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Payne: That’s a Hyundai? Tucson ute is hi-tech head-turner
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 6, 2021
The 2022 Hyundai Tucson might have been designed after the jagged edges of the Santa Catalina Mountains that surround the compact SUV’s Arizona namesake. Or the chiseled stones that flood the street markets of Tucson’s annual Gem and Mineral Show. Or maybe the Lamborghini Aventador’s dramatic lines, since Hyundai’s design chief Luc Donckerwolke once penned the Italian sports cars.
Whatever its inspiration, the Tucson is one of the most striking compact utes in the U.S.’s biggest volume, non-pickup segment.
From its big front grille to its sculpted flanks to the crazy quilt of shapes out back, the Hyundai looks like it was pieced together with shards of glass. Linger over the triangular shards in the big grille. Or the pie-piece taillights. Or the triangle-choked mesh below the rear bumper. The tri-theme reminds me of Ford’s oval obsession with the 1996 Taurus, one of my favorite wagons from last century.
“You have to take a risk to get noticed,” said Hyundai chief designer Chris Chapman, a Yankee whose Los Angeles studio was tasked with designing the brand’s biggest U.S. seller.
Hyundai’s U.S. team also knows the segment’s formidable competition and American customers’ habit of living in their cars for long commutes and trips. Segment leaders like the Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue and Ford Escape not only offer unique exteriors but roomy, livable interiors.
Now that Tucson’s gemstone exterior had my attention, the interior is a study in Home & Garden practicality. Unlike the aforementioned Taurus, which carried its oval exterior theme inside, the Hyundai’s exterior and interior designs are apples and oranges.
Make that triangles and rectangles.
The interior is built from simple, practical right angles. A pair of chromed lines border the cabin like a picket fence around an Arizona horse ranch. It’s lovely, and — but for the console — uninterrupted.
Look closely, and that’s because there isn’t a hood over the instrument cluster. Like a Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Tucson’s standard liquid crystal display screen (LCD) goes hood-free since it doesn’t reflect the sun’s glare. It makes for crisp digital graphics as well as a less-cluttered cabin. Slick.
Hyundai’s obsession with simplicity continues into the console with twin, stacked rectangular touchscreens. The upper (expandable to 10.25 inches on upper trims) handles infotainment functions, the lower takes care of climate. Engineers and designers are always at war over ergonomics, and the designers won this battle with a clean, touch-only interface. Honda tried this in its last-gen CR-V and ultimately caved to consumer preferences for a volume knob.
Hyundai buyers may ultimately demand the same, but the Tucson’s design is more elegant than the Honda, so we’ll see. For now, the driver can easily adjust volume using thumb tabs on the steering wheel while the passenger can poke at the screen’s up-and-down volume arrows.
The design theme continues through the lower console with the transmission function actuated through a (rectangular, natch) push-button shifter. The space-saving device opens acres of room for console storage and cupholders.
Room is the priority beyond the front seats. Every compact SUV wants best-in-class claims, and Tucson drops the mic with class-leading leg and cargo room. Rear seats are pickup-roomy. I easily sat behind my big 6’5” self with inches to spare before my knees met the front seat.
Continuing the Tucson’s appeal to giant Yankees, the cargo area is also best in class. Flatten the rear seats and you can transport a jumbo LCD television screen back there to go with the tiny LCD instrument display up front. If you have a family that spends a lot of time in the back, Hyundai offers option like heated rear seats, multiple USB ports and a panoramic roof.
Once an attractive, conservative family hauler, the Hyundais have been dressing to the nines for the roaring ’20s. Tucson follows the Hyundai Elantra, Veloster and Sonata with extreme wardrobe makeovers. The racy styling has been complemented with more pep under the hood, too. The Sonata, Elantra and Veloster have all received N-badged performance versions with taut suspensions and more ponies under the hood.
Tucson is content to leave the fast footwork to its siblings.
The compact SUV options an N-line trim, but it’s a showpiece only with blacked-out trim and bigger wheels. Crack open the hood and you won’t find a 295-horse (Sonata N) or 275-horse (Veloster N) furnace within — just a pair of reliable, sippy four-bangers. That’s in keeping with the Tucson’s determination to get you to your destination unruffled.
I tested both the 187-horsepower 2.5-liter 4-banger and 227-horse 1.6-liter turbo 4 hybrid, and they are almost indistinguishable (save the hybrid’s better low-end torque) under the cane given the cabin’s boardroom quiet. Credit slavish attention to detail as engineers have applied triple-layer lamination to the front windshield, a beefy firewall, and extensive sound-deadening throughout the cabin.
The compact yacht doesn’t encourage heavy left foots anyway. This is no Mazda CX-5 or Chevy Equinox with corner-carving ambitions. The Tucson wants you to admire its wardrobe as it saunters by.
Tucson competitors Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape have big hybrid ambitions in the compact SUV space, with both targeting 30% hybrid sales. Hyundai won’t give any sales goals, but don’t expect the usual Hyundai price bargain. The 37-mpg Tucson hybrid — Hyundai’s first effort in this segment — is priced right on top of ($32,835) the 41-mpg Ford Escape hybrid ($32,990) when equipped with my essential features (AWD, blind-spot assist, adaptive cruise control).
It’s just a $1,250 premium over the standard 2.5-liter, meaning you’ll get your money back in under four years at $3 a gallon of gas courtesy of the hybrid’s 30% better fuel efficiency.
Given the cabin quiet, I’d be content with the 2.5-liter. In keeping with its smartphone-like LCD screens, the Tucson boasts wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Climb into the comfy front thrones and the Tucson recognizes your phone. Simply bark your destination to Google Maps and you’re on your way to the next destination.
In Tucson, my destination was Arizona Zipline Adventures in the middle of the desert. Like Michigan winters and sandy coastlines, its slippery terrain rewards a good all-wheel-drive system, and Tucson comes equipped with an electronic transfer case that is lockable for maximum traction below 20 mph.
Like a Jeep, the Tucson’s four wheels churned happily away in unison in order to maintain traction. And like a Lambo, I couldn’t stop looking at its angles.
2022 Hyundai Tucson
Vehicle type: Front engine, front- and all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $26,135, including $1,185 destination fee ($37,454 2.5-liter Limited AWD and $38,704 Hybrid Limited as tested)
Powerplant: 2.5-liter 4 cylinder; 1.6-liter turbo-4 mated to an electric motor and 13.8 kWh lithium ion battery
Power: 187 horsepower, 178 pound-feet torque (2.5-liter); 226 horsepower, 195 pound-feet torque (hybrid)
Transmission: 8-speed automatic (2.5-liter); 6-speed automatic (hybrid)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.5 seconds (2.5-liter, Car and Driver est.); towing capacity, 2,000 pounds
Weight: 3,651 pounds (2.5-liter Limited)
Fuel economy: EPA mpg 24 city/29 highway/26 combined (2.5-liter); 37 city/36 highway/37 combined (hybrid)
Report card
Highs: Daring exterior; spare, high-tech interior
Lows: No volume knob; no FWD option for hybrid
Overall: 4 stars
Dream Team: Porsche and Penske reunite to go sportscar racing
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 6, 2021
Two powerhouses of motorsport, Porsche and Penske, are teaming up to go sports car racing.
The Dream Team will develop a so-called LMDh prototype car for entry in international sports car racing from France’s 24 Hours of Le Mans to the Rolex Daytona 24 Hours. Due for the 2023 season, the LMDh will usher in a hybrid era for sportscar racing while reviving a Porsche-Penske partnership that won Can-Am titles in the 1970s and in sportscar racing from 2006-08.
The Porsche LMDh racer will headline the much-anticipated merging of global motorsport under one regulatory discipline, allowing — for the first time in years — manufacturers to enter the same car in FIA’s international World Endurance Championship and the North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. International prototype racing has been splintered with cars eligible for Daytona, for example, unable to compete in other countries.
“This is a proud day for our entire Penske organization. We have represented Porsche on the track or in our businesses for more than six decades. The heritage and success we have enjoyed together is unparalleled throughout our history,” said Roger Penske, chairman of Penske Corp., based in Bloomfield Hills. “I can’t wait to get started as we build a global racing program with Porsche that will compete for wins and championships well into the future.”
Under Penske team management, Porsche will enter two factory cars in the in LMDh class. LMDh will compete next to an even more powerful LMH — dubbed “hypercar” — class.
In structure, the twin prototype classes echo the North American 2006-08 seasons when the Dream Team collaborated on the legendary Porsche RS Spyder. The RS Spyder dominated the LMP2 class for three years running, even beating faster LMP1 prototypes on occasion.
The new international sportscar rules for LMH and LMDh set up a similar competitive tension beginning in 2023 across the globe. And it puts Porsche back in position to claim overall wins at Le Mans and Daytona — tracks where the brand made its marque in the 1960s as one of the globe’s premier performance brands.
“We are delighted that we were able to get Team Penske to form this partnership,” said Porsche chairman Oliver Blume. “For the first time in the history of Porsche Motorsport, our company will have a global team competing in the world’s two largest endurance series. To this end, we will be setting up team bases on both sides of the Atlantic. This will enable us to create the optimal structures we will need to take overall victories at Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring.”
The Dream Team announcement had been expected since Penske dropped its collaboration with Acura in the IMSA Weathertech series last year. With Penske Motorsport also fielding top teams in NASCAR and IndyCar it puts “The Captain” — as the 84-year-old Penske is fondly known — in a position to with the Triple Crown of Motorsport (Le Mans, Indy 500 and Daytona 500) in a single year.
“Team Penske has made a name for itself with an almost unparalleled success story in motorsport. In the long list of victories to date, however, the name Le Mans has been missing,” said Porsche Motorsport chief Fritz Enzinger. “I hope that we will finally be able to chalk up this success as of 2023 with Porsche Penske Motorsport. This would then mark Porsche’s 20th overall victory at (Le Mans) — a dream come true.”
For all the success of the RS Spyder, the Dream Team is probably best known for its Can Am collaboration racing in the early 1970s.
Featuring the most powerful sportscars on the planet, Can Am had made reputations for brands like McLaren and Chaparral in the U.S. Porsche and Penske ended McLaren’s dominance in 1972-73 with epic, 1,000-horsepower-plus Porsche 917s that put Penske — then primarily known for his stateside Trans Am success — on the map as one of the world’s premier teams.
Ironically, the Porsche 917’s success wrote the Epilogue to the so-called Golden Era of motorsport as the 1970s oil crisis forced auto racing to downsize engines. Motorsport is on the precipice of a similar catharsis today as global governments force automakers into electric powertrains.
Along with hybrid powertrains coming from NASCAR and IndyCar, the LMDh prototypes are an attempt by international sportscar racing to get ahead of the regulatory curve and help market electrified technologies to customers via motorsports.
“As of 2023 … our intention is to support and shape the new era with our LMDh prototypes,” said Porsche R&D board member Dr. Michael Steiner.
The Porsche LMDd cars will weigh about 2,200 pounds and put out 670 horsepower. In addition to two Penske entries, Porsche intends to make the cars available to private teams with full factory support.
The Dream Team will set up its U.S. base camp in Mooresville, North Carolina.
Payne: Put yer feet up in the bold, cavernous Kia Carnival minivan
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 29, 2021
The new Kia Carnival minivan wants you to know that it’s good looking. It’s a minivan thing, I get it. Minivans are insecure next to their high-riding, muscular SUV peers. So Carnival has raided its hot Telluride and Sorento siblings’ closets to outfit itself with a big grille, boxy stance and bold wheel arches. Nice.
But I want to talk about the awesome Barcaloungers inside.
Because, like pickups and their beds, cavernous interiors make minivans unique. Carnival, embrace your minivan-ness! Your roomy interior blows away SUVs. Reputations are made in the minivan circus with second-row seat tricks (Chrysler’s Stow ‘n’ Go, Honda’s magic sliding seat), and Kia has something to say.
Behold the “VIP Lounge chair” — two of them — available on the top, SX Prestige trim. Prestige will set you back $47,00 but will trump the back seat of a $100,000 Audi A8L. Check out these thrones.
I pressed the rear door handle button and the sliding door — open sesame! — receded automatically. Try that in your Audi. Then I slipped my 6’5” frame into an ocean of caramel leather, my elbows resting on twin armrests. With the push of a button, the chair began to flatten like my grandfather’s living room chair. An ottoman popped up under my legs. The seat back went … All. The. Way. Back.
