- Search Cartoons
- Comic Archive
-
Payne
Store
Henry Payne RSS
Articles
Payne: Ogling Detroit auto show’s EVs and V-8s with Penske Indycar star Scott McLaughlin
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 23, 2022
Detroit – Even professional race car drivers get weak in the knees around the Corvette Z06.“That’s going to be mine when I win the Indy 500 next year,” smiled IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin, driver of the #3 Chevrolet for Team Penske, as he eyeballed Chevy’s mid-engine hellion. With a production-car record 670-horspower from its normally-aspirated V-8, the sports car is one of the highlights of this year’s show.
A week after the Detroit auto show opened with a presidential visit and media previews, the public portion of the show is abuzz with customers, musical entertainment and the occasional celebrity visitor. A native of Hamilton, New Zealand, McLaughlin’s visit put the “international” in North American International Auto Show in a year in which foreign automaker displays are scaled back from years past.
McLaughlin’s appearance also showcases the intersection between the Detroit automakers, global markets and motorsports. Chevy, for example, brought McLaughlin to the show floor to not only highlight the Detroit Grand Prix but also to understand the larger Chevy product lineup the brand promotes when its race cars win in front of millions of TV viewers.
The Kiwi is a natural ambassador for American muscle.
Unlike European drivers who grew up negotiating narrow city streets in wee, four-cylinder shoeboxes, Australia is a country with miles of open roads like America – and V8-powered American sedans to match. McLaughlin is a veteran of Australia’s biggest auto show in Melbourne.
“I craved V-8s as a kid. It’s hard not to. The national sport is the V-8 Supercars,” said the 29-year-old of the Ford Mustangs and Holden Commodores (similar to the late Chevy SS in this market) that are similar to NASCARs Down Under. In Australian Supercar, Team Penske waves the Ford Mustang flag, different from the Chevy IndyCar colors he flies here.
“That’s what I raced, and I grew up idolizing V-8 Supercars,” McLaughlin continued. “My Dad had a V-8, my mom had a V-8.”
McLaughlin’s dominance of the Supercar series in Australia – winning three titles from 2018-2020 – convinced Penske to bring the personable New Zealander stateside.
“This is the big leagues. I grew up idolizing America,” said McLaughlin. “Roger asks a lot of (his drivers). We promote the sport, we promote his brands, we promote his town. I wouldn’t want to drive for anyone else.”
Where Chevy made its reputation on American muscle, it is now joining the international market to go all-electric by 2035. For McLaughlin, that means getting familiar with the brand’s new EVs, which surround the Corvette display in Detroit. McLaughlin – just like other showgoers on the floor Wednesday – got an in-depth tour of the Silverado, Equinox and Blazer EVs and the Ultium battery chassis they ride on.
“Coming here as a Chevy driver, it’s been an awesome introduction into the GM family,” said McLaughlin. “To see the resources they put into their race cars and into their production cars is great.”
The push to electrification is not as pronounced in motor racing. McLaughlin’s Chevy-powered IndyCar will get battery assist in 2024 as a V6-powered hybrid. And the Corvette Z06 is based on the V8-powered C8.R race car that Chevrolet is, for the first time, selling to international race teams.
McLaughlin’s primary task here is selling tickets for the Detroit Grand Prix, which will return to downtown streets for the first time in more than 30 years next June. NAIAS planned to offer showgoers a tour of the new 1.7-mile track in Chevy Bolt EVs and Volkswagen ID.4s – but that hasn’t come to pass. Instead, visitors can get a brief ride in the vehicles on Atwater Street on Huntington Place’s riverfront.
McLaughlin did manage to take some laps of his own on the new circuit while in Detroit.
“On paper it doesn’t look very interesting, but then you get on track and see how wide it is and the monuments you pass like the Renaissance Center. It’s gonna’ be a really cool and unique race,” McLaughlin said of the circuit where IndyCars will approach 180 mph on Jefferson Avenue into the Griswold hairpin. “Chevy being a part of it and promoting it in the Motor City is really a big deal.”
After leaving downtown Wednesday afternoon, McLaughlin’s day continued with laps on a second track: GM’s Milford Proving Grounds out I-96. In a Corvette Z06.
“To get to drive a Z06 will be awesome,” he laughed. “I’ll get a taste of what I might own one day.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: New Honda HR-V is stylish, roomy and fun. Until you put your foot into it
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 23, 2022
Summit Point, W.Va. — Powered by a 1.5-liter Honda Fit engine, the F1600 class is one of my favorite open-wheel, so-called “Formula” racing classes. It’s a showcase for relentless wheel-to-wheel driving, some of the country’s best up-and-coming teenage drivers on the Road to Indy — and for Honda’s reliable engine technology.
Honda also makes a stylish small SUV that will get you to the track.
I picked up the Japanese brand’s newest entry-level, Mexican-built HR-V sport ute at Dulles Airport this summer to take my family to an F1600 race at Summit Point Raceway, one of the country’s most challenging regional racing circuits. I would also be racing my own Lola sports racer (powered by a Ford, not Honda, engine) in the Sports2000 series, which shared box office billing with the F1600s.
Ford was once synonymous with entry-level racing with its iconic Formula Ford series. But Honda recently replaced Ford engines in the F1600 series. The Dearborn maker is more focused on off-road and electrified vehicles these days with its dirt-kicking Bronco and a full pickup lineup that includes the entry-level, hybrid-powered Maverick.
Needless to say, pickups and open-wheel racing are opposite ends of auto culture — but not for Honda, whose entry-level Civic sedan and CR-V ute are whip-quick compacts that appeal to the young folks hanging around F1600 races and Summit Point.
So my family was surprised to find the 158-horsepower, 2.0-liter engine in my HR-V was the least interesting part of the vehicle. RRRRRRRRRR! Mated to a droning CVT transmission, the HR-V huffed and puffed up the hills of winding West Virginia roads leading to Summit Point.
The F1600’s 1.5-liter Honda engine only makes 130 horses. But since the cars weigh just 1,110 pounds, that’s enough ponies for the job. The 2.0-liter, 158-horse unit in my HR-V, on the other hand, has to push around 3,350 pounds. Oof.
No doubt, the HR-V is as bulletproof as the F1600 mills, which have to endure constant punishment from their drivers. Still, the HR-V’s engine puts it at a comparative disadvantage in its ferociously competitive segment that includes the 186-horse Mazda CX-30 (my favorite driver’s SUV in the subcompact class) or the 184-torque (compared to the HR-V’s 138) turbocharged, 4-cylinder-powered Volkswagen Taos.
At least the HR-V upgraded its engine from the 141-horse hamster wheel in the first-generation model — part of an overhaul for the entry-level ute. As readers of this column know, I’ve got the need for speed, but for most customers in this class, it’s the HR-V’s other upgrades that will really turn heads.
Begin with the fact that the new HR-V is built on the same bones as the excellent Civic sedan.
That means one of the best interiors in class surrounded me as I jumped into the HR-V’s driver’s seat. A cool honeycomb dash stretched from A-pillar to A-pillar, featuring a high-mounted touchscreen for good driver visibility complemented by meaty climate-control dials. The interior fit like a glove. That utility extended throughout the roomy cabin.
I loaded three suitcases, a computer bag and a backpack into the rear hatch with ease, then climbed into the roomy backseat with leg and headroom to spare. My 6’3” son Sam sat comfortably in front of me. The current owner of a 2012 VW Golf GTI, he is the HR-V’s target audience should he and his wife, say, want to buy a second car.
After a weekend in the Honda, he said it would be on his shopping list along with the Taos, since Volkswagen has impressed him with the GTI. The Honda and V-dub are very similar, with bold, roomy interiors and distinctive looks — another big improvement for this HR-V over last year’s appliance.
I mean, it actually looked more like a kitchen appliance than a car. For this gen, the HR-V has adopted a more anthropomorphic face with bright eyes (headlights) and a cute mouth. Think the 2020 Kia Sportage or Ford Focus.
My other son, Henry, was a tougher sell. The owner of a 250-horse, all-wheel-drive hatchback Mazda3, he has understandably high expectations for modern subcompact SUVs.
Charging along between corn fields on Route 632 south of Summit, he gripped the fat leather steering wheel and seemed to enjoy the HR-Vs’s nimble Civic chassis. The engine, not so much. He reached for the DRIVE mode selector and got only ECO, SNOW and NORMAL. No SPORT mode. “Pretty boring,” he said. How about the interior? “Compared to the red interior in my Mazda3? Pretty boring.”
Like I said, tough class.
Mazda CX-30 has set a ridiculously high bar in this class in features, too, with standard adaptive cruise control, blind-spot assist, automatic braking, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and coffee machine (kidding about the latter). Honda keeps up with standard adaptive cruise and auto braking, but load the two vehicles to the teeth and the Mazda wins on price.
Honda’s strengths are in its boxy utility and ergonomic excellence. The Mazda has its quirks — like a cramped, coupe-like roof and remote-dial controlled information screen. Typically, Honda has obsessively tested its SUV to make sure everything is easy. For example:—Tab on top of the rear seats to help them collapse? Check.—Console storage? Check.—Sub-rear cargo storage for small items? Check.—Wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto? Check (on models like my tester with 9-inch screens).—Front warning lights to let me know that I’m within inches of a stack of race tires in the crowded Summit paddock? Check.
Still, there are reminders this is an entry-level vehicle, even in my loaded $31K EX-L model. There are no ceiling grab handles (for passengers to seize when we motorheads choose to throw the Civic chassis around a bit) or climate controls in the rear (honey, could you please turn up the AC in front?).
But on the whole, this is a stylish, roomy vehicle that punches above its price point. Sitting in Summit’s paddock next to the Honda, a friend pointed at the HR-V’s clay-blue wardrobe.
“I like that color,” he said. “Very fashionable.”
In the middle of a sea of race cars sporting all kinds of entertaining paint jobs, it’s no small feat for a small SUV to get noticed. Just a few yards away, a trio of red, yellow and blue F1600s flashed by — nose to tail — down the pit straight.
If a little more of that sportiness rubs off on the HR-V’s engine bay, the Honda will be complete.
2023 Honda HR-V
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger subcompact SUV
Price: $24,895, including $1,245 destination fee ($30,590 as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter, inline 4-cylinder
Power: 158 horsepower, 138 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic (CVT)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.0 seconds (Car and Driver). Top speed, 135 mph
Weight: 3,350 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 25 mpg city/30 highway/27 combined
Report card
Highs: Excellent, roomy interior; fun Civic platform
Lows: Engine lacks punch; oh, that CVT
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Detroit News Readers’ Choice awards: Z06, V-8s and EVs take prizes
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 21, 2022
Detroit — The Detroit auto show floor is awash in whispery-quiet new electric vehicles, but show-goers still covet American heavy metal.
Muscle cars dominated the annual Detroit News Readers’ Choice awards at Huntington Place this year. The high-revving, 670-horsepower, V8-powered Chevy Corvette Z06 took home Best in Show, while the rowdy Ford Bronco Raptor — inspired by King of the Hammers racing trucks — won best Off-Road Warrior.
Ford’s focus on its iconic vehicles — Mustang, Bronco, F-150 — has received a lot of buzz, and that was reflected in jurors’ selections as the Blue Oval took home the most prizes, winning four of the nine categories. Ford’s luxury division, Lincoln, also took home Top Concept for good measure.
The Readers’ Choice Awards are prized by automakers for their status as the Detroit show’s only awards judged by car buyers themselves. Nearly 100 jurors were let loose on the show floor during the Sept. 14 media day to make their selections.
The 2023 Corvette Z06 had already caught the eye of President Joe Biden when he toured the show, and News’ readers found the orange supercar irresistible as well. The eighth-generation, $65,895 Corvette C8 is the iconic nameplate’s first mid-engine model — and much more affordable than comparable mid-engine exotics from Ferrari and McLaren. The Z06 is the C8’s first performance version featuring the most-powerful normally-aspirated V-8 production engine ever made.
That performance will cost customers another 40 grand over the base car — and for that, The News’ jurors awarded the Z06 the prize for If Money Were No Object.
The North American International Auto Show has traditionally showcased head-turning concepts, and 2022 was no different. In perhaps the biggest surprise of the Readers’ Choice Awards, the Lincoln L100 Concept edged out the much-hyped Dodge Charger Daytona Banshee — a peek at the brand’s first EVs — and Buick Wildcat as best concept.
The sci-fi L100 is Lincoln’s vision of an autonomous vehicle future with no steering wheel or pedals (a “chess piece” is provided on an electronic pad to override the car’s self-driving if needed) and front seats that can swivel to face rear passengers. The chariot boasts other exotic features like a glass canopy roof, glass “frunk” and hub-mounted electric motors.
Mustang’s most powerful model — the Shelby GT500 — took home the trophy for Muscle Machine. The track-focused, 760-horse hellion can hit 60 mph in just 3.4 seconds. You can’t miss its giant cow-catcher front grille.
