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It's amazing how a few visual tweaks can totally change the character of a vehicle. Whereas our Four Seasons 7-series is an old world Q-ship with its beige paint and smallish eighteen-inch wheels (yes, I just called eighteen-inch wheels "smallish" - welcome to 2010), this particular model looks like a taut four-door sports car. M-sport twenty-inch wheels visually shrink the body, while the gunmetal gray paint brings out the 7's high-tech, modern side. I also prefer this model's darker interior, as it again hides the car's girth.inline_mediumwraptextright28598395/reviews/editors_notebook/1003_2010_bmw_750li_xdrive_sedan1003_z_04+2010_bMW_750Li_xDrive_sedan+front_fascia.jpgTrue

Volkswagen's GTI is the only car in this magazine's history to be voted Automobile of the Year twice. And now there's a hotter version, called the Golf R, on sale in Europe. Volkswagen of America hasn't officially said whether the Golf R is coming here, but that didn't stop us from taking one for a spin.inline_mediumwraptextright28119268/reviews/driven/1004_2010_volkswagen_golf_r1004_01_z+2010_volkswagen_golf_r+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

Months in fleet: five
Miles to date: 15,169inline_mediumwraptextright28290340/reviews/12_month_car_reviews/1004_2010_audi_q5_3_2_march_update1003_01_z+2010_audi_q5_3_2+rear_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

If ever there was a car company whose success was born of mud and snow, it's Subaru. It first got going in the United States in the 1970s, with awkward-looking little front-wheel-drive cars - back when front-wheel drive was still a novelty - and soon achieved notoriety with its four-wheel-drive wagons. The combination of traction and toughness made Subarus particularly appealing in areas of the country that see lots of snow and mud. So it was fitting, then, that to demonstrate the two different all-wheel-drive systems in its Impreza Subaru carved a vaguely pear-shaped track in the spring-thawing snow and mud outside of Park City, Utah.inline_mediumwraptextright28619689/features/news/1003_test_driving_subaru_awd_systems1003_z_03+subaru_utah_adventure+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue