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Payne: 5 cool things about the electric Escalade IQ
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 11, 2023
Warren — The all-electric Cadillac IQ is here. It’s large, it’s sleek, just don’t call it the “Ick.”
Escalade has always been a sub-brand in the Caddy lineup, an outsized, truck-sized, halo SUV with a personality all its own. The darling of celebrities when it debuted in 1999, it has survived two Cadillac alphanumeric naming convention changes (the CTS/SRX era from 2000-2019 and the CT5/XT5 era from 2020-present). For its all-electric-by-2030 era, Cadillac is returning to proper name badges — though all must end in “-iq” (pronounced “ick” as in Lyriq and Celestiq). Thus, the Escalade IQ.
IQ expands Cadillac’s mega-SUV’s lineup beyond the standard, gas-powered Escalade and its 700-horsepower, supercharged, V8-stuffed, performance Escalade-V model.
But IQ is a different animal entirely, sharing little with its Escalade siblings. The E-scalade sits — not on GM’s ladder-frame truck architecture — but on the same Ultium battery platform that undergirds the Lyriq, Celestiq, Hummer EV, Chevy Equinox EV, Blazer EV and all other future GM electric models.
Here are five things of note about the 2025 Escalade IQ:
1) 450-mile range. While the 800-volt, 200-plus kWh battery pack in the IQ is the same size as the one in the GMC Hummer SUV EV, Cadillac estimates IQ will go a whopping 136 miles (that’s 43%) further than its GMC cousin. Credit the IQ’s slipperier design (look at that raked windshield) compared to the brick-shaped Hummer. While Caddy hasn’t detailed a drag-coefficient number yet, expect it to be significantly less than the GMC’s 0.5 Cd (a Tesla Model S is a slippery 0.21 Cd).
2) 55-inch display. This is what you’ve been waiting for: Escalade’s first pillar-to-pillar screen. Chinese-brand Byton promised it would bring a similar 48-inch design to market in 2019 on its M-Byte model — but we haven’t heard from Byton since. The IQ’s Snapdragon Qualcomm jumbotron (similar to the Celestiq sedan) dwarfs the gas Escalade’s 38-inch unit and will contain three displays in all — an instrument display, console infotainment display, and passenger display. Oh, yes, and there is another 11-inch Command Center screen below it to control climate.
3) Auto gizmos galore. To afford the IQ requires a career of hard work and $130k in the bank, so the vehicle is determined make its owners do as little work as possible behind the wheel. Approach the Caddy with key fob in pocket, and the driver’s door will open automatically. Now that’s good manners. Slide into the driver’s seat, press the brake pedal, and the door will automatically swing shut behind you. Want to exit? Push a button in the Command Center screen and the door opens automatically. Indeed, you can program the other doors to open by themselves to let your passengers out too. Once on the interstate, IQ will go into SuperCruise mode so you can drive hands-free. It’ll even change lanes automatically for you.
4) 40, 24, 5.0, 126. IQ loves numbers. Opt for the audio package, and you’ll get a whopping 40 speakers for the AKG stereo system — including two in the headrests for each ear. The 24-inch rims are a first for the Escalade, though they don’t look out of proportion on this huge canvas. Stick IQ in Velocity Max mode (Hummer calls it Watts to Freedom) and its 780-pound feet of torque will vault it to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds. The E-scalade has a dizzying 126 different interior LED color combinations so you can light up the interior like a Christmas tree.
5) e-Bling. The IQ’s design is simple and sleek to achieve the aforementioned low drag co-efficient necessary for extended range. But that doesn’t mean it’s not loaded with bling in the Escalade tradition. Walk up to it and a white LED show will dance across the front end like the Fox Theatre entrance. Behind the grille is — not an engine — but a huge frunk (front truck) that can store, for example, two golf bags. Crowning every Escalade IQ is a roof-length, panoramic, tinted glass roof so you can stargaze at night.
The earth-shaking, 682-horse, supercharged V-8 Escalade-V may beat the Escalade IQ to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. But you’ll never hear the 750-horse IQ coming.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Revealed: Escalade IQ mega-ute electrifies Caddy icon with 450-mile range, 55-inch screen
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 11, 2023
Cadillac introduced its Escalade IQ Wednesday in New York, unveiling the luxury brand’s third Ultium battery-based model as the brand marches towards an all-electric lineup in 2030.
The IQ marries the proportions of the iconic gas-powered Escalade with the Ultium platform first introduced on the Cadillac Lyriq SUV and Celestiq sedans. The result is a bling-tastic mega-ute featuring 24-inch wheels and pillar-to-pillar, 55-inch-wide dash screen powered by a 750-horsepower, 200-plus kilowatt hour battery pack with a range of 450 miles on a charge.
“Escalade IQ raises the standard just as the original Escalade redefined luxury a quarter-century ago,” Global Cadillac Vice President John Roth said. “This reimagining of an icon marks the next step in Cadillac’s all-electric future.”
The $130,000 icon will be made in Detroit at GM’s Factory Zero Detroit Hamtramck Assembly Center starting next summer. The Escalade IQ is more expensive than its ICE counterpart, but still below the level of the $300,000 2024 Celestiq, a hand-built electric sedan that will be the halo model of GM’s luxury brand.
The Escalade IQ name aims to preserve Cadillac’s most iconic badge while also conforming to the brand’s new “-iq” suffix naming convention featured on the Celestiq and Lyriq. It’s not the only EV GM is showing this year. The luxury brand is planning two more global EV debuts by the end of 2023.
“All of this growth and innovation is a direct result of a strategic plan that was laid out by Cadillac just about five years ago,” Roth said.
Since its 1999 arrival, the Escalade has been a central figure in pop culture with its appearances in music videos, TV shows and movies.
“When it was introduced a quarter century ago, Escalade kicked off a new era in innovation, style, technology and of course performance in a full-size SUV,” Roth said. “It was an immediate hit and embraced by pop culture. It became an instant icon, and really a trendsetter and it continues to be the standard that everyone’s chasing.”
Escalade “at one point revived the brand and it enabled it to connect with a much broader audience than it had been,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director for S&P Global Mobility.
Since it first hit showrooms, more than 1 million Escalades have been sold globally.
“Today, Escalade is the best-selling vehicle in the segment, and it’s held that spot consistently over the past two decades,” Roth said. “And really, it’s showing no signs of slowing down. This year, Escalade had its best first half since 2007, and one out of every three vehicles sold in the segment is an Escalade.”
With the electrified version, Cadillac designers and engineers had to bring their A-game to ensure that a storied and important nameplate in the brand’s history continues setting itself apart from the crowd.
“It has to deliver on Cadillac style and it has to deliver on on Cadillac’s level of luxury and craftsmanship and it has to raise all that a little bit just because the landscape is more difficult,” Brinley said.
“Almost every brand at every price point has talked about improving interior materials, improving the quality and the craftsmanship and the feel of their vehicles. So the landscape is a little bit different. When everyone around has raised their game, you have to raise yours as well.”
Escalade IQ’s numbers
IQ joins the Escalade family alongside the gas-powered Escalade and V8-powered Escalade-V. The electric ute’s horsepower and 780-torque numbers best the 682 horses of the V, which had been the most powerful Cadillac built. Squatting low on its air suspension and 24-inch wheels propelled by Caddy’s eAWD system, IQ can hit 60 mph in under 5 seconds using “velocity max” mode.
IQ’s low center of gravity should offer better handling than its gas-powered peers, and four-wheel steer enables a 6.5-foot tighter turning diameter (to 39.4 feet). Like the Hummer’s famed crab walk, four-wheel steer is key to the IQ’s so-called “arrival mode” for pulling into and out of tight spaces.
The IQ shares the gas-powered Escalade’s Y-trim strategy offering sport and luxury models. It will not have its ICE sibling’s wheelbase, however, as the Ultium chassis allows a longer wheelbase. That wheelbase helps open more cabin room as well as a ginormous e-Trunk up front with 12 cubic feet of storage to complement rear cargo room.
“Escalade IQ delivers on a promise of innovative design supported by spirited performance and cutting-edge technologies,” IQ Chief Engineer Jamie Brewer said.
Among those technologies is available automatic opening — and closing — doors. The front door will auto-open when sensing the driver’s key fob, then automatically close behind the driver after they’ve slipped into the front seat and pressed the brake pedal. Occupants can also automatically open all four doors from the inside using a button in the front “command center” screen.
IQ comes standard with a 55-inch, A pillar-to-A pillar screen like that in the Celestiq. The screen houses three displays: instrument panel, infotainment and passenger.
Ultium’s 800-volt architecture can charge the over-200 kWh battery to 100 miles of range in 10 minutes. The e-Escalade will be able to charge using the Combined Charging System and Tesla Inc.’s North American Charging Standard. Ultium’s Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) bidirectional charging technology enables the SUV to power a properly-equipped home. IQ can also recharge other EVs, and boasts up to 8,000 pounds of towing capability.
Super Cruise is standard on IQ enabling hands-free driving on more than 400,000 miles of U.S. and Canadian roads. The big Caddy also builds on familiar safety tools. Those include blind zone steering assist, which will help drivers avoid an intersection collision with a stray, oncoming vehicle. High-definition surround vision offers digital camera views of the surrounding area. And enhanced automatic parking assist automatically steers IQ into parallel or perpendicular parking spaces.
‘A true renaissance’ for design
To achieve a 15% lower low drag coefficient, the Escalade IQ’s windshield is raked compared to gas-powered Escalades. While boasting the footprint of an Escalade, the exterior design has evolved to include Lyriq’s design signature like a lit fascia and bustle rear end.
While the interior is dominated by the 55-inch screen, there are even more screens, including the front, 11-inch command center that controls climate. A similar 8-inch rear command center screen and twin seatback 12.6-inch screens are part of an available “executive” second-row seating package that includes stowable tray tables, dual wireless phone charging pads, massaging seats and headrest speakers.
Third-row passengers don’t get screens, but they’ll lounge in comfortable legroom under a standard panoramic roof giving light to all three rows.
“We haven’t seen an interior design shift like this in 100 years,” IQ Interior Design Manager Craig Sass said. “It’s a true renaissance.”
The infotainment display is powered by Google built-in, which provides an interface familiar to Google Maps users. Cadillac says the system can chart a trip using available, third-party fast chargers similar to Tesla’s proprietary navigate-on-autopilot system.
The standard AKG audio system for luxury and sport models bolts in 19 speakers, and a 40-speaker AKG system is on offer with the Executive Second Row package.
“We pushed for more expressive colors and more artistic trim finishes, creating fully-designed ‘themes’ the customer can choose,” Sass said. “As with the exterior, the dramatic interior lighting includes customizable ambient lighting with 126 color choices, allowing the owner to curate a more personal experience.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Twitter: @bykaleahall
Payne: X-ploring the envelope in the GMC Sierra AT4X
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 10, 2023
Flint — The GMC Sierra AT4X AEV Edition is the truck brand’s summit. X for X-treme.
On a weekend road trip up north, the pickup moved furniture, took the family to the movies and mixed it up off-road with ATVs. Next time, I’ll be sure to ford Lake Huron. What makes the AT4X AEV special is the extraordinary performance capabilities that make it a contender in the V8-powered supertruck wars alongside the Ford F-150 Raptor R, Chevy Silverado ZR2 and Ram Rebel.
I love GM’s other eight-piston performance vehicles — the Chevy Corvette and Camaro ZL1 — but try renting a race track on the way home for exercise. On my way back from Charlevoix, I took a detour off I-75 for fun at The Mounds ORV Park. I paid my $15 Genesee County Parks & Recreation fee. Aired the 33-inch Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain tires down to 21 PSI (from 42).
Released the Kraken.
ROOOOWWWRRR! The beast roared as it gulped real estate across The Mounds’ sandy trails like a “Dune” movie sandworm. SPLOOOOSSHHHHH! It emerged from a pool of muddy water left by weekend downpours. WHOMP! Its nose plowed into a sea of sandy moguls.
Moguls, of course, are meant for nimble dirt bikes, not 18-foot-long pickups. Happily, the AT4X AEV was armed to the teeth with five Boron steel skid plates that absorbed the brutality of the impact from my overzealous driving. Modulating the throttle, I negotiated the remaining moguls thanks to quick-reacting triple-spool-valve shocks — tools developed by IMSA race shop Multimatic, for goodness sake.
After a half-hour of this nonstop violence, I stood back to admire my beast of burden. For all its ruggedness, it’s hardly a spiked, post-Apocalyptic warthog from “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Standing 11.2 inches off the ground in a black-and-blood-red suit — its handsome mug framed by a steel jaw and C-clamp LED running lights — Sierra AT4X AEV commands respect. Like Shaq walking through your dinner party, the truck turned heads all weekend in Charlevoix, a pickup-choked county with no shortage of head-turning rigs.
GMC’s partnership with AEV (American Expedition Vehicles) adds serious details to the AT4X’s already formidable toolbox, as well as $6,895 to its bottom line. X for X-pensive. They include twin locking differentials, steel bumpers (with optional front winch out front) and a front approach angle of 32.8 inches. But it’s the underbelly Boron plates that are truly impressive. They look as if they could survive a cruise missile hit.
None of this weaponry detracts from the GMC’s interior luxury. I performed my off-road stunts with my luggage intact — computer bag, suitcase, tennis bag secured behind the front seats. There’s more storage in the rear seat backs.
I love a good V-8, and, when I picked up the GMC, my ears were still ringing from the supercharged, 710-horse 5.0-liter Revology Shelby Mustang GT500 V-8 I’d flogged a few days before in Ann Arbor (my apologies to residents for their shattered windows). A throwback to the Dream Cruise glory days, the Mustang retro-mod’s engine fills the cabin with unfiltered sound.
AT4X’s V-8 has even more displacement (6.2 liters), yet is a velvet hammer by comparison. Reflecting GMC pickups’ status as a new breed of 21st century luxury, the V-8 is muffled by layers of sound-deadening that make the cabin a sanctuary over long road trips.
My driveway is a rotating buffet of meaty test vehicles, and my road trip choices were the four-wheel-drive Sierra AT4X or an electric AWD Toyota bZ4X Limited. With furniture moving on my Charlevoix agenda, the pickup got the nod — but it also proved more convenient.
With a family dinner to make up north, the 355-mile range Kraken made the trip in 4.05 hours (including a 10-minute pit stop for gas), while the 228-mile range Toyota would have required 4.5 hours due to an anticipated 55-minute stop at a fast charger (assuming no waits at the Shell charger in West Branch, which has but two ports). Credit the EV as cheaper to fuel over the 250-mile journey at $30 in charging fees versus $73 for the thirsty, 14-mpg pickup.
Encased in the Sierra’s inner sanctum, I enjoyed an easy journey despite stormy weather. Rain and wind battered the truck, which stayed the course like a four-wheeled ocean liner. Twin digital screens are state-of-the-art — as are the head-up display and wireless Android Auto that guided my journey.