Best Electric Vehicle awards went to the Ford Mustang Mach-E — inspired by the Mustang coupe — and Cadillac Lyriq. While Mach-E replicates the sports-car’s looks and speed in an updated EV package, Lyriq shows the way to an entirely electric Cadillac future with new fascia and bling-tastic interior.
In addition to winning best Off-Road Warrior, the ballistic Bronco Raptor also inspired the more affordable Bronco Sport, which jurors judged best Bargain Buggy. Based on the Ford Escape’s unibody chassis, the all-wheel-drive Bronco Sport Badlands trim offers surprising off-road capability for half the price of the ladder-frame-based Raptor.
If you want to bring the entire family to Huntington Place for the show, jurors recommend the Jeep Grand Wagoneer as best Family Hauler with its spacious three-row interior. The Grand is a step above the Wagoneer (which competes against the Chevy Tahoe and Ford Expedition) and sets its sights on truck-based luxury models like the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator.
Riding on a smooth air suspension, the Grand Wagoneer boasts an interior studded with luxury touches including four screens up front — even one for the passenger. Second-row passengers get their own infotainment screens, and third-row passengers their own sunroof.
Under the hood? A 471-horspower, 6.4-liter V-8, of course. Even family haulers are best served with American muscle.
The winners
HOTTEST TECH: Ford Mustang Mach-E
MOST ELECTRIFYING: Cadillac Lyric
BARGAIN BUGGY: Ford Bronco Sport
OFF-ROAD WARRIOR: Ford Bronco Raptor
FAMILY HAULER: Jeep Grand Wagoneer
MUSCLE MACHINE: Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
TOP CONCEPT: Lincoln L100
IF MONEY WERE NO OBJECT: Chevrolet Corvette Z06
BEST IN SHOW: Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Overlanding across the UP to Michigan’s other auto-palooza, Detroit 4fest
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2022
High Rock Bay, Upper Peninsula — The Back Yard Overland Tour kicked off Detroit 4fest this week with an epic adventure that included a visit into a 350-foot-deep mineshaft, a front hub blowout, and a mad Jeep dash to the northernmost point in Michigan.
And that was just the first day.
BYOT is the first in a packed calendar of events this weekend for the fourth annual 4fest, one of three auto circuses in town. The Detroit auto show at Huntington Place celebrates the latest vehicles in the industry. The Detroit Concours d’Elegance at the Detroit Institute for Art celebrates the industry’s classics. And 4fest celebrates utes ‘n’ trucks — the hottest segments in the industry, from Jeep Wranglers to Ford Broncos to Toyota Tacomas.
In many ways, 4fest is the most relevant of the three shows. It’s the intersection of some of the biggest trends in the industry as automakers ramp up production of off-road capable SUVs aimed at families in a post-COVID world who discovered how to work remotely and how to vacation at America’s network of national parks. It’s a culture struggling to accommodate government trends forcing the industry to produce overland-challenged electric cars, but 4fest will also have a global auto reveal of its own: the first battery-powered, King of the Hammers Ultra4 off-road racer.
This year, 4fest is taking it up a notch with the introduction of an all-new electric off-road racer and the Overland Tour — a five-day, 750-mile celebration of the state that introduced America to automobiles, the copper industry, the Great Lakes, and more. I joined the train of five Jeeps — and their motley crews — with a plug-in hybrid 2023 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe for the first day of the journey in the far reaches of the Upper Peninsula.
Their ultimate destination? Detroit 4fest’s auto-palooza Sept. 17-18 at Holly Oaks ORV Park, where owners take the 4x4s they ogled at the Detroit auto show and turn them loose on the most challenging off-road environment in southeast Michigan.
“Off-roading is about more than just light bars and big tires,” said Liam Lafferty, 27, owner of a 1972 Jeep Commando and contributor to GoneGPN.com (Gone Jeepin’, get it?) that helped organize BYOT. “It’s about getting out into nature. Back Yard shows owners how they can experience the off-road lifestyle, but in a less intense environment in some of the most beautiful places in America.”
The UP certainly fits the bill.
With stunning lake vistas, sprawling state parks and geological and mineral history to match, Michigan’s northern “back yard” is a treasure — and today’s off-road vehicles are the perfect tools to explore it.
BYOT’s trip covers 750 miles starting at Keweenaw Peninsula, skirting the southern banks of Lake Superior east through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Whitefish Point before plunging due south across the Mackinac Bridge, cruising along the Lake Huron coast, and arriving Saturday in Holly Oaks for the kick-off of 4fest’s weekend activities.
Overlanding requires improvisation, and our adapting skills were put to an immediate test. After 10 hours on the road from Metro Detroit to Keweenaw, one of our train — a classic Kaiser Jeep M715 (complete with gear tunnel that would make a Rivian R1T envious) — blew a left front hub.
Dead in the water in the little town of L’Anse at the base of the Keweenaw, we sent out an SOS to the local off-road community and were met by immediate support. A local mechanic, Big Off-Road Repair, arrived along with others to fix the issue. It was a preview of the congregation of off-roaders we found along the way — whether in need on the road or at a campsite — who converse easily with one another. Even if they own a Wrangler or Bronco.
Overlanding take many forms. BYOT’s videographer, Mike Harrington, 67, who has a laundry list of Hollywood and auto industry ads to his credit — covered the Ultimate Adventure, perhaps the most extreme overland tour that pitted some of the country’s finest builders of dirt-kickers in a multi-state competition.
But more typical is the nine-day Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah, every Easter when families and enthusiasts gather in the country’s most famous off-road playground to camp, trail-ride, and generally ogle the latest Jeeps.
For their inaugural overland tour, Detroit 4fest wanted to showcase Michigan’s history and scenery as well as its extensive trail network. The Keweenaw is a reminder that Michigan is about more than just making automobiles.
Crossing the Keweenaw Waterway, we took steep, San Francisco-like roads to Houghton’s Quincy Mines. Towering above the Torch Lake valley, Quincy’s last remaining #2 mine shaft is a reminder that the UP was once America’s epicenter of copper mining, churning out the metal for everything from wire to plates.
We visited the Quincy #2 Hoist House — home to the world’s largest steam-driven mine hoist — that was built in 1918 with 2,500 horsepower to pull copper-laden, 10-ton cars at 35 mph up a 9,250-foot (nearly two miles) shaft to the surface.
Jeep dominates the off-road space, but Yoopers drive everything 4×4, including Broncos, Subarus, F-150 Raptors, Toyota Tacomas and more.
My plug-in hybrid Wrangler Rubicon 4xe was an excellent overland companion — though not nearly as fearsome-looking as the Maximus-3 Gladiator pickup truck with 40-inch tires that I followed up Route 41 to High Rock Bay, the northern-most point in Michigan with a staggering view of Lake Superior.
The 4xe’s signature trick is that it could preserve its 26-mile battery range until I got to the top of Route 41 — the end of the line for a road that winds 1,990 miles from Miami. I then went to full electric mode, stealthily crawling through the forest on dirt trails until we reached Superior’s sandy shores.
We were hardly alone, however as the campsite was full of other overlanders even though it was a Monday afternoon. They were on vacation in RVs, on lunch break, or just working remotely.
On the 16-mile round trip to High Rock, I ate all 26 miles of my electric range and needed gas power to get me the last two miles. Four-wheeling on trails — even at 5-30 mph — sucks electrons.
I didn’t see a single electric vehicle in my two days across the UP. Even at $4 gasoline, drivers I talked to resisted the government’s call to buy electric. Gasoline is more than a quick-fill convenience — it also provides range security in the long stretches between scarce service stations, where trailering an RV can eat up to 50% of a vehicle’s gas range. Tow behind an EV — or just go four-wheelin’ in a hybrid as I did — and batteries can lose a lot of range, stranding vehicles far from the energy grid.
Riding the EV wave, 4fest will have the global reveal on Friday of the King of Hammers Ultra4 race vehicle, marking battery power’s entry into the U.S.’s most demanding off-road sport. Whether on the road at BYOT or pounding around Holly Oaks, 4fest wants to teach the culture of off-roading to the thousands of new buyers coming into the ute ‘n’ truck segments today. The event is not only sponsored by Jeep and aftermarket parts companies like TYRI Lights (the Overland tour’s chief sponsor), but also Tread Lightly, a nonprofit that encourages trail and campsite maintenance.
“We want to get more people involved in this adventure lifestyle. It’s great for the soul,” said Tom Zielinski, CEO of 4fest. “At fest we also give folks Off-Road 101 lessons — how do I put this in AWD? How do I air own my tires? — that are important and give them the confidence to go back here to Holly Oaks, or go the the UP, or perhaps out west.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Mustangs, dinosaurs and ducks: The Top 10 attractions at the Detroit auto show
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2022
Detroit — The Detroit auto show is finally back after a long hiatus. But it’s now more Detroit Fair than auto show.
Walk over to the totally revamped Huntington Place exhibition center Sept. 17-25 and you’ll find animals (Rams, Mustangs, Broncos), games (VR, simulators, raffles), food (elephant ears, corn dogs, pizza), thrill rides (Bronco Mountain, Camp Jeep, Lightning launches) and flying machines.
Even the weather has changed, with pleasant, carnival-like, 80-degree temps so attendees can walk outside and enjoy the day. Or the giant duck (another animal).
Of course, automobiles are still the centerpiece of the fair — er, auto show. But they are presented on acres of carpet like an oversized dealer lobby — not surrounded by the multimillion-dollar mega-stages of yore that looked right out of a Broadway theater. The Detroit Three automakers dominate the show floor with Ford sandwiched between the General Motors’ brands in the South Hall and Stellantis brands to the north. Gone are sprawling stages from BMW, Volkswagen, even Mercedes that once rocked the South Hall with bold autonomous cars and $100,000 AMG SUVs.
A more compact show is in their place so that mom and dad can easily shop for their next family car. But when the kids get antsy — Dad, can we see something other than cars?! — the parents can follow the neon green footsteps across the hall to the Dinosaur Expedition and time-travel back to the Late Jurassic.
I used to write about the Top 10 cars at the Detroit auto show. But in recognition of a show transformed, here are the Top 10 attractions.
1) The Concepts. Detroit auto shows have seen some wild concepts over the years, and ’22 is no different. Electric vehicle platforms and the electronics revolution have given designers new tools to play with. Check out the sleek Buick Wildcat. Or the wicked Dodge Charger Daytona Banshee, which will shriek as loud as a V-8 Hellcat thanks to its Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust.
Or check out the bling-tastic Lincoln Star Concept. It features a see-through frunk that turns opaque when you load it with cargo. It has a slide-out work desk in the front seat — a drink chiller in back. And it one-ups Rolls Royce — replacing the umbrella in each rear door with a “digital briefcase” compartment so can charge your laptop while accessing its files on the Star’s multiple screens.
2) Camp Jeep. Jump in a Gladiator pickup or Wrangler Rubicon on the show floor and a driver will demonstrate the dirt kickers’ diverse off-road skills. The highlight (pun intended) is a climb to the top of a rollercoaster-like hill where you get Huntington Place’s best views.
3) Ram pull. Next to Jeep is the Ram ride where you can luxuriate in the pickup’s palatial interior while the truck clean-and-jerks a 7,000-pound cement wall off the show floor. Dad will be pulled kickin’ and screamin’ out of this ride. The Ram 2500 Limited, for example, has a 850-torque diesel, camera mirror, multiple camera angles, and a console screen the size of the Henry Ford IMAX theater.
4) Corvette Z06. The Biden Administration wants the industry to go electric, but someone forgot to tell Joe Biden. The president is the owner of a ’67 ’Vette and his favorite car when he toured the show floor Sept. 14 was the new, V8-powered, 670-horsepower Corvette Z06 that’ll sing like an F-15 on afterburners when you put your foot into it. It made all the evening newscasts. It’s painted orange so you don’t miss it.
5) Rubber duckie. Painted yellow and unmissable is a 61-foot inflatable duck in front of the convention center. You can see it from space. It honors the Jeepster tradition of getting “ducked.” If a Jeep owner likes another Jeep, they put a duck on it. Sign up for Jeep’s $100,000 raffle and you’ll get a tiny rubber duck, too.
6) Dinosaur Expedition. Rivaling the duck in size are the Brontosauruses in Matt Flynn’s Dinosaur Expedition. Just follow the green footprints in the lobby and they will lead you to the Ballroom, which has been transformed into a dino playground. Take a dinosaur ride, listen to dino stories, buy dinosaur toys. It’s dino-mite.
7) The Mustang. The ’Vette isn’t the only car resisting the electric trend. The new, 2024 Mustang is in the house. It’s muscular, it’s menacing, it’s got a V-8 . . . but the surprise is a 21st-century interior with huge digital screens run by Unreal Engine 3D. That’s right, the same gaming company that designs your kids’ Fortnite video game.
8) Chrysler 300C. The 300C is heading for the exits after 17 years, but not before 2,200 copies of this final edition model are made (they’ve already sold out). With its slab sides, big grille and Hemi V-8, this is the ultimate gangster getaway car.
