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Payne: The techy, pricey Chevy Silverado EV goes to work
Posted by Talbot Payne on November 9, 2023
Ann Arbor — Chevrolet is introducing its first, electric Silverado as a work truck. Fleet owners might, um, want to put a speed limiter on it.
With 515 horsepower (more than a Corvette C8), 600 pound-feet of torque (more than a Camaro SS), and Chevy’s rock-solid Ultium chassis, the Silverado EV is a rocket ship out of stoplights. ZOT! I challenged Challengers, BMWs — even a ‘Vette C6 — all over Ann Arbor on my brief test-drive of the 8,000-pound-plus pickup.
If I were, say, a DTE utility worker, I’d have my eight-hour rounds done by noon.
The Work Truck (available as a Crew Cab only with a 5-foot-11-inch box) comes with a price tag as stratospheric as its power numbers. The 393-mile-range 3 Work Truck starts at $74,800 and — with 450 miles of range — my 4WT nearly hits the 80-grand marker with a $79,800 sticker. Oof.
That’s reflective of the cost of lithium-ion batteries as the all-wheel-drive EV Work Truck tries to match the range of a rear-wheel-drive, 504-mile, gas-range, 310-horsepower Work Truck Crew Cab costing half as much.
But, like the gas Silverado WT, the electric Silverado WT only loses about 50% of range when towing, according to our friends at TFL Trucks, which recently put the pickup through the paces in its mountainous Colorado backyard. That translates to 250 miles of range, which is workable on a trip to, say, Traverse City where chargers are spaced about 120 miles apart.
The Chevy’s chief electric competitor, the Ford F-150 Lightning, suffered 70% degradation when towing, according to TFL. That means less than 100 miles of towing on the Ford’s 320-mile range battery — which won’t get you between Michigan charging stations (much less make sense if you have to stop every 90 minutes for a 120-minute charge, according to Motor Trend testing).
Still, Silverado EV has similar fast-charging challenges. A gas WT takes 5 minutes to refill, the Chevy 90 minutes on, say, an Electrify America DC fast charger. And that’s not including the time to unhook your trailer and belly up to fast charger stalls not designed (like, say, a Marathon gas truck stop) to handle long tow vehicles. EVs have a looooong way to go.
Which is why initial sales of the Silverado EV are for fleet-focused shooooort hauls.
But for those rockin’ dual motors in its belly, my WT was bare bones. Black interior, 18-inch wheels, all-season tires. No fancy Super Cruise like the $106K RST truck that will debut next spring for well-heeled retail customers. No fancy 24-inch wheels. No Flex-Midgate between the C-pillars that drops to extend the bed (just as an SUV can extend cargo by flattening its rear seats). Bare bones.
But it has a sleek design signature that is more Chevy Traverse than macho, gas Silverado. Check out the flying buttress C-pillar and spare fascia. Inside is one of the best infotainment systems in the industry. Twin, iPad-like, digital instrument and dash screens are standard and run by Google Built-in — a system that will feel familiar to anyone who has used a smartphone.
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, but if you’re heading out on the road, let me recommend Google Built-in’s navi system.
It’s made strides in its ability to navigate an EV to its destination. Where most systems leave it to the driver to do their homework and find their own charge stations (ugh, imagine expecting a gas driver to do that), Google Built-in charts your course — chargers and all. Similar to how Tesla integrates travel with its proprietary charging network.
In a mock trip that I made in Google Built-in from Ann Arbor, the system prioritized fast charging stations for my journey to Washington, D.C. The trip would take 10 hours and 7 minutes, including two stops at fast chargers for a total of 1 hour and 50 minutes. Useful so you can make plans while you wait. Not so useful if you don’t like waiting.
That’s the fundamental challenges to EVs, which are inferior to their gas peers on long-distance runs. At least the Silverado will get you there assuming you, ahem, drive below 70 mph in moderate weather conditions.
Try the trip in the cold — or traveling at higher speeds — and expect serious range degradation. Also expect logistical challenges at fast chargers if you plan on towing. They simply aren’t designed for large rigs. I look forward to the chance to test Silverado EV on a real-world towing trip sometime soon.
What the Silverado EV is designed for is ease of use.
Access the rear bed with a corner bumper step — a feature every pickup should have. The bed takes advantage of the 4WT’s massive, estimated 215 kWh battery with five outlets for tool support: four 110-volt and one 240. If you’re a small businessperson and the truck doubles as a recreation vehicle, the plugs will come in handy for tailgate parties.
The hole under the hood where the engine used to be? Chevy has made it into an e-frunk (a nifty feature pioneered by mid-engine sportscars, then popularized for EVs by Tesla) just like Lightning. There’s another pair of 110-volt plugs up there. It allows the practicality of a hatchback SUV with the hauling ability of a pickup.
But hauling that sticker price around is a challenge.
To properly use the e-truck, businesses (or individuals) will need to add expensive 240-volt chargers so the trucks can recharge up to 12 hours overnight for their duties next day. Home charging is cheaper to operate at 15 cents per kWh overnight, but plug in at, say, Electrify America’s Pittsburgh fast charger and you’re looking at an expensive 48 cents per kWh — meaning costlier trip refuels than a 29-mpg, gas-fired Silverado Work Truck if gas is under $4 a gallon.
The e-Silverado is too expensive to qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax break, but the usual business tax incentives apply to help get them into employees’ hands. They will find a brawny truck with good specs like 1,440-pound payload and 10,000-pound towing.
And standard all-wheel-drive so you can really put that 600 pound-feet of torque to the ground at a Woodward stoplight. Just don’t let the boss catch you.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV Work Truck
Vehicle type: Battery-powered, all-wheel drive, five-passenger pickup
Price: $74,800, including $1,895 destination ($79,800 4WT as tested)
Powerplant: Twin-motor, 215 kWh battery pack
Power: 515 horsepower, 600 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.4 seconds (Car and Driver, 4WT); towing, 10,000 pounds, 1,440-pound payload
Weight: 8,500 pounds
Fuel economy: 450-mile range (4WT as tested)
Report card
Highs: High-tech with Google Built-in navigation, fun to drive, capable towing
Lows: Charging stable logistics, 50% costlier than comparable gas work truck
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Chevy’s future recipe: $35k Equinox EV, new slogan and lots of ICE-ing
Posted by Talbot Payne on November 9, 2023
Amidst heated UAW strikes and cool EV demand, it’s been a tumultuous autumn for the Detroit auto industry. But with plans measured in decades, not months, Chevrolet is staying the course towards an all-electric future. Chevy executives laid out the ingredients of that future as 2023 draws to a close with a new brand slogan, a $35k Equinox EV, and more electric models in high-volume segments than any other automaker.
And in a nod towards market reality, Chevy is baking its EV cake with a lot of ICE-ing.
ICE as in internal combustion engine vehicles. In addition to its ambitious EV agenda, Chevy’s entry-level, gas-fueled, $21k Trax SUV has debuted to strong customer demand and 198% sales growth year-over-year through the third quarter, according to Chevy parent General Motors Co. Its stylish design and utility is a gateway drug to the brand’s big moneymakers: gas-fed pickup trucks and large SUVs. And the sweetest ICE-ing on the cake, the V8-powered Corvette C8, has more models in the works and is expanding its global racing footprint.
“These are transformational times we’re going through” said Vice President for Global Chevrolet Scott Bell. “The next few years are important to our long-term future.”
That electric future will march under a new slogan, “Together Let’s Drive,” which replaces the “Find New Roads” flag that has waved since 2013. It debuts alongside the Equinox EV, Chevy’s first electric vehicle in the country’s largest segment, compact SUVs.
Following Chevy’s promise that a battery-powered Equinox would debut around $30k and with over 250 miles of range, the EV delivers with a $34,995 starting price (before destination fee) and 319-mile range. That’s above the $26,600, gas-powered Equinox (even if the customer qualifies for the full, $7,500 federal EV tax credit), which has 447 miles of gas range.
Such shortcomings compared to their gas peers is one of the reason why EV sales have disappointed. And why GM is pushing back production of the Chevy Silverado EV pickup at Orion Assembly until late 2025.
Even when Chevy EVs and ICEs have comparable pricing, they attract different customers. Thanks to big price cuts and the $7,500 subsidy, the 259-mile range Bolt EV is available at $19,995 — goosing a sales increase of 55% this year (including its sister, the slightly larger Bolt EUV). That price is competitive with the entry-level, $21,495, 422-mile range Trax.
But Chevy marketing guru Steve Majoros says they still appeal to different customers. “There is not a strong cross-shop between the two, Trax and Bolt EV are a different customer base,” he said. “Bolt tends to be shopped by coastal buyers from a higher-income demographic looking for an EV, the Trax buyer is more interested in affordability. The Trax has been doing what we want it to do: get people into the brand.”
Media buzz for Chevy EVs continues to be strong with the 324-mile range Blazer EV winning Motor Trend’s 2024 SUV of the Year award. The publication also crowned the Bolt EV 2017 Car of the Year though the huzzahs did not translate into strong sales, with Tesla’s Model 3 outselling it by 6:1.
“We’re still very bullish on the EV market and very bullish about our position in that market, having a vehicle with Ultium in the three biggest segments in the industry,” Bell said, citing the Equinox EV, midsize Blazer EV, and Silverado EV, which are built on GM’s Ultium battery platform.
Failure to sell EVs will result in billions in fines from California regulators and the federal EPA if targets aren’t met beginning with the 2026 model year. To encourage customer EV acceptance, Chevrolet is leaning on a fleet-heavy sales strategy for its SUVs and trucks. Fleet strategies have been criticized in the past as dumping grounds to boost sales numbers.
But GM’s volume brand sees fleets as crucial to getting a foothold in the market. Corporations like utilities have internal sustainability goals to meet, and the $77,905 Silverado EV Work Truck (nearly twice the cost of a gas WT) is being sold exclusively to fleets. Rental companies like Hertz have been incentivized by the federal government with $7,500 subsidies per EV purchase.
“The EV market is going to be fleet-focused initially because that is where the demand is,” said Bell. “We see it as an opportunity to do volume sales, and we can use fleet markets to expose customers to EVs.”
Fleet sales aside, Chevrolet sees retail demand from high-income customers so Equinox EV will debut early next year with launch editions priced at $48,895 (front-wheel-drive) and $52,395 (AWD). The $35k Equinox EV will come later in 2024. The Silverado EV will also open for retail customers with an upscale RST model at $106,895.
EV market uncertainty means Chevy will continue to lean on its gas truck and SUV lineup to generate profits.
Through September, Silverado sales were up 8% over 2022 and second only to perennial sales champ Ford F-Series. Last year, pickup trucks accounted for 20.5% of new U.S. vehicle sales, up from 16.8% in 2016. Chevrolet’s overall sales volume is up 18% this year.
ICE icon Corvette, a $70k supercar, has already sold over 25,000 units this year as it has added high-horsepower Z06 and E-Ray models. Like Ford’s V8-powered Mustang and Porsche’s flat-6 911, GM intends to continue to use its gasoline sportscar as a brand halo.
That halo will be a missionary all over the world in 2024 as Corvette expands its racing program for the first time to the customer market with a GT3-class model competing against Mustang, Porsche and Mercedes. Like the retail market, endurance racing has been resistant to EVs given their range and cost liabilities.
“Range is a big differentiator for customers looking to buys EVs,” said Bell. “We’re pleased the Equinox has over-delivered in the sense of range.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Alfa Giulia is still a classic Italian dish
Posted by Talbot Payne on November 9, 2023
Pontiac — Alfa Romeo is going through some big changes these days with its second SUV, the Tonale plug-in hybrid, and a barnful of pure electric vehicles planned by 2027. EVs, SUVs, yada yada — they’re all the rage. But for you purists out there, you should know the Italian brand is still stamping out a terrific gas-powered sedan.
There are few cars that will put a bigger smile on your face than a 2024 Giulia.
Grip the fat leather steering wheel, rotate the Drive Mode selector to D (Dynamic), and Giulia wants to play like a puppy copped up on a leash in the garage all night. Where to play in Oakland County? Any twisty road will do, as the Alfa turns on a dime.
The Italian brand has been doing this a looooong time and the rear-wheel-drive Giulia is one of the sharpest tools in the luxe shed along with the Cadillac CT4 and BMW 2-series coupe. The 2 has a Gran Coupe sedan version but its, um, Mini-based front-wheel-drive platform isn’t in the same league as the others. Giulia is athletic and utilitarian, though six-footers should beware of the cramped back seat (I could barely sit behind myself). I love my Model 3 for its innovation, but Tesla has a ways to go to catch up with its luxury peers on handling.
The smiles begin long before you touch that D dial. The Alfa is one of the sexiest sedans on the road, its sculpted flanks, wide stance and signature tri-lobo grille instantly recognizable as not-that-Audi-or-BMW-like-all-your-neighbors-have. For 2024, Giulia has updated its lighting signature to match the new Tonale.
McLaren this week threw cold water on the idea that sportscars will be going all-electric anytime soon due to the inherent challenges of EVs trying to pack 300 miles of range and reduce weight for performance. An all-wheel-drive Giulia weighs a significant 600 pounds less than an AWD Tesla.
Inside, you’ll grin at the ON button located on the steering wheel’s left spoke. Like Porsche’s left-console key location (a throwback to running Le Mans race starts when drivers would jump in and turn the key at the same time), Alfa wants you to know it’s serious about this performance business.
Drive Mode dial, shift paddles, binocular cockpit. Everything about the interior communicates performance. The ‘24 model has also upgraded interior tech with all-digital instrument display. But dig deeper and the Giorgio platform, introduced in 2016, shows its age.
The 2024 Honda Accord in my driveway at the same time I was testing Giulia has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless charge pad, and a head-up display. Giulia lacks these modern amenities, which are expected in most new mainstream cars, much less luxe models.
The lack of head-up display is a particular miss in a performance car. Bimmer puts its head-up displays to good use with a racecar-like, horizonal tachometer so the driver never has to take their eyes off the road when paddle shifting. The Alfa is every bit as engaging, and would benefit from similar tech on road.
