It’s a big state and for off-road fans, boasts plenty of trails, from those that pass through giant Redwood Forests to traversing peaks on the edge of the Mojave Desert.

With so much available it can often be difficult to decide what to do. Jeep‘s Official Blog has provided a little background on some of the most popular and memorable trails in the Golden State. Here’s a sampling:

Shasta-Trinity Forest (Northern California): Although the Rubicon Trail tends to get all the glory in this part of the world, Shasta-Trinity is considered a hidden gem. There’s miles of back roads to explore in this densely wooded area and the nearby Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle Area boasts some 52,000 acres and 200 miles of trails with which to negotiate with your Jeep. It’s also a popular spot for hiking, mountain biking and boating.

Death Valley National Park (Central California): While you would probably want to avoid this spot in the heat of summer, during the cooler months it offers some spectacular vistas as well as some challenging trail driving. There are over 1,000 miles of trails in DVNP, though one of the most recommended is the Lippincott Mine Road which climbs almost 1500 feet over the course of six miles, ending at the site of an abandoned mine. Another is the Mahogany Flats/Charcoal Kilns Road, which gives you the opportunity to view both the highest and lowest points of elevation in the US at the same time.

Joshua Tree National Park (Southern California): Made famous by U2′s 1987 album, the Joshua Tree offers plenty of opportunties to drive through canyons and picturesque desert scenery. Pinkham Canyon- Thermal Canyon Road is a 20 mile loop that ends up with some great views of Monument Mountain, with a side road en route that takes you through some of the most breathtaking scenery in the entire park.

For more info on these and other California trails, click on the link below:

[Source: Official Jeep Blog]

The Noble M600 has been a long time coming. So long in fact that one might think the car has already been on sale for years. However, the final production version has just been unveiled by Noble and the first customer units should be delivered by April 2011.

The specs look incredible. The M600 weighs just 2,640 lbs. yet it develops 650-hp from a 4.4-liter, twin-turbo, V8 (originally a Volvo unit). That means it has a better power-to-weight ratio than a Bugatti Veyron.

Launch this 6-speed manual gearboxed, mid-engined, rear-wheel drive supercar properly and you can sprint from 0-60 mph in just under 3.0 seconds, and it will keep accelerating until it maxes out at 225 mph. Astonishingly, it can sprint from 0-120 mph in just 8.9 seconds, which should be enough to annoy most of the established supercar marques.

So on the track, it will be a monster, but to make it more docile for street use, Noble has fitted the M600 with a power control switch, so you can dial in 450-hp, 550-hp or 650-hp at the turn of a knob. Noble says this is to help make the car more usable, especially in wet weather. To further help with keeping the car on the road, the M600 does come with a traction control system. The brave-hearted ones can turn the traction control off completely by pressing a button under a flap – the same flap that hides the missile launch button in a Tornado jet fighter. Maybe Noble is hinting that their car is more like a weapon!

Mechanically, the production M600 is identical to its prototype sibling, but there have been changes along the way. For instance, now the entire body is made from carbon-fiber, which makes the car lighter and stronger than before. Other changes include red accents on the grilles and vents, and new sill kick plates which carry names of everybody working at Noble, including the receptionist.

While Noble has not announced any pricing yet, they did mention that they have 52 firm orders for this car already. Since they are also building left-hand drive examples, let’s hope some M600′s will make their way into the U.S.A.

[Source: Noble]

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Mate Rimac decided to follow that old saying, revolutionizing his 1986 BMW 3-Series after popping the motor during a track day in Croatia.

Instead of giving up on the car, or just shoving in another power plant, Rimac had a crazy idea: “I pulled the engine out of the car, looked at the empty space under the bonnet and wondered what to put in there,” he said. “And then it hit me. I’ll make an electric racecar.”

And what an electric racecar? Rimec’s creation boasts 900-hp.

It’s become a two-year project for Rimac and his company, VST Conversions, with the car being powered by 300 lithium-iron phosphate cells in a battery pack, providing a range of roughly 110 miles.

Helping churn out the 900-hp is a DC motor designed by VST with a possible top speed of 174 mph. Rimac has further plans on developing the car to become faster and lighter and has set a goal of developing a 1,088-hp electric supercar by 2012.

[Source: Wired]

Check out the video of the BMW after the break.

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Nissan has traditionally played second fiddle to Honda in terms of sales figures, but the company’s strong numbers in China, combined with Honda’s declining fortunes have helped Nissan surpass Honda. Nissan moved 4.08 million units in 2010, with Honda only pushing 3.56 million.

Although Honda’s sales were up by 5 percent, it did little to stem Nissan’s rise. Combined with its partner Renault, the two automakers sold 7.3 million cars, more than Volkswagen or Ford.

