Innehållsförteckning för January 2021 från MotorTrend

@markrechtin Quick, look at the picture. Which of these Volvos is a car, and which is the truck? The Volvo on the left is the V60 Polestar Engineered, a fizzing family hauler with 415 hp and 494 lb-ft coursing through its 2.0-liter superturbo-four engine and motors. It has a ground clearance of 5.4 inches and gets 28/33 mpg city/highway fuel economy (70/68 mpg-e on gas+electricity). The Volvo on the right is a (discontinued) XC70 AWD, a refined trundler generating 235 hp and 236 lb-ft through a 3.2-liter inline-six engine. It has 8.3 inches of ground clearance and fuel economy of 18/25 mpg city/highway. On initial inspection, they’re both wagons based on passenger-car platforms. And they sure look like the same type of vehicle, right? Wrong. The V60 Polestar is a…

The 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe has received an—ahem—refresh. We almost spit out our coffee at the description. The word “refresh” in automotive parlance gets a lot of exercise. We’ve seen it used when a model gets a new fascia and a new color. We have also seen automakers refer to a vehicle as “next-generation” when it continues to ride on the same platform with an engine tweaked to coax out a bit more power—on top of the new fascia and new color. Imagine my surprise, then, when Hyundai execs outlined the serious changes to the Santa Fe. For starters, it switches to a new platform, one shared with the 2021 Kia Sorento, and Kia isn’t shy about calling that the new fourth generation of the vehicle. The degree of modification…

The new Taos is Volkswagen’s smallest SUV, slotting beneath the all-electric ID4 and the recently refreshed Tiguan. Like most VW products these days, the Taos is built on the Modular Transverse Architecture (MQB) platform. Its wheelbase of 105.9 inches is one of the longest in the segment, and the extra length helps with rear legroom (as we discovered during our first drive of a prototype version of the Taos). At 175.8 inches long, the Taos is among the largest SUVs in its class, falling an inch short of the Subaru Crosstrek but surpassing the 173-inch-long Mazda CX-30. Inside, the Taos sports 28.1 cubic feet of space with the rear bench seat upright; fold down that second row, and you’ll find there is a generous 66.3 cubic feet of free space…

Before we detail our experiences with a preproduction Volkswagen ID4, let’s take a quick glance at the competition. After all, electric SUVs are sprouting like weeds these days. At $39,995 before applicable tax incentives, the ID4 undercuts the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E and offers more range than the base version of the Ford (250 miles to 230). A base Model Y is almost $10,000 more expensive, and even though it offers more range, some buyers might not be able to bridge that price gap. Once you move your eyes from the spec sheet and price tag, you’ll want to take a look at the car in the metal. The ID4 doesn’t look like a large SUV from the outside, and it isn’t, being smaller than the current…

Jon Ikeda spent most of his career as a designer before becoming Acura general manager in 2015 and brand officer in 2019. He is working to rebuild the premium performance marque, bringing back its heritage and injecting excitement while further differentiating Acura from the Honda brand. When did you start this latest relaunch of the brand? Maybe 2015. That’s when the NSX came online. And that’s when we were completely reorienting ourselves back to precision-crafted performance, our heritage. If we’re going to be a performance brand, we needed to have the supercar as the halo. … I’m not going to lie to you, we did wander around a little bit, and we’ve refocused. NSX happened, racing happened, A-Specs, but the RDX was one of the first of the next generation…

It’s best not to judge a car by its design, but sometimes we can’t help it. The 2021 Acura TLX’s more premium proportions and sporty detailing instantly distinguish the luxury sport sedan from its predecessor, but there’s more to the picture than just styling. Priced like a compact luxury sedan from Europe but built closer to a midsize, the Acura makes a compelling value play. But as a tweener, getting a sense of where it actually resides in the market can be a challenge. “This is an unexpectedly sweet car to drive,” testing director Kim Reynolds said of our A-Spec AWD test car at the track. “There’s a very mild but nice tremble to the steering that gives it an alive feeling, but the best quality is how enthusiastically it…

There is a well-traveled rumor that the BMW 4 Series exterior design team has been reassigned to styling door handles and seat belt mountings for the rest of their careers. OK, maybe that’s fake news. But it does prove that Germans have a sense of humor. Regardless, buying a 4 Series for its dynamic thrills is going to result in people asking you lots of questions, starting not with, “How does it drive?” but rather, “When was your last eye exam?” Which is a shame, because the M440i xDrive coupe is a blast. But first, we must discuss design. BMW’s signature kidney grilles are suffering from hydronephrosis. Maybe the design team wasn’t allowed bathroom breaks on deadline, and this was their way of symbolically fighting back. As it stands, the…