Or on track.
For a healthy $25K premium, the Giulia Quadrifoglio is also on offer for 2024. The QV (as Alfa likes to call it) loves to be pushed to its limits on tracks like M1 Concourse in Pontiac. I was happy to oblige. The sedan’s 111-inch wheelbase is playful, and its Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires provide excellent stick.
The 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V-6 sings a lovely aria complete with trombone shift accompaniment — BLAT! BLAT! BLAT! — from the quad pipes as I upshifted through the 8-speed automatic transmission. The automatic’s shifts are much quicker than a manual can manage — but again it would benefit if you could shift the steering wheel paddles by using a head-up tachometer.
Unless you plan regular track days, the more affordable, still-sensual Alfa Veloce is plenty of car. Veloce possesses the same inherent goodies as its steroid-fed brother — Brembo brakes, magnetic shocks, limited-slip differential. And its 280-horse turbocharged engine is one of the most satisfying 4-bangers in the business.
Still, as I grinned my way across Oakland County, that $55K sticker made me pause. There is plenty of good hardware in the compact car segment for less than $50K, beginning with my favorite hot hatch class.
Drop $45K on a VW Golf R and you get similar turbo-4 performance — plus all-wheel-drive, modern tech, better rear seat space, and better hatchback utility. What you don’t get is a century of Italian heritage.
My friend Mehul bought a Giulia because he had coveted an Alfa sedan from the days his father owned a Giulia GTA. It had left a mark. Unforgettable style, fun-to-drive, Rosso.
Rosso means red in Italian, but it also references the blood that makes your heart beat a little faster. It’s a rare yearning that the Italian brand still manages to evoke from sheetmetal. It’s a quality that, I’m afraid to say, eludes the newly introduced Tonale SUV, as competent and stylish though it is.
Which is why I was pleased to see the Giulia back for ‘24. The other emotion Alfa has provoked over the years is less flattering: anger at its lack of reliability. After a blizzard of electronics failures, Car and Driver wrote off its long-term 2018 Quadrifoglio tester with the headline: “After 40,000 miles with the Alfa Giulia, our heart is broken.” Ouch.
Under the leadership of CEO Jean Philippe Imparato and North American boss Larry Dominique, the brand aims to change that. “If you don’t have quality, you don’t have a premium brand,” Dominique likes to say.
From a basement dweller in J.D. Power’s Sales Satisfaction Index in 2018, Alfa leap-frogged the field last year to No. 1. This March, it also took the top spot for J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study (tracking the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles over the first 90 days of ownership). That’s a good start, and key to Alfa’s renaissance in the U.S. market.
Giulia is already tops in the Initial Grins Study.
2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia
Vehicle type: Front engine, rear- and all-wheel drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $44,670 including $1,595 destination ($55,140 RWD I-4 Veloce and $81,855 V-6 Quadrifoglio as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder; 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6
Power: 280 horsepower, 306 pound-feet of torque (I-4); 505 horsepower, 443 pound-feet of torque (V-6)
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.6 seconds (I-4, Car and Driver); 3.6 seconds (V-6, Car and Driver); top speed, 193 mph (V-6)
Weight: 3,522 pounds (I-4 RWD); 3,820 pounds (V-6)
Fuel economy: EPA 24 mpg city/33 highway/27 combined (I-4 RWD); 23 mpg city/31 highway/26 combined (I-4 AWD); 17 mpg city/25 highway/20 combined (V-6 RWD)
Report card
Highs: Italian style; athletic swagger
Lows: Tight rear seat; lacks latest luxury tech
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Honda’s Motocompacto is an e-scooter in a box
Posted by Talbot Payne on November 9, 2023
Pontiac — If the Tesla Model 3 is like riding a smartphone on four wheels, then the Honda Motocompacto is like riding a briefcase on two wheels.
The scooter is a clever reboot of the company’s famed, compact Motocompo bike of the early 1980s. Updated for the trendy electric age, Motocompacto is e-motor driven compared to its two-cycle-engine-powered forefather.
It’s aimed at “last milers” — urban dwellers with a short commute to work in bike lanes; Europeans whose gas cars have been banned from the inner city and need transport from parking lot-to-office; small town/college residents for daily rounds, and so on. At 29” long x 21” tall x 4” wide, the foldable, suitcase-sized scooter can be plugged into your car lighter for a full range of 12 miles.
Naturally, Honda larded Moto’s rollout with green-speak. “The zero-emissions Motocompacto . . . greatly reduces (riders’) carbon footprint while offering great convenience,” preached press materials. That sermon is hard to square with Motocompacto’s assembly at a Chinese factory burning coal from plants owned by the Chinese Communist Party.
Better to just tout Motocompacto’s affordability thanks to Chinese sourcing. The e-scooter costs a very approachable $995 ($1,500 less than the original when adjusted for inflation) and weighs 40 pounds. However, the dealer destination fee is $149.25 which makes the real price 1,144.25. Want it shipped to your home? That’ll set you back another $250 or so.
Put it under the Christmas tree for your college student for the same price as a laptop. They can’t ride a laptop around campus. Some assembly required:
1) Set Motocompacto kickstand.
2) Press the rear button and the stem and handlebars swing upwards out of the case. Lock the stem in place.
3) Swivel the handlebars into riding position. Lock in place.
4) Extract seat from suitcase. Lock and secure in place.
5) Unlock the rear wheel with a side latch. Secure latch. Swivel out the foot pegs.
6) Strap on your bike helmet and you’re ready to riiiide.
A 6’5” giraffe like me asks ergonomic questions right away. Questions like: Can the seat be raised like a bicycle? Unfortunately, that answer is no, and so I folded myself onto the low throne with knees and elbows akimbo.
Operation is similar to a motorbike with a right-handle accelerator lever and left-handle brake. I poked the ON button, selected Mode 2 for drive, thumbed the accelerator, and I was off around M1 Concourse’s parking lot. The electric acceleration is typically brisk, but the top speed is a manageable 15 mph. Despite my size, Motocompacto was balanced, smooth and simple to brake to a stop.
My size was an advantage in carrying Motocompacto around after I folded it up to briefcase size. Forty pounds is heavy — just 10 pounds shy of the max carry-on for an airplane — which suited my giant levers. Indeed, the Honda’s 265-pound weight limit means it can be ridden by big human beings. Wee Mrs. Payne, at 5’5”, is the perfect size to fit on the scooter, but would struggle hauling it up to an office in, say, downtown Detroit. Happily, she can push it around upright on two wheels like a bicycle by extending the stem. Who knows? Maybe an after-market shop will come up with a clever strap ‘n’ rollers so you can drag it around on its side like a suitcase.
Speaking of carry-ons, don’t plan on checking Motocompacto onto an airplane since it contains lithium-ion batteries. Store your necessities into a backpack, and the e-Honda is excellent urban transit.
Its size is ideal for an office cubicle where you fill it to full charge in 3.5 hours on a 110-volt wall outlet. Use its side panels to advertise your company (a Detroit News wrap would look nice) or just put a name tag on it. Unlike a Lime scooter, you can take it into the office with you (also unlike a Lime scooter, I could actually pilot Mototcaompacto without killing myself).
The e-Honda easily fits into the back of an SUV (bonus if the ute/truck has a rear power outlet). Its price is more attainable than e-bikes that can cost $1,500-$4,000. It’s worth noting, however, that the Honda is well shy of the range and speed of those bikes.
Then there’s my favorite mode of urban transport — a good ol’, bargain, $350 Schwinn pedal bicycle. Same speed, no tailpipe, no charging, fits in your office elevator. The best part? It’s great exercise.
For Honda fans who wanted the new, new thing, Motocampacto can be found exclusively at Honda or Acura dealers and Motocompacto.honda.com.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: 700-hp Aston Martin DBX 707 is fit for Bond
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 26, 2023
Gaylord — Aston Martin calls the performance version of its DBX SUV the 707 on account that it makes 707 horsepower on the European metric scale (PS stands for PferdStarke, of course). By U.S. standards, that’s 697 horsepower.
To avoid confusion and establish a universal naming convention, may I suggest the badge be changed to DBX 007?
Everyone knows Aston Martin as the official vehicle of the James Bond movie franchise, and the DBX’s performance model deserves nothing less than a starring role in the next 007 epic. This is, after all, the world’s most-powerful, luxury super-ute — a 193-mph rocket that elbows past the 657-horse Lamborghini Urus Performante, 631-horsepower Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and 617-horse BMW X6 M.
It’s a sports car in a 5,000-pound SUV body. Put it in a Bond chase scene and it will obliterate the obligatory pack of villain cars. Zero-60 mph? 3.1 seconds. SPORT PLUS track mode? Check. Off-road Terrain mode? Check. Gorgeous bod? Check. I got a taste of this Double-OMG-Seven sensation over rural M-32 in north Michigan — twisties I usually reserve for testing sports cars.
Rotating the meaty rotary drive mode dial to SPORT PLUS, the suspension noticeably stiffened and I laid waste to a series of downhill S-turns. But the cherry on top was this rhino-in-tennis-shoes’ performance between turns. SPORT PLUS shortened the gear ratios for the nine-speed gearbox so that — upon corner exit — I had titanic torque on tap. I buried my right foot and the super-ute charged forward without hesitation. WHUMP! WHUMP! went the upshifts as the digital speedometer registered obscene speeds.
Lots of performance cars — the DBX 007 included — sport electronically-stimulated shocks that perform miracles in reducing body roll. But few possess a drivetrain like the Mercedes-sourced 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V-8 under the Aston’s vented hood.
This is a drivetrain from the gods. Surely it was crafted by Q for James himself.
I gulped real estate at speeds normally reserved for much smaller, much lighter vehicles. So confident is the chassis, so addictive is the V8-’s howl, that I wanted the road to go on forever. No tire shredders popped out from the wheel hubs. No machine guns burst from the grille. But the engine’s song, crackling upshifts and burbling downshifts would make a bloody good Hollywood soundtrack.
Allow me the usual caveats for when I review a supercar affordable to a few. For the Aston’s $280K sticker, you could buy 10 Chevy Trax RS models. The fun of vehicles like the Aston is to explore the industry’s envelope — not just in performance, but in technology.
Take the Aston’s infotainment suite. It may be 10x the cost of a Trax, but it does not have 10x better tech. Electronic gains have eliminated much of the gap between luxe and mainstream cars.
The Aston’s infotainment system offers wireless Apple CarPlay — but not wireless Android Auto. Consistent with its Mercedes sourcing, the Aston features last-gen Merc infotainment tech anchored by a smallish screen and mouse pad controller.
I normally run screaming from mouse pad controllers (looking at you, Lexus), but the Aston’s pad was competent. My fingers glided over its surface, which accurately selected radio stations on the screen. Good thing, because voice recognition was lousy. Maybe Aston is programmed to understand the Queen’s English coming out of Bond’s mouth as opposed to my West Virginia twang.
DBX 707 is meant to evoke awe for its driving manners, machismo and style — not nerd quotient. The smell of fine leather filled my nostrils when I entered the cabin (even the lower doors are wrapped with red stitching). The seatbacks were sheathed in carbon fiber. The console stuffed with buttons.
Buttons for shifting: P, R, N, D. Button for louder exhaust. Button for raising/lowering. Button for shaking, not stirring, your martini (kidding about that last one).
The big question about DBX707 is where it belongs.
With its tight handling, I wanted to track it. But we’re talking about a 5,000-pound ute. Its weight and high center of gravity would be inherent handicaps on the fast switchbacks of, say, Pontiac’s M1 Concourse.
And then there’s the raw power. Good Lord. The 667 pound-feet-of-torque comes on like a tidal wave at low revs, demanding respect out of corners. I tested a 460-torque Corvette Z06 right after the Aston and the Chevy felt tame by comparison, thanks to a normally-aspirated, high-revving V-8 that built torque to its 8,600 RPM redline. If you want to track an Aston, buy a $170K Vantage F1 Edition sportscar with the same insane engine (and save yourself 70 grand).
In my time with DBX 707, it was happiest in the north state countryside where it could bound across the lightly-populated roads like a bull on ‘roids. If I had the means (or was the Duke of Charlevoix County), I’d keep it in a car stable up north with other gems.
I’d pity the DBX 707 were it kept in Metro Detroit — or at M1 Concourse — where it could never properly exercise its legs. Doomed to a live life as a caged animal.
So call it the DBX 007 and put it in a Bond film. Heck, set it in Michigan.
Have Bond pick up Ana de Armas at the McNamara Terminal. He’d pop the boot — er, hatchback — to easily store all their luggage. She’d round the front — her slit dress grazing the classic Aston grille (made 27% larger than the standard DBX to feed the twin turbos) — then slip into the monogrammed passenger seat under a panoramic roof. She and James would banter about eccentric features like the hood opener on the right side of the glovebox — because the Aston is also made with right-hand drive for England.
Cruising west on I-94, Bond would notice a fleet of sinister black sedans in the mirror, then exit into the streets of Ann Arbor. He’d storm up State Street, past slack-jawed students as they emerged from their studies in the Law Triangle, then turn under the M-14 overpass onto the twisted, East Huron River Road two-lane.
Bond selects SPORT PLUS mode. Ana grips the door handle. He takes a hard right, the cannon-sized quad tailpipes let out a roar and he disappears across the Foster Bridge as his pursuers plunge into the frigid waters of the Huron River.
Long live 007. Long live the V-8.
Next week: 2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia
2023 Aston Martin DBX 707
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $236,000, including $3,086 destination ($287,520 as tested)
Powerplant: 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V-8
Power: 697 horsepower, 663 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.1 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 193 mph
Weight: 5,128 lbs.
Fuel economy: EPA 15 mpg city/20 highway/17 combined
Report card
Highs: V-8 from the gods; curb appeal
Lows: Mediocre tech; where to exercise it?
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Rust in Peace: These 2023 models are headed for the automotive graveyard
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 26, 2023
A walk through the Halloween graveyard reveals a number of new automobile headstones. As the industry transitions to electric platforms under strict government EV regulations, a number of models are getting the ax in 2023.
Among the deceased are familiar nameplates like the Dodge Challenger and Nissan Maxima as well as exotics like Audi R8 and Ferrari Portofino. Fear not, however, many of these badges are sure to return. So long and Rust in Peace.
Dodge Challenger/Charger
Dodge’s popular, gas-fueled Challenger coupe and Charger sedan — powered by their 700-plus horsepower Hellcat models — roared to the top of the muscle car sales charts in recent years with the Challenger even dethroning the iconic Mustang. Federal emissions fines, however, have doomed them to an early grave. Dodge honored the last year of production with a variety of Last Call special models, including the $100k, 1,025-horse Demon 170 that can rocket to 60 mph in just 1.7 seconds. The Charger badge will live on as the battery-powered Daytona SRT EV. Expect Challenger to return soon, sans Hellcat V-8, with a turbocharged inline-6 engine
Chrysler 300
Based on the same platform as the Charger, the 300 ends its 18-year run with a limited run of V-8 and V6-powered units. The 300S was the personal wheels of stylin’ 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama — another satisfied customer of the “affordable Rolls Royce” and its slab sides, big grille and big V-8 power.
Chevrolet Bolt EV/EUV
Chevy is killing off its first volume electric car. The Bolt hatchback was introduced to much fanfare in 2016 with over 200 miles of range, beating the Tesla Model 3 to market amid hopes it would be the Silicon Valley sedan’s match. Bolt sales never approached those of the Model 3 — even with the introduction of the larger EUV variant in 2022 — as customers shied from its plastic interior and slow charging rate. In its final year, Bolt has become one of the market’s best EV values as Chevy slashed its price under $30k and the feds restored its $7,500 tax subsidy. Look for Bolt to be reborn soon on GM’s new Ultium battery platform.
Chevrolet Camaro Turbo
The end of this year marks the beginning of the end of the Camaro coupe as the bow-tie brand nixes entry-level LS models equipped with the 275-horse turbo-4 engine. For its final 2024 year of production, Camaro will start at $32k with a 3.6-liter V-6. The latest ‘Maro wowed enthusiasts with its handling when it was introduced in 2016 — but sales fell off a cliff as customers defected to Mustang and Challenger.
Audi R8
Audi’s mid-engine supercar comes to the end of the road after 16 seasons and two generations. The first model, introduced in 2006, bore a “sideburn” decoration behind the B-pillar to compensate for the car’s awkward proportions This was fixed for Gen 2 and — combined with an optional V10 engine — the R8 was one of the most distinctive designs on the market.
Ferrari Portofino M
Exotics fans covet Ferrari for its track-eating, mid-engine hellions, but the front-engine Portofino M was cut from different cloth. Fun to drive topless with a glorious, 4.3-liter, flat-plane crank V-8, it was most at home cruising down big boulevards. It will be mourned, but Portofino fans will welcome the more powerful, 612-horse, twin-turbocharged, 3.9-liter V-8 Roma Spider in its place. Roma will sport a traditional cloth roof as opposed to the Portofino’s hardtop convertible.
Kia Stinger
The sexy Stinger redefined the econobox Korean brand when it debuted in 2018. With sleek hatchback styling and a throaty, 368-horse, twin-turbo V-6 under the hood, the Stinger GT was an Audi A7 for 25 grand less. With an entry-level turbo-4, the roomy hatch can be had for a mere $37k. Stinger has been replaced by the equally ambitious, $15k-more-expensive, battery-powered EV6 with a GT model that can hit 60 mph in a scorching 3.2 seconds
Mazda CX-9
Mazda is replacing one three-row SUV with another. The stylish, quick CX-9 is giving way to the quicker, roomier (and still stylish) CX-90. While praised for its wardrobe and nimble handling, CX-90 lacked punch and segment staples like a panoramic roof. The CX-90 fixes that with a glass roof, silky inline-6 cylinder engine — and a trendy, plug-in hybrid option to capture greens and government credits.
Mazda MX-30
The quirky ute was the brand’s first toe in the EV waters. It sported clever features like cabinet-style doors, but its mere 100-mile range and $35k price tag guaranteed a short lifespan.
Mercedes
The German luxury brand is paring its model lineup as it pours money into parallel electric and gas model lines. The A-Class went away last year and the fastback, four-door CLS follows this year. C-Class and E-Class customers will also have less choice as the convertible and coupe models disappear. Only sedan versions survive. Don’t be too glum, however, as an all-new convertible/coupe CLE debuts for 2024 to replace all four models.
Nissan Maxima
Large sedans not named Dodge Charger have struggled in the Age of Ute, and the long-running Maxima will turn off its lights after 2023. The Maxima badge still carries a lot of weight for its stylish performance, so expect it to be resurrected as — what else? — an EV.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Porsche and IMSA racing work on game-changing, zero-carbon synthetic fuel
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 19, 2023
Braselton, Georgia — Porsche Penske didn’t emerge the champion of the 2023 IMSA Weathertech sportscar series after a hard-fought finale at Road Atlanta, but the German brand is developing what it hopes is a winning fuel formula that may satisfy government regulations for decades to come.
Porsche is working on a synthetic, zero-carbon dioxide emitting fuel with the intent of using it in motorsport, the most demanding internal combustion engine environment in the world.
Governments from Washington to China over the next decade are forcing auto companies to abandon internal combustion engines for only battery-powered vehicles, but the mandate is running into multiple complications. Materials are heavily concentrated in China, customers have been resistant to electric vehicles given their high cost and range limitations, and those range limitations make them unworkable in endurance racing.
So while the current generation of IMSA prototype racers have adopted hybrid powertrains with battery assist, Porsche and Exxon are working on a synthetic fuel solution that would satisfy zero-carbon regulations but also maintain motorsports competition. The big bonus? It could be used in the vehicles of hundreds of millions of owners around the world that would otherwise see their residual values crater as governments ban gas engines.
“In the regulatory move from ICEs to EVs, manufactures saw hybrids as a middle step,” said IMSA President John Doonan in an interview. “But the next step is fuel. Our fuel partner, VP, is currently providing us with 80% renewable fuel made from plant waste. But in the future, a 100% renewable fuel could be in our playbook.”
That playbook is largely being written by Porsche, which has teamed with Exxon to develop a synthetic fuel — producing minimal carbon dioxide emissions — in Chile.
E-fuel, or synthetic fuels, recapture atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions during the production process, offsetting the emissions released when the fuel is burned by a vehicle to allow for close to net-zero emissions. That is, no new carbon-based fuel is dug up from the ground. The Chilean plant makes e-fuel by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen and releasing the latter into the atmosphere. The hydrogen is then combined with CO₂ (that would otherwise be in the atmosphere) to create methanol. A final process then converts methanol into gasoline.
“Every indication, from price to profitability to functionality, suggests EVs have a long way to go before they can realistically replace traditional cars,” said veteran iSeeCars auto analyst and performance car enthusiast Karl Brauer. “If what’s driving the push toward EVs is exhaust emissions, and that problem can be solved through synthetic fuels, it seems like a far simpler, easier and less-expensive route.”
Automakers — and by extension the motorsports that they underwrite — are under the most extreme U.S. government regulation since mpg laws were introduced in the early 1970s. At that time, government warned that world was running out of oil as OPEC nations restricted exports to western nations.
Government threatened to shut down NASCAR unless the stock car series used less fuel, and endurance races like the 24 Hours of Daytona were canceled in 1973.
Today, politicians fear auto emissions are threatening human existence. “Climate change is an existential threat. It actually threatens and is capable of wiping out all human life on earth,” said Biden administration official John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, this October. The EPA warns “the health effects of climate change include respiratory and heart diseases, water-and food-related illnesses, and injuries and deaths” and has targeted the auto industry for billions of fines unless it switches to EVs.
Against this backdrop, Doonan says motorsports has anticipated regulations by working with Washington, D.C., regulatory agencies rather than getting blind-sided as in the 1970s.
“IMSA has a partnership with the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy,” said Doonan. ‘We’ve developed green racing protocols, and are working in connection with them.”Roger Penske, whose Team Penske partners with Porsche in the IMSA GTP class and also owns the IndyCar series, has been dismissive of the viability of EVs in motorsport. “We didn’t buy the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to run around there with electric cars,” he told The Detroit News in 2021. The iconic Indianapolis 500 attracts 300,000 fans every Memorial Day weekend, while the electric Formula E race series has struggled to gain traction.
Penske also owns more than 200 auto dealerships, and dealers have struggled to move EVs. “I don’t think you’re going to see the world go all-electric,” said the soft-spoken 86-year-old, whose corporate headquarters are just up the road in Bloomfield Hills. “I think you’ll see hybrid solutions in all kinds of transportation sectors.”
Porsche is targeting 80% of its vehicle sales to be electric by 2035 and meet global government edicts, but the brand’s performance DNA is built around the shrieking, gas-powered flat-6 cylinder engines of its 911 supercar. Chevrolet’s V8-powered Corvette and Ford’s Mustang coupe carry similar emotional weight in their brands.
And all three vehicles play a key role in the future of IMSA — and its international partner, the World Endurance Championship — with multiple entries aimed at fans who crave the melody of high-revving V-8 and V-6 engines.
The intent of IMSA, Porsche and their fuel partners is to show that synthetic fuels can take the stresses of auto racing. Pass that test, and they feel consumers will adopt synthetic fuels for their own internal combustion engine cars.
There are 1.3 billion ICEs on the road in the world today.
Porsche showed off the fuel at the brand’s Rennsport Reunion 7 at Laguna Seca Raceway in California this fall. The brand used synthetic fuel in all its vehicles at the event — both in race cars on the track and in support vehicles like Cayenne SUV media shuttles. The e-fuel was even pumped it into a 1950s-vintage Porsche 356 to show that any gas engine can run on it as efficiently as current fuels.
“Racing has always been used as a test bed for manufacturers, and (electrification) is a new technology out there, so that’s why there’s all this interest from all the manufacturers to get involved,” Michael Andretti, CEO of Andretti Autosport, told The Detroit News.
Insiders along the IMSA paddock say the development of e-fuels may be one of the most important roles racing has ever played in the industry. With the coming bans on gasoline-fired engines, governments are transforming automakers into public utilities similar to electric companies. The intent is a closed loop of zero-emission transportation with batteries produced from windmills and hydro power.
Porsche’s Hanu Oni plant in Chile seeks a similar closed production loop. The plant’s fuel is created using energy generated from Punta Arenas wind power, a geographic location where wind turbines run at peak efficiency some four times greater than Germany’s windiest spots.
Porsche admits that the alternative fuels processes — like batteries — aren’t cheap with the company investing $100 million in synthetic fuel research. But the alternative — lackluster endurance EV racing or an outright government ban — would be even more costly for the multibillion-dollar world of motorsport.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Toyota Crown is a Prius in a big sedan’s body
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 19, 2023
Chicago — Happy Halloween. The Toyota Crown is a Prius dressed as a big sedan.
The Japanese automaker rocked the world 25 years ago when it introduced the Pious — er, Prius — a popular, virtue-signaling, green nerd-mobile. Three decades later and Prius’s DNA has spread through the Toyota family with hybrid powertrains populating everything from the RAV4 SUV to the Tundra pickup to the Crown.
On a 900-mile road trip with Mrs. Payne from my Oakland County domicile to Chicago to Charlevoix, Michigan, and back, Crown averaged 39 mpg thanks to the hybrid gerbil-wheel spinning under the hood.
Toyota loves to make big sedans, and they are plentiful across the pond in Japan. But in the U.S., Americans prefer SUVs, and sales of Toyota’s large Avalon sedan flagged. Shove a V-8 in a Dodge Charger sedan and we Yanks will take notice. But with the Crown, Toyota has decided to try something different.
It married a Prius and a Highlander SUV and named its offspring Crown.
Prius was once the ugly duckling of the family, but no more. The 2023 model is sleek, sculpted and simple — a design approach shared by Crown. A thin, horizontal light bar wraps around the front end like the glasses worn by X-Men superhero Cyclops. The design is echoed ‘round back in the high, thin taillight bar.
Crown shares Prius’s coupe-like profile — but for a black wedge hung above the car’s rocker panels. The wedge is there to mitigate the Crown’s tall, slab-like sides, which give away the model’s mission: sedan proportions with the lifted seating position of an SUV.
We own two sedans, and the Crown was noticeably easier to slip into. That’s because the Toyota’s hip point (seating position) is, by my measure, 21 inches above the ground — well above a typical sedan’s 15 inches, and closer to the 30 inches of an SUV.
Utes make up 70% of the non-pickup market, but Toyota still sees plenty of consumers who prefer the lines of a sedan to a boxier SUV. Think of 50-somethings coming off two decades chauffeuring kids in a Toyota Highlander SUV — but now want something with similar interior room but more style.
Crown sports the same 112-inch wheelbase as Highlander and is spacious inside — its headroom, rear legroom and cargo space pinched just an inch from the SUV. Crown’s increased aerodynamics (and 500-pound trimmer waistline) pay dividends in superior fuel economy (41 mpg vs. 35 mpg) even as the Crown/Highlander share all-wheel-drive, 2.5-liter 4-cylinder drivetrains.
It should be noted, however, that $41,415 Crown is smaller (by an inch in cargo and rear legroom) than the hybrid sedan it replaces, the $38,945 Avalon. And the cheaper, 500-pound lighter Avalon also managed to get better fuel economy (43 mpg) out of its hybrid 2.5-liter mill. Go figure.
Get used to hybrid 2-liter drivetrains powered by continuously variable automatic transmissions. Everybody has them these days, from Toyota to Honda to Ford to Subaru, as government emissions mandates force everyone into the same box.
Mashing the pedal entering I-94 on-ramps to Chicago, Toyota’s package droned a bit much compared to, say, the Honda Accord Hybrid. For those who want more grunt, Toyota won’t option you a Hemi V-8 — but it will offer its Hybrid Max drivetrain, which pairs a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder with an electric motor on the rear axle and a 6-speed automatic for another 100 horses over my 236-horse egg-beater.
It’ll also cost you eight grand more in the Platinum model. I’d stick with the standard powertrain since the chassis doesn’t like to be pushed hard anyway. Crown is content as a sippy boulevard cruiser. Did I mention it’s like a big Prius?
Like its hybrid pioneer, Crown’s interstate stops were not for fuel but for bathroom/lunch stops. Unlike Toyota’s pricier 220-mile range (ugh) electric brother, the bZ4X, I got 565 miles of range with the Crown at 39 mpg. Which means I only had to refuel once (for five minutes) on my 900-mile road trip while traveling at 80 mph.
The bZ4X, by contrast, would have needed to stop at least four times — and probably more since traveling at 80 mph can suck 20% from battery range. Time to fill up? The Toyota EV gains 130 miles in a leisurely 30 minutes at a DC fast charger, which is why EVs are best considered as metro cars.
Inside, Crown is cleanly designed like its exterior with twin digital screens and a compact shifter that frees console space. It’s quite a contrast to the guitar-shaped dash of the Highlander. But for its premium price — and royal name (my Limited tester with fancy 21-inch wheels and panoramic roof stickered for $50,169) — Crown cuts some corners.
Mrs. Payne’s $30K Subaru Impreza features adaptive cruise control that allows you to increase speeds by 1 mph (quick button push) or 5 mph (long button hold). Crown’s cheaper ACC package will just increase/decrease speed 1 mph at a time. The sedan’s infotainment system is a step behind competitors in its graphic presentation, and — for a big boulevard cruiser — Crown’s drive-assist technology isn’t very ambitious.
Navigating miles of Midwest highways, I found the system excelled at lane-centering but would give up on interstate curves unlike, say, a $10K-cheaper Hyundai Tucson.
Toyota’s reputation wasn’t built on building bleeding-edge tech, however; it was built on reliability. Toyota loyalists will no doubt forgo the latest goo-gaw in exchange for never having to visit a dealership for anything more than an oil-and-filter change.
The brand’s new design direction, however, looks decidedly premium — and is a nice contrast to the polarizing spindle grilles of the Lexus luxury brand. Lexus has, thankfully, abandoned its maddening remote touchpad interface for a touchscreen in new-generation models like the comparably-priced hybrid Lexus ES 300h. But Crown’s minimalist design and touchscreen may be the better combination.
Crown offers one more noteworthy feature: it comes standard with all-wheel drive, unlike Lexus or Prius.
As I pulled into Charlevoix, the temperature indicated an unseasonably balmy 80-degree October day. But winter cometh. And Toyota fans looking to upgrade their Prius may appreciate that Big Brother will have all four corners churning when the white stuff starts to fall.
Next week: Aston Martin DBX707
2023 Toyota Crown
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive five-passenger sedan
Price: $41,145, including $1,095 destination ($50,169 as tested)
Powerplant: Hybrid-electric with 2.5-liter, inline-4 cylinder; hybrid-electric with 2.4-liter turbo-4
Power: 236 horsepower (hybrid 2.5L); 340 horsepower (hybrid turbo-4)
Transmission: Continuously-variable (hybrid 2.5L); six-speed automatic (hybrid turbo-4)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.6 seconds (mfr.); towing, 3,500 pounds
Weight: 3,980 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA est. 42 mpg city/41 highway/41 combined (hybrid 2.5L); 29 mpg city/32 highway/30 combined (hybrid turbo-4); 39 mpg (observed)
Report card
Highs: Simple styling, easy seating position
Lows: Continuously variable tranny continuously drones; cheap features for price
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Auto show at hyper-speed: Champion Cadillac leads a brand-palooza at IMSA sportscar finale
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 17, 2023
Braselton, Georgia — In front of record crowds for the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship’s 10 Hour Petit Le Mans grand finale, Cadillac won the weekend battle of Detroit superstars by defeating Team Penske and its Porsche partner.
Motorsports events like the grueling Petit Le Mans are much more than just who wins on track.
At a time of declining auto show attendance, manufacturers are finding more venues to showcase their wares, from stand-alone media reveals in remote locations to local Cars ‘n’ Coffees, to sprawling motorsports venues. Cadillac’s win, powered by the Wisconsin-based race team of Action Express, was the headliner in a parade of Detroit Three story lines.
“Manufacturers want to be here because we provide a huge stage for the entire industry,” said John Doonan, president of IMSA and a former chief of Mazda North America operations. “Motorsports are natural events to integrate manufacturer technology and marketing. Events like Petit Le Mans and the Monterey (California) Car Week have become brand showcases.”
With huge global audiences, multiple broadcast opportunities, and historic technology advances, automakers have never been more invested in motorsports. While Cadillac and Ford have gained a lot of ink for their bids to race in Formula One, the world’s biggest motorsports series venue with 445 million viewers, sportscar racing has attracted the most auto brands.
In addition to the Petit Le Mans title fight between Cadillac, Porsche Penske and Acura, the race attracted a capacity 54-car entry (six teams were turned away) that included cars from Chevrolet Corvette, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Lexus, Lamborghini, McLaren and Mercedes. A 2-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge GT-car race brought in additional brands including Alfa Romeo, Audi, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota.
Most of the brands had big activations in Road Atlanta’s sprawling infield — one of the world’s most famous sportscar racing venues. While the race cars circulated Road Atlanta’s formidable, three-dimensional, 2.5-mile track at speeds of up to 185 miles per hour over 10 hours, fans could take a break from the action and visit what were essentially mobile dealer spaces — stuffed with product — to learn about Cadillac, BMW, Mercedes and other brands.
“I’ve never seen so many people and brands at Road Atlanta. Race tracks are the new thing — they are full of energy and the brands get a lot of energy out of it,” said Steven Cole Smith, a veteran race writer with Hagerty. “It’s a performance showcase and brands want to be there because every other brand is there.”
Notably, few of the luxury automakers (outside of the hometown Detroit automakers) on display at Road Atlanta had stalls at this year’s Detroit auto show and have pulled out of other shows as well.
“IMSA provides a big vendor midway,” said Doonan of a scene that is repeated at other races on the IMSA calendar, including Daytona, Road America (Wisconsin), Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen (New York) race tracks. “The dealer bodies bring their latest, new products to showcase to fans here. In many cases, they are the production versions of the race cars they see competing on track. IMSA has even had vehicle debuts like the Hyundai Elantra N, BMW X7 and Ferrari 488.”
The racing is also an opportunity for manufacturers to test — and showcase — the latest, cutting-edge tech.
BMW bought huge billboards around the track emblazoned with its 700-horsepower, BMW GTP race car with the tagline: “M power: now electrified.” M is a reference to the brand’s performance models — and the official pace car for the Petit Le Mans field was a 2024 BMW XM plug-in hybrid SUV.
“Manufacturers find value in our audience at a time of an influx of new technology,” said Doonan. “Ours is an entertainment venue, but we also want to be the heartbeat of new technology.”
At the end of Petit Le Mans, the strongest heartbeat belonged to Cadillac V-Series.R (powered by a ground-pounding V-8 similar to the brand’s Blackwing performance sedans on display in the midway), which brought home the GTP title. It wasn’t easy.
Captained by the veteran driving team of Pipo Derani, Alex Sims and Jack Aitken, the #31 car came into the race with a narrow, three-point lead over the Acura ARX-60/Wayne Taylor Racing #10 car driven by Felipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor and Louis Delétraz, and a five-point lead over the #6 Porsche Penske 963 entry of Nick Tandy, Matthew Jaminet and Laurens Vanthoor.
The #31 Caddy survived contact in the final hour with the #10 Acura as they fought for position — contact that sent the Acura into the Turn 1 wall and retirement. The #6 Porsche Penske entry, meanwhile, was involved in a massive four-car incident just past the first-hour mark of the race.
The Porsche was towed back to the pits for repairs but returned 70 laps down and out of contention.
In addition to the driver’s and team titles, Cadillac won its fourth IMSA Manufacturers Championship.
“It’s been an incredible season,” said Global Cadillac vide president John Roth. “On behalf of everyone at Cadillac, I’d like to thank IMSA for the incredible work they’ve done to usher in the first year of hybrid sportscar racing.”
Chevrolet wasn’t so lucky as the single-entry Corvette GT.R, which had dominated the GTD Pro class retired at the halfway point with engine problems. The C8.R — one of Corvette’s most successful race cars with 20 wins in 80 race starts — is being mothballed this year as the sub-brand goes racing with the all-new Z06 GT3.R, which will have four cars running next season.
That will rekindle a Chevy vs. Ford rivalry in sportscar racing in 2024 as Ford joins the circus with its Mustang GT3 car.
Ford Performance chief Mark Rushbrook was on hand at Road Atlanta to announce the driver lineup of Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Harry Tincknell (the same team that conquered the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 with the Ford GT) and new-to-the-band Mike Rockenfeller.
The Detroit brand rivalry will compete across multiple race tracks next year, including Daytona, Le Mans (France) and, of course, the Petit Le Mans finale in October.
“We’re thrilled to embark on this exciting endeavor and to put our 58 years of global Mustang racing heritage and performance to the test against some of the world’s greatest manufacturers,” said Rushbrook.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Penske, Cadillac vie for title this weekend in new era of hybrid sportscar racing
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 12, 2023
Two of Metro Detroit’s highest-profile business brands will be vying this weekend to bring home America’s most prestigious sportscar trophy.
Bloomfield Hills-based Team Penske (aligned with its manufacturing partner and European racing legend, Porsche AG) and General Motors Co.’s Cadillac division go into the final race of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship at Road Atlanta race track neck-and-neck to win the top-drawer GTP prototype class.
The championship has more significance than just a trophy for both Motor City players.
For Penske, the IMSA quest is part of a journey to win its founder, Roger “The Captain” Penske, one of the few titles that has eluded him in his illustrious career: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In an up-and-down season, the team fell short of its Le Mans goal last summer, but a season-ending championship at the prestigious, 26th annual Petit Le Mans in Atlanta would be a feather in The Captain’s cap and a strong signal from the team heading into the 2024 campaign.
“The program has taken some punches this year,” said Porsche Penske Managing Director Jonathan Duiguid, reflecting on a year when the team struggled out of the box with mechanical issues at the Daytona 24 Hours and a race-altering crash at the Sebring 12-Hour in Florida. “After Daytona and Sebring, you would have thought we would be a long shot. Now here we are fighting for a championship like we all wanted.”
For Cadillac (as well as Porsche), the win would be hugely significant in the inaugural year of the hybrid sportscar era. Global manufacturers including Cadillac, Porsche, BMW AG and Ferrari S.p.A. are all investing heavily in sportscar racing as part of the industry’s shift to government-mandated electrification. A motorsports championship is bragging rights for technological prowess in the new age.
Porsche Penske’s shot at the title lies with the driving team of Nicky Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet in the #6 Porsche 963, who lies just five points behind the points leader — the Cadillac Action Express Racing duo of Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims. The two teams make up a four-team dogfight for the championship that includes Acura Wayne Taylor Racing’s Ricky Taylor/Filipe Albuquerque (three points behind the leader) and the long-shot BMW M Team Rahal Lanigan Letterman team of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly (38 points behind).
“To have the four manufacturers fighting for the championship in the first year of GTP is fantastic,” said Derani, who won the IMSA championship in 2021. “There has been a massive amount of effort from all the manufacturers in such a short period of time to build and develop the GTP cars that are very complex and so much learning in just a few months before we went racing. You want to make sure you were the first one to bring a championship home.”
Even if Porsche Penske takes the checked flag at 9.40 p.m. Friday after a grueling 10-hour race, the team is always looking toward the big prize: the 24 Hours of Le Mans next June in France.
Though one of its three entries led at Le Mans this year in the Porsche 963’s inaugural run at the prestigious race, technical issues and accidents befell the team and no car finished better than ninth.
Team Penske knows what a Le Mans victory means to their 86-year-young Captain and to Porsche (going for a record 20th win), and Josef Newgarden wants to be part of the effort. Determined to gain endurance-racing experience ahead of Porsche Penske’s assault on the French race next year, the 2023 Indy 500 winner and two-time IndyCar champ will be in the driver’s seat this weekend of the #7 Porsche 963 — sharing driving duties with Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr.
“There is no doubt he brings a higher profile to the sport. But the major reason he is with the team this weekend is because he is a qualified driver,” deadpanned Duiguid ahead of the race. “There is a long list of people who want to drive these cars.”
The field of electrified racers will only grow in the next two years as Porsche, Cadillac, BMW, Ferrari, Toyota and Acura are joined by Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Peugot, and Alpine in the hunt for Le Mans immortality.
Motorsports is moving to hybrid racing as the most severe government regulations since the 1970s roil the auto industry. Oil crisis politics in the 1970s led to unprecedented government interference in motorsports, leading to the cancellation of the 1973 Daytona 24 Hour and restrictions on the amount of fuel NASCAR used. Determined to avoid disruptions amidst current government calls to ban gas engines, open-wheel Formula One racing added electric motors to its powertrains in 2014, and international sportscar racing followed this year. IndyCar and NASCAR racing are poised to follow in coming years.
To avoid the massive costs that hybrid systems have brought to Formula One, sportscar racing has adopted a spec racing formula whereby teams share hybrid systems to reduce costs. While automakers like Cadillac (5.5-liter V-8) and Porsche (4.6-liter twin-turbo V-8) showcase their own internal combustion engine technology, engines must be married to the same battery-electric components developed by Bosch, XTrac and Williams Engineering.
“That’s the right way to do it for the future financial sustainability of the sport,” said Porsche Motorsport racing programs chief Urs Kuratle.
The hybrid effort has been a work in progress as teams have integrated the new electric technologies with gas engines in a crash program that began just a year before the first race in Daytona in January. The effort has included extensive safety measures put in place to protect corner workers — and drivers — from the high-voltage electric systems on board in case of failure.
“We’ve made a lot of improvements in the hybrid system,” said Porsche’s Kuratle. “There is still a lot of work to do. Failure is an open book — all teams have access to each other’s data. The focus is on reliability.”
The coordinated effort has inspired the most competitive, most automaker-supported sportscar racing in decades. This weekend’s event will have 54 entries across five classes, with the 10-car GTP car field (and its title dogfight) headlining the field.
“I think everyone would have liked more testing,” said Cadillac driver Derani of the ongoing development of the 700-horsepower hybrid rocket ships. “But the more we go the more we understand, the more we come to grips with those software integrations. It’s something to keep an eye on in this race that starts in the day and finishes in the night. Those little tweaks could end up making a difference.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Businesses are joining governments in nudging drivers to go electric. Here’s how
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 12, 2023
Grand Rapids — As governments push automakers to go all-electric or face fines over the next decade, companies are jumping on board the industrial policy bandwagon to incentivize consumer EV adoption.
Uber, for example, wants 100% of its drivers to be behind the wheel of an EV by 2030.
To incentivize EV adoption, the rideshare company’s Green Future program is offering drivers an attractive, $400-a-week rental deal for EVs like a Tesla Model Y; drivers like Matt Williamson, 40, from Allegan County south of Grand Rapids. Williamson has been renting Teslas for the last year.
“Gas prices were killing me,” said Williamson, who drove his own Acura MDX SUV before Uber sent him an email about EV rental opportunities. “I was paying $800 a week in gas, and now I’m paying about $140 in electric bills.”
Uber rents its Model Y to Williamson and other drivers through Hertz, one of the most aggressive companies pushing EV adoption with thousands of EVs in its fleet — and counting. Utilities like Michigan’s DTE Energy, which could see significant growth if its customers add cars to their electric bill, is offering EV tests and incentives. Reaction has been mixed, from Uber drivers saving gas to Hertz renters struggling with charging, to customers experiencing sticker shock.
“EVs aren’t for everyone,” said Williamson while connected to a Tesla Supercharger in a Meijer parking lot. “I live in a rural area — what are people going to do with a Ford Lightning? You can only tow 100 miles with it. But if you live in a city and have access to a DC charger or home charger, then EVs are the way to go.”
Three stalls down, Alexis Gonzalez, 43, plugged in his Tesla Model 3. He had just started renting for $354 a week.
“I got an email from Uber that said I qualified for the EV program since I have Uber Gold status,” he said. “So I thought I’d give it a try.” He had been paying $45 a day for gas in his Ford Taurus, and is now paying about $16 to fill up with electrons. Uber is also sending more business his way since his EV qualifies for higher-priced fares under the Uber Comfort electric service. Uber also gives drivers a $1-per-ride credit for using an EV.
Ride-share rentals are an important part of Hertz’s fleet business, and the company says 50,000 Uber drivers have rented an EV. Hertz says that electrics are cheaper to maintain, have better depreciation costs and earn the company substantial federal subsidies. The company also anticipates that cities will mandate Uber and Lyft be all-electric in the next decade. New York, for example, is requiring ride-share companies be all-EV by 2030.
“Hertz is investing in the largest EV rental fleet in North America,” Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr said last month in New York while donating EVs to city high schools for student training. “New York City (is) a natural accelerator for the most significant transformation that’s happened in the auto industry in a century.”
The rental company plans for 25% of its fleet to be battery-powered by the end of next year (330,000 vehicles) with models from brands including Chevrolet, Tesla, Polestar, Kia, Hyundai, Subaru and Volvo. Under the federal Inflation Reduction Act, many of the EVs Hertz purchases qualify for a $7,500 tax credit.
The company is encouraging its airport rental customers to go electric, too — including a free day’s rental for those who book an EV for two or more days. The experience, however, can be frustrating.
One of those customers is Mary Wilson, 70, of Louisville, Kentucky. A frequent traveler in Hertz’s President’s Club program intrigued by electrics, she arrived on a visit to Baltimore in 2022 to a sea of Teslas in the lot.
“I had never driven an EV before, and Hertz doesn’t give you any guidance,” she said. “I had no idea how to drive a Tesla. I figured out how to put it in Drive, but the annoying thing about Hertz is that it only had 50% of charge.”
Wilson drove the car to her hotel and found a common, 240-volt charger in a subway station next door to charge overnight. But she couldn’t find the Tesla’s charge adapter.
“You can’t get a Hertz person on the phone, so I eventually called emergency assistance and they guided me to the adapter, which was located in a space under the trunk. Fortunately, I had time to kill so I could figure this all out,” she said. Her problems continued on day two as Hertz had set the cabin temperature to 82 degrees. She couldn’t find the climate controls in the 15-inch touchscreen, so she drove with the windows down.
“I loved the car but I was annoyed at Hertz,” she said with a laugh. She subsequently rented a Polestar 2 EV in Palm Beach and Volvo XC40 Recharge in Baltimore and was further put off by the rental company’s requirement to charge the car to 70% upon return or pay a fee — a challenge given sparse charging infrastructure.
“But I now own a Tesla of my own in Louisville, and the rental experience helped me get comfortable with EVs,” she says.
DTE Energy sees EVs as an opportunity to grow its business. And as governments mandate carmaker fuel sources — like utilities — to be fossil-fuel-free, auto industry insiders see a natural alliance between utilities and manufacturers. To that end, DTE is offering a $1,500 rebate to eligible consumers who buy an EV — and rebates to businesses of up to $70,000 per DC fast-charger installation and $2,500 per 240-volt port.
DTE organized six “EV Ride and Drives” this year to get butts in seats. Over the weekend of Oct. 1, drivers could get into a Ford F-150 Lightning, Tesla Model Y, Chevy Bolt, Mustang Mach-E or Alfa Romeo Tonale plug-in hybrid for a three-mile test around Beacon Park in downtown Detroit.
Tiffany Walker, 43, of Inkster got behind the wheel of a Mach-E and an Alfa. She enjoyed the Mach-E’s electric ride and steering, but got a shock from the sticker price of the Ford EV, which crested $60,000.
“EVs are pricey!” she exclaimed. “They need to be more affordable, especially if they want to make everyone go green.”
She owns two gas-powered sedans, a 2016 Lincoln MKZ and 2014 Lexus 350, which she relies on for road trips to far-flung destinations like Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. She also balked at the Alfa’s $45k-plus sticker price, but liked the fact hat it had a gas engine that would kick in when the 30-mile battery range petered out.
“Electric to gas makes a lot of sense. It’s like having two tanks,” she said, though she has no plans to buy a hybrid. “It’s all about affordability. Folks on a fixed income will be priced out of the market by EVs.”
Like Uber and Hertz, DTE claims environmental benefits for EVs, saying that a driver in “Michigan reduces up to 70% of emissions annually compared to a driver of a gas-powered vehicle.” But Uber driver Williamson was less impressed by the green pitch than by the bottom-line benefits.
“EVs aren’t any better for the planet. Battery materials are being mined by slave labor overseas,” he said. “But I was paying over $5 a gallon for premium fuel to drive my Acura. For $175. I put a charger in my house and now I’m saving hundreds of dollars a week in fuel costs.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: 2023 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Rebel is a beauty — and a beast
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 12, 2023
Holly Oaks — Dude, light-duty off-road trucks are soooo 15 minutes ago.
On a sodden Saturday at Holly Oaks ORV Park, I could barely stand along Ridgeline Trail on the park’s west side. At 6-feet-7-inches tall, my 2023 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Rebel loomed beside me like the War Rig from “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Thirty-three-inch Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tires. Power dome hood. Skid plates. Red war paint. A beast.
And a beauty. As I swung my mud-caked boots into the cab, I entered an interior straight out of a South Beach condo. Leather stitched dash, leather thrones, 12.3-inch digital instrument display, 12-inch vertical infotainment screen. What, no sauna?
Bigger is better and my fearsome 2500 Rebel has it all. Heavy Dutys designed for hauling yachts now have yacht-like interiors plus the off-road armor once reserved for Jeeps. Ram follows Ford’s Tremor in bringing its Rebel off-road model to the HD segment — and Chevy isn’t far behind with its first heavy-duty ZR2 trim for the 2024 model year. My friend Scott, a loyal Ford owner, covets the Tremor but was wowed by the Ram’s interior. High praise.
The Rebel badge debuted on the Ram 1500 in 2015, but that truck can’t fit in my garage either. So why not supersize to a 2500 and its monster, 17,000-pound towing numbers. Heck, this thing can tow a garage.
The license plate should be issued by the state of Brobdingnag.
The Rebel HD is massive. Gargantuan. Mega. In addition to the aforementioned highlights, my HD Rebel Crew Cab has a 410-horse V-8 (a 6.7-liter diesel inline-6 is a $9,595 option), 6-feet-4-inch bed, and 13-inch lift . I’m 6-feet-5-inches and had to haul myself into the seat by the steering wheel. Mrs. Payne needed a ladder.
With great size comes great responsibility.
After a night of heavy rain, I drove the HD Rebel to Holly Oaks for some playtime. At nearly four tons, 79 inches wide, and 19½ feet long, the War Rig needs room and I drove it on adaptive cruise control up Telegraph Road so radar would aid my eyeballs in detecting any sudden slowdowns up ahead. War Rig could do serious damage in a collision to a small, 3,000-pound compact car.
Curiously, for all my $80K tester’s luxury, the adaptive cruise will come to a complete stop at a stoplight — then, um, release after five sedans like my wife’s old 2017 Subaru Impreza. Never take for granted these driver-assist systems. Like 1500 Rebel Jr., 2500 Rebel rides on rear coil springs making for a smooth ride with little bed flutter, though the all-terrain tires are predictably noisy compared to all-season offerings.
Continuing the truck’s beauty-and-the-beast duality, the brawny, 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 engine is married to a smooth 8-speed transmission. Flattening the throttle onto I-75 at Exit 93, the 8-speed clocked off seamless shifts before I settled back into cruise control at 75 mph.
Dedicated off-roaders will hook the V-8 up to a trailer where the 2500 Rebel’s max tow capacity increases from the 1500 Rebel’s healthy 11,500 pounds to a spectacular 16,800. That’s enough grunt to plan a big weekend with your buddies towing, say, eight Polaris RZRs with seven riding in the trailer — and another stuffed into the bed with its 3,140-pound payload capacity.
Of course, the HD Rebel will want to join in the fun, too.
But like on-road, its girth needs to be respected off-road, too. To support its weight, the Wrangler all-terrains are pumped to 64 PSI. Ideally, I should have bled them down by half to take on the tortures of Holly Oaks’ landscape. For my short time around the park, I didn’t bother.
That was fine for wide-open throttle donuts on the sandy flats, but the park’s muddy slopes required some tiptoeing lest the beast’s 7,500 pounds become a runaway avalanche. The HD Rebel has a useful locking rear differential for climbs (patience, it takes a while to connect) but you’ll want to pay for the next trim Power Wagon if you want Jeep Rubicon-like, twin-locking differential and front sway bar disconnect. Speaking of Jeeps, 2500 Rebel’s ocean-liner length makes for less breakover angle than the last V-8-powered off-roader I piloted at Holly Oaks, the insane Wrangler 392.
The Wrangler takes the same displacement, 6.4-liter Hemi block and squeezes out another 60 horsepower and 40 pound-feet of torque. Floor Jeep’s 5,100-pound hellion up a Holly Oaks trail and you’ll wake the dead. The HD Rebel was more civilized under my size-15 boot. The Ram’s priority is towing off-roaders and their gear to the trail.
To that end, the interior is practical as well as luxurious.
Jeep/Ram leverages its superb UConnect infotainment system across the lineup — including the HD Rebel. In addition to mirroring my phone, it also provided multiple camera views, the forward-facing view proving most useful as I crawled over Holly Oaks’ trail peaks. But there are other options like a camera with a 55-foot cord should you want to keep an eye on the inside of your trailer.
The center console can be turned into a middle seat to carry a total of six inside the Crew Cab. Legroom is generous, and the rear seats split 70/30. Folding the right seats exposes a flat floor (complete with cupholder for the remaining left-side passenger) so you can load luggage, coolers and gear if the pickup bed is occupied by a motorbike or RZR.
Beneath all the digital wizardry, stitching and leather thrones is a good ol’ rubberized floor. So that when you get home and realize the floor is caked with mud, you can just wash it clean with a hose (ahem, you may need a power washer for the exterior).
Because, come Sunday, you’ll want to throw a coupe of golf bags in back and take the Rebel to the golf club to embarrass your buddy’s light-duty truck.
Next week: 2023 Toyota Crown
2023 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Rebel
Vehicle type: Front-engine, four-wheel-drive, four-door pickup truck
Price: $68,840, including $1,895 destination charge ($77,395 as tested)
Powerplant: 6.4-liter V-8; 6.7-liter, inline-6 cylinder diesel
Power: 410 horsepower, 429 pound-feet torque (V-8); 370 horsepower, 850 pound-feet torque (diesel)
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic (V-8); six-speed automatic (diesel)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.5 seconds (Car and Driver est.); Towing, 16,800 pounds (V-8); 3,140-pound payload
Weight: 7,500 pounds est. (V-8 as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. NA; Fuel economy observed while thrashing to Holly Oaks and back: 9 mpg
Report card
Highs: Looks awesome inside and out; tenacious towing
Lows: Ginormous size. . . and price tag
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: On the trail with the buff Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 5, 2023
Zion, Utah — The Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness’s design was inspired by a hiking shoe, and it wants to explore like a hiking shoe.
I took Subaru’s latest extreme off-road model all over southwest Utah, and at the end of the day it resembled rugged footwear: covered in dirt, mud and as comfortable as when the day began. Utah, of course, is where every off-road vehicle wants to go on vacation, and the roads here are crawling with Jeeps, Broncos, Tacomas and other dirt-kicking creatures.
