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Vote: Guess this car review, episode 1

This is the beginning of what hopefully becomes a weekly feature here at Autoweek.com. Your job as the reader is to figure out what car we were reviewing when we wrote these lines way back in 2004. This is a closed book test, so there will be no Googling of the answers.

Porsche buyers put the brakes on stop-start technology

By Chris Chilton Motor Industry 23 June 2008 18:56 Direct injection and a clever new PDK dual-clutch gearbox have cemented the new 911’s reputation as the greenest performance car around, but Porsche engineers are being hampered from making the iconic sports car even cleaner by the public’s reluctance to accept further green technology Engineers at the launch of the facelifted 911 told CAR that fitting a BMW-style start-stop system could chop a further 10g/km from the Carrera’s 225g/km CO2 rating but that performance car buyers weren’t keen on having such overtly planet-conscious tech on their cars. Start-stop works by cutting the engine when the car’s stationary in traffic, and restarting automatically when you touch the pedals to move off again. Every manual transmission-equipped BMW 1-series comes with the technology, excepting the truly high performance versions.

BMW: Don't fear the stop/start system in the 2012 3-series

BMW is taking a calculated risk by installing an automatic stop/start system on its best seller, the 3-series, for 2012. But company brass is optimistic that American consumers will adjust to the relatively foreign technology. "Many customers will enjoy the car very quickly," said BMW board member Ian Robertson, who oversees sales and marketing.