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Friday, December 18, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for December 18, 2020

Dec 18, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Mazda3 Turbo vs. VW GTI | How the hot(ish) hatches compare

For the first time since 2013, Mazda is offering a hopped-up version of its compact hatchback and sedan, the Mazda3. But instead of the rip-snorting "wild child" of yore , this new 2021 Mazda3 Turbo is designed to provide impressive performance while …

Class ring found 50 years ago in a Chevrolet Corvair reunited with its owner

In the late 1960s, the owner of a 1960 Chevrolet Corvair poked around the driver-side footwell to investigate a sticking pedal. Much to his surprise, the issue wasn't due to a linkage-related problem; it was a class ring that a previous owner or a pr…

Toyota boss: Don't ban internal combustion engines

Toyota is on track to introduce an electric prototype powered by state-of-the-art battery technology in 2021, but its chief executive warned that banning the internal combustion engine too quickly is a short-sighted decision. He explained that blanke…

2021 Acura TLX nabs Top Safety Pick+ honor from the IIHS

The Acura TLX is all-new for 2021. It's built on a new architecture that we're told is the brand's most rigid other than the NSX. In our first-drive review , we called it "a true enthusiast's sedan." Now, we know that another benefit of the car's redo…

Bentley starts testing the sold-out, 200-mph Bacalar roadster

Bentley took the limited-edition Bacalar from a sketch to a 200-plus-mph roadster in nine months , a shockingly short amount of time. Its engineers are now putting the first car through its paces at the same break-neck speed. Although the Bacalar is …

2021 Chevrolet Tahoe Luggage Test | Big cargo gains for a big SUV

Prior to the 2015 model year, the Chevrolet Tahoe used to be criticized for its third-row seats, which had to be physically hoisted out of the SUV rather than folding into the floor as those of other SUVs did. Most notably, the Ford Expedition. Now, …

The world's most popular car color is white for the 10th year in a row

It's less of a drum roll and more of a sad trombone. Data for most popular car color in the entire world has been crunched and the winner is, once again, white. Not only that, but it's the 10th consecutive year that white has topped the global list. …

Mazda expands heritage parts program to include the iconic RX-7

Mazda has added two more cars to its heritage parts program. Joining the first-generation MX-5 Miata will be the second- and third-generation Mazda RX-7. It's something fans of Mazda's rotary sports car have demanded for years, and now Mazda is makin…

Tesla shares rise in busy trade ahead of S&P 500 debut

Shares of Tesla gained on Friday in a busy day for the electric car maker's stock ahead of its much-anticipated grand entrance into the benchmark S&P 500 index. Elon Musk's Tesla on Monday will become the most valuable company ever admitted to W…

Next-generation Kia Niro spy photos reveal HabaNiro concept cues

At last year's New York Auto Show, Kia showed us the HabaNiro concept , a meaner, bolder, spicier take on the comparatively mellow Niro hybrid crossover . The company said that it was a hint at things to come, and that seems to be the case based on the…

Thursday, December 17, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for December 17, 2020

Dec 17, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition First Drive | Yellow but definitely not mellow

It seems like only yesterday that the Honda Civic Type R arrived with great fanfare to U.S. shores in 2017. That's probably because we had waited so long – 20 years since the original Civic Type R's introduction in 1997 – for the hi-po Honda to come …

Ho, Ho, Bronco! Santa checks out the Ford Bronco. Again.

More so than just about any other new car this year, the Ford Bronco has captured the public's attention, and that apparently includes the attention of Santa Claus. It seems Saint Nick has a history with Ford's seminal SUV. The black-and-white pic…

2021 Audi Q5 First Drive | Mid-cycle retrofit

Audi's volume seller hasn't been playing with a full deck. You see, the Q5 was redesigned before Audi introduced its latest MIB 3 infotainment system and updated design language that features angrier grilles differentiated by model and accented in ma…

Pagani Huayra Tricolore celebrates Italian Air Force aerobatic team with aeronautic features

The Italian Air Force's aerobatic team, known as the Frecce Tricolori, is celebrating its 60th anniversary next year. To celebrate, Pagani has created the Huayra Tricolore, a very limited-edition variant of the open-top Huayra supercar. Only three wi…

2021 Nissan Armada First Drive | Getting with the times

The 2021 Nissan Armada is the first product in the United States to wear the Nissan brand's new badge . It's a modern and sleek-looking logo, and it's well-suited to the properly sorted and genuinely impressive new vehicles Nissan recently launched. T…

Ram begins building 2021 1500 TRX, saves the first truck for charity auction

Ram has launched series production of the 1500 TRX in its Sterling Heights, Michigan, factory. The first 702 trucks off the line will be Launch Edition models, and they're all spoken for, but VIN #001 is headed for auction. Introduced earlier in 202…

Mercedes-Benz prices new 2021 S-Class, splits range into three lines

Mercedes-Benz released pricing details for the new 2021 S-Class unveiled earlier in 2020 . It's jam-packed with comfort and luxury features, which partially explains why it's comfortably more expensive than its predecessor. For the first time, buyers…

2021 Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia get revamped trims and pricing

After a major interior and infotainment update last year, the 2021 Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia get a more mild update consisting of a smaller trim lineup and a couple of extra features for some trims. The update also includes small price increases …

Chevy adds Equinox RS trim and a pair of Traverse special editions to lineup

Chevrolet is continuing its dive into special edition appearance packages with some new offerings for the 2022 Chevy Equinox and 2021 Chevy Traverse. The motivation? Sales. Customers are buying the trims that look sportier, even if they aren't any sp…

Jennifer Granholm, Biden's expected Energy Department pick, could lead charge on electric cars

