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Payne: The CX-ceptional Mazda CX-30 proves you can have fun AND utility
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 29, 2025
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Oakland County — My former Detroit News colleague Scott Burgess made it a practice of getting into a Porsche 911 each year as a reminder of the industry’s sports car performance standard.
The same might be said of the Mazda CX-30 Turbo SUV.
The Japanese automaker’s entry-level hellion is the SUV segment’s handling benchmark. And for 2025, it has addressed its biggest customer ergonomics complaint: the lack of a touchscreen. In an age when sport utes make up 70% of non-pickup sales due to their superior utility, the CX-30 is a reminder that you don’t have to sacrifice cargo for fun.
I couldn’t wait to drive the 227-horsepower CX-30 Turbo in my driveway each day. It made daily chores enjoyable — and often led to extended drive time as I detoured to twistier roads. On the way home from Novi, I took the Exit 18A cloverleaf off the Lodge onto Telegraph.
Twice.
I toggled SPORT mode and the delicious, smooth six-speed transmission held a higher gear. The steering felt rooted to the asphalt. I hit the brakes, rotated into the cloverleaf and nailed the throttle around the loooong 180-degree turn. All-wheel-drive, all-season tires gripped the pavement, then started to protest as I leaned the ute on its door handles. The chassis remained poised until I shot out of the cloverleaf onto Telegraph like a ball from a ship cannon. WAAAUURGH! came the satisfying engine note from the 310-torque mill.
That torque number is competitive (as is the 0-60 mph time) with a comparable $50K BMW X1, and the 3,444-pound Mazda feels more planted in part because it’s a significant 300 pounds lighter than the Bimmer. The Mazda looks leaner, too, with its shark-nose hood and clean lines compared to the current-gen German’s chunky styling. Only heavy plastic makeup around the wheel arches and rocker panels compromise the CX-30’s premium look.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Regular readers know I think hot hatches are the best value in autodom: fun to drive, hatchback utility, affordable price.
At $35K, my CX-30 Carbon is as close to a hot hatch as any SUV I’ve driven. Call it a hoot ute.
Which makes sense because the CX-30 shares its bones and drivetrain with the Mazda3 Turbo hatch, one of the top all-wheel-drive hot hatches in the business along with the VW Golf GTI and Toyota GR Corolla.
But where those hellions’ DNA isn’t translated to their brands’ subcompact SUV offerings, the VW Taos and Toyota Corolla Cross, CX-30 is a Mazda3 on stilts.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Many buyers will find that an upgrade is worth the corresponding SUV upcharge.
The Mada3 is the best-looking hatchback on the market thanks to its fastback design, which comes at a price: blind spots the size of Texas, and a dungeon-like rear seat for passengers.
The CX-30 Turbo, meanwhile, maintains a sleek, narrow greenhouse roofline (which is why designers added those big plastic wheel arches) but with a smaller c-pillar design that makes for an airier backseat and better outward visibility.
Significantly, the CX-30 only adds 52 pounds compared to its hatchback sibling so it can dance with you through the curves. In a terrific subcompact ute class loaded with personality — think Taos, Chevy Trax, Buick Envista, Subaru Crosstrek — the CX-30 separates itself from the pack with its athletic talent.
When you’re not flinging the CX-30 from corner to corner, drink in the sumptuous interior of my Carbon edition: heated, power terracotta leatherette seats, leather steering wheel, leather shift knob and an elegant, horizontal dash that cradles the infotainment screen like a beach chair in a sand dune. I slipped into the Mazda as comfortably as if it were a BMW.
Also like BMW, Mazda years ago adopted the German’s rotary console controller — but without redundant touchscreen control. The controller has proved awkward for many a user. Thankfully, the advance of phone apps has come to Mazda’s rescue.
Android Auto and Apple CarPlay have proved more adept at navigating to our destinations while also bringing our phone apps into the car, and Mazda has embraced that innovation as a cure to its touchscreen woes. That is, when Android Auto/Apel CarPlay are in control of the screen, it is fully touch-capable.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I paired my phone with the CX-30 and never used Mazda’s native radio and navigation system — or remote controller.
“Navigate to Zmash Padel in Sterling Heights” I barked and Google Maps guided me while the phone kept its spark via a wireless charger. I pinched the screen to widen/narrow the map view. Along the way, I poked at the screen to choose my favorite Sirius XM stations.
Otherwise, Mazda ergonomics are as carefully engineered as the performance suspension. That high screen kept my eyes on the road, and climate controls are nicely designed to direct air — or close completely if so desired. The steering wheel is carefully designed with raised buttons so I could toggle radio volume and adaptive cruise control without ever looking down.
Speaking of ACC, the CX-30 is loaded with standard safety features including blind-spot assist in the mirrors, blind-spot assist in the instrument display, auto headlights, rear cross-traffic alert, tire pressure monitoring and parachute escape pod (kidding about that last one). Oh yes, and a passenger-side ceiling grab handle for Mrs. Payne to hang onto when her husband sees a twisty road. Just like a Bimmer.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Curiously, Mazda has neglected to give the CX-30 shift paddles — even on the aggressive, high-horsepower Turbo model. More than once, as I wound the engine out to max RPM, I reached for a shift paddle only to grab air.
There was little air in the back for my 6’5″ legs when I tried to sit behind myself. The Mazda is small for its class with 36.3 inches of rear legroom compared to, say, the 38.7-inch Trax. But then, it only gives up half an inch to the $50K BMW X1. Recognizing the issue, Mazda engineers have scalloped out the rear of the front seats to offer more knee room. But scalloping can’t help the rear cargo space, which is five cubic feet smaller (20.2) than the Trax or BMW.
A friend took his Mazda3 Turbo out west recently and tried to take a shortcut across a dirt road — pulling his exhaust shield off in the process. If he’s tempted by more off-roading in the future, he might consider the CX-30, which clears the road by another 2.5 inches.
And when it returns to asphalt, the hoot ute still begs to be rowed hard.
Next week: Polestar 4
2025 Mazda CX-30 Turbo
Vehicle type: All-wheel drive, five-passenger subcompact SUV
Price: Base $27,395, including $1,420 destination charge ($34,935 Carbon Turbo as tested)
Powerplant: 2.5-liter, inline-4 cylinder; 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4
Power: 191 horsepower, 186 pound-feet torque (2.5L); 227 horsepower, 310 pound-feet torque (turbo)
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.2 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 126 mph
Weight: 3,444 pounds (as tested)
Range: EPA est. mpg, 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway/25 mpg combined (Carbon Turbo as tested)
Report card
Highs: Hot hatch SUV; improved infotainment system
Lows: Small back seat, and cargo spacefor class
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Taking the sci-fi Tesla Cybertruck to work on the farm
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 23, 2025
Stratford, Virginia — If I had pulled up to the Lee family home in 1776 in a Tesla Cybertruck, they would have thought I was a time traveler from the future.
Which is not much different than the reaction I received when I pulled up in 2025.
I took a Cybertruck on a weekend trip with Mrs. Payne this fall to help prepare Stratford Hall, the historic home of signers Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, for next year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Our Turo rental was mobbed by Stratford volunteers, staffers and board members as if I had driven onto campus in a Tron Light Cycle.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
If the Ford F-150 is America’s best-selling pickup, then Cybertruck is its most famous. Six years after its wild Silicon Valley introduction, the electric pickup still creates a buzz.
From its radical shape to its face-flattening speed to its self-driving capabilities, Cybertruck is a celebrity that looks like it rolled off a sci-fi movie set. Bladerunner, Tron, Mad Max — take your pick. When I wasn’t giving thrill rides to just about everyone on the 1,800-acre Stratford farm, the truck was proving itself a useful Swiss army knife hauling cargo.
It is still a rarity — particularly in places like rural Virginia, where full-size work trucks are everywhere — with its rich, $82K starting price and propensity to attract domestic terrorists who want to blow it up. I was encouraged by the truck’s enthusiastic reception, a promising sign the furries have moved on to other targets. Still, the truck’s high price and sluggish sales are surely a disappointment to Tesla.
With Cybertruck, CEO Elon Musk was determined to jump-start the EV revolution in the market’s highest-volume segment. But the high price of batteries — and their inherent towing limitations — has kept Cybertruck (and other EV pickups) from competing in mass-volume, $40K truck business fleets.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Cybertruck competes against premium, country-club trucks like the Ford F-150 Raptor, Ram 1500 RHO, Chevy Silverado High Country, GMC Hummer EV and Ford Lightning Platinum EV.
In truth Cybertruck is a class of one, the most radical vehicle of the 21st century.
Begin with its polarizing design. Everyone has an opinion. The truck’s militaristic vibe skews male, but female reactions were all over the map.
Very futuristic.
It’s ugly.
Can you take a picture of me with the Tesla so I can share with my kids?
Where’s the machine gun turret?
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I’ve driven Tesla’s distinctive model lineup extensively, and Cybertruck’s design is the most extreme. Yet, once inside, I was reminded how similar its operation is to its siblings. iPhone simple aesthetics. Horizontal lines. Mono-screen housing most controls: mirror/steering position, climate controls, even shifting.
To a non-Tesla user, it’s an alien landscape.
Exiting Metro D.C.’s Reagan National Airport, I barked my destination to the truck — “Navigate to Tesla Supercharger in King George, Virginia” — then didn’t touch the wheel for the next 48 miles. As I tuned Sirius XM stations, Cybertruck drove itself through D.C. traffic, the I-495 Beltway and Maryland routes 210 and 301 before exiting to fill up on electrons for the weekend ahead.
The FSD (Full Self Driving) system has made steady strides since its 2020 introduction. The truck slowed down to avoid a rogue trash can in the road and executed round-abouts with aplomb. On other occasions it maneuvered uncomfortably close to other vehicles, a reminder FSD still needs a chaperone.
Hands-free driving and stainless-steel skin just scratch the surface of its ambitions. Cybertruck’s also the first vehicle to market with variable electronic steering. Together with all-wheel steer, it makes the 19-foot-long beast feel smaller than it is.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Once Cybertruck had delivered me to the Supercharger in a Sheetz lot, I needed minimal steering input to maneuver it in place next to the charging stalls. The truck ID’d an open space, then backed itself in. Whoa. Not so “whoa” are Tesla charging cables designed for compact Model 3 and Model Ys — not Cybertruck ocean liners. The cord just reached the left-rear-fender-mounted NACS port.
Twenty-five minutes later, I exited onto rural-lanes roads with 80% battery capacity. Enough self-driving. Time to wring the truck’s neck over the twisted roads of Virginia’s Northern Neck.
ZOT!
Cybertruck blew by a line of traffic on two-lane Route 3 in the blink of an eye. Car and Driver recorded the 6,634-pound Cybertruck hitting 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds (the same as a 3,241-pound Porsche Cayman GTS, for goodness sake). On a narrow secondary road, it felt like warp speed.
That precise variable steering and adaptive shocks helped keep Cyberrocket grounded. But with all-terrain tires and air suspension, the Tesla’s natural habitat is off-road. Perfect for Stratford farm’s endless fields (or Detroit’s pocked streets).
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I stopped at a Marathon service station outside Stratford and loaded the pickup’s cooler with ice. Cooler?
Tesla is synonymous with frunks (front trunk) and Cybertruck is no exception. But Tesla also sports a substantial, sub-bed locker space.
I emptied four bags of ice and only filled it halfway. Throw in a case of bottled water and I was a rolling fridge for thirsty Stratford staff.
Cybertruck’s six-foot bed is also unorthodox with its sloped panels. They make it difficult to load from the sides, but twin 110-volt plugs and a 240-volt plug are a tailgate party’s friend. The automatic tonneau cover is a welcome innovation for inclement fall weather. As I hauled beverage cases and event signage, protecting my cargo from a sudden change in weather was as simple as pressing the screen’s tonneau cover button.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I crisscrossed the farm’s dirt roads and grassy fields. Giant Pirelli Scorpion all-terrains are complemented by an air suspension so I could hike Cybertruck’s steel skirts to 16 inches off the ground. Shred a tire and it will cost (cough) $529 to replace. On the other hand, Stratford’s landscape chief Matt Peterschmidt approved of the simple drop-gate compared to competitor’s multi-action contraptions.
“Tailgates are the first thing to fail on a pickup,” he smiled.
In the middle of a field, I asked the truck to self-drive back to the main house and, remarkably, it found the fence opening and got to the main road.
At weekend’s end, I headed back to D.C., the truck’s 320-mile range proving accurate (I got 98% of predicted range) despite my heavy left foot.
Henry Payne
Turo required the Tesla be returned with 80% battery range, which exposed the EV’s weakness compared to gas-powered peers: efficiency. Tesla’s Supercharger network was accessible — even in rural Virginia — but charging back to 88% (at the closest charger to the airport) from 32% added 40 minutes to my 90-minute journey. Cost? At 44 cents-per-kWh, the same as $2.75-a-gallon gas in an 18-mpg F-150 Raptor.
While it may look like it came from Mars, Cybertruck proved right at home at the historic preserve. Heck, in 1776 — after the shock wore off — the Lees probably would have adopted it for use in the American Revolution. After all, its stainless-steel skin is bulletproof.
Next week: 2026 Nissan Sentra
2025 Tesla Cybertruck
Vehicle type: All-wheel-drive, five-passenger pickup
Price: Base $82,235, including $1,995 destination charge ($90,235 with FSD as tested)
Powerplant: 123 kWh lithium-ion battery pack mated to dual electric motors
Power: 593 horsepower, 525 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.9 seconds (Car and Driver); towing, 11,000 pounds
Weight: 6,634 pounds
Range: 320 miles on full charge
Report card
Highs: King of the Road; FSD OMG
Lows: Polarizing styling; $$$$
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Ford Mustang RTR injects the 4-cylinder pony with more performance, personality
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 18, 2025
Dearborn — The performance-focused, V8-powered Ford Mustang GT, Dark Horse and GTD monsters now have a little brother to play with.
Say hello to the Mustang RTR hellion, the performance trim of the pony car’s base, Ecoboost, turbo-4-cylinder model.
The RTR is the spiritual heir to the last-generation, 2020-2023 Mustang’s High Performance model (HiPo for short), one of autodom’s best-kept enthusiast secrets. RTR brings similar performance, but ups the swagger by partnering with drifting champion Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s RTR Vehicles (RTR is short for Ready to Rock), an aftermarket mod shop in Concord, North Carolina.
Ford, Ford
The RTR hook-up marks only the second time in Mustang’s 60-year history that Ford Motor Co. has partnered with a third-party on a high-performance, factory-built Mustang. The other was with motorsports legend Carroll Shelby in 1965, and Gittin’s outsize personality and talent are a fitting sequel to Shelby’s legacy.
Like Shelby, whose cars came with signature double stripes, RTR brands the new Mustang model with its signature, lit, LED grille nostrils. The Mustang RTR’s left nostril is functional, sucking in air to feed the turbocharged beast within.
“With Mustang RTR, we’re producing the most badass, factory-built, turbocharged Mustang ever,” Gittin said. “When I launched RTR in 2009 at 29, I had no plan beyond making Mustangs cool and exciting for the next generation. The 2026 Mustang RTR does just that.”
