Best Shots: February 2021

Friday, February 26, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for February 26, 2021

Feb 26, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

'Black box' in Tiger Woods' SUV could yield clues about cause of wreck

DETROIT — Investigators who are looking into the rollover crash that injured golf legend Tiger Woods will rely heavily on data stored in the Genesis SUV he was driving to figure out what happened. The 2021 Genesis GV80 , made by the Hyundai luxury br…

2021 Lexus ES 250 AWD First Drive | Pick your first-world problem

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Looking at the 2021 Lexus ES sedan, one couldn't be faulted for thinking it unchanged from the previous model year. There is a significant new element, however, with Lexus offering an all-wheel-drive ES for the first time. The ES 2…

Chevrolet may ditch the C8 Corvette's quirky center console

Almost everything about the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette is positively sublime, but one of its more polarizing features is a high, cockpit-style center console that splits the cabin. It's a distinctive element , and not everybody loves it, but if tha…

2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S Coupe Road Test | Beyond the fashion statement

I will forever remember the day when the 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S Coupe told me it didn't have a heated steering wheel. It was Jan. 30, 2021. A Saturday. Modern cars are impressive things; modern luxury cars, even more so. A few weeks back, I was …

2022 Land Rover Defender V8 to start at $98,550

Land Rover has announced U.S. pricing for its 2022 Defender lineup, including the brand-new V8 model. The short-wheelbase Defender 90 V8 will start at $98,550 (including $1,350 for destination); the long-wheelbase 110 V8 will start at $101,750. The…

Chevy Silverado ZR2 looking bigger, more capable than Trail Boss in spy photos

Since 2019 , there have been reports that Chevrolet has been working on a full-size answer to the Ford Raptor and Ram TRX , which were further stoked by a factory-modifed race truck . Now we have spy photos of what seems to be a serious Chevy Silverado …

Ringbrothers shows off Coyote-powered 1968 Mercury Cougar

We'll openly admit that not every SEMA build is our cup of tea. But this? A tastefully resto-modded 1968 Mercury Cougar with a 460-horsepower Ford Mustang V8? Yeah, this is right in our wheelhouse. Sadly, there was no in-pwerson SEMA show in 2020, so…

Ferrari 250 GTO-inspired GTO Engineering Moderna headed to production

England-based GTO Engineering announced it will build the Ferrari 250 GTO-inspired Moderna it released sketches of in 2020. While the Prancing Horse would undoubtedly prefer to keep the design in the history book, a European court opened the door to …

Here's the Lordstown Motors Endurance race truck

Lordstown Motors has revealed a rendering of the race truck they plan to enter in the San Felipe 250 off-road race in April. We've seen them testing the skateboard that underpins the pickup, but this is the first glimpse at what the finished race tru…

Next-gen Mercedes-AMG C63 reportedly getting 550-hp turbo-electric drivetrain

Mercedes-Benz introduced the fifth-generation C-Class in February 2021, and it confirmed the range-topping AMG-tuned C63 will return with a seriously downsized powertrain. While official technical details remain closely guarded, an unverified report …

Thursday, February 25, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for February 25, 2021

Feb 25, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Tiger Woods crashed a Genesis GV80. What exactly is that? We explain

The SUV Tiger Woods was driving when he crashed was a Genesis GV80 loaned to him by Genesis USA as part of its sponsorship of the golf tournament Woods was involved with, but not participating in. It is apparently common for Woods to drive himself in…

2021 Nissan Maxima 40th Anniversary Edition Road Test | The 4DSC hits 40

Nissan created a schtick that stuck to the Maxima back in 1989. The car was marketed and sold in North America as the 4DSC, which is an abbreviation for "four-door sports car." There was a 4DSC sticker on the window and everything. Whether it lived u…

The 1988-1994 Nissan Maximas had a shockingly ahead-of-its time adaptive suspension

We just drove the 2021 Nissan Maxima 40th Anniversary Edition car that celebrates 40 years of Maxima for Nissan (and technically Datsun). That put us in the mood for some history, and ultimately led to stumbling upon a seriously whiz-bang piece of ah…

2022 Land Rover Defender bulks up with a 518-hp V8

The 2022 Land Rover Defender has arrived* with an updated suite of powertrains (including a 518-horsepower, supercharged V8) and new equipment offerings, including an upgraded (and improved, Land Rover says) infotainment system. Let's start with th…

Land Rover Defender V8 vs. Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 | V8 4x4s square off on paper

Land Rover pulled the sheet off its 2022 Defender on Wednesday, introducing another high-performance V8 to the off-road segment. This time, it's a 5.0-liter, supercharged V8 boasting 518 horsepower. It will be available in both the Defender 90 and 11…

Peugeot reveals new logo, its first big change under Stellantis

Now that Peugeot is part of the newly-formed Stellantis , it's getting a brand makeover. The start of this reinvention is the introduction of a new logo, the first new Peugeot logo since 2010. It's one of the bigger logo changes that Peugeot has gone…

2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 priced at nearly $75,000

Official pricing for the 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 is out, and, unsurprisingly, the most powerful production Wrangler is also the most expensive. It appears to only be offered in one variant for now, the Rubicon 392 launch edition, and the price…

Jeep resumes Bruce Springsteen ad after DUI charges dropped

The federal government on Wednesday dropped drunken driving and reckless driving charges against Bruce Springsteen , admitting that his blood-alcohol level was so low that it didn't warrant the charges. The incident happened three months ago at the G…

Aston Martin Valhalla project rebooted with Mercedes-Benz technology

Aston Martin will leverage its access to the Mercedes-Benz parts shelf to revise the Valhalla it plans to release in the coming years. Specifications haven't been finalized yet, but the supercar will most likely arrive with a German heart. Announced…

