The Hyundai Genesis Coupe looks to be getting a serious jolt of performance when the next-gen model hits the market. An example was recently spotted testing that wore the label "3.3T 8AT AWD," according to The Korean Car Blog citing Korean website Team Testdrive. That designation certainly didn't take much work to interpret. The turbocharged 3.3-liter engine under the hood was likely the twin-turbo V6 that Hyundai has been developing for the next-gen Genesis sedan for 2017 or 2018.

Turning back the clock in some ways and pushing the needle forward in many others, the redesigned 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata roadster is the best Miata ever, and one of the most fun, capable cars you can buy, regardless of price.

Launched in 1957, the Fiat 500 evolved from a tiny economy car into a full lineup of vehicles incorporating various body styles and engines. The change occurred starting 2007, when Fiat unveiled the new 500, a modern car that features a distinctive, retro look similar to the new Mini Cooper and the Volkswagen New Beetle. Since its revival, the Fiat 500 range expanded to include the 500C, the larger 500L, the all-electric 500E and the high-performance 500 Abarth. As we move into the 2015 model year, the Italians are introducing a new model that signals the company’s entrance into the compact crossover market, a segment previously unexplored by the Italians.

When the Honda Civic arrived in the U.S. market 43 years ago, it helped change Americans' perception of Japanese cars. Now about to enter its 10th generation, the Civic no longer has anything to prove, but it's still gunning to be the best in the compact class.

It’s been known for some time that BMW was working on a performance-oriented X4 destined to fall under the automaker’s M Performance banner, and now the vehicle has been revealed in full ahead of its official world debut at the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Called the X4 M40i, the sporty crossover is due to go on sale in February, as a 2016 model, and it may be followed by an X3 M40i at some point.

In many ways, this Porsche Cayman Black Edition is like the Black Card. It's the same color, for one. Gloss-black paint comes standard, although you're free to spend $710 for the metallic Jet Black variant. Like the exterior, the interior can only be had with black leather. Other upgrades for this "exclusive" Cayman include a Sport Design steering wheel, 20-inch Carrera Classic wheels, bi-xenon headlamps with the Porsche Dynamic Lighting System, navigation, heated seats, and an upgraded stereo.

The 2016 Volvo XC90 is not only a redesign, it's a complete overhaul that's stunning inside and out, with a host of technology that not only impresses, it works instinctively.

One of the first true luxury three-row SUVs on the market, the XC90 has been a huge success, but it took years for Volvo to give such an important car a significant update. Unlike the previous generation, last sold as a 2014 model, the redone XC90 doesn't offer front-wheel drive. It comes only with all-wheel drive, but still seats seven occupants in three rows.

Exterior & Styling

There's not a lot of new ground in the realm of SUV styling, so it pays to go simple. Volvo has no problem with that; a simple, clean aesthetic is its calling card on almost all its vehicles, even during a recent design renaissance.

The XC90 stands out with an elegant design, thanks mainly to a large grille with 17 slats diagonally bisected by a rather large version of Volvo's emblem.

The whole look is solidified by what Volvo is calling Thor's Hammer LED headlights. Sadly, these lights are not standard on the base trim, called Momentum; they come on the R-Design and Inscription trim levels. The standard lights look fine, but I can't remember a headlight I was more enamored with than this. That said, though, I'm not one to be overly enamored with headlights.

The rest of the exterior is what one would expect, and the horizontal rear taillights are a nice adaptation of what's been used on Volvos for most of the past decade. Nineteen-inch wheels are standard, and they look good. Twenty-, 21- and 22-inch wheels are available as well.

How It Drives

Of all the XC90's terrific attributes, the driving experience is somewhat lackluster. It's not bad, just forgettable. In this space, though, among those likely to drive the XC90 to work, school, soccer practice and the regular road trip, that experience is likely what's actually desired.

The only available engine is a new four-cylinder that's both turbocharged and supercharged, good for 316 horsepower and 295 pounds-feet of torque. The XC90's standard transmission is now an eight-speed automatic, replacing the earlier generation's six-speed.

The XC90 has more power than the V-6 engines in the Acura MDX and Buick Enclave, but less than the Land Rover LR4's 340 horses. However, the Volvo's EPA-estimated gas mileage of 20/25/22 mpg city/highway/combined is better than the Buick's and Land Rover's, and the combined rating bests the all-wheel-drive Acura.

This sweet spot of power and fuel economy translates to acceleration that's acceptable but won't excite. The Buick and Land Rover don't excite either, but I was recently impressed with how fun the latest MDX's engine is with its new transmission.

The Volvo's ride is terrific and should keep all three rows of passengers happily not bopping along to potholed roads, like those my family routinely traverses. Add that to the quiet cabin, and the XC90 is a lovely vehicle for long rides.

There are various driving modes, including one aimed at performance and one at fuel-efficient driving. I preferred the Normal setting to both Dynamic and Eco. In Dynamic the accelerator didn't respond in a natural manner, and the adaptive suspension was too rough for the minimally improved handling response. In Eco mode, the right pedal barely reacted at all to pressure. I'd use it only in heavy traffic.

Interior

Volvo is known for sparse interiors, which makes it harder to connote a sense of luxury, but the XC90 does the job fantastically. That's especially true in the top-of-the-line Inscription model I drove.

Base models do have a number of leather seating choices, but only a simple brushed-aluminum trim is available. R-Design models get either silver mesh or black carbon fiber inlays.

Inscription models get a walnut inlay that looks fantastic along the door panels, dash and especially the center console, where a wood cover slides over the cupholders. It's so pretty you might not want to open it to stow your coffee or bottled water.