Ford, Ford
The Detroit News got a sneak peek of the RTR at Ford’s Dearborn corporate headquarters ahead of its introduction Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Gittin is expected to demo the Mustang RTR’s capabilities at the Formula Drift Pro season finals in Long Beach on Saturday. You may be able to smell the smoke from melting tires all the way in Detroit.
Mustang RTR borrows multiple design features from big brother GT, beginning with a GT-styled grille anchored by a unique, Tarnished Dark Anodized version of the Mustang logo. Other GT-inspired goodies include quad tailpipes with active-valve exhaust roar, rear wing, and a large single dash screen that houses both the 12.4-inch instrument and 13.2-inch infotainment displays.
You’ll also recognize Junior by its unique graphics package on the hood ‘n’ hips, and larger Brembo brake calipers
Ford, Ford
But the real RTR magic is beneath the pony’s skin.
The Mustang RTR comes standard with an Electronic Drift Brake feature for, naturally, hoonigan behavior popularized by Gittin Jr. and his Formula Drift Pro peers. RTR adds to the recipe a so-called steering gear that allows increased steering input to aid the drifting experience. Like the last-gen HiPo, RTR adds upgraded shocks, springs, and sticky summer tires (Goodyear Eagle F1s) — then ups the ante by importing the rear subframe and beefier stabilizer bars from big brother Dark Horse.
Mustang RTR also boasts a Ford first — a so-called anti-lag turbo feature. Derived from Ford Racing experience on track, anti-lag keeps the turbocharger spooled for better throttle response while carving corners, drifting or engaging in general misbehavior.
“This is Formula Drift championship-winning know-how, Mustang EcoBoost balance and affordability, and the race-proven performance technology from Mustang Dark Horse,” said Mustang Chief Engineer Laurie Transou. “With the RTR Package, this Mustang is truly ready to rock.”
According to Mustang Brand Manager Ryan Shaughnessy, Gittin — the Formula Drift champion in 2010 and 2020 — was particularly keen on including the steering gear, anti-lag and suspension calibration features on the RTR to give it a unique personality.
Ford, Ford
Curiously, RTR does not come standard with a horsepower boost over the regular 2.3-liter Mustang EcoBoost’s 315 horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque But customers can hit up their dealer after purchase for a Ford Performance Parts Installation upgrade to a stonkin’ 350 ponies and 400 pound-feet of torque. The latter figure is just 15 pound-feet shy of the GT’s mighty V-8.
Also an option are magneride shocks to improve handling, though stickier, track-focused tires are not (yet) available.
Sadly, a manual transmission is not an option.
Though the RTR benefits from numerous GT hand-me-downs, the six-speed manual is not one of them. Ford’s ubiquitous 10-speed automatic transmission is standard, and customers can get their stick kicks by shoving it in MANUAL mode and rowing the gears with the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. With half the cylinders, the 2.3-liter 4-cylidner up front saves 200 pounds over the V8-powered GT, making the car more nimble on corner turn-in.
Slip into the Mustang RTR, and the door sills glow with a MUSTANG RTR graphic. Seats are decorated with yellow stitching to complement yellow seatbelts. Seat options run from standard cloth to heated/cooled ActiveX thrones to heated/cooled premium leather. Recaro seats are also available. Customers can choose from 10 Mustang colors, including a new Avalanche Gray for RTR.
Ford, Ford
Push the START button and a cool RTR animation runs across the big digital screens, ending in the coupe drifting into the distance.
The RTR Package will be available for order in the second quarter of 2026 on the base Mustang EcoBoost with the High package and the Mustang EcoBoost Premium. Expect the RTR to start at over $40k compared to the standard, $34k Mustang Ecoboost when it hits dealerships next summer. Option-laden models should push $50k, less than the $66k starting price for the V8-powered Dark Horse Mustang.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Road trippin’ in the big, bold, boosted BMW X3
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 16, 2025
Gaylord — I made an easy drive this fall up Interstate 75 to Charlevoix. Cruising on adaptive cruise control at 80 mph, listening to Sirius XM. Navigating Google Maps on a jumbotron screen while taking in the fall colors. I could have been in any compact SUV.
But as I exited at Gaylord onto the challenging M-32 twisties, I selected the SPORT head-up display with digital racing tachometer, toggled the automatic shifter to manual SPORT mode, and engaged the shift/BOOST paddles sprouting from the steering wheel.
GRRRRRR! went the 255 ponies in front of me. Achtung! I’m in a BMW X3, all right.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I spent the next 25 miles conquering S-turns, long downhill sweepers and short straightaways while red-lining the eight-speed transmission. It was a welcome pick-me-up on a long road trip — and a welcome departure from the average SUV.
In truth, the average SUV is very, very, very good these days.
Since BMW unveiled its xActivity concept — the near-production peek at the first-gen, 2004 X3 — at the 2003 Detroit Auto Show (back when the Detroit show scored major BMW reveals), autodom has changed and compact utes have become the largest non-pickup segment in the U.S. market. Every major automaker from Acura to VW sells in the segment. Made in America, the X3 is BMW’s best-selling U.S. model.
This competitive shark tank has created an impressively high standard for entry. Combine that with the electronics revolution, and the compact segment has democratized with little practical difference between mainstream and luxe offerings.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
My $52K BMW X3’s dual digital screen? The $30K Hyundai Tucson offers a similar unit. The X3’s standard all-wheel-drive system? Same for the $31K Subaru Forester. The sporty, automatic chiclet shifter? The $32K VW Tiguan’s got it. BMW’s 255-horse turbo-4 engine? Yeah, yeah — check out the $42K Mazda CX-50 Turbo’s 256-horsepower unit.
So to separate itself from the pack, X3 has leaned into BMW’s heritage of design and performance.
Start with that big, bold kisser.
Current BMW design is bold and chunky — a throwback to the brand’s 1940s-era vertical grilles. It’s problematic on cars like the BMW 3-series sedan, but on more upright SUVs like X3, it fits. The twin-kidney grille is further distinguished by a striking, signature cross-hatch pattern. Love it.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
That pattern is repeated inside: cross hatch on the console charger cubby, air vents, console volume knob — even the small steering wheel selector button. It’s detail that sets X3 apart in a modern, screen-focused interior.
The screens themselves are flush with visual detail, from lush instrument display graphics to the sand-dune background on the infotainment screen to the layers of digital options (want the X3 to unlock/lock automatically as you approach/walk away? There’s a setting for that). They were a welcome companion on the long interstate drive.
Another notable detail: BMW has — like mainstream automakers — deferred navigation to Google Maps. The cloud-based Google ecosystem includes apps we commonly use on our phones. Standard (as with other brands) is a wireless charging pad so your phone doesn’t run out of juice while navigating your route).
I navigated my northern trip while listening to Sirus XM. BMW fully integrates those apps to show turn-by-turn directions in the head-up display and station listings in the instrument cluster.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
All this tech is housed in a chunky interior design — accented with ambient lighting — as distinctive as the exterior. Check out the meaty door controls and console. More clever detail? Door inserts that hold tall drink bottles.
One detail I could do without is the big rotary infotainment screen controller. Bimmer pioneered this feature in the early 2000s as a symbol of luxury — since copied by aspirational brands like Mazda and Genesis seeking to show their good taste. But the feature has become an anomaly in the touchscreen age, with even Mazda reportedly abandoning it for its next-gen vehicles.
BMW long ago made the rotary controller redundant, and I navigated the instrument screen by touch. Mostly. I have to admit the rotary dial is handy when driving, so I didn’t have to take my eyes off the road when reaching for the screen to, say, change the channel in Sirius XM. But for most folks who rode with me, the controller just takes up valuable console real estate.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Much of the X3’s design theme was first seen on the iX electric SUV, which, in turn, had adopted Tesla-inspired digital tech that has transformed vehicle interiors over the past 10 years. But X3 does this while also offering the inherent advantages of gas power.
While stomping all over northern Michigan with my right lead foot, I never worried about range anxiety from the 2.0-liter turbo-4 engine. With a 17.2-gallon gas tank, the X3 sported an impressive 568 miles of range that could get me to Charlevoix and back to Metro Detroit without visiting a gas station.
By contrast, the pricier, all-wheel-drive electric i4 compact sedan (an electric version of the X3 is not due until next year) gets just 227 miles of range and would likely require at least three lengthy charging stops on a round-trip Charlevoix journey.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The Bimmer emphasizes cargo room (large for the class) over rear-seat legroom (small for the class). I was able to stuff the trunk with all my gear for a weekend trip, while also comfortably fitting a foursome for an evening trip to Charlevoix Pickleball courts.
The foursome had varying views on the Bimmer’s styling (“nice,” “too chunky,” “Porsche Macan is sleeker”), while my friend Jon enjoyed sticking the tranny in SPORT mode and playing with the head-up display’s tachometer. Boys will be boys.
Speaking of Porsche, on the trip back south I played with the BOOST paddle. Porsche popularized this “Push to Pass” feature in its sports cars, and it quickly spread among other performance brands.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
BOOST instantly shifts the transmission into the optimal torque gear, redlining the engine for 10 seconds. I used the tool liberally to pass cars on two-lane roads.
Want to lean more into BMW’s sporty toolbox? Another 15 grand will buy you one of BMW’s legendary inline-6 cylinder, 393-horsepower, turbocharged engines. Ausgezeichnet!
Next week: EV showdown, Cadillac Lyriq vs. Tesla Model 3
2025 BMW X3
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $50,675, including $1,175 destination fee ($60,875 xDrive 30i with M Sport Package as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder; 3.0-liter, turbocharged inline-6 cylinder
Power: 255 horsepower, 295 pound-feet of torque (I-4); 393 horsepower, 428 pound-feet of torque (I-6)
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.0 seconds (mfr.); towing, 4,850 pounds
Weight: 4,535 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 27 mpg city/33 highway/29 combined (I-4); 25 mpg city/30 highway/27 combined (I-6); range: 568 miles as tested
Report card
Highs: Distinctive looks; performance features
Lows: Looks can be polarizing; turbo-4 lacks BMW brand uniqueness
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Detroit rules IMSA finale: Caddy wins, Penske and Corvette score titles, Mustang expands
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 15, 2025
Brandon Badraoui, Lumen Digital Agency
Braselton, Georgia — Detroit brands dominated the season finale of the 2025 IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship season at Petit Le Mans as Motown went toe-to-toe against the world’s best.
Cadillac took first place overall after a command performance over the grueling 10-hour race around the 2.5-mile Road Atlanta race course north of Atlanta. But it was the Porsche Penske team — managed by Bloomfield Hills-based Team Penske — that won the season title, its second in a row. In the production-based GTD Pro class, Chevrolet put an exclamation point on a successful season with New Hudson-based Pratt Miller taking home the championship in its signature yellow Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs.
The celebrations marked a three-year surge in which Detroit brands have stepped up their presence in international motorsports to compete against the world’s top performance badges. The International Motor Sports Association — and its companion World Endurance Championship (which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France) — are the world’s premier sportscar racing series. Both Corvette (four entries in IMSA, two in WEC) and Ford Mustang (three entries in IMSA, two in WEC) — have shown early promise as they compete against the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Lamborghini in the racing market with world-class GT3 cars.
“The competition is strong, the track’s amazing, the number of fans that are here is incredible and every year they attract more,” said Jim Campbell, General Motors Co. vice president for performance and motorsports, in a trackside interview. “It’s indicative that this is the heyday of sportscar racing in North American . . . and globally.”
IMSA reported a sold-out event with an estimated 100,000-plus fans descending on the 28th annual Petit Le Mans, which mirrors Europe’s top sportscar event, the Le Mans 24 Hours. In all, 18 brands competed with 53 cars on grid piloted by 159 of the world’s top drivers.
The infield was littered with performance automaker activations — once seen at car shows — showcasing the latest models.
“IMSA was started as a place for the automakers to come showcase their product, their powertrains, their vehicle platforms from all over the world,” IMSA President John Doonan said in an interview. “And as a born-and-raised Midwestern boy from Chicago, to have the domestic brands firmly back in our sport is really heartwarming.”
Michael L. Levitt, Lumen Digital Agency
After qualifying on the front row next to the Acura ARX-06 GTP — an echo of the Caddy team’s historic front-row sweep at Le Mans in June — the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R GTP fought for the lead throughout. Ultimately, it came down to a three-horse race along with the title-winning #6 Porsche Penske 963 GTP and screaming, V12-powered fan-favorite Aston Martin Valkyrie GTP — with just 12 seconds separating the trio after 10 hours.
The #6 car’s championship marked the 48th racing title for Team Penske Chairman Roger Penske.
“Building a global program to compete and win across two different racing series with our teams headquartered in both the U.S. and Germany is a massive undertaking,” said Penske, 88, in an interview. “To be able to design, build and test a new car in the Porsche 963 and to win consistently and earn championships in both IMSA and WEC is incredible.”
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The team’s championship helped salve the disappointment of Porsche’s announcement earlier in the week that it is exiting the 2026 WEC championship, denying — for now — another shot for Penske to win Le Mans, one of the few major trophies that has eluded him.
“They’ll be back,” said veteran motorsports writer and Hagerty Special Projects Editor Steven Cole Smith. “They made a bad bet on the EV market, and now they’re backtracking like everybody else.”
Penske himself was optimistic. “Looking ahead, we’ll be back racing in IMSA next season and look forward to competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans again in the future with an opportunity to earn our team’s first win in that legendary race,” he said.
Penske is widely respected in the IMSA paddock, and other teams lamented Porsche’s news. But the German company’s decision was viewed not as a trend but as a singular event.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“We’ve seen times when there’s outside pressures (on) programs that have had to change direction,” Doonan said. IMSA/WEC sportscar racing “is really the most authentic way to market your brand. I’m positive of the momentum, and we’re just going to continue to take really good care of it and control costs to the best of our abilities.”
Genesis will join the IMSA GTP field in 2027 and both Ford and McLaren are likely for 2028 after their Le Mans debuts in 2027.
“The Porsche Peske effort is one we pay close attention to, but in sportscar racing you have brands that go into a series for a period of time and then they go out,” said GM’s Campbell. “The auto industry is hyper-competitive. Our focus is running these programs in an efficient way, making sure our investment is returning benefit to the brand.”
Campbell said Cadillac is full speed ahead in 2026 on its IMSA, WEC and Formula One programs: “We see (motorsports) as lifting the Cadillac brand, and we’re winning. When you do that, shoppers put you on their shopping list more quickly.”
Brandon Badraoui, Lumen Digital Agency
A big part of international sportscar racing’s success has been the homogenization of rules across series like IMSA and WEC. Today, manufacturers make a race car to the same spec to race at Le Mans as Petit Le Mans.
That also means navigating international politics — particularly in Europe, where automakers are wrestling with climate regulations forcing the end of internal combustion engines, a key factor in Porsche’s financial woes. To that end, IMSA and WEC see synthetic/renewable fuels as a solution to maintain the visceral thrill of racing with V-6, V-8 and V-12 engines.
“We’ve launched an 80% renewable fuel, and are pushing hard to get to the 100% manufacturers want,” Doonan said. “That’s the development space future for us and for the automakers.”
If the top GTP class shows off brands’ technical chops, then the production-based GT class is where money is made.