Subaru engineers like to say that Wilderness models are “not about about conquering nature, they’re about experiencing nature.” Not that my Wilderness tester doesn’t have Jeep-like aspirations.
It is armed with Yokohama Geolandar all-terrain tires, the only vehicle in its class so equipped. Even terrific, more expensive competitors like that $37,690 Jeep Compass Trailhawk and $39,985 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands don’t come standard with dirt treads. The all-terrains’ value is not just in traction, but in reliability. The carcass and sidewall of off-road tires are more robust than their all-season counterparts, which makes for sure-footedness when the asphalt ends and you begin to explore America’s expansive outback.
Utah’s network of outdoor trails is often dyed the color of red rock, but otherwise, they’re similar to dirt roads you’ll find in Michigan: littered with loose rock, ruts and other obstacles. My driving partner Jeff Glucker — an experienced racer and off-roader — groans about all-seasons on trails and their sidewalls’ vulnerability to jagged rocks. In the Crosstrek Wilderness, we were less concerned, barreling along long stretches of gnarly dirt roads at a healthy Baja-like clip. The Wilderness’s lifted 9.3-inch ground clearance (more than a base Wrangler, for goodness sake) and aluminum front bash plate provided additional assurance.
Crosstrek is also equipped with a Deep Snow/Mud feature in X-Mode. Modeled after Sand/Mud/Ruts modes found in Jeep ‘n’ Bronco off-road hellions, X-Mode dials back the traction control systems, changes transmission mapping, slows automatically on steep declines, and even brakes the inside wheels (torque-vectoring, in engineer speak) for better maneuvering across loose terrain.
Designed for off-road use under 25 mph, X-Mode would alert us that it was in use whenever we dropped below that threshold, so that we had a steady chorus — BEEP BEEP BEEP — of beeps as we barreled along the trails. Annoying, but a reminder that the ‘Ru was engaged in the task at hand.
These tools, of course, will only get you so far in the off-road jungle. Our high-speed trails skirted Sandy Hollow Park — a 4×4 playground of deep sand dunes, rocky climbs and general mayhem. Like stepping up to another level in an arcade game, you’ll want to be armed for such challenges with 30-degree-plus approach and departure angles, locking differentials and removable doors for better visibility. You know, Jeep ‘n’ Bronco and side-by-side stuff.
With its modest 20-degree approach, 21-degree breakover and 33-degree departure angles, the Wilderness dares not enter such territory. But the upgraded Crosstrek does come with its own secret sauce so you can still conquest nature: a 3,500-pound towing capacity.
Thanks to clever transmission engineering, that’s an impressive 2,000 pounds more than the standard 2.5-liter Crosstrek, and a hefty 1,500 pounds more than the Jeep and Ford Bronco Sport Badlands competition.
So with that $20,000 you save by not buying a Wrangler Rubicon, you can buy, say, a used Polaris RZR all-terrain vehicle and trailer — then head into the wilderness and go places on the side-by-side even a Wrangler can’t reach.
Experience and conquer nature.
Nature like Zion or Sandy Hollow or Michigan’s Silver Creek sand dunes and Drummond Island. And the Wilderness can get you to such places with minimal time at service stations (always a pain with a trailer) thanks to an expanded 18-gallon fuel tank to complement the sippy, 27-mpg 2.5-liter Boxer 4-cylinder engine under the hood.
Towing, of course, drinks fuel so the ‘Ru would likely get half the usual 486-mile-range on such trips, but that’s still solid. And is still more than the full 228-mile range of the $46K Subaru Solterra electric vehicle. Subie’s core northern customers are notorious tree-huggers, but they also covet their mules’ road trip capabilities.
Industry insiders say auto customers will have to adapt to a new electric era of longer charging times and poorer vehicle range. But the gas-fueled Crosstrek Wilderness will spoil owners rotten with its AWD, all-terrain-tire ruggedness (which would suck range on an EV), cold-weather ruggedness (which would suck 25% of battery range) and towing capability (reduce EV range by 70%).
Subaru residuals are already some of the industry’s best, and expect used ‘Rus to get even more valuable in the electric age. Good thing 97% of Crosstreks are still on the road. Even if you’re just an occasional off-roader, the $32K Crosstrek Wilderness is a heckuva value.
The Subie’s big center screen is more useful than many luxury vehicles (Mrs. Payne loves it in her new Impreza RS, which bears a similar price to the Wilderness Conestoga wagon). Not only did Wilderness sync wirelessly to Android Auto on my phone, but the ute comes standard with a wireless charging pad so my phone didn’t drain while navigating miles of Utah wilderness.
Of course, most of your time in the Crosstrek will be spent navigating the urban jungle, and here the unibody Crosstrek excels compared to ladder-frame, off-road megabots. Though lifted over its hatchback sibling Impreza, the Crosstrek still exhibits sporty road manners. More importantly, its all-terrain tires were quiet on high-speed four lanes where big-35-inch all-terrain tires on more capable off-roaders get loud.
The faux-leather StarTex-equipped interior is nicely segregated from the four-banger up front and even the continuously-variable transmission — the bane of Subarus past — is unobtrusiveness. Only six-footers in the rear seat might feel pinched, but otherwise the interior is a comfortable sanctuary for long road trips.
The Crosstrek Wilderness is wrapped in one of the wilder Subaru tennis shoe designs on the shelf. Like its successful Outback and Forester Wilderness cousins, it is larded with an expansive rubber sole — er, plastic cladding — to the point where the front end is completely black like a Merrell shoe. Wilderness’s signature bronze highlights on the front fascia and the roof supports complete the signature look.
At a time of rising vehicle prices, Crosstrek Wilderness is a welcome value with all-season dexterity and all-terrain capability. Just be sure to keep a hose in back of the garage. This shoe will need regular cleaning.
Next week: 2023 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty
2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness
Vehicle type: Front engine, all-wheel drive five-passenger SUV
Price: $32,290, including $1,295 destination ($35,560 as tested)
Powerplant: 2.5-liter flat-4 cylinder
Power: 182 horsepower, 178 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Continuously-variable with paddle shifters
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.1 seconds (Car and Driver est.); towing, 3,500 pounds
Weight: 3,500 (est.)
Fuel economy: EPA 25 mpg city/29 highway/27 combined
Report card
Highs: Quiet on-road, capable off-road; 3,500-pound tow rating
Lows: Tight back seat; backup camera warning chime, please
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Ford v GM: Andretti Cadillac approved for entry into Formula One racing
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 4, 2023
A Ford vs. General Motors rivalry in Formula One racing took another step closer to reality this week.
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, Formula One’s governing body, approved Andretti Formula Racing’s application to join Formula One with General Motors Co.’s Cadillac luxury division a key partner. Of four applications to enter Formula One submitted last February, Andretti Cadillac was the only one approved by the FIA, a key endorsement of the team’s credibility as it takes on motorsport behemoths like Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull.
Ford Motor Co.’s partnership with Red Bull, announced earlier this year, did not need approval as Red Bull is the sport’s reigning champion and Ford will have a drivetrain contract with the team. By contrast, Andretti Cadillac is the equivalent of an NFL expansion team and has a lot of work to do to put together a competitive team.
“Andretti Cadillac is honored that the FIA has approved Andretti Formula Racing’s Expression of Interest for the Formula One World Championship,” said Andretti Cadillac in a statement. “The formation of this distinctly American team is an important moment of pride for all our employees and fans. We feel strongly that Andretti Cadillac’s deep racing competencies and the technological advancements that come from racing will benefit our customers while heightening enthusiasm for F1, globally.”
The FIA’s approval makes it likely that Andretti Cadillac will clear the final hurdle — an agreement with Formula One Management, the series’ commercial rights holder — to officially qualify for the globe-trotting, 24-race series.
Andretti Formula Racing is one of IndyCar’s most successful teams and is captained by Michael Andretti, a former Formula One driver and Indy car racing champion. He is the son of Mario Andretti, a former Formula One champion and Indy car champion. The Andretti family is perhaps the best known name in American motorsport. If not as accomplished as Ford in international motorsport, Cadillac also has a credible motorsports history and has been a consistent IMSA sportscar championship contender and scored a third place at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.
“The FIA was very clear in establishing stringent criteria for entry from the outset of the Expressions of Interest procedure,” said FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. “Our objective, after rigorous due diligence during the application phase, was to only approve prospective entries which satisfied the set criteria and illustrated that they would add value to the sport. Andretti Formula Racing was the only entity which fulfills the selection criteria that was set in all material respects.”
While Andretti Cadillac’s application has received some blowback from the existing 10 teams on the Formula One grid because it could cut into their share of F1’s financial pie, the addition of two major American brands is a coup for the sport, especially as it expands in the United States, the world’s richest marketplace.
Formula One has a record three Grand Prix in the States this year — Miami, Austin and Las Vegas — as interest in the sport exploded across the United States in the aftermath of the successful “Drive to Survive” Netflix television series.
“Andretti is clearly up to the task of Formula One,” said Jake Boxall-Legge, who covers Formula One for Autosport, on Motorsport TV. “Moving (GM) into F1 would be a huge positive, simply as a foil for Ford. We’ve seen the Ford vs, GM battle battle play out in Australian supercar (sportscar series), and it could play out in F1 as well. It’s what a lot of people want to see. It would be an interesting undercurrent.”
Ford’s partnership with Red Bull will begin with the 2026 race year as the series moves to more battery-intensive drivetrain and Red Bull intends on leveraging the Blue Oval’s manufacturing experience. The 2026 season brings significant regulatory changes as the sport moves towards a fully-electric future. Teams will use complex hybrid units that drink synthetic fuels and split their 1,000 horsepower drivetrains 50-50 between a V-6 gas engine and 350kW electric motor.
That dovetails with industry and government ambitions for more electrified production drivetrains.
Andretti Cadillac, according to Racer.com, will target an entry for the 2025 season (assuming approval from commercial rights holder) to get the team’s feet wet in the sport before the 2026 regulations kick in. Speculation is that Andretti Cadillac will contract with Renault for its power unit while Cadillac will play a major financial and marketing role.
In addition to the massive global television mega-audience of 445 million people and its growing interest in the United States, GM and Ford want into F1 because the sport’s 2026 driveline changes dovetail with their plans to go all-electric in the next decade. The dueling Detroit entities are committing resources to a sport where over $1 billion is required to develop a powerplant and top teams consume $500 million annual budgets.
“(GM) is a huge car company, and F1 is constantly trying to attract car manufacturers,” said Autosport’s Boxall-Legge. “It’s been short of them for some time; we’ve had four manufacturers doing the engines since 2015. The 2026 regs will bring two more manufacturers in with Ford and Audi (and) F1 is always trying to attract more as a way of attracting more industry money, more industry expertise.”
Honda, Red Bull/Ford, Mercedes and Audi are already on the list of FIA-approved engine suppliers for 2026. Andretti Cadillac in the next few months will move to the final stage of F1 approval. “It would require something strong not to let them into F1,” said Boxall-Legge, who noted that the 2026 regulations allow for an expansion of the current F1 grid from 20 cars to 26.
“We look forward to engaging with all of the stakeholders in Formula One as we continue our planning to join the grid as soon as possible,” said Andretti Cadillac.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Behind the wheel at the American Speed Festival
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 4, 2023
Pontiac — At 7,000 RPM, my 1964 Porsche 904 GTS howled through Turn 8 at Champion Motor Speedway at 100 mph in third gear. Hard on the brakes. Downshift to second into the 90-degree left Turn 9, then back on the throttle past the grandstands into Turn 10.
Just like 60 years ago when the 904 was one of the supreme GT sportscars on the planet.
Thanks to M1 Concourse’s American Speed Festival time capsule here at the corner of Woodward & South Boulevard, car fans this weekend can experience what it was like. My historic Porsche is one of over 100 performance cars entered this year across eight classes representing the full cornucopia of motorsport. Le Mans cars are the headliners, celebrating 100 years of the famed, French, 24-hour race. Ford and Porsche GT cars are on hand, as well as prototypes like a 1965 Ferrari 250 LM and 1967-winning Ford Mk IV right out of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
Corvette is also being celebrated in its 70th birthday year with eight generations of racers ranging from a 1963 Z06 race car to the latest 2023 Z06 production car. There are rare IROC Camaros and Porsches representing the International Race of Champions era when the world’s top drivers — from endurance, formula, NASCAR and rally racing — jumped into identical cars to prove who was best.
As a long-time race fan and driver, it’s special to walk among these iconic cars under M1’s huge paddock tent and talk with owners, drivers and spectators about their significance. But the icing on the cake is that we get to demonstrate these cars on track. In the middle if a major metropolitan area. Just 15 minutes from my home.
Such opportunities are normally reserved for race tracks like Road America in Wisconsin, or Mid-Ohio, or Watkins Glen in New York — race tracks in the middle of farm fields miles from metropolitan areas. But M1 Concourse and its 1.5-mile test track is unusual — an urban treat like Indianapolis Motor Speedway or the downtown Detroit Grand Prix.
My car was one of 108 made in 1964 as part of so-called homologation rules requiring that manufacturers make a minimum number of production cars to qualify for international endurance races like Le Mans. Such rules are still in place today — which is why you see Ford GTs on the street as the production versions of the race cars that won Le Mans in 2016.
Thanks to the Speed Festival, spectators can see up close how cars have changed from my tiny Porsche 904 (I need a shoehorn to fold my 6’5” frame into it) to the comparatively large, modern Ford GT, which grew in size as wings and other aerodynamic tricks demanded wider tires, beefier suspensions, and broader body surfaces.
I modified my Porsche over the years with bigger engines to keep up with other competitors, and my car shares a 318-horsepower, 3.0-liter flat-6 engine (a significant upgrade over the original 180-horse flat-4 egg-beater) with a 1973 IROC Porsche 911 down the paddock owned by Roger Penske .
This historic car was raced by the late, great Mark Donahue — Penske’s engineering and driving partner in The Captain’s early racing days.
