Skip to main content
close
font 1 font 2 font 3
Reset to standard size
Font size options
Increase or decrease the font size for this website by clicking on the 'A's.
Yellow on Black White on Black Soft Greys Black on Linen Black on White
Reset to default contrast
Contrast options
Choose a color combination to give the most comfortable contrast.

The narrative engine of Cars kicks into gear following a three-way tie for the Piston Cup. A tie-breaker race is scheduled in California. McQueen, desperate to get there first to meet his new sponsor, Dinoco, forces his driver truck, Mack (the lovable Peterbilt truck), to drive through the night.

Forget the rental-spec V6 Impala. The SS model in 2006 was a front-wheel-drive sleeper that shocked the world. Powered by the LS4 V8 (a transverse-mounted 5.3L), it pushed 303 horsepower to the front wheels.

We cannot mention 2006 without bowing to the V10. The E60 M5 featured a 5.0L naturally aspirated V10 derived from Formula 1 technology. It revved to 8,250 rpm and produced 500 horsepower.

While 2006 was a party, the hangover was coming. As we move into "Cars 2006 Part 2," we will examine the flawed gems—the rotary-engine Mazda RX-8, the electrical nightmares of the early European hybrids, and the SUV craze that was about to implode.

The reintroduction of the Charger as a 4-door was heresy to purists in 2005, but by 2006, everyone agreed it was brilliant. The SRT-8 variant carried a 6.1L Hemi V8 (425 hp). It looked like a police cruiser from a cyberpunk film—immense, blunt, and aggressive. It planted the flag for the modern American muscle sedan.