2017 Buick Envision: Broadened Lineup Offers Second Engine, New Lower-Priced Trim Levels – Official Photos and Info
2017 Buick Envision Lineup Adds 2.5L Engine, Three Lower-Priced Trim Levels
In terms of crossovers, Buick is looking to cover all its bases—a wise move given the booming market for such vehicles. Both the compact Encore and the three-row Enclave are strong sellers for the brand, and the new Chinese-built Envision crossover coming to the U.S. fits neatly into the gap between the two. READ MORE […]
2017 Honda Accord Hybrid Debuts: It’s Back and It’s Rejuvenated
In spite of superior engineering, Honda hybrids have never posed a serious threat to the Toyota Prius. In 1999, the original Honda Insight hybrid beat the Prius to the U.S. market by a few months with a small motor-generator attached to its three-cylinder gas engine’s crankshaft. Accord hybrids sold for the 2014 and 2015 model […]
Honda Will Re-Enter the EV Race in 2017 with an All-Electric Version of its Clarity
After discontinuing the Fit EV in 2014, Honda will throw its hat into the EV ring once again next year with an all-electric, battery-powered version of its Clarity eco-mobile. The so-called Clarity Electric will follow the hydrogen-powered Clarity Fuel Cell set to go on sale at some California dealerships later this year, and a Clarity Plug-In Hybrid variant will arrive in […]
2017 Honda Accord Hybrid: It’s Back and It’s Rejuvenated – Official Photos and Info
Acura CDX Subcompact CUV Caught Undisguised Before Beijing Reveal
Acura is the latest luxury automaker to dip its toes into the subcompact-crossover segment with the new CDX, and Car News China, a website dedicated to the Chinese automotive industry, has leaked early photos ahead of the vehicle’s official debut at the upcoming Beijing Motor Show. As the CDX heads into battle with vehicles like the Mercedes-Benz GLA-class, BMW X1, and Audi […]
2017 Ford Escape – First Drive Review
2017 Ford Escape First Drive: Attempting a Greater Escape
At just 16 years old, the Ford Escape is one of the younger nameplates in the Ford family. The Taurus, F-series, Focus, and, of course, Mustang all are older. Yet the Escape sells in greater numbers than any Ford save the F-150 pickup (and sometimes the Fusion sedan), thanks to the market shift to crossovers […]
Dayz and Confused: Mitsubishi Admits to Overstating Fuel Economy in Japan
The present embarrassment of Mitsubishi Motors is best illustrated by watching the “Ribbons of Shame” opening scene from Ron Howard’s 1986 comedy “Gung Ho.” Take a minute, laugh, and come back to read the rest. Only then will Mitsubishi’s flub over fuel economy figures in the Japanese market have context. Four kei models produced by […]
Get In Line: 7000 People Have Already Applied to Buy the First 500 Ford GTs
The application process for the new Ford GT supercar is still open for another three weeks, but the odds of securing one for your garage grow slimmer by the minute. Just one week after it launched the online system, Ford has already received 7000 applications. It plans to build only 500 of the cars during the […]
Grille-ing Out: Lexus to Debut Refreshed IS Sedan in China
Lexus announced that it will release a redesigned IS sports sedan at the Beijing Motor Show in the coming days, and based off of the teaser image, it appears as though the brand’s BMW 3-series fighter will receive a face inspired by the Lexus RC coupe. Although the luxury brand calls the new Lexus IS “redesigned,” that’s being […]
2018 Honda CR-V Spied! – Future Cars
2018 Honda CR-V Spied with a Less Minivan-Like Look
What It Is: The fifth generation of Honda’s supremely popular CR-V crossover, likely based on the new platform that underpins the recently redesigned Honda Civic. The new CR-V is rumored to grow a bit compared to the current model, with the possible addition of an optional third-row seat to help bridge the gap between it […]
Vulcan Salute: British Company to Offer Road Conversion for Aston’s Track Special
It seems that the world’s squillionaires don’t know the meaning of the phrase “track-only.” Or if they do, they seem willing to invest huge sums of money into making it go away. That’s the rationale behind the decision by British engineering company RML to offer conversions for turning the Aston Martin Vulcan into a street-legal […]
BMW i Designer, Other Key Execs Leave for Chinese Electric-Car Startup
Benoit Jacob’s name is attached to one of the most striking car designs you can buy today, the paradigm-shifting BMW i8. But recent reports suggest that Jacob and two of his BMW i Division colleagues are jumping ship for yet another out-of-nowhere Chinese-backed electric-car startup. The Wall Street Journal reports that Jacob and coworkers Dirk […]
Jaguar Plans New Straight-Six Engines