9) Aircraft. Since you’re no longer freezing in January, the Detroit show wants to invite you outside and scan the skies. There you’ll find the Drone Show with 300-400 drones celebrating Opening Day of the show’s public run at 9 p.m. Saturday. Inside you’ll find the biggest commercial drone you’ve ever seen: the six-engine ASX that will deliver people — or packages.
10) Lap the Detroit GP. Also outside, get in line for a lap around the Detroit Grand Prix’s new 10-turn, 1.7-mile course as the race returns to city streets next June for the first time in 30 years. The track winds north ’round the RenCen, skirts the waterfront, then shoots back west along Jefferson Avenue. At press time, a show spokesman said that VW and Chevy would be giving rides.
We hope the Chevys are Corvette Z06s.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Seven generations of the Mustang family and what made them special
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2022
Few auto badges have lasted 60 years, but the Ford Mustang isn’t your average auto.
The two-door sports coupe created the affordable muscle car class in the U.S. in 1965 and has been an icon ever since. As the Porsche 911 has defined luxury performance across the decades, so has Mustang endured through seven generations, the latest unveiled this week at the 2022 Detroit auto show.
Its essential, rear-wheel-drive, long-hood, coupe spec has remained the same since its inception. But the pony car has also changed with the times — evolving with technology, surviving strong regulatory headwinds, and spawning Shelby performance versions with eye-watering performance.
Here’s a look at each generation of Mustang and what made it special.
Gen One, 1965-73: The OG was born as a 1965 model in April 1964 and was an instant hit. Ford predicted first-year sales of 100,000 vehicles, but dealers sold 22,000 on the first day alone. By year’s end, Ford had sold over 400,000. By March 1966, the 1 millionth Mustang rolled off the line.
Today it is a collector’s car found in the garages of Dream Cruisers, former President Bill Clinton and Ford Chairman Bill Ford. Everyone has their favorite ‘Stang engine, and the ’65 debuted with 2.8-liter straight-six, 4.3-liter V-8 and 271-horse 4.7-liter V-8. For reference, that’s shy of the 310 ponies made by today’s entry-level, 2.3-liter turbo-4 engine.
It didn’t take long to spawn a performance version from Ford partner Carroll Shelby’s shop beginning in 1965, further polishing Mustang’s reputation. The white Shelby Cobra GT350 would become synonymous with Mustang with its twin stripes and 4.7-liter engine, and the light-weighted GT350R would dominate SCCA B-Production racing. A 7.0-liter Shelby GT500 was added to the lineup in 1967.
Looks and footprint evolved over the decade — the 1969 Mustang Boss 302 being one of the most iconic models with a second set of headlights integrated into the grille. By 1970, sales had come back to earth with less than 200,000 sold.
Gen Two, 1974-78: With the 1970s oil crisis came federal CAFE regulations and everything was downsized, including the Mustang.
The pony car shared a chassis with the common Ford Pinto and sprouted a hatchback option. It featured small pony engines: a 2.3-liter four-cylinder and 2.8-liter V-6. Today, the Gen Two car is dismissed by Mustang enthusiasts, and few are seen at classic Dream Cruises. But in oil-embargoed 1974, the Mustang was embraced, with sales soaring to 386,000.
Eventually, Ford managed to stuff the coupe with a 5.0-liter V-8 (making just 140 horsepower), offered in Cobra II and King Cobra models.
Gen Three, 1979-93: Ford closed out the Malaise Decade with a new car based on the bigger Fox platform shared with the Fairmont sedan. Gerbil wheels continued under the hood with a 88-horse starter four, 132-horse turbo-4 inline-6 and V-8.
The roaring ’80s brought back some of the Mustang’s roar as well with a HiPo 225-horsepower V-8, quick turbo-four SVO, and the first convertible in a decade. For ’87, Mustang got a more muscular bod, though the car’s style had now evolved completely away from the original with a grille-less face and big horizontal headlights.
Gen Four, 1994-2004: Along with more curvaceous sheet metal and a return to the OG’s twin-cowl dash, the fourth-generation pony was powered by a stout, base 3.8-liter V-6 to go with the optional V-8.
There were plenty of toys for enthusiasts, like the 320-horse, V8-powered 1999 SVT Cobra, complete with front skirt and rear wing. The Bullitt model paid tribute to Steve McQueen’s movie car, the Mach 1 introduced a shaker hood, and the wonderfully named Terminator Cobra boasted 390 supercharged horsepower.
Gen Five, 2005-14: Rebirth. To many Mustang enthusiasts, the 2005 ’Stang rediscovered its roots. The coupe brought back round headlights and muscled, fastback looks. The retro-car rekindled the segment, sparking the re-emergence of archrivals Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger.
For the ’11 model year, there was muscle under the hood to match its looks with a 3.7-liter V-6 and 412-horse 5.0-liter V-8 on offer. Hot performance models followed, including the torrid, 444-horse track-focused Boss 302 and multiple high-powered Shelby GT500s — celebrating the return of the Shelby badge for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Gen Six, 2015-23: Mustang celebrated its 50th anniversary with an all-new car and big international ambitions. The new coupe would be exported to 140-plus countries. To encourage a wider demographic both abroad and at home, Mustang also got a radical redesign with styling cues more in line with brand siblings like the Focus and Fusion sedans. The round headlights disappeared into a modern headlight casing.
Some enthusiasts would deride the new style as the “Mustang Fusion,” but Ford backed its new car with a remade chassis and ’Stang’s first standard independent rear-suspension — key to the track ambitions of the V8-powered Shelby GT50 and GT500, back in the showroom together for the first time since the ’60s.
Harking back to the 1960s’ GT350, the Shelby was a ferocious driver’s car with stick shift and a unique, flat-plane crank V-8 engine that howled to 8,000 RPM like a Ferrari V-8. The supercharged GT500 boasted more horsepower than any Mustang before it — 760 — and a lightning-quick eight-speed automatic transmission.
Even the entry-level Mustang got a so-called High Performance variant with a 330-horse turbo-4 ripped from the Focus RS.
Gen Seven, 2024-: With killjoy government closing in again on muscle cars with draconian emissions regulations, Mustang defied elimination (the V-8 Camaro and Challenger expire in 2024) with the introduction of its 2024 coupe. Not only does the new ’Stang keep its V-8, it enhances it with twin throttle bodies promising more ponies when the car debuts in the summer of 2023.
But the big advance is in interior upgrades unheard of in the car’s six-decade existence. Gone is the famous double-bubble cockpit replaced by … twin digital screens sporting state-of-the-art graphics courtesy of the Unreal game engine.
Some six drive modes will be offered, including a configurable Custom mode. In a nod to enthusiasts, the styling harkens back to the muscled 2005 model with chunkier cues seen in everything from the hips to the steering wheel hub.
In honor of its heritage, a graphic on the back window features a silhouette of every generation reaching back to 1965.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Five things about the 2024 Ford Mustang
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2022
The Ford Mustang created the US muscle car segment in 1965, and it looks to be the last V8-powered muscle car standing after the 2024 model year. Both the Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger are packing it in.
Credit Ford with shrewd product planning to keep the regulatory vultures at bay. Though some Mustang fans have pooh-poohed the Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle as “not a real Mustang,” Where the V8-powered Challenger and Charger are racking up significant government fines, Ford insiders say the Mustang EV’s credits helped save its V8-powered sibling sports car’s from regulatory jail.
“Investing in another generation of Mustang is a big statement at a time when many of our competitors are exiting the business of internal combustion vehicles,” said chief motorhead and Ford CEO Jim Farley, an accomplished racer.
Product planning innovation aside, the seventh-gen Mustang continues the successful formula of the sixth-gen car with convertible, manual, and turbo-4/V8 cylinder power. But the new car is hardly mailing it in.
The ‘24 promises significant upgrades in technology and styling that should please long-time fans and a new generation of buyers alike. Here are five notable things about the new pony:
1) Style. For the sixth-gen car, Mustang went international, selling in over 140 markets. To appeal to its new audiences, the Ford got a more international style – less American muscle, more Ford sedan model line with softer edges and a cowl-less grille. The car was a huge hit – but the muscle-car faithful at home derided the car as the “Mustang Fusion.”
While maintaining the last gen’s modern design cues, the 2024 model leans into its muscular American design heritage. Take the steering wheel, for example. The sixth gen’s hub was round – the seventh gen’s is rectangular, like the Hulk’s pecs. The theme is repeated throughout the vehicle.
The grille is more squared-off, less ovoid. The headlights (the three rectangular beams) are set back in the bodywork like the 1969 Boss 302 – a horizontal line running across the grille’s brow, emphasizing the cars low stance. Indeed, the whole front clip is different for the GT and standard Ecoboost cars, a Mustang first. Other signature pieces are strong rear hip lines, and a functional GT hood sccop that pulls air through the front grille for downforce and to cool the radiator.
2) Interior. Welcome to the 21st century. While not as radical as the Mustang Mach-E’s screen-focused, Tesla-like interior, the 2024 has a modern interior like no Mustang before it.
Rather than the Mustang’s classic double-bubble dash, the new car gets twin, hoodless 12.4-inch instrument and 13.3-inch console screens running across the dash. A single button on the console operates volume.
The Mustang comes with six Drive Modes: Normal, Sport, Track, Drag, Slippery, and Custom. Thanks to state-of-the-art graphics from Unreal Engine 3D – the same gaming engine found in the hit video game, Fortnight, and the GMC Hummer EV – the screen display changes with each mode. Select the track mode and a map for Grattan Raceway in Grand Rapids – where Mustang underwent extensive testing – appears
The infotainment system is run by Ford’s latest SYNC 4 which allows wireless Apple CarPlay/Andriod Auto.
3) V8 power. The dual-overhead cam Coyote engine makes one of the auto kingdom’s most distinctive sounds and it is back in the GT model. Expect more capability thanks to dual throttle bodies which driver’s will want to show off at the Woodward Dream Cruise with the hood up.
The engine breathes through twin snorkels attached to the twin nostrils on either side of the front grille. The standard, turbocharged, 2.3-liter 4-banger is no slouch either making more than 300 horsepower.
4) Tricks. This being a muscle car, it has some cool tricks up it’s sleeve. The sixth-gen model debuted line lock – so that, dude, you could smoke your rear tires while stationary at stoplight. The 2024 model introduces Electronic Drift Brake for drifting.
The Mustang comes standard with a handbrake, then the e-Brake option (when actuated via the screen) encourages drivers to slew the rear end out and wow your friends – and melt your rear rubber to the cords. Ford developed the feature with professional drift racer, Vaughan Gittin, Jr.
Remote key fob tricks have become hip – think Tesla’s remote park feature. Mustang owner’s can use their key fob Remote Rev feature to rev their steed remotely. Vroom vroom!
5) Customization. Owners have always had a lot of choices to make the Mustang their own. The 2024 is no different. The car options 11 colors including new Yellow Splash and Vapor Blue. Brembo brakes – optioned on the Performance Pack – will also be available in three different colors. And there is even a Bronze trim option – part of the Mustang Design Series – with Sinister Bronze alloy wheels and a bronze pony logo on the grille.
In the screen display’s Custom driving mode, the ‘Stang’s current setup is displayed on the center stack as real-time graphical renderings. Settings can then be adjusted – gaming style – by simply swiping the graphic to rotate the car virtually.
The Mustang begins production at Flat Rock assembly in the summer of 2023.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Cadillac Celestiq turns heads at EyesOn Design Awards
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2022
Detroit — The Cadillac Celestiq, the dramatic sedan concept pointing the way to the luxury brand’s electric future, dominated the 2022 EyesOn Design Awards, taking home two trophies.
The Celestiq won for Best Use of Color, Graphics, or Materials and for Best Concept Vehicle. In the latter category, the Celestiq nosed out two other Motown nominees, the Buick Wildcat and Lincoln Model L100.
The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV and DeLorean Alpha5 lost out to the sleek Ferrari Daytona SP3 for Best Production Vehicle. Other winners included the Audi Grandsphere as Best Design Interior.
The EyesOn Design honors are the official design awards of the Detroit auto show and are judged by some of the most respected designers in the industry. They honor the best production and concept vehicles in the world and have attracted added interest this year as designers work with new architectures presented by electric vehicle development. Without a gas engine up front breathing through giant grilles, designers have new freedom to create “frunks” — front trunks — elongated cabins, and new fascias.
Though the Buick Wildcat failed to win a category, it received the most nominations with three. Wildcat was also nominated in the Color and Interior Design categories.
Now in their 35th year, the awards have honored some of the industry’s most iconic designs.
2022 winners:
Best Concept Vehicle: Cadillac Celestiq
Other nominees: Buick Wildcat, Lincoln L100
Best Production Vehicle: Ferrari Daytona SP3
Other nominees: Chevrolet Blazer EV, DeLorean Alpha5, Range Rover
Best Designed Interior: Audi Grandsphere Concept
Other nominees: Audi Urbansphere, Buick Wildcat
Innovative Use of Color, Graphics or Materials: Cadillac Celestiq
Other nominees: Audi Grandsphere, Buick Wildcat
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Car, Truck and SUV of the Year semifinalists announced at Detroit auto show
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2022
Detroit — Let the games begin.