If there were kids in the third row, they would have been flattened.
OK, so that may be a problem in families with four kids. I can hear the rear seat wars now (I still remember my backseat battles with my sister, and we didn’t have Barcaloungers to fight over). No wonder Kia options Carnival with a rear-seat camera so Mom and Dad can keep an eye on things. As a helpful distraction for the kiddies, Netflix can be streamed in the rear seat screens.
Standard on Carnival is a second-row bench seat that is clever in its own right. The middle section will slide forward so front passengers can attend to, say, a car-seated child. Or the middle seat can be converted into a table. That’s minivan cool right there.
Cool seats. Roomy interior. Bold exterior (Ford Flex fans in withdrawal, this is your vehicle.). So how does it stack up to King Pacifica, the reigning master of the minivan segment?
Carnival is handsome, and it’s got to be, in a segment Pacifica redefined. The Chrysler is one of my Top Ten vehicles, a comprehensive piece of automotive genius from its sculpted exterior (recently updated to look more SUV-like) to its innovative interior.
The Carnival may have VIP lounge seats, but the Pacifica’s interior tour de force includes a vacuum cleaner, kick-open sliding doors, sliding console drawer, and the ability to bury both rear rows under the floor (Carnival manages only the third row) or remove the second row entirely.
After spending time in the back of a Pacifica a few years ago, the first-grade child of a Tesla owner said to me: “Mr. Payne, this car is better than my dad’s Model S!”
Pacifica just keeps piling on the goodies, and for 2021 now options all-wheel drive and a plug-in hybrid with 30 miles of range for local commutes. For all this bling, the Pacifica is still a remarkable value. Where Kia traditionally dominates Detroit manufacturers in value (price a Telluride next to a Ford Explorer sometime), Pacifica is neck-and-neck with Carnival pricing.
Indeed, it’s Chrysler that brings the segment’s value player with the under-$30,000 Voyager minivan — essentially a last-gen-styled Pacifica that undercuts Carnival by two grand. Rock on, Motown.
Features aside, however, Carnival will turn heads for the brand’s bulletproof reputation. Think #1 on JD Power’s 2021 three-year U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study. That, and the eye-grabbing 100,000-mile drivetrain warranty. That reliability is gold for families whose western road trips (guilty as charged) are built around their vehicles. And I’ve been asked more than once about Chrysler’s basement-level quality ratings.
Pleasing looks aside, the Carnival also takes a page from the V-6-powered Pacifica’s playbook in tech and drivetrain. The infotainment system is superb, with lots of clever touches. The turn signal triggers a camera that shows your blind spot in the instrument display. A microphone enables communication to the distant third row. And the display is upgradable to a sweeping all-digital screen that brings to mind a Merc.
Under the hood is a good ol’ reliable V-6 that puts out a healthy 290 horses and can tow up to 3,500 pounds.
Ultimately, the Carnival will be compared against its Telluride sibling, which is the pride of the Kia litter. A loaded Telluride SX with Prestige package — Nappa leather seats, head-up display, sultry headlights — costs about the same as my Carnival Prestige tester.
But the Telluride won’t let you recline in Barcalounger comfort. Minivan, take a bow.
2022 Kia Carnival
Vehicle type: Front engine, front-wheel-drive, seven-passenger minivan
Price: $33,275, including $1,175 destination fee ($42,770 SX and $47,770 SX Prestige models as tested)
Powerplant: 3.5-liter V-6
Power: 290 horsepower, 262 pound-feet torque
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.0 seconds (Car and Driver); towing capacity, 3.500 pounds
Weight: 4,727 pounds (SX Prestige as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 19 city/26 highway/22 combined
Report card
Highs: Interior dexterity; one word — Barcaloungers
Lows: No all-wheel-drive option; awesome Barcaloungers may cause backseat kid wars
Overall: 3 stars
Payne: Makeover tones down Civic’s brash looks for 2022
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 29, 2021
The Honda Civic sedan has gone clean cut.
The best-selling retail compact car in America got an extreme makeover for its 11th generation, revealed Thursday. The outgoing generation, which debuted in 2015, burned eyeballs with an expressive wardrobe that included angular body lines, loud grille, and even louder boomerang-shaped taillights. A rolling billboard for ambitious upgrades in chassis dynamics and engines, the design was hard to miss.
For its next act, the Civic’s looks are more spare inside and out, echoing big brother Honda Accord. If the 10th-gen looked like it was designed by Marvel Comics, the 2022 car might have been penned by Mondrian.
The exterior is Audi-like in its simplicity, with a thin grille, sweeping high shoulder line and crisp, rectangular taillights. The horizontal discipline extends to the interior with a wide dash capped by a high touchscreen for good driver visibility.
If there is common ground between the two generations, it’s that Civic remains a driver’s car, with the new model improving on a 10th-gen chassis honed at the Nurburgring race track in Germany. The new Civic boasts 8% better rigidity, thanks to liberal use of aluminum, high-strength steel and structural adhesives.
Expect even more athletic versions to come with Si and Type R performance trims. For now, the Civic is showing off its LX, Sport, EX and Touring trims.
The Japanese brand’s longest-running nameplate, Civic has sold 12 million copies to U.S. customers since 1973 (5 million made in North America) making it one of the top three best-selling cars in America. The 2022 sedan will be produced in Ontario, while the forthcoming hatchback will be built for the first time in Greensburg, Indiana.
As American automakers have abandoned compact cars for all-SUV lineups, Asian and German manufacturers now dominate the segment. Civic sales have remained strong at more than 300,000 units annually (260,000 in a down, 2020 COVID year) ranking as the No. 1 model with first-time buyers, Millennials, and Gen Z since the 10th-gen was launched in 2015.
“Civic has been the go-to choice for compact car buyers for almost 50 years and the all-new 11th-generation Honda Civic builds on that leadership with simple and sporty styling,” said Dave Gardner, executive vice president of American Honda operations.
Civic’s popular, diverse model lineup is an industry benchmark that faces competition from new entries like the daring Hyundai Elantra, Mazda 3 and Nissan Sentra.
But rather than match those upstarts with attention-getting earrings and tattoos, the Civic has dressed itself more simply and authoritatively as the establishment choice. Knock me off the throne, it seems to say.
The design harkens back to simpler Civics of yore like the 1991 (5th generation) or 2005 (8th gen) models. Honda calls this return to simplicity “Man-Maximum, Machine-Minimum.” The horizontal design cues give the Civic a wide, planted stance. Other notable exterior changes include door-mounted mirrors for better visibility.
Inside, the horizontal theme continues with a metal honeycomb mesh accent that stretches from A-pillar to A-pillar. It serves both form and function — visually dividing the infotainment tablet and climate controls while concealing the air vents for an uncluttered look. The wheelbase is stretched by 1.4 inches (and overall length by 1.3), but interior dimensions remain virtually the same with cargo space slightly reduced.
Unchanged is the front-wheel-drive Civic’s suite of engines, beginning with a standard 158-horsepower 2.0-liter four-banger and optional 1.5-liter turbo-4. Both improve fuel economy over the last gen, with the turbo getting a 3% boost in power to 180 horses.
The Civic continues to push the envelope with standard tech features as common in this $22K class as in $50K luxury cars. Adaptive cruise control, for example, comes standard, as does Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, forward brake assist and lane keep-assist.
The Civic also pinches airbag tech from its luxury Acura brand. The new, doughnut-shaped airbags are designed to cradle the head to reduce brain injuries sometimes suffered in severe frontal collisions.
High-tech gewgaws include an available, all-digital, 10.2-inch, customizable LCD instrument display in the top-trim Touring model. The standard, 7-inch console touchscreen can be upgraded to a high-def, 9-inch screen. Other premium options include a 12-speaker Bose sound system and wireless charging.
The 2022 Civic goes on sale this summer.
Payne: Jeep Wrangler 4xe a mean Green machine
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 29, 2021
Green cars are a snore. Electrified cars are, well, electrifying.
That’s the difference Tesla figured out with Ludicrous mode Model S sedans that could blow away Hellcats at Woodward stoplights. Sports cars like the Acura NSX and Ferrari SF90 Stradale have figured it out, too. And now it’s the plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler 4xe’s turn to show off how electrification can make better toys.
The Wrangler is just a big kid’s Tonka toy. I mean, just look at it.
Goggle eyes, oversized tires, plastic fenders, roll bar and removable doors, for goodness’ sake. Built on a rock-hard ladder frame, the Wrangler’s most capable model — Rubicon — can climb over just about anything, thanks to a suite of goodies: a low-speed 4×4 transfer case, locking differentials, decoupled sway bar. And when they get bored with that toybox, Wrangler owners go buy more accessories like snorkels, lights, skeleton doors, monster tires.
No surprise, then, Jeep’s elves are offering an electric motor for more giggles. In my experience, there are few more passionate owners than the Jeep and Tesla nations. Gather members of either tribe and they’ll talk in their own language for hours.
Electrifying the Wrangler will open Jeep owners’ eyes to what Tesla geeks have been wowing about. Let me count the ways.
After an overnight charge in downtown Austin, Texas, my 2022 Jeep 4xe woke up and thought it was a Model S. I poked Electric mode (Hybrid and E-Save also available, more on that later) on the left dash, then Regen on the center console and plied the Lone Star state’s capital city Tesla-style.
Fully charged, the 17.3-kWh lithium ion battery under the rear seat will get you 21 miles, while Regen enables one pedal driving. The regeneration toy is something pure-EV owners (this author included) have come to love, but the Jeep 4xe brings it to the hybrid realm as well.
I one-pedaled around Austin, easing into lights by taking my foot off the accelerator and letting electric motor resistance do the braking. It’s fun. It saves on brake pad wear. Jeep Nation will love it.
Or save your 21 electric miles for the Outback. Select E-Save mode and Wrangler 4xe will bank your battery charge for when you want it — say, at Holly Oaks north of Clarkston, or Ink’s Ranch outside Austin.
With five miles of battery left on the Jeep 4xe, I toggled E-Save mode as I crossed Austin’s Colorado River and headed south for Ink’s. As I learned, however, you have to be REALLY diligent about banking electrons because the Wrangler 4xe’s ample torque encourages bad behavior.
After a rest stop, I merged with authority into traffic, the Wrangler throwing its mane back like Secretariat down the home stretch. FOOM! I left traffic behind. The combination of 2.0-liter turbo-4 and electric motor means 375 horsepower and relentless low-end torque — 470 pound-feet total. That’s the biggest number in the Wrangler family, including the stump-pulling diesel.
Zero-60 flies by in just six seconds, better than anything this side of the Wrangler 392 (which is stuffed, ahem, with the same 6.4-liter V-8 as a Dodge Challenger).
The acceleration is addictive — especially in 4×4 High with all four hooves clawing the pavement — and I torched Texas stoplights and passing lanes all morning. But all that aggression is also not possible without accessing the battery — so I also burned off the five miles of banked charge. Dang it.
In the wide-open spaces of Texas, this would be cause for concern in a Tesla — or any other all-electric vehicle. Wide open throttle sucks precious electrons and reduces range, a concern when charging infrastructure thins beyond metro areas.
That’s an advantage of Wrangler’s plug-in drivetrain. With the gas engine, fuel infrastructure is always nearby so I could exercise my lead foot free of range anxiety.
That’s a lesson for the Green Church, now running Washington, D.C., which insists on an absolutist, zero-sin — er, emissions — future. Plug-ins are much more convenient. Let consumers decide.
The downside is that carrying two drivetrains around ain’t cheap.
My Wrangler 4xe Sahara-trimmed tester cost a hefty $56,380 ($49,490 standard) — a cool 10 grand north of a comparable gas-powered model. Add another $1,000 to equip your garage with a 240-volt charger, and going green requires a lot of green.
To blunt the premium, D.C. pols are handing out $7,500 tax credits to the swells that can afford these expensive toys. Seriously? Another benefit that Tesla Nation has enjoyed.
The electrified fun continues off-road.
Entering Ink’s Ranch 63 miles south of Austin with no range anxiety worries and 300 miles of range still on the gas tank, I tackled some of the Southwest’s best rock-crawling landscapes.
Electric-only off-roading is a hoot. I jumped from the 4xe Sahara into a $62,415 4xe Rubicon (about the price of a Tesla Model 3 Performance) that had been juiced up on a DC fast charger. It’s part of the “Jeep 4xe Charging Network” of 240-volt chargers at off-road trails around the U.S. A full charge will take 2.5 hours — much less for just a few miles.
Jeep plans two charging stalls at each location (not the eight Tesla Nation is used to), so you might have to wait a bit if Jeep sells a lot of 4xes.
Rubicon’s rock-crawling ability is legendary (Jeep Nation: Dude, have you followed a Pink Jeep Tour around Sedona, Arizona’s red rocks? Awesome!) and electrification adds to the experience.
Like a stealthy predator, I crawled silently through Ink’s brush, streams and rocks. Off-road parks are Jeep Nation social time, and the quiet powertrain will help you hear fellow Jeepsters as they call out navigation instructions for insane cracks, cliffs and quarries.
“Keep right! OK, straight ahead! Go back! More throttle!”
Whether you are in full-electric mode or hybrid mode, the electric motor’s torque is instant. And the battery is unfazed by the elements. Not only did I navigate streams and flooded gulches in 4xe, but I did it under black skies that rained buckets.
Like a bathtub toy, Wrangler’s electronics are good in up to 30 inches of water. Not sure I’d try that in my Tesla. Off-road durability? Something Tesla Nation could learn from Jeep Nation.
2022 Jeep Wrangler 4xe
Vehicle type: Front engine, four-wheel-drive, five-passenger plug-in SUV
Price: $49,490, including 1,495 destination fee ($56,380 Sahara model and $62,415 Rubicon as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter turbo-4 cylinder mated to an electric motor and 17.3 kWh lithium ion battery
Power: 375 horsepower, 470 pound-feet torque
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.0 seconds (mfr.); towing capacity, 3,500 pounds
Weight: 5,222 pounds (Rubicon as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 20 mpg combined (18.7 mpg as tested); range: 370 miles
Report card
Highs: Cool EV features like regen, battery-only mode; insane off-road capability
Lows: Gets pricey; EV learning curve
Overall: 4 stars
Payne: Aston Martin DBX – your SUV, Mr. Bond
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 22, 2021
The Aston Martin Rapide is the most beautiful sedan in the world. So it’s no surprise the Brit brand’s first SUV, the DBX, is a stunner. Now that’s how you pen a ute.
America has been overrun by SUVs, but save for the odd Range Rover, luxury automakers have struggled to translate the sex appeal of their sedans/sports cars to the high-riding hatchback. The Porsche Cayenne, which pioneered the performance ute back in 2003, still looks like an overweight 911. Mercedes GLC Coupes look like bowling balls. Even Lamborghini’s Urus fails to stir the loins.
The Aston DBX nails it. My white DBX tester takes the ugly SUV duckling and makes it a swan — literally. Signature beak and ovoid headlights sweep backward over a muscled torso to an elegant, swan-like tail. This is a rare bird in the auto kingdom.
But the DBX is about more than good looks.
Like the DB5 sports car that James Bond made famous, the SUV boasts speed and utility. Not rotary-tire-shredders-emerging-from-the-wheels or grille-mounted-machine-gun utility, but useful features nonetheless. Take the DBX to a road course, for example, and it’ll help with track setup as well as run hot laps.
I high-tailed it to my home state of West Virginia one weekend to see if DBX lives up to its family name with a few laps around a test track. The rural circuit only gets occasional use and was blocked by a tree from a recent ice storm.
No problem — I brought an SUV. I loaded up DBX’s ample cargo bay with a chainsaw and long brooms and went to work with Mrs. Payne clearing the debris. The DBX comes equipped with air suspension to accommodate multiple driving modes — GT for daily driving, Terrain/Terrain+ for off-roading, Sport/Sport+ for track days. The air suspension also knelt so I could sit on the rear sill and strap on my work boots.
Once the track was cleared, the Aston proved worthy of its badge.
In this Age of Ute, branding is essential as legacy automakers transition to SUVs and electric vehicles. That goes for a $43,000 Mustang Mach-E as well as a $180,000 Aston. The crossover embodies Aston core values earned over decades: style, power and handling.
This SUV is old school, old Europe. It’s glorious.
Under the hood is a good old-fashioned V-8 with two turbos strapped to its back. It’s the same eight-holer found in Mercedes’ AMG models (Merc owns 20% of Aston) as well as Bond’s latest Vantage sports car. Exhaling though twin tailpipes the size of ship cannons, the V-8 puts out 542 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. Our friends at Car and Driver clocked its 0-60 mph time at 3.9 seconds — a half-second shy of Vantage.
The nine-speed transmission (also Merc-sourced) seems barely able to keep up. Stomp the gas and the box bounces from sixth gear to third, delivering raw, violent power to its massive, 13-inch-wide tires. Like a flimsy gate giving way to the king’s cavalry, it unleashes a ferocious surge of power.
The elegant beast exploded out of a tight right-hander. The nose pointed at the heavens, the engine bellowing with joy.
For a 4,940-pound SUV, it is astonishingly agile. A rhino in tennis shoes. Enormous 16-inch rotors brought the DBX back to earth as I rotated around a long carousel turn — the rear end eagerly swinging outward as all four tires scrabbled for traction as I fed more throttle. The designers have drawn a sleek athlete — and the engineers have matched it with a midsize aluminum-chassis SUV that feels a class smaller.
The interior is Old Europe as well.
While Mercedes, BMW and Cadillac have introduced a new generation of dazzling, dash-spanning screens, Aston is content with digital instrument and console screens that wouldn’t be out of place in a $28,000 Hyundai Elantra. The infotainment screen isn’t even touch operated — it can only be controlled by a remote dial. And the screen only supports Apple CarPlay, not my Android Auto (at least there’s blind-spot assist since the coupe-like rear roof creates a blind spot the size of Oxford).
You don’t go to Windsor Castle to see the latest in big screen technology. You go to see exquisite rooms and sumptuous materials. So, too, the DBX.
The interior and front thrones are wrapped in delicious blue leather. White contrast stitching sows it together. On the door pillars and ceiling? Lush beige Alcantara. My wife swooned. Speaking of castles, the wood-trimmed console arches like a bridge over a moat — the blue leather space underneath perfect for secreting m’lady’s purse.
The rear seats of this royal chariot lacked the fancy-pants portable tablet of some fancy chariots I’ve driven recently. But this English athlete is guzzling barrels of oil — not coddling tea-sipping passengers. Strap them in and at least they’ll have plenty of leg room. Your 6’5” reviewer could sit behind himself with room to spare while basking under a huge panoramic roof unobstructed by crossbar support. How Aston managed to make this ute so nimble with all that glass on the roof is an engineering marvel.
After an afternoon flogging the thoroughbred on track, the ride home is soothingly quiet. The cabin is wrapped in acoustic laminated glass so it’s peacefully secluded from the outside world (unless your lead foot awakens the beast within).
Such luxury is out of the reach of most of us peasants, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bring pleasure to the masses. My Aston tester was routinely mobbed at gas stations (which you will visit frequently to slake the V-8’s thirst) by appreciative fans.
Like a winning stallion at the track, it’s sinewy flanks are just too gorgeous to ignore.
“I didn’t even notice it was an SUV,” said one bystander. “It’s so beautiful.”
A ute it may be, but DBX is a still work of art — just like its ancestors.
2021 Aston Martin DBX
Vehicle type: Front engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger midsize SUV
Price: $179,986 including $3,086 destination fee ($210,986 as tested)
Powerplant: 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8
Power: 542 horsepower, 516 pound-feet torque
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.9 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 181 mph
Weight: 4,940 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 14 city/18 highway/15 combined
Report card
Highs: Aston style; ferocious V-8
Lows: Rough downshifts; underwhelming interior tech
Overall: 4 stars
Payne: Rugged Toyota Tundra TRD Pro likes to play
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 21, 2021
Mt. Morris — Rural Michigan is pickup country. Huge Ford F-250s towing equipment. Laden Silverados hustling to service jobs. Gorgeous Ram trucks prowling construction sites. And macho pickups of all stripes with big tires, menacing hood scoops and lifted suspensions eager to go beyond where the asphalt ends.
Despite its rare Toyota badge my hulking, 2021 Tundra TRD Pro tester fits rights in.
Sitting atop 32-inch Michelin all-terrain tires, Fox off-road shocks and 11 inches of ground clearance, the Lunar Rock-painted behemoth bristles with hood scoops and tow hooks. This is not your father’s Camry, but a serious bark-chewing beast.
Think of Toyota as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Japanese automaker has built a reputation as a dependable daily driver (backed up by years of JD Power reliability MVP awards) and a weekend track warrior. Its Toyota Racing Development (TRD) shop has climbed podiums at the highest echelons of motorsports from NASCAR to Formula One. That resume includes winning the Baja 1000, North America’s premier off-road competition.
Beginning in 1998, the TRD badge started to show up on the Tacoma (Taco, as it’s known to its legion of fans) as a rough-and-ready off-roader. While the Detroit Three dominated full-size pickups, Taco owned the midsize segment with its Mr. Hyde TRD variants leading the way.
Tundra followed with its own TRD features but has lived in Taco’s shadow — its sales just half that of little brother (much less anywhere close to the Detroit Three). But Tundra upped its game in 2015. It grew a comprehensive TRD Pro package (like Taco) with serious suspension and skid plate mods. It even brought back a Baja 1000 trophy in the Pro Stock class to make little brother proud.
Tundra? My TRD Pro tester is Tund-raw.
Somewhere between Southview Farm and the Irish Road Canoe kayak launch, I turned off Mt. Morris Road into The Mounds Off-Road Vehicle Park. The Mounds is 200 acres of dirt, sand and bog. It’s a place where dirt bikers, ATV owners and Jeepsters can let out their inner child.
And where Tundra lets out Mr. Hyde.
I shifted to Neutral and turned the transfer-case dial from “2WD” to “4WD.” Then I held the traction control button to turn off the nannies. When I say “held” I mean “held for a loooong time.” This is a Toyota, after all, and the nannies don’t retreat easily.
Once unleashed, TRD Pro had a blast. ROOOAARR! I nailed the throttle and the 381-horse, 5.7-liter V-8 bellowed, the rear end slewing sideways through muddy bends. With the Fox shocks allowing extended suspension travel, Tundra bounded over a sandbox of moguls like an oversized puppy.
WHUMP! It’s easy to get too excited, and the enormous front skid plate is there for when the suspension travel runs out and the truck’s belly slaps a mogul.
The Mounds’ tight confines are, frankly, more suited for midsizers like the Tacoma, but it would be impressed by how big bro did.
My friend Scott, who bleeds Ford blue, was impressed, too. Walking around the TRD Pro back in Oakland County, he liked the menacing, black front grille and hood scoops (OK, so the scoops are fake). The big back-seat room. The lifted suspension.
“No running boards for better off-road clearance. Nice.”
The TRD Pro trim is key to giving the Tundra personality. It’s also key to keeping the Tundra relevant in the full-size truck market.
The Texas-built truck sits on old bones. In today’s high-tech truck world of big Ram screens and digital Ford F-150s, the interior of the Tundra is a generation behind. The instrument display is simple. The chassis competent. The 8-inch console touchscreen devoid of fancy graphics or wireless Apple CarPlay.
On the road back down I-75 to Metro Detroit from The Mounds, the rear end fluttered over road seams. Inside, the cabin lacks the noise insulation of today’s more refined Detroit trucks. But in its simplicity, truck lovers will find comfort.
Competitors offer cool stuff like digital screens and console work surfaces, but TRD Pro’s basics keep its price in the mid-$55,000 range, while comparably equipped off-road-trimmed rivals like the wicked-looking Ram 1500 Rebel (be still, my beating heart) and Ford F-150 FX4 will crest 60 grand.
With the money you save, you can go out and buy even bigger tires to pull little brother Taco out of The Mounds bog.
2021 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro
Vehicle type: Front engine, four-wheel-drive five-passenger pickup
Price: $54,645, including 1,595 destination fee ($55,224 as tested)
Powerplant: 5.7-liter V-8
Power: 381 horsepower, 401 pound-feet torque
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.4 seconds (Car and Driver); towing capacity, 9,800 pounds
Weight: 5,998 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 13 city/17 highway/14 combined
Report card
Highs: Aggressive looks; big interior room
Lows: Dated interior; rough ride
Overall: 3 stars
Racing 101: IndyCar sponsors Belle Isle classroom for Detroit youth
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 21, 2021
When the IndyCar circus roars on to Belle Isle this June, it will expand its tent to include Detroit youth.