Jake Galstad, Lumen Digital Agency
GM has made a major investment transitioning from an in-house factory team to manufacturing Corvette GT3 racers marketed to customer teams. This year’s GT3 win — in just Corvette’s second year as a customer program — was especially gratifying.
“That was a big decision to go from full works team to the GT3 with a customer team focus. It’s really worked well, especially in the second year,” Campbell said. “Around the world, the Corvette Z06 GT3.R has been doing really well. We’re proud of that.”
Corvette held off Ford and Ferrari — both of which had an outside shot at the GTD title going into Petit Le Mans. Ford settled for fourth and fifth place, but Ford Racing President Mark Rushbrook was thrilled with a Mustang sophomore season that included three wins.
Brandon Badraoui, Lumen Digital Agency
“There are nine different manufacturers in the GTD Pro class, which gives us the opportunity to take a production-based Mustang and compete against the very best in the world,” he said in an interview. “We’ve developed a great car with our partners at Multimatic to be able to . . . show what the Mustang is capable of.”
Next year, two customer teams (Gradient and Riley) will enter Mustangs alongside the Ford factory IMSA effort. Ford is also setting its sights on winning the top prototype class with a return to the pinnacle of sportscar racing for the first time since its historic Le Mans four-peat in 1966-1969.
“We’ll be going back to Le Mans at the very top in Hypercar for the overall win of Le Mans against Ferrari — against all the best manufacturers,” Rushbrook said of the teams’ planned 2027 debut. “We can’t wait to get there.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Porsche Penske exits Le Mans race effort as automaker’s woes deepen
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 13, 2025
Braselton, Georgia — Auto racing is experiencing a Golden Age with motorsports benefiting from big investments from brands across the globe including Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, Porsche, BMW, Acura, Toyota, Aston Martin, Mercedes and more.
The beneficiaries are series as diverse as international sportscar racing — Formula One, NASCAR, and the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. But success depends on a healthy auto industry.
That reality was brought home at the season finale of IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Series this week when German powerhouse Porsche shocked the paddock by announcing it is pulling out of the 2026 World Endurance Championship hypercar championship and its signature race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.
Porsche’s move came as it faces revenue challenges after its bet on an electric future — under pressure from a European Union mandate — has failed to produce desired results and the Volkswagen-owned brand faces headwinds in the Chinese market where sales have declined.
2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – #5 Porsche Penske 963 leads the Whelan Racing Cadillac in a quest for Roger Penske’s first Le Mans win. Porsche, Porsche
The decision impacts Detroit’s legendary motorsports racing enterprise, Team Penske, which manages Porsche’s WEC/Le Mans race program. Porsche said that it will continue to partner with Penske in the North American IMSA series, but the withdrawal from Le Mans complicates the hopes of Team Penske Chairman Roger Penske to add the coveted title to his trophy case.
“Porsche has been a strong partner with Penske for a variety of reasons both on race track and production world,” said Penske Racing President John Diuguid, who declined comment on Porsche’s WEC decision in an interview here. “Maintaining that relationship is very important to us and we’ve had great success — not just over the last three years — but historically as well. Our focus is to continue racing with Porsche.”
To that end, Duiguid said Penske is focusing on the task at hand — namely, it has the chance to win the driver’s and manufacturer titles both in IMSA and in the WEC in 2025.
“The (WEC) team is looking to finish on a high note, that’s the best thing we can do,” he said. “It’s definitely achievable. The structure for next year hasn’t been determined yet. We’re trying to win the championship here, then we have three or four months to figure out how we’ll go racing in 2026.”
Porsche narrowly missed notching its 20th Le Mans win this year (and Penske’s first) when it finished second to Ferrari. Porsche has built its brand on motor racing — in particular its dominance at Le Mans, where it has amassed more overall wins than any other manufacturer since its first win in 1970. Porsche Penske has led a renaissance in international prototype racing this decade that has attracted a historic number of manufacturers.
Porsche Penske leads the title quest in IMSA with driver Matt Campbell (right) seeking the driver’s title. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Industry insiders here have no doubt Porsche will be back at Le Mans, but the millions needed to compete at the pointy-end of motorsports has taken a back seat to shoring up the brand’s soft bottom line.
“I’m surprised that Porsche would abandon its top international sportscar series because so much of their image is tied into motorsports,” said veteran motorsports writer and Hagerty Special Projects Editor Steven Cole Smith. “This is a real blow to WEC, though I’m glad the IMSA program was spared.”
Despite investing billions in battery technology to dovetail with the EU’s ban on gas engines by 2035, Porsche EV sales have fallen short of expectations. As a result, it’s reversed course on its promise to sell 80% electric vehicles by 2030. That means ploughing capital back into internal combustion engine technologies to make parallel model lines for EVs and gas power.
“We’re realigning Porsche across the board,” said VW CEO Oliver Blume last month in announcing the delay of electric plans. “In doing so, we want to meet new market realities and changing customer demands — with fantastic products for our customers and robust financial results for our investors.”
The decision to abandon the WEC/Le Mans came in conjunction with Porsche announcement this week of weaker sales in China, where Chinese automakers are winning over nationalist buyers with sales at the expense of foreign automakers.
The U.S. market is a bright spot for Porsche despite increased prices this year due to tariffs imposed on EU imports. Sales are up 5% so far this year. Racing insiders speculated that, if Porsche Penske wins the IMSA title this weekend that the team may still get an at-large bid to race at Le Mans next year.
Road Atlanta finale: #7 Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP driven by Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, and Laurens Vanthoor. Brandon Badraoui, Lumen Digital Agency
“Everybody at Penske really wants a Le Mans title,” said Cole Smith. “But it’s a real crapshoot like any 24 hour race.”
European automakers’ struggles were foretold by Lynn Calder, CEO of English automaker Ineos in an interview with The Detroit News earlier this year. “It’s insane. It’s important for the industry to be regulated, (but) there is something about this particular industry that has gone a bit mad,” Calder said of European emissions regulations banning the sale of gas-engine cars. “In Europe and the UK right now they want it to be one-size-fits-all, and it’s breaking the industry.”
Porsche’s parent, VW, has pushed back on the EU’s mandates as its performance brand re-commits to an ICE lineup.
The current ICE Cayenne SUV will remain on sale alongside the upcoming electric Cayenne, as will the Macan ICE and EV SUVs. A new three-row SUV positioned above the Cayenne, once envisioned as electric-only, is being redesigned to include ICE powertrains. Initially planned to be EV-only, the next-generation Cayman/Boxster 718 sports car will also offer ICE engines.
Porsche sales worldwide in the first nine months of 2025 slid 6% from a year ago — foreshadowing back-to-back annual declines for a brand that has been a sales juggernaut. In 2024 Porsche delivered 310,718 vehicles, down 3% from 2023.
The body shell of an all-electric Porsche Taycan. Krisztian Bocsi, Bloomberg
A steep decline in China sales, a key growth market the last decade, is the main culprit. Porsche’s deliveries are down 26% there this year, paralleling declines for German peers BMW and Mercedes.
While pulling back on its expensive globe-trotting WEC/Le Mans series, Porsche will continue to support Porsche 911 GT3 and GT4 cars entered in competition across the globe. It will also continue its factory effort in the electric open-wheel series, Formula E, where it has won consecutive titles.
“Racing is part of their brand DNA and it is blended across the board with dealerships and even the main website,” said Diuguid. “Porsche builds race cars and its build high-performance cars for the road and they are definitely integrated.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Behind the wheel of the 1925 Ford Model T time machine
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 13, 2025
Charlevoix — I learned to drive a time machine this summer: the 1925 Ford Model T.
On Clark Road, a two-lane dirt-and-gravel byway, I shifted into second gear, released the clutch, and headed south through farm country back to the early 20th century. Today, the best-selling vehicle in America is a Ford F-series pickup. One hundred years ago, the best-seller was the Model T. Everything — and not much — has changed.
Like F-series, the Model T was wildly popular in part because you could put a variety of top-hats on its rugged ladder-frame chassis for commercial and private purposes: pickup, tow rig, farm plow, two-door coupe, four-door family wagon. The latter is how most of us think of the Model T, and, indeed, my 1925 tester was a classic four-door Touring model.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Think of it like a 2025 Ford Expedition SUV, which is based on the similar ladder-frame platform to the F-Series and outfitted with a similar gas drivetrain. Combined Expedition SUV and F-series pickup sales will reach over 800,000 units this year. Model T sales in 1925? Over 2 million. Woof.
So ubiquitous are F-Series models today that many of us learned to drive in them. On neighborhood roads. On farms. On country roads. So, too, the Model T in 1925. By 1925, there were more than 15 million Tin Lizzies (as they were fondly nicknamed) on the road, including my tester.
Richard Leatherman learned to drive my tester on Mississippi country roads a century ago. His granddaughter, Mary, now owns the car, and it was restored to original specs by her husband, John Dean, an adventure enthusiast — and my driving instructor.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Like the black Ford Expedition Tremor I tested last May, the black, left-hand driver Model T sits high off the ground on big, high-profile tires, and I stepped into the cabin via a running board. Unlike the Expedition, I entered via the right-hand door, because … there is no left-hand door.
On a beautiful summer day, the T’s windows were open … because there are no windows on the Touring model. The convertible is outfitted somewhat like a Ford Bronco with a soft-top that takes some effort to take off. How were passengers protected from the elements? Plastic windows were available to secure to the sides.
Like an Expedition, T has plentiful head room and the second-row passenger seats are palatial. Not so the fronts, which were cramped with my 6’5” frame sharing the space with multiple levers, pedals, and a 17-inch steering wheel (the Expedition’s wheel is 16 inches). To fit my size 15 feet into the busy footwell, I donned my narrow racing boots.
Seat belts? Reclining seats? Heated seats? Massage seats? Fuhgeddaboudit.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I cut my teeth on a manual five-speed transmission BMW 1600 in the 1970s. Its three-pedal operation was a cinch compared to Tin Lizzie. Eager for automotive independence, I had no choice but to learn the wee Bimmer when I was 16 years old — and Model T drivers had to master its unique system if they wanted to drive in ‘25.
The Model T starting procedure involved a checklist as long as my arm.
1) Check that the handbrake on the left floor is pulled back
2) Pull out the choke
3) Twist the fuel mixture lever 1½ turns to the left.
4) Adjust the accelerator stalk (that’s right, the accelerator is a stalk, not a pedal) on the right-side of the steering column ¼-turn downward.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
5) Check that the spark-plug adjustment lever on the left-side of the column is in the up position.
6) Compress the engine brake (the right floor pedal) with your right foot.
7) Turn the dashboard key to the left to wake the 6-volt (not 12-volt as in a modern Ford) battery.
8) Move my left heel backward and press the starter button on the floor.
9) R-R-R-R-VROOOM. When the engine catches, turn the key back to right so the 6-volt battery hands off electronic engine duties to the Model T’s Magneto system.
10) Rotate the fuel mixture back to a quarter turn.
11) Remove your right foot from the engine brake, and move the handbrake forward with your left hand to the neutral position.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
12) While easing on the clutch with your left foot (that’s right, you compress the clutch in first gear rather than disengaging as with modern manuals), push the handbrake forward to completely disengage it.
13) To gain speed, push the accelerator stalk downward.
Simple, yes?
This ballet of controls requires practice to get right, and gets more trying when starting on grade. Once up to speed, the Tin Lizzie and I engaged in a new dance to get into second gear, where most cruising is done.
With the four-cylinder engine in front of me roaring at high RPMs, I eased off the clutch while performing a yo-yo motion with the accelerator to engage second gear. The Model T picked up speed and I tore around Charlevoix’s roads at … about 25-35 mph.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
If I kept my foot — er, right hand — in it, the Ford would eventually get up to a speed of 45 mph on smooth asphalt roads. But in 1925, outside of cities like Detroit, roads were dirt like Clark Road and you had to be careful of uneven patches — not to mention horse and auto traffic coming the other way.
The Model T purred along with a lively clatter. Sound deadening has isolated today’s engines to the point that cabins have become rolling living rooms complete with stereo systems, Google Map navigation, even video screens. All that capability has added cost, and an Expedition starts at $62K in 2025 compared to a $5K Model T in today’s dollars.
The only audio entertainment in the ol’ T is the engine and nature. So loud was the four-banger that I had to raise my voice to John Dean next to me.
Heading up a long, steep incline on Novotny Road, I kept the throttle wide open to make it to the top. Long family trips in 1925 must have been trying, especially as you added weight to the car. Not just passengers, but gas cans strapped to the running boards given spotty refueling infrastructure. The Model T’s nine-gallon tank was good for about 130 miles at 14 mpg.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Dean and his Northern Michigan T Club take to the roads each fall for a tour up the Lake Michigan coast. Fluids are a constant worry.
Model T oil is filled underneath the engine, while filling the fuel tank requires pulling up the front seat. The fuel then runs “downhill” into the engine carburetor. According to Model T legend, if you ran low on gas while climbing, say, Novotny Road in Charlevoix, the solution was to turn the car around and scale the road in reverse.
Reverse gear, by the way, is a third floor pedal — in between the clutch and engine brake.
Ah, yes, brakes. Purring along Loeb Road, I started braking for a STOP sign intersection looooong before I got there by backing off the accelerator and applying the engine brake. The emergency brake is jarring and for emergencies only.
At the intersection of Loeb and M-66, I watched modern cars fly by, including Expeditions, F-150s, F-250s — the Model T’s modern, ladder-frame descendants.
When a gap opened, I eased off the handbrake, pushed in the clutch and eased my 1925 time machine back into 2025.
1925 Ford Model T Touring
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, five-passenger automobile
Price: About $5,000 in today’s dollars
Powerplant: 2.9-liter inline-4 cylinder
Power: 20 horsepower, 83 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Two-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, NA; top speed, 45 mph
Weight: 1,950 pounds
Fuel economy: 14 mpg estimated; range, 126 miles
Report card
Highs: Affordable; roomy with good visibility
Lows: Complicated operating procedure; tight cockpit
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Q&A: Ram 1500 manager Amy Augustine on Hemis, eTorque, and Warlocks
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 7, 2025
Chelsea — Amy Augustine, program manager for Ram light duty trucks, and her team have been working at a feverish pace in recent months to bring back a legend.
The Hemi, Stellantis auto group’s iconic V-8 engine, had been shelved for the 2025 model year for use in Ram’s 1500 pickups under pressure from federal emissions rules.
Sales tanked as customers shied from the Hemi’s replacement, the inline-6 cylinder Hurricane engine. Heads rolled at Stellantis and the company brought back Tim Kuniskis, mastermind of Ram/Dodge’s V-8-focused strategy a decade ago, as North American product chief. Buoyed by new management in Washington, D.C., that scaled back automaker regulations, Ram in December set an ambitious schedule to bring the Hemi back to its best-selling pickup in just eight months — less than half the time of a normal product update.
Amy Augustine, Ram 1500 product manager, has led her team on a feverish pace since December to restore the Hemi V-8 engine to Ram’s cash cow after sales nosedived. Stellantis
Detroit News auto columnist Henry Payne sat down with Augustine at the introduction of the new 2026 Ram truck at the Stellantis Proving Grounds in Chelsea to talk about the Hemi’s return, eTorque electrification and Warlocks.
