feature, adaptive cruise control with collision mitigation, and swiveling headlamps—that can also be added to the Prius. Exclusive to the HS250h, however, are such options as Lexus’s nifty “remote touch” controller, a wide-view front monitor, a head-up display, and a Mark Levinson surround-sound audio system. The HS250h debuts Lexus’s new OnStar-like Enform system, which makes real live people available to beam directions to your navigation system, displays sports and stock information, and allows owners to input up to 100 destinations into the car from their computer rather than from the driver’s seat.

What you won’t find are the roof-mounted solar panels that are available on the lower-priced Prius. There are other compromises, too. The base textured leather upholstery feels more like leatherette and makes the upgraded semi-aniline leather a worthwhile upgrade. Color combos are slick, especially the high-contrast cream leather with black carpeting, but there remains a certain sense of thin-skinned cheapness to the materials that reveal the car’s light-weight-over-substance priority set. And with the batteries located between the rear seatback and trunk, the cargo area is surprisingly small and lacks the accessibility of the Prius’s hatchback. (To be fair, the HS has the largest access slot of any Lexus sedan.)

We’d Rather Have a Prius (There, We Said It)

Lexus claims that a not-insignificant 60 percent of entry-luxury customers would consider a hybrid if it were available. If that is the truth, this car should sell reasonably well. Still, it’s hard to say that the HS250h does the hybrid thing—i.e., get great mileage and make splashy green statements—as well as the Prius. Nor does the HS250h do the luxury thing as well as other Lexuses. It is less practical than the Prius while returning exactly as much driving satisfaction—which is to say very little—all without the green halo effect that has made the Prius the favorite of the environmentally inclined. Indeed, if the HS250h isn’t going to drive any better than the Prius, we’d rather have the mileage—and the lower monthly payment—of a Prius instead.

So, the HS250h is a “compromises hybrid” that strikes a compromise between good mileage and a fair amount of high-brow comfort features. We can think of other vehicles—the Mercedes-Benz E-class diesel or even a loaded Ford Fusion hybrid—that strike that balance just as well, and drive better in the process.

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The truth is that the convertible you see here isn’t much of an M3 beyond powerplant and badging. “Whaddaya mean,” you wail. “It goes from 0 to 60 mph in under five seconds! It’s got 0.92 g of lateral grip! Plus the steering wheel’s all fat and full of color-y stitching! Sounds like an M3 to me.”

You may have a point, but historically the M3 is a model that makes no compromises. It’s a performance-tuned ballistic missile designed to obliterate expectations and competitors alike, a machine so perfectly in harmony with enthusiasts’ wants and desires that they wake up in the middle of the night mumbling its name under their breath, palms clammy with cold sweat.

But that all changes once you chop off the roof.

Gone is the I-beam structural rigidity. Added are several hundred speed-sapping pounds of electric-top wizardry. Introduced are very un-M-like quivers and jitters. In our minds, the M3 badge stands for dynamic purity, and the (relatively) flexy chassis and porky curb weight of the convertible result in a dilution of that ideal.

So the M3 convertible isn’t an M3 in the truest sense. What is it, then? Certainly nothing bad—in fact, it is the closest thing to a sports car that seats four real humans and has a roof that goes down. There are a few more visceral droptops out there, some of which claim to hold four people—the Porsche 911 Turbo cabriolet and its laughable rear seats, for example—but none offer such an intoxicating combination of practicality, speed, prestige, and modern technology as found in this car.

Gimme More of That Hot, Hot V-8

We can’t get enough of the M3’s stupendously awesome 4.0-liter V-8; you could strap it to a three-legged water buffalo and we’d be more than happy to take it for a spin. Our affection for the rev-happy eight-pot, of course, only grows with every sampling, and that was certainly the case with the M3 convertible.

414 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque provide plenty of motivation for the hefty, 4123-lb car, and our tests saw the M3 ’vert hit 60 mph in a blistering 4.6 seconds. The car’s closest competitor, the Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG cabrio, does the deed in 4.2 seconds, but that car boasts advantages of 61 horsepower and 170 (!) lb-ft of torque. Quarter-mile times are commensurate in disparity, with the M3 turning 13.1 seconds at 109 mph and the CLK doing 12.5 at 116. It’s probably worth mentioning at this point that the Benz costs a staggering $92,975, some $25K more than the M3 convertible, which starts at a comparatively thrifty $67,475.

You Might Need Your Own Bailout after Finishing With the Options List

As with all BMWs, though, the base price can bloat like a week-old carcass once you get frisky with the options list. Our completely and totally loaded tester, for example, rang up at $80,170. Of that, $550 went toward metallic paint, $1100 toward swathing the cabin in Fox Red (and fantastic) leather upholstery, and $1250 toward the Premium package and its power-folding mirrors, sycamore wood trim, universal garage opener, and BMW Assist. An additional $2445 was divided between a Cold Weather package, rear parking sensors for people with broken necks (or broken mirrors), HD radio, Sirius satellite radio, and a wonderful iPod hookup. We’d go so far as to call the iPod integration the most intuitive thing about the old iDrive system as a whole—we’re happy to say that iDrive has been completely revamped for 2009, making this one of our last encounters with the previous generation.

The biggest dollars were tacked on for stuff that actually affected the car’s performance. The Technology package, dual-clutch transmission, and 19-inch wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 performance rubber totaled an additional $7350.

In addition to navigation and keyless go, the Tech package adds electronic damping and the M Drive function, which allows the driver to pre-select via iDrive his or her preferences for the dampers, throttle response, steering effort and response, and stability control, and enable them using the M button on the steering wheel.

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To your list of things that will never happen, you can add one more: The hot-blooded pilotes of this staff will never rank this new Lincoln above a BMW, any BMW, in a comparison test. But the Supreme Court is not the only enclave of divided opinions; the contrarians among us think Ford has something going on here.

Consider the driver’s office. BMW and Benz, not to mention Honda and Acura designers—and Jaguar, too, now that we think of it—could learn much from a few hours in this Lincoln. The wide-screen dash display is so bright and legible you could read it with patches on both eyes. And the driver interface—the buttons or knobs or joysticks or what the Ultimate Driving Machine calls iDrive (i for infuriation?)—seems to explain itself at a glance here. The MKS combines a touch screen with just the right number of hard buttons and, even better, knobs. They’re all positioned high where you can see them, on the center stack in a remarkably simple array, angled just right for easy use. Strong, white, sans-serif characters on dark backgrounds encourage info to leap into your mind, whether from the screen or the dials of the cluster. Nothing blanks out when you put on your polarized sunglasses, either. Eat your hearts out, Benz and BMW drivers. Read more »