As a GM product, the GMC also benefits from industry-leading ergonomics. All the controls I needed were at my fingertips on the steering wheel. Volume control and radio station controls? On the back of the wheel at 3 and 6 o’clock. Adaptive Cruise Control buttons? Use the scroll button in the left quadrant. Vehicle information like tire pressures? Scroll-wheel in the right quadrant was at the ready. These ergonomics are shared across other GM brands, and all benefit.
Absent was GM’s SuperCruise self-driving feature, which would have made the interstate drive even easier, but Sierra did have GMC’s Swiss-Army-knife-like MultiPro tailgate ($1,200 addition).
The gate has six configurations depending on your tailgating needs — and we used its step feature to walk into the tailgate and load the pieces of a bed. The AT4X model is available only in Crew Cab/short box configuration.
As the sun set, we set off for the movies in Petoskey with plenty of room for four. My wee wife and daughter-in-law, it should be said, struggled a bit with the beast’s height — kinda’ like trying to climb on Shaq’s shoulders. The AT4X eschews the running boards of other expensive trucks to maximize off-road ground clearance, and Mrs. Payne practically had to pole-vault into the front seat.
Once inside, the cooled GMC’s thrones were cozy on a warm June summer’s night. And GM has adopted Mazda-style, single-action vents for easy HVAC.
For all of its off-road macho, the AT4X AEV was a gentle giant to ride on-road thanks to its talented shocks and chassis. In keeping with its Camaro and Corvette performance brethren, GMC and Chevy trucks sport highly-engineered chassis dynamics that allow for spirited driving on country roads.
Assuming you have the permission of the other passengers.
And when you’re the only one aboard the Sandworm, well, don’t be shy about taking a detour to an off-road park. Maybe I’ll explore Silver Lake dunes next time.
Next week: Class of 1997 – the New Dream Cruise Classics
2023 GMC Sierra AT4X
Vehicle type: Front-engine, four-wheel-drive four-door pickup
Price: $83,595, including $1,895 destination charge ($91,085 AEV as tested)
Powerplant: 6.2-liter V-8
Power: 420 horsepower, 460 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.1 seconds (Motor Trend); towing, 8,900 pounds; 1,420-pound payload
Weight: 5,974 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. 14 mpg city/17 highway/15 combined
Report card
Highs: Formidable off-road; easy interior ergonomics (once you’ve climbed a ladder to get in)
Lows: Big footprint in the city; big price tag
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: How Ford racing has become an integral part of Ford production
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 5, 2023
Concord, North Carolina — In the lobby of the state-of-the-art Ford Performance Tech Center here, visitors are greeted by a grainy black-and-white picture of Henry Ford at the wheel of his Sweepstakes race car on a dirt horse track in Grosse Pointe. In large type above it, the caption reads:
“In 1901, Henry Ford designed and built the race car called ‘Sweepstakes.’ On October 10 of that year, he drove Sweepstakes against Alexander Winton, a famous racer and builder. Against all odds Ford won. That was the beginning — ‘the race that changed the world’ — and it continues today as the spirit of Henry Ford lives with us every day through our motorsports efforts around the world.”
Racing is in Ford Motor Co.’s DNA, and 122 years after that picture was taken, motorsports is more integrated into the company than ever before.
Behind the lobby wall, Ford has invested millions of dollars in three racing simulators used — not just to service the NASCAR, sportscar and rally teams that race Fords — but to test current production performance beasts like the Ford Raptor and Mustang Dark Horse, whose racing-inspired capabilities would awe Henry Ford if he were alive today.
“We opened the Ford Performance Tech Center in 2014 in the center of NASCAR valley … with a vision of supporting all of our global racing efforts, and we’ve done that,” said Ford Performance chief Mark Rushbrook from his office here. “Then we’ve learned from that how to transfer knowledge (from) our race cars to our road cars. So our mainstream engineers use this facility and its tools developed for motorsport to make our cars better for customers that put them in their driveway and garage.”
The 33,000-square-foot facility here north of Charlotte is the hub of the Blue Oval’s sprawling global performance footprint that also includes Allen Park’s Ford Vehicle Performance and Electrification Center (housing the world’s first 200-mph, automobile aerodynamic wind tunnel) and an engineering facility in Milton Keynes, England, as part of Ford’s partnership with Red Bull’s Formula One team.
“Formula One is in a similar valley north of London,” Rushbrook said. “We had a building put in at Milton Keynes, and that is where the 2026 power unit for Formula One is being developed. We’re working at a frantic pace — 2026 sounds like a long way off, but it is tomorrow in terms of racing development.”
Since its founding, Ford’s racing exploits have played a key marketing role. That marketing profile reached the summit of motorsport in 1966 at Le Mans, France, when a squadron of Ford GT40s dethroned mighty Ferrari at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans — an accomplishment dramatized in the hit 2019 movie “Ford v Ferrari.”
“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” goes the mantra. Racing has further been used in a feedback loop so that lessons learned on track can be fed back into production car technologies. In turn, competition helps attract world-class engineers to the company.
“Everything about racing benefits the production side,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director for S&P Global Mobility. “And as Ford goes all-electric, specialized engineering teams helps them be efficient with capital resources in developing their remaining gas performance vehicles. The simulators also help save in development time rather than doing road-test miles.”
The Ford Performance Tech Center wraps the racing/production DNA strands even more tightly. At its core are three racing simulators.
“When we opened the facility, we put in a simulator that we used successfully in motorsports,” said Rushbrook. “Then we introduced it to the mainstream teams … and they started to fly engineers from Michigan on a regular basis to use the simulator. It was being used so much we added a second simulator, and we were still at capacity. A third simulator actually went to Dearborn, so it was closer to the mainstream engineers to use, and even with that, we now have a third simulator here.”
Concord’s first simulator — the $3 million MS1 — was used to develop the mid-engine Ford GT racer that would win the 2016 Le Mans GT class — 50 years after the GT40 accomplished its historic feat. Fast forward to 2023, and simulators MS1, MS2 and MS3 here were key to developing the new seventh-generation, 500-horsepower Mustang Dark Horse.
“The Dark Horse was developed at our simulators right here in Charlotte,” said Tim Scott, vehicle engineering supervisor for the first performance variant of the seventh-generation Mustang.
MS3 is the third — and most advanced — simulator in the Tech Center’s belly. It cost about $5 billion to build with Ansible, a simulator supplier from England. Simulators are used to test everything from NASCARs to Rally Cross Fiestas to Dark Horses to Bronco Raptors.
“The sim helps drivers test for the next race, but it also helps get production cars to market more quickly,” said Dave Ragan, an ex-NASCAR Cup driver who now does sim testing for Ford.
Ragan gave a demonstration of the MS1 simulator’s capabilities to media inside a NASCAR sim “buck” — the full cockpit of a Ford Mustang NASCAR mounted atop sophisticated hydraulic legs. With a 180-degree screen in front of him, Ragan drove a simulation of Charlotte Motor Speedway at full chat, the buck pitching and yawing as it would on a real race track under braking, side-g-loads, acceleration.
Pro drivers will spend four hours at a time in the simulator, testing various race setups ahead of a race weekend. Then production engineers will use the same sim to test attributes of, say, a Bronco Raptor.
“You should see this buck pitch go up and down when they are simulating the Bronco off-road,” smiled Daniel Tiley, NASCAR vehicle dynamic simulation engineer.
Ford’s Performance division is growing into off-road as well as on-road racing with its Baja-focused Bronco DR — but its sportscars are where the company sees the biggest potential to make money by producing race cars for customers in IMSA’s GT3, GT4 and Mustang World Challenge series.
“It’s a big step in customer support,” said Rushbrook. “When we did the (2016) Ford GT, we built only six cars. We weren’t able to sell that car to customers to race. Now with the new GT3 rules, we can race as a factory — which we will do with Multimatic (out of Canada) — but we can also sell the exact same car to customers so they can race in IMSA, Le Mans SRO.”
Sportscars will run under the Dark Horse badge. For the first time, Mustang will run its own World Challenge race series — just as Porsche and Ferrari have done for years.
Some 40 Mustang Dark Horse Rs — race versions of the Dark Horse production car gutted to fit rollbars and outfitted with slick ties — will be entered. Developed on Concord sims, the R will be powered by the same 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 as in the production car.
“Production-based Mustang vehicles have raced from the very beginning, all the way back to winning the 1964 Tour de France,” Rushbrook said. “Dark Horse R offers our passionate customers not just an attainable, factory-built race car, but also a racing series to compete with other Mustang enthusiasts.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: On track in the sinister Mustang Dark Horse
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 3, 2023
Charlotte, North Carolina — Heaven is riding a Ford Mustang Dark Horse at 7,500 RPM.
Coming off the 24-degree Turn One banking at Charlotte Motor Speedway, I banged the manual Tremec shifter from 4th to 5th gear at redline, all 500 ponies roaring in front of me. Down the back straight we thundered until a tight 180-degree hairpin interrupted our reverie.
But for all of the V-8’s glorious aria, the infield course on Charlotte’s 2.3-mile “roval” (road oval, combining Charlotte’s oval track with a tight infield course) is where the Dark Horse really shows its stuff.
Building on the seventh-generation Mustang I recently tested in the canyons of Angeles Crest Highway north of Los Angeles, Dark Horse is the new-gen Mustang’s first performance variant.
It’s no GT350 – the screaming, 526-horse, 8,000 RPM, V8-powered Shelby variant that Ford introduced with its 2015 sixth-gen coupe – but it’ll do. Credit Mustang’s entry into IMSA’s new GT3 and Mustang Challenge series with a pair of snorting, earth-pawing race cars – both flying the Dark Horse banner. Win on Sunday, sell Dark Horses on Monday.
Dark Horse is one mean-lookin’ filly.
You’ll know it by the black mask enveloping the grille and headlights. Black stripes flow up the hood (there are graphics options, typical of Mustang customization) like striping on a stallion’s nose. Get Dark Horse in red or Grabber Blue to highlight the black trim.
The visual allows for instant differentiation from the yellow GT that I flogged in California. And the Dark Horse picks up where the loaded $60K GT lets off: performance package with upgraded P-Zero summer tires, sway-bars, brakes and spoiler out back.
Decelerating into Charlotte Motor Speedway’s hairpin, these elements combine to bring the two-door missile back to earth, just as they teamed up in the GT to conquer California Route 2 with precise handling and instant toque. Indeed, Dark Horse destroyed the rolling North Carolina country roads leading into the Motor Speedway of Charlotte.
But the track is Dark Horse’s natural habitat. I encourage owners to spend time there to explore its envelope. Here the engine, brakes, tires and transmission are pushed to the limit of heat and grip. It’s why Ford upgraded Mustang’s manual transmission from a Getrag unit in the GT to the Dark Horse’s Tremec — the latter equipped with two coolers to withstand sizzling temps.
It’s why you’ll want to upgrade to the $4,995 Dark Horse Handling Package and its sticky P-Zero Trofeo RS rubber (or buy a new set of rims and take slick tires to the track). The Handling Pack comes with goodies like an adjustable rear wing and front splitter — but it’s the tires that are the secret sauce.
Hard on the brakes into the hairpin, the Pirelli gumballs gripped the pavement with confidence compared to the slipperier summer P-Zeros. Rev-matching with the manual shifter help make for smooth corner entry — BRAP! BRAP! BRAP! — as I shifted from fifth to second for the tight left-hander.
Sticky as they are, the Trofeos couldn’t contain the 5.0-liter Coyote V-8’s 415 pound-feet of torque, and the rear end briefly stepped out as I stomped the throttle up into Infield Turn 3. Sliding across the 90-degree Turn 3 apex, Dark Horse was remarkably balanced for a 3,900-pound land shark that has swallowed a V-8 boat anchor — but uphill Turn 4 would be a bigger challenge.
A long 180-degree left-hander, Turn 4 is essentially half a skid pad — an opportunity to get to the sports car’s true character. And Mustang likes to, um, understeer.
Ford’s chief muscle car competitor, Camaro, has shown up the Ford pony in such exercises given the Chevy’s neutral handling (credit a chassis shared with the corner-carving Cadillac CT4-V). Sure enough, Dark Horse — like a pack horse distracted by some delicious grass on the side of a trail — was stubborn about turning into Turn 4, its nose plowing straight ahead.
Patience, Payne. I back off the throttle and rotate the big coupe into the apex. Once it sniffed the apex, Dark Horse responded, the Trofoes absorbing power. I get back on throttle again — only to face yet another 180-degree Turn 5. And another for Turn 7. And again in Turns 8 and 9.
The inherent push is always there, but I learned to coordinate V-8 torque and sticky rubber to hit my marks. It’s what makes track days so much fun, and why eight-holers like Mustang are track favorites. The Coyote’s wail echoed off CMS’s walls as I pounded around lap after lap.
Dark Horse options leather Recaro seats, which were both supportive and comfortable — unlike the back-crippling carbon-fiber seats I recently experienced in the BMW M3.
With its gorgeous 19-inch display screens housing digital instrument and infotainment displays, seventh-gen V-8 Mustangs can now be credibly considered peers of the Bimmer, which boasts a similar display. In past generations, interiors weren’t Mustang’s strength, but that has changed and you’ll enjoy customizing Dark Horse’s track modes — augmented by Unreal Engine gaming graphics that are BMW’s match.
One thing Mustang could learn from Bimmer is to put its horizontal RPM tachometer (TRACK mode) in a head-up display for maximum driver visibility. Especially since the Dark Horse tops out at a nose-bleed $72K. That’s $15K shy of a loaded, 500-horse M4 Competition, but still a lot of coin considering that the Corvette C8 and Porsche Cayman start in the mid-$60,000 range.
But add a proper, howling V-6 to the Cayman and price soars to $93K. The Corvette is stiffer competition. Add a Z51 performance package and the Chevy is competitively priced with the Ford while providing its own 495-horse V-8 and high-tech interior. Especially if you equip the Mustang with the $1,595 10-speed automatic, which rivals the ‘Vette for smooth motoring. The ‘Vette doesn’t offer a manual, however.
Rotating out of the last 180-degree Turn 9 back up onto CMS’s banking, I grabbed the blue shifter knob and shoved it into third gear at redline. Then 4th gear, the cannon-sized quad pipes out back exhaling with a snort. Coyote howling toward redline.
I grabbed for 5th. Heaven.
Next week: 2023 GMC Sierra AT4X
2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, four-passenger sports car
Price: $60,865 base, including $1,595 destination ($67,510 manual and $72,800 automatic as tested)
Power plant: 5.0-liter V-8
Power: 500 horsepower, 418 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual; 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.8-4.3 seconds (Car and Driver est.); top speed: 165 mph
Weight: 3,949 pounds (manual); 3,993 (automatic)
Fuel economy: EPA 14 mpg city/22 mpg highway/17 mpg combined (manual)
Report card
Highs: Looks wicked; Trofeo RS tires grip like glue
Lows: Understeer at the limit; Mustang GT with slicks gets you to the same place for less coin
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Payne: Living auto legend Bob Lutz celebrated at Willow Run
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 2, 2023
Ypsilanti — The auto industry has produced many luminaries, but few have had the sustained impact of Bob Lutz.