Question: I’m out at the Proving Grounds in Chelsea testing the 2026 Ram. Amy, they’ve got Hemis back in them, which I know is going to make a lot of truck people happy.
Answer: Yeah, we brought back this engine because our customers demanded it. They were asking for it, and we knew that we had to act. We listen to our customers, and we’ll be bringing that V-8 back into our truck product lineup.
Q: Folks who are not in the truck world may not have noticed. There was a big changeover for the 2025 model year where Ram brought in the Hurricane inline-6 cylinder engine — a wonderful engine, used in a lot of Stellantis product, including the forthcoming Dodge Charger. But in the truck, the Hemi was the majority of sales and the core customer noticed. They really like a V-8 in this truck, and 40% of them say they will buy nothing else.
A: Everyone who’s owned a Hemi, they all have their own reason why it matters to them. So when we took it out of the lineup, we could really feel the customers getting upset. They didn’t understand why we took it out. So we are bringing it back, and we’re super excited about it.
Q: It has a great sound. I’ve been lashing this thing around the property all morning. The other technology that you brought in with your V-6s and V-8s — even before you got to the Hurricane inline-6 — was so-called eTorque technology. Talk about that a little bit.
The 2026 Ram 1500 eTorque V-8 Hemi has been brought back for the 2026 model year. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
A: Our eTorque is a fuel-efficient technology that we have on the trucks. It really helps with the efficiencies of a vehicle.
Q: People hear “eTorque” and they’re going to think plug-in hybrid. But it’s not a hybrid. You use this tech differently than you would find in a typical electrified application.
A: eTorque is considered a mild-hybrid technology that is different than what you’ll find in a typical hybrid. The idea here is it’s a 48-volt system that really helps with startup, with fuel economy. It helps with efficiency.
Q: In the previous-generation truck, you brought in the V-6 and the V-8 eTorque systems. Now, for 2026, you’re essentially bringing back the V-8 — and again mating it with eTorque.
“The 2026 Ram 1500 eTorque V-8 features a 48-volt system for quick, smooth starts. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
A: We’ve had eTorque technology in our trucks for a while. We had it in the Ram 1500 Classic as well. It’s a (powertrain) that our customers are familiar with.
Q: The truck wars are awesome here in Detroit. You guys have tremendous brand loyalty. We’re sitting in the cabin of a Ram, and the electronics really set you guys apart. Your team spends a lot of time on ergonomics.
A: We listen to our customers. We get a lot of feedback from them, understanding what works for them, and really take that to heart. We want to make sure that we’re building something they want.
Q: The names are glorious as you go up the lineup. Ram 1500s start with the Tradesmen trim. Sounds like a nice daily work truck. But then then you step up to the Big Horn trim, the Warlock, the Rebel. Did you find that customers really identify themselves with those trims?
A: We use the tagline: “freedom of choice.” Each one of these trims is meant for a certain type of customer, and they resonate with them. They really create their own personality within our lineup.
Q: The only one that would seem to be an outlier is an acronym, RHO – short for Ram High Output. But we media all refer to that as “Rhino,” so it’s got some personality too. That’s your performance drug?
A: Yeah, RHO’s our performance drug. You can call it what you like, but RHO is our highest performance truck.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Vanilla no more, Subaru Forester Wilderness goes wild.
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 2, 2025
Portland, Oregon — The Forester used to be vanilla in Subaru’s delicious store of off-road flavors. No more.
My white 2026 Forester Wilderness swaggered up to the foothills of the Cascade Mountains sporting a chocolate grille, syrup-black hood decal, bold lines, chiseled rocker panels and sinewy Yokohama Geolander all-terrain tires.
Forester Vanilla just got a healthy shot of Chunky Monkey.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I nailed the throttle and the rugged ‘Ru clawed up a dirt trail flinging chocolate chips — er, gravel — behind it. To my right the trail was bordered by a sheer drop into the valley below. Forester dispelled my acrophobia. Geolander A/Ts gripped the slippery surface and we charged on while drinking in the breathtaking view.
Along with Jeep, Subaru pioneered the off-road SUV space with standard all-wheel-drive machines that can go anywhere all the time. That fundamental goodness has won over generations of fans who confess undying loyalty to ‘Ru even as other brands have begun to crowd the shelves with their own affordable off-road flavors. Badges like Toyota RAV-4 TRD, Honda CR-V TrailSport, Mazda CX-50 Meridian, Nissan Rogue Rock Creek, and, most significantly, Ford Bronco Sport Badlands.
Bronco Jr. has stomped into the segment sporting Ford’s full off-road arsenal: all-terrain tires, ubiquitous storage cubbies, sub-rear-seat storage, twin-bicycle-friendly cargo bay, twin-rear clutch packs, and a 250-horse turbo-4 mill. Go to the head of the class, Sport.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Curiously, the Jeep Cherokee didn’t show up for the popular compact segment in model years 2024-25 — and Forester Wilderness is jumping in with all fours.
If the subcompact Crosstrek looks like a running shoe and the midsize Outback is a hiking boot, the Forester has been a … shoebox.
Square, tall and roomy, it lacked the personality of its teammates even as it offered excellent all-season utility, interior ergonomics, even a sippy hybrid model. The Wilderness edition brings the wardrobe to match its off-road capabilities. I mean, just look at those bronze tow hook/roof rail highlights and Wolverine-like front fascia lamb chops that complement its big claws.
Those claws are assisted by a front skid plate to protect the jaw, and a 9.2-inch ride height so I could sail over pointy rocks and splash across creek beds.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Those athletic attributes outside are mirrored with digital tech inside. I kept a window open in the digital instrument display to monitor tire pressure (35 pounds) as I charged across the rocky landscape. Get a flat tire? A handy spare is right underneath the rear hatch.
Never mind off-roading out West; I’d recommend the Forester Wilderness as a daily driver for Metro Detroit, where the always-under-construction roads can feel like the Cascade trails. WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP! How many low-profile wheels have I scarred across Motown’s lunar landscape? Better to have tall-sidewall Geolanders at the ready. WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP!
Inside this little tank, Subaru has created a sanctuary from the mayhem outside.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Product chief Bill Stokes and his Jersey-based elves have outfitted Wolverine with gritty all-terrains that are quiet as a mouse in daily driving. How? By designing a new chassis from the ground up, with the Wilderness bruisers in mind — more welds, isolated wheel wells, cabin soundproofing.
On the way back into Portland from the Cascades — the Forester Wilderness caked with dirt ‘n’ dust — I sat in the back seat while a colleague took the wheel and quickly forgot this was an off-roader while catching up with email and texts.
Forester’s rear couch is palatial, a nice upgrade from Crosstrek, which is no slouch in the subcompact rear-room department. The big difference between the siblings is the front seat, however, as Forester affords a lot more headroom thanks to its upright A-pillar. Crosstrek looks like a running shoe thanks to its sloped S-pillar (as does hatchback cousin Impreza). The compromise is less headroom for giraffes like me.
That explains the Forester shoebox.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Forester Wilderness brings its off-road mission to the interior as well. Door storage is designed with tall water bottles in mind — the door armrests abbreviated so you easily slip in tall flasks. I recently piloted an off-road-focused, $52K Hyundai Palisade XRT-Pro to New York and back and struggled with its shallow door storage.
The Subie’s rear door inserts are similarly thoughtful. For its sixth gen, the center console has been redesigned for better storage: seat heaters are now in the screen, cupholders enlarged, the front phone charger more accessible. That phone charger — standard on all Foresters — is more important than ever as passengers use their phones’ Google Maps to navigate to the far reaches of, say, Oregon. Or Michigan.
Also standard is the 11.5-inch vertical screen, now common to Subies across the lineup. With its big graphics and complementary buttons for volume and climate control, it is easy to navigate. Even better is the steering wheel (highlighted by a bronze insert so you know it’s a Wilderness model), which is smartly designed with raised volume and adaptive cruise controls so you never need take your eye off the road. Or off-road.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
This being a performance-focused Forester, Subaru has outfitted it with shift paddles behind the wheel should the droning automatic transmission ever drive you nuts. I found the paddles as useful as shoes for a fish. Armed with 178 pound-feet of torque and 180 horsepower, Forester’s 2.5-liter flat-4 engine has a tall task.
That task includes competing with the Bronco Sport Badlands, which brings significantly more capability. Its shift paddles are actually fun given the Badland’s substantial 280 pound-feet of torque and more sophisticated eight-speed transmission. Feel adventurous? Take the Bronc Jr. to Holly Oaks ORV Park in Holly and it will do doughnuts in the sand thanks to its rear twin clutch pack. Ooooooh.
That’s some serious off-road cred from the Ford. Heck, the Subie’s 180 horses are just enough to keep up with the base Bronc’s 180-horse turbo-3. The Sport Badlands’ 250-horse turbo-4 is in another league.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Which is here the Forester’s upgraded curb appeal is so important. It looks like a proper Subie dirt-kicker to go with its more affordable sticker — a meaningful $2,500 cheaper than the Ford. That, and it tows 800 pounds more than the Ford, expanding the Ru’s demographic. Subaru opened the door to compact SUV off-road capability, and Ford has rushed in. So will the Jeep Cherokee as it returns to market over the next couple of years with a trail-focused variant.
Rugged looks, off-road utility, towing, and … oh, yes, there is one more ‘Ru feature Forester is counting on: reliability. With a top rating from Consumer Reports, it boasts better grades than segment classmates.
Reward that ‘Ru with a Chunky Monkey ice cream.
Next week: Drivin’ the OG 1925 Ford Model T
2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $42,035, including $1,450 destination fee
Powerplant: 2.5-liter inline-4 cylinder
Power: 180 horsepower, 178 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Continuously-variable automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.0 seconds est. (Car and Driver); towing, 3,500 pounds
Weight: 3,675 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 24 mpg city/28 highway/26 combined; range, 465 miles
Report card
Highs: Rugged looks; appealing interior
Lows: Lacks performance, interior features lag competitors
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
American Speed Festival 2025: Unser Jr., Porsche 930 Turbo, fast lap competition
Posted by Talbot Payne on October 2, 2025
Pontiac — Metro Detroit’s fall auto enthusiast season draws to a close this weekend, Oct. 3-5, with the glitzy, 4th annual American Speed Festal at M1 Concourse auto club in Pontiac.
The 87-acre club’s Champion Motor Speedway will be the center of the action as race cars past, present, and future descend on the 1.5-mile track for hot laps Saturday and Sunday.
Significant racers like open-wheel IndyCars, NASCARs, sprint racers, endurance Le Mans prototypes, and crowd-pleasing drifters will fill multiple classes. The cars aren’t the only stars as the ASF will host famed race drivers including Master of Ceremonies and two-time Indy 500 champ Al Unser Jr.
ASF follows Detroit 4fest at Holly Oaks off-road park Sept. 5-6 and the Cars at the Station Sept. 19-20 at Michigan Central as the fall’s marquee car shows.
“The American Speed Festival is more than an event — it’s an immersive experience,” said M1 Concourse CEO Paul Zlotoff. “ASF gives motorsports fans unprecedented access to vehicles and the people who make them legendary. Its ability to draw participants and fans from across the nation to M1 Concourse reflects the festival’s growing prestige as one of America’s must-attend automotive celebrations.”
The weekend’s featured race car will be the Porsche 930 Turbo race car, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Numerous examples of the 930, produced from 1975 to 1989, will be on display. The Porsche was distinguished by huge rear fenders, rear wing and an air-cooled flat-6 engine with wicked turbo lag.
In addition to class laps, the weekend will feature the American Speed Festival Challenge — a series if competitions where drivers will vie for best lap time. Classes include the Ladies Race of Champions, featuring a handful of female pilots in Radical race cars. The five LROC competitors will be seven-time Indy 500 entrant Pippa Mann, Porsche Sprint Challenge driver Loni Unser, two-time NHRA World Championship drag racer Megan Meyer, USAC Midget champion Taylor Ferns, and GT4 America racer Laura Hayes.
On-track drifting demonstrations will be led by 2024 Taurus World Stunt Award winner Ele Bardha. Other notables at ASF will be 2016 motorcycle racing Grand National Champion Bryan Smith.
When not on track, the cars and their drivers (including the author of this article, who will be on hand in his 1966 Porsche 906) will be accessible to fans in the M1 paddock next to the 28,000-square-foot Event Center. In addition to historic IndyCars and sportscars, look for high-horsepower Can Am cars and modern Ferrari Challenge GT racers.
Unser will be on hand throughout the weekend signing autographs and posing with the 500’s iconic Borg-Warner Trophy — a rare sight outside the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Unser will also host Saturday night’s Checkered Flag Ball charity event to raise funds for M1 Mobility’s Pontiac Community Foundation, which provides rides to some 20,000 people in need throughout the year. Tickets for the ball are $500 apiece and $5,000 for a table of 10.
M1
Before the cars rev up on track Saturday and Sunday, ticketholders will enjoy the Dine & Drive event from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday. The event includes meals curated by top chefs, a tour of Oakland County roads in exotic cars and an exclusive private car collection viewing.
Back at the track on Friday evening, ticketholders can stroll the grounds for the Garage Reveal to view some of M1’s best car collections.
M1
The racing hardware will be complimented over the weekend by heritage car displays, gourmet food, family-friendly activities, music, and an aerial exhibition. The Scream N’ Rebels Vintage War Birds on Saturday will honor US service members by performing flyovers to honor US service members.
Event details
Location: M1 Concourse, 45399 Woodward Ave., Pontiac
Dine & Drive: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday (sold out)
Garage Reveal: 6-9 p.m. Friday ($200)
Checkered Flag Ball: 6-11 p.m. Saturday
American Speed Festival: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (General admission, $55, Club VIP ticket $175)
Ford v Everybody: Le Mans Hypercar program will be run in-house
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 25, 2025
It’s Ford v Everybody. The Dearborn automaker is taking on the world in international Le Mans-class Hypercar racing in 2027, and its program will be run entirely in-house.
The announcement is a break from tradition as most manufacturer work teams are historically run by third-party racing operations. Think Porsche’s Hypercar program run by Team Penske or Cadillac’s program (which locked out the front row at this year’s Le Mans) run by JOTA Sport out of England. Cadillac’s open-wheel, Formula One program, too, is run by TWG Motorsports.
Ford is taking on the world in international Le Mans-class Hypercar racing in 2027 with a program that will be run entirely in-house. Ford, Ford
Ford Motor Co.’s announcement comes on the heels of its racing division being recast this summer from Ford Performance to Ford Racing, integrating its racing operations with the production side of the company more than ever. Racing is at the core of the Blue Oval’s DNA, including a historic win over Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966, the subject of the 2019 Oscar-winning movie “Ford v Ferrari.”
“Keeping with our core values, our Hypercar program will be operated by Ford Racing,” said Ford Racing Global Director Mark Rushbrook. “This gives us the ability to react more quickly on track, enhancing our competitiveness. It also allows us to bring technology back to our road cars more effectively and efficiently than ever before.”