We really wanted to love the 2021 Genesis G80, but the midsize luxury sedan segment requires a delicate touch the redesigned model just doesn’t deliver. Genesis has nailed certain aspects while leaving us cold in others. The most basic compliment we can pay the G80 is thanking Genesis for continuing to offer a sedan in this price range. While Genesis was putting final touches on the G80, the Acura RLX, Lexus GS, and Lincoln Continental were discontinued, leaving the sedan world three cars the poorer. You don’t get a prize just for showing up, though. Genesis attempts to earn its place among more established midsize luxury sedans with a bolder swagger outside and rich detailing inside. As with the GV80 SUV, the G80 gives off a high-tech, high-luxury first impression.…

The 2020 Mini Cooper Electric is a time machine in a lot of ways. Open the driver-side door, slip into the Chesterfield Grey leather buckets, and finger the bright yellow toggle switch at the base of the center stack, and you, like me, might immediately be transferred back to our 2012 Car of the Year program, the first year an electric car competed in our 72-year-old program. Two electric cars competed for the Golden Calipers that year—the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the Nissan Leaf. The former was little more than a highway-legal electrified golf cart with 62 miles of range and an EPA rating of 112 mpg-e combined. The latter was a Car of the Year finalist but didn’t win because despite its 99 mpg-e EPA score, we were worried about…

The new BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe won’t set any sales charts ablaze, but based on our judges’ notes, it might be the most desirable car in the automaker’s lineup. And why wouldn’t it be? Yes, it’s a sedan version of the very attractive BMW 8 Series coupe, but it manages to be just as gorgeous. The coupe’s most standout styling details—its wide haunches, frameless doors, and long hood—have translated well into the Gran Coupe. And the practicality of its rear doors is just icing on the cake. “The proportions are just stellar,” senior features editor Jonny Lieberman said. “Just how you drew up cars on your Pee-Chee folders in high school when you dreamed of being a designer.” We opted to take only one 8 Series variant to this…

Nissan has done it. After years of econobox mediocrity, the Sentra matters again. Even without the head-turning two-tone paint of our test car, this Nissan can compete head-on with the Toyota Corolla and almost every other car in the segment. True, this isn’t a comparison test, but judges found it impossible not to consider the new-for-2020 Nissan Sentra against an aging but still excellent class leader. “The Honda Civic looms large,” senior features editor Jonny Lieberman said, “and in terms of engineering excellence, I don’t think the Sentra has it beat.” Still, what an improvement. Like the Civic, the Sentra feels spacious and well designed. Associate road test editor Erick Ayapana said our $26,055 test car “looks more expensive than it is inside and out,” and editor-in-chief Mark Rechtin admitted…

Compared with many of today’s compact SUVs, the 2020 Suzuki Jimny is slow, crude, and cramped. It drives a lot like a mid-’80s rear-drive Japanese car. But it’s also so honest and unpretentious, so full of character and charm, and so surprisingly capable at doing what it was designed to do that it makes you smile every time you slide behind the wheel—something that’s unlikely to ever happen getting into a Toyota RAV4 or Chevy Equinox. In today’s fast-paced, ultra-connected, digitally enhanced automotive world, the Jimny is one of life’s simple pleasures. It’s a simple pleasure with a complicated back story, though. Our Jimny tester was one of the last in the Suzuki U.K. press fleet, as the vehicle has been withdrawn from sale—less than two years after its launch—so…

The first time I visited the Maserati factory on Viale Ciro Menotti in Modena, just a mile’s walk from the city’s 12th century cathedral, the plant was building Biturbo coupés. Well, sort of. Although technically interesting—the V-6-powered Biturbo was the first production car with twin turbos and the first with three valves per cylinder—the Biturbo was more an assemblage of parts flying in close formation than a fully bolted-together automobile. The Biturbo was fast. When it ran. Today, the once-grimy old Maserati plant gleams and glistens. There’s fresh white paint on the walls and ceilings, and computer-controlled machinery hums and whirrs on the assembly line where Maserati’s new mid-engine supercar, the MC20, is being put together with quiet, calm efficiency. Things are changing at Maserati. Again. Only this time, it…

It all started with a dramatic Daytona 500 that was delayed a day by rain for the second time ever and then went to a thrilling overtime, with Denny Hamlin roaring to the checkered flag by a scant 0.014 of a second. Then came the pandemic, which upended NASCAR and the world as we know it. And a reckoning on race would further challenge the sport. To say that the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season has been unprecedented would be the height of understatement, much like 2020 itself. It’s a season that demanded an in-depth telling of how it unfolded, and NASCAR 2020: Under Pressure does just that, documenting a year on the track unlike any in NASCAR history. Now available for streaming on the MotorTrend app, NASCAR 2020: Under…