The open-wheel racing series is partnering with NXG Youth Motorsports, an experiential academy for life-skill development, with the goal of increasing minority participation in motorsport — and, by extension, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education.
The Indianapolis-based NXG first partnered with IndyCar last fall as part of the race series’ Race for Equality and Change initiative. Bloomfield Hills-based Penske Entertainment Corp. took over IndyCar last year.
NXG will host its first Detroit program on Belle Isle June 5-6, the weekend before the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. Combining in-class learning with on-track go-kart time, the eight-hour program is open to kids ages 11-15 with a focus on teaching STEM via motorsport.
“We offer a bridge between IndyCar and the urban community. It’s an ideal way to get kids from surrounding areas an introduction into racing as a whole,” said Rod Reid, NXG co-founder and chief instructor. “We want to expose kids to the myriad of career opportunities in motorsport.”
The NXG program joins a widening array of Detroit-based youth programs with the intent of using elite, international sports as a classroom to broaden student horizons. Other successful urban programs include Midnight Golf, Detroit Horse Power (equestrian learning), Downtown Boxing Gym and Racquet Up Detroit.
NXG follows in the footsteps of national programs like Racquet Up, which was founded in Boston in the 1990s. Ten years ago, Racquet Up introduced Detroit youth to another sport, squash, that has helped hone students’ competitive and classroom skills. A 12-month, three-day a week out-of-school program, it has been a college pipeline for more than 100 Detroit youth.
NXG’s initial Detroit ambitions are more modest as it targets 20 Detroit-area kids for its immersive June weekend program. Founder Reid said the program will intentionally start small to ensure a 2-to-1 student-to- teacher ratio. With the lessons learned, he hopes minority pupils will be inspired to tackle more STEM learning as well as motorsports. Over time, Reid says he hopes the program will be able to offer more go-kart events at Detroit venues.
Building a thriving program in Indy for 15 years, NXG has connected with thousands of Indiana youth. With local corporate sponsorship from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan enabling free enrollment, the program hopes to touch a new generation of Detroit youth.
Youth like Detroiter Ethan Kent, 13, who is looking forward to the June program on Belle Isle.
“This event will help me. I’ve never put on a driver suit before,” said Ethan. “I hope to get into cars more and make a career out of racing.”
He and his peers will take MA100, an entry-level course, in conjunction with flogging go-karts around the Detroit Grand Prix paddock — the same paddock that will host the IndyCar Dual in Detroit a week later, June 11-13. NXG students and their families will be invited to the races.
Post-Detroit GP, students can advance to other courses through the course of the year. The classes progressively introduce boys and girls to go-kart racing fundamentals — driving techniques, mechanical equipment understanding, self-control — that are transferable to daily life. One lesson, for example — “Pressure Points” — uses tire pressure to teach life lessons about peer pressure.
NXG’s curriculum aligns with middle and high school academic standards in science and math-related subjects.
“The shiny object here is the go-kart,” said Detroit GP chairman and Penske Corp. president Bud Denker. “Students go through two hours of STEM education to be part of two hours of driving a go-kart. It helps drive learning back into the classroom.”
Denker and his Penske team have been active in reaching out to area schools. Schools have been a foundation stone for Racquet Up’s squash program as well. Five city schools — three charters and two public schools — have helped connect families and their children with the program.
“NXG opens opportunities to youngsters like Ethan and others who want to take this path,” said Matthew Maxey, a Ford engineer and instructor with NXG. “Motorsports is not super-accessible like basketball. This program allows you to learn how to access a go-kart and work on it and maybe give someone a career path.”
Denker pointed to two mechanics on an F2000 team — a racing feeder series to IndyCar — that grew up in NXG’s Indianapolis program. They were inspired by their time there.
“NXG makes a connection to motorsports and STEM education for people that otherwise would not have this opportunity,” he said.
Payne: Hyundai’s segment-busting pickup aims for SUV buyers
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 21, 2021
Tucson, Arizona — The pickup wars have a new warrior: Hyundai unveiled its long-awaited pickup truck here Thursday, further expanding the red-hot midsize truck segment.
But the Made-in-America, 2022 Santa Cruz thinks outside the usual boxy pickup. It’s aimed at SUV buyers rather than the traditional, rugged, ladder-frame Detroit Three pickup customer.
Call it an SUV with a bed.
The strikingly-designed Hyundai, first seen as a concept at the Detroit Auto Show way back in 2015, is the second unibody-based pickup after the Honda Ridgeline. But where the Ridgeline’s long-bed proportions match up with the Detroit Three pickups, the Santa Cruz embraces its ute-ness. Out front, the full-fascia grille echoes the Tucson SUV with which the pickup shares a platform. Out back is a compact bed no longer than a typical SUV hatch.
The bed is shorter by 8 inches than competitors Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma. Since the box only comes in one size (not short and long options), it is more integrated into the vehicle’s angular body design than the traditional, boxy truck.
It’s most striking feature is a optional, sliding tonneau cover that brings to mind the radical Tesla Cybertruck pickup bed. The lockable cover allows owners to throw dirty, smelly items (think hockey gear) into the bed separate from the cabin — but without the risk of having them stolen.
Hyundai calls Santa Cruz a segment-buster — referring to it as a “sport adventure vehicle” that allows SUV buyers the utility of a pickup but without the interior and parking constraints of its bigger segment brothers. The idea appears to be in vogue as Ford is also reportedly coming to market with a unibody pickup called Maverick. VW, Ram and GM are also looking at the nascent segment.
“The Santa Cruz shatters convention,” said design director Brad Arnold. “This is neither truck not SUV. It’s an entirely new category of vehicle.”
The small Santa Cruz bed is designed more with fertilizer-toting gardeners in mind than home-builders with long wood planks. A hidden, sub-bed compartment can store additional gear or be used as a tailgate cooler (there is also sub-rear seat storage). The Hyundai also takes a page from Chevrolet with corner bumper steps for easier rear access.
“Open-bed flexibility coupled with closed-cabin security meets the changing everyday needs of its adventure-oriented buyers, while superb maneuverability ensure it is a pleasure to drive in urban or off-road environments,” said Hyundai Motor North America chief Jose Munoz.
The Santa Cruz will be built in Montgomery, Alabama, (adding some 1,200 jobs) and hit dealer lots this summer. Expect it to start at $25,000. Further making its case as a red-white-and-blue pickup, the taillights are embossed with “Designed in California” to honor Hyundai’s West Coast-based design team.
Those who want to take the Santa Cruz off the grid will be encouraged by a front skid plate and available all-wheel-drive system (front-wheel-drive is standard). True to its dual personality, the Sant Cruz’s AWD can be optimized for on-road or off-road grip.
The interior is thoroughly modern — anchored by modern digital displays. Familiar Hyundai tech abounds: wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, phone charger and smartphone app connectivity for, say, remote starting and cabin warm-up. Standard safety features include lane-keep assist and forward collision alert with adaptive cruise control optional.
To motivate the little beast, Hyundai options two 4-cylinder engines with added oomph for off-roading or towing. A standard 2.5-liter four-banger makes 190-plus horsepower while a 275-horse turbo-4 (the same power output as Hyundai’s ferocious Veloster N hot hatch) is optional. The latter boasts 5,000 pounds of towing capability — on par with the Honda Ridgeline but shy of segment, ladder-frame leaders that boast 7,500-pound capability.
With its shorter bed and lower profile, the Santa Cruz comes in over a foot shorter than class competitors to assist in parking garage flexibility. Its unibody construction may also aid smoother daily ride than typical pickups.
Pre-COVID, sales of midsize pickup trucks in the U.S. jumped 22% in 2019 to 13-year highs. With SUV sales at 70% of the non-pickup market, Hyundai expects more buyers to be headed its way with the Santa Cruz.
Payne: SUV OMG — Acura RDX A-Spec vs. Mercedes-AMG GLC 63
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 15, 2021
I like dessert. I’m usually satisfied with a scoop of ice cream or slice of apple pie. Usually. But on occasion, I’m tempted by something more dangerous on the menu. Like a triple chocolate delight warm brownie topped with chocolate chip ice cream and hot fudge sauce. Oh, joy.
Think of our testers this week, the Acura RDX A-Spec and Mercedes-AMG GLC 63, as your dessert choices in the compact luxury SUV class.
Yes, compact utes. Sure, these pandemic times are weird, but they’re temporary. Not so the SUV trend, which appears permanent. Rather than honor the law of physics and drive low-center-of-gravity station wagons, Americans have decided they like their wagons on stilts for better visibility. Which means we have the RDX and GLC SUVs instead of Acura TLX and Merc C-class wagons.
This being the luxury space, there is money to be made (and thrills to be had) by offering performance versions. So, RDX A-Spec and Mercedes-AMG 45 and 63 sport models naturally follow. Hey, the market gets what the market wants, and after adjusting to this new reality, I’ve learned to enjoy these 4,500-pound bowling balls.
It’s also nice to have Acura back in the game.
With speed-addled Formula One fanboy John Ikeda at the helm and a determined strategy in place, Acura has gone back to its roots. It’s dusted off the sporty albums containing hot models like Integra and Type-S and set a path for excitement. The Acura NSX and wicked-looking Acura TLX S-Spec (the new Type-S) are the halo models, and the styling and attitude have trickled down to the RDX.
While motorheads will have to wait for a crazed RDX S-Spec model with upgraded drivetrain (I’m thinking there’s a turbocharged V-6 in Acura’s crystal ball), the A-Spec trim is a nice appetizer — make that scoop of ice cream — to start with.
My $47,000 tester was dressed to the nines with Performance Blue paint, black trim and 20-inch black wheels wrapped in all-season tires. All this on top of one of the best standard packages in class with panoramic roof, adaptive cruise control and 10-speed tranny. SUVs suffer from having to think within the five-door box, but Acura’s “Precision Design” language does its best to please with sculpted sides and a signature piece of jewelry in front called the “diamond pentagon grille.”
That precision continues in the handling department, where the RDX brings its rear, dual-clutch pack-equipped “super-handling all-wheel-drive” (call it SH-AWD for short) to rotate this two ton-plus beast when the need for speed seizes you. Which is often, in my case. RDX further tempts such acts of madness by offering a big, fat drive-mode sport dial straight out of the NSX supercar — so you can tune suspension and engine dynamics to Sport and Sport+.
Cruising to Ann Arbor with Mrs. Payne riding shotgun I flung the RDX into a U.S. 23 cloverleaf (my wife instinctively reaching for the roof handle) and steadily dialed in the throttle. The tires squawked at the limit, their racket drowned out only by the rowdy, Sport+-induced exhaust note. Ah, dessert.
With class-topping 279 standard horsepower, the $47,195 Acura A-Spec is a value plate compared with the 469-horse, turbo-8 $79,705 Mercedes GLC in sizzling AMG trim.
That 30 grand difference could buy you a nice starter SUV for your 16-year-old. Like the, ahem, Mazda CX-5 — a 250-horse, luxe-gorgeous mainstream ute that can cut the rug with these premium brands for just $40. That’s a comparo test for another day.
Slide into the GLC and Merc’s claim to being king of luxury comes into focus. The console is slathered in gorgeous Fortune 500-boardroom wood with upscale aviation vents anchoring the dash. Yeah, this is a Merc all right. For $750 more, a crisp 12.5-inch digital instrument display is available to anchor the electronic “MBUX” system — an infotainment network that is among the best in the business with delicious graphics, precise touchscreen and intuitive voice commands.
MBUX exposes Acura’s biggest weakness: the infotainment display. Controlled by average voice commands and a maddening console touchpad, it is Acura’s biggest misstep in its otherwise meticulously engineered effort to engage occupants in the sport ute experience. Merc also offers a touchpad option for the masochistic — but in this smartphone age, most folks will use the easy touchscreen. Acura would be wise to offer the same duality.
But it’s hard to be mad. Apple Car Play and Android Auto smart-phone apps are available in the Acura with state-of-the-art voice and nav. My wife and I were spoiled in heated-and-cooled, red leather thrones with generous under-console storage for her purse. Both Acura and Merc use clever digital shifters that remove the need for a shifter cable, but only RDX takes full advantage with sub-console storage (console genius is in evidence across the Honda/Acura lineup).
If you want a serving of ice cream, the Acura RDX is just fine, thank you. If you want something more, go all the way and get the triple-chocolate $80,000 AMG 63 GLC OMG LOL SUV.
Double the cylinders, double the calories, double the fun.
I first drove the GLC 63’s decadent 469-horse, 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 in the sister GLC 63 Coupe on a trip to Watkins Glen, New York, a few years back. I left western New York’s rural roads in flames after rampaging across them in that four-wheeled devil.
Like hot fudge sauce dripping off a sundae, you know this is more than your average GLC as you approach. The AMG is noticeably closer to the ground than the Acura, as if pretending to be a hatchback sedan instead of an upright ute. The front grille gets AMG’s menacing Panamericana treatment, its fenders engorged with huge tires.
Push the key and the quad exhaust pipes erupt. BRAAAPPP!! Let’s eat. The growl can be turned up further with a console button. That’s not the only way the Merc-AMG encourages bad behavior.
Thumb though the infotainment pages past Phone and Radio and up pops … AMG Track Pace. So you can clock lap times and 0-60 mph runs in an SUV, for goodness sake.
I set launch control and clicked off a few sub-4-second times. The V-8 bellowing. AWD gripping. Nine-speed automatic effortlessly swapping cogs. It’s addictive. And sure to get you in trouble with the local fuzz.
Acura’s dessert offering is plenty. But if you’ve got a bigger sweet tooth — and an extra 30 grand laying around — order the Merc.
2020 Acura RDX A-Spec
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $46,795, including $995 destination charge ($47,195 as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder
Power: 272 horsepower, 280 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.6 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed: 113 mph
Weight: 4,015 lbs.
Fuel economy: EPA 21 city/27 highway/23 combined
Report card
Highs: Lotsa standard stuff; fun to drive
Lows: Oh, that touchpad; V-6, please
Overall: 3 stars
2020 Mercedes-AMG C 63
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $74,745, including $995 destination charge ($79,705 as tested)
Powerplant: 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8
Power: 469 horsepower, 479 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.6 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed: 157 mph
Weight: 4,486 lbs.
Fuel economy: EPA 16 city/22 highway/18 combined
Report card
Highs: Launch control in an SUV; state-of-the-art interior
Lows: Pricey; over-engineered console
Overall: 3 stars
Payne: Ford’s hands-free BlueCruise chases Tesla Autopilot and GM Super Cruise
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 14, 2021
Following the lead of Tesla Inc.’s Autopilot and General Motors Co.’s Super Cruise, Ford Motor Co. has telegraphed a semi-autonomous, active-drive-assist feature available with its 2021 Ford F-150 pickup and electric Mustang Mach-E.
Now that system has a name: BlueCruise.
Blue as in the colorful highlights in the instrument panel that indicate BlueCruise is available for hands-free driving on 100,000 miles of divided highways that Ford has mapped across North America. The feature, now available for purchase, will be activated by an over-the-air update on properly-equipped vehicles in the third quarter of this year.
While details are still emerging, the Ford system aims to play in the same space as Autopilot and Super Cruise. U.S. manufacturers have taken the lead in semi-autonomous systems with a view towards fully-autonomous, so-called Level 5, vehicles. For now, systems like BlueCruise are Level 2 grade, requiring driver attention.
Similar to GM’s Super Cruise (which debuted on the now-extinct Cadillac CT6 sedan in 2018 and is available on Escalade/CT4/CT5 models and the Chevrolet Bolt EUV), BlueCruise monitors driver engagement via a camera on the steering column.
GM’s Super Cruise also monitors drivers via an infrared camera on the steering column. Tesla’s Autopilot, which debuted on its Model S sedan in 2015, demands the driver keep at least one hand on the steering wheel.
With the instrument display lit blue, Ford says the pilot can easily monitor when the system’s engaged. Super Cruise uses a green light bar on the steering wheel to signal operation — if the system hits an unmapped area of road or construction zone (or if it detects the driver is distracted), it will initiate an escalation of red lights/warning sounds urging the driver to take over. Tesla’s Autopilot uses a blue steering wheel icon in the center screen to indicate engagement.
Ford claims BlueCruise will work even when the driver is wearing sunglasses or a face mask, with the steering column-based camera focused on the eyes for evidence of attention.
Ford developed the system over the last few years from its Dearborn engineering and Palo Alto labs. It did extensive national testing with a fleet of five F-150s and five Mach-Es in what it calls The Mother of All Road Trips (MOART). The BlueCruise-equipped fleet covered thousands of miles over 37 states and five Canadian provinces in a variety of weather and traffic conditions.
“I drive long-distance quite often, whether out to Boston or down to Florida to visit family or friends, and usually I mentally tire out on drives that far,” said BlueCruise feature development engineer Alexandra Taylor, who logged over 3,000 miles in an F-150. “When using BlueCruise, long drives aren’t nearly as mentally taxing to me.”
The company calls the 100,000 miles of divided highways it has mapped “Hands-Free Blue Zones.” GM claims it has mapped 200,000 miles. Tesla’s system depends on onboard hardware and GPS to place it on the road and is available on all byways.
Its Navigate on Autopilot feature, however, is only available on divided highways. Drivers can set a destination, yank twice on the gear selector stalk and the EV (Autopilot is available on all Teslas for $10,000) will automatically navigate — including with automatic lane changes — to the designated exit. Upon exiting the interstate, the navigation function of Autopilot ceases.
GM’s Super Cruise works similarly when a navigation point it set.
The BlueCruise and Super Cruise systems are unique in that they allow for extended hands-free driving, whereas Tesla constantly nannies the driver to keep a hand on the wheel. Tesla is beta-testing a Full Self-Driving mode enabling Navigation by Autopilot everywhere.
Using advanced camera and radar-sensing tech, BlueCruise builds on Ford’s adaptive cruise system, which can follow other vehicles, lane center and recognize speed limit signs. Ford’s system will not debut with whiz-bang features pioneered by Tesla like lane-change assist and predictive speed assist in turns. Ford says BlueCruise will be upgraded in the future to include such features — updates that Super Cruise recently added.
BlueCruise is offered standard on the F-150’s $70,825 Limited trim and as an option on the $44,695 Lariat, $56,330 King Ranch and $59,110 Platinum models. The feature is included in the $15,995 Co-Pilot360 Active 2.0 package, which enables tech-tastic goodies like adaptive cruise control and self-park assist. When BlueCruise is available for download this fall, buyers will receive a Ford app or mail push.
For the Mustang Mach-E, BlueCruise comes standard on CA Route 1, Premium and First Edition models. It’s an option on the $42,895 Select trim for $3,200 as part of a larger interior package.
By introducing BlueCruise in a high volume (900,000 annual sales) vehicle like the F-series, Ford projects sales of some 100,000 vehicles by the end of this year. The technology will be rolled out to other Fords in coming years.
Payne: Mazda MX-30 boasts full-EV and Wankel plug-in models
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 14, 2021
Performance brand Mazda wants to put its own unique stamp on the electric vehicle market.
The zippy automaker introduced the 2023 MX-30 SUV Wednesday, its first battery-powered offering. Following other Asian automakers’ electrification strategies, the ute is part of a portfolio of electrified vehicles that will include a hybrid and plug-in hybrid. But Mazda plans to bring signature attributes to the MX-30 with taut handling and a gas-powered rotary engine in the plug-in model.
The MX-30 will arrive with Mazda’s sleek but conventional styling, eschewing more radical, grille-less front ends seen on EVs like the Chevy Bolt EUV or Hyundai Kona EV.
By all outward appearances, MX-30 looks like a gas-powered Mazda. Built on the same platform as the gas-powered CX-30, the MX-30 has an air of familiarity. Though electric engines don’t need big grilles to feed air to engine combustion chambers, the car retains a grille design between the headlights — though it’s smaller than the brand’s traditional, full-fascia opening.
Body lines are coupe-like, and the wheel wells are more squared-off than the hoop-style design of cousin CX-30.
The MX-30 will go head-to-head against other subcompact EVs like the Kona and Nissan Leaf. Unlike these brands, however, Mazda will only offer a short-range, 35.5 kWh lithium ion battery. Mazda will announce range closer to the vehicle’s California launch this fall (other markets to follow), but expect 150-180 miles like its peers.
Unlike the Leaf and Kona, the MX-30 will not feature a larger, 220-mile-plus range battery. Instead, it will come equipped with a rotary-power plug-in unique to Mazda. Mazda and rotary have been synonymous for decades, with rotary-powered (so-called Wankel engine) race cars achieving international glory from France’s Le Mans track to the high bankings of the the Daytona 24 Hour.
The RX-8 sports car was the last Mazda to carry a Wankel engine in its belly, in 2012. The lightweight engine is being resurrected in the plug-in model — due as a 2023 model — as Mazda uses electrification to bolster the brand’s performance tech. With it notoriously smooth operation, the Wankel engine will complement the MX-30’s low-place batteries to lower the SUV’s center of gravity for better cornering.
“Mazda is preparing for the fast-changing US market demands by taking a multi-solution approach to electrification,” said Jeff Guyton, president of Mazda North America. “The battery-powered MX-30 will begin the introduction of additional electrified models, including a series plug-in hybrid with a rotary generator for MX-30, a plug-in hybrid for our new large platform, and a traditional hybrid for our new American-made crossover. Mazda fans can expect great driving dynamics and beautiful design across all models.”
First to arrive is the battery-only MX-30 that will send 144 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque to the front wheels. Mazda claims the 35.5 kWh battery can be charged to 80% in 36 minutes using DC fast-charging stations like those operated by Electrify America.
Besides sharing a platform with the gas-powered CX-30, the EV shares its elegant design. A floating console offers a new shifter for the electric drivetrain and a familiar rotary dial controlling the infotainment screen high on the dash.
For the first time, Mazda adds a second, lower, seven-inch touchscreen (think the interior of an Audi) that will display climate controls. Following other EVs, the MX-30 can be accessed remotely via a smartphone app to monitor interior temperature and charging. The SUV will also sport trendy green details like eco-friendly cork door grips. Cork pays homage to Mazda’s origin more than a century ago as a cork maker.
Safety and electronic details will be disclosed closer to launch, as will information about the highly anticipated rotary engine.
“The rotary generator will mark the return of our unique rotary powertrain,” said Guyton. “This technology is being engineered for nearly silent operation and will replenish the battery rather than drive the wheels.”
Payne: Dream Cruise on track for a post-COVID auto-palooza this August
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 9, 2021
As Metro Detroit emerges from a long winter and coronavirus pandemic, car enthusiasts’ thoughts are turning to Woodward Avenue. After COVID-19 curtailed most official Woodward Dream Cruise functions in 2020, it’s looking like all systems go for the late summer, Aug. 21 auto-palooza.
“By then we should be rockin’,” says Woodward Dream Cruise Director Tony Michaels.
M1 Concourse in Pontiac — one of the Cruise’s epicenters — has confirmed two mega-events that will bookend Cruise week: Roadkill Nights drag-racing on Woodward Aug. 13-14 and the inaugural, Aug.19-21 Woodward Dream Show featuring the Cruise’s most coveted cars. Both events were canceled in 2020.
Michaels says that the communities along the Woodward route, venues, and sponsors are already coordinating the summer’s premier auto event — a decades-old tradition that, in a normal year, sees more than 1 million people descend on Woodward to celebrate automobiles old, young and mod. Thousands still flocked to “Detroit’s Main Street” last year despite the lack of an official stamp.
“We’re good to go,” Michaels said in an interview. “By the end of August — with the vaccine kicking in — we should have a great resurgence of all thing Dream Cruise.”
All things Dream Cruise include not just the third Saturday in August that caps off months of cruisin’, partyin’, and plain ol’ hangin’ along the Avenue — but also big sponsored events like Mustang Alley, Berkeley CruiseFest and GM’s Birmingham display.
First to firm up plans is the inaugural Woodward Dream Show at M1 Concourse, which dovetails with Dream Cruise weekend.
M1 announced that tickers are on sale for an event that will showcase the best of the Dream Cruise’s hot rods, race cars and cruisers. In addition to showing off hundreds of four-wheel toys across M1’s 87 acres in Pontiac, the Dream Show will feature a juried competition, food and fashion. M1 Concourse is one of the nation’s premier private garage and racetrack facilities.
“We’re providing the opportunity (to see) cars that have made the Woodward legend what it is — but you wouldn’t see them out on the road today, either out of their historical nature or value,” said new M1 CEO Tim McGrane, who formerly managed California’s legendary Laguna Seca race track. “We’re going to create displays of significant, legendary muscle cars. Put it in an environment that M1 offers with catering and entertainment.”
