Ford

Atlanta — The IMSA Weathertech Sportscar series roars into its season finale at Road Atlanta this weekend featuring the most-compelling mixed-class racing on the planet.

Detroit brands dominate the story lines.

It will be Cadillac vs. Porsche Penske for the title in the premier GTP prototype class. In the production-based GTD Pro class, Motown muscle-car rivals Mustang and Corvette square off for all the marbles. Mustang has unveiled a special livery for the event to celebrate both the 125^th anniversary of Ford racing and the 250^th birthday of the United States. To add to the North American drama, eyes will also be on the Meyer Chank Racing Acura GTP team as Los Angeles-based Honda Racing Corp. shoots for one last win before it exits the series.

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

NAPA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA — Before it ditched cars for a lineup of engaging SUVs and trucks like F-150 Raptors, Bronco Sport Sasquatches and Maverick Lobos, Ford made affordable hellions like the Focus RS that you could take big game-hunting with 300-plus turbo-4 horsepower, nimble handling, and drift mode. The Focus RS exited the market in 2018.

It’s been reincarnated in the 2027 Ford Mustang RTR.

Delivered by Formula Drift Racing legend Vaughn Gittin Jr. and his Ready to Rock team, Mustang RTR is the love child of the Focus RS and a Mustang GT. It is a tantalizing, teething, tempestuous, tail-wagging terror.

Over the heaving, 2.0-mile twists-and-turns of Thunderhill West race track (a desert version of Grattan Raceway near Grand Rapids), RTR was, to use Gittin’s favorite term, a fun-haver. In TRACK mode, I crested blind Turn 6 at 90 mph — managing throttle while the turbo stayed spooled up using anti-lag technology from the Ford GT (yeah, that 2016 GT). I stomped the Brembo brakes and flung RTR into Turn 7, a hard, 30-degree hairpin.

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Napa Valley, California — On twisty, tight Sage Canyon Road, the Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC (for supercharged) is a revelation. With a 795-horsepower, supercharged-V8 boat anchor up front hauling over two tons of mass, my tester should be a heaving, understeering mess turning my hair white.

Instead, I am defying physics.

With magnetic shocks mapping the road, the beast stuck like glue through a series of ess turns. The Predator V-8 devoured straight stretches before massive, 16-inch rotors brought the Ford back to earth, its quad exhaust pipes spitting fire as the cat-quick seven-speed, dual-clutch gearbox downshifted from 4^th to 2^nd. Back to throttle. Remarkable.

Merriam Webster’s defines “dark horse” as a “usually little known contender (such as a racehorse) that makes an unexpectedly good showing.”

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Watkins Glen, New York — Atop the hills overlooking Seneca Lake, Watkins Glen International Raceway is one of America’s greatest racetracks with a history of hosting everything from Formula One to endurance sportscar to NASCAR races.

But before the dedicated, 3.5-mile track opened in 1956, sportscars raced on an epic, 6.6-mile road course crafted from local public roads. The road course is now a historic landmark — its byways still traversed by daily commuters. Anyone can take laps in their vehicle, which I did on a recent road trip from Detroit.

In a 2026 Mazda CX-70 SUV.

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Riding record sales through July, Sierra will simplify its 2027 trims to six with all models getting a revised fascia with mid-mounted headlights. The new look freed designers to craft a more expressive, C-clamp-shaped daytime running light. The light signature forms a question mark when the headlight is illuminated.

For 2027, Sierra introduces two segment-exclusive features to Detroit’s truck wars:

1) The articulated screen flips up with the push of a button, revealing a hidden compartment behind for storing valuables.

2) Hands-free Super Cruise while towing on divided highways.

All AT4s and Denalis come standard with the MultiPro tailgate that GMC innovated on the last-gen truck. The 2027 Sierras upgrade the MultiPro tailgate with a ruler and cup holder.

Boasting a new, so-called “motor cradle” grille, the AT4 arrives standard with 34-inch all-terrain tires while the AT4X gains 35-inch all-terrains, a two-inch lift, three underbody skid plates for more serious dirt-kicking, segment-exclusive underbody cameras, and a new BAJA drive mode.