The in-house program will expand the duties of motorsports veteran Dan Sayers, who Ford announced will oversee its Hypercar program in June. Sayers has experience as the head of Aston Martin’s motorsports program and comes to Ford from Red Bull Ford Powertrains, where he has been program director for that F1 team’s power unit development. Intriguingly, Red Bull Ford is one of the few teams on the F1 grid that manages its own drivetrain in-house, having recently ended its contract with Honda.
“Ford Performance is taking on so many different challenges around the racing world, but to lead Ford back to its spiritual home at Le Mans was a challenge I could not turn down,” Sayers said at Le Mans when Ford hired him. “Having previously led Aston Martin to multiple Le Mans class victories, the opportunity to take overall honors with Ford is something very special. I have loved working on the F1 program with Red Bull Ford Powertrains, so this feels a lot like joining a different part of the same family.”
The 12 and #38 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars lead the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the pole. The two cars are run by the JOTA Sports race team. Ford, by contrast, will run its hypercar program in-house. Alastair Staley / Drew Gibson Photography, Cadillac
Sayers’ team will work at hyper-speed to build a Hypercar program.
In less than two years Ford Racing must assemble its team to — along with French chassis partner Oreca (announced at Le Mans in June) — design, build and test a 700-horsepower hybrid rocket ship to compete at the pinnacle of World Endurance Championship sportscar racing against a loaded field including Ferrari, Porsche Penske, Cadillac, Toyota, Peugeot, Aston Martin, BMW and Genesis.
“Every role needs to be filled and that is no small task because we aren’t just filling the positions, we are building a team culture which mirrors that of Ford Racing: passionate and driven by a need to be the best,” said Rushbrook.
The program will be run across Ford’s facilities in Dearborn, Charlotte, N.C., and England.
“These are assets that no one can match, and we are focused on staying at the forefront in facilities, technology and people. In addition to Oreca’s support, we are pleased to say that longtime engineering and motorsport consultancy group Venture Engineering will provide technical and operational support,” Rushbrook said.
Ford Racing will be only the third team on the Le Mans grid to run a full in-house operation. Toyota Gazoo Racing, which won Le Mans five years straight from 2018-2022, captains the Japanese maker’s sportscar effort and Peugeot Sport helms Peugeot’s program.
2025 24 Hours of Le Mans: Porsche’s Hypercar team is run by Team Penske. Ford will take on Porsche and others with a team it will run in-house. Porsche
Ford Racing’s decision runs counter to its own racing history going back to Caroll Shelby shepherding the race program that brought the GT40 its first overall Le Mans win in 1966. More recently, Toronto-based Multimatic ran Ford’s GT3 race team when the Ford GT beat Ferrari in the GT class in 2016.
The in-house team dovetails with Ford’s larger goals to build a corporate framework that weaves motorsports into production engineering and marketing. Ford Racing runs race programs across the motorsports spectrum from F1 and Hypercar to off-road vehicles like the Bronco and F-150 Raptors — not to mention muscle car-icon Mustang, which competes in the Mustang Challenge, GT4 and international GT3 series.
“It is an exciting time as we continue to build and develop our Ford Racing Hypercar program,” Rushbrook said. “We are filling dozens of roles in our design and engineering departments and our engine program. We are speaking to top development engineers and technicians to staff our testing and race programs. We are bringing in the leading mechanics and skilled racing tradespeople from around the world.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: (Off and on) road trippin’ in the Hyundai Palisade XRT Pro
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 25, 2025
Watkins Glen, New York — The 2026 Hyundai Palisade has an off-road-focused XRT Pro model because, well, you never know when Google Maps will navigate you off-road.
Heading east from Niagara Falls toward Watkins Glen International Raceway, Google sent me off Interstate 86 and onto a series of two-lane state roads — including dirt roads.
Had I been driving a sports car, I would have cursed Google (how dare you dirty my sleek stallion!). But my Palisade XRT Pro was in its element.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I punched the TERRAIN button on the dash, then selected SAND mode (MUD and SNOW are also on offer) and the Hyundai engaged all four Hankook all-terrain tires. I charged up the steep New York hills, leaving a rooster tail of dust behind me.
“Look at the fall colors!” I exclaimed as the V-6 engine roared past trees painted orange, red and yellow.
“Look out for farm trucks coming over these brows!” said my long-suffering wife riding shotgun.
Family road trips can be fun. Americans love three-row haulers and off-road bruisers, and Hyundai has combined the two flavors — like Reese’s peanut butter and jelly — to create a tasty recipe. With the Palisade XRT Pro, Hyundai follows in the footsteps of other models like the Ford Explorer (Timberline model), Chevy Traverse (Z71) and Honda Passport (TrailSport) — to marry its family hauler with the latest in off-road tech. It’s awesome.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Sitting atop my XRT Pro tester in Metro Detroit afternoon traffic, I marveled at how ga-ga we’ve gone for the adventure craze. In front of me was a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. To the left of me a Toyota 4Runner TRD, and to the right of me a Traverse ZR1. All armed to the teeth with all-terrain tires, jacked chassis, plastic fenders and off-road modes to … pick up the kiddies from school.
My weekend trip to the Glen (where I would be racing in an SCCA regional race), however, would show off the Palisade’s full arsenal in its natural habitat: an 18-hour road trip through international borders, interstates, service stations — and yes, even dirt roads.
The Palisade was separated at birth from the Hyundai Group’s other three-row ute, the Kia Telluride. They share the same bones, interior amenities, and even off-road capacities (the Telluride’s XRT Pro doppelganger is called the X-Pro). But let’s face it, the Telluride has overshadowed Palisade with its upscale, Cadillac-like styling: vertical lights cues, tidy grille, scalloped flanks. Kia has even applied these attributes to the K4 sedan to make one of the most upscale mainstream compacts in the market.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The Palisade, meanwhile, went its own way with a typically funky sci-fi Hyundai design. Sometimes it works (ooooh, that Elantra is pretty) and other times, ahem Palisade, it looks a bit butch.
The XRT Pro model, however, allows Palisade to lean into macho design.
Check out the cool stacked headlights and chunky wheels married to a wardrobe of Cast Iron Brown paint, black body cladding, one-inch suspension raise and a front grille that looked like it came off, well, my barbecue grill. Butch becomes XRT Pro.
Hyundai derives the Palisade name from the steep “palisade” cliffs of California and the Hudson River — bold, natural features that inform the SUV’s bold, upright design style. My journey didn’t go as far as the Hudson, but it did take me across the natural wonders of Lake Erie, Niagara Falls and the Empire State’s Finger Lakes region. And with 418 miles of driving range, it could make the trip to Watkins Glen without a gas stop, unlike its $20K-more expensive, 320-mile-range electric sibling, the Hyundai Ioniq 9, which would require a 30-minute charging stop.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
For such long-distance duty, the Palisade is outfitted with an interior as funky — yet functional — as its exterior.
The design is a pleasant combination of rounded door handles amid a chunky horizontal console, dash and door pockets. The slavish adherence to horizontal design form restricts storage space in the doors as, say, a vertical door cut-out for a tall water bottle would fit the XRT Pro’s adventurous passengers.
But, as a whole, the cockpit has upscale character, particularly the steering wheel, which sports a unique blocky design and excellent ergonomics for adjusting cruise control speed and radio volume without taking your eyes off the road.
The dash is dominated by Hyundai’s familiar twin instrument and infotainment screens and complemented by clever ergonomics. Palisade moves drivetrain operations — including the START button — to a single stalk on the steering wheel, which opens cargo space in the center console. Sub-storage for my wife’s purse, cupholders, phone charger, the works.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Family reaction to this was mixed. My son Sam drove Palisade around the Glen and found the stalk annoying because he couldn’t see it behind the chunky wheel spokes. Be sure to bring your USB-C phone charging cables! Multiple ports are littered through the cabin — but none are USB.
On interstates like I-90, the Hyundai was smooth as silk, though I missed the hands-free Super Cruise and BlueCruise systems offered by, respectively, Chevy Traverse and Ford Explorer. The Hyundai’s adaptive cruise required a constant hand but it did prove smart at using GPS to navigate the road. For example, it slowed for I-90’s famed 35-mph, 90-degree turn through Cleveland. Smart car.
After Mrs. Payne and I grabbed Burger King to go, she took over cruise duties while I played third-row passenger.
Second-row captain’s chairs collapse forward with the touch of a button next to the headrest for access to the third row. My 6’5” giraffe legs were tight but there was room for my phone (another USB-C port), onion rings and drink.
Better still, I could flatten the seatback in front of me (using a lever on the second row seat’s base) to make an ottoman. With my legs stretched out, I checked email while sipping my beverage. So quiet was the cabin that when we made a call, I could join the conversation as if we were on speaker phone in our living room.
As the road hours dragged by, the Hyundai offered pleasant, voice-activated diversions.
Me: Hey, Hyundai, tell me a joke.
Palisade: How do robots eat guacamole? With computer chips.
Me: Hey, Hyundai, set the cabin temperature to 70 degrees.
Mrs. Payne: Hey, Hyundai, set the passenger temperature to 72 degrees.
A feature called SOUNDS OF NATURE is also available in the screen to soothe with, for example, forest sounds of tweeting birds and rustling leaves. Or I could just wait for Google to divert me onto a dirt road and experience the forest for myself.
Next week: 2026 Subaru Crosstrek and Forester
2026 Hyundai Palisade
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front and all-wheel-drive, three-row SUV
Price: $41,035, including $1,495 destination fee ($51,110 XRT Pro as tested)
Powerplant: 3.5-liter V-6; Hybrid 2.5-liter inline 4-cylinder mated to electric motor and 1.7 kWh battery
Power: 287 horsepower, 260 pound-feet of torque (V-6); 329 horsepower, 339 pound-feet of torque (Hybrid)
Transmission: 8-speed automatic (V-6); 6-speed automatic (Hybrid)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.6 seconds (Car and Driver); towing, 5,000 pounds (V-6), 4,000 pounds (Hybrid)
Weight: 4,420-4,872 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 19 mpg city/24 highway/20 combined (V-6 FWD); 16 mpg city/22 highway/19 combined (AWD XRT Pro); Hybrid TBD
Report card
Highs: Rugged presence; upscale cabin
Lows: Snug third row; some USB ports, please
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Best of 2026: Nominees for North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year unveiled
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 20, 2025
Detroit — Vehicles, take your marks.
The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards announced their “Best of 2026” candidates this week. The list of 30 vehicles will compete in three different categories — car (six nominees), truck (five nominees), and utility vehicle (19 nominees).
American brands make up 11 of the entries, while ten nominees are electric. The number of electric vehicle nominees is down from 50% for the 2025 awards to 30% this year as EV sales have stabilized at 8% of the market and may decline as $7,500 government purchase subsidies end.
Through August this year, the average transaction price of a new vehicle was about $49,000, and the average price of the NACTOY nominees is $52k. The most affordable offering? The $23k Nissan Sentra while the most expensive sticker belongs to the electric $130k Cadillac Escalade IQ.
The NACTOY award is one of the industry’s most prestigious. It’s given at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Culled from a list of 55 eligible new vehicles for the 2026 model year, the 30 nominees will be evaluated by NACTOY’s 50 jurors at their annual gathering in Ann Arbor October 21-23, after which three finalists in each category will be named at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. The winners will be announced at the January 2026 Detroit Auto Show.
Car of the Year
The stylish Dodger Charger and affordable Kia K4 Hatchback and Nissan Sentra will be early front-runners for the car crown. The small number of nominees is evidence of a market dominated by SUVs, but the two Asian compacts are evidence that sedans are the market’s best value — especially when loaded with digital technology that could only be found on luxury vehicles a decade ago.
The front fascia is unique to SIXPACK-powered 2026 Dodge Charger models, with a larger, more pronounced grille area than all-electric Charger Daytona models to feed the turbo-6 beast behind. Stellantis, © 2025 Stellantis
Charger returns for the 2026 model year with an all-new lineup of coupes and four-door hatchbacks bearing gorgeous lines reminiscent of the classic, 1966 OG. The only Motown nominee in the category, the Dodge hopes to reboot brand sales with its visceral, gas-powered, inline-6 cylinder engine after sales of the 2025 Charger Daytona EV disappointed.
NACTOY awards are typically won by mainstream, volume brands, but the all-new Audi A5 gets major interior and exterior upgrades to go with its utilitarian hatchback. The sporty Honda Prelude returns to North America for the first time since 2001 — this time as a hybrid, and the Mercedes CLA is the lux maker’s entry-level offering at just over $40k.
2025 New York Auto Show: 2026 Kia K4 Hatchback. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Notable cars that did not make the Best list are the $329,000 Ford Mustang GTD and $167,000 Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid, the German brand’s first hybrid sports car. While boasting state-of-the-art tech, both are exclusive, small-volume cyborgs.
Truck of the Year
Detroit brands dominate the pickup truck space, and Ford and Ram dominate the nominees for 2026.
Ford’s new Lobo badge brings street-rod cred to the truck space with the Maverick Lobo, the favorite here given its $38k starting price and twin-rear clutch pack drifting capabilities (yes, a pickup drifter). The Ram 1500, however, is the early front-runner as Stellantis’s truck brand brings back the revered Hemi V-8, the truck’s volume engine that faced extinction before new management took over Washington’s EPA this year.
The 2026 Ram 1500 eTorque V-8 boasts 395 horsepower. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The Rivian R1T Quad Motor is new to the American EV maker’s lineup and boasts a hypercar-like 1,025 horsepower and 0-60 mph time to match — all while towing 11,000 pounds with lots of cargo capacity. However, its $117k price tag means few can afford it.
SUV of the Year
The SUV aisle is where the U.S. consumer comes to shop, and brands have flooded the space with everything from compacts to three-row family haulers to battery-powered chariots.
The 500-pound gorilla in the room is the all-new, sixth-generation Toyota RAV4, the best-selling non-pickup in America. Sitting atop the biggest volume SUV segment, the compact RAV4 lineup is now all-hybrid with trims ranging from base hybrid to the adventure-ready Woodland trim to a new GR Sport offering.
Designers said the new Jeep Cherokee has some boxy design elements that call back to the 1980s and ’90s-era models. Stellantis
The Volkswagen Tiguan, Jeep Cherokee, and Subaru Forester Hybrid are all nipping at the heels of the Toyota with significantly upgraded vehicles. In the mid-size segment, Toyota’s Tacoma pickup-based 4Runner is ready to rumble off-road, while Honda’s Passport has been recast as an off-roader with standard all-wheel-drive and rugged looks. Three-row SUVs are all the rage with high-tech to go with their people-moving talents. The Hyundai Palisade, Hyundai Ioniq 9 EV, Cadillac Vistiq EV, Cadillac Escalade IQ EV, and Ford Expedition all made the list.
There are luxury entrants galore including a new Audi Q5, Genesis GV70, Lucid Gravity EV, Volvo EX30 EV, and Volvo’s sister performance EV brand, Polestar 4. Cadillac’s transition to all-electric is well-represented with three electric vehicles in contention including the Escalade IQ, Vistiq, and Optiq.
The latter is a sleeper for best SUV given its entry-level price point and striking styling. Its primary market competitor, the Tesla Model Y, did not make the cut. Despite being the third-best-selling non-pickup in the United States in ‘24 and the best-selling EV in the United States, the refreshed Y won’t be in contention.
