Test Drive: The 2008 Mini Cooper S

At first glance the Mini looks too small to actually be safe on the road, but you look again and realize how effortless it would be to drive such an efficiently sized car. After pulling the easy access door handles, you get inside and instantly realize that the exuberant interior can easily accommodate four. After pulling it out the dealership, you feel the Mini's tight steering persuade you to punch the gas. The turbo takes less than a second to kick in, once it does you get caught in an Italian Job-like nostalgia thats hard to disconnect. Taking you 6.2 seconds to arrive at 60mph, four cylinders never felt so adequate and justified. BMW being Mini's parent company, you'd expect a certain panache with the Cooper S. More often than not, BMW delivers on the consumers expectations and they've done it once again.

Test Drive: The BMW 135i Coupe

Once sitting in the drivers seat of the BMW 135i, you know you're in a BMW. The familiar, yet distinguished BMW smell washes over you as you insert the fob into the ignition and press start. The 135i being the first 1-Series I drove, I was extremely impressed with the handling and adaptive steering optioned on this model. With a 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds, a tenth of a second faster than the latest V-8 M3, the 300hp twin turbo is bound to put a smile on your face. Besides being slightly faster than the M3, you've also saved yourself about eight grand. Essentially giving the buyer the biggest bang for the buck. Although the 135i is a smaller car, you wont be complaining about the back seat. Being over 6 feet tall, I surprisingly had enough room in the back seat without any discomfort. Overall, I was extremely impressed with this fantastic car. I would recommend this car to anyone who's favorite mirror is the rear-view. This car being one of the fastest on the road, naturally everyone else will be left behind you. What will BMW think of next?

The BMW 1 Series

Introducing BMW's newly released 1 Series, also known as "the new look of fast". I love the styling of the exterior, the headlights and hood are very nostalgic of the three series, the tail lights being less so. The 135i has the same engine as the 335i for about 5K less, thats a bang for your buck If I've ever seen one. One of my favorite interior features is the extremely accessible iPod input built into the console, although that was one of the few interior photos to observe on the BMW website. For a turbocharged 300 horsepower rocket for less than 35K, BMW had me at hello. The convertible has me even more excited, add 5k to the price tag and you've got fun in the sun for years to come. I can't wait to test drive it.

The Porsche Cayenne GTS

Porsche's newly released Cayenne GTS is a comfortable middle step between the Cayenne S and the Cayenne Turbo, clocking in with 405 Horsepower, 95 less than the Turbo and 2o more than the turbo. Its hard to tell what target market Porsche was going for with this mid-ranged model. With the price tag being 12k higher than the S, its hardly worth the twenty horsepower and the 4 tenths of a second quicker to sixty. The Porsche website's Model Advisor helps you select which model is right for your needs, I've seen nothing like it on any competitors websites. The Cayenne combines two passions, family and motor sport, bravo Porsche.