McGrane also confirmed plans for Motor Trend Group’s Roadkill Nights. The two-day event takes place on M1 Concourse property parallel to Woodward, offering car shows and track laps in snarling muscle cars. The main attraction is on Woodward itself, which is shut down and converted into a makeshift, 1/8-mile drag strip for legal racing. How legal? Oakland and Macomb County sheriffs squared off for a drag race in 2019.
The event is traditionally sponsored by Dodge, though McGrane did not confirm corporate sponsorship for 2021.
“One of the benefits of M1 is that we are an outdoor venue,” said McGrane. “We’re working closely with local authorities. Our events are planned not to be large spectator events — we’re expecting 10,000 people here. We’re keeping aware of what requirements are (and) we want to make it comfortable for attendees.”
The Woodward Dream Show kicks off at 8 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 19 with “Cruisin’ M1 Circuit Day.” Some 60 invitees — including a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 to numerous ’32 Deuce Coupes — will lap the track. Friday features 50 cars that helped shape the American car and cruising culture. The “Cruisin’ The Concourse Show” will follow Saturday, showcasing 20 local car clubs and their 100 best steeds.
Tickets start at $100 for one day admission and include access to the Taste of Woodward with upscale food and spirits. Tickets are available for after-hours ticketed events on Thursday and Friday like “Rev Up the Grille” and “Car & Cigars” where attendees can rub shoulders with car owners over BBQ or a cigar.
Dream Cruise director Michaels was also bullish on official late summer gatherings as Detroiters get back to normal.
“The Dream Cruise is spread out over 16 miles of Woodward Avenue outside,” he said. “The Board of the Cruise has been smart, hopeful, and responsible.”
Of course, the Michigan cruise crowd isn’t waiting for official events to gather. The warm April weather has already brought hot cars to local roads on weekends – even weekdays – as enthusiasts shake off winter and gather with hoods propped up.
Facebook pages are alive with notices. Cruisers gathered Tuesday night at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren – the first of regular weekly gatherings. And a car show is scheduled at Pops Sweets an Treats in Mt. Clemens May 2.
“Were all going through events withdrawal,” said McGrane. “I think there is going to be a pent-up desire to go out and do what we all used to enjoy, but having been unable to.”
Payne: Infiniti QX55 brings back X-appeal to the SUV
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 9, 2021
Japanese luxury brands are going back to the future to find their mojo.
First Acura time-traveled back to the 1990s to rediscover its sporty roots. The successful journey brought us the Acura NSX supercar and athletic RDX and MDX SUVs. Infiniti is using the same method to aid its SUV fortunes.
Say hello to the sexy QX55 — created from the frozen DNA of an Infiniti FX found after a trip in the way-back machine. I took it to Hell (Michigan) and back.
QX55 is the first Japanese fastback to brave the compact luxe segment against the German trinity of BMW X4, Mercedes GLC Coupe, and Audi Q5 Sportback. But it’s not the first fastback Infiniti SUV. Indeed, Nissan’s premium brand pioneered the racy SUV concept waaaay back in 2003 with the FX. With a rear-drive layout, a long hood that arrived an hour before the cabin, and salacious looks, FX (which eventually became QX70 under Infiniti’s new nomenclature until it disappeared in 2017) was a German-like SUV hottie before the Germans ever thought of it.
Why Infiniti killed it is a head-scratcher. But now it’s been reborn as the smaller QX55. Talk about your sexy mom car.
My Slate Grey tester oozed sex appeal. Not that the stylish, square-back QX50 is a wallflower. But the QX55 is Kim Kardashian in spandex.
Sultry headlights frame a bigger, poutier front mouth. The grille — flanked by big intakes — is laced with an origami-inspired mesh. The coupe-like roof plunges into round rear hips dressed with a bold black belt under exotic LED taillights. It’s the love child of the FX and Q Inspiration Concept that turned heads at the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Drive up to the school pickup line slowly and let the other parents stare. But under that hot bod, QX55 is less ambitious than FX/QX70.
Gone is the rear-wheel-drive-based architecture. QX55 conforms to the front-wheel-drive-based architecture common to both the QX-50 and cousin Nissan. Gone, too, is the throaty, 325-horse V-6 engine. Sigh. As 21st century emissions regs have forced more turbo-4s, graveyards are filling up with sixes.
Like a good basketball coach, however, Infiniti squeezes every bit of talent out of its small, four-piston lineup. The QX55 drivetrain gives 110%.
Rotating through a 90-degree left-hander onto Unadilla Road outside Hell, I drifted the QX55 across the asphalt, the all-wheel-drive system scrambling for traction as I floored the throttle on exit. Smartly, Infiniti has made AWD standard on halo QX-55 (the volume QX50 comes standard with front-wheel-drive) so drivers can take full advantage of the torque on hand.
We motorheads pooh-pooh continuously-variable-transmissions, but Infiniti’s is an exception. It mimics a proper automatic tranny’s stepped shifts — but without the often rude, jerky downshifts.
The chassis shivers a bit under this duress — the QX55 can’t match the exquisite Mazda CX-5 or BMW X3 for handling — but the drivetrain, like the exterior, is all about emotion. Dialed into SPORT mode, the turbo-4 roars its approval through twin rear pipes. I wrung the QX55’s neck across Hadley and Hanker roads.
This emotional satisfaction comes a healthy $6,000 beneath competitors BMW and Mercedes, offering Infiniti as a value play in the segment (while offering a more premium coupe appearance than its Acura RDX A-Spec and Lexus NX F-Sport trim competitors).
Those savings have to come from somewhere and it’s the interior where the QX55 lags its German peers.
Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta once called Infiniti “Nissan-plus” and the interior of the QX55 doesn’t pop like other digitized luxury cabins. Sure, there is nice stitching and a Monaco Red leather option, but the knockout, $25K Nissan Sentra compact car has more character inside. The dual, stacked touchscreens remind of a last-decade Honda Accord — the tiny top screen often difficult to read in daylight due to reflection.
The rear seats were friendly to this 6-foot-five-inch reviewer, thanks to their ability to recline and slide 6 inches. Think Ford Escape, which employs a similar feature. Mainstream vehicles are killing it these days. Next to my $59K QX55 tester in the driveway was a $39K Mazda CX-5 Turbo, which matched the Infiniti feature-for-feature — head-up display, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot assist, auto wipers, sunroof, all-wheel-drive, turbo-4, the works. Talk about value.
Among its luxe peers, however, the QX55 puts Infiniti back in the spotlight. Just like the good ol’ days. “The QX55 is daring, unconventional,” says QX55 planning chief Eric Rigaux.
Here’s hoping QX55 continues the momentum with a performance, Red Sport variant stuffed with more horsepower to take on a BMW X4 M or Audi SQ5 Sportback. More daring. More sex appeal. More value.
After my fling through Hell, I picked up my favorite pastrami Rueben at Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor and set course for home on I-96. Those twin screens came in handy — the upper for Android Auto navigation (if you have an iPhone, the connection is wireless) — the lower for radio. I barked nav instructions to the phone and was off.
Like Acura, Infiniti puts its blind-spot warning on the A-pillar rather than at the edge of the mirror, where it can be more difficult to see. Blind-spot systems have become so good these days, I’m probably saving thousands on disc surgery by not craning my neck to check blind spots.
Nissan has milked good publicity from its ProPilot driving assist features (remember the Star Wars ads?), and the same system is imported into QX50. While not ready for prime time on secondary roads, it works competently on busy four lanes … until I came to a stoplight.
Like Nissan’s system, the QX55 waits until the last minute to brake for vehicles in front of you. So late, that my tester would activate the vehicle’s emergency vehicles braking system.
Glancing at my trip data, I registered 18.5 mpg on the 150-mile round trip to Hell. That’s a long way from the advertised 26 mpg, and more on par with the 18 mpg in the good ol’ FX’s V-6. I must have been having fun.
2022 Infiniti QX55
Vehicle type: Front engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger compact SUV
Price: $47,525 including $1,025 destination fee ($58,770 as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder
Power: 268 horsepower, 280 pound-feet torque (turbo-4)
Transmission: Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.4 seconds (Car and Driver est.); top speed, 137 mph
Weight: 4,065 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 22 city/28 highway/25 combined
Report card
Highs: Hot bod; fun drivetrain
Lows: Dated interior; performance model, please
Overall: 3 stars
Payne: Detroit powers all-female Indy 500 race team
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 7, 2021
For the first time the Indianapolis 500 will feature a woman-driven, woman-owned race entry. And it will get a lot of horsepower from Metro Detroit.
Veteran Swiss ace Simona De Silvestro will pilot the Rocket Pro TPO-sponsored, #16, Chevy-powered Paretta Autosport IndyCar owned by Beth Paretta, a Detroit-based businesswoman with NASCAR and IMSA racing experience. The team will get technical help from Bloomfield Hills-based Penske Racing as it goes for glory at the iconic Memorial Day-weekend race.
“The cool thing about racing at a pro level is you can actually have men and women competing on the same team, competing against each other. It’s genuinely co-ed,” said Paretta in an interview. “And racing’s more more than just a driver; there are so many other roles on a team that people can aspire to be part of.”
The announcement comes as motorsport seeks to accelerate access for women and minority drivers. Female racers lost their most prominent ambassador, Danica Patrick, to retirement in 2018. Patrick is the only woman to have ever won an IndyCar race or qualified for a NASCAR pole. Paretta Autosport is a byproduct of the IndyCar series’ Race for Equality and Change initiative begun last year to broaden racing opportunities.
“There’s been a lull” after Patrick’s retirement, said Paretta. “There are great women with talent, but they need sponsorship money. If our team gets a few more people to watch racing that might not otherwise have watched, that helps the sport in its entirety. If we get viewership up because we’re telling the racing story a little differently, then that helps (all teams and drivers) in paddock by finding sponsors that see value in it.”
Beyond IndyCar, Katherine Legge and Christina Nielsen have been signed as an all-female team at the helm of a Porsche 911 in IMSA’s GTD class. And rules for off-road Extreme E electric-vehicle racing series require one male and one female driver — sharing driver and co-driver duties — “to promote gender equality and a level playing field.”
Paretta Autosport’s principals bring a wealth of experience to the track.
Currently a factory driver for Porsche in Europe, De Silvestro, 32, has raced in everything from sports cars to Formula One. Her IndyCar career dates to 2010, when she was Rookie of the Year at the Indy 500, finishing 14th. In 2011, she survived a horrific crash to quality for the 500 — a race in which she’s competed five times. She finished second in the 2013 Grand Prix of Houston, becoming only the third female IndyCar podium finisher after Patrick and Sarah Fisher.
“She’s a very good race driver,” said veteran Autoweek racing writer Stephen Cole Smith. “And she’s one of the top three female drivers in the world along with Katherine Legge and Pippa Mann.”
Team owner Paretta climbed the corporate automobile ladder to become the industry’s first female director of a performance brand and motorsport as operations chief for Fiat Chrysler’s SRT division. Under her watch, Team Penske took Dodge to the NASCAR championship in 2012, the last year the brand raced the stock car series’ high-banked ovals.
“Having the technical alliance with Penske is really a wonderful opportunity,” said Paretta. “We spent a lot of NASCAR race weekends sitting on timing stand together. I’ve worked with him in so many different capacities.”
She and Penske will team up again at Indy’s legendary Brickyard. De Silvestro will get her first laps in the Chevy-powered car Thursday and Friday as IndyCar race teams head out on Indy’s banking for an open test.
Team Penske, which will field four drivers under its own racing banner in the quest for its 19th Indy 500 win, will provide crucial technical experience to Paretta’s team.
Since 2015, Paretta has run Grace Autosport, an organization with an eye on promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education for women through racing.
An Indy 500 entry doesn’t come cheap. Paying the bills as chief sponsor will be Rocket Pro TPO, a division of Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage — the country’s largest mortgage lender — that works with independent mortgage brokers. Online banker MoneyLion is a co-sponsor.
“Having Rocket Pro TPO come on board as our primary sponsor is a perfect partnership,” said Paretta. “We are both huge proponents of highlighting the power of women, while also using technology and speed to be the best at what we do.”
With their IndyCar wrapped in bright red and with livery, Paretta and Rocket hope to bring attention to the potential for women in the racing and mortgage lending industries.
In 1977, Janet Guthrie became the first woman to drive in the Indy 500. She’s been followed by nine more women, with Patrick scoring the best result with a third-place finish in 2009. Patrick was the last female entry in the race, in 2018.