Not a Tesla: The distinctive, 2025 Cadillac Optiq takes on the best-selling Model 3/Y. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Other notables that did not make the list are the GMC Terrain and highly-anticipated, boldly-redesigned Subaru Outback which will likely be released in 2026 and be on the jury menu for 2027 Utility of the Year.
The NACTOY Best of 2026 was announced at the restored Michigan Central Station in Corktown. Judged by 50 independent journalists from across North America (instead of a single publication or outlet as with other auto contests), the NACTOY trophy is one of the industry’s most prestigious baubles.
Bay City: After failing to charge at Electrify America, the 2025 Volvo EX30 stopped to charge a mile away at a Blink charger at a Ford dealer. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The awards are intended to recognize vehicles that are benchmarks in their segments based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction, user experience and value.
2026 North American Car of the Year candidates
Audi A5 $44,000
Dodge Charger $52,000
Honda Prelude $42,000
Kia K4 Hatchback $25,000
Mercedes-Benz CLA $43,000
Nissan Sentra $23,000
2026 North American Truck of the Year Candidates
Ford F-150 Lobo $60,000
Ford Maverick Lobo $38,000
Ram 1500 Hemi $46,000
Ram 2500 $48,000
Rivian R1T Quad Motor $117,000
2026 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year Candidates
Acura ADX $37,000
Audi Q5 $54,000
Cadillac Escalade IQ $130,000
Cadillac OPTIQ $52,000
Cadillac VISTIQ $79,000
Ford Expedition $65,000
Genesis GV70 $50,000
Honda Passport $46,000
Hyundai Ioniq 9 $61,000
Hyundai Palisade $41,000
Jeep Cherokee $38,000
Lucid Gravity $97,000
Nissan Leaf $26,000
Polestar 4 $58,000
Subaru Forester Hybrid $38,000
Toyota 4Runner $43,000
Toyota RAV4 Hybrid $34,000
Volkswagen Tiguan $31,000
Volvo EX30 $46,000
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
RADwood, concepts, e-bikes: Highlights of this weekend’s Cars at the Station at Michigan Central
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2025
Detroit — Cars at the Station roars into town this weekend, Sept. 19-20, taking over the Michigan Central Depot grounds in Corktown.
Part Detroit Auto Show, part Woodward Dream Cruise, part cars ‘n’ coffee, it is Detroit’s new fall auto spectacular now that the auto show has returned to its traditional January dates. Call it Motown’s auto-palooza.
The event will take across Roosevelt Park in front the station and surrounding thoroughfares between 14th and Vernor streets with manufacturer brand displays, Radwood ‘80s and ‘90s hot rods, private-owner vehicles, ride ‘n’ drives, AM General’s HUMVEE military concept, the works.
Ford, Ford
The station’s iconic front yard will host 175 private vehicles of every variety, from foreign sports cars to boulevard cruisers. They will be distributed around the park’s curving walkways. Prime real estate will be The Promenade walkway that rolls out of the front of the station like a carpet through the park.
Here are some highlights:
Cars At The Station 2024, Cars At The Station 2024
RADwood
A celebration of ’80s and ’90s lifestyle, RADwood is a time machine that takes attendees back to the late 20th century, complete with period-correct dress and memorable autos. The Hagerty-owned RADwood also displays at The Amelia, Greenwich Concours d’Elegance and Motorlux, and its sprawling CATS display will anchor the east side of the station celebrating “the essence of a bodacious era.” Among the toys on display:
Twin white Fox Mustangs. George and Megan Koussa of Chesterfield will showcase their matching his-and-hers albino Mustangs. Hers is a 1992 hatchback, his is a 1993 convertible. They share white wardrobes, white wheels, and Fox body design (the third-gen pony car was built on Ford’s Fox chassis) that is hot, hot, hot. How hot? Ford is making a special edition 2026 FX ‘Stang meant to evoke the Fox era, and modern Mustangs feature an optional Fox instrument display.
CATS
“It’s cool to see the enthusiasm for the Fox Mustang,” said George, who has shown his car at Detroit Autorama as well as Foxtoberfest in North Carolina. “This is the Mustang generation I grew up with and the one my wife and I always wanted to own.”
Nissan Silvia. Known as the “Baby GTR” (GTR is Nissan’s outrageous, six-figure supercar), Silvia was a rare coupe sold in Japan. Its sedan sibling was the Skyline.
George Koussa
Imported from Japan by Yunus Basheer of Detroit, this right-hand-drive, 1994 Silvia has been modified for track drifting and sports a roll cage, wicked wheels, black paint, and a big turbocharger that pushes out 320 horsepower.
Yunus Basheer
Manufacturer displays
Littered across the campus will be manufacturer displays similar to the Detroit Auto Show — as well as a healthy presence from the giant LaFontaine Auto Group.
Ford and Lincoln. Front and center will be the brands from the Dearborn automaker that restored the station. A highlight will be the first Detroit appearance of the Bronco Roadster Concept that Ford dropped at Pebble Beach, California’s Monterey Car Week last month. The concept is a throwback to the OG, the 1966 U13 roadster in celebration of Bronc’s 60th anniversary.
Ford
Future Driven HUMVEE Concept. Speaking of OGs, AM General is still making Hummers for the battlefield even as GMC sells it as a six-figure EV. AMG will showcase its latest Hummer military concept at CATS. “We’re excited for how we will improve the warfighter’s safety with a cutting-edge restraint system and increased vehicle capabilities for mission success,” said AMG CEO Jim Cannon.
AM General
Check out its Kongsberg Remote Weapon Station and its vehicle-mounted counter drone protection system. Who knows, could be future options for GMC Hummer EVs as well.
Genesis. Bucking the industry trend away from auto shows, Hyundai has embraced them. The South Korean manufacturer has been a major presence in New York and Los Angeles in recent years, and for the 2025 CATS it will showcase the full lineup of its Genesis luxury brand. With their signature, dual-strip headlights/taillights and posh interiors, Genesis vehicles stand apart in the lux space.
Lucid
Lucid. The Silicon Valley electric brand wowed with its first model, the Air sedan, in 2022, and for 2025 it has brought its first SUV to market, the Gravity. In addition to its neck-snapping acceleration and gorgeous, twin-screen dash display, you can sit in its huge frunk.
Lotus. The famed English sports-car maker is now, along with Volvo, part of the Chinese Geely auto conglomerate. That means it is moving towards electric vehicles, but for Detroit the brand is showcasing its bread and butter: the mid-engine Emira supercar complete with Toyota-sourced V-6 engine putting out 400 ponies.
Lucid
Toyota. Speaking of Toyota performance, the Japanese brand will show off two of its hellions. For the road, the sensational, all-wheel-drive, 300-horse GR Corolla hot hatch will be on display. For off-road, check out the AWD, all-terrain-tired Toyota 4-Runner SUV — essentially a Tacoma pickup with a hatchback.
Polestar. Volvo’s all-electric performance brand, Polestar, is taking aim at Tesla with a lineup of stylish, quick models called simply: the 2, 3, and 4. The 4, due in showrooms later this fall, is the most radical, as it eliminates the rear window to prioritize aerodynamics and interior space. An interior camera mirror gives a full field of view out back.
JAROWAN POWER, Lotus
Aston Martin. La Fontaine will showcase the beautiful, bespoke Brit brand’s lineup including the Vantage sportscar and DBX SUV.
Ride ‘n’ Drive
Ogle the vehicles in their static displays — then shuffle over to 14th street and try them on the road. In addition to display vehicles like Polestar, Genesis, and Ford, LaFontaine will have vehicles from its stores to ride, including Cadillac, Nissan, Infiniti, and more.
The 2024 Toyota GR Corolla rotated through M1 Concourse’s corners well thanks to a limited slip front differential and sticky Cup 2 rubber. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Shandoka e-bikes
Located in Newlab next door to Michigan Central, Shandoka retro-fits motorcycles with electric drivetrains. CEO Ernest Eich will show off two examples at the display: a 1982 Yamaha Maxim and a 2003 Ninja 250 Sport bike. With 24-34 horsepower from the e-motors and instant torque, these ol’ bikes can fly.
Shandoka E-bike
Superlap Porsche Cayman Racing Simulator
Royal Oak’s racing simulator shop brings its Porsche sim to CATS. The rig features three full screens wrapped around the cockpit of a mid-engine Cayman S sportscar that moves with the sim.
Superlap
When you’re not ogling cars (or the stunning station which will be open for walk throughs), the CATS campus has plenty of other activities, including Food Trucks on 14th Street, a Big Boy restaurant in the park, music courtesy of WCSX 94.7 and The Bounce 105.1 radio DJs, and a Boys and Girls Club of Michigan display.
Cars at the Station runs from 4 PM-9PM Friday, and 9 AM-4 PM Saturday.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: 911 GTS goes hybrid the Porsche way. Fast.
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 18, 2025
Phelps — Two years ago at M1 Concourse’s American Speed Festival, I took my 1964 Porsche 904 GTS on track. The OG.
The first GTS (aka, Gran Turismo Sport) performance trim made by the German automaker, the wee, 1,450-pound 904 was one of 108 street-legal models built in 1964-65 to homologate Porsche for international racing. With my head stuffed in the ceiling and my knees in the Spartan dash, I rowed the five-speed manual gearbox around M1 — the glorious, normally aspirated, 3.0-liter flat-6 engine wailing in my ears at 7,000 rpm. Before me, my father used the 904 GTS as a daily driver for four decades in West Virginia.
Sixty years later, the legendary GTS badge lives in the roomy, 2025 Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid tester in my driveway: an automatic, turbocharged, gas-electric hybrid with Android Auto, 11-inch infotainment screen, 18-way heated/cooled seats, and launch control.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Toto, we’re not in 1964 anymore.
In SPORT PLUS MODE, I pushed the brake pedal and accelerator pedals to the floor. The tachometer stabilized at 4,000 rpm. The instrument gauge flashed LAUNCH CONTROL SET. I released the brake and released the Kraken. BWAAAWRR!
The T-Hybrid shot past 60 mph like it has been launched from a cannon. It’s a Porsche worthy of the GTS badge. Solid as oak. Stunning performance. Flat-six engine note from the gods. 911 has been a sports-car icon since it was introduced in 1963 for eight model generations. It’s maintained its place with elite engineering, timeless design, incremental change, and obsessive dedication to its brand.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Like the resurrection of the GTS badge from the 904.
Representing extra performance paired with excellent trip qualities, GTS reappeared on Porsche production models like the front-engine 928 and Cayenne SUV models at the turn of the 21st century before becoming a fixture on the 911 in 2010.
The eighth-gen car (the so-called 992 series) has taken big, risky leaps at a time when technological advancements and regulatory hammers present historic challenges to the industry. My 911 992.2 (translation: the second evolution of the 992 generation) tester maintains GTS thrills by integrating new tech, resulting in a supercar that — while not the most spectacular firecracker in the market — sits at the sweet-spot of supercar speed, price, and ergonomic refinement.
The compromises? Weight gain, price gain, complexity, and more robotic performance.
Henry Payne
911 T-Hybrid — short for Turbo Hybrid — redefines the popular conception of hybrid. For example, Porsche uses the electric motor wedged between the gearbox and engine for “torque fill.” Like the $109,795 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, Porsche introduces electrification into its lineup a step above standard Carrera/Carrera S models, but below the track-focused GT3. Unlike E-Ray, which uses its front e-motor to create an all-wheel-drive, all-season daily driver, GTS is pure hellion.
“Oh, this is nice and stiff!” said my son as we carved corners on M-66. WAPPA! WAPPPA! went the auto downshifts as I quickly slowed into a left-hander courtesy of massive, 16.5-inch ceramic brakes.
Where the first, 1960’s sportscar Golden Age set the tone for brands from Porsche to Ford, our second Golden Era has to contend with the Fun Police. The 2019 model of the 992 generation (992.1) introduced turbochargers to augment performance while also reducing CO2 emissions.
My 992.2 tester adds an e-motor (wedged between the 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox and engine) to increase power from 470 ponies to a stout 533 — while also meeting Europe’s draconian emissions regs. Porsche faces a watershed moment over the next decade as the European Union gradually bans internal combustion engine sales — a game-changer for the flat-6-powered 911.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Chevy and Ford have decided not to sell Corvettes and Mustangs in Europe because European regulations make it prohibitively expensive to offer V-8s. That’s not an option for Stuttgart-based Porsche, so it’s meeting the challenge with a turbocharged-electrified-flat-6.
If that sounds complicated, it is. And a concern for long-term durability compared to, say, the 904’s pure, normally-aspirated, 3.0-liter flat-6 screaming behind my ear at M1.
The 911 GTS’s hybrid works seamlessly. WHAP! The Porsche lights like a firecracker because the e-motor doubles as starter motor. There’s no turbo lag on acceleration thanks to electric torque fill. And that famed launch control? Car and Driver recorded a staggering 2.6-second 0-60 mph — a gain over 992.1’s 3.2 seconds.
In northern Michigan I gave friends launch control thrill rides. Who needs Cedar Point?
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
For all its tech savvy, 911’s fundamentals — rear-wheel-drive, rear-engine, unibody constructions — are unchanged. It’s not as nimble as the lightweight, carbon-fiber-monocoque chassis McLaren 750S I tested this summer. At 3,590 pounds, the German’s girth is evident compared to the 3,200-pound Brit. In 2001, 911 weighed just 3,000 pounds, but years of tech and regulation have taken their toll. McLaren’s lightweight carbon-fiber solution means, ahem, a $450,000 sticker compared to my $182,895 GTS tester which in turn is nearly twice the price of the Corvette E-Ray.
Where the 911 GTS really impresses is its dexterity.
Porsche and good ergonomics are not words you would have seen in the same article a decade ago. This is a brand, after all, that denied customers a console cupholder until the 992 generation.
But ergonomics matter in a GTS that promises good track and trip manners. New-gen 992 comes with: 1) center console cup-holder, 2) (still problematic) glovebox passenger cupholder, 3) door pocket holders for bottles (like my favorite Snapple). Also fitting nicely was my 6-foot-5-inch noggin — an advance from my ol’ 904 shoebox.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The cockpit is also state-of-the-art with a similar digital tach and infotainment display to other Porsches. 911 purists will note — heresy! — that the traditional, five-gauge layout is gone, replaced with a more conventional three-gauge layout. The digital gauges are stuffed with good content — like tire temperature before engaging launch control.
The logical console is anchored by a compact “chicklet” shifter — and the steering wheel is an ergonomic gem. My hands never left the wheel. On Interstate 75 North I turned on Adaptive Cruise Control (lower left stalk) and adjusted radio volume with a roller on the wheel spoke. A rotary knob engaged SPORT PLUS mode before I ripped through the M-32 twisties.
This modernity is wrapped in timeless 911 design sitting on big, gummy, Goodyear summer tires. You’ll know 992.2 by its center-locking wheels and front shutters that open in SPORT PLUS mode to feed air to the hungry beast within.
Enjoy your sixties, GTS.