The front seats are very comfortable, and overall visibility is good. The second row of seats is comfortable for outboard passengers, and our test car had an optional built-in booster seat in the middle seat. My 6-year-old daughter loved sitting in the booster, which is a rather affordable $250 option. (Though she may have just been ecstatic to sit in a real leather seat instead of the less-posh materials she's gotten used to in her lifelong use of child-safety seats.) Still, for a parent, this will come in handy.

The third row is less comfortable in terms of seat materials, which are noticeably thinner than the second row's. Headroom is tough for full-grown adults. Shorter teens and tweens will find it acceptable, if a bit hard to reach, mainly due to a very narrow doorsill they'll have to pivot over to get there.

If you shuttle a lot of people often, the standard four-zone climate control is a nice feature, allowing all three rows to control their airflow and temperature (the two front occupants get their own zones). I've also always been a fan of Volvo placing the second-row air vents high in the door pillars, so the air actually reaches rear passengers' faces. The XC90 also features vents for the second row in the center console, like you find in most cars. Fellow parents of carsick kids will appreciate the added airflow.

Ergonomics & Electronics

Today's cars are more computer on wheels than ever, and Volvo is making a bold move by placing a single, large touch-screen in the middle of the dashboard to control nearly all in-car features, from air conditioning and navigation to safety features like lane departure warning. Only the Tesla Model S sedan compares in its use of an interface like this.

It's essentially a 9-inch tablet seamlessly integrated into the dashboard, with a single physical home button at the bottom. Having tested nearly every touch-screen on the market, I imagined this execution would have problems. Most systems incorporate fewer functions, with a few more physical buttons to fall back on.

The XC90's system is missing only the kitchen sink. And it works just fine.

The home screen shows the status of navigation, media, phone and system updates. Along the bottom of the screen are the climate control icons. Being able to access the standard heated and available cooled seats, fan speed, temperature and fan directly impressed me most.

All the controls react to touch quickly and, more important, predictably. The system isn't flawless, though. While the everyday controls are done well, accessing the safety systems is a bit cumbersome, as is adjusting stereo settings, which are separated from the media menus where they belong.

Our XC90 also had an optional 19-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system. After finding and adjusting that separate menu, it definitely sounded worth the $2,500 price tag to my ears. A 10-speaker system is standard.

Cargo & Storage

The adaptive suspension comes in handy when accessing the cargo area, as the load floor is quite high. With the adaptive suspension, it can be lowered by a button to make it easier to reach. Overall room is adequate, if not exceptional.

At 15.8 cubic feet behind the third row, the XC90 is slightly larger than the MDX's 15 cubic feet but smaller than the Enclave's 23.3 cubic feet. I found it plenty large enough for a modest grocery trip, with more than acceptable space when the third row is folded flat.

The power liftgate is standard and opens automatically when you approach and stand at the rear of the XC90 for a few seconds.

There are plenty of cubbies and spaces in the cabin for the front passenger to stow keys, phones and other items, and many are easy to reach.

Safety

Volvo's safety reputation is not going to be besmirched by the new XC90, which has earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. That represents the highest possible score in all tests, including Superior for its front-crash prevention system. The XC90 had not been crash-tested by the federal government as of publication.

The SUV comes standard with some advanced safety features like lane departure warning and frontal collision mitigation, which alerts the driver to a possible frontal collision and slows the car to prevent it.

Other features can be added in option packages, like a lane keeping aid I and some other editors felt was too aggressive. This was evident when driving on an under-construction highway with a semi-truck on one side and a concrete barrier on the other. As lane markings shifted, the system pushed the vehicle toward the barrier significantly enough to startle me. This is the exact scenario another editor experienced and expressed concern about.

The XC90 also scored well in our Car Seat Check, where it received mostly grades of A.

Value in Its Class

The base price of $50,795, including destination, might make your eyes pop, but when you take into account the standard all-wheel drive, power liftgate, navigation, heated front seats and panoramic moonroof, it's not considerably more than competitors.

However, we don't see how buyers will be able to stay away from the top-end model, which looks better outside with those hammering headlights, and inside with the walnut trim. (David Thomas/cars)

With its twin-turbo 6.75-liter V8, this machine is truly impressive. It is actually the only Bently model with such engine and rear wheel drive. Despite its weight (2.6 tonnes), it feels light, fast and powerful and reaches 60 mph in 4.9 seconds. Quite good for a „heavyweight“ car. For years, Bently has been a symbol of status and class. If you want a luxurious car, you have found it – available at the price of $306,000.

Hyundai is working on a SEMA Show car again with its old pals at ARK Performance. This time the project is a wide-body Genesis Coupe dubbed the Solus, a performance concept theoretically aimed at the BMW M4 and Lexus RC F.

The white paint is subtle for SEMA, but ARK Performance built new parts for practically the entire body. The bumper gets larger intakes and a carbon-fiber splitter, the fenders are widened at both ends, and a new hood fits the revised look well. Side skirts bring the styling treatment along the profile to highlight the more aggressive rear. The styling should mesh nicely with the 700-horsepower Tucson that's also coming to the event.

ARK Performance didn't neglect the engine, stroking the V6 from 3.8 up to a full 4.0 liters and then adding a Rotrex supercharger. The result is a claimed 500 hp running to the rear through a six-speed manual. The company also installs its own coilover kit to help handling.

This isn't the first Genesis Coupe Ark has tuned. The company has produced multiple tuned versions of the model for SEMA going back to 2010. Last year, it switched gears slightly with a 550-hp supercharged Genesis sedan called the AR550. (autoblog)

This amazing coupe comes with a 6.2-liter V-8 engine, supercharger, the strenght of 638 horsepower at 6500 RPM, top speed of 205 mph, and magnetic selective ride control with 2 modes: sport and tour. This car is fairly lightweight (1.5 tonnes). It does look like a sports car, but at the same time it is elegant and classy. If you want it, you can get it for $112,000 – $130,000.