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Monday, March 1, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for March 1, 2021

Mar 01, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Next-gen Honda CR-V spied through the grapevine for the first time

A new Honda CR-V is coming soon, as one of our spy shooters just caught the next-gen model out testing for the first time. It wasn't an easy catch. The shooter says they used an ultra-long telephoto lens to shoot at a long distance from this secret E…

NHTSA probing engine bay fires in 1.9 million Toyota RAV4s

DETROIT — The U.S. government is investigating complaints of engine compartment fires in nearly 1.9 million Toyota RAV4 small SUVs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating after getting 11 fire complaints involving the…

2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 2-row spy photos reveal unique bodywork

The two-row 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee has been spotted testing in the wild alongside its three-row sibling, giving us our first glimpse at how Jeep plans to differentiate the two beyond their available seating configurations. This is our first look …

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV First Drive Review | Super-sized with Super Cruise

TAYLOR, Mich. — For the first time in a long time, the sun was shining and the snow was beginning to melt as we first laid eyes on the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV in person. Less than two weeks after the reveal of the just-slightly-larger sibling to the …

2022 Kia Carnival priced with a $1,700 premium over the outgoing Sedona

It's only been a week since the Kia Carnival debuted , and we already have full pricing available. The base LX starts at $33,275, including the $1,175 destination charge. Versus a totally base Sedona, that's a $1,700 price increase. Standard equipmen…

VW is thinking of turning the ID.3 into its first convertible EV

Volkswagen developed the ID.3 as an electric alternative to the Golf. It's offered only as a four-door hatchback, but several members of the company's top brass expressed their wish to see a convertible variant join the range. Ralf Brandstätter, the…

Polaris teases an all-new electric Ranger utility vehicle

Six months ago when we learned that Polaris was working with Zero Motorcycles on electric vehicles , we figured "an upgraded version of Polaris' electric Ranger EV line that uses motor and battery technology from Zero" would likely be the first collab…

Cadillac will expand its range of high-performance Blackwing models

Cadillac proved the American sport sedan isn't dead when it introduced the Blackwing variants of the CT4-V and the CT5-V (pictured) in February 2021. Launched to denote a short-lived V8 engine , the nameplate will appear on other go-fast members of th…

The Porsche 911 GT3 attracts American manual buyers

There's a line that we have grown accustomed to hearing from automakers: We don't offer a manual transmission because the take rate is so low. Moreover, the rule of thumb is that Americans buy automatics while our friends across the Atlantic prefer m…

Junkyard Gem: 1992 Dodge Caravan With 5-Speed Manual Transmission

Believe it or not, minivans with manual transmissions once roamed America — not in huge numbers, but they existed. Plenty of mid-engined Toyota Vans and early Previas came with three pedals here, and Ford sold manual-trans Aerostars through 1994 … bu…

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…