Next week: 2025 Hyundai Palisade
2025 Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid
Vehicle type: Rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-passenger sportscar
Price: $166,895, including $1,995 destination fee ($182,895 as tested)
Powerplant: 3.6-liter flat-6 cylinder mated to electric motor and 1.9 kWh battery
Power: 533 horsepower, 450 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 8-speed, dual-clutch automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 2.6 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 194 mph
Weight: 3,590 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 17 mpg city/24 highway/20 combined
Report card
Highs: Big ergonomic improvements; launch control all day long
Lows: Getting’ porky; increased drivetrain complexity
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Three-row throwdown — Chevy Traverse vs. Ford Explorer vs. Honda Pilot
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 11, 2025
Beaver, Pennsylvania — After a weekend of racing sportscars across the plunging twists and turns of Pittsburgh International Raceway, my son and I crawled — exhausted — into our Honda Pilot SUV for the long five-hour ride home.
“Man, this car is so easy to drive,” said my 34-year-old son. “It’s so easy, a kid could drive it.”
With the comfortable front thrones cradling his sore bones, he pressed the cool seats button, put his tall drink bottle in the side pocket, then pressed the steering wheel voice recognition button. “Go home,” he said, and wireless Apple CarPlay app charted our course on Google Maps for the duration of our journey.
Midsize SUVs, you’ve come a long way, baby.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Utes have their origins in the early 1990s as Ford put an Explorer top hat on a truck chassis to satisfy families looking for a new breed of family station wagon. The idea took off along with other boxy, jacked wagons like the Grand Cherokee and Nissan Pathfinder and Chevy Trailblazer. Fast forward to today and the three-row SUV is in its prime.
I’ve driven the Pilot, Ford Explorer and Chevy Traverse — all Made in America — in recent months and they are three of the most capable Swiss Army knives in the U.S. market. No longer vanilla family haulers, these three-row limos are stuffed with style, character, power and tech. Crave a luxury SUV? Save $20K and buy one of these chariots instead.
They represent a segment teeming with talent, including the Mazda CX-90, Kia Telluride and Dodge Durango. How do Pilot, Explorer, Traverse stack up?
Looks
Mrs. Payne shies from minivans and rightly so — who would settle for a dorky van when you have these three SUV lookers on the lot?
My chiseled Pilot Black Edition, new for 2025, wore its black-trimmed, Sonic Gray Pearl trim like a tuxedo for the Oscars. Gloss black 20-inch wheels, black rocker panels, black mirror caps, Black Edition badging. Dude, you’re from the same family that birthed the homely Fit?
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The Traverse turns up the heat even further by taking its styling cues from the Silverado truck line. Tough grille, bold stance and a Z71 off-road package that leans into our obsession with America’s natural wonders.
But it’s the Explorer that wins the beauty contest. Draped over a longitudinal-engine, rear-wheel-drive-based platform (the Pilot and Traverse are on front-drive platforms), the athletic-looking Explorer pushes its wheels to the corners like a German SUV. Then it digs into sibling Mustang’s wardrobe with dramatic scalloped flanks. Add the ST-Line’s blacked-out wardrobe and it’s no wonder Explorer is at the top of the sales board.
Drivability
All three utes have excellent ergonomics that make them more intuitive to drive than their luxury peers. Control buttons on the steering wheel are raised, so I could easily adjust radio volume and cruise control without taking my eyes off the road. The Chevy is the most ingenious as it adds a set of buttons on the back of the steering wheel so I could adjust volume (right hand) and toggle between radio station favorites (left hand).
The Traverse has also opened space on its console (for phones, storage) by moving the shifter to the steering column. This is no clunky ol’ column stalk, but a compact electronic shifter shared with the Blazer EV. That said, the Honda’s console-mounted, compact “trigger shifter” is the most intuitive of the three since it offers buttons for DRIVE, REVERSE, NEUTRAL. Place your fingers in the “trigger” slots and you can easily find your way through a tight parking lot. The Ford’s rotary shifter may be compact, but it’s also the busiest, given that you have to rotate it all-way-‘round the horn to get from PARK to DRIVE and back again.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Pilot extends its excellent ergonomics to lots of storage cubbies (prized by families carrying electronics, candy bars, pacifiers, etc.) and the segment’s easiest third-row access seat solution.
No one will buy a midsize ute for fun through the twisties, but Traverse shows off GM’s top-drawer chassis and engine development. The three-row ute is not only the tightest of the three, but its crisp chassis and stonkin’ 328-horsepower turbo-4 will give you added confidence on two-lane roads. Explorer also sports an impressive, throaty turbo-4, meaning that the Honda — despite possessing the only throaty V-6 of the group — is the least powerful at 285 horsepower.
Technology
This is where the game has really changed in three-row family land.
Traverse and Explorer sport first-class digital displays and tech goo-gaws. Both systems are run by Google Built-In — essentially the same operating system that powers Android phones — so that the big dash-mounted displays bear familiar, phone-like icons.
Honda is moving to Google Built-in as well, but for now, Pilot’s graphics appear a generation behind even as they are easy to negotiate. Speaking of easy, Explorer oddly does not offer a head-up display like Pilot and Traverse — a driver-friendly feature that is indispensable once you’ve experienced it.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Where Explorer and Traverse really stretch their legs over the Honda, however, is with semi-autonomous driving systems. Chevy’s Super Cruise and Ford’s Blue Cruise are state-of-the-art systems that compete with luxury chariot-makers Tesla and Mercedes. Not only will these systems wow your kids, but they make long-distance road trips easier — not just reducing fatigue but also freeing your hands to, say, eat a Quarter Pounder.
Ford practically gives Blue Cruise away, but Chevy’s $3,250 system is the segment leader. The Traverse system is the most consistent on highways, and will even work on some two-lane roads.
Conclusion
Our terrific trio of SUVs are not only packed with tech — wireless smartphone apps, blind spot-assist, adaptive cruise control, backup assist — but it all comes standard. Add attractive trims and extras like panoramic roofs, and these utes can be had for just over $50K.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
My pick is the Chevy Multiverse — er, Traverse — by a nose, given its attention to detail. Deservingly, it received The Detroit News 2024 Vehicle of the Year award.
That attention to detail is also important given that new tech has eroded reliability in vehicles for the first time in JD Power’s 40-year history of polling consumers. Chevy excels in JD Power’s ratings with an 83 score over three years of ownership, outpacing Pilot’s 71 and Explorer’s 60.
Because when you plan a road trip to Beaver, Pennsylvania, the last place you want your SUV is in the shop.
Next week: 2026 Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid
2025 Chevrolet Traverse
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- and all-wheel-drive, six- or seven-passenger SUV
Powerplant: 2.5-liter turbocharged, inline-4 cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Price: $42,195 base, including $1,495 destination fee ($56,100 RS as tested)
Power: 328 horsepower, 326 pound-feet torque
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.3 seconds (Car and Driver); towing capacity: 5,000 pounds
Weight: 4,793 pounds (AWD Traverse as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. 19 city/24 highway/21 combined (AWD Traverse as tested)
Report card
Highs: Handsome styling; Super Cruise
Lows: Coarse four-banger engine sound
Overall: 4 stars
2025 Ford Explorer
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear- and all-wheel-drive, six- or seven-passenger SUV
Price: $41,745 base, including $1,595 destination fee ($50,865 ST Line as tested)
Powerplant: 2.3-liter, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 300 horsepower, 310 pound-feet torque (turbo-4)
Performance: 0-60 mph, NA; towing capacity: 5,000 pounds
Weight: 4,565 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. 20 city/27 highway/23 combined (turbo-4 AWD)
Report card
Highs: High-tech interior; Blue Cruise
Lows: Clunky rotary shifter
Overall: 4 stars
2025 Honda Pilot
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- and all-wheel-drive seven-to-eight-passenger SUV
Price: $41,695, including $1,495 destination fee ($57,055 Black Edition as tested)
Powerplant: 3.5-liter V-6
Power: 285 horsepower, 262 pound-feet torque
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.2 seconds (Car and Driver est.); towing, 5,000 pounds
Weight: 4,660 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. mpg 19 city/27 highway/22 combined (FWD); 19 city/25 highway/21 combined (AWD)
Report card
Highs: Good third-row access, interior ergonomics; throaty V-6
Lows: Screen tech trails rivals; no hands-free driving option
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Dirt in the D: Detroit 4fest off-road-palooza descends on Holly Oaks
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 5, 2025
Detroit transitions from summer to fall dream cruisin’ this weekend. The seasons change, but Motown automobile events continue.
First up, the seventh annual Detroit 4fest at Holly Oaks ORV Park sponsored by Jeep on Friday and Saturday.
If the Dream Cruise celebrates boulevard hot rods then 4fest embraces off-road dirt kickers. Some 1,000 vehicles and 5,000 people will descend on southeast Michigan’s premier off-road vehicle park for two days of driving, food, music and ogling across the property’s 235 acres of hills, dunes, dirt and rock quarries. Highlights include the Notch Challenge, Bilstein’s 850-horsepower Jeep off-roader built by America’s Most Wanted, Off-Road 101 and Chrysler’s Pacifica Grizzly Peak Concept.
Ross Batchelder, Detroit 4fest
“This is year seven for Detroit 4fest at Holly Oaks ORV Park. Can you believe it?” said Detroit-based 4fest President Tom Zielinski, who also runs 4fest events in Texas and West Virginia. “We start Friday afternoon, and then we do something that’s really unique to Detroit 4fest: it’s the only time you can come to Holly Oaks and go off-roading at night. We call it Nightfest, it’s sponsored by TYRI Off-Road Lighting, and it’s amazing to see hundreds of vehicles out there with their super-bright lights on going up and down the hills.”
When the sun rises Saturday, the park — designed by Zielinski’s company, Z-Performance, on the site of an old gravel mine — becomes a giant adult sandbox crawling with four-wheel vehicles of all makes and sizes from Jeep Wranglers and Ford Broncos to side-by-sides and modified dune buggies.
Off-road veterans and rookies alike are welcome.
Detroit 4fest hosts Off-Road 101 all day to teach attendees the fine points of trail driving over Holly’s 40 miles of trails. Participants can also jump into Jeeps for tours with product specialists. And Chaos Motorsports will be at the ready to take attendees on thrill rides in their off-road race vehicles.
Ross Batchelder, Detroit 4fest
“We want to encourage people to go off-roading in their vehicles and to do it in a safe manner,” said Zielinski, a former bike racer who is a fixture in the U.S. off-road community. “Off-roading is different and our Off-Road 101 lead-follows teach the finer points.”
A sprawling 4fest show paddock overlooking the park welcomes attendees. Jeep anchors the outdoor vendor display with four concept vehicles (JT Convoy, JL Blueprint, JL Rewind, JL Bug Out) and six production models, including the Wrangler Rubicon 392, Gladiator Rubicon, Grand Cherokee 4xe, Grand Wagoneer, new 2026 Cherokee Overland and Compass Trailhawk.
The display is an indication of how manufacturers have expanded their interaction with customers beyond traditional auto shows to events such as 4fest, where participants can take the vehicle for guided tours while interacting with Jeep trivia, play a Duck Tank game, Gladiator “Guess How Many Ducks,” and enter a $100,000 vehicle sweepstakes.
4Fest Events, Detroit 4fest
English off-road automaker Ineos will have a display showcasing its rugged Grenadier SUV and Quartermaster pickup. The luxury automaker has taken aim at Land Rover in the U.S. market with its ladder-frame-based dirt-kickers.
“Our vendor count grew by over 25% this year,” said Zielinski. “It’s really a testament to how people feel about the event, and frankly, how much fun it is.”
Other vendor displays include Dana, Easton, TYRI Off-Road Lights, Magna, LaFontaine Automotive Group, Tread Lightly, Bilstein and America’s Most Wanted.
The latter pair have collaborated on an 850-horsepower, off-road Jeep monster with 43-inch all-terrain tires.
Speaking of new vehicles, expect Chrysler to be part of the mix with the new off-road-focused Pacifica Grizzly Peak minivan concept. The Grizzly features a Rhino-Rack roof rack with auxiliary lights, roll-out awning, 3-inch suspension lift and 31-inch all-terrain tires so it can take on Holly’s trails.
Thomas Patterson, Detroit 4fest
When not ogling the latest hardware, participants are welcome to cruise the park’s multiple obstacles in their own vehicles, from Darlene‘s Ridge to Mount Magna.
For serious off-roaders, 4fest hosts the Notch Challenge through a Holly Oaks rock valley.
“It is arguably the hardest rock climb the side of the Mississippi,” smiled Zielinski.” We do a time trial competition up the Notch. There are 1,000 people lining the sides of the Notch while these guys try to navigate it. Not just navigate it, but navigate it for time.”
Detroit 4fest, Detroit 4fest
Modeled on the famed “Back Door” rock crawl at the King of the Hammers off-road-palooza in Johnson Valley, California, the Notch Challenge will feature three classes: 1) Rock Crawler, 2) Street and 3) Side-by-Side.
“We’ll have some pretty wild-looking vehicles going up in the Notch in the Rock Crawler bouncer buggy vehicles with unlimited horsepower,” said Zielinski. “Then if your vehicle has a license plate and it’s currently registered, it qualifies for the Street class. And there’ll be some folks in side-by-sides that just have to have a go at it. I don’t know if any of them can actually do it, though.”d
The off-roading ends at 5 p.m. Saturday, but that doesn’t mean the end of 4fest. Fenton-based band Itchycoo Park will headline an evening of music, food and fun at the Mount Holly ski park next door.
“We’ll have food and festivities and bands and all kinds of amazing things,” said Zielinski. “And we’ll go until, well, until everybody’s too tired and they have to go home.”
After which there are more auto events on the horizon, including Cars at the Station in Detroit Sept. 19-20 and the American Speed Festival at M1 Concourse in Pontiac Oct. 3-5.
Detroit 4fest
Website: https://4festevents.com/detroit-4fest-detroit-mi-off-roading-event/WHEN: 3-8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 59 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6
WHERE: Holly Oaks ORV Park, 14551 Shields Road, Holly, MI 48442
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
New Ford Racing division establishes motorsports as key brand pillar
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 5, 2025
Since its inception, Ford Motor Co. has been fueled by racing. Henry Ford won the 1901 Sweepstakes race to secure investors for his fledgling company. Ford v Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans became movie legend. And Mustang is one of the most recognized GT racers in the world.
So it’s only fitting that, on the 125th anniversary of Henry’s Sweepstakes feat, the company is reorganizing its Ford Performance operation as Ford Racing.
At a time when the Ford brand has organized the company around what it calls its icons — Bronco, Mustang, F-150 pickup — the new department is recognition that racing has made Ford an icon. Ford Racing will oversee the Dearborn automaker’s portfolio of race cars across 22 motorsports series that Ford competes in, including Formula One, NASCAR, IMSA Weathertech, GT3 racing, Mustang Challenge. While integrating learnings from these race cars into its production vehicles, attracting top-shelf engineers, and winning races, Ford Racing also intends to be a moneymaker for the Blue Oval.
Ford Racing logo. Ford, Ford
“It’s a unique moment for racing,” said Ford Racing General Manager Will Ford who, along with Global Director Mark Rushbrook, will run the new division. “We’re racing in more places than ever before, across every terrain imaginable, and maintaining an incredible lineup of performance products.”