The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year opened the 2022 Detroit auto show by announcing the semifinalists for the 2023 model year in three categories. The contenders were whittled from a record eligibility list of 48 entrants — 20 of them electric, 31 of them SUVs, and five startups, reflecting trends in the industry.
The Ford F-150 Lightning EV will be an early favorite for Truck of the Year, but otherwise domestic nameplates are few in the car and SUV categories.
The Lightning is one of the flood of EVs coming to market as governments are forcing electrification (California, America’s biggest market, has announced a ban on gas car sales by 2035) and manufacturers are rushing to test the market for customer acceptance. The opportunity has also encouraged a bushel of startups to market — and two startup models, Rivian R1S and Lordstown Endurance, made the semifinalists’ list.
But traditional badges also populate the list as consumer favorites like the Honda CR-V and Lexus RX come to market with major upgrades thanks to the electronics revolution sweeping the industry.
“The semifinalist list indicates the enormous diversity available to consumers today,” said NACTOY President Gary Witzenburg, who announced the contenders from the Detroit Auto Show floor Wednesday. “There are a surprising number of sedans to choose from despite the trend to SUVs, while EVs have their work cut out for them given the challenges of charging and the rising cost of electricity. As for early favorites, I wouldn’t bet against the Lightning.”
Judged by 50 independent journalists (including the author of this article), NACTOY is one of the industry’s most prestigious awards.
SUVs now make up over 7 of every 10 new cars sold in the US, and automakers are focusing on the largest segment — compact utes — with EV offerings.
Two of those new models — the Rivian and Cadillac Lyriq — will be early favorites for SUV of the year. Rivian is an all-electric brand and Cadillac promises to be all-EVs by 2030, with bling-tastic Lyriq as its first battery-powered offering. Other EV favorites include the peppy, radically-styled Genesis GV60 and Kia EV6 — both built on the Hyundai Group’s first electric skateboard platform.
Popular gas models like the Honda CR-V, Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-50 are sure to give them a run. Surprisingly absent from the list are the first EVs from Subaru and Toyota — the Solterra and bZ4X. Startup EV automaker Fisker’s Ocean also notably did not make the final cut.
The Lightning — Ford’s first EV from its best-selling F-series pickup line — likely has the truck trophy in the bag thanks to its impressive torque and huge frunk. Competitors include the Chevy Silverado ZR2 and Lordstown Endurance — the latter an EV pickup from an Ohio-based startup that has struggled to bring its product to market.
Domestic automakers have all but abandoned the car market, but the category promises a close run for best 2023 model.
EVs also are plentiful here, including the BMW i4 eDrive 40i and Mercedes EQE. But a couple of sporty, nostalgic nameplates — the Acura Integra and Nissan Z — have early buzz as their fan bases have embraced the models’ updated looks and modern engines.
If Toyota (America’s No. 2 best-selling brand) was shut out in the SUV category, it looks strong in the sedan pool with two all-new gas-powered models: the luxurious Crown and wee hellion GR Corolla.
To be eligible for the prize, vehicles must be all or substantially new and available for purchase before the end of the 2023 calendar year. NACTOY jurors will gather in October for a comprehensive test of the semifinalists. A final trio are then announced in each category at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, with the winners unveiled Jan. 11 at a special ceremony in Detroit.
The winners for the 2022 model year were Honda Civic as Car of the Year, Ford Maverick as Truck of the Year and Ford Bronco for Utility of the Year.
2023 semifinalists
Car of the Year
Acura Integra
BMW i4 eDrive 40i
Genesis G80
Genesis G90
Mercedes C Class
Mercedes EQE
Nissan Z
Subaru WRX
Toyota Crown
Toyota GR Corolla
Truck of the Year
Chevrolet Silverado ZR2
Ford F-150 Lightning
Lordstown Endurance
Utility Vehicle of the Year
Audi Q4 e-tron
BMW iX xDrive M50i
Cadillac Lyriq
Genesis GV60
Honda CR-V
Honda HR-V
Kia EV6
Kia Sportage
Lexus RX
Mazda CX-50
Nissan Ariya
Rivian R1S
Volvo C40 Recharge
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
The legendary ‘Rain Man’ Buick Roadmaster resides in Detroit and is still raising autism awareness
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2022
Southfield — One of Hollywood’s most famous cars, the 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman drove in the movie “Rain Man,” has found a home in Detroit.
And, true to its movie heritage, it’s making a difference for autistic children.
Hoffman played Raymond Babbitt in the move — the autistic brother of Cruise’s Charlie Babbitt character — and the car shared equal billing as the pair bonded on a cross-country trip from Ohio to Las Vegas. Hoffman adopted the car as his own after the movie, keeping it for 34 years before putting it up for auction earlier this year. It was bought by Detroit collector-and-entrepreneur Kevin Adell.
This Thursday, the car will be in a starring role again, this time in the fourth annual Stahls Automotive Foundation’s Autos for Autism event in New Baltimore.
“I got a call from Wayne Carini — he has a show called ‘Chasing Classic Cars’ on the Motor Trend Channel,” said Adell as he cruised Southfield in the legendary Buick. “I didn’t know until he called that one of his family members has autism. He asked if he could use the car to show awareness for autism. He’ll be at the Stahls Museum this Thursday from 4-8 p.m. . . . and this car will be used to raise money.”
The event on Sept. 15 will benefit the Ted Lindsay Foundation, which supports autism research and education. The Stahls Museum restores and exhibits vintage vehicles, music machines and memorabilia of the 20th century.
Along with Carini, Detroit Red Wings alumni Eddie Mio and Butch Patrick, who played Eddie on the “The Munsters” TV show, will be on hand.
The big, curvaceous, eight-cylinder Roadmaster convertible stands out on Metro Detroit roads surrounded by modern, jelly bean-shaped models. Buick’s signature quad port holes are prominent, as are whitewall tires and chrome grille. Open the door and the interior is a striking mix of cream and burgundy.
Adell says two Buicks were used for the movie — a primary mule car that was covered in plates and drill holes to carry cameras while filming the actors, and his car, which was used for running footage. The former went to director Barry Levinson, the latter to Hoffman.
“The car should have got an Oscar with those guys,” said a smiling Adell of the movie that took home four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Hoffman. “Hoffman kept his Roadmaster in a garage for 34 years. Now he’s 85 years old, and he put it up for auction at Scottdale. I’ve got the original title with Hoffman’s home address in Beverly Hills.”
In the movie, Raymond famously tells Charlie that “I’m an excellent driver.” Cruise’s character turns over the wheel to his movie brother and Raymond bumps a couple of curbs outside a Las Vegas motel.
Adell’s car looks no worse for the wear, having been impeccably restored since it came into his collection — right down to the Ohio plates.
That’s how he met Carini, who had done restoration work on Levinson’s Buick in Connecticut. “We were stumped on the transmission,” said Adell, who owns media properties including the The Word Network, 910AM Superstation, and WADL-TV. “It’s a 1949 automatic Dynaflow — he helped with a number of things.”
Tickets for Autos for Autism are $20 for ages 16 and older — ages 15 and younger are free. A VIP ticket costs $40 includes a a photo op with the 1949 Buick Roadmaster, meet-and-greet with the three celebrities, and access to a special car exhibit that includes a 1951 Hudson Hornet and 1970 Dodge Challenger. Tickets can be purchased online at www.eventbrite.com/e/autos-for-autism-2022-tickets-400159757607, or by calling the museum. Stahls Automotive Foundation is at 56516 North Bay Drive in Chesterfield Township.
“I definitely know this car. It’s a 1949 Buick Roadmaster, straight-8 — Fireball 8 — only 8,095 production models,” says Raymond Babbitt in the movie. The most famous copy is in Detroit raising autism awareness.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Penske and Porsche united: Two motorsports superpowers, one Le Mans goal
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2022
aytona Beach, Fla. — Roger Penske’s race cars have been in the winner’s circle of the world’s most storied tracks — including the Indianapolis 500 18 times, NASCAR’s Daytona 500 three times, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, even Australia’s legendary Bathurst 1000.
But there is one title that has eluded Metro Detroit’s most famous car guy: the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, the world’s premiere sports car endurance race. So Penske has teamed with Le Mans’ winningest sports car brand, Porsche, to realize his ambition at the age of 85.
“It’s like having a new baby. I don’t want to miss it taking its first steps,” said Penske, who came here Sept. 2 to watch the sleek, red-and-white Porsche cyborg take its first test laps around Daytona Motor Speedway’s high bankings.
On the road to Le Mans next June, the 24 Hours of Daytona will be the first test of the Porsche 963. For “The Captain” — as his loyal troops at Team Penske call him — capping his illustrious career with a Le Mans win would be just desserts given that his racing days began behind the wheel of a Porsche RSK in 1958.
Penske long ago stepped out of the driver’s seat to run not only one of the world’s most successful racing programs. He sits atop a business empire that includes Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the IndyCar series, Penske Truck Leasing, and auto dealerships that employs 64,000 people across nine countries and four continents.
And yet, his passion for winning races — and for Porsches — is still at the heart of it all.
Under the banner Porsche Penske Motorsport, the formidable pair are teaming up again for an assault on the record books (Porsche is going for its 17th overall Le Mans win) at a time when the automotive world is in turmoil as government climate policy increasingly forces the industry to go all-electric.
Racing is not unaffected by the electrification push: the so-called LMDh (Le Mans Daytona hybrid) class that the Porsche 963 prototype has entered bows to the trend with a hybrid, 680-horsepower, twin-turbo V-8 that includes electric-motor assist.
But it’s the 4.6-liter V-8 that will do the heavy lifting in brutal 24-hour endurance races where cars crest 200 mph, and thrill crowds with their thunderous internal combustion-engine sounds.
“We didn’t buy the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to run around there with electric cars,” smiled Penske who packed nearly 300,000 fans into IMS last June to see 33 V-6-powered IndyCars take the green flag at full squawk. By contrast, the electric Formula E race series has struggled to gain fans. Penske says that electric racing is a long way off even as production luxury vehicles like the electric, $100K-plus Porsche Taycan EV in his showrooms have flown off the shelves.
Of more immediate interest is adding to his trophy case, a passion that creates a standard for the rest of his companies.
“This is the first (racing program) that is destined for the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Porsche 963 team director Jonathan Diuguid, 39, who has been with Penske since he graduated from the University of North Carolina as an engineer in 2005. “As you can see here, Mr. Penske is at the test, which doesn’t happen very frequently. It’s definitely something he is focused on, and it carries extra weight for that reason.”
Porsche first teamed with Penske in 1972 on the ferocious 917 Can-Am car that dominated North America’s fastest sports car series. With drivers George Follmer and Mark Donahue, Penske dominated the 1972-73 seasons before a similar era of government intervention forced performance changes on auto racing.
The two titans teamed up again in 2006-08 with the Porsche RS Spyder, a nimble, efficient racer that was a giant killer — challenging more powerful competition with better reliability and tactics. The bond the two teams share is rooted in decades of success — but also in the larger-than-life personalities behind the racing brands: the Porsche family and The Captain.
Respect for Penske in the Daytona pit was palpable.
He walked among his charges, talking to each individually. He is low-key but extremely well-briefed, says Urs Kuratle, Porsche Motorsports chief. Kuratle worked with Penske at Le Mans this year when the team entered a special, non-Porsche prototype entry to learn the Le Mans ropes.
“He was up for 36 hours at Le Mans, on the radio, asking questions,” said the Porsche team boss. “He knows the open points list as well as our engineers. To me, the man is from another planet.”
Patrick Long was the only North American driver on that team, a stint that launched him on a career as one of the world’s best race drivers.
“Growing up racing in the United States, I watched Roger Penske. He was the guy,” said Long, 41, who retired from racing last year and was on hand for the 963 test. “He called my races in 2008 (meaning each driver has a tactician in his ear during a race). Team Penske provided all the resources you could hope for, and in return was the expectation that you would win.”
Californian Dane Cameron is one of the hot shoes who tested the 963 in Daytona. Like Long, he is family — having won an IMSA title previously for Penske in 2019 when the team ran Acura’s program.
“It’s quite an honor to drive for Roger,” Cameron said. “And it’s quite an honor to join Porsche with their motorsport heritage. For me, that marriage is perfect and really something I wanted to be involved in.”
The car he will co-drive is at the summit of current automotive technology.
Taking its engine from Porsche’s legendary 918 hybrid supercar, the 680-horsepower 963 then adds an electric motor between the mid-mounted engine and seven-speed gearbox. A sophisticated aerodynamic chassis incorporating a Formula One-like front keel wing sucks the car to the ground enabling neck-straining cornering speeds.