Some unsurprising but welcome news arrives from the U.K. with a report that Jaguar Land Rover plans to build inline-six-cylinder variants of its new Ingenium engine family. According to a story in Car magazine, the company plan follows in the footsteps of its German rivals by, basically, modularizing the recently launched 2.0-liter four-cylinder gas and diesel engines […]
Report: Audi Initially Developed Volkswagen Diesel Cheat Software
Audi masterminded the emissions-cheating software that led to the Volkswagen diesel scandal, according to a report in the German newspaper Handelsblatt. Unnamed sources quoted by the paper said Audi developed the software in 1999 to “turn off certain engine functions” and that it was internally called “acoustic mode” or “acoustic function.” Sometime years later, Volkswagen […]
A HUNNERT YEARS! BMW Announces Celebratory 7-series with Long, Long Names
We get it, Bavarians, your vaunted Motoren Werke is a century old, and you’d like to celebrate. You’re also quite proud of your new 7-series, a vehicle so jam-packed with gee-whiz convenience features that we referred to it as “a four-wheeled Passeportout” in a recent instrumented test. Unfortunately, the ultimate result of all this is […]
2016 Lexus RC200t F Sport – Instrumented Test
2016 Lexus RC200t F Sport Tested: High-Style Heavyweight
The Lexus RC is a relative newcomer to the compact-premium-coupe segment, which perhaps is why this “radical coupe” seems to be striving. The twisted-hourglass grille, sculpted-from-meringue fenders, ribbed taillamps, and squinty side glass distinguish this Lexus from the more staid competitors, such as the Audi A5, BMW 4-series, and Cadillac ATS. And our test car’s […]
Tesla Offers Free One-Month Autopilot Trial to Owners
Free software trials aren’t at all new, but one that can add semi-autonomous functionality to your vehicle certainly is novel. That’s exactly what Tesla is offering to its customers who didn’t opt for Autopilot when they purchased a Model S sedan or Model X crossover. An image showing a prompt for a month-long trial of Autopilot […]
50th Anniversary Edition Chevrolet Camaro SS to Pace 2016 Indy 500
50th Anniversary Edition Chevrolet Camaro SS to Pace 2016 Indy 500
Excepting the one time the goofball Chevrolet SSR convertible pickup was used, a Camaro or Corvette has paced the Indianapolis 500 each of the last 13 years. Next month, it’ll be the Camaro’s turn as the 2017 SS 50th Anniversary Edition laps the Brickyard. IndyCar/Nascar/V8 Supercars team owner, former pro driver, and car-dealership magnate Roger Penske […]
Ian Callum: Jaguar Won’t Do Any More Station Wagons
Ian Callum, Jaguar’s design chief, is one of our favorite car designers working today, but he’s just broken our hearts. He’s let slip that Jaguar will abandon station wagons in favor of crossovers like the new F-Pace. Yes, that means there will never be another vehicle like the XFR-S Sportbrake, shown above. Callum broke the sad news […]
2017 Ford Focus Electric Aims for 100 with Additional Range
While Chevrolet’s Bolt electric vehicle is chasing after Tesla with a driving range of at least 200 miles, Ford has its sights set squarely on…Nissan? Despite Ford’s recent pledge to invest an additional $4.5 billion into its electric vehicle program, Kevin Layden, Ford’s director of electrified powertrain engineering, told Automotive News that the 2017 version of the Ford Focus […]
Aiming High: 2016 Buick Envision Priced from $42,995 to $45,635
General Motors’ plant in Yantai, China is already hard at work churning out brand-new 2016 Buick Envision crossovers for the U.S. market. When these luxury SUVs arrive on our shores in June, buyers will have the choice of two well-equipped trim levels costing $42,995 and $45,635. If those prices are too high for you, you’ll have to […]
Police Truck: Ford Debuts 2016 F-150 Special Service Vehicle
In an era of McMansions that incidentally feature transfer cases, some of us still pine for the days when trucks were trucks. Work vehicles meant for work, stripped of any nonessential gimcrackery, still hold a dear place in our hearts. So color us pleased with the Ford F-150 Special Service Vehicle’s reason for being: work. […]
Toyota Suspends Japanese Vehicle Production After String of Earthquakes
Two massive earthquakes struck Japan’s Kyushu island late last week, killing dozens, destroying buildings, and displacing thousands of local residents from their homes. The reported 6.5- and 7.3-magnitude earthquakes also disrupted parts supplies to Toyota, the world’s largest automotive manufacturer. “We found damaged walls, broken windows, and assembly equipment out of position [in two factories],” […]
How We’d Spec It: The Ludicrous Tesla Model X P90D
How We’d Spec It: The Ludicrous Tesla Model X P90D
Tesla’s Model X has been available by pre-order for some time, but only recently did the online configurator for the electric crossover go live. As you’d expect for a luxury-minded vehicle, there’s no shortage of high-dollar options and interesting color combinations available, making our latest How We’d Spec It imaginary build process all the more fun. […]
