Best Shots

Monday, September 23, 2019

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for September 23, 2019

Sep 23, 2019

Top Stories of the Day

Jessi Combs' record attempt to be submitted for Guinness World Record

LOS ANGELES — Jessi Combs' attempt to set the record for fastest woman on earth will be submitted for a Guinness World Record at 531.889 mph, it was announced Saturday evening during an event held in her honor at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Combs…

2020 Hyundai Venue First Drive Review | Small, with a big heart

SUNSHINE COAST, Australia — When your country is the size of the continental United States, but is home to fewer people than Texas, you're going to have lots of wide-open spaces. That's why Australia is the perfect place to wind out your McLaren Senn…

As GM strike enters its second week, here's where things stand

NEW YORK — The strike against General Motors by 49,000 United Auto Workers entered its second week Monday with progress reported in negotiations but no clear end in sight. Bargainers met all weekend and returned to talks Monday morning as the strike…

Mercedes-AMG GT R Black Series spied with ferocious front fascia

Last month, one of our spy photographers caught a Mercedes-AMG GT R sporting a radical new hood that suggested a Black Series variant was on the way. Another GT R has been spied with the same hood, but also even more exterior changes that seem to con…

Jaguar F-Type's next generation could be mid-engined

Jaguar's heritage is built on sports cars powered by a big, front-mounted engine covered by a long hood. The F-Type perfectly fits into this mold, but the company is ready and willing to set tradition aside in order to inject more performance into it…

Hyundai develops an airbag to protect you from your passenger, and vice versa

In modern cars, we're protected on nearly every side by airbags . Even our knees get them, though their effectiveness is questionable . But Hyundai discovered there's still an area in which we're not protected , and that's the area between the driver an…

Lexus sails the seas in luxury with its first-ever yacht

Lexus is taking its pursuit of luxury lifestyle offshore with a production version of its LY 650 yacht, revealed in Boca Raton last week. Now one can have an oceangoing Lexus to go with the LC 500 parked in the garage. Based on its Sport Yacht Conce…

Lamborghini Sian's supercapacitor hybrid system explained by company's CTO

"We are a game-changer and a provocateur," Lamborghini's CTO, Maurizio Reggiani told Engadget . The automaker has a long history of making waves with traffic-stopping designs and more recently, innovative tech . At last week's Frankfurt Motor Show , the…

Jeep Wrangler investigated by NHTSA for bad frame welds, steering problems

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into thousands of Jeep Wranglers made during the 2018 and 2019 model years. The agency wants to determine whether early examples of the current, JL-generation off-roader s…

[VIDEO] 'Autoblog off the Clock' | The birth of a Gladiator

Autoblog Off The Clock is an inside look at the automotive industry and the people who make it happen. Each episode we sit down with industry movers and shakers. We pour a couple of beers and let the stories fly. How did they get into the biz? What m…

Friday, September 20, 2019

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for September 20, 2019

Sep 20, 2019

Top Stories of the Day

2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost High Performance Package First Drive | Get hep to the HPP

SAUSALITO, Calif. — For some muscle-car fans, a four-cylinder Mustang will always be like ordering the green salad at a steakhouse. But the 2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost High Performance Package is really more like the Impossible Burger that's winning c…

2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost High Performance Package vs 2019 Chevy Camaro 1LE | How they compare on paper

Though cars like the Shelby GT500 and Camaro ZL1 1LE get the big headlines, both Ford and Chevy have more affordable performance offerings. The latest is the (deep breath) 2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost High Performance Package . Like the previous EcoBoos…

Tesla is confident it can beat Porsche's Nurburgring time — but not this month

The rumors claiming Tesla would try setting a Nürburgring record for production electric cars on Sept. 21 were false. Posting on its official Twitter account, the company confirmed its team has gone back to California in order to return to the drawin…

Watch a Porsche Taycan lapping a Tesla Model S prototype on the Nurburgring

With the Porsche Taycan about to compete with Tesla in the marketplace, Elon Musk has decided to compete with Zuffenhausen's finest on the track. After a Taycan Turbo set a record for fastest EV around the Nürburgring Nordschleife i…

Amazon's 100,000-van order is just the latest jolt of success for Rivian

DETROIT — Electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive got a big boost from one of its investors on Thursday when Amazon.com announced it was ordering 100,000 electric delivery vans. Before Rivian has even begun commercial production at its factory in…

AP Fact Check: Trump team's distortions on fuel economy rules

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announce the Trump administration would revoke California's decades-old right to set its own fuel economy standards, with Wheeler saying, "Federalism does not mean that one sta…

GM's $7 billion offer to UAW reportedly would add more lower-paying jobs

DETROIT — A General Motors offer to invest $7 billion in U.S. facilities includes $2 billion from joint ventures and suppliers for new plants that would pay workers less than the top union wage, a person briefed on the matter said. The offer is a ma…

Woman puts injured bobcat in car — next to her toddler

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Officials have issued a warning after a Colorado Springs woman put an injured bobcat in her car, inches from where her child was in a safety seat: Don't pick up wildlife. Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Bill Vogrin sa…

2020 Hyundai Palisade | How much fits behind the third row?

The 2020 Hyundai Palisade has 18 cubic-feet of space behind its raised third-row seat. That's more than nearly all of its three-row crossover competitors, but what exactly does that translate to in terms of actual luggage? Hyundai plopped in a gigant…

Thieves smash classic Mustang into store to steal PlayStations

Thieves in Athens, Greece, have done something less than intelligible. According to reports from the Athens Voice , linked to by Driven , and Proto Thema , several miscreants used a restored 1967 Ford Mustang as a battering ram to gain entry to an elect…

Thursday, September 19, 2019

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for September 19, 2019

Sep 19, 2019

Top Stories of the Day

Andy Wallace reveals the Bugatti Chiron was still accelerating at 304 mph

Bugatti retired from chasing speed records after it became the first automaker to break the 300-mph barrier with a production car. Andy Wallace, the British pilot who was behind the wheel during the record-setting run, told Autoblog the Chiron's W16 …

Has the Demon possessed the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk?