As part of an 800-volt electric platform (similar to the Taycan electric road car), the electric current brings new challenges to drivers and tracks. If an incident occurs, the driver is trained to exit the cockpit by standing on the sill — then jumping as far from the car as possible to guard against electric shock.
Prior to the test, corner workers and fire safety teams are brought by the garage and debriefed on how to handle the car if it is involved in a crash. Key is a light in the front windshield that indicates if the electrical system is OK (green) or compromised (red, or no light at all). If the latter, then responders are not to touch the car until a special team from Porsche arrives.
While hybrids advertise efficiency in their road cars, they promise parity in auto racing, making for close competition that manufacturers covet.
“The LMDH regulations allow for all kinds of engine architectures: Cadillac normally-aspirated V-8, Porsche-and-BMW turbo V-8s, Acura twin-turbo V-6,” Diuguid said. “All engines have a different power curve shape (but) the hybrid system fills in holes and dips in the power curve so everyone is making the same power.”
This promise of parity, cutting-edge tech — and the tantalizing prospect of winning Daytona and Le Mans in the same calendar year — has attracted a who’s who of performance brands to the prototype class.
Porsche Penske Motorsport will compete in the years ahead against teams from Cadillac, Acura (both of which were at the Daytona test), BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Toyota.
With the track record of Penske and Porsche combined, there is no doubt who is the favorite.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Life under the Big Top: Highlights of 30 years of the Detroit auto show
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2022
The Detroit auto show’s history dates to 1907, when it became an annual event. But organizers took it to another level in 1989 when the Detroit Auto Dealers Association renamed it the North American International Auto Show and moved it to chilly January.
The goal: to compete against the world’s biggest shows in Frankfurt, Tokyo, and Shanghai and burnish Detroit’s global automotive cred. NAIAS became an instant sensation, attracting each year’s first model reveals and the attention of thousands of international journalists.
“It got so big, it was the best show in the world,” said Jason Vines, who attended his first show with Chrysler in the early ’90s. “I’m sorry, Germany and Japan. The Detroit show was the place to go.”
Cobo Center (now named Huntington Place) was transformed into a massive exhibition space showcasing the world’s latest wheels, hottest Hollywood celebrities, and the biggest annual charity event in the world. At its height, NAIAS played host to 79 vehicle introductions (in 2004) and welcomed 5,500 media (2008) — followed by two public weeks attended by nearly 1 million visitors annually.
“All the auto manufacturers were there,” continued Vines, who ultimately became Chrysler communications boss and the ringmaster behind some of the show’s most memorable debuts. “The Detroit show was the international show. When they changed the name, I thought, come on, give me a break — the North American International Auto Show? But it really was the international show, period.”
As NAIAS reboots this year with new September dates following a COVID-induced hiatus of more than three years, the auto show format is in transition with manufacturers favoring remote backdrops and internet buzz to glitzy new model displays. The new show aims to fill that void with activations, outsized attractions, ride ‘n’ drives, and electric monster trucks. Here’s a look in the rearview mirror at some of the Detroit auto show-palooza’s greatest hits.
1992: Jeep shatters expectations
It was the stunt heard ‘round the world. With “Maximum Bob” Lutz, Chrysler’s vice chairman, at the wheel and Mayor Coleman Young riding shotgun, the Jeep Grand Cherokee drove down Jefferson under police escort and up Cobo’s north steps before smashing through the convention center’s glass windows.
Well, it was a little more sophisticated than that.
“The plate glass was fake, it was actually tempered glass that they had put in with explosive charges all around the perimeter,” recalled Lutz, now retired after a legendary career that also included executive stints at BMW AG, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., in an interview.
“There was a guy with a remote — and the moment he saw the front bumper of the Jeep Grand Cherokee an inch from the glass, he triggered the explosives so you had a shower of glass granules.”
Chrysler had concluded that shattering actual glass would have been too dangerous, with shards threatening not only bystanders but Jeep’s precious human cargo.
“It was designed to be safe, and it was a brilliant demonstration of how you can use a low-cost PR stunt to far more effect at a product introduction than you could ever get from conventional advertising,” Lutz said with a smile. “That stunt was on every TV station, every major news media in the U.S. — and around the world.”
There would actually be a sequel in 2006 when Jeep drove another new product — the ’07 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon — off its stand and through Cobo’s glass into the street.
1995: Minivan meets Kermit the Frog
Chrysler was determined to create buzz for its new minivans, the Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan and Plymouth Grand Voyager, which featured segment-first sliding doors on both sides and a two-zone climate-control system.
Enter Lutz again, this time hamming it up with Chairman Bob Eaton reading giant storybooks in Mr. Rogers-style sweaters — who were then interrupted by Kermit the Frog piloting a red Caravan over their heads and onto a fake pond’s lily pads, dousing onlookers with water.
“Our stunt matched our message,” recalled Vines. “Our new minivan was going to leapfrog the competition.”
2008: Ram ‘n’ cattle drive
If Jeep’s glass-shattering stunt put the Detroit show on the map, then the Ram cattle drive may be the most ambitious.
Some 120 longhorn steers were trailered in from Oklahoma to accompany the all-new Ram truck (and upstage the new Ford F-150, also introduced at the show that year). They were kept in a parking lot overnight, then escorted down Washington Boulevard by cowboys with a trio of pickups in the middle.
“This could be the greatest thing — or the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life,” recalled Vines, who helped orchestrate the stunt. Sure enough, the spectacle included unscripted activity.
“Some of the longhorns start humping each other,” Vines said, laughing. “And now Chrysler’s CEO was petrified. But event emcee Jim Press (then Chrysler’s marketing chief) was quick on his feet. He said: ‘Look at those big cows trying to get a good look at the new Ram pickup truck!’ The video went viral around the world.”
The celebs
As the event grew in prominence — supercharged by media coverage and a ritzy charity ball — it naturally attracted Hollywood and musical celebrities to Detroit.
The ’06 show featured comedian David Spade, who memorably introduced the new Dodge Caliber with a dig at another Dodge product: “anything is better than Neon.” Eva Longoria, star of TV’s “Desperate Housewives,” unveiled the Chrysler Imperial concept while Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker touted a Cadillac Escalade special edition.
In 2003, the Charity Preview was headlined by superstar (and DaimlerChrysler spokeswoman) Celine Dion, who belted her single “I Drove All Night.”
Country music star Toby Keith introduced the 2009 Ford F-150. GM brought in a who’s who of musical talent in 2008 — Mary J. Blige, Maroon 5 and Detroit’s own Kid Rock — to show off a stage-full of concept cars. Infiniti unveiled its Q50 sedan in 2013 with the help of acrobatic Cirque du Soleil performers. Other notables over the years included Hall & Oates and actor/singer Kevin Bacon.
PR guru Vines was particularly fond of the celebrities who lingered over the sheet metal: “I remember Pixar’s John Lasseter — the creator of the ‘Cars’ movie — he had a ball just walking around the floor with us. And Jay Leno, of course — he really loves cars.”
2006: Aspen blizzard
Chrysler’s first SUV, the Aspen, was introduced by a blizzard of artificial snow from the off-Broadway act Slava’s SnowShow. Paper flakes exploded from the stage, showering the hall in what Autoline’s John McElroy called “the greatest press conference of all time.”
Auto reveals
Glitter aside, sometimes the cars have been the stars at the auto show.
Dozens of memorable vehicles have sauntered across Cobo’s stage, including the Ford GT40 concept supercar (in 2002 and again in 2015), the stunning Cadillac ELR hybrid in 2013, revived Toyota Supra in 2019, New Beetle in 1999, and the outrageous Tomahawk concept motorcycle powered by the Dodge Viper’s V-10 engine (piloted by no less than then-Chrysler Group COO Wolfgang Bernhard in ‘03).
And then there was the bright yellow Corvette Z06 that GM President Mark Reuss unveiled at the 2014 show, its 625-horse, 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 shaking the Cobo rafters of any remaining Slava’s SnowShow flakes.
Reuss gave it a nickname on the spot: “The Big Nasty.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
The 2024 Ford Mustang cometh: What we think we know
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 8, 2022
A new Mustang is coming. Long live the V-8.
The seventh generation of Ford Motor Co.’s iconic muscle-car figures to be a headliner for the 2022 Detroit Auto Show when it debuts Sept. 14. And unlike its Dodge and Chevrolet segment competitors, expect the 2024 pony car to continue to feed gas-powered red meat to its legion of fans — including a howling, 5.0-liter V-8 option under the hood.
While the Chevrolet Camaro is due to sunset in 2024 (complete with Heritage Edition farewell package, according to press reports) and Dodge is waving goodbye to its gas-powered Challenger and Charger beasts (even the legendary V8-fired Hellcat) the same model year due to crippling government fines, Mustang will continue to fly the flag for the affordable pony car segment it created in 1964.
Mustang, one of Ford’s iconic vehicles along with the F-150 pickup and Bronco SUV, is the Blue Oval’s performance halo.
That performance has inspired a quiet, electric, Mustang Mach-E SUV, but the sports car will continue on its rib-rattling, piston-pounding ways. We know that not only from spy shots with quad tailpipes sprouting out the rear of the ‘Stang, but from Ford’s motorhead CEO himself.
“Mustang is the world’s best-selling sports car because there’s one for everyone — from an EcoBoost convertible to 5-liter V-8 GT fastback coupe,” said Jim Farley as he rallied the Mustang faithful ahead of the new coupe’s evening reveal Sept. 14. “Now it’s time to. . .welcome the next chapter in Mustang’s legacy.”
Farley’s remarks were accompanied by an audio clip of the V-8 mill.
That powerplant is likely to be based on the same 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 found in the current GT. That engine already felt the pinch of federal regulators for the 2022 model year when its output was reduced 10 horsepower to 450 ponies.
But without Camaro and Challenger coupes in the market, Mustang stands to pick up sales above the 52,414 units it sold in 2021. Challenger outsold Mustang in 2021 with 54,314 units on the strength of its iconic V-8 mating call, while Camaro sold 21,893 cars. Some Mustang customers may also gain from the Charger sedan’s (the only four-door in the segment) demise, which leaves 78,389 in sales on the table.
The so-called “Ecoboost,” turbocharged, 2.3-liter inline-four cylinder engine is also expected to carry over in entry-level Mustang models. Shared with Ford’s ferocious, European Focus RS, the 310 horsepower/350 torque engine also has been popular in the Mustang’s High Performance model. Both engines should be mated to a six-speed manual and 10-speed, automatic transmission.
Beyond the oily bits, expect the exterior to get an evolutionary update from the radical, sixth-generation car that remade the face of Mustang in 2015. Look to the interior for the biggest change in the new coupe.
Electronics are reshaping vehicle interiors, and the new Mustang is no different. It will likely get a bigger, more exotic instrument display and console touchscreen. Expect them to be run by Ford’s SYNC 4 system (which debuted in the Ford F-Series trucks) which brings more computing power and nifty features like wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and split screen usability.
The new, 2024 Mustang likely will debut in just the Ecoboost and GT trims, with the former expected to start just below $30,000 in keeping with the brand’s affordable reputation that has made it the world’s best-selling sportscar across 144 countries. Past generations have primed enthusiasts to expect high-powered, higher-priced variants like the Shelby GT350 and GT500 (which can crest $80,000), not to mention stylish trims like the Bullitt and Mach 1. The first Mustang hybrid may be one of those special models.
Look for them at future Detroit Auto Shows.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo. OMG Speedwagon.
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 8, 2022
Charlevoix — On a vacant country road south of this small north Michigan burg, I initiated launch control in my all-electric, Mamba Green, 2022 Taycan GTS Sport Turismo wagon by simultaneously flattening the brake and accelerator pedals. Just like a Porsche 911 sports car.
I released the brake, and the all-wheel-drive GTS exploded forward like a Cedar Point amusement ride, crushing my rib cage into the seatback. “GEE-SUS!” was the universal reaction of everyone I took for a ride. Just like a Porsche 911. Sixty mph went by in just 3.5 seconds before I entered an ess turn, Taycan hugging the road courtesy of a battery powertrain mounted low in the chassis. Just like the flat-six engine in a 911.
Coveted by Porsche-philes, Taycan sold over 9,000 units in the 2021 sales year. Just like a Porsche 911.
In a luxury EV market dominated by King Tesla, Porsche is the only brand to have made a significant dent. The Tesla Model 3, for example, outsold the #2 sedan in class, the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, 128,600 units to (ahem) 1,766 last year. The compact Model Y SUV outsold the Ford Mustang Mach-E: 172,700 to 27,140.
Taycan was the only vehicle to outsell Tesla in class: besting the Model S sedan by 9,419 units to 9,100.
The electric rocket also outsold Porsche’s gas-powered sedan, the Panamera, by 3:1. No doubt that’s because Taycan is the latest “It” thing from a fashionable brand. But I sense Taycan also has sex appeal that (the plenty capable) Panamera has struggled to achieve.