Industry dignitaries and colleagues gathered last weekend in the Yankee Air Museum Hangar at Willow Run Airport to celebrate the living legend’s 60-year career, which spanned significant stints at BMW, Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. Whether siring some of the industry’s iconic vehicles, speaking his mind on public policy, or pursuing his hobbies 30,000 feet in the air, Lutz left an indelible mark on the industry.
Amidst some 200 cars assembled for the occasion, presenters wove a tale of a man whose outsize personality and influence earned him the nickname “Maximum Bob.”
“Your having the guts to fight the bean counters drives us to this day,” Stellantis North America design chief Ralph Gilles told Lutz, echoing the guest of honor’s 2011 best-selling book, “Car Guys vs. Bean Counters.”
“You were the anti-commodity executive,” Giles added. “Your legend is still with us.”
Born in Switzerland in 1932, Lutz was fascinated by cars at an early age, but he would be a late-comer to the auto industry. Struggling between European and U.S. schools, he joined the Marines in Parris Island, South Carolina — eventually earning his naval aviator wings. Upon completing his military commission in 1959, he picked up production management and business degrees from the University of California-Berkeley while selling vacuum cleaners and flying in the Marine Corps Reserve.
(Lutz is a trustee of the Marine Corps University Foundation and the Marine Military Academy, and the event honoring him raised $22,146 for the U.S. Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.)
His first job out of college in 1963 was with GM in New York, and in ‘65 the General shipped him to Opel in Europe, where he would champion vehicle performance. He took those performance learnings to BMW in 1971 as vice president for sales. There, in three short years, he established the German marque’s clay-modeling studio and model names.
“You did a lot in three years,” said Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW’s M Performance Brand Division from the Willow Run stage, flanked by two of Lutz’s most famous cars, the ferocious BMW CSL racer and the elegant Cadillac Sixteen concept car. “You were instrumental in BMW’s naming convention, and you developed the phrase: ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine.’”
Van Meel also recounted how Lutz brought the American ethic of “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” to BMW. The CSL would go to war against Ford’s Capri in Europe for GT racing supremacy, and open the way to BMW’s revered M Division.
Lutz moved to Ford Europe in 1974, beginning a 12-year stint that would ultimately bring him back to the United States as executive vice president of Ford International Operations. He would lead the development of the Escort III, Sierra and — most significantly — the Blue Oval’s first mainstream SUV, the Explorer.
The development of SUVs — now the best-selling, non-pickup segment — really flowered at Chrysler, where he took up residence in 1986. Though federal mpg rules had essentially outlawed station wagons, Lutz understood customers still craved large hatchbacks. Truck-based SUVs allowed automakers to comply with federal rules and give customers what they wanted, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee born.
In as spectacular a way as possible.
With Lutz at the wheel and Detroit Mayor Coleman Young riding shotgun, the Grand Cherokee crashed Cobo Center’s front glass to open the 1992 North American International Auto Show. It was a display of derring-do that would be synonymous with Lutz’s career. When he wasn’t developing supercars like the V10-powered Dodge Viper, Lutz was satisfying his need for speed with airplanes — including a Czech-made fighter jet that was part of his personal plane and car collection.
“Being the public relations chief for Bob Lutz was an adventure,” recounted Bud Liebler, former Chrysler vice president of marketing and public relations. “One day I got a call from a reporter who’d heard that Bob had crashed his plane.”
A call to Lutz confirmed the rumor to be true. “What am I supposed to tell the press?” an exasperated Liebler asked Lutz at the time.
“Tell them I forgot to put the landing gear down,” replied Lutz.
Steve Pasteiner, president of Advanced Automotive Technologies and founder of Pasteiner’s auto hobby shop on Woodward Avenue in Birmingham, was for years a fellow judge with Lutz of the Meadow Brook Concourse d’Elegance. Pasteiner recalled giving Lutz and GM design boss Wayne Cherry a lift back to their vehicles after the judging — except Lutz pointed to a field at the edge of the property instead of the parking lot. There sat a military-grade helicopter belonging to Lutz.
Maximum Bob hopped out of Pasteiner’s car, lit up the chopper and flew home.
“My God, the man is like James Bond,” said Cherry to Pasteiner as they watched the helo disappear.
“No, James Bond in a fictional character,” said Pasteiner. “This guy is the real deal.”
Chrysler, remembered executives at the event, was the real deal in the late 1990s — its product lineup transformed by the Dream Team of Lutz, designer Tom Gale and engineer François Castaing. Standout products from that era included the cab-forward LH sedans, jellybean-shaped minivans and the aforementioned Jeep Grand Cherokee. “We could do no wrong from 1990 to 1998,” said Paul Wilbur, who then led Jeep and Dodge product planning.
Passed over for Chrysler CEO in 1998, Lutz accepted the CEO’s position at battery-maker Exide Technologies. He published “Guts: the 7 Laws of Business that Made Chrysler the World’s Hottest Car Company.”
But another big automaker would soon come knocking. Determined to shake up GM’s stale product lineup — a wag said it “had the appeal of hospital food” — CEO Rick Wagoner hired Lutz, then 69, in 2001 as vice chairman for product development.
“Thinking back to your many contributions during our time together at GM, I think your biggest accomplishment was to re-focus and re-energize the entire organization on the importance of great design,” wrote Wagoner (who could not attend in person) to Lutz in a letter presented at Willow Run. “Your pushing of the organization to focus on delighting customers, especially with beautiful designs, motivated not just the designers and engineers, but really the entire company, which paid huge dividends in the marketplace.”
In an echo of his past successes, Lutz challenged design to produce a pair of sexy sports cars— the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. A torrent of product, followed including the 1,000-horsepower Cadillac Sixteen Concept, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac GTO and Chevrolet Volt ,while Lutz also approved the first mid-engine Chevy Corvette.
All were on display at the hangar, but the most significant might be the Volt — the first electrified Chevy and the precursor to GM’s strategy to go all-electric by 2035.
Taking the stage at the event’s conclusion, Maximum Bob walks with a slower gait than years past — at 91, he prefers a golf cart to fighter jets — but his wit and insights remain as sharp and candid as ever.
“I think electric cars will eventually take over, but right now they don’t make much sense,” he said before some 400 invited attendees. “And as far as carbon dioxide emissions go, cars burn fossil fuels whether at the tailpipe or when plugged in. The fact is that 90% of the world’s electricity comes from fossil fuels.”
After leaving GM in 2010 in the midst of industry turmoil, Lutz continued as a consultant, dabbled in auto startups, and published two more books: “Car Guys vs. Bean Counters” and “Icons and Idiots.” This summer, his friend Jon Block saw the opportunity for a proper retirement party.
“I am a closet car designer,” smiled Lutz, who constructs exquisite, 1:36 scale paper models as a hobby. “But when I was a young man, my father looked at my design portfolio and forecast a life of hardship. So I got an MBA, then spent 60 years practicing design without a license.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
2024 vehicle of the year candidates announced: EVs, SUVs and trucks, trucks, trucks
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 28, 2023
Detroit — And they are off! A total of 52 competitors took the green flag Thursday as the 30th annual North American Car, Truck, and Vehicle of the Year announced its list of eligible vehicles.
The diverse field included 17 new nameplates, 14 entries from Detroit Three brands, two from startup automakers, 16 electric vehicles and seven hybrids. Consistent with Americans’ lust for all things ute, SUVs boast the most nominees with 29, but all eyes will be on the seven truck entries.
The top dogs in the red-hot midsize segment — Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Ford Ranger and sales-leader Toyota Tacoma — have all-new trucks for the 2024 model year and the competition will be fierce. Tesla’s long-awaited, radically-designed Cybertruck is also on the list, but — if history is any guide — jurors won’t have a chance to evaluate it since Tesla rarely offers test vehicles.
NACTOY is the industry’s most prestigious, independent award and was launched at the 1994 North American International Auto Show. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class won for best car and the Dodge Ram took home the best truck trophy (the SUV category wasn’t added until 2017 as the industry transformed to high-riding hatchbacks).
“These awards are special because they represent a cross section of views from 50 top automotive journalists, each of whom look at vehicles from their own personal perspective,” said NACTOY president Jeff Gilbert, who announced eligible vehicles at a Detroit auto show kick-off event downtown. “We leverage our own unique processes to come to a consensus that honors the best all new or totally redesigned vehicles in a model year.”
Car sales have been on the wane in the last decade — SUV sales are now over 70% of the non-truck market — but they remain key to foreign automaker market strategies, and there are 16 competitors for ‘24.
The Chevy Corvette E-Ray — the first electrified offering from the storied badge — will be one of the favorites. Expect it to face stiff competition from its fellow muscle car, the seventh-generation Ford Mustang, the ugly duckling-turned-swan Toyota Prius and the Honda Accord, manufactured three hours south of Detroit in Ohio.
In a sign of how brands are realigning, Toyota — once maker of vanilla appliances — will have as many performance entries as Porsche. The Japanese automaker will offer up performance versions of its GR Corolla, GR Supra and GR86 (GR is short for Gazoo Racing), while Porsche will field the 911 GT3 RS, 718 and 911 Dakar.
Toyota’s SUV field is more conventional and includes the Grand Highlander (a three-row version of the top-selling Highlander), Sequoia and Land Cruiser. The Motor City is well-represented in the SUV category, which is where Detroit-based automakers have concentrated their business along with trucks.
Expect the jury to give long looks to the affordable, roomy, high-tech Chevy Trax, Buick Envista and Dodge Hornet, which are bucking the trend away from sub-$35,000 models. Alfa Romeo is rebooting with the Tonale — its first electrified entry in the subcompact SUV segment. Leading the EV field, Chevrolet has high hopes for its tandem of mainstream entries: the Blazer EV and Equinox EV. Startups Fisker (the Ocean) and Vietnam’s’ Vinfast (the VF8 and VF9) also hope to make a splash.
In addition to utility, the SUV segment includes hip entries like the Jeep Wrangler, remade for 2024; Kia’s first battery-only three-row SUV, the EV9; and the sports car of three-row SUVs, the Mazda CX-90.
The last decade has seen an explosion of truck challengers to the Toyota Tacoma, the perennial sales king of midsizers. This year, Tacoma finally responded with an all-new pickup that includes muscular styling and powerful hybrid model — the segment’s first.
The Taco arrived just in time because the competition is upping its game as well with fresh, high-tech entries from Chevy, GMC and Ford. The three Detroit brands are buttressing their claim to the truck award with high-performance mud-kickers like the Colorado ZR2, Canyon AT4X and Ranger Raptor.
NACTOY jurors test, poke and evaluate vehicles all year and will announce their “Best of 2024” nominees (aka the semifinalists) Sept. 13 at the Detroit auto show. The field will be winnowed to a finalist list at the Nov. 16 Los Angeles Auto Show, and the winners will be crowned at Pontiac’s M1 Concourse on Jan. 4, 2024. For more information, visit http://northamericancaroftheyear.org.
NACTOY, in partnership with the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, also marked its 30th year with a $40,000 donation distributed to four charities: Tunnels to Towers Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Pope Francis Center to care for the homeless, and Metro Detroit animal shelter Friends for Animals
NACTOY eligible vehicles
Car of the Year
BMW 5 Series
BMW i5
Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray
Ford Mustang
Honda Accord
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Maserati GranTurismo Coupe
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Porsche 911 Dakar
Porsche Unnamed 718
Subaru Impreza
Toyota Crown
Toyota Prius/Prius Prime
Toyota GR Corolla
Toyota GR Supra
Toyota GR86
Truck of the Year
Chevrolet Silverado EV
Ford Ranger
Ford Super Duty
GMC Canyon
Chevrolet Colorado
Tesla Cybertruck
Toyota Tacoma
Utility of the Year
Alfa Romeo Tonale
Audi Q8 E-Tron
Buick Envista
Cadillac XT4
Chevrolet Trax
Chevrolet Blazer EV
Chevrolet Equinox EV
Dodge Hornet
Fisker Ocean
Genesis Electrified GV70
GMC Hummer EV SUV
Honda Pilot
Hyundai Kona
Kia EV9
Jeep Wrangler
Lexus RZ
Lexus TX
Maserati Grecale
Mazda CX90
Mazda CX70
Mercedes EQE SUV
Mercedes GLC
Subaru Crosstrek
Toyota Grand Highlander
Toyota Sequoia
Toyota Land Cruiser
Vinfast VF8
Vinfast VF9
Volvo EX30
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: That’s a Prius? Toyota hybrid goes from nerd to knockout
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 27, 2023
Holly Oaks — The hybrid Toyota Prius — Pious to its detractors — has always been designed to stand out. To be a statement. For its fifth generation, it’s chosen beauty.
Like the goth nerd who blossomed into the prom queen, the 2023 Prius has ditched its polarizing design to become one of the market’s best-looking compact hatchbacks. Green is chic, and Prius now dresses in fashionable, simple wardrobe like a Tesla or a Mercedes EQ sedan.
Pious? Call it Precious.
The beauty is hardly skin deep. The Toyota sits on a much firmer TNGA platform — light years from its original noodle-soft frame — for better handling. Its interior is more mature, too, adopting conventional tablet console screen and ditching the bathroom sink-white console trim.
Signature design cues like the dash-mounted shifter and split rear window are gone. Yes, there’s an instrument display at the base of the windshield, but this is more familiar to the electric bZ4X than to the old middle-mounted display. All this mainstreaming is a recognition that Prius is no longer a freak — it’s been joined by numerous other hybrids, including the Hyundai Elantra, Honda Civic and the Corolla and Corolla Cross Hybrid cousins.
With hatchback and sedan sales out of vogue, Prius takes its battery act upscale where the customers are. This Prius is a big step up on looks, handling and tech while not forgetting its calling card: efficiency.
The base Prius boasts an impressive 52 mpg — but it also comes with a more powerful plug-in option that claims 48 mpg and 44 miles of battery-only driving. My Prius Prime tester’s duality as a hybrid and EV was impressive.
As I eased it out of my driveway on a Saturday morning, the fully charged Prime defaulted to EV mode.
Like a Tesla, my Prius Prime quietly glided around town on electrons. Unlike my big battery, 80 kWh Tesla Model 3, however, the Prime’s 10.9 kWh battery has limited torque. You won’t be out-dragging Bimmers from stoplights.
If it’s acceleration you want, though, the Prime is a big upgrade over the pokey, Pokemon-lookalike model from 2022. Change the EV model selector to HYBRID, and the electric motor and 2.0-liter gas engine combine for an impressive 220 horsepower (100 more than last gen). It will scoot to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds — a serious improvement over the old model’s 10.3 seconds.