In January, the new entity — a division under the Ford Blue internal combustion-engine unit — will kick off the 2026 racing season with logos and naming convention to signal a profit-driving enterprise enveloping racing programs, performance cars, customer experiences and merchandise. Will Ford likened the Blue Oval’s racing identity to Porsche, another brand whose track success has helped elevate its product offerings.
“Motorsport is really infused into everything (Porsche does) and everything they stand for as a brand. There are certainly other examples of great performance brands across our industry (like) Mercedes-AMG and what BMW has built,” said Ford, the great-great grandson of Henry Ford and who has been an architect of the new division since joining Ford Performance two years ago. “But we have a really unique message: our breadth of where we race and the products that those racing efforts influence our customers to buy. There’s no one else doing it across sports cars, pickup trucks and SUVs at such a global scale.”
Ford’s partnership with Red Bull Racing in F1 and NASCAR teams like Team Penske and RFK Racing are the headliners of Ford motorsport, but the brand’s off-road models have become a growing part of the mix in recent years.
At the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, CEO Jim Farley highlighted Ford’s off-road potential even as he announced Ford’s entry into Le Mans’ top prototype class for the first time since 1969.
At the 2025 Ford Performance Season Launch in Charlotte, N.C., Executive Chair Bill Ford (left) and Will Ford, general manager of Ford Performance (now Ford Racing), talk about the automaker’s racing plans. Behind them is the Ford Raptor T1+ Dakar Rally race car. Ford
“We want to sell Raptors and Broncos and then race the King of the Hammers,” said Farley referring to Ford’s truck/SUV lineup and the epic, off-road California event Ford has dominated. The Ford CEO said the goal is to “have people exited about the technology of their off-road vehicles — the same vehicles that we race at Baja and at Dakar (Saudi off-road race).”
Will Ford underlined the company’s commitment to off-road motorsports — competition that has grown in visibility as the buying public has increasingly turned to rugged, four-wheel-drive SUVs and pickups as daily drivers.
“Owning off-road is our mission,” he said. “That’s not to say we’re going to take our foot off the gas on Mustang and on-track performance, but we’ve developed something really special with Raptor. You can’t extract Baja from Raptor’s DNA. It’s perhaps the truest example of race to road.”
Ford Raptor T1 at Dakar Rally, Saudi Arabia. “Owning off-road is our mission,” Ford Racing General Manager Will Ford says. Robert Gray, Ford
Ford’s Raptor off-road badge now appears on everything from F-150s in the Baja 1000 in Mexico to the Bronco in Hammers all the way to the T1 prototype in the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
The new division’s unveiling is intentionally timed with the 125th anniversary of Henry’s Sweepstakes victory as Ford embarks on a new century of motorsports. “This was the moment . . . (to create) an extension brand with a straightforward and visceral name to go along with it as we enter into this new phase,” Will Ford said.
Key to that new phase is profitability.
The Mustang Challenge is another prominent racing vehicle for Ford. Wes Duenkel, Ford
Where past Ford racing efforts have been aimed at specific achievements (winning Le Mans from 1966-1969 or in building bullet-fast electric EV Demonstrator rockets like the SuperTruck that has set Pikes Peak and Bathurst records), Ford Racing aims to build sustainable progress across race series.
“We’ve done a lot of lean-in — and lean-out — as a company. This is a full lean-in,” said Will Ford. “We’re committed to these series. This new organization that we formed underneath the Ford Racing banner is going to make sure that all that racing we’re committed to is continually utilized to make our production vehicles better.”
The company sees consistent success in motorsport aiding the deployment of productions models.
At the 2025 Ford Performance Season Launch in Charlotte, Red Bull Formula One boss Christian Horner (middle) talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley. Red Bull and Ford are teaming on the F1 drivetrain for the 2026 season. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“Race-to-road and road-to-race is our primary mission,” he said. “The name change is not the primary story here. It’s a reflection of the future that we’re headed down in the motorsport and performance world.”
Key to that business model is the Mustang sportscar, which fronts race series from NASCAR to international GT3 racing to the Mustang Challenge. The series offer solid revenue as Ford provides cars and engineering support to customer teams globally.
Ford Racing General Manager Will Ford: “Passion needs to be infused into every product that we put on the road” Bob Chapman, Ford
As with Mustang, Bronco, and F-150 icons, Ford Racing aims to elevate the Blue Oval to more than a household appliance-maker.
“Passion needs to be infused into every product that we put on the road, and passion doesn’t doesn’t come to life any more strongly than here in Ford Racing,” said Will Ford. “The thrill is a huge part of our brand DNA. With this rebrand, Ford Racing plays a more prominent role in the master brand, more than any variation of our name has in the past.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: With a rebel’s yell, the Ram V-8 is back
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 5, 2025
Chelsea — Corporate branding fails are legend. Coca Cola’s New Coke debacle. Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney detour. Cracker Barrel’s generic logo remake.
Ram and Dodge ditching V-8s.
The Stellantis brands’ epic, head-scratching decision has been the poster child of a bizarre few years in which automakers, reeling from billions in Nanny State fines, scrambled product offerings regardless of customer taste. After the implosion of their V8-focused muscle brands, Stellantis is working to right the ship.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Just as Cracker Barrel restored its traditional logo, Ram has stamped every V-8 model’s fender with the “Symbol of Protest” badge featuring a ram’s head on an aggressive V-8 Hemi engine. If the six-cylinder lineup felt like surrender to The Man, the protest symbol is a rebel’s yell against the Establishment. Take that, nannies!
RAWWWWR! I buried the throttle of the 2026 Ram 1500 V-8 out of Stellantis’s Chelsea Proving Grounds on to Chelsea-Manchester Road, the rear tires squealing with delight as I sailed through the pickup’s natural habitat: farms, small businesses, rural homes.
The majority of Ram 1500 truck sales are V8-powered, and, according to Sales Chief Brant Coombs, 40% of those buyers won’t consider anything else. Detroit automakers have been under assault from their own government for making the engines Americans love, with Stellantis alone suffering $773 million in fines since 2016. Ram had been on a roll until those fines hit, surpassing Chevrolet as the #2 best-selling truckmaker in early 2019.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Battered from federal haymakers, Ram’s new European owners deep-sixed the eight for the ‘25 model year, and sales sunk as buyers delayed new purchases of the brand’s six-cylinder-only lineup. You could’ve seen it coming a mile away.
Heads rolled at Stellantis, and, when the smoke cleared, company legend Tim Kuniskis — mastermind of Dodge-Ram’s strategy a decade ago — had been installed as chief of North American product. That dovetailed with new management in Washington, D.C. that was favorable to consumer choice. In December 2024 — note the post-election timing — Kuniskis & Co. convened a corporate pep rally to bring back the V-8.
“We heard loud and clear from consumers: there is no replacement for the iconic Hemi V-8. At the end of each month, we count sales to customers, not to statisticians or ideologues,” roared Kuniskis. “We raise our flag and let the Hemi ring free again!”
To paraphrase John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd, the Bruise Brothers are getting the band back together.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“It was reminiscent of a few years ago when we were kicking butts and naming names,” smiled engineer Marty Jagoda, vice president of special projects. “We put together F-15, a top secret team to get the people and the parts to bring the Hemi back. Hemi is not just an engine, it is the engine.”
The first reunion concert was Aug. 26 at Chelsea as Ram invited auto media to hear — and test — the resuscitated 5.7-liter hemi V-8. Like a Heavy Metal ‘lectric guitar, the V-8 was everywhere on the Chelsea stage.
RAWWWWR! went a Ram V-8 down a Chelsea straightaway.
RAWWWWR! Went V-8s off-road.
RAWWWWR! Went V-8s around an autocross course. Yes, an autocross course — so eager was the Ram team to show off its signature sound. For this racer, few things are more fun than auto-crossing a pickup.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
But the real test was on-road, and the eight felt right at home inside one of the market’s most refined trucks. Stellantis is rightly proud of its twin-turbo, inline six-cylinder Hurricane engine that sits under the domed hood of the rampaging RHO (pronounced Rhino) performance truck that I destroyed Holly Oaks with last year. Can the return of the V8-powered TRX (pronounced T-Rex) be far behind?
With model names like Warlock, Rebel, Lone Star and Big Horn, the raucous V-8 is signature Ram. Assured that the federal government won’t bury Stellantis in fines for making eight-holers, Ram has dialed up the assembly line to offer the Hemi in most trims.
Nanny shaming makes everyone glum, and the Ram’s team energy at Chelsea was palpable now that they no longer have a finger wagging in their face.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“We brought back this engine because our customers demanded it,” said Ram 1500 Product Chief Amy Augustine. “They were asking: Where is the V-8? After taking it out of the lineup we could really feel the customers getting upset and not understanding why we took it out.”
To make sure everyone hears it, the loud performance exhaust comes standard when you order the V-8 along with a massive 33-gallon fuel tank and best-in-the-industry 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. If your toffee-nosed neighbors sniff, tell ‘em about eTorque, the 48-volt, belt-drive generator that replaces the alternator for smoother, fuel-efficient startups and an increase of 130 pound-feet of torque to help tow up to 11,320 pounds.
The V-8 package is a $2,895 addition over the standard V-6 eTorque on Tradesman, Express, Warlock and Big Horn/Lone Star trims ($1,200 over the inline six-cylinder on Laramie and Rebel models).
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
RAWWWWR! My $63,380 Big Horn tester is in the sweet spot of the Ram lineup. It’s easy on the eyes, and easy on the behind as well with its coil-spring rear suspension. Bed flutter that you get with most leaf-spring pickups? Not that I noticed.
With tall-sidewall rubber mounted on 20-inch wheels, I rode Big Horn as comfortably on dirt trails as on blacktop.
The interior is as classy as it is massive. Leather steering wheel, eight-way power seats, superb steering wheel ergonomics with everything at your fingertips: cruise control, drive modes, volume/station control. A 12-inch infotainment screen anchors the console run by the award-winning Uconnect 5 software. No wonder trucks have replaced large sedans as the new luxury vehicles.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The rear seats of the Ram have more space than many living rooms, and the 5’7” bed options a must-have tonneau cover so you can throw cargo back there without fear of it getting soggy in a summer thunderstorm.
For $1,000, my tester gained bed utility goodies like a box light, tie-downs, sprayed bedliner and deployable bed step. I don’t know why every truck maker doesn’t adopt GM’s solution of corner bumper steps, but, in the fight-to-the-death Detroit Three truck grudge match, every brand has signature features.
For Ram, that includes Hemi. The band is back together. You’ll know it by the Symbol of Protest. Long live the V-8.
Next week: Chevy Traverse vs. Ford Explorer vs. Honda Pilot
2026 Ram 1500 V-8
Vehicle type: Rear- and four-wheel drive, four-door, five-passenger pickup
Price: $46,115, including $2,095 destination charge (est. $63,380 Big Horn Crew Cab as tested)
Powerplant: 5.7-liter Hemi V-8
Power: 395 horsepower, 410 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph (NA); maximum towing, 11,320 pounds; payload, 1,650 pounds
Weight: 5,712 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. 17 mpg city/23 mpg highway/19 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: V-8 soundtrack is back; premium ride
Lows: Nightmare to park in an urban garage; no TRX yet
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SuperTruck: Ford F-150 EV track monster rips Nürburgring
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 29, 2025
Give this pickup a cape.
Ford Performance took its electric Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck EV Demonstrator to the Nürburgring, the world’s most daunting race track, and set the fifth-fastest time ever recorded. Based on a similar platform to Ford’s Transit SuperVan 4.2 that recently set the seventh-fastest time, SuperTruck is nearly 10 seconds faster than Ford’s fastest production car, the Mustang GTD.
The 6:43.5-minute lap around the so-called Green Hell’s 12.9-mile circuit was nearly on par with the Porsche GT2 RS (6.43.3 minutes), the second-fastest production car to circle the track behind the Mercedes-AMG One at 6:29.1 minutes. The SuperTruck is one of three cyborgs, including the SuperVan and Super Mustang Mach-E, developed in Ford’s EV Demonsrator program to push the limits of electrification.
Driver Romain Dumas with the Ford SuperVan 4.2 (left) and the F-150 Lightning SuperVan EV demonstrators at the Nürburgring. Ford
“That time represents something bigger than speed. It’s proof that when we go electric, we’re bringing everything Ford stands for with us,” said Ford Performance Global Director Mark Rushbrook. “We build the future by testing it at the limit. It’s called the ‘Green Hell’ for a reason. When our systems survive this punishment, they’re ready for whatever you throw at them.”
Like SuperVan, SuperTruck was piloted by Romain Dumas, a two-time Le Mans 24-Hour winner. Dumas had already won the 2024 Pikes Peak Hillclimb in Colorado and the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb in the bespoke, track-focused truck. It has also set the Car and Diver Lightning Lap record at Virginia International Raceway.
Despite weighting a hefty 4,000 pounds (estimated) and pushing a lot of air with its boxy truck proportions, SuperTruck achieved these feats with a staggering 2,200 horsepower, instant torque off corners, and 6,000 pounds of downforce — more than an IndyCar — at 150 mph from its giant rear wing and front splitter.
SuperTruck also demonstrates the limitations of electric technology (in addition to its hefty curb weight, courtesy of a large battery). In its Lightning Lap VIR configuration, for example, the SuperTruck sucked down 60% of a charge in one 4.2-mile lap and required a stream of dry-ice-cooled air to quickly chill its heat exchangers between runs. Though Ford didn’t provide details, even more robust measures would have been needed for the over three-times-longer Nürburgring lap.
The Ford F-150 Lightning SuperVan EV demonstrator set a record up Pikes Peak in 2024. Ford
Competitions like the 24 Hours of Nürburgring are a long way off. But Rushbrook said SuperTruck is focused on engineering learnings.
The production Ford F-150 Lightning, which shares little with the carbon-fiber-body, tube-frame, winged Lightning SuperTruck, is the first electric version of Ford’s best-selling pickup. Ford said racing SuperTruck helps accelerate aerodynamic and battery learnings crucial to the Lightning’s development.
“These crazy fast laps teach us things you can’t learn anywhere else. Our engineers get to work with real data from real extremes,” he said. “We’ve been doing this forever — Daytona, Le Mans, now the ‘Ring. The track teaches you things a conference room never could. Every breakthrough we’ve made, from the flathead V-8 to EcoBoost to these electric beasts, started with someone saying, ‘Let’s see what this thing can really do.'”
The Ford SuperVan puts down 2,950 pound-feet of torque through all-wheel-drive (Picture from SuperVan’s record closed-wheel car lap at Bathurst track at New South Wales, Australia, 2024). EDGE Photographics/Mark Horsburgh
Nürburgring is the benchmark for single-lap speed and has been the focus of Ford and Chevrolet this year for their latest performance programs. The 1,250-horse Corvette ZR1X hypercar set the fastest American production car record around the ‘Ring this summer at 6:49.3 minutes — nipping the Mustang GTD’s 6:52.1.
The fastest electric prototype lap around the Nürburgring was set by the Volkswagen ID.R at 6:05.3 minutes. The absolute record is held by the hybrid Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo race car at 5:19.5 minutes.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.