Paretta follows in the footsteps of racer Sarah Fisher (Indy 500 starts as a driver: nine), who formed Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in 2011. That team since merged with Ed Carpenter Racing.
“Beth (Paretta) called me a few months ago and told me about this opportunity, and I think literally an hour later, I was on a Zoom call with Roger Penske and (Penske Corp. president) Bud Denker,” driver Simona De Silvestro told Racer magazine. “For me to really come back to the Speedway with a constellation like this, with the association with Team Penske, it’s really — to be honest, as a driver — a dream come true.”
Payne: GM goes big for EV wars with GMC Hummer SUV
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 5, 2021
The compact Chevy Bolt debuted in 2017 with high hopes as General Motors Co.’s first all-electric car. But it was buried by a startup brand called Tesla with a sexier, faster, more capable Model 3 compact sedan.
For its second act, GM isn’t messing around with compacts. It’s bringing an all-new, all-electric vehicle for the segments it knows best: gigantic SUVs and pickup trucks.
The 2024 GMC Hummer is the biggest, baddest, blingiest, electron-guzzling SUV in the market. Just like its gas-guzzling forefather, the 1992-2006 Hummer H1. Landing like a LeBron James dunk in the middle of the NCAA tournament last Saturday, the six-figure Hummer EV ute follows the Hummer EV pickup as a double shot of exotica because GM wants to show you what it is really capable of in the EV space.
Sedan? Pshaw. Behold the crab-walking, dirt-devouring, asphalt-torching e-Godzilla.
“It’s a benchmark vehicle for the industry,” GMC Global Vice President Duncan Aldred said in an interview. “We couldn’t have gone to that performance without going electric: 800 horsepower, 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds. We call it a super truck. Spend time with a Hummer EV (then) get into anything else and it feels like taking a step backwards.”
GMC is arguably the General’s most powerful brand soldier — its gorgeous, chromed, gas-powered pickups boasting average transaction prices north of $50k — higher than Euro lux brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Red-hot Sierra pickups are being gobbled up after only three days on dealer lots.
“What GM learned from the Bolt is that maybe introducing your best technology in a Chevy doesn’t work,” said IHS Markit senior analyst Stephanie Brinley. “Put it into a halo, $110,000 GMC Hummer and they can really demonstrate what their technology can do.”
Tesla Inc.’s Model S sedan wowed the world last decade with scorching performance, Ludicrous-mode acceleration, and Silicon Valley screen tech. The halo worked and Tesla a decade later is selling smaller, more affordable Model 3 and Model Y compacts by the boatload.
During that period, GM’s car business floundered. Already reeling from the late-20th-century Japanese invasion that had rendered its Malibu and Impalas sedans back-benchers, GM’s introduction of the battery-powered Volt and Bolt compacts didn’t gain traction any more than their petrol-powered Spark and Sonic models had. In the last couple of years, GM has been getting out of the car business entirely.
But its truck and SUV brands have flourished. Hummer’s purpose as GM’s first vehicle on its skateboard, Ultium battery platform is to jump-start volume EV sales. Jut as Model S did for Tesla.
“Ultium is the heartbeat of our electric future. It will get rolled out across all the brands,” Aldred said. “We have plans for a GMC EV electric truck, and more plans beyond as we progress with our EV future.”
Like Bolt before it, GMC Hummer will enter the SUV segment against other electric startups like the Rivian R1S and Bollinger B1.
“I think it’s really interesting. The whole EV space reminds you of back when the auto industry emerged in early 20th century and there were 1,000 brands,” smiled Aldred. “You get that same feeling now with a lot of new startups.”
Yet he believes GMC’s brand power will make it a more formidable adversary: “Hummer comes with a huge amount of equity — the fact that it’s all-electric and zero emissions puts it on a completely different plane than it was on previously.
“We have an amazing brand in GMC, an amazing vehicle in Hummer EV, and a fabulous dealer network which I believe is real advantage. Competition makes everyone better, but I’m really confident about the success of Hummer EV.”
The Hummer will match its competition with digital screens (its screen tech was developed by Perception, a veteran of Marvel Studios’ movies) that Tesla pioneered and which is now required for entry in the upscale EV segment. But true to a GMC reputation born of snarling, Denali V8s and tree-chewing AT4 four-wheelers, Aldred said it’s Hummer EV’s performance that sets it apart.
Weighing down with 200 kWh of battery across a 126-inch wheelbase, the top-trim, three-motor, 830 horsepower monster still manages 0-60-mph sprints in 3.5 seconds with “Watts To Freedom” launch control mode (think Ludicrous mode).
“What the Hummer EV has got is unbelievable capability. You see the vehicle has the physicality — that alone is quite astonishing,” said Aldred. “Watts to Freedom mode (prepares) the power surge you need to take it 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds. The seats vibrate. The chassis lowers, you get a graphic experience on screens in front of you. . . it creates an amusement park-like experience.”
The first Hummer SUVs to roll off the production line in early 2023 will be Edition 1 models. Loaded with performance and interior features, the Edition 1 SUV will start at a lofty $105,595. All Edition 1 models have been sold. Production of the $89,995, 2024 Hummer EV with long-range battery will start in spring 2023.
The Hummer strategy is a clever remake of a sub-brand scorned by cultural elites during the Gulf Wars for its oil-rich lifestyle. GM thinks an electric Hummer resurrection is perfectly placed as a halo that will make customers rethink the capabilities of EVs — just like the Model S sold smaller Teslas.
“Tesla proved you could create emotion for a battery-powered vehicle,” said Brinley.
She says that Detroit automakers are shrewd to draw on their own badges to conjure similar emotion with sub-brands like Hummer and Mustang (the Mustang Mach-E is Ford’s first all-electric vehicle).
“The strategy is working because it embraces historic, emotional brands — then infuses them with modern tech to make them better,” Brinley said. “By pushing the capability of a Hummer, for example, GM gets the opportunity to demonstrate in the truck and SUV space that they have conquered the technology.”
GMC’s Aldred shrugs off questions about electric charging infrastructure. The Hummer EV will be bought by owners who have multiple vehicles. While Tesla and Rivian are developing charging networks for their customers, GM is betting that if the Hummer (and other halos like the Cadillac Lyriq) spark an EV revolution, then the infrastructure from independent networks like EVGo and Electrify America will flow as gas stations followed Ford’s Model T.
“GM’s vision (of zero emissions) is very real,” Aldred said of GM plans to sell only EVs by 2035. “To get that momentum is going to require a lot of things, and recharging infrastructure is clearly one of them.”
Five must-sees at The Henry Ford’s ‘Driven to Win’ racing exhibit
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 5, 2021
Dearborn — Behind the giant McDonald’s Hamburgers sign (over 160 million sold!) and sandwiched between the airplane and locomotive exhibits in The Henry Ford is one delicious serving of motorhead red meat.
“Driven to Win: Racing in America” opened March 27, and it’s a must on Detroit’s spring menu.
Occupying 24,000 square feet of floor space in the museum’s American Innovation building, the permanent exhibit is touted as America’s most comprehensive exhibit of motor sport.
True to The Henry Ford’s purpose, it draws on multiple resources — including those of sponsors like General Motors, Italian brake maker Brembo and Canadian racing supplier Multimatic — to showcase the evolution of U.S. auto racing.
Through 13 years of planning, building and acquisition, curator Matt Anderson and his elves have assembled the human — as well as mechanical — aspects of the sport. The narrative is both sweeping (covering everything from IndyCar to land speed racing) and meticulous in detail (a corner of the exhibit is dedicated to racing movies).
It all adds up to a display that can be visited over and over again. Here are my five highlights:
1) The simulators. This exhibit will keep you coming back. At its heart is a bull ring of six racing simulators. With three big wrap-around screens and hydraulic hardware, the sophisticated sims let drivers age 10-plus take the wheel against other competitors for a 15-minute race around one of the world’s race tracks. My simulated race was aboard a Porsche GT3 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
The racing was intense, but not too technical. Follow the racing line (helpfully laid out on the pavement before you), be patient, and you might just score a podium — assuming you can survive the Turn 1 mayhem. Then go online and see how your lap times compare with other racers before you.
2) The film. “Fueled by Passion” is a big-screen, 16-minute film that immerses you in the racing world from five perspectives: Breehanna Daniels (NASCAR tire changer), Brittany Force (drag racer), Tim Hardy (Pikes Peak BMW racer), Josef Newgarden (IndyCar champ) and Megan Volk (Bonneville Salt Flats racer).
The fast-paced film takes you to highs and lows of motorsport as these competitors tell their stories. It’ll get your heart racing for the rest of the exhibit.
3) Sports Car Performance Center. Behind this doorway is the Ford GT, the most stunning supercar ever conceived, in three guises. There’s a full-size clay model used by designers, two halves of a production GT and GT race car fused together to show you how closely they compare, and the actual #68 GT race car — still wearing the bugs and sweat of the race track — that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016, 50 years after Ford’s first victory at the legendary French circuit.
A wall of screens take you onboard for a high-velocity lap around Le Mans with video as well as telemetry charting #68’s speed, engine temps and lateral g-loads, among other data. It’s not just any lap, either — but the very lap where driver Joey Hand overtook arch-rival Ferrari for the lead.
4) The cars. Assembled here are priceless legends of motorsports. Everyone will have their favorite. Two of mine:
- Jimmy Clark’s Lotus Type 38 was the first mid-engine racer to win the Indianapolis 500, in 1965. No front-engine car would win it again. The Flying Scot was also a harbinger of winners to come as today’s race is populated by the world’s best drivers.
- The 2011 Ford Fusion brought 20-year-old Trevor Bayne across the Daytona 500 finish line that year, making him the youngest driver to ever win the storied race. Like the Le Mans-winning Ford, the Fusion still wears all the battle scars of the 500-mile race.
5) Sweepstakes. The car that started it all. History seems so pat in retrospect, but Henry Ford’s place in it was hardly pre-ordained. With his first car company a failure, Ford rebuilt his reputation by racing. His 1901 “Sweepstakes” car brought him renown — and investors — when he beat well-known Cleveland automaker Alexander Winton in a 10-mile Grosse Pointe race.
Two years later, he would form the successful Ford Motor Company.
There is much more racing history to come, and “Driven to Win” will be here to chronicle it. New exhibits will be opening in the coming months as we move beyond COVID restrictions. Kids will soon enjoy an interactive, tire-changing pit stop as well as a pinewood derby track.
As the film says: “racing is in our blood.”
Driven to Win: Racing America exhibit
The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation
Address: 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn
Admission: $25, adults; $22.50, senior citizens; $18.75, ages 5-11; children 4 and under are free (additional charge for In the Driver’s Seat Simulators).
Payne: Big BMW M440i Grille-zilla still has the moves
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 5, 2021
The compact-class, BMW 3-series has grown a lot in the past 20 years. Check out the all-new 2021 BMW M440i Coupe prowling my driveway.
Once the 3-series was offered as both a coupe and a sedan, but in 2014 the coupe grew its own dedicated 4-series badge. That new line grew M trims like my 6-cylinder M Performance tester (in addition to a turbo-4-powered M Sport and fire-breathing M4). Its pant size grew, too. The ’21 coupe’s wheelbase has grown nearly half a foot and 450 pounds over my 2001 BMW M3 Coupe. Its wheelbase and weight are about equal to a 2004 5-series, for goodness sake.
And then there’s the twin-kidney grille.
M440i is the first car model to feature grille-zilla — full-fascia kidneys that look like they were taken off the X7 SUV. They are huge. They provoke heated arguments among BMW faithful about whether the grille makes the 4-series look bold — or like a buck-toothed gopher.
But one thing hasn’t changed. The BMW 3/4 series is still the compact class’ performance standard.
Hustling over Doyle Road’s rollercoaster turns west of Hell, the M440i was true as an arrow. The comfortable suspension that carried me on a magic carpet west from Detroit on I-96 was now taut — like the sinewy thighs of a greyhound — in Sport Plus mode. The balanced torso is an extension of my hands. Turning in to a hard, 90-degree left-hander, the car slid effortlessly across the apex to the edge of the road. Right where I placed it.
The car’s added girth is apparent. Its two tons tip the scales like the 4,068-pound, 2004 5-series of old. But the 4’s modern chassis feels smaller. About 2,000 pounds of that weight gain is the addition of all-wheel-drive, which means more grip. Lots of grip.