Pop quiz: How many 400-plus-hp production cars has Volvo built? The 402-hp 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric P8 is one of the most significant cars the Swedish brand has launched, not for its power but because it’s Volvo’s first electric car. The headlines: The XC40 Recharge P8 is powered by a pair of 201-hp electric motors, one mounted at the front axle, the other at the rear, for a total system output of 402 horsepower and 486 lb-ft of torque—and, of course, all-wheel drive. The motors are fed by a 78-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that will deliver an EPA-rated range of about 208 miles and can be recharged to 80 percent capacity in 40 minutes using a 150-kW DC fast charger. With federal tax credits included, the XC40 Recharge…

It talks to you, this McLaren, the chassis and steering and powertrain and brakes engaging in a deeply meaningful running dialog that lets you know exactly what is happening, and why, all the time. There is perhaps no other roadgoing supercar in the business where the relationship between human and hardware is as expressively intimate as the 765LT. The 765LT’s rear bodywork is indeed longer than that of the 720S it’s derived from, as the “Long Tail” moniker suggests—by precisely 0.4 inch, courtesy of a new rear bumper and a full-width active rear spoiler that helps increase downforce on the rear axle by 25 percent. And despite the name, the 765LT, ironically, gains more length at the nose. A new front splitter, front bumper, and front floor extend the front…

Elon Musk’s original Tesla Roadster used a two-speed transmission. It proved problematic, so he dropped the extra ratio and still delivered cars and SUVs capable of both brutal acceleration and license-endangering top speeds. So who needs multiple gears? Gearing an electric motor to deliver strong launch torque and then spinning it fast enough for autobahn speeds presents serious cooling challenges and reduces efficiency. Hence today’s fastest EVs—like the Porsche Taycan, the Pininfarina Battista, and Rimac C Two—use a two-speed transmission. Why a two-speed transmission when 10-speeds are readily available? Electric motors have a vastly broader “sweet spot” of efficient torque delivery than combustion engines, so they don’t need frequent shifting to remain efficient. A low range with roughly double the ratio of the high range generally suffices for passenger vehicles.…

The 2021 Audi A4 is a midcycle refresh. But some refreshes are milder than others. The sheetmetal of the A4 and sibling S4 is ever so slightly tweaked, the infotainment and digital dash screens are new, and not much else has changed; engines and transmissions carry over. Why bother to include it in our Car of the Year competition? Well, the A4 has impressed us with its dynamics and chic, understated design inside and out. Besides, maybe Audi tuned a thousand little things that when summed wow us out of our socks. Among those little things, the 2021 A4 receives a 12-volt hybrid system that adds 13 hp to the gas engine’s output—meaning the powertrain has been updated, meeting the hurdle for entry. Did the A4 squeak its way into…

If you were the betting type, you might think that the odds-on favorite to win our 2021 Car of the Year award would be the Cadillac CT4. Why’s that? Pedigree. Twice this past decade, a car underpinned by General Motors’ excellent rear-drive Alpha platform has driven off with the Golden Calipers. The second-generation Cadillac CTS did so in 2014, followed two years later by the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro. Further, the Cadillac ATS, a car that in some ways the CT4 replaces, was a finalist in 2013. So Cadillac has been known to bring it. The new CT4 rides on an updated version of that chassis—unsurprisingly dubbed Alpha II, which it shares with the larger CT5. The CT4’s pedigree is certainly there, but how does it stack up against the criteria?…

It wasn’t all that long ago that a big sedan like the 2020 Genesis G90 would be considered the flagship vehicle for a luxury brand. As consumer tastes have changed, the big three European luxury automakers’ flagships—the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, and Mercedes-Benz S-Class—have all been joined by equally opulent flagship SUVs—the Audi Q8, BMW X7, and Mercedes-Benz G-Class and GLS-Class. But in the upstart Genesis lineup, the G90 stands alone as the king of the castle. It’s a convincing executive sedan. “A Korean domestic-market limousine,” editor-in-chief Mark Rechtin said while damning with faint praise: “This is what an elite luxury car would look and feel like, circa 2006.” The big, brooding G90 is the recipient of one of the most extensive midcycle updates we’ve seen in years. Its…