But I digress. I was determined to do my urban chores in full-EV mode. Prius accomplished this task with a faint whir of its front-wheel-drive electric motor and no regenerative breaking like most EVs. I eventually drained the battery to just four miles after a morning of errands.
I toggled the EV mode switch to RECHARGE. This mode effectively swapped electric power for gas engine power to recharge the nearly depleted battery — on the fly. So, rather than stop at a charger, I replenished the battery by continuing to drive to my next appointment. Slick.
I barked an order at Android Auto to take me to Holy Oaks, 43 miles up I-75 in north Oakland County (curiously, for such a high-tech tool, the Prius stull requires a wire to hook up Android Auto).
After the liquid-smooth experience of battery power, the Prius’s 2.0-liter gas engine sounded coarse, buzzing away at 80 mpg up I-75. But it did its job, adding 20 miles of battery charge during my 86-mile round trip. Had I continued north in hybrid mode, the Prius would have returned a whopping 550 miles of range. Try that in an EV at 80 mpg on a 50-degree day.
On the journey to Holly, I engaged adaptive cruise control — standard on the loaded Prime along with blind-spot assist, auto high-beams and a toaster oven (kidding about that last one) — which proved an excellent driver assist. While the system confidently navigated the interstate’s long curves, I was able to scarf down a few tenders from Uncle Joe’s Chicken for lunch.
At Holly, I met some Ford Bronco friends who were getting dirty at Bronco Fest. With its low profile 19-inch wheels (remember the days when the Prius had small, geeky 15-inchers for optimum mileage?) off-roading is not Prius’s forte. So it remained in the paddock and looked nice while mud-caked Broncos with 11-inch suspension lifts came and went.
Had I added any passengers for my trip back south, they would have noticed Precious’s compromised headroom thanks to its new, sleek design. The A-pillar is so raked it’s practically an extension of the hood line — meaning my 6’5” noggin was inches from the sunroof. Rear-seats passengers are similarly confined by the coupe-like roofline — though legroom is comfy for a compact.
All that battery and tech mean that the Prius is significantly more expensive than the previous generation, with the base model starting at $33K (a $4K increase) — with my XSE tester topping out at $38,299. That compares favorable to an equally stylish all-wheel-drive, loaded-with-standard-safety-features Mazda3 Turbo with 210 horsepower and a $39K sticker price — except the Toyota is FWD only.
As improved as its new chassis is, the Prius still can’t hold a candle to the Mazda’s nimble handling. Competition includes Toyota’s own RAV4 hybrid plug-in, which clocks in at $42K with similar drivetrain efficiencies plus the SUV utility folks crave these days.
But if it’s an attractive hatchback you want, Prius Prime is a looker.
The new recessed instrument panel essentially acts as a head-up display so you never have to take your eyes from the road. It required a lower steering wheel position, but I got comfortable with the arrangement over time. Other ergonomic details are less friendly.
My top-trim Prime XSE came equipped with a vertical phone charger slot that could not accommodate my oversized Samsung phone, wasting console space. Other manufacturers use the more flexible, horizontal flat space at the fore of the console for phone chargers. And the Prius’s steering wheel controls lacked raised surfaces like, say, Chevrolet’s clever controls, so I often had to take my eyes off the road to adjust adaptive cruise control.
Still, it’s a testimony to the new Prius’s handling that you want to keep your eyes on the road. Exiting Holly Oaks, I toggled SPORT mode — accessing all 220 horses hybrid horses — and launched into a 180-degree clover leaf.
Exiting on power, I merged with authority into traffic ahead of a Jeep Wrangler and BMW 3-series. Precious.
Next week: 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger hybrid hatchback
Price: $33,445 base, including $1,095 destination ($38,299 XSE as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, inline-4 mated to electric motor and 13.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack
Power: 220 horsepower
Transmission: Continuously variable
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.5 seconds (Car and Driver est.); top speed, 112 mph
Weight: 3,516 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 50 mpg city/47 mpg highway/48 mpg combined; 39-44 miles pure-battery range
Report card
Highs: Stylish exterior; regenerated battery range on the fly
Lows: No wireless Android Auto/Apple CarPlay; clumsy switchgear
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Detroit auto show to include product reveals from GM, Ford, Stellantis
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 25, 2023
The Detroit auto show circus is back this September for its second annual fall exhibit under Huntington Place’s big tent, and Detroit automakers say they will be bringing big acts.
Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV confirmed this week they will each unveil new vehicles for a total of six reveals during the show’s Media and Technology Days Sept. 13-14 — to be followed by public viewing days through Sept. 24.
“We are thrilled by the tremendous support of our hometown Detroit Three in bringing these exciting reveals and their products and vehicle activations to the show,” said North American International Auto Show Chair Thad Szott, who runs Szott Auto Group. “We expect the momentum created by these unveilings to generate outstanding media and consumer attendance and interest.”
The reveals will join a floor-full of activations as the Detroit Automobile Dealers Association, which runs the show, showcases the latest tech and electric vehicle innovations. There will be an indoor track for EVs (dubbed the Powering Michigan EV Experience), indoor rides to experience Jeep, Fords, GMCs and other beasts, and outdoor street rides as well.
Auto shows have taken a hit in recent years as a changing media landscape allowed automakers to reveal new products at a variety of backdrops — rather than competing for media attention on a crowded auto show floor. New York, Chicago, Frankfurt and other auto shows have suffered — and Detroit is not alone. The pandemic didn’t help, pushing off NAIAS’s planned transition from a January show downtown to one later on the calendar from 2020 to 2022.
As a result, Detroit brands are key to the show as it becomes more regional in content. Ford’s reveal of the seventh-generation Mustang at last year’s show, for example, was a highlight as a “Stampede” of some 1,000 Mustangs drove in from Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn to Hart Plaza.
German brands (like BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Porsche) and Japanese automakers (Honda, Subaru, Mazda) have quit the show to find other venues to sell their wares in a state where buyers are heavily biased toward the Detroit Three both for employment reasons and for financial incentives to buy a car (think friend and family discounts).
While showgoers won’t be dazzled by the multimillion-dollar displays that lit up the floor at the event’s height a decade ago, Huntington Place is still an opportunity for Detroit dealers to hook customers shopping for a new car.
“It’s the Detroit show, which makes it especially exciting to offer consumers the opportunity to go for a ride in our Jeep and Ram vehicles on our specialized test tracks, as well as check out all the latest offerings from the rest of our North American brands,” said Rick Deneau, head of product and brand communications for Stellantis.
No word yet on whether the circus will include the 60-foot tall rubber duck — in honor of Jeep enthusiasts’ “ducking” tradition — that made an appearance last year.
Expect new reveals to go heavy on electrification as the industry has promised a wave of EVs in the next two years to comply with government rules. General Motors has a number of battery-powered models in the pipeline, including the Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs. Notably absent, however, will be domestic electric startups like Rivian Automotive and Fisker Inc. and EV market leader Tesla Inc.
“The Detroit Auto Show is a longstanding tradition that brings the community, consumers, car enthusiasts and our employees together,” said Mark Truby, Ford chief communications officer. “We’re excited to return this September and look forward to making a splash with some of our most iconic and important new vehicles.”
With all the attention on EVs, however, the Detroit Three aren’t taking their foot off the gas pedal when it comes to internal combustion engines that are fueling their EV investments.
In an indication of the industry’s new venue opportunities, there will also be Jeep, Ford Bronco and Chevy truck displays at Detroit 4fest off-road event in Holly Oaks — just 50 miles up I-75 from Huntington Place — the weekend before NAIAS media days.
In addition to media reveals, the Detroit show will host a two-day Mobility Global Forum to spotlight leading mobility voices from industry and government. AutoMobili-D, the show’s technology showcase presented by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, will feature startup high-tech companies and leading universities.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: At full gallop in the high-tech, high-performance 2024 Mustang
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 25, 2023
Los Angeles — Angeles Crest Highway north of LA is hardly angelic. This is California’s version of Michigan’s Hell.
Like the writhing byways of Hell north of Ann Arbor, Angeles Crest Highway — aka State Route 2 — is where Southern Cal motorheads escape to put their sports cars to the test. Diabolical switchbacks. Diving turns. A ribbon of road wrapped around sheer canyons. Push the limits and you’ll quickly learn your steed’s envelope. Once upon a time, this was harrowing territory in a Ford Mustang with its boat-anchor V-8 up front and inflexible, solid rear axle out back. No more.
WAAAUUUUURRGGHH! I stomped on the accelerator of the new 2024 Mustang GT at the apex of a blind left-hand turn. Nicely balanced, the coupe tracked out to the edge of the road as I set up for yet another lefthander rushing into view. Hands never leaving the wheel, I toggled TRACK mode with my left thumb for more stiffening from the magnetic shocks. Computer-game quality graphics projected a horizontal, race-style tachometer so I could more precisely shift the steering paddles. WAAAUUUUURRGGHH! Back on the gas.
I drive a lot of new cars every year and few generate lust. Ford’s pony is an exception. The seventh-generation Mustang is a must-have.
Viscerally appealing, wildly capable, high-tech, and (relatively) affordable, the 2024 is a home run — the culmination of 60 years of customer marketing wrapped in state-of-the-art engineering. It didn’t have to be. Ford could have just mailed it in.
In this era of off-road SUV-mania and stifling emissions regulations, the V8-powered muscle car segment is endangered. After the 2024 model year, only Mustang will be left standing, its primary Dodge Challenger/Charger and Chevy Camaro competitors retired to pasture for terrorizing too many polar bears.
But like the “Top Gun: Maverick” sequel, Mustang is a blockbuster with enough action to satisfy multiple demographics: young, old, female, male, motorhead, rent-a-car tourist.
Start with the interior — yes, I’m talking about the interior of a Mustang first. This used to be the last place ‘Stang would invest its budget with its slab dash, uncomfortable seats, hard plastics, and good ol’, retro, double instrument display. The heck with that.
Designer Chris Walter throws around the word “transformative,” and for good reason. This interior is more BMW than old-school Mustang. A 25.6-inch, driver-centric, hoodless screen dominates the cabin and houses twin digital displays. Sure, there are budget constraints — the screen doesn’t get the reflective coating of the $80,000 Bimmers I’ve recently wheeled. But even BMW enthusiasts will drool over the Unreal Engine graphical interface — yes, the same 3D Unreal Engine software that runs Epic Games’ titles like Rocket League and Fortnite — games my sons grew up with. The next-generation Mustang customer has been served.
Sports cars are big toys and Unreal Engine brings a new play set to the cabin to customize drive modes and instrument displays. Or you can just ogle 360-degree graphics of your car. Interior design complements the tech with simple lines, buttons, and wireless charger port for Android Auto/Apple CarPlay.
My favorite interior toy used to be the stick shift, and I’m thrilled the GT still comes standard with a six-speed (#SaveTheManual!), but the liquid-smooth, 10-speed automatic transmission comes with a growing list of benefits that make it the driver’s choice at $1,595. Chief among these is it pairs with the V-8, like Astaire and Rogers, for dancing through the twisties.
Then add launch control, paddle shifters, drifting and remote revving. The latter toys will wow your friends. Join a local drift club and learn the ropes. Remote-start the Mustang, then use the key fob to rev the engine. Dude.
The interior customization mirrors the exterior customization that Mustang customers have long enjoyed. Hmmm, shall I get Atlas Blue with white Shelby stripes or Oxford White with black stripes? The seventh-gen adds more goodies like 12 wheel options, colorful Brembo brake calipers and blacked-out roof.
All that bling would be wasted if the Mustang didn’t have curb appeal, and the ’24 delivers. This is Tom Cruise in a muscle shirt.
I liked the last-gen Mustang that expanded to 120-plus countries with a more European design. But the faithful (like my friend and ‘Stang GT350 owner Chris) protested it as the “Mustang Fusion.” The new-gen is edgier, more muscular with a wide mouth, brooding headlights and a rear fascia inspired by the ‘67 Fastback. Chris likes it.
Dress it in yellow, blue and red Skittle colors to show off the GT’s multiple tattoos: badging and multiple ducts to feed the beast within. The trusty, 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 has been redesigned with menacing, dual throttle bodies that will encourage open hoods at the Dream Cruise.
The hood itself is interrupted by a functional hood scoop that aids cooling and downforce. Developed in Ford’s state-of-the-art Dearborn wind tunnel, the added front downforce is part of a comprehensive effort to make ‘Stang more sports car than muscle car.
Once a Woodward dragster, the ‘15 Mustang’s independent rear suspension opened new horizons. This is now a true sports car and the ‘24 builds on that potential. Steering, shocks, aerodynamics — the parts have all been systematically upgraded to benefit the whole.
The result is a whole lot of joy in corners as well as in a straight line. My co-driver and fellow scribe Robin Warner — a former race driver and Mustang engineer — roared with delight every time he let loose the Coyote’s howl. But it’s the ability to stay in the throttle through the twisties that really thrills.
My yellow V-8 pony was easy to drive fast.
All these upgrades don’t come free, and Mustang gets a significant $3,500 price increase over the sixth-gen model. That means the 480-horsepower GT now stickers for well above $40,000 at a $43,090 starting price. That’s still $20K south of the 453-horse BMW M2 I just tested.
Ford expects the GT to soak up 55% of the sales volume. Coyote is addictive. But for those shopping on a sub-$40K budget, the entry-level, $32,515, 4-cylinder Mustang Ecoboost (ugh, that name) is no ordinary 4-banger.
This is a similar 2.3-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder used in Europe’s Focus RS hot hatch — and it has been thoroughly upgraded for 2024. “Base turbo-four engine fails to excite,” lamented our friends at Car and Driver about the last gen. Problem solved.
Other sports cars’ turbo-4s — the Porsche 718 comes to mind — have disappointed as they strive to satisfy mpg nannies. Mustang’s turbo-4 is Son of Coyote with its playful growl, 350-pound feet of torque (just 65 shy of big brother), and a lighter front end for better handling.
Go topless and that handling confidence goes away. Absent the roof, the ‘Stang is uncertain in fast switchbacks. But that’s not why you buy the convertible. You buy it to cruise the Woodward Dream Cruise, soak up sun, or enjoy a lake breeze in Traverse City.
Mustang has its demerits. You have to take your legs off to sit in the back seat (can we get a Mustang sedan to replace the Dodge Charger, please?), and a head-up display option would be nice. But with the 2024 model, Mustang has matured for a new era.
As the scion of a sub-brand that now includes the Mach-E SUV, ‘Stang is fun, high tech — and, like Tom Cruise, still hot.
2024 Ford Mustang
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, four-passenger sports car
Price: $32,515 base, including $1,595 destination ($53,635 Ecoboost Convertible and $60,840 GT as tested)
Power plant: 2.3-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder; 5.0-liter V-8
Power: 315 horsepower, 350 pound-feet of torque (Turbo-4); 480 horsepower, 415 pound-feet of torque (V-8)
Transmission: Six-speed manual (GT only); 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.9 seconds (Motor Trend est.)