[Source: The Detroit Bureau]

As part of the new joint venture between Fiat and Chrysler, the two companies will build 280,000 SUVs a year at the new Fiat facility near Turin, Italy. The SUVs will be produced for the Alfa Romeo and Jeep brands.

The Alfa SUV, the first for the 101-year-old sports car maker, will compete with offering from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, while providing a replacement for the Jeep Compass and Patriot. Of the 280,000 cars built per year, a little more than half of the vehicles will be Jeeps, with approximately the same amount going to North America. Fiat execs see the Alfa SUV as critical to the brand’s re-introduction to North America in 2013. The same platform will also underpin a replacement for the Dodge Caliber compact car.

[Source: Automotive News]

After opening an initial inquiry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a more thorough investigation of nearly half a million Volkswagen Passat models for a potential fire risk.

The investigation surrounds 490,000 Passat models dating from 2001 to 2007 and deals with ignition coils on the 2.0T 4-cylinder engines.

The initial inquiry into faulty ignition coils that could cause a fire on roughly 200,000 models from 2002-03 has prompted this more thorough ‘engineering analysis’.

In total NHTSA’s files indicate 14 complaints of fire and 21 instances of failed ignition coils, while Volkswgen itself lists 199 complaints surrounding ignition coils.

This more thorough investigation does not guarantee a full recall, but since the Toyota crisis NHTSA has been on a tear, issuing recalls for everything from rusting Bentley ornaments to Suzuki glove boxes. That being said, a recall is likely.

[Source: NYT]

It’s not exactly news that Toyota‘s reputation has been battered and bruised over the past year and a half, and now the Japanese automaker is looking to win back favor with American consumers. And what better venue to do that than the Chicago Auto Show, one of the best attended shows in the country and one that is billed as the biggest with 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space.

Planning to make a big splash, Toyota has announced it will have a ‘record-breaking’ 45,070 square-foot exhibit that will highlight everything from hybrid technology and safety to its efforts in NASCAR.

The focal point of the display will be Toyota’s “Prius Zone” with the new Prius family on display including the 3rd generation Prius, the new Prius Plug-In Hybrid, the Prius V wagon and the upcoming Prius c Concept. Other highlights will include Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry race car, plus a NASCAR-powered Camry Coupe concept which first debuted at SEMA. Plus, Toyota’s Swagger Wagon Supreme will also be on hand. The Toyota/Tesla electric RAV4 will even be there.

In fact, Toyota will display 51 different vehicles at the show.

To help promote its focus on safety, Toyota will have a “Safety Zone” where customers can learn about the brand’s safety features, while a 50,000 square-foot Toyota Drive Center will let show-goers drive numerous Toyota trucks and SUVs in off-road conditions.

Undeniably those that are able to afford the limited quantity Lexus LFA, probably have some expendable income to customize their Japanese supercar. Lexus North America has been making a strong push in marketing the LFA to the affluent and now they have a boost thanks to CEC, with their announcement of three different tuning packages available to LFA Nurburgring edition owners.

CEC has high hopes for their LFA tuning packages, hoping to build “the most expensive and rarest of all the LFA supercars that Lexus will manufacturer and sell worldwide,” according to Sherif Yassa, Vice President of CEC.

The focus of the tuning packages will mainly be on the aesthetic, which is a safe bet given how finely tuned the LFA’s powerplant is. Lexus has reported to us that the Nurburgring edition LFA will have 10-hp more than the standard LFA thanks to further development by Lexus’ engineers.

There are no images of the package available yet, but to get a better look at CEC’s light weight forged wheels on the LFA, hit the link below.

[Source: Autoblog]

With 200 of Lincoln‘s 1200 dealers staring down a possible termination of their franchise, an upcoming dealer meeting will provide little comfort to retailers of Ford’s luxury brand, as the Blue Oval will not share upcoming product details with Lincoln’s sales force.

Even though Ford is aggressively targeting Lincoln dealers with a demand for a $2 million showroom renovation program, the company hasn’t given much information on the 7 products expected to debut over the next few years that are supposed to reinvigorate the Lincoln brand.

At the recent Chrysler 300 launch the automaker previewed an entire lineup of what it calls ‘S’ line vehicles. Intended to offer customers originality and exclusivity, these S line models included unique trim, custom leather and some exterior tweaks.

Chrysler didn’t provide any specifics as to when we’d see these models hit dealers, but they are expected soon and you can bet this sort of individualization would be a hit with the 300 crowd.

The most eye-catching of the bunch was a 300 S model, sporting some impressive red leather interior and matte-gray paint. One Chrysler engineer told us that they’re seriously considering offering matte paint as an option on the 300 and that the vehicle on display was just one of several attempts they’ve made to get it right.

Browse the gallery below and tell us what you think. Would you pay for a factory matte paint job on a new 300?

GALLERY: Matte Gray Chrysler 300 S

Read AutoGuide’s 2011 Chrysler 300 Review Here