Innehållsförteckning för October 2021 från Car and Driver

A clear shot across—and maybe even up—the nose of the Tesla Model 3, the i4 rides on a version of the 3-series’ Cluster Architecture, which BMW adapted to house a battery in the floorpan and an electric motor at each end. The i4 eDrive40 is the entry model at $56,395, about what BMW charges for the 382-hp M340i. The EV has a 335-hp motor in back providing rear-wheel drive and an 81.5-kWh battery that brings a manufacturer-estimated 300-mile range. BMW claims the eDrive40 can hit 60 mph in 5.5 seconds, so don’t expect it to win many drag races against the Model 3. If you want more rapid acceleration, the i4 M50 should make that sprint in 3.7 seconds. The M model starts at $66,895—a few thousand less than the…

Meet the Maverick pickup. Starting at $21,490, it’s the lowest-priced model in the Blue Oval arsenal, undercutting the EcoSport SUV by a few hundred dollars. It rides on the Escape’s architecture and, sizewise, falls between its unibody competition, the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Honda Ridgeline. With this entry in the compact-pickup space, Ford hopes to bring back the buyers it lost when it dropped passenger cars from its lineup. Suddenly shoppers looking for a $20K vehicle don’t have to go small. They can get a crew-cab pickup with a 4.5-foot bed capable of carrying 1500 pounds for about the same coin as a Honda Civic. Of course, the aforementioned bargain price is for the stripped-down front-drive model. Ford predicts the truck’s 191-hp hybrid powertrain, which comes from the Escape Hybrid,…

The arrival of the 11th-generation Honda Civic for 2022 spurred us to take a fresh look at the world of compact sedans. The market’s mania for crossovers, pickups, and off-roaders of all stripes largely overshadows this segment, but practical and efficient four-doors continue to serve a great swath of buyers, many of them first-time new-car owners. Opting for a well-equipped version like the sedans in this test will give you a level of style, polish, and content that was unimaginable in starter cars of the past. The democratization of luxury equipment has accelerated, and these small cars are the beneficiaries, offering things like adaptive cruise control, digital instrument clusters, leather seats, and wireless smartphone mirroring. To get the feel for automotive opulence, size small, we gathered six high-spec models with…

We often pine for bygone vehicles, wishing automakers would continue building the great ones forever. Some say you can never go back, but apparently Lexus isn’t among them. With the 2022 IS500 F Sport Performance, the brand has reached into its catalog of hits and pulled out the more-thandecade-old, still-amazing 5.0-liter V-8 that debuted in the IS F (and continues on in the LC500) and created a V-8 sports sedan that rekindles a love we thought we’d lost. F Sport Performance is a mouthful and the brand’s new name for not-quite-F models. In this first example of the line, we get a compelling proposition of a naturally aspirated V-8 for a similar price as the turbo six-cylinders found in cars such as the Audi S4, BMW M340i, and Cadillac CT5-V.…

WATCH OUT, SUPRA, THE Z IS BACK. When we first tested the 2003 Nissan 350Z, we heralded its unrivaled combination of price and performance. Bringing 287 horsepower for less than $27,000, the reborn Z was an instant hit, reestablishing Nissan as a maker of serious sports cars. Now, almost 20 years later, we’re feeling that same excitement for the next Z car, the 2023 Z. Factoring for inflation, its base price—about $40,000—is the same as the 2003 350Z’s. So is the basic layout, with two seats, rear-wheel drive, and a six-speed manual transmission. But now you get 400 horsepower from a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6. That’s the kind of inflation we can get behind. Built on a much-modified version of the current FM platform and riding on the same 100.4-inch wheelbase…

Knowing that any new vehicle Audi introduces after 2026 will be electric, the engineers in Ingolstadt really leaned into making the RS3 a parting gift to fans of internal combustion. Like its 10Best-winning predecessor, the new RS3 has a much-loved, brand-appropriate turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five. A variable exhaust flap can raise the volume on the iconic five-cylinder sound, and this version boasts seven more horsepower than the last, unleashing 401 ponies from 5600 to 7000 rpm. Torque is up 15 pound-feet, to 369. The output increase, along with an aggressive launch-control start offered by the seven-speed dual-clutch, should help the 2022 eclipse the old RS3’s 3.4-second run to 60. Fast driving reveals razor-sharp but progressive steering, with your slightest movements becoming directional changes. Drivers can adjust steeringeffort levels to suit personal…

