Innehållsförteckning för May 2021 från MotorTrend

When Donald Trump was elected president four years ago, MotorTrend wrote a critical analysis of what the Trump administration would mean for our way of transport. Republican-leaning readers dared me to deliberate this issue in a similarly critical manner the next time a Democrat resided in the Oval Office. I shall not disappoint. “Corvette Joe” Biden is president of the United States, and like all new CEOs of America, he has a list of goals, including how he wants Americans to get around the country. But just like George H.W. Bush being mystified by a supermarket scanner, Biden’s four-decade Beltway residency and Amtrak commute has made him ill-equipped to navigate the realities of transportation’s future. And progressive Democrats are riding shotgun, one gaudy initiative at a time. Biden is expected…

After a single-year hiatus, the Nissan Pathfinder returns for the 2022 model year. Having shed its predecessor’s jelly-bean shape, the new Pathfinder instead wears rugged bodywork that more closely resembles the look of the larger body-on-frame 2021 Nissan Armada. Don’t let the styling fool you, though; the Pathfinder retains front-drive-based unibody underpinnings. Although the squarer shape, swollen fenders, canted C-pillar, and imposing mug make it look larger than its 2020 counterpart (at least in photos), the three-row Nissan SUV actually sees its overall length shrink by 1.5 inches, to 197.0. As before, wheelbase measures 114.2 inches. Predictably, the available cargo capacity changes a little. With 16.6, 45.0, and 80.5 cubic feet of space behind the third, second, and first rows of seats, respectively, there are gains of 0.4 and 1.0…

Wireless Battery Management Systems A BMS manages the charging and discharging of a battery pack by monitoring its current, voltage, temperature, and state of charge so it can safely be used for thousands of charge/discharge cycles. This monitoring has traditionally been done via copper wires connecting each cell, but switching to 2.4-GHz wireless communication can eliminate 75 to 200 pounds of wiring. This also eliminates time delays and makes it possible to time-synchronize measurements across the entire pack. GM’s Ultium battery packs arriving in 2022 will use a system by Analog Devices Inc., and TI Automotive introduced a system it will roll out shortly thereafter. Mercedes-Benz Hyperscreen This 56-inch-wide curved whopper of an instrument and infotainment screen will make its debut in the Mercedes EQS. Its aluminum silicate Gorilla Glass…

Virtual CES 2021 sucked as much as Virtual Everything Else did, but compelling news broke regarding lidar and autonomous driving. I’m not dialed in enough to sort lidar hype from heroics, so I connected with Tom Jellicoe, an optics expert at the Technology Partnership, a U.K.-based consultancy. Jellicoe was kind enough to Cambridge-mastersplain these latest “third-generation” lidar sensors and their VCSEL array semiconductor lasers to me. For the newbies: Today’s lidar works by emitting pulsed laser light into the surrounding area, which then bounces back to the sensor, allowing the unit to detect its surroundings multiple times per second. This is key to any autonomous vehicle driving and adjusting to everything around it. (Tesla is the lone notable holdout to incorporating lidar into automated driving.) First-gen lasers were super expensive,…

Times change. And fast. Just seven years ago—the last time we published a midsize sedan Big Test comparison—four-door family car sales were booming. Back then, four midsize sedans made the top 10 best-selling list. In 2020? Only the Toyota Camry made the cut. Expand that to the top 20, and the Honda Accord squeezes through in 17th place. Americans bought more RAV4s than Altimas, Optimas, Sonatas, Mazda 6s, and Legacy sedans combined. The once-popular midsize sedan is having an existential crisis. The lineup 1 Honda Accord $32,285 2 Hyundai Sonata $32,174 3 Kia K5 $31,430 4 Mazda 6 $34,245 5 Nissan Altima $32,905 6 Subaru Legacy $30,820 7 Toyota Camry $29,217 The combination of reduced space, a lower ride height relative to SUVs, and cheap gas is killing sedans. As…

Every so often, Toyota, purveyor of sensible, family-friendly SUVs, minivans, and sedans, builds a car that absolutely blows you away: the 2000GT that made its debut in 1965 and was intended to take on the Jaguar E-Type; the rally-inspired Celica GT-Four of the early ’90s; the flawed but fabulous Lexus LFA with its screaming naturally aspirated V-10. The 2020 Toyota GR Yaris is without a doubt a member of this select group. In fact, it might be the best of the lot. You see, this little hot hatch, specifically designed and engineered to allow the Yaris to compete in the World Rally Championship, is perhaps the most focused driver’s car you can buy right now this side of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The GR Yaris proves Toyota can build…

The British are famous for understatement, so much so you’d believe it if someone told you it was codified in common law. Rolls-Royce, the most British of automakers, treats understatement with the same reverence it treats the Spirit of Ecstasy that adorns its cars: the utmost. Six years ago, Rolls launched the Ghost Series II, insisting it was a “subtle” update. Now it presents a third-generation Ghost (no “series” appellation) described by a design movement Rolls-Royce itself fabricated: “post opulence.” Design Much as no Rolls-Royce is ever subtle, neither is it ever unopulent. But the new 2021 Ghost is better called “post ostentatious.” Opulence is most commonly associated with frivolity and excess. Ostentatiousness, that’s what Rolls wants to get past—and where it succeeds (measured, of course, in the context of…