I’ve raced Porsches, owned Porsches, put the 911 on a pedestal as the best sports car on the planet. But I haven’t bonded with Panamera, the brand’s first sedan/wagon. Maybe because it looks like an overstuffed 911. Maybe because it’s powered by front-mounted, V-shaped engines (heresy!), not rear, horizontally-opposed, flat-cylinder engines. Maybe because of its cluttered center console.
By contrast, I’m smitten by Porsche’s second sedan/wagon entry because of its aforementioned attributes. Ask anyone who’s driven one. It’s the best handling EV on the market, period. My 911 pal Jon had to be pried out by 10 men.
Where Panamera always felt like it was trying (like the ungainly Cayenne SUV) to force sports car looks into a sedan wrapper, Taycan has its own design signature — while retaining Porsche’s crucial brand DNA.
The styling is stunning. The front end is more sportscar-ish (no front engine) than Panamera, and framed by unique horizontal headlights. They make Taycan look lean, menacing. Out back, the wagon’s hatch tapers elegantly between Simba-like muscular hips, punctuated by a 911-inspired horizontal taillight spanning the rear deck. This vision sits on Porsche J1 skateboard chassis, making for a low center of gravity and thrilling cornering capabilities despite the car’s 5,200-pound girth — 500 pounds more than the comparable Panamera GTS Sport Turismo.
Necks swiveled wherever I went. At a Charlevoix cross walk, a family walked by before the dad finally stopped in his tracks, staring. GTS OMG.
The 590-horse GTS Sport Turismo is the sweet spot of Taycan beauty, performance and utility. Slotted between the Taycan sedan and insane 2.4-second-zero-60, 750-horse Turbo S, the GTS (like a 911 GTS) brings a more handling-focused package with sticky Pirelli P-Zero tires, tightened suspension and SPORT PLUS mode that makes a futuristic flat-6 sound (I could do without it. I love the 911’s glorious, flat-6 wail, but if you’re going electric, give me an electric motor shriek).
The wagon then adopts the hatchback from the Cross Turismo Taycan crossover — sans fender cladding for a sleek, simple aesthetic.
The spare elegance continues inside. Under a panoramic roof is a TV store of screens — not a button in sight. The dominate piece is the hoodless, curved boomerang-shaped instrument display. It’s as lovely as the first day I saw it at the Taycan’s 2019 Niagara Falls unveiling — though its novelty has worn off as other curved displays from Cadillac and Mercedes have come to market.
In Porsche tradition, the ignition is a button on the left dash (so you can fire up the beast as you jump into the driver’s seat like Le Mans racers of old). In fact, you only use the button to turn the car off with a loooong hold like a smartphone. Taycan comes to life automatically (with key in my pocket) as I step on the brake pedal.
Everything is simple. The electronic shifter has been reduced to a chicklet-sized toggle on the dash, freeing up the center console for a haptic touchscreen. Climate controls and charging info are accessed here — freeing the infotainment screens (there are two — one for driver, one for passenger) to do infotainment stuff like Sirius XM and Android Auto navigation.
Speaking of navigation, Taycan’s biggest shortcoming compared to Panamera is road trips.
Given its sales numbers, most Porsche sedan buyers apparently drive local. But hit the road to Charlevoix from my Oakland County domicile and Taycan is notably thin on self-driving tech. Herr Payne, zis ist ein Porsche. I am meant to be driven!
And then there’s the EV range issue. Panamera’s 400 miles of gas-powered range (enough to make the 500-mile round trip in a single stop) is a clear advantage (buy a Panamera E-Hybrid and that range extends to 464 miles).
After years of taking my Tesla Model 3 and other EVs north, I’ve settled on a two-stop strategy at Bay City and Gaylord fast chargers. Featuring a 800-volt platform (superior to a 400-volt Model 3 or Mach-E), Taycan should be able to charge at over 250 kilowatts at a 350 kW EA charger.
But I-75 EA chargers on this trip only let me charge at 115 kW, negating the $160K Porsche’s advantage. I sat at Bay City and Gaylord Meijer parking lots for 25 minutes each filling GTS to 80% of charge. Go joy riding in Charlevoix (guilty as charged) and you’ll need to go to, say, the local Ford dealer to charge on a 240-volt unit for a few hours. I like to pack a bicycle in the back of EV SUVs for the trip back to the charger — but the narrow (hey, you want those sexy Simba hips, dontcha?) Sport Turismo hatch requires I take off the bike’s front wheel.
Such are the compromises one makes for EVs.
So you can keep your Taycan caged in Metro Detroit for local commutes. Or you can explore this state’s glorious country roads testing the limits of this low slung, 626-torque rocket ship and its laugh-out-loud launch control capability.
Just like a 911.
2022 Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo
Vehicle type: Battery-powered, all-wheel-drive four-passenger SUV
Price: $137,450, including $1,450 destination fee ($161,470 as tested)
Powerplant: 83.7 kWh lithium-ion battery with twin, electric-motor drive
Power: 590 horsepower, 626 pound-feet torque
Transmission: Single-speed direct drive/front axle and two-speed/rear axle
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.5 seconds (mfr.); top speed, 155 mph
Weight: 5,152 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA MPGe 80 combined: range, 233 miles
Report card
Highs: Head-turning looks; electrifying performance
Lows: Lacks self-driving tech; road-trip charger blues
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Five things about the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 8, 2022
With the 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV, General Motors Co. takes a significant fork in the road to the company’s electric future as governments from California to Washington state target gas engines for elimination over the next decade.
Until Chevy unveiled the Equinox EV — and its recent Blazer EV and Silverado EV siblings — the General had been content to pioneer electric vehicles in the niche EV space with green customer-targeted nameplates like the EV1, Volt and Bolt.
No longer. By committing its flagship SUV and truck badges to electric drivetrains, Chevy is signaling the elimination of its mainstream gas-engine lineup has begun.
“We are at a turning point where EVs will be the mainstream choice for the next generation of customers,” CEO Mary Barra said, “and Equinox EV will lead this charge for us.”
The gas-powered Equinox will continue to be offered alongside the EV, and its value will be a challenge to EV adoption. Expect rising government penalties to try and cripple gas-engine production (see Dodge’s cancellation of V6 and V8-powered Challenger/Chargers due to government fines), but Chevy is putting its own thumb on the scale to encourage EV adoption in the US market’s biggest segment.
Here are five things to watch for as Equinox EV comes to market one year from now:
1. $30,000
Chevy says that it will aggressively price the EV at close to $30,000 for its base, LT model (a sportier RS model will also be available). Add destination fee (as The Detroit News always does when listing vehicle prices) and an estimated $31,000 starting price would significantly undercut competitive compact EVs like the VW ID.4, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Toyota bZ4X, and Ford Mustang Mach-E by more than $10,000.
The EV would still sell for 4 grand north of the $27,695 gasoline-powered Equinox. But, include the federal government’s new, $7,500 EV subsidy, and the Equinox EV’s starting price is comparable to a $23,295, gas-powered, subcompact Chevy Trailblazer.
The subsidy is also important because it would allow Chevrolet to undercut its chief Japanese rivals — Toyota, Honda, and Nissan — which have long dominated the compact SUV class. The $43k Toyota bZ4X, for example, is made in Japan and does not qualify for the federal tax credit.
2. Charge it.
Undercutting the price of the gas Equinox is key because charging is EVs’ Kryponite. Buyers can put their savings into spending the $2,000 necessary to install a home charger (apartment dwellers are are at a greater disadvantage).
Equinox EV boasts 250-300 miles of range — up from the Bolt EUV’s 248 — but that is still a long way from the gas Equinox’s 420 mile range. Owners of mainstream compact SUVs — unlike luxury SUV buyers — tend to rely on one vehicle for local and distance travel.
“You will no longer have to stop at the gas station,” says Chevy VP Scott Bell. But you will have to stop at charging stations on a trip to, say, Madison, Wisconsin, to see U-M thump the Badgers. The 450-mile trip from St. Clair Shores would require one, five-minute stop in a gas Equinox — but two, 30-minute stops in a Equinox EV on a 150-kW fast charger.
3. Tech-tastic.
To make such road trips more relaxing, the Equinox EV is optioned — like the Bolt EUV — with Super Cruise, GM’s state-of-the-art driver-assist technology that allows hands-free driving on divided interstates.
Equinox EV also comes with regenerative braking pioneered on Bolt. Regenerative allows one-pedal driving that can bring the vehicle to a stop only using the accelerator pedal (with assist form a steering column-mounted paddle).
4. Design.
Equinox EV is different from its gas brother inside and out. The exterior dumps Chevy’s traditional split-grille design for a more Tron-like visage of thin LED light bars and dimpled surfacing. The digital interior is simpler, too. Where standard Equinox’s instrument and infotainment displays are compartmentalized, Equinox EV adopts a large, hoodless, 17.7-inch glass display stretching across the dash and housing both instrument and info displays.
The architecture is similar to interiors debuted on the Silverado EV and Blazer EV. Though the Equinox EV removes the engine from the under the front hood, don’t expect dimensions to change much inside. Chevy says passenger room is similar — while rear cargo volume actually shrinks (with rear seats folded) from 63.9 cubic feet to 57 cubic feet (which is about the same as the Bolt EUV).
That space is not recovered up front as the Equinox won’t feature a frunk (front trunk) like a Ford Mustang Mach-E.
5. All-wheel-drive.
What the Equinox will have up front (and in back ) are dual motors for all-wheel-drive — a popular feature on the gas Equinox. The Bolt only has front-wheel-drive.
The AWD system makes for a significant performance jump over the gas Equinox with horsepower increasing from 170 to 290 and torque jumping from 203 on the AWD gas Equinox to a massive 346 in the AWD electric. Even the standard, FWD Equinox EV sees gains over the gas mule with 210 horsepower and 242 pound-ft torque.
Just watch that your hot-rodding doesn’t drain the battery.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Genesis GV60 is stylish, sci-fi Tesla challenger — charging excepted
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 1, 2022
Bay City — I’m a car columnist, but you may find my electric car reviews sound increasingly like electronics reviews.
Payne, you write a lot about high-tech and charging.
I know, I know. When I reviewed the Tesla Model 3 back in 2018, I marveled at its acceleration and crisp handling. But the more EVs I drove, the more they all felt the same. The Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Volkswagen ID.4. Torrid acceleration, smooth ride, low center of gravity in corners. Rinse, dry, repeat.
What continued to separate Tesla from the pack was technology and charging. Over-the-air updates, Autopilot driving, seamless charging stops, look-at-me-remote-driving-the-car-out-of-parking-space-with-my-smart-phone-for-goodness-sake.
I called the Model 3/Y smartphones on wheels. Everyone is playing catch up. Well, the 2023 Genesis GV60 has gotten darn close.
The top of the line in Hyundai Motor Group’s skateboard-chassis-based trilogy of Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, the premium GV60 EV wows in style, speed, technology — even surpassing the Tesla in build quality and the ability to remote parallel-park itself. No kidding.
But Genesis still badly lags in Tesla’s secret sauce: road-trip charging.
I took the GV60 on my favorite long loop test — a weekend with family in Charlevoix, 250 miles up north. Like my short-loop test to Hell and back it is Pure Michigan: unique towns for photography, great twisty roads for performance, interstate chill time to test infotainment and driver-assist features. The big add of the Charlevoix loop is I get to test electric-vehicle range and charging availability, and show off the car to the public and friends along the way.
Like a luxury car (or electronics device) the GV60 passed the style test with flying colors. Though I find all three Hyundai Group siblings to be uniquely premium in their looks, passersby definitely preferred the Genesis. The Hyundai Ioniq 5? Nice, but too boxy. The Kia EV6? Nice but too bulbous. The GV60? Just right.
“The Porsche Macan-like rear hatchback caught my eye,” said a middle-aged pal.
“I’ve got to ask, what kind of car is that? A new Audi? It’s really beautiful,” said a 20-something employee at a Taco Bell carryout window.
As those comments suggest, the Korean-assembled GV60 rejects Tesla’s Apple-simple design (there’s not even a proper frunk), for an elegant European-styled SUV with plenty of curves, signature split-headlights, and even a big grille. The grille is hardly necessary as EVs have no gas engine to cool, but Genesis apparently feels the need to link the car to gas-engine siblings like the GV70. An anthropomorphic face also makes a human connection.
To my cartoonist’s eye, the face looks like Stitch in Disney’s Lili & Stitch movie. Whatever your thoughts, it’s unique.
The design detail continues inside with a big, Mercedes-like digital screen stretching across the dash, crisp pages to flip through on the infotainment screen and floating console below like a Cadillac Lyriq. Unlike Tesla, there are upscale flourishes everywhere, with fat dials controlling everything from the screen to the side mirrors to the transmission.
But in operation, GV60 is one of the most Tesla-like vehicles I’ve tested. It wants to show off.
Roll up to a parallel parking space and my Genesis Sport not only would self-park, but it also gave me the option to step out of the car, stand on the curb and let the car park itself via key fob. The process is laborious as the car inches back and forth into a tight space — but it’s cool to witness.
It will also park in a perpendicular space and move out of a tight spot, all with remote operation. Tesla pioneered this drop-the-mike tech and Genesis has embraced it.