Weight: 4,012 pounds (GT as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 22 mpg city/33 mpg highway/26 mpg combined (turbo-4): 14 mpg city/23 mpg highway/17 mpg combined (V-8)
Report card
Highs: Good engine lineup; transformed, high-tech interior
Lows: Cramped back seat; gets pricey with options
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Payne: Flat out in the bonkers Toyota GR Corolla
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 21, 2023
Pontiac — You want a diverse, full-line model lineup?
This June at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, the 986-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Toyota GR (for Gazoo Racing) Hypercar battled the Ferrari 499F Hypercar tooth and nail for first place in the world’s most prestigious endurance race. The same week, I lapped the 300-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Toyota GR Corolla around M1 Concourse, Metro Detroit’s premier race track.
Yes, Toyota has gone bonkers.
Led by racing fanatic and Chairman Akio Toyoda, Toyota has emerged in recent years as one of the most dynamic brands in the industry as its lineup is now augmented by two sports cars — the Supra and 86 — and a raft of Gazoo Racing (GR) models inspired by the hypercar that won five Le Mans in a row and just missed out on No. 6 last month against competitors like Ferrari, Porsche and Cadillac.
Maybe the craziest experiment in the lab is the GR Corolla, which has transformed Toyota’s entry-level sedan appliance into a fire-breathing, steroid-fed hot hatch boasting 187 horsepower per liter from a turbocharged, 1.6-liter 3-cylinder engine blown out of its mind.
The GR-eatest of the batch is the limited-edition, track-focused Morizo model that I began my Monday with.
“I think that’s the fastest a Corolla has ever gone around this track,” smiled general manager Keith Bonn, after I cranked off laps quicker than the GR 86 sports cars that M1 has in its track fleet.
“It may be the only Corolla that’s ever gone around this track,” I replied.
The Morizo manages such track feats thanks to a boost in torque to 295 (from the standard GR Corolla’s healthy 275), light-weighted body, Brembo brakes and sticky Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tires. Mostly it’s the Cup 2 tires. These marvelous meatballs are the summit of production performance tires and are normally found on supercars like the Chevy Corvette Z06 or Porsche GT3.
They are on the Morizo because, according to Toyota, that’s how Akio Toyoda would outfit this pitbull if he were to take it on track. I’m not making this up. In addition to the tires and torque, the Morizo gets extra chassis stiffening like a fat steel bar that bisects the cargo area. And there’s no back seat. What the —-?
That’s right, to save weight (and open up room for Akio to throw in four spare tires for the track) the GR Corolla Morizo has four doors — but only two front seats. More weight savings comes from a carbon fiber roof and forged wheels. For all this muscle (and inconvenience in the case of no rear seats), you can have this one-of-200-imported-to-the-U.S. Morizo special editions for a stiff $50,000.
And that’s not the only special-edition model. The Circuit Edition — also exclusive to the 2023 launch year — boasts similar power numbers and body tattoos like GR-Four stamped side rockers, flat underfloor and rear lip spoiler.
That’s how determined Toyota is to change its image as a maker of vanilla cars — and to make its mark in a hot hatch market segment stuffed with outstanding athletes: Honda Civic Type R, Mazda3 Turbo, Subaru WRX, Golf GTI, Golf R.
Collectibles aside, you’ll be fine with the standard GR Corolla like the $38,600 blood-red demon I terrorized Washtenaw County with last year. It features the same 12.3-inch digital instrument display as the Morizo and Circuit Editions. Same tablet infotainment display. Same wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 system surrounding you with useful safety tools like blind-spot assist. Just add the Performance Package so you get limited-slip differentials for maximum Rottweiler grip.
Don’t expect much legroom even with the rear seats intact — the GR’s biggest demerit when compared with roomier competitors like the Type R or WRX.
Unlike Subaru’s hellion, GR Corolla does not come by its all-wheel-drive character naturally. The Corolla was born a front-wheel driver. But like its hatch brethren, the GR Corolla is totally transformed from the base car into an exhilarating grocery cart that can also double as a track car on weekends.
I recently raced at Canadian Motorsports Park in Ontario in my Lola race car. Our weekend shared track time with production models like Mustangs, Camaros, Porsche Caymans — and hot hatches like the Fiat 500 Abarth and Honda Type R. The GR Corolla would have fit right in.
The 1.6-liter three is a remarkable piece of technology, and it has a stick shift (also not available in a base Corolla) to match. Notchy and easy to shift, it’s the perfect companion on track (or on country roads) with engine peak torque kicking in above 4,000 RPM. Pedal placement is excellent, too, for heel-and-toe downshifts — especially since the GR Corolla doesn’t offer rev-matching like some of its peers.
It’s nice to see Toyota in the pocket rocket game with GR. It’s the answer to the question no one was expecting: what would happen if the Le Mans GR Hypercar and a Corolla had a baby?
Next week: 2024 Ford Mustang
2023 Toyota GR Corolla
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive four-passenger hot hatch
Price: $36,995 base, including $1,095 destination ($51,420 Morizo edition as tested)
Power plant: 1.6-liter, turbocharged 3-cylinder
Power: 300 horsepower, 295 pound-feet of torque (as tested)
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.9 seconds (Car and Driver)
Weight: 3,186 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 21 mpg city/28 mpg highway/24 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: All-wheel-drive grip; notchy stick shift
Lows: Cramped back seat; no rev-match
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Steppin’ out: 2024 Cadillac XT4 gets fancier duds, mammoth screen
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 21, 2023
It’s nice to have big sister hand-me-downs.
For 2024 Cadillac’s entry-level SUV, the XT4, adopts wardrobe upgrades made popular by more expensive siblings, Cadillac Escalade and Lyriq. The Caddy’s wee interior now features a huge, 33-inch wide screen that spans the dash — housing digital instrument and infotainment displays.
The premium look helps the Caddy keep up with blingtastic midsize competitors like the Mercedes GLB, Audi Q3 and BMW X1, which have also expanded their screen real estate. Outside, the Caddy updates its signature vertical light show with thinner, state-of-the-art LEDs. Cadillac’s fascia maintains its vertical “tear drop” running lights, but the headlights have been moved to the middle of the fascia in keeping with current fashion. LED “eyebrows” are at hood level.
The small Caddy’s siblings have a lot to thank XT4 for as well. After decades of entry-level sedans, the XT4 opened the door to a new generation of Cadillac SUVs that now include the XT5 and XT6, as well as the iconic Escalade
“The XT4 continues to be a top-selling vehicle in its class, year over year,” said Executive Vice President and President, GM North America Rory Harvey. “Now with enhancements including our 33-inch-diagonal display and new safety features, it will further demand a second look.”
The XT4 was the fourth best-selling vehicle in segment last year with 21,773 unit sales — trailing only the Lexus NX, Mercedes GLB and Audi Q3.
GM’s Buick brand was first to the subcompact SUV segment with the Encore in 2013, and the XT4 didn’t follow until 2018, catching up with German competitors. The Encore has been replaced by the Envision, and the Cadillac will likely start some $15,000 north of the Buick.
For that premium, Cadillac’s luxury brand brings all-wheel-drive married to a much more powerful drivetrain: A 235-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder compared to the Buick’s 137-horse, 1.2-liter turbo-3. Cadillac is determined to go cold turkey off internal combustion vehicles this decade, so the XT4 is not offered in a hybrid, gas-electric model like the Lexus NX. It does not yet offer an all-electric option like the Volvo XC40 Recharge.
The XT4 model walk feature a Y-lineup with a base, Luxury model that then splits into two choices: Sport and Premium Luxury, depending on your vibe. Sport offer a more aggressive, black-and-carbon-fiber-trimmed SUV while Premium Luxury is more buttoned-up with exclusive grille, wheels, fascia, roof rails, side body accents and wood accents inside.
“The 2024 XT4’s exterior styling — with signature vertical lighting cues and enhancement s— advances Cadillac’s design standard,” said Bryan Nesbitt, executive director of Global Cadillac.
All three models come with the same drivetrain. Acceleration is brisk in the XT4 with 258 pound-feet of torque. The XT4 also boasts 3,500-pound towing capacity. Without a trailer out back, the XT4 is nimble for an SUV with dual-rear clutches that can throw 100% of rear torque to either side to prevent one wheel from spinning helplessly — in a Michigan snowstorm, for example — and get you moving again.
Inside, the XT4 translates its long, 109-inch wheelbase into one of the roomiest back seats in class. Rear occupants can also enjoy an optional moonroof. Other premium options include a 13-speaker, AKG Studio Audio System.
In addition to its big screen — now powered by Google Built-in, just like your phone’s navigation — XT4 offers the lates, standard safety and driver assistance tech, including blind-spot assist, rear cross-traffic braking, 5G WiFi hotspot capability, and lane-keep assist. Though GM has been aggressive in offering its hands-free, semi-autonomous Super Cruise suite on multiple models, there is no word yet on whether the XT4 will option that feature.
A new lineup of 18-and 20-inch wheels is on tap and three new exterior colors: Emerald Lake Metallic, Midnight Sky Metallic and Deep Sea Metallic.
Assembled in Kansas at GM’s Fairfax Assembly facility, the 2024 XT4 goes on sale this summer.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: That’s a Buick? Envista’s entry-level luxury
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 21, 2023
Ann Arbor — The entry-level, subcompact Encore redefined the Buick brand. The Envista makes it a contender.
I mean, just look at the thing. A lot of folks did as I flogged my Ocean Blue Metallic tester across the winding roads of Livingston County. Taking design cues from the elegant Buick Wildcat concept, this SUV enters the highway with a bullet-train nose framed by stylish peepers — then leaves you with a fastback view that’ll have you pedaling to catch up so you can remember her name.
Elle? Electra? Ember? Envista.
OK, got it. Why Buick didn’t stick with Encore is surprising since rebuilding badge equity in a competitive market is a daunting task. But Buick marketing chief Sam Russell said that the Envista’s dramatic evolution from the Encore necessitated a new name. Hard to argue.
Not only does Envista’s design put it in league with premium subcompacts like the BMW X1, Mercedes GLA and Cadillac XT4, but it does so for a startling $15,000 less. Like the original Encore that invented the subcompact SUV segment, Envista has found its sweet spot with a $26K subcompact SUV.
There is no Acura in the segment. No Infiniti. No Lincoln. That leaves still formidable competition from upwardly-mobile models like the Mazda CX-30 and VW Taos, which will test the Buick’s premium aspirations — especially as they offer an all-wheel-drive option. But they can’t match the Buick’s style and interior room.
Rather than equip Envista with AWD, Buick has paired the front-wheel-drive Envista with the all-wheel-drive Encore GX that also sports Buick’s new face. The Encore and Encore GX were similarly paired in the last generation. Curiously, though, Encore GX remains on the old cramped 102-inch wheelbase while Envista gets the new 106-inch wheelbase shared with the Chevy Trax, which has become a mainstream class contender in its own right.
Think of the Buick siblings the way BMW pairs its X1 and X2 coupe designs. But save for the AWD option, Envista is superior in every way to its more expensive stablemate. Despite its coupe-like roof, Envista still managed to fit my giraffe neck comfortably in the rear seat.
Rear legroom is palatial — nearly three inches more than GX and just half-an-inch less than the compact-class Buick Envision that starts — ahem — at $15,000 more than Envista. Maybe they should have called Envista the Envalue.
In due course for Buick, Envista comes with an upscale leather-bound Avenir model starting at $29,695, and a mid-level ST version at $25,195. I’d recommend the base Preferred model.
All trims come standard with state-of-the-art, eight-inch instrument and 11-inch infotainment displays sharing a lovely 19-inch curved dash screen. It’s paired with wireless Android Auto (and Apple CarPlay) that I used to navigate across the winding, hilly roads of southeast Michigan.
But the part I appreciated most was that my jumbo Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra smartphone — sheathed in a ZeroLemon battery case — fit easily onto the console’s fore charging cubby. Subcompact ute consoles are inherently compact, but Buick engineers have taken the time to make sure that any phone could fit the space so that it wouldn’t run out of charge while navigating. Take a bow, engineers.
This ergonomic attention to detail is impressive — and expected as the Buick uses the same parts bin as Cadillacs, GMC Sierras and other GM products.
That means my hands didn’t need to leave the wheel during my day’s drive. I managed adaptive cruise control with my left thumb (dancing across a pad of keys on the left steering wheel). I adjusted radio volume with my right forefingers (using twin pads on the right backside of the steering wheel). And for my favorite radio stations? I used my left forefingers to toggle the UP/DOWN tabs on the steering wheel’s left backside.
Envista sits confidently on the same chassis that undergirds the new Trax. In addition to the expanded wheelbase, the Envista grows in length by 14 inches over Encore and adds two cubic feet of cargo space. That package comes with the Envista’s greatest limitation: the drivetrain.
The Bimmers, Audi and Merc are more expensive in part because they provide substantially more power than Envista. A BMW X1 packs 241 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque from its perky, 2.0-liter turbo-four while the Buick uses the same 1.2-liter turbo-3 cylinder as the Chevy for, um, just 137 horses and 162 torque. Even the Mazda CX-30 buries the Buick with 186 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque from its 2.5-liter 4-banger. Upgrade to the Mazda’s 250-horse, 320-torque Turbo model and it’ll leave a Bimmer in its tracks with 5.4 second 0-60 run and nimble handling.
Buick figures its customers care more about fuel economy (30 mpg compared to the BMW’s 24) and a handsome dashboard than a 60-mph dash. “Quiet tuning” is the brand’s new mantra.
But with its compact size, Envista is hardly a wet noodle in the twisties. As I pushed hard across Livingston County, Envista proved tidy and its low-end torque adequate for jumping off corners — or merging into traffic on I-94. Where the three-banger gets winded is in the higher-rev ranges and its pokey, 8.8-second 0-60 mph time.
I’ve touted the $36K Mazda CX-30 Turbo as the best all-around SUV in the subcompact class for its combination of affordability, style and performance. But if the latter is not a priority, then my Envista Preferred weighs in at $26,295 — 10 grand below the Mazda while sporting comfortable power cloth/leatherette seats and all of Mrs. Payne’s must-have goodies: heated seats, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot assist, wireless smartphone.
And all-wheel drive, hon. It’s gotta have all-wheel drive for Michigan winters.
Oh, right. In that case, the smaller, $29,350 Encore GX would be your choice for northern climates. My guess is that the Encore GX will adopt the Envista’s longer wheelbase in a couple of years, offering a more complete package. And who knows, maybe Buick will get a performance engine option — that 2.7-liter turbo-four in the GMC Canyon looks tempting — to rival the Bimmer and Mazda.
If Buick can be remade as an SUV brand, a performance model isn’t too much to ask, is it?