WASHINGTON/DETROIT — When Jennifer Granholm was governor of auto-manufacturing Michigan, she led a charge that secured a whopping $1.35 billion in federal funding for companies to make electric cars and batteries in her state. As President-elect Joe…

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for December 16, 2020

Dec 16, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Lexus LS 500 F Sport First Drive | The Midas Touch

There was one glaring problem with the Lexus LS 500 prior to this year's refresh: the Remote Touch infotainment system. To put it simply, it was a nightmare to use and a potential deal breaker. As it does in other Lexus products, Remote Touch feature…

2022 Subaru Forester spied getting ready for a rugged facelift

The Subaru Forester is headed for the first facelift of its latest generation. New spy photos of a lightly camouflaged Forester tell us that we should expect some light updates for Subaru's hot-selling crossover. One item not totally covered in thes…

2021 Ford Mustang Review | This pony's still gold

The Ford Mustang started life as a simple, somewhat sporty 2+2 back when such things were still novel. For 2021, Ford's segment-defining pony car offers rear-wheel-drive performance (and drop-top options) for just about any taste and budget, from the…

Hennessey Venom F5 finally revealed in production guise

Just over six years since the project was announced and a rendering released , Hennessey Performance has finally shown the running, production version of its new supercar, the Hennessey Venom F5. It still looks similar to the original rendering and co…

Chevrolet previews the 2022 Bolt EUV's front end

Chevrolet is preparing to introduce a bigger alternative to the electric Bolt EV named Bolt EUV. It's not ready to unveil the model yet, but it published a photo that shows part of its front fascia for the first time. What's interesting is that the …

2021 Toyota Mirai pricing and official range announced

The totally new 2021 Toyota Mirai fuel-cell vehicle is over $9,000 cheaper than the old Mirai. The Mirai XLE (base model) will start at $50,455, including the $955 destination charge. If you want the Limited with every option in the book, that'll co…

Lamborghini unveils customer-commissioned one-off SC20 barchetta

Lamborghini unveiled the mysterious roof-less supercar it has been testing on and off the track for the past few months. Called SC20, it's a one-of-a-kind model positioned at the intersection of road cars and track cars. Developed by Squadra Corse, …

Lordstown Motors is developing an electric RV with Camping World

Businesses who add an electric Lordstown Endurance pickup to their fleet will be able to count on Camping World's network of retailers for service, the two companies announced. Camping World locations across the nation will be expanded to maintain an…

Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo SV ups the performance of the virtual sports car

Last year, Jaguar created its very first concept car made specifically for the Gran Turismo video game series , and this year it's following it up with an even faster racing variant. It's called the Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo SV, and it has some prett…

Porsche confirms it's returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a brief hiatus

Porsche, the most successful company in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will reboot its endurance racing program in 2023 by entering the FIA's LMDh category. It will compete with a purpose-designed hybrid race car. Finalized in 2020, the Le …

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for December 15, 2020

Dec 15, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E First Drive | Worth the hype

Like a summer tentpole movie that the studio won't shut up about, certain cars can hardly live up to their marketing hype. That goes double for EVs, and triple for American EVs that makers or fans hope might knock Elon Musk down a peg. When the hype …

First Jeep Wrangler 4xe rolls off the line in Toledo

FCA announced that the 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe officially went into production Friday, with the first examples rolling off the line and headed to showrooms ahead of its on-sale date early next year. In other words, you're just weeks away from being ab…

'Saturday Night Live' parodies Lexus' December to Remember sales event

We know there are plenty of people out there with more than enough money in the bank to surprise their significant other with a brand-new car for Christmas. And we're also sure that Lexus' annual "December to Remember" sales event must be successful …

Pagani teases a new supercar as a celebration of 'Air Speed'

Pagani has tweeted a mysterious video showing what seems to be a new supercar. Details are scant, but like many of its creations there appears to be a strong aeronautical theme. On December 17th, we will celebrate Air Speed. Stay with us and h…

Mystery Ford Mustang mule caught in fresh spy photos

A mysterious Ford Mustang GT mule has been spotted near the company's Dearborn development facilities, sparking a fresh round of speculation as to what the Blue Oval has in store for its pony car. If you thought we'd get out of 2020 without yet anoth…

2021 Hyundai Kona Review | More fun than function ... and that's OK!

So, a subcompact crossover can be fun to drive. It didn't seem possible before the Hyundai Kona came along, but sure enough, this funky little urban runabout managed to pull it off … and still does. Its available turbocharged engine that blows away m…

Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is dead after 2020, but look at this 33 Stradale Tributo

The Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is finally making its exit. Alfa quit selling the coupe in America starting with the 2019 model year , and now the roofless version will wrap up with the 2020 model year. There will be no 2021 4C Spider in the U.S. Alfa is no…

2021 Chevrolet Tahoe Back Seat Driveway Test and Video

The Chevy Tahoe has long been enormous on the outside and surprisingly small on the inside, especially if you had the misfortune of being assigned to the third row. The seat was so close to the floor that your knees could inevitably serve as a chin r…

Volkswagen decides to keep Lamborghini and Ducati, transfers Bentley to Audi

Investors in the market for a high-end Italian manufacturer that peddles performance will need to keep looking. Volkswagen announced it will hang on to Lamborghini and Ducati in the foreseeable future. Executives in Wolfsburg, Germany, are making fa…

Ford will space out redesigns thanks to over-the-air updating system

Ford's new 14th-generation F-150 might be around for longer than its predecessor thanks in part to its over-the-air (OTA) software updating system. This seemingly minor piece of technology is a major asset for the Blue Oval because it gives engineers…