Police Truck: Ford Debuts 2016 F-150 Special Service Vehicle
2016 Toyota Prius Four Touring – Instrumented Test
2016 Toyota Prius Four Touring Tested: The Best Prius Yet, But Is That Enough?
Back in 2004, the Toyota Prius earned a spot on our 10Best Cars list. It didn’t offer any of the dynamic virtues that normally get us excited, but the second-generation Prius entertained us in a different way with its video-game-like efficiency displays. We surprised ourselves by finding enjoyment in feathering the throttle to minimize using […]
Rubber Rock Star: Pirelli Celebrates P Zero’s 30th Anniversary, Debuts New Version
Rubber Rock Star: Pirelli Celebrates P Zero’s 30th Anniversary, Debuts New Version
All tires are round and black, but occasionally one rises from anonymity to become a rock star. Pirelli’s superstar is the P Zero. Like Mick Jagger, this tire has been a memorable performer for ages. To celebrate its 30th birthday, the world’s fifth-largest tire maker recently began fitting supercars such as Ferrari’s F12tdf with the latest […]
Efficient Cruze-ing: 2016 Chevrolet Cruze EPA-Rated as High as 42 MPG Highway
Getting only 40 miles on a gallon of regular gasoline is so early-2010s—the new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze is officially EPA-rated at up to 42 mpg on the highway. Along with its city rating of 30 mpg, the redesigned Cruze’s numbers are fully competitive with the leaders in its segment, the Honda Civic 1.5T (EPA rated […]
2016 Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce – Instrumented Test
Is It Fast? Uh, Yeah: Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV Tested!
The Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce has no carpet, sound deadening, USB ports, Bluetooth phone pairing, cruise control, nor any warning labels. And sometimes—like whenever its cooling fans operate—it produces mechanical noises no car this costly should make. It approaches its mission with the same subtlety Donald Trump employs when talking immigration. READ MORE ››
Jaguar to Launch SVO-Engineered F-Pace, XE a Possibility
If you are looking for the loudest, baddest sports car or roadster out there, chances are you’ll end up with the Jaguar F-Type. And as far as performance sedans go, the Brits have given us some rather convincing propositions in the past. So what about the F-Pace? Surely, the range-topping 380-hp version of Jaguar’s brand-new […]
2016 Chevrolet Cruze 1.4T Automatic – Instrumented Test
2016 Chevrolet Cruze Test: First Impressions of Chevy’s Newest Compact Sedan
A middle-school wood shop teacher once told this author to hand-sand a wood DVD rack project until its surface was “smoother than a baby’s bottom.” The teacher’s name is long forgotten, but that quote stuck—the image of the business end of an infant ensured as much—and it applies as aptly the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze as […]
Horsepower vs. Torque: What’s the Difference?
Which is better? Here’s how you quash that bar-night debate. Yogi Berra, never known to dwell on engine particulars, would have concluded that torque and horsepower are the same thing, only different. Actually, that simplification is partially correct. Torque and power are what engines produce when you turn the key and press the accelerator. Air […]
2017 Audi A4 Allroad – First Drive Review
2017 Audi A4 Allroad Driven: Now with Quattro Ultra!
Either the American public doesn’t get it, or we don’t: The station wagon, beloved by motor journalists and buyers in Europe—where 9 of the 10 bestselling cars in 2014 offered station wagon versions that sold in large numbers—accounts for about 1 percent of the U.S. sales mix. This is, at least partially, a consequence of […]
Sergio Marchionne Skeptical of Tesla Model 3’s Profitability
Unlike many prominent CEOs, Fiat Chrysler boss and crew-neck sweater enthusiast Sergio Marchionne says whatever the hell he wants. Typically it’s very entertaining, and his recent comments about the just-revealed Tesla Model 3 are no exception. Marchionne spoke to Automotive News Europe at an FCA meeting in Amsterdam Friday. It turns out, he’s not all […]
The Price of Power: Which Cars Offer the Most Optional Horsepower per Dollar?
In these days of 300-hp four-bangers, is there still value in choosing the bigger engine?
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