Next week: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla
2024 Buick Envista
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive five-passenger SUV
Price: $23,495 base, including $1,095 destination ($26,295 Preferred as tested)
Power plant: 1.2-liter turbocharged inline-3 cylinder
Power: 137 horsepower and 162 lb.-ft. of torque
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.8 seconds (est.)
Weight: 3,030 pounds (Preferred) as tested
Fuel economy: est. 28 mpg city/32 mpg highway/30 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: Saks Fifth Avenue looks, Target price; superb interior ergonomics
Lows: Engine doesn’t match its looks; no AWD option
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Ambitious, SUV-focused Buick is not your grandma’s doddering sedan brand anymore
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 12, 2023
Ann Arbor — As the poster child for General Motors Co.’s radical transition to an all-electric vehicle manufacturer by 2035, Cadillac will be all-EV by 2030. To that end, Caddy has redesigned its logo, updated its design language, unveiled the sport-utility Lyriq EV, and introduced a halo, custom-built, $300,000 Celestiq electric sedan to compete with Rolls Royce. Whew.
But another GM premium brand is undergoing a transformation that is just as ambitious.
While Cadillac still churns out sedans in an SUV-obsessed marketplace, Buick has remade itself as an all-SUV brand, one of the first premium marques to do so. On top of that, Buick has also reskinned its logo and design language in anticipation of going all-electric by 2030. But wait, there’s more.
With the stylish 2024 Envista, Buick is positioning itself as a value brand, conquesting entry-level buyers with a subcompact SUV that begins at just $23,495 — a staggering $18,000 below an entry-level BMW X1.
“Back in 2019, just under 50% of the market was vehicles priced under $30,000. Fast forward to 2022 and that number was 15%,” said Buick marketing chief Sam Russell at the Envista’s media test drive here. “In our estimation, you’ve left an enormous amount of orphans in the marketplace looking for great product. (Envista) not only meets their technology, styling, and quality demands, but also at a price point they can afford.”
The strategy gives Buick a white space opportunity as industry pricing has accelerated out of reach of many buyers. The industry has flooded the market with pricey EVs (including the $60k Lyriq) to meet government regulations — and expensive trucks and SUVs to pay for them.
“Buick is in a good price position right now as pricing becomes more of an issue in a slowing economy,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director for S&P Global Mobility.
That’s a lot to put on the plate of a Buick brand that was gasping for air just 15 years ago as GM slipped under the waves of bankruptcy. The brand was saved — not by its domestic offerings — by the Chinese market, where Buick was a Top 5 seller in the 2000s. Buick’s U.S. push comes as its Chinese sales were off 18.2% last year to 677,938 units (though in a sign of Chinese taste for SUVs, Envision SUV sales topped 100,000). The brand’s U.S. sales, by comparison, slid 42.4% to 103,519.
On the positive side, Buick sales surged 48% in the second quarter of this year.
To meet its ambitions, Buick brought over Cadillac designer Bob Boniface and went back to a mid-20th century playbook when it was a cutting-edge brand.
“Buick was the first GM brand to build a concept car when Harley Earl introduced the 1938 Y-Job Concept. That was followed by a series of Wildcat concepts starting in 1953,” said Boniface. “For this new generation of Buick, we designed another Wildcat, which takes design cutes from the original Wildcat concept: low grille, high lamps, tusk-like accents. The Envista is the first full expression of the modern Wildcat.”
Boniface circled the Envista, his head sweeping over the attractive, coupe-like hatchback. Simple but elegant, the roofline, said the designer, was a signature of the 2022 Wildcat concept. Including the 19-inch screen that stretches across the interior dash, the sum total is a Buick that is instantly different from its predecessors, yet as affordable as a Subaru Crosstrek.
Russell acknowledged that Envista could have been an opportunity to introduce Buick customers to an affordable, $20,000-something EV in a market where the average electric vehicle retails for three times that. But with so much on the brand’s plate, he said it’s important that the brand set priorities.
“You will find people who only think we build sedans. That transformation (to SUVs) is already hard to follow,” he said. “We’re making sure we’re introducing the brand to people at all pricing levels, and right now an EV would not have been something we would have been able to accomplish.”
There are only two EVs sold under $30k in today’s market — the Nissan Leaf and retiring Chevy Bolt — and neither is from a premium brand. Defying industry predictions that lithium-ion prices would plummet, the average battery pack increased by 7% this year — to $151/kwh.
With internal combustion engine premium subcompacts priced at about $40k (the best-selling German subcompact, Audi Q3, is $37,995), Russell’s team saw the opportunity for a $23k Envista.
It continues Buick’s trend as a segment-buster.
In 2013, Buick introduced the Encore, a tiny SUV so adorable and affordable it maintained a Top 3 sales position even as mainstream brands like Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet entered the segment. Combined with the Enclave in the large three-row segment, the Encore remade the octogenarian sedan brand as an SUV maker. The subcompact Encore GX — similarly-sized to Envista but with all-wheel-drive for northern climates — and compact Envision SUVs filled out the revamped lineup as Buick sedan staples like the Regal were put out to pasture.
The strategy has borne fruit with GM’s Global Brand Tracking Study, which showed just 7% of consumers in 2014 were considering Buick for their next vehicle. That figure improved to 11% in 2022.
“It has been a journey for the brand beginning in 2013 with Encore,” said Russell. “We saw the transition going on in the industry, and we were ahead of the curve” in going all-SUV.
We’ve become the first exclusive premium SUV brand in the market since 2021.”
Getting that message across to shoppers (trading in, say, a Regal sedan) is key in a landscape transformed — not just by SUVs — but by technology like big screens and electronics.
“The Envista is super attractive,” said auto analyst Brinley. “Its objective is to sell to SUV buyers and sedan buyers coming back into the market. It’s a blend of sedan and SUV.”
Built on the same chassis as the Chevy Trax — also remade for ‘24 with striking design — the vehicles share interior switchgear and drivetrains. But while Chevy kept the Trax name, Buick decided to give its entry-level ute a new name, Envista.
“This vehicle is such as departure from what the Encore was, that ultimately it deserved a new name,” Russell said. “A lot of equity of the Encore (badge) translates to Encore GX — naming (the Envista) the Encore would have undervalued its uniqueness. We much preferred that the customer would come in with a blank slate.”
Transitioning to an all-EV brand in just six years will bring more challenges.
General Motors, like other automakers, faces hundreds of millions of dollars in fines if it doesn’t hit government sales targets for EVs. Yet, Buick clearly sees the Envista’s market as ICE, and changing it to battery power in just six years would be a massive marketing and logistical undertaking.
“Consumers aren’t ready for the market to go all-electric,” said Brinley, noting that EV sales have stalled this year at about 7% market share, while EV inventories have stacked up on dealer lots. “Driving an EV requires a level of flexibly from customers, including having a house in which to charge. That’s why premium brands are going EV first because their customers are better able to absorb the cost.”
Buick customers, however, have an eye for luxury — but at an affordable price. Brinley said that means Envista and three-row Enclave buyers need the dexterity of gas-powered vehicles.
Buick’s first electric vehicle, the Electra — due for the 2025 model year — is an aspirational vehicle likely to be priced over $50,000. For now, Buick wants to fill showrooms with SUV buyers who may one day buy an EV.
“The Envista shows what we can offer at 23 grand and will keep customers in the brand as they go through different life stages,” said Russell. “So you can move up to an all-wheel-drive GX, larger Envision, or maybe your family got real big overnight and you need an Enclave.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Bronco vs. Wrangler: Mud wrestlers replace road racers in the car wars
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 12, 2023
The sun is setting on Detroit’s Camaro vs. Challenger vs. Mustang muscle-car war. Say hello to the new enthusiast battleground: Bronco vs. Wrangler.
Following Ford Motor Co.’s challenge to America’s perennial off-road king with the 2021 Bronco, Stellantis NV’s iconic off-road brand Jeep has responded for the 2024 model year with an array of updated Wranglers. Bigger screen, available winch, expansion of its class-exclusive plug-in hybrid model. Game on. The two brands are hard at it with Wrangler still dominant, but Bronco already selling a healthy 100,000-plus units a year.
In features and mission, the dueling gladiators are similar: soft-top roofs, massive all-terrain tires, removable doors and top-trim models so capable they might climb the face of Mt. Rushmore. But their differences — and brand loyalty — inspire a passion from their tribes that is expanding the segment.
“I definitely wanted a Wrangler,” said Sam Taylor, 34, of Sterling Heights who bought her first Jeep in April, a pre-owned 2018 Sport model with big, 33-inch, all-terrain tires. “The Bronco is trying too much to be like Wrangler. I think Jeeps are more fun, more reliable — and the community is a great group of people.”
Andrea Dunn, on the other hand, saw the Bronco as the more reliable choice after owning a Ford F-150 Raptor performance pickup. “I never owned a Wrangler, but the Bronco is more capable and has a better suspension,” she said of her new Bronco Raptor. “The Ford is more capable of high-speed off-roading.”
The epic showdown between the industry’s two most capable, ladder-frame mid-size SUVs (General Motors Co. does not have a horse in the race) comes as America’s pony-car conflict shrivels — a victim of declining sales and green government rules that punish low mpg, V8-powered cars. After taking a hit of $711 million in federal fines, Dodge is leaving the segment after the 2024 model year and Chevy’s Camaro is following suit as GM focuses on an electric future. With an all-new, seventh-generation model for 2024, Ford’s Mustang is the last pony standing.
Brian Salkowski once coveted muscle cars; now he wants Broncos.
“Go back to our high school days and everyone dreamed about two-door sports cars,” said the 51-year-old Birmingham resident. “Now the Bronco is cool like a sports car, but it’s way more practical.”
Veteran auto analyst and muscle-car-owner Karl Brauer of iSeeCars concurs. “You were the cool kid in high school if you drove up in a Mustang GT — probably subsidized by your parents,” he said. “Today a Wrangler or Bronco with (big tires) is the cool car to have.”
Salkowski previously owned a Jaguar XF sports sedan and Ford Explorer ST (the high horsepower, twin-turbo V-6 version of the three-row SUV) before he bought his Bronco Badlands model complete with macho, 35-inch-tire Sasquatch package.
“I just love the look,” smiled Salkowski. “When I saw it, I had to have it.”
Lots of customers have had to have the Bronco. Despite initial quality issues, the Ford SUV’s sales have been red hot — reaching 117,057 units in 2022, its first full year of production. That is nearly on par with the rugged Toyota 4Runner (a third, less-capable competitor in the midsize, off-road SUV segment) though well-shy of King Wrangler’s 181,409 sales.
While Bronco has pirated sales from its competitors — Wrangler was down 11% in 2022 from the year before, and 4-Runner was down 16% to 121,023 units — analysts say the net effect is that Bronco is growing the segment by satisfying customer demand. Year-over-year, the segment of three grew from 384,329 units in 2021 to 419,489 in 2022.
Andrea and Dan Dunn of Flushing fit the description of class newcomers. Loyal Ford owners with a taste for dirt, they weren’t interested in purchasing a Jeep. But when Ford introduced the similar Bronco, they pounced.
“I was raised on Fords. I used to own a Ford F-150 Raptor, and the Raptor has proven capabilities,” said Andrea of the couple’s Bronco Raptor — the ute’s most muscular trim with 418-horsepower from a twin-turbo V-6. “The Bronco has better comfort, better suspension — and it’s much more capable at high speed.”
She and husband Dan, both 51, travel the country in their Bronco Raptor — just as they did in the F-150 Raptor — to extreme environments like the Baja Peninsula, where they provide drone support for off-road racing teams.
“Jeeps are more for low-speed rock crawling, but we need the Bronco Raptor for high speed, too. Its Fox shocks are capable for everything,” said Dan Dunn. Closer to home, they work with Midwest Off-Road Expeditions to take groups of enthusiasts on Michigan trail tours such as “Coast to Coast” from Oscoda to Silver Lake. Participants include owners of Broncos, Wranglers and trail-focused pickups.
This overlanding phenomenon — turbocharged by the COVID pandemic — helped boost the popularity of off-road vehicles. A cottage industry has blossomed around overlanding, including Midwest Off-Road Expedition tours, popular Overland International off-road personality Scott Brady, and new publications like OVR magazine.
Sterling Heights’ Taylor is a member of the Michigan chapter of Jeep Babes — 4,000-strong in-state with 20,000 members nationally — that meets regularly. She previously owned a Chevrolet Trax, and the Wrangler has opened her to a whole new world. She’s enjoyed events like Jeep-the-Mac (a Jeep parade that drives across the Mackinac Bridge to Drummond Island in the Upper Peninsula) and The Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Club Invasion in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
“Jeep Babes is a strong group of independent women who work on our own Jeeps,” said the mother of three, who modified her Wrangler with a 1.5-inch suspension lift. She’s taken off-road classes at Holly Oaks ORV Park, where her 13-year-old daughter and two 7-year old boys like to ride shotgun.
Conspicuously missing from the segment are General Motors’ Chevy and GMC brands. Though the SUV/truck brands don’t have legacy badges to match Jeep (with roots in World War II) or Bronco (debuted in 1966), GM has a capable, mid-size ladder frame platform used by the rugged Chevy Colorado ZR2 and GMC Canyon AT4X pickups.
“The Trailblazer was a missed opportunity,” said analyst Brauer of the subcompact, unibody-based SUV that Chevy debuted in 2021. “They should have put that on the Colorado truck chassis, and it probably would be selling in big numbers by now.”
Brauer said GM’s obsession with an all-electric future is consuming most of its capital.
“If ever there was a time to jump into the off-road segment, now would be the time,” said the iSeeCars analyst, noting that the mid-size, off-road SUV segment is a profit machine with Jeep, for example, spanning Wrangler trims from the $34,000 Sport to the $96,000 Rubicon 392. “The public appetite for off-roading has been revealed with the success of Wrangler and Bronco — even 4Runner does well despite … its aging, 2009 chassis. Chevy could have drawn from its own massive base of enthusiasts.”
Ex-Chevy Trax owner Taylor’s enthusiasm has been so infectious that her husband, Ryan Wheater, also bought a Wrangler. His old wheels? You guessed it, a muscle car.
“He’s transformed into a Jeep fan too,” said Taylor. “So he sold his Mustang and bought a 2009 Wrangler 2-door with 35s.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Muscle Truck Wars: GMC Canyon AT4X AEV is latest entry as performance pickups displace muscle cars
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 6, 2023
The golden age of the muscle car may be ending, but the golden age of the performance pickup is just gaining steam.
GMC introduced the 2024 Canyon AT4X AEV Edition Thursday, adding more muscle to the midsize truck class that includes the Ford Ranger Raptor, Jeep Gladiator Mojave/Rubicon, Toyota Tacoma TRD, and sister Chevrolet Colorado ZR2.
