MotorTrend September 2023

Editorial Digital Director Erik Johnson Executive Editor Mac Morrison Deputy Editor, Daily Content Alex Stoklosa Daily Content Team Justin Banner, Andrew Beckford, Monica Gonderman, Alex Kierstein, William Irvin Lewis, Matt Rodriguez, Justin Westbrook Buyer’s Guide Director Zach Gale Buyer’s Guide Team Duncan Brady, Bob Hernandez, Alex Leanse, Kelly Lin, Billy Rehbock International Bureau Chief Angus MacKenzie Senior Features Editors Kristen Lee, Jonny Lieberman Detroit Editor Alisa Priddle Mexico Editor Miguel Cortina Features Editors Scott Evans, Christian Seabaugh Editor-at-Large Edward Loh Senior Editors Aaron Gold, Jason Gonderman Manager, Visual Assets Brian Vance Deputy Director of Photography William Walker Associate Photographers Renz Dimaandal, Brandon Lim, Darren Martin Managing Editor Rusty Kurtz Senior Copy Editor Jesse Bishop Copy Editor Claire Crowley Technical Technical Director Frank Markus Testing Director Eric Tingwall Road Test Editor…

During a recent road trip, I watched the driver of a $160,000-plus Lucid Air attempt to charge his car at a broken EV charger, in the rain, behind a gas station off Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Sacramento. I was inside a fast-food restaurant across the parking lot as the poor guy struggled to connect the charger to his car. He repositioned his Air twice so the Combined Charging System (CCS) chargers on each side could reach the port—unaware the system itself was broken. There were no clear signs the charger was offline. The screen didn’t show an error message, and any hastily made signs from other travelers attempting to convey the status had been washed away by the rain. I know because just a few minutes earlier, I…

As Aston Martin celebrates its 110th anniversary, what better way to party than to launch a new DB—especially as the famed DB moniker is itself 75 years old this year? Meet the new DB12, which Aston says is “the world’s first super tourer. Grand is not enough.” And when you look at some of the headline numbers, it’s difficult to disagree: 671 horsepower, 0–60 mph in 3.5 seconds, and a top speed of 202 mph. The DB12 doesn’t look all that different than the gorgeous DB11, but 80 percent of the car is allegedly new. Much of the development focused on performance and handling hardware, and on stuff that Aston Martin hasn’t always done exceptionally well. The DB11-based bonded-aluminum body structure is 7 percent stiffer overall, with the stiffness across…

Enthusiasts can be forgiven for having ignored the Ford Ranger. From 1983 to 2011, it soldiered on with minimal updating and no performance variants, a mantle assumed by the global Ranger introduced here halfway through its life cycle in 2019. Well, the new Ranger Raptor is a wake-up call to start paying attention. The U.S. Ranger Raptor—this new-gen truck has been on sale for a bit elsewhere—gets a version of the Bronco Raptor’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6 but with 13 fewer horses and 10 fewer lb-ft due to plumbing changes. But don’t fret. Pickup boxes are way lighter than glassed-in SUV bodies, so Ford says the Ranger Raptor weighs about 400 pounds less. And as in the Braptor, this engine is tuned to “reward the revs,” making 90 percent of…

We’ve been buzzing about the ID Buzz—the all-electric return of VW’s iconic Microbus—for so long we expected the novelty to have worn off by now. Yet we were genuinely thrilled to see the long-wheelbase, three-row version. The big news: It’s 9.8 inches longer than Europe’s two-row version, with all of that in the wheelbase, making it roughly the same size as VW’s Atlas SUV. The sliding doors are 7.6 inches longer, providing improved access to the new third row, and feature plug-style side windows that slide rearward electrically. We expected the long Buzz to have the pedestrian look of an ordinary minivan, but it doesn’t; in fact, it might have even more Microbus character. In the middle row, the U.S.-spec ID Buzz will offer captain’s chairs or a three-place 70/30…

Many folks want one car that can do everything. If that’s your goal, it’s hard to find a better fit than the 2024 Porsche Cayenne. For this heavy refresh, Porsche engineers refined the Cayenne’s personality to a singular essence that permeates every iteration. Some have more power, and others get better fuel economy. But they are otherwise identical in character, evinced by the SUVs’ reactions in corners and the way the weight transfers and their bodies roll. It’s the same from a base model to the hair-on-fire Turbo GT. Consider the Cayenne E-Hybrid plug-in V-6 and the V-8-powered Cayenne S. Somewhat unusually, they make about the same power—463 hp for the PHEV and 468 for the V-8—illustrating exactly what we’re talking about. All this is a gift to the conflicted…