If your perfect Bronco comes with a seven-speed manual, you’re going to have to make a few sacrifices. Three-pedal Broncos can’t be had with Ford’s 330-hp 2.7-liter V-6, and the Sasquatch package with the big 35-inch tires is off the table, too, at least for now. That leaves a turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four and your pick of several trim levels. We drove the Black Diamond, which starts at $37,545 and marks a sweet spot in the lineup. The Bronco is blocky like the original yet isn’t cosplaying as an old car. The Black Diamond comes with a heavy-duty front bumper and 17-inch steelies wrapped in 32-inch-tall General Grabber A/TX all-terrain rubber. The tires are more than adequate for most off-pavement trips and fairly quiet at freeway speeds. The Black Diamond’s interior…

Hyundai claims the Santa Cruz isn’t a truck competitor, but one look at the package and you’ll have a hard time classifying it as anything else. Built on a stretched Tucson platform, the unibody pickup is agile, with carlike maneuverability. The ride is calm and composed, suffering none of the rear-end skittishness of live-axle pickups due to the multilink suspension in back. The base engine is a 191-hp 2.5-liter four that will likely hobble the Santa Cruz, but the top trims’ 281-hp turbo 2.5-liter four has plenty of punch. Off the line, the engine waits a beat before the turbo starts charging, eventually delivering a stout 311 pound-feet of torque from 1700 rpm. The Santa Cruz’s defining feature is its 4.3-foot molded-composite bed. Highly versatile, it’s packed with cubbies and…

Until now, every electric Mercedes has borrowed architecture from an internal-combustion model. For 2022, the EQS shows us what a Benz EV can do on its own platform. And much like the S-class, this big four-door flaunts the automaker’s latest innovations—Level 3 autonomy once legislators figure out the rules, headlights that project warnings onto pavement—that will someday trickle down into the lineup. Aesthetically, the EQS strays from Benz’s combustion-engine cars with a cab-forward profile, angular headlamps, and a light bar across the leading edge of the hood. A low roofline that arcs from cowl to tail and frameless side windows with flush handles help the EQS achieve a claimed record-breaking production-car drag coefficient of 0.20 in rear-drive form. Though slightly shorter and narrower than the S-class, the EQS rides on…

A car like the GR 86 isn’t supposed to happen. Affordable sporty coupes like the rear-drive GR 86 are pretty much dead. And yet Toyota has just redone its almost-one-of-a-kind sports car—and it isn’t just good, it’s great. We’re calling this a refresh, a major one, but much of the structure is shared with the old 86. Toyota strengthened the car with front and rear reinforcements, and to help offset the weight of those structural components, the 2022 expands aluminum use beyond the hood to the fenders and roof. A very important change is under that hood. The old 2.0-liter flat-four that thrummed and groaned has been bored to 2.4 liters and now makes 228 horsepower—up from the old manual car’s 205 and the auto’s 200. You had to rev…

Acura Acura’s newly redone MDX three-row SUV will gain a sportier Type S version with a 355-hp turbocharged V-6 shared with the recently introduced TLX Type S. the strong-selling RDX compact crossover receives a mid-cycle update that’s primarily cosmetic, and the ILX moseys on without revision. For its final year of production, the NSX sports car becomes the NSX Type S, with 600 ponies (27 more than before) and a limited run of 300 for the U.S. Lastly, the Integra will return next year (likely as a ’23), but that’s all we know about it. Alfa Romeo It’s deader inside Alfa’s 140 dealerships than a kissing booth during a pandemic, with the brand selling just 9664 vehicles in the U.S. during the first half of 2021. the 4C exited after…