Like the waning muscle car segment (Camaro and Challenger are headed out the door at the end of this year), these midsize trucks inject $30,000 vehicles with legal steroids to create performance beasts pushing $60,000. While the price of the premium GMC brand’s AEV Edition won’t be released until later this year, expect a sticker in the $70,000 neighborhood. That’s a spread on par with the Camaro ZL1’s $75,000 price tag but with much greater sales volumes as GMC expects AT4-variation trucks to reach 40% of sales.
“We expect the majority of Canyon sales to be AT4 and AT4X sales as we push further into the performance segment,” said GMC Trucks Senior Marketing Manager Patrick Finnegan at the AEV Edition’s media reveal. “And the AEV is the most capable Canyon we’ve ever produced from the factory.”
Th off-road weapon is armed to the teeth with state-of-the-art features.
Following in the footsteps of its similarly-equipped big brothers, AT4X AEV Sierra and Sierra HD, the Canyon AEV wears a suit of Boron steel body armor with five plates protecting its underbelly from the elements. The 10-millimeter-thick, heat-treated, hot-stamped steel plates protect the front nose, steering arms, transfer case, fuel tank, and rear differential from off-road obstacles.
In addition, the front and rear bumpers are steel to protect against severe impacts—and to allow for increased 38.2-degree approach and 26.9-degree departure angles. The front bumper is winch capable, a feature that can be ordered straight from the factory. The rear bumper features heavy-duty-capable tow hooks and removable corners for easy removal before hitting the trails.
More elevation is provided by huge, 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory MT tires (wrapped around AEV beadlock-capable Salta wheels) that give the Canyon best-in-class, 12.2 inches of ground clearance (a 1.5-inch increase over the already capable AT4X that was first introduced for the 2023 model year) and 26-degree breakover angle.
Paired with locking front/rear differentials, Multimatic shocks, and the Canyon’s 310 horsepower/430 pound-feet of torque turbo-4 mill and the AT4X AEV is primed to make performance shoppers forget about muscle cars.
Indeed, there is evidence that muscle car owners are opting for muscle trucks. Both segments are dominated by American icons, both tend to be discretionary buys. That is, customers don’t need the vehicles for daily utility, they want them.
“The pony cars… a lot of them got traded in (for Jeeps). Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, and even our Dodge Challenger,” Jeep marketing guru Scott Tallon told Muscle Cars & Trucks.
The muscle-car-for-muscle-truck/SUV has also played out in SUVs like the 707-horsepower Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. “You saw other performance cars come into play… early on the Nissan GT-R popped really high on the list for competitive trades,” Tallon told the publication.
As if to drive home the point, 2024 AT4X models boast launch control just like a muscle car. Flatten the brake and accelerator pedals at the same time, release the brake pedal, and all four wheels will launch out of a Woodward stoplight.
The macho AEV editions—now available on all GMC truck offerings—have come quickly to a brand previously know for its posh Denali sub-brand.
“The GMC Canyon AT4X is an incredibly formidable platform when it comes to on- and off-road performance and capability,” said AEV CEO and founder Dave Harriton. “This truck checks a lot of boxes for any discerning overland enthusiast looking for luxury, technology and capability.”
In addition to the added muscle, the AEV Edition gains a new fascia, AEV branding on the seats and all-weather floor liners, and GM’s latest, so-called Ultifi software platform.
AEV marketing chief Matt Felderman said the GMC/EV partnership makes a powerful team that will be a formidable competitor against other mid-size trucks.
“The Canyon AT4X AEV is designed by enthusiasts for enthusiasts,” he said of his off-road-focused company. “The upgrades here are essential for a technical off-road truck. Details like the 35-inch tire — which are a big deal for a factory truck — have been integrated into the drive experience to offer quiet as well as trail capability.”
The Canyon is assembled at GM’s Wentzville, Missouri plant, and the AT4X AEV Edition is expected to be available for customer orders later this year. The Camaro may be headed out the back door, but the General’s midsize trucks are kicking in the front door.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Payne: M2 or M23? Bimmer’s supercar siblings face off
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 6, 2023
Pontiac, Michigan — The BMW M3 and M2 are not just the brand’s performance halos, they are the latest inductees to the supercar club. With 450-plus horsepower and handling from the gods (not to mention entries from Rahal Letterman Racing in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship GT class), they deserve consideration alongside rear-engine coupes like the Corvette C8 and Porsche 911.
But how different are the Bimmer siblings from one another?
For 2024, compact-class M3 (and its M4 coupe twin) vs. subcompact-class M2 are instantly distinguishable by their radically different design experiments. But under the skin, they appear separated at birth. Same manual/automatic gearbox options, similar twin-turbo inline-6 engines, same mono-pane dash display, same Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires.
Is the smaller M2 still the better driver’s car? I took an automatic, all-wheel-drive 502-horse M3 Competition and manual, rear-wheel-drive 453-horse M2 to Hell and back (and to M1 Concourse’s Champion Raceway and back) for a taste test of these meaty dishes.
Both M3 and M2 have spent a lot of time at the dinner table, bucking up to nearly two tons. Yes, the M2, too.
Enthusiasts lamented that the G80 generation M3 not only gained front kidneys the size of Tweedledum and Tweedledee — but the girth to match. The M3 tipped the scales 230 pounds more than its predecessor. For 2024 M2 designers resisted the big kidneys for a chiseled, square look, but it, too, has porked up by 250 pounds over the last-gen coupe to 3,814 pounds—just 70 shy of big brother. Oof.
Credit bigger dimensions, bigger screen, bigger everything (except, lamentably the miniature backseat). Happily, the latest-gen cars have spent a lot of time in the gym to maintain their coordination. Supercar coordination.
Over the daunting, undulating roads of Hell, Michigan, in Sports Plus mode, the M pair were stupid quick. Gulping ribbons of asphalt, they stuck to the road like black on asphalt. Lack of body roll at (speed deleted to keep my license) recalled the precision of a Corvette C8 — if not quite the Porsche 911’s poise.
A big asset of the M3/M2 is M MODE, which turned the head-up display into a horizontal, digital engine tachometer. Every performance car should have this feature to keep your eyes on the road when using a stick-or-paddle-shift at speed. Add optional all-wheel drive and 503 horsepower for the M3 Competition trim and it delivered impressive acceleration numbers.
Engage launch control and the sedan explodes out of the blocks to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds — a comparable number to the 911 and ‘Vette. The M3 Comp’s sticker price is a lofty $83,595 with all-wheel drive (the first-ever M3 so offered) — nearly double the price of the standard $45K 3-series. But as a supercar, that it is a bargain on par with the Corvette C8 ZR2, and $20K cheaper than a 911.
The M2’s stick shift (also available in the M3) gave me more control, if less raw acceleration. The visceral thrill of rowing the 2’s box to redline was complemented by a much-improved, notchier shifter than previous generations. At $20K less than an M3, advantage to M2.
But with four doors and more rear legroom over the tight M2, the M3 is a supercar you can pack the family in. Advantage M3.
After a day in Hell, the M killer whales had outgrown their rural pond. I would routinely flirt with triple-digit speeds before backing off to avoid attracting attention. Like their supercar peers, there is more performance here that can only be explored on a race track.
On M1 Concourse in Pontiac, the Bimmers were nimble despite their girth. The chassis have multiple cross braces to add rigidity while suspension tuning keeps the cars hunkered down in high-speed turns. Accelerating out of M1’s Turn 6 hairpin in second gear in the M3, the aforementioned head-up tach flashed yellow lights when it was time to shift at 7,200 RPM. BRAP! I upshifted into third with the right, steering-wheel-mounted paddle. BRAP! Into fourth. Beautiful.
Though BMW uses a single-clutch transmission, it’s as buttery smooth as Porsche’s famed dual-clutch boxes. I hit 120 mph at the end of the straight in the M3 — 114 mph in the M2 — before giant 15-inch brakes brought the missiles back to earth. My M3 tester had ceramic brakes optioned for $8,500 (cough), but steelies will do just fine.
Don’t get the $4,500 carbon-fiber competition seats either. They are the most uncomfortable I’ve sat in. They keep you planted on track, sure — but so do plastic go-kart seats. After my 3-hour round trip to Hell and back, my back was barking so loud I had to lay down. Stick with the standard bolstered leather thrones.
Onlookers lamented the mild external sound of the Ms at speed, but inside they’re satisfying. The twin-turbo inline-6’s acceleration is ballistic, exploding from its 2,750 torque peak all the way to redline (thus the importance of that head-up tac). Upshifts crackle, downshifts burp like Godzilla enjoying a good meal. Standard are the Sport 4S tires, but super-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber (or slicks) are preferred for track days.
Interiors use identical tech with a lovely curved screen encompassing a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 14.9-inch infotainment screen. Voice commands are inconsistent.
“Go to Hell, Michigan,” I said. The BMW routed me to Hillman, MI. Sigh. I switched to Android Auto.
Other tech upgrades hit their mark. The M3’s automatic mono-shifter (also available in the M2) was tight, intuitive. The touchscreen meant I never had to fool with the rotary iDrive. And I could scroll through radio stations on the head-up display using steering-wheel controls so my eyes never left the road.
Styling is subjective, but I think the M3’s big maw will wear better than M3’s Lego blocks — as will its four-door utility. Um, assuming you have a extra 20 grand in your pocket. Which M to recommend? Let me tease a third option.
At 3,489 pounds, the last-gen 445-horsepower M2 CS is the best handling BMW driver’s car I’ve piloted. With a better power-to-weight ratio and armed with a stick, it’s more tossable than the heavy 2024 model. The stick shift is rubbery but time behind the wheel begats familiarity.
Styling is timeless — no trendy, art school design experiments here. Wide kidneys and a sleek, muscular body. The trick is to find one since the 2020 CS was only built for one model year. See you in Hell.2023 BMW M2
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive four-passenger sports coupe
Price: $62,200 base, including $995 destination charge ($75,345 as tested)
Power plant: 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged, inline 6-cylinder
Power: 453 horsepower, 406 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.8 seconds (Car & Driver, manual as tested)
Weight: 3,814 pounds (manual)
Fuel economy: EPA 16 mpg city/24 mpg highway/19 mpg combined (manual); EPA 16 mpg city/23 mpg highway/19 mpg combined (automatic)
Report card
Highs: Improved six-speed manual shifter; M MODE head-up display
Lows: Overweight; polarizing design
Overall: 3 stars
2023 BMW M3
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear and all-wheel-drive five-passenger sports sedan
Price: $75,295 base, including $995 destination ($109,695 Competition as tested)
Power plant: 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged inline 6-cylinder
Power: 503 horsepower, 479 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic (only auto in Competition model)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 2.8 seconds (Competition model, Car and Driver)
Weight: 3,929 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 16 mpg city/22 mpg highway/18 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: Explosive all-wheel-drive acceleration; roomier second-row than M2
Lows: Gets pricey; polarizing grille
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Payne: Mighty Jeep Wrangler army fights Bronco with more tech, huge tires
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 29, 2023
St. George, Utah — When I was a kid in West Virginia, my friends and I would play in a sandbox with Tonka trucks and Matchbox cars. Six decades later, not much has changed.
But the toys are better.
Bouncing through the red sand of Sand Hollow State Park in Utah, I floored the 470-horsepower V-8 in the 2024 Jeep Wrangler 392 Rubicon and the rear-end sluiced right, my passenger hanging on to the “Oh, crap!” bar on the front console for dear life. WAUUURRGGHHH! went the V-8. HAHAHAHA! went my media colleague. Jeep knows where our inner children live.
The off-road sandbox has become more crowded in the last few years as Americans have gone bonkers for SUVs, trucks and their performance counterparts. Chevrolet has introduced more ZR2 off-road trucks, GMC its AT4 brutes and Toyota its TRD models, but the marquee matchup — the toys all the cool kids want — are the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, which have locked horns in a death match that is better than Holyfield vs. Tyson. I’m pretty sure ears will be bitten off.
With the muscle-car segment shriveling between the approaching walls of low consumer demand and government emissions edicts, Wrangler vs. Bronco has replaced Camaro vs. Mustang as the new American toy war.
Ripping its shirt — er, doors — off just like Wrangler, the muscular upstart Bronco has revealed innovative class features like a rotary transfer-case dial, independent front suspension, dash-mounted controls and 37-inch all-terrain tires. It’s awesome. King Jeep hasn’t taken the competition lying down.
For 2024, the off-road world’s pioneer has responded with an army of updated, high-tech assault Wranglers that would send shivers down a foreign army’s spine.
From the two-door, $33,690, manual Sport to the athletic Willys, the posh Sahara, plug-in hybrid 4xe and my loaded $96K 392 Rubicon, the Wrangler lineup spans a luxury vehicle-like $65,000 price-spread that sweeps up customers from Moab marauders to green geeks.
Like muscle cars, Jeeps don’t come cheap, especially as you load these bots with the latest off-road weaponry to conquer sand, mud, rocks, boulders, streams and — um — Utah obstacles like Hot Tub on Hell’s Revenge (jeez, all we track guys gotta deal with is asphalt).
So allow me to recommend one of the more affordable mutts of the litter: the two-door Willys. My tester was $47K, but ditch the auto tranny and Safety Pack option — who needs blind-spot/park monitoring off-road? — and it’s yours for under $40K.
Call ‘em mutts because all Wranglers are mixed, retro/modern breeds. True to its name, my Willys tester traces its roots to the original Willys WWII Jeeps with two doors, stick shift, “Sarge” green military paint and drop-down front windshield. What, no machine gun in back? But my modern Willys would run circles around the ol’ man with its armored underbody plating, locking rear differential and yuuuuge all-terrain 33-inch BF Goodrich KO2 tires.
Add a bullmastiff-like charcoal face (exclusive to Willys) and my mutt was cute as a puppy and as playful to boot. With the soft roof peeled back, we flopped around town, my cap blowing off somewhere along State Route 7. Willys looks tough with its outsized 33s, but its short, two-door configuration meant it was easy to park while still offering a healthy back seat for friends.
More mutt? Like every 2024 model beginning with the Sport and Sport S models below Willys, mine came equipped with a handsome horizontal dash housing a 12.3-inch Uconnect 5 touchscreen right out of a top-breed Wagoneer. Wranglers equipped with navigation get an “Adventure Guide” so you find long trails and navigate them with your screen. Man, these off-roaders are getting’ fancy. Next, they’ll have showers.
Along the north rim of Sand Hollow, I grunted across trails and scrub before coming upon a gaggle of ATVs plowing through sand to a rocky plateau.
Easy, Payne. Your knobby tires are still aired up to 40 PSI.
To go deeper into Mother Nature with more cargo room, air your 33s down to 20 PSI. Or get a four-door, four-wheel-drive Rubicon with twin-locking differentials and detachable front rollbar like my High Velocity White $60,350 tester (delete the WARN winch and steely bumpers and the sticker drops to $55K). With traction at all four corners, 11-inch ground clearance, and 44-degree approach angle, this beast can climb Devils Tower.
