This is a guest post by James from Car Throttle - your performance car experts!

A favorite genre of many auto fiends is the “sleeper” - a car that looks like grandma’s Mercury but goes like stink. In this day and age of flashy, showy performance - with all the standard body kits, huge spoilers and obnoxious red badging automakers seem to believe belong on performance cars, the sleeper is a dying breed. The streets used to be littered with them, too. Buick Regal T-Types with Grand National running gear and a freaking landau roof, Galant VR-4’s with turbocharged 4G63’s and 4WD stuffed into an innocuous Galant body, heck - even the Fox-body Mustang LX 5.0 was a sleeper, with the thundering fuel-injected 302ci “5.0″ (actually a 4.9L) V8 but none of the GT’s plastic trashy bodywork.

Still, for those that would rather not have any show with their go, there are still sleepers left to pick from - if you know where to look. Sometimes you have to look in the strangest of places, but you can find burly horsepower under the hood of some unassuming cars these days. Let’s take a look at the top ten.

10) Toyota Camry SE V6

“A Camry? Really?” I know, I know. The Camry is the equivalent of the Antichrist to anyone that actually likes cars. But that makes it the perfect sleeper, at least in SE V6 trim. You see, under the hood is a very modern 3.5L 24v V6, which makes a rather considerable 268 horsepower coupled with a 6-speed auto.

Without a doubt, the rest of the car is mind-numbingly boring - but if you’re after velvety-smooth horsepower and strong mid-range in an utterly unassuming wrapper, the Camry SE V6 has got you covered. Just remember to take a No-Doz on long trips… the Camry might’ve misunderstood what “sleeper” means, and when you’re not smoking tires with your torquey V6, it’s likely to put you to sleep. Fast enough to embarrass a V6 Mustang, and good enough for 10th place. Continue Reading…

Not everyone can survive owning an smaller economy car, but can’t afford something high-end. Nor can they use an impractical sports car for the everyday slog. That doesn’t mean that this increasing group suffer by driving something drab. So here are some cars that are priced right for their markets and offer some enjoyment of driving to the owner.

2010 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ

The Fusion and MKZ brand new for 2010 to better compete with the offerings from Honda, Toyota, and Chevrolet for the Ford while the Lincoln goes after Infiniti, Lexus and Cadillac.

The Fusion is priced to compete and even undercut its rivals, with a base price of under $20,000. Most other competitors a few thousand more. The MKZ is a bit more expensive, with $34,600 buying you leather, wood and chrome accents on the exterior.

Both cars are all-new this year, riding on the new Mazda6 platform again. The Fusion retains the three-bar front grill to keep in line with the previous-gen car, but now has a more pronounced front-end and Terminator-like headlights. The rear gets more styling cues in the bumper and trunk lid while the LED taillights dip in one corner to give the rear more of an appeal. Continue Reading…

With big SUVs and even smaller crossover SUVs becoming less popular as the price of gas rises (and the economy sinks,) Americans still need a vehicle with enough utility to carry their stuff around, and sedans just don’t hold enough cargo. For example, the 2009 VW Jetta TDI sedan has 16 cubic ft of truck space. Get that same car in the SportWagen edition, and the cargo capacity increases to 67 cubic ft with the rear seats folded down.

Another example: The 2009 Audi A4 sedan is spacious, but the truck can only hold 34 cubic ft of cargo. That’s big for a trunk, but the Avant (wagon) model can hold 51 cubic ft with the rear seats down.

As useful as they are, the wagon style has one inherent problem: they’re ugly. They’re not sporty, and are generally seen as uncool by Americans. It’s time we got over the uncool factor of wagons, and start using them for their exceptional blend of utility and practicality. Europe has… Continue Reading…

I knew what to expect last week when they dropped off Hyundai’s new Genesis luxury sedan. Ever since the Genesis line was announced, they’ve been touting how the car in on-par with Lexus and Mercedes at a much lower price point. But when the car actually pulled up into the driveway, it was still hard to believe I was looking at a Hyundai. The car is most often confused with a Lexus (this happened multiple times,) but also has hints of Mercedes, BMW, and even the ultra-premium Maybach luxury sedan.

You can get the Hyundai Genesis Sedan in two engines - a 290 hp 3.8-liter V6 (which I assume would be perfectly adequate,) or an excellent 4.6-liter 375 hp V8. We only get one transmission choice with the Genesis, which is a good mate for this car - a 6-speed automatic with Shiftronic.

The car we got was a fully loaded model, which had the excellent 4.6-liter 375 hp V8 engine, and included the only option available - the Technology Package. This $4,000 option includes a 528-watt Lexicon audio system with 17 speakers (whoa,) and 7.1 surround sound, 40 GB hard drive-based navigation system with in-dash 6-disc DVD, rear back-up camera, driver information system, adaptive HID auto-leveling headlights (the ones that pivot when you turn a corner,) front and rear parking assist radar, and a cooled driver’s seat. That’s a lot of stuff for $4,000; typically a nav system alone will add $2,000. Continue Reading…

Hyundai’s new Genesis Coupe already gets everything right, but it just keeps getting better for tuners. Their latest announcement says they will be releasing a Genesis Coupe R-Spec, which is basically a blank slate for tuners and racers to go to town, or leave as-is. The R-Spec starts off by getting rid of a few of the standard, non-essentials: Bluetooth, auto headlights, cruise control, trip computer, chrome interior accents and steering wheel audio controls.

Then they add some fancy go-fast parts, which will surely excite those of us who want to take the car to the track: Track-tuned suspension, 19-inch gunmetal alloy wheels with performance summer tires, Brembo brakes, limited-slip differential, and R-Spec badging. Unfortunately, the R-Spec will only be available in black, white, or red. Continue Reading…

This is interesting, Hyundai decided to let slip (accidentally on purpose) info about a concept SUV they were supposed to roll out at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.

Letting info on a show car slip early is a long held tradition in the auto world. It’s a great way to drum up attention, for one thing, and for another, it can all be part of a sophisticated marketing campaign. Hyundai’s move here is a little different though.

There’s two odd things about this: 1 – Why would Hyundai let an SUV concept out of the bag for Geneva, of all places, and, 2 – Why tout an SUV in a time when SUV sales are tanking, and things are getting greener (i.e. harder on SUVs) in general.

Let’s take a look.

Continue Reading…