Next to Penske’s IROC 911 is a 1977 IROC Chevy Camaro Z28 that was raced by the legendary Indy driver Al Unser. Now owned by Bill Warner out of Florida, the car is being piloted by driver Steve Boyle this weekend.
“It’ a beast, isn’t it?” smiled Boyle as he prepared for his track session. This timeless car makes 450 horsepower from its 5.7-liter V8.
With the soundtrack of cars on track in the background, spectators will see it all here: a 1980 Budweiser Lola Can-Am car, modern Ferrari 488 Challenge racer, Ford Mustang drifter, Fred Calero’s 1400-horsepower GT1 creation, even open-wheel Indy racers. My favorite is the 1968 Lotus 56 STP — its turbine engine bringing the jet engine sounds of an airport runway to M1’s race course. About the only car not represented here are electrics, as EVs’ cost, weight and short range are disadvantages on long-track events.
Speed Festival offers further immersion with seminars inside the Event Center featuring the drivers and creators of some of these historic machines. As I exited the track Friday morning, a Corvette symposium was beginning chaired by Corvette C7 designer Tom Peters and including panelists like Corvette championship driver Johnny O’Connell.
And that was just Friday. Speed Festival’s time capsule continues on Saturday and Sunday with a charity ball benefiting Pontiac, Speed & Style Awards, Ford GT parade laps, and more track time for some of the fastest thoroughbreds ever made.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Screaming Z06 is a Ferrari with a ‘Vette badge
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 29, 2023
Pontiac — Some road warriors like to crank up Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” Others prefer Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway” or AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”
I’ll take the Chevy Corvette Z06’s flat-plane crank overhead-cam V-8 engine.
Wound at 8,500 RPM around M1 Concourse’s 1.5-mile circuit in Pontiac — WAAAAWRRHH! — the music from the ‘Vette’s four centrally-mounted pipes out back is irresistible. The eight-speed, dual-clutch gearbox downshifts automatically from 4th to 2nd into the hairpin — WHAP! WHAP! — holding gear in the meat of the 6,000 RPM rev band so that I could explode off the corner and down the back straight. WAAAAWRRHH! to 120 mph it howled.
Look back over 70 years of Corvette’s greatest hits, and the Z06’s Ferrari-inspired 5.5-liter V-8 — the most powerful, normally-aspirated engine built today — is right at the top. This is a Ferrari in ‘Vette drag. Taking the Corvette C8’s inherently balanced mid-engine layout, Z06 cranks up the shock stiffness by 30% over the base Stingray’s Z51 track package for a flat, nimble chassis that responded instantly to my steering inputs.
Unlike front-engine ‘Vettes of yore, the car’s 107-inch wheelbase shrank around me, and I rotated easily from corner to corner, nailing apexes with effortless precision. It’s a confident feeling and very close to the screaming, 9,000-RPM flat-6 Porsche 911 GT3 RS — the benchmark for supercar handling and visceral thrills — that I recently destroyed California’s Thermal Raceway with.
Can we compare 911 GT3 RS data (courtesy of Car and Driver) to give you a sense of just how good this ‘Vette is? Same 1.16 lateral g-loads on the skid pad, similar 0-60 mph time (2.6 seconds for Z06, 2.7 for GT3), similar braking (139-feet 70-0 mph Z06 versus 133 feet for GT3). Whoa.
Yet my $147,690 ‘Vette is $125K cheaper than the Porsche — and 1/3rd the price of the Ferrari 269GTB whose engine it mirrors.
These are cars at the summit of production performance — rare gems curated by Ferrari, Porsches, McLaren and yes, Chevrolet — to be supreme on track and on road.
Think I exaggerate? Consider supercar enthusiast Frank Moceri, 58, of Bloomfield Hills.
An avid racer, Moceri’s stable includes a 2012 Ferrari 458 Challenge, 2016 Ferrari 458 Challenge and a 2023 Corvette Z06. High-revving, flat-plane crank V-8s all. Moceri races the Ferraris all over the country from Road America in Wisconsin to Daytona to Sonoma, California.
“The Ferraris are race cars with stripped interiors. They’re lighter, stiffer, better handling — but the Z06 is really good,” he said as we admired his black-and-red Z06 next to my orange tester in M1’s paddock. “I like to take it on track as a break from the hardcore Ferraris.”
The flat-plane crank V-8, the taut handling, the mid-engine style. All that appealed to him, and the fact that the ‘Vette — like his first, 1981 Camaro Z28 sports car — is Made in America by a hometown brand.
“The mid-engine C8 had instant appeal for me when it first came out in 2020,” said Moceri. He tracks his cars and waited for the superior Z06. The only time he’s taken it on the road was for a trip to Florida — where he took it out on another test track, The Motor Enclave outside Tampa (designed by one of M1’s founders, Brad Oleshansky).
“The 1,200-mile trip helped me reach the 1,500 miles recommended by Chevy before tracking the car,” smiled Moceri.
He enjoyed the trip, which is more than a lot of owners can say about their track toys. I had a pal buy a 911 GT3 that he traded it in for a Targa a year later because it was killing his back. Great track car, problematic road car.
Not the Z06 which, despite its stiffer setup, uses its magnetic dampers to good effect in TOUR mode. I ran errands around town with the ‘Vette’s healthy cargo space (the frunk holds a carry-on suitcase, the rear a set of golf clubs) and was no worse for the wear, thanks to the comfortable seats and ride.
Sure, like Dom Turretto showing off his guns in a muscle shirt, Z06 wants you to know it has 670 horses under the rear deck. Start it up in the morning — WHOOM! CRACKLE! POP! — and it’ll wake everyone in the neighborhood. Idle in SPORT or TRACK mode and it sounds like an IndyCar in the pits. Or a T-Rex gargling razor blades. But you can select STEALTH mode to turn down the theater when desired.
It’s part of a cabin filled with high-tech tools to match any luxe vehicle. For 2024, the rear-camera mirror comes standard, which is a good thing because you can’t see out of the narrow greenhouse. Cadillac IMSA prototypes use camera mirrors for better visibility in race traffic, and I found it essential when switching lanes in Detroit traffic as well.
I navigated the metro area with wireless Android Auto, barked voice commands at the screen, programmed the Z MODE steering wheel button, and located the Personal Data Recorder in the screen should I want to record my hot laps.
Because at the end of the day, this rocket is all about hot laps. Track it or sell it.
You’ll know the Z06 by its wicked exoskeleton. Huge front air intakes to feed additional engine oil coolers. Expanded side intakes. And a (must have) aero package with front spoiler, dive planes and rear wing that gives the appearance of a scorpion ready to strike. The aero package makes about 734 pounds of downforce at 180 mph — well below the GT3 RS’s 1,900 pounds — but you’ll never see those speeds unless Nürburgring is your local track.
Better to buy the optional near-slick Michelin Cup 2 tires — or better yet, just buy a set of slicks. On my hot laps around M1, the brakes were so ferocious that the standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S summer tires (10.8 inches wide front, 13.6 inches rear) struggled to maintain grip. Slicks could take full advantage of the brakes, not to mention the added cornering Gs.
Owner Moceri is so enamored with his Z06 that he thinks Chevy should follow Ferrari and create a Corvette Challenge series with a stripped-down Z06. “I’d buy it,” he smiled. And I doubt he’d miss the stereo with that glorious V-8 soundtrack.
2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Vehicle type: Mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-passenger supercar
Price: $112,295 base, including $1,395 destination ($147,690 as tested)
Power plant: 5.5-liter V-8
Power: 670 horsepower, 460 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 2.6 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 189 mph
Weight: 3,434 pounds (mfr.)
Fuel economy: EPA 12 mpg city/19 mpg highway/14 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: V-8 from the gods; tenacious grip
Lows: New-car plastic smell; its limits can only be approached on track
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Honda debuts roomy, pricey, Ultium-based Prologue EV
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 29, 2023
Farmington Hills — Honda Motor Co. on Thursday unveiled the Prologue SUV, its first electric vehicle for the U.S. market. It’s also the first Honda vehicle built in partnership with General Motors Co. on the Detroit automaker’s Ultium battery platform.
With a targeted price of under $50,000 and an estimated range of 300 miles, Prologue is aimed at the meat of the EV market currently dominated by the $50k Tesla Model Y. As governments from California to Washington, D.C., force automakers to go all-EV over the next 10 years, Prologue marks a different model strategy than Honda has been known for in the U.S. market.
Historically a value automaker, Honda has won over millions of American consumers — and gained a 7% U.S. market share — by conquesting entry-level buyers with sub-$30,000 models like the Civic, HR-V and Accord, then graduating them to $30k-plus family vehicles like the CR-V and Pilot. Further upscale, Honda’s Acura luxury brand has catered to customers looking for premium offerings.
Given EVs’ high costs and high-demographic customer, however, Prologue is aimed more at existing Honda customers who have craved an EV. It will likely be Honda’s most expensive model, with marketing photos showcasing the vehicle charging in an upscale home.
“In terms of the current income bracket for EV buyers they are going to be looking for EVs in this price range with this feature level,” said Rob Keough, director of battery-electric vehicle planning for Honda North America. “It’s going to appeal to Honda loyalists who have been waiting for the right EV in the electric space.”
The Japanese automaker has sold the wee, battery-powered Honda e hatchback in Japan and Europe since 2000 but its limited, 100-mile range and $33k price tag — 50% more than a base-trim Honda Civic — are deemed impractical for the U.S. market. Prologue’s Acura ZDX cousin — also built on the Ultium platform — was introduced earlier this year and is expected to start at $60,000, the brand’s priciest offering.
Some of the vehicles’ sticker shock could be negated by a $7,500 tax credit if they are assembled, as expected, in the U.S. Honda ultimately intends to produce its own EV platform in Ohio.
In addition to the luxury-class Model Y, Prologue will compete against $40k-$45k mainstream badges like the Toyota bZ4X, Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Nissan Ariya, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Chevy Blazer EV. These entries are designed to appeal to the mid-size SUV customer — the largest segment in the auto industry — as automakers try to meet EV sales volume mandates. California, for example, requires that 35% of automaker sales be battery-powered by the 2026 model year or face significant fines.
Prologue intends to gain EV buyers the old-fashioned Honda way: with room and vroom.
The SUV boasts a 121-inch wheelbase that is nearly nine inches longer than the bZ4X — and 10 inches bigger than its gas-engine sibling, the $42,000 Passport. That chassis, with the Ultium battery stored underneath, translates into a best-in-class, 137 cubic feet of interior space, most of which appears intended to benefit passenger space. Indeed, while Prologue’s starting price is closer to that of the $44k EV6, its square, roomy proportions are more akin to the $56k Kia EV9 three-row SUV that debuted recently.
Honda says that the cube-shaped Prologue is infused with the sporty DNA that has been synonymous with Honda since its early racing days. While Prologue isn’t planned for any racing series (unlike the Jaguar i-Pace SUV when it launched in 2018), its low-slung batteries offer a low center of gravity complimented by multi-link front and rear suspensions and available SPORT driving mode.
Prologue comes standard as a front-wheel-drive model with all-wheel-drive optioned. The twin-motor model features 288 horsepower and 333 pound-feet of torque. Its EX, Touring and Elite trims are familiar to owners of other models, and Honda hopes that familiarity will encourage adoption rom green-focused owners who have bought the brand’s Accord, CR-V and Insight hybrid models. Hybrids this year have accounted for half the sales of Accord and CR-V.
Hybrids, however, still rely primarily on gas engines for propulsion and refueling convenience.
Though Honda does not have its own charging network — the secret sauce that has turbocharged Tesla adoption — the company has partnered with six other manufacturers on building a national EV network. To maximize the existing, spotty, third-party EV network established by companies like Electrify America and EVGo, Prologue is equipped with Google Built-In. The infotainment operating system is equipped with Google Maps that, Honda says, will recommend charging stations on a road trip to optimize travel time — and even pre-condition the battery ahead of a charging stop.
Prologue’s 85 kWh, 400-volt, Ultium battery pack can add 65 miles of range in 10 minutes on a DC fast-charger, a long way from the 450 miles in three minutes from a gas-powered Passport. It’s also shy of the 800-volt platform Hyundai/Kia family and their 148-mile charging capability in 15 minutes.
Most EV owners are homeowners and charge in the garage. For those customers, Honda is eager to accommodate with a free 240-volt home-charging station, $500 installation subsidy and $100 public charger credit. Buyers can also opt for a portable charging kit, $250 installation credit and $300 public charging credit, or a simple $750 public charging credit.
Inside, the Honda offers a clean, high-tech cabin designed to maximize interior space. Like Tesla, the Prologue is operated by a steering-wheel shift stalk to open console space. The two-tier console offers class-leading storage capacity, a multi-use tray that enables twin smartphone changing, and big cupholders that can handle 32-ounce bottles. Standard safety-assists include rear cross-traffic braking, rear pedestrian alert, and blind-spot steering assist.
All this is wrapped in a simple exterior package that conforms with today’s simple Civic and Accord designs. Honda’s logo anchors the front fascia and H-o-n-d-a is spelled out on the rear tailgate. Prologue adopts the brand’s international “e:series” badge as well. The debut model featured a fresh paint color called North Shore Pearl.
“The arrival of the all-new Honda Prologue is a pivotal moment for the brand,” said Lance Woelfer, American Honda assistant vice president of sales. “Prologue is aptly named as our first volume Honda EV, a stylish, sporty and spacious SUV that will take us toward our vision of 100% zero emissions vehicle sales by 2040.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
American Speed Festival: Le Mans racers, Corvettes and Indy cars
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 29, 2023
Pontiac — Celebrate 100 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 70 years of Corvette, and 50 years of the International Race of Champions as the third annual American Speed Festival takes over M1 Concourse auto club this weekend.
The celebration of motorsports performance, which opens Friday and runs through Sunday, puts an exclamation point on a month of auto shows in Metro Detroit, including Detroit 4fest, the North American International Auto Show and Concours d’Elegance.