Shift into neutral, yank the T-case shifter back to four-wheel-low, detach the sway-bar on the lower console and you’re ready to go. Bronco drivers will recoil at this antique dance, which the Ford has updated with a console dial and high-dash buttons. Wrangler prides itself on old-school controls — including its signature solid front axle. Want some ear biting? Get Wrangler and Bronco dudes to debate axles.
On our media test trip, Rubicons crawled all over the landscape at impossible angles (aided by forward-facing cameras). But where the trail ends and the asphalt begins, my Rubicon soft top is more civil than its forebear. Connected to the car by Bluetooth, I called Mrs. Payne 2,000 miles away in Michigan and she came through as clear as if she were sitting next to me. Credit laminated glass and interior insulation — plus a seven-microphone array — that’s lowered interior noise by 15 decibels.
Will it work with the top down and doors off? No, silly. Neither is Wrangler as smooth on road as the independent-front-suspension Bronco.
Where Wrangler got smoother was in the $76,000 4xe plug-in model — which reaches out to green buyers who will find Jeep’s growly, gas-fed V-6 immoral, yet still need a gas engine to get them to the remote havens of Utah or Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With 21 miles of battery range on tap, I drove silently around St. George — the electric motor even regenerating extra miles when the range hit zero.
The 4xe will also regenerate $7,500 of the 4xe’s $10,000 premium back to your wallet if you lease the 4xe — no matter the price tag, no matter your income. Call it green for greenies.
I doubt 4xe and 392 owners will go to the same cocktail parties. But they may wind up at the same off-road parks like, say, the white sand of Silver Lake on Michigan’s west side. Imagine a 392 — WAUUURRGGHHH! — slinging sand past a silent 4xe — SSSHHHHH!
That’s my kind of sandbox.
Next week: BMW showdown – M3 or M2?
2024 Jeep Wrangler
Vehicle type: Front-engine, ladder-frame chassis, four-wheel-drive four-passenger SUV
Price: $33,690 base, including $1,795 destination ($47,675 Willys, $60,350 Rubicon, $67,935 Rubicon X 4xe and $95,945 Rubicon 392 as tested)
Power plant: 3.6-liter V-6, 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 cylinder, 2.0-liter turbocharged plug-in hybrid with turbo-4 mated to 14 kWh battery and electric motor, 6.4-liter Hemi V-8
Power: 285 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque (V-6), 270 horsepower and 295 pund-feet of torque (turbo-4), 375 horsepower, 470 pound-feet of torque (hybrid), 470 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque (V-8)
Transmission: Six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.0 seconds (Rubicon 392, Car and Driver); 5,000-pound tow capacity (turbo-4 and V-6)
Weight: 4,044 pounds (Willys) and 5,268 (392) as tested
Fuel economy: EPA est. 20 mpg city/21 mpg highway/21 mpg combined (turbo-4 2-door); 13 mpg city/16 mpg highway/14 mpg combined (6.4L V-8); 49 MPGe, 20 combined (4xe); 3.6L V-6 NA
Report card
Highs: Broad lineup of drivetrains, body styles, features, tires; upgraded tech
Lows: T-case takes some muscle; gets pricey
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Payne: Revology Mustang startup goes back to the future
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 24, 2023
Ann Arbor — Auto startups are all the rage this decade as entrepreneurs see a historic shift to electrified and autonomous vehicles. On the electric front, companies like Rivian, Fisker, Lightning eMotors, Lordstown and Vinfast aim to recreate the magic that made Tesla the industry’s highest-valued automaker. Tesla, meanwhile, dreams of a self-driving jackpot alongside startups Cruise, Waymo and Zooks, which are flooding select cities with the latest self-driving bots.
But while these automakers chase huge market caps for a new world order, other startups are going back to the future.
Startups like Revology, which is manufacturing a stable-full of classic 1960s Mustangs upgraded with state-of-the-art tech. If more startups follow (Los Angeles-based Singer Design does resto-mod Porsche 911s), it echoes the automotive future predicted by industry icon and ex-GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz in 2019.
“We are approaching the end of the line for the automobile because travel will be in . . . fully autonomous modules. You will call for it, input your destination and go to the freeway,” wrote Lutz in a much-buzzed-about Automotive News op-ed. “Like racehorse breeders, there will be manufacturers of race cars and sports cars and off-road vehicles. But it will be a cottage industry.”
Perhaps like the 51,000-square-foot Orlando “cottage” where Revology churns out its ponies. Now in its sixth year of production, Revology is growing with eight models to choose from, including best-sellers the1966 GT convertible and 1967 Shelby GT500 that I tested here. While the company has a sliver of the production orders from massive startups like California-based Rivian (not to mention market cap) it has moved production in-house and is nearly doubling output to 64 vehicles this year.
“Our customers want V-8 engines,” smiled CEO and founder Tom Scarpello from the right seat before I drowned him out by flattening the throttle and letting loose 710 horses down Huron River Drive.
With disposable income to buy Revology’s $200k-plus cars, Scarpello’s customers look a lot like Lutz’s “well-to-do (drivers who), to the amazement of all their friends, still know how to drive.”
Customers like Edsel Ford and Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford who — while touting an all-EV Ford future — makes no secret about his love for classic ponies. Bill Ford has a 1966 Revology GT Convertible on order.
“The V-8 engines are part of the experience. You just feel it,” said Scarpello after I brought the GT500 back to earth at a dull roar. “We talk to our customers about making EVs with classic Mustang bodies, but they don’t want electrification.”
What they want is that timeless Mustang style — our growling, ’67 GT500 stopped people in their tracks as we cruised through Ann Arbor — but without the hassle of owning an aging classic with 55-year-old wiring. They also want the latest amenities like a touchscreen, backup camera, Apple CarPlay, push-button start, and — well, Roush power.
Sourced from Roush in Livonia, the supercharged 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 under the hood puts out an astonishing 710 horsepower compared to the original’s 335.
The first company to license Ford and Shelby heritage models and refresh them with modern know-how, Revology offers these models for order on its website, just like a big automaker:
-1966 GT Convertible ($255,700)-1966 GT 2+2 Fastback ($263, 470)-1966 Shelby GT350 ($283,660)-1967 GT 2+2 Fastback ($249,855)-1967 Shelby GT350 ($271,950)-1967 Shelby GT500 ($320,600)-1968 GT 2+2 Fastback (248,345)-1968 GT500 KR ($320,600)
Scarpello knows muscle. He started in manufacturing with Ford in 1988 before going back to school for degrees in finance and marketing. Working for Ford’s SVT performance division from 1998-2004 — which inspired vehicles like the Ford GT — inspired Revology’s mission.
“That was a great time,” said Scarpello. “We worked at a company within a company. A lot of that philosophy I’ve adopted with Revology. We’re taking an existing (Mustang) design and modifying it to make the cars more fun to drive. We want to keep their style and character and make them modern in the way they function.”
He has slowly built his business — first sourcing bodies from Dynacorn in which to stuff the Herculean engines from Roush. But over time, he has learned manufacturing integration, and now his ponies are made in house on a single chassis to better fine-tune the product. That has led to changes like a new 8.8-inch rear axle.
“We are able to control the packaging. WE need to have the dimensions exactly right,” said the Revology chief. “We are loading so much more power into the body than the original design.”
It’s a fine balance. At the reins of the GT500 (car #163 that Revology has built), I found the beast remarkably poised like a modern Mustang GT even as I gripped a wood steering wheel right out of the ‘60s. In addition to the old school six-speed manual, about 50% of customers opt for Ford’s state-of-the-art, 10-speed transmission. I could even Bluetooth my phone — if you can hear it ring.
Revology has added minimal sound-deadening material to keep the V-8’s raw emotion. Other throwbacks include high beams that are still activated by your foot toggling a floorboard button.
Part of what’s driving the industry to electrification is prohibitive, mutli-million-dollar fines to discourage V-8 engines. But Scarpello’s cottage flies under those regulations as long as he makes fewer than 325 vehicles a year with industry-proven engines and chassis equipment..
He’s a long way from 325. But as he ramps up production — his cottage now employs 92 elves — other manufacturers are eager for him to maintain the Detroit legacy.
“Chevrolet and Dodge have both expressed interest in doing similar, classic Camaro and Challenger models,” he smiled. “Though they haven’t said if they’d provide the capital.” Scarpello financed the company himself, and he has been careful not to get ahead of his skis.
“Very few costumer products have had the life cycle that Mustang has had, and that really resonates with people,” he said. Indeed, Ford is just rolling out its latest, seventh-generation pony on a global scale, which in turn complements Revology’s classics. “It’s a global phenomenon — we have customers in 15 countries.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Payne: Acura Integra Type S is AWD short of 10
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 24, 2023
Ojai, California — The 2024 Acura Integra Type S is two driven wheels shy of perfect.
Acura’s hatchback icon is back after 22 years in the wilderness and it’s a delicious addition to my favorite menu: compact hot hatches. With sportscar handling, hatchback utility, all-season usability and a price tag under $55K, premium hatches like the Type S and VW Golf R flirt with nirvana. Save for its stubborn lack of all-wheel drive, the Integra Type S is as good as it gets.
Building on Acura’s successful, entry-level Integra — which returned as the segment’s runaway best-seller last year — Type S is a steroid-fed lab monster like Honda’s Civic Type R icon. The Made-in-Marysville Integra immediately separates itself from the conservatively styled Honda with a wardrobe that would make a Rottweiler whimper.
Type S looks like an Acura and Dodge Charger Widebody had a love child (with the Acura NSX and Chevy Corvette as godparents). This Integra is S-pecial. Measuring 3.5 inches wider across the front track than the standard Integra, Type S grows big blistered fenders to hold 10.5-inch-wide rubber at all four corners. Indeed, all sheet metal fore of the A-pillar has been remade, including functional hood scoop and wider grille to feed the 320-horse turbocharged beast within.
Massive, NSX-like corner brake ducts cool the 13.8-inch Brembo brakes needed to bring Type S back to earth after flying low across twisted country roads. The drama continues out back under massive glutes, where three, center-mounted tailpipes (the ‘Vette Z06 has four) exhale with a snap, crackle ‘n’ pop.
Come upon one of these Tasmanian devils in the wild and you’ll recognize it (especially if dressed in exclusive Tiger Eye Pearl). But you won’t see it for long.
Luffing through the twisties of California State Route 150 west of Malibu, I saw a sport bike fill my mirrors looking for a fight. Packing its 310-pound feet of torque lower in the torque band than Type R, my S was able to hold off the bike’s inherent advantage in acceleration through a fast downhill stretch as I rowed the sensational short-throw manual box. #SaveTheManual.
Then we hit a series of S-turns. Goodbye.
Stiff as an ironing board through heaving turns in Sport Plus mode, the Acura disappeared from the two-wheeler, its sophisticated, dual-strut front suspension rotating the front-wheel driver without a hint of understeer.
But to achieve perfection, Type S should have added all-wheel drive to the two-wheel-drive Civic formula. Not for grip (Lord knows the Type S has gobs of it), but for customers paying the $7,000 premium for an all-season Acura.
AWD is an Acura lineup signature, from the TLX sedan to the RDX SUV to the NSX supercar. Elsewhere along CA-150, I encountered a flat-black NSX Type S — menacing and well driven. We danced through the twisties, the nimble 3,280-pound sedan shadowing the 3,898-pound supercar’s every move (that is, until the NSX applied its 600 horses down a straightaway).
Honda’s front suspension engineering is dazzling for motorheads like me who take the Civic Type R and Type S to the track. But by Acura’s own admission, Type S’s target audience is not the track rats who covet the Civic model. Which is why the Type S doesn’t feature a big wing out back or the $1,780 option of track-focused Michelin Cup 2 tires like Type R.
Acura says Integra is the “Ultimate Street Performer” aimed at an older, saner demographic. Its $50,000 competitive set is made up of all-wheel drivers: Audi S3, BMW M235i XDrive, Mercedes CLA AMG 35 and the slightly more affordable $46K VW Golf R.
The Seattle and Detroit Payne families own hatchback compacts and AWD is important for their all-season climates. Front-wheel drivers struggle to scale my driveway in the snow. When my snowboarding, speed-freak Seattle son shopped for a hatchback recently, only AWD models made his list (the attractive Mazda Turbo3 — its 310 pound-feet of torque on par with Type S — got the nod). That all-season, all-wheel-drive goodness is why the Golf R hatch is my segment benchmark.
Sure, AWD would add weight to the 3,850-pound Integra — but at 3,415 pounds, Golf R is hardly Porky Pig. Integra may lose those AWD customers, but the lines to buy this multi-talented athlete will still stretch out the door.
While Golf R comes up shy of perfection due to its tight rear legroom, Integra shines with 2.5 more inches and nearly 5 cubic feet more cargo space. Those best-in-class numbers make Civic — um, Integra — #1 in utility.
The Type S cabin is barely disguised Civic, but the 11th-gen Honda is borderline premium to begin with, sporting wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, honeycomb dash and digital gauges. Then Acura slaters on the icing: Head-up display, premium ELS Studio audio, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot assist and auto-high beams are all standard. My leather-wrapped tester’s seats were dipped in red with matching dash trim.
The seats not only held me in place at play — they were so comfortable I could have driven cross-country to Detroit. Contrast that with the BMW M2 sport seats I recently tested that had my back screaming in agony after an afternoon’s drive.
At the Integra’s core is its silver shift knob — operating the best gearbox this side of a Porsche 911.
Cruising along a crowded, stop-and-go California urban stretch in COMFORT mode, I activated adaptive cruise to keep a distance from the vehicles in front of me — the system only cutting off below 25 mph when the engine bogged. As traffic thinned on rural roads, Type S begged to be manhandled in SPORT PLUS mode, and the manual’s short throws never failed me. Never delivering a box of neutrals. Never accidentally finding 4th instead of 2nd.
The predictable box mirrors the brand’s reputation for reliability — a key attribute in any premium vehicle that begs to be pushed. Just as Porsches are the go-to track supercar because they can hammer apexes all day long without flinching, so too does Honda-Acura quality give you confidence to take the 7,200-rpm, 2.0-liter engine to the limit. Expect to leave the Acura service center with receipts for hundreds of dollars — not thousands.
The Integra Type S may find its limits in snow quicker than its AWD competitors, but after the plows come, the Acura lives up to its forefathers as one of the most satisfying rides in the market. As for my quest for the perfect car, it’s getting closer.
Next week: 2024 Jeep Wrangler
2024 Acura Integra Type S
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive five-passenger performance sedan
Price: $51,995, including $1,995 destination fee
Powerplant: 2.0-liter turbo-4 cylinder
Power: 320 horsepower, 310 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.0 seconds (Car and Driver). Top speed, 167 mph
Weight: 3,280 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 21 mpg city/28 highway/24 combined (19 mpg observed under the cane)
Report card
Highs: Sportscar handling, hatchback utility; aggressive styling
Lows: Infotainment system can be laggy; all-wheel drive, please
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.