Father's Day Gift Guide - Vehicles | Splash Magazines

Lexus 460L

The ultimate in motoring luxury

This is an 8-cylinder, 380-horsepower tank that moves seamlessly through its, count 'em, eight gears, a production-car first, and straightens out the worst of your ingrained bad driving habits with its myriad electronic gizmos from stability control to multi-link suspension to its vehicle dynamics system (VDIM).

There are vanity mirrors and compact airline tables and footrests in the back, which you can enjoy from one of the most well-appointed interiors out there. All of the wood, Lexus boasts, comes from the same tree to assure sameness of trim. There's also DVD in the back and a thumping 450-watt Mark Levinson sound-system. There's also live traffic update on the sat-nav.

VW Touareg

Halogen headlights come standard

This one boasted largely the same V6 engine from its successful smaller sister models that has been shoehorned into the Touareg and is also utilized across the Audi range. Main advantages are the 276 horsepower pushed out by the 3.6-liter unit, the resultant 266 pounds-feet of torque and its fully-tuned rasping rumble.

Inside is all natty leather and roomy and ergonomically sound and includes multizone air, sat-nav, Bose stereo and halogen headlights. As usual, most of these are options on the V6 and many come as standard on the upscale models. Nice touches include a power liftgate.

Volvo C70

Looks good from front

The C70 does, a massive step forward for a company that struggles every day to keep up with the Schmidts sited below them in Europe, in terms of prestige and luxury and driving experience and now in this latest guise appears to have given its latest line exactly what it needed: a good kick up the rear-end, which Italian styling house Pininfarina duly gave it.

With the retractable hood down, the car looks more functional but is no less impacting, in fact it draws far more stares from the front, obviously. With the retractable top up, from square front, it looks like a newly resculpted Volvo, as it should. But from the side it holds the same lines as Merc's CLK range, though with a more compact snout and perched slightly higher on its axles.

Audi A3 S-Line

Perfect for Dad

This Audi is red-hot. Quicker than a steer from a branding iron. Best thing was ripping it through the gears of the six-speed manual box, feeling it hit 5,000-5,500 rpms and really begin to fly. You could easily hit 80 mph in third and still be climbing as the engine lends a glutteral roar to accompany the adrenaline pumping in your veins. Happy days.

Mazdaspeed3

Massive air-intake capacity

This Mazda provides plenty thrills and amusement as a result of Mazda's careful positioning of it as a fun runabout for kids of any age who remember or have just discovered what it's like to drive a compact car that's substantially quicker than 90% of cars out there.

It's front-wheel drive, lightweight and muscular and boasts outrageous styling hints like a massive exhaust and wings and 18-inch real good looking rims that should have widespread appeal. Under the hood it's reined in 263 horses in a 2.3-liter direct injected turbo engine. It's also got super-stiff suspension and all-manner of stability controls.

2008 Can-Am Spyder Roadster

BRP introduced its first "on-road" vehicle, the 2008 Can-Am Spyder Roadster. This three-wheel vehicle, with two wheels in the front and one in the rear, offers a completely new and stunning look. Powered by a proven 990 V-Twin engine designed and manufactured by BRP-Rotax, the Spyder roadster, with its unique Y-architecture, can be described as part motorcycle and part convertible sports car.

Website: www.Spyder.BRP.com

CoPilot Live

CoPilot Live: CoPilot Live, manufactured by ALK Technologies, makes getting anywhere easy and stress-free. Copilot's voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions get you where you need to be. Directions are constantly updated, and automatic route recalculation means missing a turn is not a big deal. CoPilot will navigate a new way for you to get to your point of arrival. Customizable routes allow you to choose how you get where you want to go. CoPilot also allows you to avoid traffic and tolls!

Website: www.alk.com/copilot

Delphi Nav200 w Optional Lifetime Traffic Service

Delphi Nav200 w Optional Lifetime Traffic Service: A $299 portable GPS that has all of the features of a higher priced unit: 400 MHZ processor, SiRF III antenna & Navteq maps; plus it has an entertainment suite: MP3 player & movie player, picture viewer, calculator, etc. All the maps come pre-loaded on a SD card, so there is no downloading. This is designed for the 1st time GPS user who does not want sink a lot of money into the device but still want high functionality. Available now for $299. Lifetime traffic service is available for a one-time fee of $199 and will reroute you according to degrees of traffic congestion.

Website: http://shopdelphi.com/consumers/mobilenav/nav200/

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