American Speed Festival is not just an opportunity to see some of the most historic race cars ever made, but to see them in their natural habitat — on track — as many of the cars take to M1’s 1.5-mile Champion Motor Speedway.
“The American Speed Festival aims to preserve the rich heritage of motorsports and ignite a passion for automotive excellence in present and future generations,” said M1 Concourse CEO Tim McGrane of the 2023 event sponsored by Comerica Bank and WLLZ.
Held on M1’s 87-acre property at the corner of Woodward and South Boulevard in Pontiac, the event hosts a wide range of historic performance cars from Indy racers to NASCARs to endurance racers and state-of-the-art supercars. Attendees can ogle the cars under M1’s large paddock tent and talk with the owners and race teams that maintain them. Then they can grab a hot dog from a food truck and head to the grandstands as the four-wheeled greyhounds go out on course in their respective “Speed Ring” sessions.
The chorus of V-12, V-8, and turbocharged engines is beautiful music at the facility. Friday will feature a special parade of Corvettes and Saturday a Ford GT40 parade.
Endurance cars from 100 years of France’s prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans will headline the event. Le Mans has long been the standard for sportscar speed and reliability. The so-called Circuit de la Sarthe has seen battles over the decades between some of the most famous marques in racing with the Ford v Ferrari battle of 1966 recently the subject of a popular Hollywood film.
Among the Le Mans cars present will be the red-and-white-striped 1967 Ford Mk IV, which AJ Foyt and Dan Gurney piloted to victory in 1967, the second straight year that Ford beat Ferrari to the finish line. The 427-cubic-inch Mk IV recorded speeds on the nearly four-mile long Mulsanne straight of 230 mph and won the race at a record average speed of 135 mph. The Speed Festival will be a rare appearance for the ’67 Ford outside of its Henry Ford museum home.
Honoring the 70th anniversary of Corvette will be gems like the 1963 Z06, which raced and won in both SCCA A/Production class and international FIA racing. The Z06 was piloted by Dr. Dick “The Flying Dentist” Thompson. Other notables include numerous Calloway Corvettes that competed in endurance racing in the 1990s and early 2000s, a 1962 Le Mans Corvette entry, and a 1959 so-called CERV-1 from Chevy, which was an early exploration of mid-engine layout that eventually found its way into the 2020 Corvette C8 that’s on the road today.
The International Race of Champions — IROC to enthusiasts — was motor racing’s All-Star game, which ran from 1973-2008. The series featured the sport’s best drivers competing in identical sportscars like, say, Porsche 911s. Speed Festival will showcase three championship-winning cars from the IROC era.
But wait, there’s more. In the tradition of Speed Festival, the grounds will be littered with significant Indy cars.
Consider the 1968 Lotus 56 STP Turbine, one of that decade’s experiments with jet engines in race cars that produced astonishing speeds around Indianapolis. The Lotus 56 pumped out 500 horsepower at, ahem, 45,000 RPM and was banned for being too fast.
Other notables include a 1963 A.J. Watson Roadster, the first Indy car to record laps in excess of 150 mph, Gordon Johncock’s sixth-place 1990 Lola T90 and a 1977 Team Penske McLaren driven by Mario Andretti at the Indy 500.
After the on-track action Friday, spectators can buy a ticket to the Garage Reveal and stroll M1 garages where local collectors keep some of the area’s finest cars. Ogle collections of Ford GTs, Lamborghinis, Porsche 911 GT3s and more. Dinner is included on the tour.
It wouldn’t be a Metro Detroit show without a charitable ball, and Saturday ends with the swank Checkered Flag Ball presented by the Checkered Flag Challenge, M1’s philanthropic arm. The ball benefits M1 Mobility and the Pontiac Community Foundation.
General admission ickets for the American Speed Festival are available for $25 (66% off last year’s price). For tickets and more information, visit www.americanspeedfestival.com.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Detroit News Readers’ Choice Awards: The best of the 2023 Detroit auto show
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 22, 2023
Detroit — The Detroit News Readers’ Choice Awards results for the 2023 North American International Auto Show are in and hometown brands are the big winners. Across eight categories, Cadillac took home two trophies, including the CT4 sedan for Best in Show. Dodge’s electric future looks bright as the Dodge Charger SRT Banshee EV concept got two wins, for Muscle Machine and Top Concept.
There are lots of auto awards, but none quite like Readers’ Choice. The annual trophies are the only prizes decided by the people who are the focus of the Detroit auto show: consumers.
Ballots in hand, 100 News readers descended on the Detroit Show floor Sept. 13 tasked with passing judgment on 35 brands inside Huntington Place. The show was neatly organized in one, main exhibition hall, but the choices were dizzying, from electric pickups trucks to hot hatches to jacked dirt-kickers.
Here’s the list of winners:
Best of Show
In an age of electric hype and SUV domination, the Cadillac CT4 sedan pulled a shocking upset by winning Readers’ Choice top prize. The CT4 is the entry-level vehicle from GM’s luxury brand. One of the sportiest cars in segment, CT4 is powered by rear or all-wheel-drive and offers three engine options — including the ferocious, 472-horse, turbo-6 cylinder monster found in the BMW M2-fighting CT4-V Blackwing. The CT4 even beat out its sister CT5 sedan, which headlined the Caddy display with exterior and interior updates.
Off-Road Warrior
The off-road wars are in full swing. Witness the dueling rollercoaster rides on the show floor featuring the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco. The Bronc got the nod from jurors this year with its bold styling and user-friendly cabin. Though the Jeep line has been updated for the 2024 model year with bigger screens and trims, the Bronco’s 37-inch tire, 418-horse, Raptor had tongues wagging.
Most Electrifying
The gas-powered CT4 got Best in Show, but jurors were also impressed by Cadillac’s first electric offering, the Lyriq. With a front end that lights up like the Fox Theatre marquee and a 33-inch dash screen, the mid-size crossover previews the brand’s transition to all-electric-power by 2030.
Top Concept
Jurors liked the futuristic Lyriq — but also want to get to the electric future fast in the Dodge Charger SRT Banshee EV, Dodge’s first EV. The Banshee was inspired by the original 1969 Charger Daytona, the first NASCAR to hit 200 mph. To keep the EV on the ground at such speeds, the concept even features a front, aerodynamic, so-called R-Wing — also inspired by the NASCAR.
Bargain Buggy
The average price of a new car these days pushes $50,000 as manufactures introduce expensive EVs and mega-trucks. But there are affordable new entries as well, like the $21,495 Chevrolet Trax SUV that comes standard with wireless Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, roomy interior, and a stylish Activ trim that is still under $25k.
Top Family Hauler
It took awhile, but Jeep has finally entered the mega-ute wars with the Grand Wagoneer. Based on the Ram truck chassis, Grand Wagoneer goes head-to-head with the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator with lux and style, including three — count ‘em, three — screens across the front dash. Interior room is palatial, horsepower plentiful, and the Grand gets a big, $100k sticker to match. Jurors awarded Jeep’s efforts with their top SUV award.
If Money Were No Object
If you have over $100k in the bank, however, jurors recommend that you put the BMW 760 on your shopping list. The all-wheel-drive 760 is the 7-series sedan’s top model and can push $150,000 if you outfit it with red interior, automatic open-and-close doors, 536-horspower twin-turbo V-8, seat massage, and rear-seat entertainment suite complete with a drop-down, 31-inch rear movie screen. Put up your feet on the ottoman in back and tell James to drive to the club.
Muscle Machine
Dodge may be ditching its iconic, Challenger and Charger V-8s, but jurors don’t think that’s the end of muscle cars. The battery-powered Charger SRT Banshee EV promises neck-snapping, all-wheel-drive acceleration — and a loud soundtrack to go with it. Dodge promises the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust — which looks like a pipe organ hanging out back — will amplify the twin electric motors’ silent whir into a 126-decibel, V8-like howl worthy of the SRT badge.
The Detroit auto show runs through Sunday, Sept. 24 so you can check out all the jurors’ picks.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Come aboard for a tour of the BMW 760i land yacht
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 21, 2023
Charlevoix — The BMW 760i is a land yacht. Striking bow. Sumptuous living quarters. All the latest technological amenities that require a shelf of manuals to operate. A big ol’ V-8 engine below decks to get you to your next port of call.
Let me give you a tour.
Like a yacht, I took the BMW’s flagship model up north to Charlevoix for the weekend. But I didn’t tow it, I drove it. The Lake Michigan coastline is peppered with marinas stuffed with sailboats, motorboats and yachts in summertime. Not all of us own a boat, but we have friends who do. They tend to be generous — welcoming friends aboard their prized assets for entertainment, water skiing, or just to hang out and watch fireworks.
Celebrity yachts are measured in feet like, say, the DeVos family’s 178-footer or Kid Rock’s 200-foot cutter. The seventh-generation 7-series length is measured in inches (212 to be exact) but has no less presence. The bow is particularly formidable with its enormous kidneys, black trim and squared-off hood that reminded many of my passengers of a Rolls.
There was no Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament parting the waves, but the front end is so tall that BMW has adopted mid-facia headlights (like many SUVs on the market) to reduce glare for oncoming traffic. The Jeep Cherokee innovated this design back in 2014, but it has since been adopted by premium brands from GMC to BMW to Buick. With the headlights next to the grille, the fascia focus is on the thin LD “eyebrow” lights at the hood-line.
The rest of the car’s flanks are simple, clean, business-like. The real action starts when you open the front door. Or rather, when it opens for you.
Push a button on the Bimmer’s slab-like doors and they briefly gap — then swing open automatically (though not too far if another vehicle is parked next door) to welcome you in. Slide in, press the brake pedal and the door swings shut behind you. Or just speak and the door will close. Cool.
Want to exit? Push the door icon on the left-side dash and the door automatically opens for you to get out. Walk away from the 7, and the doors will swing closed behind you with the touch of the BMW fob. There are myriad other options to learn, and buyers should insist on a day-long course to cover them all (heck, my wife got a healthy electronics course when buying her $30K Subaru).
Like the exterior, the interior is beautifully, simply crafted. A curved, hoodless 27-inch screen dominates the dash — 12.3-inch digital instrument and 14.9-inch infotainment displays contained within. They are supported by wireless Android Auto so you can tell the car where to go (another hiccup: the native voice recognition system is inconsistent). Though BMW was a pioneer of remote rotary screen controllers 20 years ago, the brand now also offers touchscreen control for our smartphone era. I never used the controller (nor did anyone else who drove it) — an artifact that now takes up precious console room.
That console space is helped by a small, exquisite glass shifter. Yes, glass. While BMW has been experimenting with a variety of polarizing exterior designs — 10-story kidney grilles, Lego block M2s — its interior use of glass controls is beyond reproach. Check out the jewel-like glass seat controls on the 760i. They are as functional as they are beautiful.
But the real interior show is in the back seat. Literally.
In the front infotainment display (among the blizzard of apps) is a blizzard of modes to match your mood (SPORT, EXPRESSIVE, RELAX). One of those modes is THEATER.
Activate it and the entire rear seat turns into an Emagine cinema. A 31-inch screen (equipped to show movies, Fire TV channels and so forth) folds down from the roof. Blinds go down across the side and rear windows. If the front passenger seat is empty, the right rear-seat occupant can turn their seat into a Barcalounger to better enjoy the entertainment.
Access the mini-screens on the door handles (yes, the door handles have mini-screens), then choose the chair recline option, which not only collapses the front seat but activates an ottoman for your feet. Be sure and fluff up the pillow attached to the rear headrest. What, no drink bar?
The rear passenger can further take control by activating seat massagers for the entire cabin. Kudos to one of my family members for discovering this feature while I was driving. Should the driver be annoyed by this intrusion, they can switch the massager off in their own front screen. Drivers are likely to be more annoyed by discovering they can no longer see out the back of the car thanks to the blind over the rear window. My tester did not come with a rearview camera mirror. A rare technical hiccup.
There is no hiccup when it comes to power. Talk to boat companies and they demand big engines to handle the Great Lakes’ multiple weather challenges — and to simply get their successful passengers where they need to go on time.
The 760i sports a thumping, 4.4-liter, twin-turbo V-8 with 536 horsepower and enough torque to tow the Queen Mary. Mated to an eight-speed automatic, it’s as smooth as you’d expect from one of the world’s premier engine makers. And the addition of rear-wheel-steer helps it carve sharp corners (and tight parking lots). Yet, the eight-holer — even in SPORT mode — seems as removed as the engines of cruise liners deep below decks.
Just like mega-yachts, the 760i comes with hands-free driving (on divided highways only), with a camera monitoring you from behind the instrument display to ensure you stay engaged. BMW trails Cadillac’s Super Cruise, which is the best hands-free system I’ve driven from Detroit to Charlevoix. The Bimmer performs similar tricks like auto lane changes but it hasn’t mapped as much interstate as Super Cruise and the system cut out frequently during my journey. Neither does it have subtle features (innovated by Ford’s BlueCruise and Tesla Autopilot) that automatically move your vehicle to the outside of the left-lane when passing large 18-wheelers.
For a $150,000 land yacht, these are notable misses. Though most owners — especially those who will experience this vehicle entirely from the rear seat after hiring a skipper — will never explore its myriad features.
Instead, they will enjoy showing off their state-of-the-art craft, from its cabin glass sculptures to its lovely graphics interface to its luscious red leather seats (just like the ones in the Bimmer in the latest “Mission Impossible” movie).
If one of those owners invites you on deck for a tour, be sure to accept.
Next week:
2023 BMW 760i xDrive
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive five-passenger sports sedan
Price: $114,595 base, including $995 destination ($149,045 as tested)
Power plant: 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V-8
Power: 536 horsepower, 553 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.1 seconds (mfr.); 130 mph
Weight: 5,095 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 18 mpg city/26 mpg highway/21 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: Technological showcase; powerful V-8
Lows: Lags in self-driving tech; polarizing styling
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.