That autonomous habit extends to self-driving. It’s a feature available on other Hyundai products from the gas-powered Kia Sportage to the EV6 and Ioniq 5 — and I regret that Genesis doesn’t offer more capability. Think auto lane change that would put it on par with top-drawer luxury systems like Cadillac’s SmartCruise, Mercedes’ Intelligent Drive and Tesla’s Autopilot. Still, I came to rely on it as I drove long stretches of I-75 hands-free, the GV60 rarely nannying me to keep my hands on the wheel like my Model 3.
Self-driving at 80 mph is relaxing — but GV60’s charging issues filled the anxiety gap. The Hyundai Group says that it is developing a charger navigation system like Tesla, but for now drivers are on their own for navigating via an unreliable third-party charge network.
I’ve made this trip enough to know to ignore charge apps like ABRP and Chargeway that tell me to do a one-stopper via a West Branch charger. With a single charger, the West Branch unit could be out of order — or backed up with other vehicles. Better to use Electrify America chargers in Bay City and Gaylord — not just because they have multiple chargers, but also because weather can drain your battery.
Despite filing up to the recommended 80% of range (188 miles) to go 166 miles from Bay City to Charlevoix, I wouldn’t make it on a 90-degree day when battery range is just 70% (131 miles) of predicted range. So I stop twice — in Bay City and Gaylord — to be sure.
On my return trip, EA’s multiple charger options were crucial to getting home.
I entered Bay City with 50% of range. A quick, 7-minute fill-up on a 350 kW charger (a benefit of the Genesis’s fast, 800-volt platform) to 80% should have been enough to get me home with enough cushion to prepare for a 2 p.m. meeting.
But the Electrify America station had a surprise in store.
When I arrived, a Mustang Mach-E was on the 350 kW unit — its passengers asleep inside. I plugged into the second 350 kW unit. It was out of order.
Two, slower, 150 kW chargers left. I plugged into a 150. Also AWOL. Down to my last charger.
Fortunately, it worked. At 150 kW the charge to 80% took 20 minutes (plus 10 minutes wasted on out-of-order chargers), and then I was on my way. But not before I warned an arriving Mach-E owner that two chargers were out of order.
Awright, Payne, enough about high-tech and charging.
Leaving the Bay City charger with plenty of battery to get home, I put the Genesis in SPORT mode, nailed the accelerator and merged on the interstate with authority. EV60 will hit 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds — on par with a Tesla Model Y Performance, despite the Genesis weighing 400 pounds more.
Much of that added weight appears the result of better engineering for a quieter driving experience. Tesla still has the lead thanks to its charging network, but Genesis is a player to watch.
2023 Genesis GV60
Vehicle type: Battery-powered, all-wheel-drive five-passenger SUV
Price: $59,985, including $1,090 destination fee ($69,560 Performance AWD model as tested)
Powerplant: 77.4 kWh lithium-ion battery with dual electric-motors
Power: 429 horsepower, 516 pound-feet torque
Transmission: Single-speed direct drive
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.7 seconds (mfr., AWD); towing, 2,300 pounds
Weight: 4,890 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 90 MPGe; range, 235 miles
Report card
Highs: Standout looks, lotsa cool features to play with
Lows: Floaty handling; 800-volt platform not much benefit
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: The legendary Acura Integra is back but faces stiff competition
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 25, 2022
Yuba, Michigan — Nostalgia is a powerful thing. I want to see Michael Jordan go one-on-one with Steph Curry. I want to see Pete Sampras vs. Novak Djokovic on Wimbledon’s Centre Court. I want Mario Andretti vs. Josef Newgarden.
I want to drive the Acura Integra vs. the Cadillac CT4.
Wait, what? I can? After a long walk in the woods, Honda’s luxury brand has returned to its sporty roots and brought back its famed entry-level hellion for the compact luxury segment. But a lot has happened since 1989 when Integra debuted. Like my sports legends of yore, could Integra ever live up to the expectations? What the heck, let’s give it a shot.
On adaptive cruise control talking with my wife via the Android Auto app (both alien, sci-fi technology to an ’89 Integra) heading north on U.S. 31 outside Yuba (just north of Acme somewhere in northern Michigan) a twisty country road loomed. I hung up the phone and hit the brakes hard — negating ACC — then downshifted the manual from 6th to 5th to 3rd.
BRAP! BRAP! BRAP! Each downshift was perfectly executed thanks to electronic rev matching (more tech alien to the ’89 generation). I rotated Integra beautifully, then smoothly put down power courtesy of the limited slip differential (no, they never heard of that in ’89 either). Handling, power, tech. The Integra is reborn, yes?
“No, it’s just not the same,” mused my friend Sean, who owned an ’89 Integra.
She remembers her Integra romance like it was yesterday. She loved the stylish pop-up headlights, airy greenhouse and raw, lightweight, 2,400-pound chassis that was easy to toss around.
The 2023 Integra is based on the Honda Civic (just like the original) but 1989 was a different Integra/Civic era. Sean’s Integra had an eager 1.6-liter fuel-injected mill that was followed by an 8,000-rpm VTEC engine in 1992 that won customer raves. I have an evolution of that engine in my manual 2006 Civic Si, and it’s a blast to row at 6,000 rpm — the variable cam screaming for more power all the way to redline. Packaged in the sexier Integra, it must have felt like a little bit of Honda’s Formula One racer DNA had been injected under the hood.
By contrast, the new 2023 Civic Si boasts a turbocharged 1.5-liter engine that has better low-end torque compared to its ancestor — but lacks its personality. The new Integra gets the Civic Si engine standard (not the Civic’s base 152-horse mill) putting out the same 200 horses as the Civic mated to a manual transmission. Just like the original Integra, but …
Sean immediately came to terms with the shifter (one of the best in the business this side of a Porsche Cayman) and its sporty rev-matching, but she missed the original Integra’s playfulness.
The new Integra is 700 pounds heavier, after all, and accessorized to the gunwales with sound-deadening materials, digital gauges, wireless smartphone apps, and standard four-doors compared to her ol’ Integra coupe.
It also conforms to the 21st century stylebook, which means a shallow greenhouse — the better to show off the big 18-inch satin wheels and sculpted side-and-rocker panel stampings. This new Integra has a gym-toned bod compared to the boxy builds of the ’80s and ’90s.
No matter. To Sean, the Integra had lost its original, carefree character. Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Thus the risk of bringing back a legend.
I know the feeling, having recently driven my first love — the 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit (aka Golf) GTI. Like the Integra of its day, my ol’ GTI was light, airy, technically unsophisticated, yet alive with a bratty exhaust note.
How far we have come in 40 years. And that’s a key marketing challenge for the 2023 Integra.
Today, we have entry-level luxury hellions unheard of in the ’90s. There’s the aforementioned whip-quick Cadillac CT4. And Mercedes CLA. And BMW 2-series. And Audi A4.
That’s a tough competitive brand set, and Acura competes with value, value, value. Load my sporty A-Spec-trimmed tester with all the goodies — head-up display, red-leather-Alcantara seats, 18-inch wheels — and it clocks in at $37,395, a whopping $7,200 grand south of a comparable Cadillac CT4 Sport at $44.6K.
Sure, the Caddy has rear-wheel drive, but the Integra has a stick. Nice.
But look in the rear-view mirror and the vehicles stalking my Integra are mainstream makes like the $35,390 Mazda3 Turbo and $39,385 VW Golf GTI — cars that are superior to Integra in performance, on par in tech.
Maybe it was always thus. A look back at enthusiast magazine Car and Driver’s 1992 archives finds Integra taking on seven other pocket rockets like the Eagle Talon TSi and VW Corrado in a comparison review.
“The Integra GS-R is not a hard-edged, seriously sporting car — its suspension is tailored for a forgiving ride, and the chassis delivers just 0.79 g of grip (both of which contributed to the car’s seventh-place showing around the racetrack),” wrote Car and Driver back then. “But, in typical Honda fashion, it does nearly everything well at a reasonable … price.”
Sounds like our Integra all right. It came in third overall.
I would rate it the same for the 2023 model. Get the hot-looking Integra because it wears better duds than a Civic Si, but it’s no hotter looking than the sculpted GTI or gorgeous Mazda3 hatches I’ve recently driven. Crucially, under the skin, Integra brings the same dynamics as the Civic Si: same 1.5-liter turbo-4, same electronics, same screens.
The Golf GTI and Mazda 3 bring similar value, only better. The Mazda3 boasts an interior on par with a Mercedes, for goodness sake. The Mazda3 also brings standard all-wheel drive (which will woo all-season Michiganians) and a blistering 250 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque that will out-drag the Integra to 60 mph by a half-second.
Enter Golf GTI, which goes to the top of the class with a sweet manual, 241 horses from a growly 2.0-liter turbo-4, and moves to match the athletic Integra. Want more? There’s the ridiculous, 310-horse, all-wheel-drive Golf R at $45K.
Which begs the question: Will we get more from Integra?
I’m betting yes — both to compete against the Golf R, as well as up-trim luxury cyborgs like the Audi RS3 and BMW M2 and Mercedes CLA AMG 45. We’ll see what else Acura has in its toybox.
In the meantime, the base Integra is finally back. It may not be at the top of its class, but it’s a welcome dose of nostalgia for the Acura club.
2023 Acura Integra
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger sports sedan
Price: $33,895, including $1,095 destination fee ($37,395 as tested)
Powerplant: 1.5-liter turbo-4 cylinder
Power: 200 horsepower, 192 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 6-speed manual or continuously-variable automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.0 seconds (Car and Driver). Top speed, 135 mph
Weight: 3,062 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 26 mpg city/36 highway/30 combined
Report card
Highs: Fun-to-drive hatchback; Acura value compared to other premium brands
Lows: Engine lacks Acura thrills; lacks value compared to other mainstream hot hatches
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Class of ’96: The new Dream Cruise classics
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 22, 2022
Like a high school class reunion on wheels, the Woodward Dream Cruise celebrates not just our adolescent car fantasies, but decades of auto design.
Each year we honor the 26th reunion class in particular as new classics that can wear historic plates (in Michigan 26, not 25, is antique). For aging gracefully, the state rewards you with plates costing just $30 every decade provided you — class, listen closely — only exercise the vehicles sparingly. August excepted, of course, so that you can cruise your pride and joy anywhere you want and reminisce about 1996’s highlights: Braveheart’s Oscar, the Atlanta Olympics, the Colorado Avalanche’s Stanley Cup (boo, hiss).
Here are the highlights from the Class of ’96.
Dodge Viper SR II
Raw and rowdy, the 1992 Dodge Viper roadster was a sensation. The second-generation 1996 car refined the formula. Moving the leg-scalding exhaust pipes from the rocker panels to the rear of the car, SR II also gained a stiffer chassis and a GTS coupe model (to die for in blue with double-white stripes). Oh, and the earth-shaking, Lamborghini-tuned 8.0-liter V-10 RAM engine got a horsepower bump to 450 ponies.
GTS also has a more civilized interior that won’t bake you to a crisp, power windows, air bags and door handles to access it. Car and Driver clocked sub-4 second 0-60 sprints, making Viper one of the decade’s quickest cars.
Dodge Stealth
While Viper Part 2 was winning accolades, Dodge ended Stealth production the same year. Made in Japan alongside the similar, more popular Mitsubishi 3000GT, the fun sports cars shared a V-6 mill with a high-output, twin-turbocharged version pumping out 320 horses. Stealth came in multiple trims — and even optioned all-wheel drive. The Dodge got off on the wrong foot back in ’91 when it was scheduled as the Indy 500 pace car — then boycotted by the UAW because of its Japanese origin (a Viper prototype took its place). Rick Mears received a Stealth for winning the race anyway.
Chevy Corvette C4 Grand Sport
Chevy’s fourth-generation sports car ended its 1983-96 production run with a $43K performance Grand Sport — the first GS since the legendary ’63 race car piloted by Roger Penske (among others). Just 1,000 Grands were produced (810 coupes, 190 convertibles) dressed in Admiral Blue with a white stripe down the middle, 330 horsepower and signature twin red hash marks over the left front fender.
Chevy Camaro Z28 SS
This was the era of the sloped-nose, scalloped-headlight F-body Camaro (the chassis shared with sibling Firebird, though the Pontiac had retractable lights). The base ‘Maro offered two V-6 engines and a V-8 upgrade making 275 horsepower. For ’96, Chevy partnered with Street Legal Performance in New Jersey to produce the model line’s Alpha Dog: a ferocious, V8-powered Z28 SS that, for one year, united the legendary Z28 and SS badges.
It’s a rare bird for a lot of reasons (though it should be noted that its 305 ponies is, um, less than a 2023 Chevy Blazer RS). Just 2,263 Z28 SS models were built (264 of them convertibles) loaded with toys like Torsen differential and Hurst six-speed.