It’s not easy launching a new brand, but by all accounts Polestar is off to a good start. The new EV brand jointly owned by Geely and Volvo launched its first vehicle, the plug-in hybrid Polestar 1, late last year. Although it’s a fantastic vehicle—both as an engineering exercise and as a grand tourer—the Polestar 1 is expensive and limited to just 1,500 examples over a three-year run. Enter the Tesla-fighting 2021 Polestar 2, the brand’s first truly relevant vehicle—the introduction most folks will get to the new Sino-Swedish company. You’d be forgiven for thinking the 2, Polestar’s first full-electric vehicle, looks more like a Volvo than a car with a unique Polestar identity. Like the Polestar 1, the Polestar 2’s styling is cribbed from an older Volvo concept—in this…

The Hyundai Sonata makes a compelling case to grab our Golden Calipers this year with bold styling and an expanded lineup, which includes a hybrid and a new N Line model powered by a peppy turbo-four engine. With consumers continuing to gravitate to crossovers, will the revived Sonata be enough to slow the trend? And can it rise above the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord? The biggest surprise in the lineup is the N Line. Enthusiasts looking for a practical yet fun midsize sedan will likely find a lot to like with this one, including a 2.5-liter turbocharged I-4 making close to 300 hp. “This is quite a sporty sedan,” MotorTrend en Español managing editor Miguel Cortina said. “The body likes to lean in nicely in the corners. It’s engaging…

The CliffsNotes summary of the electric Porsche Taycan is this: a staggeringly impressive vehicle that struggled against some of our Car of the Year criteria. Remember, we employ six key criteria when evaluating cars during COTY, which is how the $26,000 Nissan Sentra is able to be in the same competition with a $146,000 electric Porsche. The Taycan knocked several of those criteria out of the park. But let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first. “You are looking at the least efficient fully electric vehicle currently produced today, period,” Buyer’s Guide director Zach Gale said. “How do you spin that?” You can’t. The Taycan Turbo S gets 68 mpg-e, whereas a comparable Tesla Model S P100D achieves 98 mpg-e. Gale continued: “You shouldn’t get a prize for…

The 2021 Ferrari Roma is an emphatic celebration of the Italian gran turismo, a genre that in the 1950s and ’60s resulted in some of the most beautiful and desirable cars ever built in Maranello. But the Roma is not a carefully crafted homage to the past, a contrived pastiche of retro whimsy wrapped around 21st century hardware. No, this Ferrari GT is in every way a thoroughly modern interpretation of a classic automotive concept, cleverly engineered and superbly executed. First things first: The Roma is not a replacement for the Portofino, Ferrari’s other V-8-powered front-engine GT. It is an addition to the lineup, and with a price tag of $222,620 it’s by a fraction the least expensive new Ferrari you can buy. In the rarefied world of Ferrari-nomics, it’s…

Tom Nguyen, Acura’s global development leader for the 2022 Acura MDX, has been waiting four years for this day. In 2016, he and a team of 19 engineers, product planners, and designers met at Acura’s Design Studio in Hawthorne, California, hopped into seven three-row SUVs built by competitors, and set off for a cabin in Mammoth. Over the next week they shared ideas, bickered over what they liked and disliked about those luxury three-rows, and burned the midnight oil to decide what direction they were going to take Acura’s next-generation MDX. “In Honda culture we have this concept called Waigaya,” Nguyen tells us. “People from diverse areas come together and speak as equals, and that’s how we hashed out what we want from the MDX.” Even though what you see…

@MT_Loverman Cars are going away and getting better at the same time For the first time in my decade at MotorTrend, I began the Car of the Year finalist debate—the one where we pick the winner—having no idea what car would win. In my heart of hearts, I wanted the zero-emission Porsche Taycan to emerge victorious, mostly because the air quality from the fires burning around California meant that my 3-year-old was forced to remain indoors for a five-day stretch. Anything to mitigate that. That’s just how I felt walking in. Our Of The Year awards use specific criteria, however, to ensure that a person’s feelings don’t dominate the process. We vote for the cars based on our criteria. Trouble was, this year five of the six finalists were exceptional.…

TESTERS/JUDGES MARK RECHTIN Editor-in-Chief JONNY LIEBERMAN Senior Features Editor KIM REYNOLDS Testing Director CHRIS WALTON Road Test Editor ERICK AYAPANA Associate Road Test Editor ZACH GALE Buyer’s Guide Director CHRISTIAN SEABAUGH Features Editor…

The BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe is the Bavarian brand’s newest and least expensive sedan, slotting right under the 3 Series sedan. Unlike most BMW sedans, however, it rides on the same front-drive-based platform as the X1 and X2 crossovers (and the Mini lineup), giving BMW buyers yet another choice if they’re looking to spend less than $40,000. The price tag is certainly attractive, but judges at this year’s Car of the Year competition wondered if the funky four-door is befitting of BMW’s roundel badge. The lineup includes the 228i xDrive Gran Coupe and the M235i xDrive Gran Coupe. Unlike the X1 and X2, which are offered in front- or all-wheel-drive configurations, the 2 Series Gran Coupe is only available with the latter (which is fine by us). Pricing for…

The Chrysler Pacifica has been a longtime favorite of MotorTrend. Not only do we love the way it drives, but we also love the way it treats the family. In fact, two years ago we crowned it America’s best family car after beating vehicles in several segments during our March Mayhem contest. For the 2021 model year, the Pacifica gets a decent midcycle upgrade, adding available all-wheel drive to the gas engine while keeping the magnificent Stow ’N Go seats. The 3.6-liter V-6 Pentastar continues to make 287 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque; the nine-speed automatic can now send the power to all four wheels thanks to the new AWD system. Instead of using an “AWD Lock” button, the system looks at things such as temperature, the use of…

The 2021 Kia K5 is trying to impress. This midsize sedan replaced the Optima in North America and adopted sportier styling than the outgoing model. The Optima wasn’t really known for its dynamic feeling or styling—it was a nice sedan that didn’t impress or disappoint. With the K5, however, Kia seeks to change that. With an all-turbo lineup, available all-wheel drive, and a spacious cabin, the K5 is already generating some buzz in the still-crowded midsize sedan segment. Whether you like it or hate it, the K5 can easily be spotted in a crowded parking lot. The front end gets a new iteration of Kia’s “tiger nose” grille and adds fake air vents plus the Z-shaped daytime running lights. The rear is more mature, as it adopts dual exhaust tubes…

More than a decade after Toyota’s third-generation minivan made its debut, the 2021 Sienna arrives with a modern cabin, hybrid-only powertrain, and more comfort and convenience items. Based on Toyota’s TNGA-K platform, which it shares with the RAV4, Highlander, and Venza, the Sienna aims to please families with its cool features, spacious center console, and lower floor, the latter making it easy for kids and grandparents to climb in. But first, you have to get past its new exterior styling. Purportedly inspired by Japan’s Shinkansen bullet train, the Sienna is both flashy and wacky. Its huge grille and sculpted lines on the front continue to the profile, where the muscular wheel flares give it an SUV-esque appearance. If the rear looks like the Supra, it’s not by mistake—Toyota designers wanted…

The democratization of luxury has proven difficult for many premium brands, none more so than Mercedes-Benz. Pilloried for its cynical first attempt at the entry-luxury CLA-Class subcompact sedan, the folks from Stuttgart could have packed it in. Instead, they doubled down, first with the A-Class (a 2020 COTY finalist) and then with the second-gen CLA, which is nothing short of impressive. “The previous version always felt built to a price and like it had been finished by Mercedes’ van division,” features editor Christian Seabaugh said. “The new one is a properly appealing luxury subcompact.” Because MotorTrend Car of the Year is meant to evaluate the entire vehicle line, we tested both a well-equipped “base” CLA 250 and the angry-as-a-swarm-of-murder-hornets AMG CLA 45. Normally, the base model underwhelms after folks are…

We know what it means. Or at least what it’s supposed to mean. Yet the word excellence in today’s hyperbolic lexicon has become the go-to endorsement of everything from resort timeshares to pharmaceutical marketing to pork industry remediation. Let’s assume for the moment that the word has been somewhat diluted. Climb into a 2021 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, however, and you will immediately understand the true emotional and physical definition of the word, its impact, and its inferred accountability. In sedan, coupe, or wagon form, the new E-Class is a stunning accomplishment. And it is the MotorTrend 2021 Car of the Year. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class carries the stout imprimatur of old-school luxury, from the graining of the dashboard wood to the suppleness of the heated and ventilated, posture-correct leather seats. But it…

The long, black coupe sits in a pool of sunlight washing down through a gap in the overpass above us. The engine burbles a classic V-8 refrain from hidden tailpipes as the headlights and hood ornament glow like candles in a winter window. An elbow rests on the open windowsill, but the driver is obscured by deep shadow. Surely, we’ve either stepped back in time or onto the set of a film noir. Then all hell breaks loose. The engine roars, its supercharger screaming over the exhaust and careening off the concrete walls. The spinning rear tires compete in the race to damage our hearing as the car becomes one with a cloud of smoke then emerges in a fury. This isn’t the ’40s, that’s not Humphrey Bogart, and that’s…