The Demon that Dodge chased from the Challenger range in 2018 might soon possess the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Spy shots taken near a testing facility suggest that before it retires, Jeep's flagship SUV will receive the mighty, 6.2-liter V8 engine that po…

Amazon is ordering 100,000 Rivian electric delivery vans

WASHINGTON — Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos on Thursday committed the online retailer to being carbon neutral by 2040 and said it would order 100,000 electric delivery vehicles as part of that pledge. Cutting emissions is a challenging go…

Tesla Model 3 named an IIHS Top Safety Pick+

Tesla's 2019 Model 3 has finally had its turn undergoing the gantlet of crash tests at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and the battery-electric sedan has emerged with flying colors, earning a Top Safety Pick+, its first rating from the or…

2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid vs other hybrid crossovers | How they compare on paper

The long-anticipated 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid was announced yesterday, and although we don't have every spec available (including the all-important official fuel economy figures), Honda provided enough that we can piece together a comparison of powertr…

2020 Ford Escape Hybrid First Drive | More frugal, but still fun

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The 2020 Ford Escape hybrid drives a lot like its traditionally gas-powered siblings, and that's a good thing. We've already told you about how the latest Escape is very car-like, with a playful chassis and a mildly sporty demeanor.…

2019 BMW M850i Convertible First Drive | That's more like it

PORTLAND, Ore. — There's probably a band or a TV show that you used to love, but as time went on, they changed what they were so much that they were no longer the thing you fell in love with. The name's the same, but it's just not the same, you know?…

As it fights Trump on emissions, California devises ways to make him irrelevant

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In eliminating California's authority to set its own emission standards for cars and trucks, the Trump administration would take away leverage the state needs to convince the world's largest automakers to make more environmentall…

2020 Toyota Supra gets 'Fast & Furious'-worthy body kit for SEMA

The annual SEMA show opens its doors in November, and this year's edition promises to be a Supra fest because it's the first held since the model made its long-awaited comeback. California-based Evasive Motorsports revealed photos of a "Fast & Fu…

Robert Kubica's remarkable F1 comeback with Williams ends with this season

SINGAPORE — Robert Kubica will leave former champions Williams at the end of the season, a move likely to bring the curtain down on the Polish driver's extraordinary Formula One racing comeback. The 34-year-old made his race return this year after s…

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for September 18, 2019

Sep 18, 2019

Top Stories of the Day

2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid introduced for the United States

The Honda CR-V Hybrid debuted in Europe earlier this year. It's our turn now, with Honda bringing its two-motor hybrid powertrain to the 2020 CR-V crossover built in the United States. The electrified CR-V will be the third Honda hybrid in the U.S. a…

2019 Goodwood Revival photo galleries | The races and faces of Goodwood

CHICHESTER, England — We brought you photos of the Goodwood Revival parking lot and the paddock , but those were just the appetizers. Now, it's time for the racing. Vintage motorsports is what this event is all about, and the photos tell a story that …

We race a 2019 Subaru WRX STI up the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb

SHELSLEY WALSH, U.K. — Keep your foot down, I tell myself. Easier said than done in a 2019 Subaru WRX STI on the narrow and treacherous Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb. Right away, there's a very hairy fast left sweeper the STI takes in third gear, leading…

2019 Ford Ranger and F-150 get a little lift direct from Ford Performance

Ford may not be offering the Ranger Raptor here, but the company has just announced some offroad upgrade goodies for the regular Ranger, and even the regular F-150. Ford Performance will now offer a suspension leveling kit for the four-wheel-drive 20…

Land Rover Defender configurator up with detailed pricing, LOTS of accessories

The Land Rover Defender configurator is live , ready to eat up the better part of an afternoon with a surfeit of options. The newest kid on the expedition block takes its place at the top of the Land Rover lineup, with $12,100 between prices for the D…

2020 Honda Accord starts at $24,800, unchanged but for price increases

The tenth-generation Honda Accord arrived on station for the 2018 model year, so the only changes for the sedan going into 2020 are slight price increases. The entry-level LX with the 1.5-liter turbo starts at $23,870, or $24,800 after the mandatory …

When Big Brother meets Repo Man: How DRN scans billions of license plates

For $20, a Digital Recognition Network (DRN) customer can look up any license plate in the United States. If there is a match, the program will show the last time one of the company's cameras captured the plate, including a photo and information abou…

Flexible EV technology will allow Porsche to quickly expand its model range

Porsche confirmed it will leverage the relatively high flexibility of electric powertrains to offer many different variants of battery-powered cars like the Taycan . Some markets will receive entry-level models, for example, while others will have acc…

The Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid is dead in the water

Following the 2019 model year, the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid will no longer exist, Green Car Reports reports and a source from Chevy has confirmed to Autoblog. The news comes less than a year after the Volt PHEV , a technology relative of the Malibu hyb…

Tractor-trailer overturns, spreads 44,000 pounds of Nutella on I-94

The Detroit Free Press reports that a tractor-trailer headed west out of Ontario ran into misadventure on I-94 in Indiana Monday night, just west of the Michigan state line. Driver Chuhar Singh told Indiana State Police a vehicle in front of him slam…