Also standard on AT4/AT4X are electronic-locking differentials front and rear and Multimatic dampers.

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Peering out over the Terrain Brown hood of my loaded, $37k Seltos tester, it looked a lot like the hood of the Terrain Brown Matte-colored, $60k Telluride X-Pro SX-Prestige I took to the Detroit Grand Prix earlier this summer. Similar Mad Max grille, black trim, shard-like wheels, chiseled fenders.

Walk up to my X-line and the door handles popped out to greet me. Just like Telluride.

The steering wheel in my hands was square to better frame the 12.3-inch instrument display in front of me. Just like Telluride.

The instrument display is paired with a 12.3-inch infotainment display and 5-inch climate control panel and housed in a hoodless 30-inch screen that is both stylish and practical. Its high dash placement kept my eyes on the road. Just like Telluride.

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards judges announced their nominees for 2027 this week amid a drought of new product.

Dubbed the Best of 2027, the 25 new vehicles set the field for NACTOY’s 2027 awards season.

Five cars, four trucks, and 16 utility vehicles will vie for the prestigious trophy, the only award presented by an independent jury of auto journalists. The list boasts eight models from Detroit-based brands, including all four in the truck category (including newcomer Troy-based Slate) and four in the SUV category.

The 2027 NACTOY awards come against a backdrop of industry disruption after state and federal government efforts to force automakers to sell electric vehicles and sunset their internal-combustion-engine lineups. Automakers are retooling to meet market demand as consumers haven’t warmed to EVs, government mandates were withdrawn, and federal subsidies subsided.

“Automakers (are) tearing up product plans built for an EV future that has not arrived,” reported the Murphy Automotive Product Pipeline this week, authored by respected ex-Bank of America “Car Wars” analyst John Murphy. “Automakers face the worst three-year new-product drought on record and intensifying global competition and policy uncertainty are raising questions about which brands ultimately survive.”

The NACTOY Best of 2027 represents shifting industry trends. Just 10 years after NACTOY expanded its categories from car and truck to include sport utility vehicles, SUVs dominate the list. A decade ago, Best of 2017 included 15 cars, 12 SUVs and four trucks.

While Detroit automakers still rule the U.S. truck market, no Motown makers are represented in the car category for 2027 — a segment they have largely exited. About 30% of nominees are from U.S brands, consistent with 2017 — though best-selling EV automaker Tesla is conspicuously missing despite offering a new three-row version of the Model Y, the seventh best-selling vehicle in market. Tesla does not offer vehicles for NACTOY testing.

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

WHITTMAN, Arizona — It’s hot at Ford Motor Co.’s Arizona Proving Grounds in the Mojave Desert 48 miles northwest of Phoenix. Beastly hot, with average triple-digit temperatures during August, and test track temps climbing over 150 degrees.

Which is just how Ford F-150 pickup engineers like it.

At the wheel of a 2027 F-150 prototype, Thermal Systems Engineer James Konstantino tore around APG’s 2.1-mile oval at 60 mph, towing a bright red dynamometer simulating a 10,000-pound trailer on a five-degree grade. In 114-degree heat.

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Honda, Honda

“Our team of passionate engineers is taking our ultimate Honda adventure SUV and making it even more capable for 2027,” said Honda National Auto Sales Assistant Vice President Luis Guerra. “By enhancing both the driving experience and off-road capability, Honda Passport offers our customers an SUV for their daily life and next great adventure.”

The two-row, midsize off-road segment has long been dominated by the Jeep Grand Cherokee (and its lifted Trailhawk halo model featuring all-terrain tires) with annual sales north of 200,000 units.

The Passport TrailSport takes direct aim at the Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road and Land Cruiser, rugged Japanese SUVs that have followed the Grand Cherokee in offering customers an adventurous-looking SUV even if it’s only used as a daily driver. The strategy has worked with the 4Runner/Land Cruiser pushing nearly 150,000-unit sales in 2025. The Passport sold a record 55,231 units in 2025 and sales are up 20% this year through August.

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