Built on a dedicated EV platform that uses carbon fiber extensively to keep weight low, the new iX SUV will initially be offered only in xDrive50 form. Allwheel drive comes courtesy of two motors that provide a combined output of 516 horsepower. At 106.3 kilowatt-hours, the underfloor battery pack is considerably larger than the i4’s. BMW estimates the X5-sized five-passenger EV will go about 300 miles on a charge and get to 60 mph in less than 4.6 seconds. The $84,195 starting price puts the xDrive50 between the inline-six and V-8 versions of the gas-powered three-row X7 as well as between Tesla’s $60,990 Model Y Performance and $99,990 Model X Long Range. BMW promises that a sportier, more powerful model is on the way. All we know about it are…

Sometimes farewell concerts aren’t actually the final curtain. Many stars have returned to the stage after a so-called last tour. That’s our hope for the Blackwing models, which Cadillac says will be the final internal-combustion V sedans. But even if our wish comes true and somehow the gas-powered show goes on, you don’t want to miss this performance. Next to the CT5-V Blackwing, the smaller CT4-V sedan might seem like it belongs further down on the bill. After all, its twin-turbo 3.6-liter V-6 makes 472 ponies instead of its sibling’s 668. That’s still a lot of firepower, and for a turbocharged engine, the six enjoys a linear and snappy power delivery. It also has an alluring voice—nothing like the uninspiring 464-hp six in the old ATS-V. When the variable exhaust…

A memorable entrance can make up for lateness. Consider the GV70, Genesis’s mid-size-SUV answer to everything from the BMW X3 to the Lexus RX350. Sure, it’s a little tardy, but its compelling mix of luxury and performance with a competitive price appears to have been worth the wait. Mechanically, the GV70 borrows liberally from the G70 sports sedan. As such, the same suspension mix of struts in the front and a multilink setup out back is found here, albeit with different tuning, and the wheelbase grows to increase interior volume. Two engines, a turbocharged 2.5-liter four and a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6, are offered; both connect to an eight-speed automatic. Rear-wheel drive isn’t an option, but the all-wheel-drive system has a rear-axle bias and can send 100 percent of the torque…

The new Wagoneer sticks to the original SUV recipe: Take a tried-and-true full-size ladder frame (preferably from an existing pickup), bolt in a V-8, drop an attractive box on top, and watch the money flow in. It’s hardly that simple, of course, but it is that lucrative. Compared with the 10Best-winning Ram 1500 from which the frame is derived, the Wagoneer benefits from a number of chassis enhancements to improve rigidity and on-road manners plus an independent rear suspension. To reduce mass, Jeep employed a composite liftgate and made the hood and doors out of aluminum, but both the Wagoneer and its upmarket sibling, the Grand Wagoneer, will weigh more than three tons. The strategy is to pit the Wagoneer (which starts at $59,995) against the Chevy Tahoes and Ford…

Mid-size pickups have the luxury of not needing to be too, well, luxurious. A prime example is the previous-generation Nissan Frontier, a basic vehicle that has traded on the fundamentals of truck use since 2005. Through the years, it has received modest updates, but the truck needed a redo. A major redesign has arrived, but from the part-time four-wheel-drive system to the hydraulic power steering, the Frontier follows an old-school formula. Squint and you might mistake it for its main competitor, the Toyota Tacoma—we did at first glance. The outgoing truck’s ladder-type frame carries over with several revisions to increase strength and refinement. Coil springs remain up front and leafs out back. Along with revised chassis tuning and the addition of a rear anti-roll bar to go with a stiffer…

Just as bacon sizzling in a skillet sets the salivary glands into overdrive, the instant smack of an electric powertrain’s acceleration paints a stupid grin on our face. While the 201-hp, 4698-pound, single-motor version of the Volkswagen ID.4 didn’t leave us grin ning like fools, the new all-wheeldrive model has the power to alter our mood. It does this by adding a 107-hp front motor to the mix. The new setup produces a combined 295 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque and propels the 4884-pound ID.4 to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds, a whopping 2.2 seconds quicker than the rear-driver. The VW crosses the quarter-mile line in 14.1 seconds at 99 mph, besting the single-motor ute by 1.9 seconds and 13 mph. EPA numbers aren’t in, but Volkswagen estimates the…