On a lonely patch of Doyle, I do a launch control-assisted, 0-60 mph sprint. The grip is instant (Car and Driver recorded an impressive 3.8 seconds). The drivetrain roars like a cheetah unleashed.
Ah, BMW’s unparalleled drivetrains. At the heart of M440i is another terrific 3.0-liter inline-6. This one is blown to 382 horsepower with a single turbo — 52 more horses than my 2001 M3 Coupe. The new M4 Coupe (formerly the M3 Coupe — sorry, the alphanumerics will make your brain hurt) now makes up to 503 horsepower by adding a second turbo.
I’ll have a chance to test the M4 sometime soon, but for now 382 horses will do. They make beautiful music.
Sport Plus mode cranks up the volume, filling the cabin with fury. The 8-speed automatic throws off effortless, quick shifts. Diving into a tight right-hander, dual pipes out back bark in rev-marching unison with automatic downshifts. It’s effortless, smooth, intoxicating.
Two years ago, I tested a small-kidneys 2019 turbo-4 BMW 330i M Sport against my (then) brand-new electric Tesla Model 3. Both 55-grand compact sedans. Both rear-wheel drive. Both hot-selling performance compacts.
After flogging them around M1 Concourse’s 1.5-mile Champion Motor Speedway, M1 instructor Alex Della Torre and I emerged with big grins under our helmets. But the question hung in the air: which car handled better?
“The BMW, no doubt,” we both said in unison.
As my 2021 M440i tester confirms, the magic endures. But Tesla has set a new benchmark in technology. The Silicon Valley maker has rewritten the rules with its smartphone-on-wheels experience: voice commands, navigation, screen graphics. Tesla has ridden that experience to the best-selling luxe brand in the U.S.
For the first time in a long time, the Germans have had to play catch up. M440i is a solid response.
Rather than copying Tesla, BMW has played to its strengths. The California automaker is Apple iPhone simple. The Bimmer is Neuschwanstein Castle posh.
Slip into the M440i and I was wrapped in 14-way, Cognac Vernasca leather thrones. A robotic arm handed me my seat belt (“Your seat belt, mein Herr”) and Mrs. Payne’s on the passenger side too. I expected the coupe’s 112.7-inch stretched wheelbase to add more room to the rear seats, but my 6’5” was a tight fit — though not as tight as a Mustang that requires six-footers to first remove their legs.
In contrast to Tesla’s minimalist three-button cabin, the BMW is littered with buttons. For the starter. For drive modes. Adaptive cruise control. Favorite radio stations. Lights.
Everything but that annoying stop/start button for when the engine stalls at stoplights to gain mpg credits from government regulators. Instead, M440i is equipped with a 48-volt battery (ditching the common 12-volt) to make the transition between stop and start smoother. Mostly, however, it’s there to support the electronic funhouse.
The sculpted dash is dominated by colorful digital instrument and infotainment screens — the latter operated by (take your pick) touch or remote rotary iDrive. Notably, BMW seems to have punted on voice recognition.
“Go to Hell, Michigan,” I commanded.
“Please don’t speak to me like that,” shot back a female voice.
Um. I’m sorry? Stymied, I connected my Android phone, with which I have a better relationship. “Go to Hell, Michigan” was not only immediately recognized by Android Auto (Apple Carplay also comes standard) in the console screen, but it was done wirelessly. What’s more, directions then appeared on the instrument and head-up displays.
That’s a first. Every other smartphone app-capable vehicle I’ve driven segregates smartphone apps to the console screen. In M440i, it’s integrated into all three displays — heads-up, instrument and console — making for a state-of-the-art, visual and voice experience to Hell and back.
The head-up display had other talents. Like scrolling my favorite radio stations via (yet another) button on the steering wheel. The more features in heads-up displays, the better to keep your eye on the road.
Most passersby kept their eyes on that big, fat kidney grille. To my surprise, most approved. I like its retro vibe recalling the sleek 1940 BMW 327 Aero or ’65 2000CS.
Shocking as they appear in photos, the kidneys in the flesh are nicely integrated with the nose. Striking blue laser headlights bracket the grille. A lower spoiler and vents frame it like a goatee. Many passersby compared it favorably to the Alfa Romeo’s similar full-faced, tri-logo grille.
Which is appropriate since the Alfa is the rare performance car that can dance with the M440i. The compact Bimmer isn’t so compact anymore, but it’s still got the moves.
2021 BMW 4-series
Vehicle type: Front engine, rear- and all-wheel-drive 5-passenger compact sedan
Price: $46,595, including $995 destination fee ($70,470 M440i as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter turbocharged, inline 4 cylinder; 3.0-liter turbocharged, inline 6 cylinder
Power: 255 horsepower, 294 pound-feet torque (turbo 4); 382 horsepower, 364 pound-feet torque (turbo 6)
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.8 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 157 mph
Weight: 3,977 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 22 city/31 highway/25 combined (M440i xDrive as tested)
Report card
Highs: Grille-zilla ain’t so bad; handling and agility
Lows: Porky curb weight; gets pricey
Overall: 4 stars
Payne: Lexus LF-Z concept signals measured electrification strategy
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 31, 2021
Toyota Motor Corp.’s luxury brand, Lexus, debuted an all-new, digitally advanced, electric LF-Z concept Tuesday, its first vehicle on a dedicated battery platform.
Billed as a transformative moment for the Lexus brand, the edgy LF-Z continues the brand’s evolution of battery-powered products dating to 2005 with the RX 400h, a hybrid that was the brand’s first electrified vehicle. By 2025, Lexus plans 20 new electrified models including all-electric, plug-in hybrids and gas-hybrid models. Currently, six of Lexus’ 10 models in the U.S. market have hybrid variants.
Unlike Cadillac and Tesla, however, Lexus did not signal a move to all-EVs. Lexus has consistently been one of the big three best-sellers the U.S. luxe market — together with BMW and Mercedes — in gas and and hybrid models. Lexus aims to offer electrified variants of all models by 2025, with the sales ratio of electrified variants exceeding gas-only vehicles.
The sharply angled, futuristic LF-Z builds on the LF-30 concept revealed at the 2019 Tokyo Auto Show. The sci-fi LF-30 was the first glimpse at the brand’s “Lexus Electrified” plan to create a dedicated battery architecture. The LF-Z brings that concept close to production.
The dedicated battery platform is similar to the Ultium battery-powered, skateboard platform that will undergird Cadillac’s 2023 Lyriq crossover. With its sharp edges and aggressive facia, the LF-Z also looks similar to Caddy’s EV design language. GM’s luxury brand, following the success of Tesla, is pursuing a more radical, all-EV plan by 2030 that it hopes will jump-start the brand’s small-volume sales.
In line with corporate trends promoting green initiatives, Lexus said its electrification plans are part of a larger commitment to sustainability.
“While fulfilling our social mission of realizing a carbon-neutral society, we will continue to provide the fun and joy that cars bring,” said Lexus International president Koji Sato.
Though Lexus sells in 70 markets around the world, the U.S. and China account for more than 70% of the brand’s global sales (about 525,000 of 720,000 units). Governments in both markets have signaled that they will force automakers to go all-electric in coming decades, even as luxury customers have been reticent to buy EVs not named Tesla due to batteries’ added expense and range challenges.
Like its sister Toyota brand, which brought the first successful hybrid vehicle to the U.S. in 2001, Lexus has been a battery-power pioneer. But unlike GM and Volkswagen, Lexus is skeptical of going all-electric anytime soon.
“The current business model of the car industry is going to collapse,” Toyota president Akio Toyoda warned late last year of industry plans to go all-EV. He said countries like Japan simply do not have the electric grid capacity to handle an all-electric fleet.
“The more EVs we build, the worse carbon dioxide gets,” Toyoda said, pointing out that most of Japan’s grid is powered by coal and natural gas. “When politicians are out there saying, ‘Let’s get rid of all cars using gasoline,’ do they understand this?”
Including Lexus’ diversification of its fleet to a new electric platform, Toyota plans to invest more than $13 billion in electrification in the next decade. That plan includes the 2024 opening of a new Shimoyama technical center in Japan. Lexus targets global sales of 4.5 million hybrid vehicles — and 1 million EVs — by 2030. Since the launch of the 2005 RX 400h, Lexus has sold 2 million hybrids worldwide.
Like the RX 400h, the LF-Z Concept is a two-row SUV. Following EVs from Tesla, Cadillac and Mustang, its advances are as focused on digital and style innovations as they are battery-oriented.
The smartphone revolution is redefining auto technology.
Under a panoramic glass roof, the concept wraps the driver in what it calls a Tazuna cockpit — a minimalist design featuring digital screens with AI software that learns the driver’s habits. With independent electric motors front and rear, the Lexus also debuts new, four-wheel driving tech called DIRECT4.
“The instant responsiveness of an electric motor’s driving force to freely control a vehicle’s four wheels for superior and highly flexible driving performance … sets it apart from conventional vehicles,” said Lexus in a press release.
The concept also features drive-by-wire steering — eschewing a direct mechanical connection between steering wheel and steering rack. The steering wheel itself is a radical, yoke design like the forthcoming 2021 Tesla Model S upgrade. And without a gas engine to feed, Lexus’ signature, huge spindle grille is more sculpture than grille.
Responding to a digital key, the LF-Z will open and turn on as the driver approaches the vehicle.
“The automotive industry has entered a period of once-in-a century transformation,” said Lexus as it pursues an ambitious agenda of electrification as well as driverless mobility. “In addition to the growing social mission of carbon neutrality and compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, customers’ lifestyles and values are changing and diversifying at a speed previously beyond imagination.”
Sold! First-edition Hummer EV and Bronco auction for big bucks
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 31, 2021
The first production versions of the highly anticipated GMC Hummer electric pickup and Ford Bronco SUV have sold for big bucks. Charities will benefit.
The 2022 Edition 1 Hummer VIN 001 went on the auction block over the weekend at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, and fetched a cool $2.5 million. Then the first 2021 Bronco First Edition two-door, VIN 001, sold for a hefty $1.1 million.
The two SUVs headlined a $5.8 million Barrett-Jackson auction haul for charity featuring multiple vehicles. Hummer monies will benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, established in memory of Sept. 11 first-responder Stephen Siller. The Bronco proceeds will benefit the National Forest Foundation and Outward Bound, which provides outdoor experiences for young people.
“We are thrilled with the auction results, and what the proceeds will mean for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation,” said GMC global vice president Duncan Aldred.
Auctioning first units of landmark vehicles has become a Barrett-Jackson habit.
The first mid-engine Chevy Corvette C8 was bought for $3 million by NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick at Barrett-Jackson a year ago, with all proceeds benefiting the Detroit Children’s Fund. The final front-engine production Corvette C7 sold for $2.7 million in 2019, and the first Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 to roll down the Flat Rock line sold for $1.1 million in January, 2020.
Nine VIN 001s were auctioned this year, including the first Mustang Mach 1 ($500,000), Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing ($165,000), Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing ($265,000), and Ram 1500 TRX Launch Edition ($410,000).
The Hummer’s auction price was well above the $112,595 starting sticker of the Hummer EV Edition 1, the only version that will be produced for the ’22 model year. All units have already been spoken for — save the VIN 1 auction truck that went Saturday. The standard, $80,000 Hummer EV won’t be available until the 2024 model year.
The auction car was loaded with features and specially appointed for the occasion, featuring a white exterior and unique Lunar Horizon interior. The buyer is as yet unknown.
In addition to being the first vehicle built on GM’s Ultium battery platform (other models from Cadillac and Buick will follow), the Edition 1 is loaded with:
- CrabWalk mode that allows the vehicle to diagonally drive out of tight spots.
- Three-motor, four-wheel-drive propulsion system with an estimated 1,000 horsepower and 0-60 mph time of three seconds.
- The latest version of Super Cruise, which allows for hands-free driving on divided highways.
As for Bronco, Ford is only making 7,000 First Edition models. VIN 001 features an exclusive Lightning Blue exterior and Dark Space Gray/Navy Pier interior. Under the hood is a 2.7-liter V-6 making 310 horsepower. The auctioned Bronco boasts signature, removable doors and a laundry list of off-road goodies like front-and-rear locking differentials, trail-turn assist and electronic stabilizer bar disconnect.
The Bronco will be made at Ford’s Michigan Assembly in Wayne and the Hummer EV at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant, which has been retooled with $2.2 billion to exclusively produce electric vehicles.