Ferrari returning to Le Mans top flight with hypercar in 2023

Ferrari 488 GTEs from the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Ferrari will return to the top flight of endurance racing with a hypercar entry in 2023, competing for outright Le Mans 24 Hours victory for the first time in 50 years, the Itali…

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for February 24, 2021

Feb 24, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

IIHS gives 90 models its Top Safety Pick award in one fell swoop

Although the Audi A7 and the Toyota Sienna are positioned on completely different ends of the automotive spectrum, they overlap in one important area: both earned a Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). They'r…

Hyundai to replace battery packs in all Kona EVs in $900 million recall

SEOUL — Hyundai Motor Co will replace battery systems in some 82,000 electric vehicles globally due to fire risks — a costly $900 million recall that lays bare the thorny issue of how car and battery makers split the bill when problems arise. The re…

2021 Chevy Corvette Interior Driveway Test | Selling the supercar feel

The Chevy Corvette C8 is just an awesome machine. It's a rocket with its rippling, nearly 500-horsepower V8. The chassis is beautifully balanced and communicative. Its mid-engine wouldn't look out of place next to a Ferrari or Lamborghini. And of cou…

2022 Kia Carnival makes American debut with VIP seating, loads of tech

There aren't many secrets left to be told about the 2022 Kia Carnival. It debuted for the South Korean market in August last year , and additional details have continued to trickle out since then . Nevertheless, Kia is giving the minivan its American d…

2022 Kia Carnival vs the other minivans | How they compare on paper

The 2022 Kia Carnival has finally made its American debut , officially displacing the Sedona. Even though Kia won't call it a minivan (you won't find a single reference to it being a "van" or "minivan" in the press release) the Carnival is totally and…

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 spied in classy black paint

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric hatchback was only just unveiled last night , and already Hyundai is driving around test cars completely undisguised. And while our spy photographer's shots don't reveal any special details, they do give us a look at the c…

How the Ioniq 5 compares to the Mustang Mach-E, Nissan Ariya and VW ID.4

There has been a gigantic gap , in both size and price, between electric cars in this country. Choices like the Chevy Bolt EV and Hyundai Kona Electric are reasonably affordable, but they're small and their interior sparse for the money. Above them — …

2021 Buick Envision First Drive | A successful sequel

The 2021 Buick Envision inaugurates the second generation of what GM's premium division hopes will become the staple of its all-crossover lineup. The original Envision, while reasonably competent, suffered from ungainly styling and struggled to separ…

2021 Ford Explorer gets the upscale King Ranch treatment

Ford is bringing the Western-themed King Ranch treatment to the hot-selling Explorer for the first time. Created by popular demand, the Explorer King Ranch gains numerous trim-specific upscale accents inside and out. As has typically been the case, …

Minnesota nICE meets Lord Coldemort in epic battle of snowplow names

You surely haven't been enjoying this winter's weather, but a lot of you liked our feature awhile back about Scotland's delightful tradition of letting schoolchildren name its snowplows and "gritters" (sanding trucks). State officials in Minnesota mu…

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for February 23, 2021

Feb 23, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class revealed with four-cylinder power and S-Class-inspired interior

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class is here, and it certainly shouldn't surprise anyone on the outside with looks closely based on its bigger siblings. But the familiar body hides a bigger car with a new four-cylinder-only engine range and S-Class inspire…

Hyundai Ioniq 5 revealed with long range, strong performance, concept car looks

When the Hyundai 45 concept car was revealed two years ago, we were impressed by the sleek, creased sheetmetal and airy interior. But we figured that whatever production car came of the design would receive major styling changes to make it work. We w…

Rolls-Royce Phantom Tempus Collection is inspired by the infinite universe

Rolls-Royce, like NASA , is exploring what's far beyond the stratosphere. It introduced a limited-edition version of the Phantom , its flagship, called the Tempus Collection and inspired by time, astronomical phenomena, and the infinite reaches of the …

Cherokee Nation calls on Jeep to stop using its name

In a written statement responding to an inquiry by Car and Driver , the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation is calling on Jeep to stop using the name Cherokee on vehicles. "I'm sure this comes from a place that is well-intended, but it does not h…

Forbidden fruit: Cupra Formentor VZ5 borrows Audi's turbo 5-cylinder engine

The standard forbidden fruit-style post you'll see here is typically about some gorgeous wagon or sports car that's limited to European consumption only. It's the rare day that a crossover or SUV makes the cut as being interesting enough to want it i…

2021 Polestar 2 Luggage Test | Bringing the notchback back

The Polestar 2 has an unusual body style: a notchback sedan that's been slightly lifted. Someone probably calls it a crossover because marketing, but whatever the body style in total is, Polestar Part Deux has a trunk covered by a liftback that encom…

Nissan Patrol Nismo spotted during commercial filming

A Nismo edition of the Nissan Patrol, what we in the U.S. know as the Armada, has been spotted. The SUV was captured without any camouflage during what looked to be an official commercial shoot in the Middle East, just as the production was wrapping …

Ford previews the next addition to its Western-themed King Ranch lineup

Ford buyers will soon have another Western-themed King Ranch-branded model to choose from. The company released a short preview video to announce the next addition to the range will make its debut on February 24. Posted on Twitter, the six-second te…

Gordon Murray unveils the 725-horsepower track-built T.50s Niki Lauda

Formula One legend Niki Lauda would have been 72 years old if he were alive today. Though he died in 2019, we think he would have heartily approved of the new Gordon Murray T.50s, which will also be called the Niki Lauda as an homage. That's because…

Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ventures well off the beaten path

Harley-Davidson is known for lots of things — big V-twin engines dripping in chrome, heavyweight touring motorcycles, leather — but they definitely aren't known for diving into completely new market segments. The brand-new Pan America 1250 challenges…