May, 2016 | Ugo Colombo | The Collection

28 May

Ugo Colombo and THE COLLECTION Celebrate with Employee Beach Bash

Earlier this month THE COLLECTION employees and their families arrived at Crandon Park Amusement Center in Key Biscayne for a day of exciting games, delicious food, and good company while having fun in the sun. It was time for the annual THE COLLECTION Employee Beach Bash!

Amanda Monzon & Amanda Ruiz

The event expressed gratitude for all the hard working employees that contribute all year long. It was also a time to for the whole team to simply get together and to spend a day relaxing in the sun with friends, co-workers, and family.

Guests spent the sunny day enjoying various activities including riding along the boardwalk on beach cruiser bicycles, relaxing on the beach with complimentary chairs and umbrellas, and playing beach volleyball. There was also a blow-up Car Wash, an inflatable basketball hoop, unlimited carousel rides, a race to the top of the Wall Climb, and various on-site field games.

The food choices were endless and catering included Shorty’s BBQ, gourmet grilled cheese’s from Ms. Cheezious, brick-oven pizza provided by Mulberry 1965 food truck, snow cones provided by Kona Ice food truck, and ice cream cups from Coldstone Creamery.

18 May

2016 Porsche Macan Turbo: Redefining SUVs

In spirit and performance, Macan Turbo is more like a “tallboy” four-door sports car than an SUV. You’re not paying for sheer tonnage or seating. Macan Turbo with Sport Chrono sprints to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, identical to the acceleration of the quickest version of the Boxster GTS. Though the higher ride height and its two-ton+ heft are apparent, Macan Turbo has sports car sensibilities. The weight and action of the steering is pure Porsche, as are all the messages sent through the seat of the pants. Alongside Panamera Turbo S, Macan Turbo is the best expression thus far of a four-door Porsche.

Source: Forbes

The Porsche Macan is impeccably designed; it’s the right size and price for many well-healed, small-family-in-tow buyers; and it has few real rivals – the Audi Q5 is of pensionable age, the BMW X3 is Bavaria at far from its dynamic best and the Range Rover Evoque is more about style than the dynamic performance that Porsche provides.

In the Macan Turbo’s case this is Turbo with a capital T. It’s not simply a lesser Macan engine with the dial turned up. The Turbo uses its own, all-new 3.6-litre petrol engine, to which not one but two turbos are strapped. It produces 394bhp, which – despite the Macan weighing 1,925kg – has quite a dramatic effect when you plant your foot on the accelerator pedal.

Learn more about the Macan Turbo

11 May

Maserati Embraces the SUV Market with the 2017 Levante

The rumor of a Maserati sport utility vehicle is now a fact. The Italian company has been teasing the public with the promise of an SUV for several years now and Maserati has finally revealed the production vehicle, which will be sold as the 2017 Maserati Levante.

The Levante isn’t important precisely because it’s Maserati’s first SUV, it’s important because it’s the Italian auto industry’s last, best shot at relevance beyond the niche of hypercars. The Levante is Italy’s last, best shot in a mainstream luxury business populated by Audis, Lexi and, soon, Hyundai’s Genesis brand.

Source: The Jordan Times

In case you missed it, SUVs now account for nearly 50 percent of global luxury auto sales. Maserati has big plans, starting with the goal of increasing sales sixfold over a six-year period ending in 2018. To succeed, Maserati needs a vehicle to compete in what amounts to half the luxury market. Welcome, Levante.

Drawing heavily on the seductively dramatic 2014 Maserati Alfieri sports coupe concept, the Levante strike a similarly moody and assertively predatory aesthetic, all the more dominant owing to increased ride height. With vast hexagonal grille, squinting strongly browed headlights and a long sculpted bonnet with side ports to exaggerate its length, the Levante features slim inwardly tilted LED running lights, widely spaced grille slats and evocative Trident emblem.

Levante features five ride heights, including low parking and 175mm ground clearance high-speed modes where it looks hunkered down and aggressive. Off-road modes can raise clearance to stilt-like 247mm — from a default 210mm — to comfortably traverse deep ruts and rocks, improve approach, departure and ramp angles and increase wheel travel to keep tires in contact with the ground.

Deep, gaping and hungry, the Levante’s grille reveals close radiator slats which help achieve best in class CD0.31 aerodynamics and can open to feed in cooling air when necessary. Kitted with enormous 265/45R20 footwear to fill its muscular wheelarches, the Levante’s rising waistline and descending roof lend urgency from profile, while broad haunches, pert rear section, big tailgate spoiler and big dual exhausts give it’s a sporting edge and road hugging demeanour.

Riding on air spring suspension for poised level cornering and comfort over imperfections.

Learn more about the Levante

05 May

Exploring the 2017 Audi A4

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

With over 12 million sold worldwide, the A4 is one of the most successful midsize sedans out there. It has to be good, too, as it’s in one of the most competitive segments, up against classic foes like Mercedes-Benz’s C-Class and BMW’s 3 Series, along with newer challengers like Cadillac’s ATS. That means Audi bringing its A-game when it comes to driving dynamics, future-proof technologies, and precision in design.

The 2017 Audi A4 hides its technological prowess under a body that’s evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The latest version of the German company’s compact executive sedan may look a whole lot like the outgoing model, but that’s the beauty of it: unlike some rivals, change hasn’t been made for its own sake.

The 2017 Audi A4 is one of the more technologically advanced compact sedans on the market with a new, optional feature called Traffic Jam Assist, which takes the burden off a driver in stop-and-go traffic, applying slight acceleration, braking and steering guidance when the car is stuck in traffic and speeds are less than 38 mph.

Another optional feature is a video-game-like virtual cockpit that can replace the usual instrument panel gauges.

When it comes to standard equipment, there’s a new automatic forward collision system that can warn a driver and activate brakes automatically to avoid a crash with a vehicle or a pedestrian. In many other cars, this kind of system is optional. The 2017 A4 is a solid compact car with agile and responsive handling, and available with Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system for improved traction over front-wheel drive A4s.

Learn more about the 2017 Audi A4.