“When SLP received approval from Chevrolet in 1996 to offer the … Camaro Z28 model, it marked the re-introduction of the SS nameplate after a 24-year absence,” wrote SLP President Ed Hamburger in a press release. “The Camaro SS instantly became the new benchmark in affordable performance.”
Ford Mustang GT
After the 4th-gen ‘Stang debuted in 1994 with major chassis and styling revisions, the ’96 GT showcased a new 215-horse, single-overhead-cam 4.6-liter V-8, replacing the old nail, 30-year-old 5.0-liter pushrod V-8.
BMW Z3
Assembled in Greer, South Carolina, the Z3 roadster was the first BMW manufactured outside of Germany. First models were powered by a 1.9-liter 4-banger producing 130 horsepower, or about the same as a more affordable Mazda Miata.
Nevertheless, Z3 was hailed for its athletic handling and later models (including the inevitable Z3 M performance beast) would be available with more powerful inline-6 cylinder engines. It’s a topless sports car that can be enjoyed on Woodward or twisty M-32 Up North.
Lotus Elise
This legendary Brit was introduced in ’96, but didn’t wash up on our shores until 2005. Thanks to the sunset of federal safety regs 25 years after production, the original Elise is now legal here. What a treat it is.
You thought the Z3’s engine was small? Elise’s 1.8-liter 4-cylinder packs just 118 horsepower — but at just 1,600 pounds, the aluminum-frame Elise weighs the same as an IndyCar. With fiberglass body, sultry looks and no-frills interior, it became the best-selling Lotus ever.
Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable
America’s best-selling car at the time, the third-gen $18,000 Taurus (and sibling Sable) was introduced in ’96 in sedan and station wagon trims with different styling than its predecessors. Still aerodynamic, Taurus looked to stand apart by taking the company’s Blue Oval logo and making it a theme across the car — oval headlights, oval grille, even an oval rear window.
The interior was also reimagined with (naturally) an oval-shaped console with front bucket seats standard. The Payne family enjoyed their wagon (despite rust issues), but the design proved polarizing, and in 1997 Taurus lost its sales crown to the Toyota Camry.
Honda Civic
Though my favorite trim, the sporty manual Si, wouldn’t debut until 1999, the sixth-generation, 1996 Civic offered good bones to build on. It featured a sippy, 106-horse, 4-banger engine mated to a CVT transmission as well as an intuitive manual box.
Inside, Civic was roomy for its class, though its amenities pale to today’s electronics. Standard adaptive cruise control? Apple CarPlay and Android Auto? Backup camera? Fuhgeddaboudit. The base CX three-door hatchback not only lacked those basic features found on today’s compact, but it had no radio, no power steering, and came with with 13-inch wheels. Price? Just under 11 grand.
Nissan 300ZX
Maybe the best-looking Z outside of the original 1970 240Z — and the current, 2023 inspired by the same — the ’96 300ZX would be the last Z sold in the U.S. until 2002 as Nissan corporate struggled to find itself.
Powerful and athletic, 300ZX offered a 222-horse V-6 and a 300-horse, twin-turbo option with an adjustable suspension, depending on your mood. “It will be a black day when the last Nissan 300ZX is shipped to America,” wrote enthusiast publication Car and Driver when it named Z to its 10 Best Cars list.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: 5 things about the loud, lurid, ‘lectric Dodge Charger Daytona
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 22, 2022
Pontiac — It’s That ’70s Show again with the federal government on the warpath to eliminate V-8s, gas-guzzlers and fun. But the fun-lovin’ Dodge brand wants to stay a step ahead of the killjoys.
“It’s like if they decided to ban cows — but 5% of the population is vegetarian and the rest still wanted beef. The meat industry would figure it out, they’d make Impossible Burgers and other stuff,” said Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis in an interview ahead of the reveal of his brand’s first electric car. “Same for the auto industry, we’ll figure it out. We’ve seen this type of upheaval before in 1972, but this time we were warned the regulations were coming.”
Dodge is bringing a lot of meat to the EV table.
The ferocious, all-electric Charger Daytona SRT Concept is the first look at Dodge EVs that will replace the iconic V-8-powered Challenger and Charger muscle cars when they go extinct in 2024. With menacing, retro-1960s style, a V-8 soundtrack and a Banshee logo aft of the front fender where a Hellcat used to be, the Charger Daytona SRT intends to electrify the EV era.
“If the world is going (electric),” said Kuniskis, “then it’s got to look like a Dodge, sound like a Dodge and drive like a Dodge.”
Here are five notable things about the concept:
1) The sound. Yes, this EV makes noise. A lot of noise. The same insane, 126 decibels of V-8 sound as a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 Hellcat engine. Dodge achieves this feat using a patented system called the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust.
It’s basically a pipe organ hanging under the rear bumper that uses air and valves to create a sci-fi V-8 bellow. Under the Chrysler design dome in Auburn Hills before some media guests, Dodge revved the concept car like a Hellcat. BRAAAP, BRAAAP, BRAAAP.
“We worked for a long time to get that sound right, because we wanted a sound that was fresh, new and modern. We also wanted something that made you feel comfortable,” said Kuniskis. “The secret sauce in that sound — although it sounds like a new, modern thing — is it is (he knocks on the table) the firing order of a V-8 engine.”
Nail the throttle and Kuniskis says its multi-speed, electro-mechanical transmission – dubbed eRupt – will upshift like a V-8, too. How many shifts? “We’re still working on that. More than two.”
2) Daytona, Romberg & R-wing. Like Corvette Stingray or Porsche GTS, Charger Daytona is a special name in the Dodge lexicon. It’s not thrown around casually.
The brand’s first EV is called the Dodge Daytona in homage to the legendary, sleek, late 1960s NASCAR that dominated the sport as the first stock car to hit 200 mph (ultimately evolving into the 1970 Plymouth Superbird). Just 500 production versions were ordered (for homologation purposes) with copies selling for $1.5 million at auction today. Interestingly, the EV adopts an open-frame version of the brooding, horizontal grille of the standard ‘68 Charger – with the Daytona’s signature, sloped aerodynamic nosecone design slipped in behind the opening to suck the car to the ground – creating a low drag co-efficient that made the NASCAR so fast.
“The car we always wanted to redo was the 1968 Charger, arguably the most iconic muscle car ever,” said Kuniskis. “But that was going to be a brick. We were going to need a 150 kWh battery (which would cost) $15,000 . . . and that’s not going to be price competitive. So let’s put Gary Romberg’s nose on it. It’s got to look like a melted jelly bean to make the aero guys happy, but it’s got to look like a muscle car. So he built the wing over it so now it looks like a proper muscle car, but hidden in it.”
Dodge dubbed the design the R-wing after Romberg, the NASA-trained engineer brought over to work on Charger from Dodge’s then-aerospace division. Rear of the sleek nose, the coke-bottle body echoes the original with muscular hips and a fast back. The ’69 Charger Daytona’s high wing is conspicuously missing.
“Didn’t need it,” smiled Kuniskis.
3) It’s a hatchback. Past Chargers (including the winged Daytona) all came with rear trunks. But in the SUV age, Dodge is determined to offer its new halo car with a touch of ute utility. Thus a sportback found on other premium cars like the Audi A7 and Kia Stinger.
“People buy SUVs because they have a command-of-the-road, higher-seating position, all-weather capability, and increased utility,” said Kuniskis. “We can’t give you command of the road because I’m going to build a muscle car. . . but I’m gonna’ get a plus on its looks because its bad-ass, so I think I’m neutral there. And we’re going to the hatch. It’s huge. When that hatch goes up and the seats fold, you have SUV utility (back) there.”
The EV concept has bucket seats in the rear. It’s a concept thing. The real car will have a bench rear seat for proper fold-down cargo utility.
4) All-wheel-drive. The other piece of SUV utility that Charger Daytona brings is all-wheel-drive. Every version of the EV will have power at all four corners — a departure from past Chargers that were rear-wheel-drive, save the last-gen, AWD V-6 engine offering.
“I’m going to give you full-time AWD on all of my cars no matter what it is so I have all-weather capability,” said Dodge’s boss.
AWD capability means front and rear electric motors, which will help — not only in Michigan’s four seasons — but channel the massive torque coming from Charger Daytona’s big battery.
How much power? Kuniskis is mum. But expect it to be close to the 100 kWh found in the Tesla Model S Plaid or 93 kWh unit in the Porsche Taycan.
5) The 400/800 kWh skateboard. Sitting on an all-new skateboard battery platform with up to 800-volt, fast-charge capability like Taycan or Genesis GV60, the Charger EV won’t have an engine up front. Dodge designers use that space for the aerodynamic R-wing — not a frunk (front trunk) like Tesla or Taycan.
With the battery slung low for a low center of gravity and the aerodynamics working top-side, the big Dodge’s handling should impress.
The wild card is whether Dodge’s “Brotherhood of Muscle” will accept the manufactured V-8 sound and battery range limitations. At Roadkill Nights — the legal Woodward drag racing sponsored by Dodge over the weekend here — the faithful were skeptical, taking a wait-and-see attitude.
Whatever their opinion, the Charger Daytona will likely be the most talked about new EV this year. Just like this fun-lovin’ brand wanted.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Chevy wraps the Silverado ZR2 pickup in Bison armor
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 17, 2022
Bison are getting bigger.
Learning from little brother Chevy Colorado, the full-size Silverado pickup is gaining yet another rugged off-road trim: the ZR2 Bison that’s been popular on the midsize pickup since its 2019 model year introduction. Topping the Silverado Trail Boss and ZR2 off-road models, Bison takes the unique suspension, tires and style of the ZR2 — then straps on battle armor.
Chevy partnered with acclaimed aftermarket builder American Expedition Vehicles to equip Bison with rocker protection, unique skid plates and custom front bumper — continuing a partnership that began with the Colorado ZR2 Bison.
In other Silverado news for the 2023 model year, the pickup’s 3.0-liter, inline-6 cylinder turbo-diesel Duramax engine — though not available in the ZR2 or Bison — gets a 10% increase in grunt to 305 horsepower, with torque increasing 7.6% to 495 pound-feet.
“The Silverado ZR2 Bison is the ultimate half-ton truck for back country adventures,” said AEV CEO Dave Harriton. “It checks all the boxes — robust stamped steel bumpers, complete underbody protection, factory-tuned off-road suspension, and locking differentials front and rear.”
The midsize Colorado also pioneered the ZR2 off-road package that Silverado adopted in 2022. While the Silverado ZR2 did not reach for the super-truck heights of the Ford F-150 Raptor R and Ram 1500 TRX with a special engine, it made significant off-road upgrades like spool-valve Multimatic dampers and front/rear locking differentials to offer a broad bandwidth of low-speed canyon crawling and higher-speed trail runs. Silverado Bison starts with the ZR2 model’s 420-horse, 6.2-liter V-8 engine and off-road tools like Terrain Mode, which allows one-pedal driving.
The Bison elevates the ZR2 for the serious overlander. It also elevates the price to $78,490 (including destination fee) when the vehicle goes into production in early 2023.
The pickup adds another item to Silverado’s menu to feed the market’s insatiable appetite for trucks — a market the Detroit Three dominate. As manufacturers face an uncertain future of building electric vehicles, trucks like the ZR2 Bison add needed profit margin.
“Our most recent collaboration with AEV resulted in the much-acclaimed Colorado ZR2 Bison. We’re thrilled to team up again to bring customers Chevrolet’s next chapter of off-road dominance, this time on Silverado,” said Chevy VP Scott Bell.
Compared to the ‘22 Silverado ZR2, Bison improves the front approach angle to an estimated 32.5 degrees (compared to ZR2’s 31.8 degrees) and departure angle to an estimated 23.4 degrees (compared to 23.3 degrees), while still sharing the same 11.2-inch ground clearance.
To tackle tortuous terrain, front/rear bumpers are constructed of AEV-stamped, 3-millimeter-thick steel, then powdered and e-coated. Silverado Bison’s front bumper is winch-capable. The vehicle’s underbelly is protected by five unique hot-stamped boron steel skid plates to protect vulnerable components like differentials, transfer case and fuel tank.
Other standard items include steel rocker panel protection, three-piece steel front bumper with tow hooks, and gnarly 33-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory tires.
You’ll know the Silverado ZR2 Bison by its body-color grille bar that bisects the prominent black grille just below the Chevy “flow tie.” Out back, the standard Multi-Flex tailgate gets a black matte finish.
In a nod to Chevy’s collaboration with AEV, there are little Easter eggs throughout the truck, like an AEV badge featured on the seat headrests and all-weather floor liners.
The Silverado’s Duramax diesel — available in the Custom Trail Boss, LT, RST, LT Trail Boss, LTZ and High Country models — gets its added punch from upgrades including revised steel pistons and new fuel injectors.
“These improvements to the popular diesel Duramax build on the already advanced design of the first-generation engine,” said John Barta, assistant chief engineer for diesels mills, to deliver to “customers outstanding fuel economy and quiet power.”
Like the V-8, it’s paired with GM’s 10-speed transmission and will be available by year’s end.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.