We still have to wait a year to see Ford’s full-throated response to the Ram TRX when the special F-150 Raptor R arrives with a powerful V-8. But we’re just as excited to see the latest twin-turbo V-6 Raptor that Ford unveiled recently. You’ll be able to buy it this summer with optional 37-inch tires—a production truck first. Ford needed two new frames for the Raptor lineup, both modified to accommodate the new five-link coil-sprung rear suspension, and one further revised to accommodate a 37-inch spare tire mounted under the bed. In fact, the 37s are part of a whole system, including wheels and tires, different shock hardware, and different overall tuning. The standard Raptor will come with 35-inch tires. In the past, 35s were a big step. “To get…

Let’s not beat around the bushings. The Honda Civic Type R LE loses all of 50 pounds compared to a standard Civic Type R Touring, according to Honda. That’s not a lot when a Type R Touring weighs more than 3,100 pounds. Where the weight came from, though, matters. Twenty-eight pounds of weight saving came from removing sound-deadening material in the roof, rear hatch, dashboard, and front fenders, all high points on the car. Also included in that total are the deletion of the rear wiper and cargo cover, also fairly high up. The real score, though, was in the reduction of unsprung weight. Unsprung weight is everything not resting on the suspension’s springs. Honda already saved 2.5 pounds per front wheel last year by switching to two-piece front brake…

Cruise, a self-driving tech startup, was founded in 2013 and bought by General Motors in 2016. GM remains a majority shareholder, but Cruise operates independently, with 1,600 employees. It is headquartered in San Francisco, where it does much of its on-road testing with modified Chevrolet Bolts, and will soon add the Cruise Origin driverless vehicle. We caught up with Mohamed “Mo” ElShenawy, Cruise’s senior vice president of engineering. How has having GM as a partner changed the trajectory of what you’re able to do? We continue to work as an independent Silicon Valley tech company, with innovation as the key ingredient. [Autonomous vehicle] software had never been invented before, and we realized to get there we have to experiment, hire the best talent in the tech industry, and compete for…

When it comes to off-roading, Jeep sets the standard, especially at reasonable price levels. Other brands offer all-wheel drive, and a few of them build a seriously capable off-roader or two if you’re willing to pay, but no one builds a trail-ready model in every SUV segment like Jeep does. And if you want to keep the price less than $40,000 and still get serious off-road performance, Jeep is the only game in town. Or was. The Ford Bronco Sport Badlands is finally here to crash the trail party. And in the battle for budget off-road supremacy, it most directly challenges the Jeep Compass Trailhawk. The Contenders Jeep’s insistence on covering every bit of SUV-market white space made us think hard about which model to invite to this comparison. The…

I feel guilty, and a little bit confused. Some of what I’m about to say will go down like a tungsten catamaran. But hear me out. I’ve just driven a 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S—now fitted with a seven-speed manual gearbox as a no-cost option—and you can probably predict the gist to be: “The manual transmission is for real drivers. It’s more fun, more engaging, requires more skill, and, really, only wankers drive performance cars with a dual-clutch or some other such automated gearbox doing the work for them. The end.” This refrain was a lot more reality-based a decade-plus ago, when a sports car equipped with an automatic transmission usually meant a neutered experience with a traditional, torque-converter ’box. Those transmissions might or might not have decided to select…

Until now, the only things Chevrolet had to fear when it looked at its Colorado versus Ford’s Ranger were the Ranger’s brand equity and Ford’s dominance in pickup fleet sales. When it came to the product, the latest Ranger couldn’t touch the Colorado. But the 2021 Ranger Tremor significantly closes the gap with the Colorado ZR2. The Tremor package makes this Ranger generation the best it’s ever been. Its combination of fatter tires, better shocks, and new rear springs goes a long way toward fixing the ride and handling flaws that had overshadowed its strengths. The standard Ranger feels wildly under-damped as it throws occupants from side to side, even as you do something as benign as entering a driveway at an angle. Even driving straight down the road, the…

George W. Bush was just finishing up his first term as president of the United States when Nissan last redesigned its Frontier midsize pickup. Nearly 20 years later, the entry-level truck finally sports brand-new bodywork, albeit draped over underpinnings updated last year. That’s no bad thing, though, as Nissan has continued to massage the Frontier’s frame and powertrain lineup over the years. Notably, the Frontier welcomed a new 310-hp 3.8-liter V-6 and nine-speed automatic as its sole powertrain for the 2020 model year. That carries over for this redesigned 2022, and the previous four-cylinder engine and manual transmission options remain no-shows. As such, we doubt the new Frontier’s base price will come in at less than the 2021 truck’s $28,185 starting sum. Gone is the old truck’s outdated interior. In…

As the result of a more extensive redesign than the typical midcycle refresh, the 2021 Honda Ridgeline’s sheetmetal forward of its windshield is all-new, and it shows. A more prominent, larger grille gives the Ridgeline a bolder look and a more upright front end. The trim that crosses the upper part of the grille is chrome on the RTL and RTL-E trims, and we’ll leave judgments of its attractiveness to you. On entry-level Sport trims and the snazzier Black Edition models, this unibrow has a classier, lower-key gloss black finish. The lower front fascia is restyled, too, with big side vents that serve an aerodynamic purpose, and it recalls the controversial 2019 Silverado’s Megatron-helmet-style cheekbone garnishes. The Ridgeline’s is perhaps a more successful, if not more subtle, implementation of a…

Readers Respond to Our Best Driver’s Car Issue I’m not a Lamborghini hater, but I just wasn’t interested in reading about the 2020 BDC winner. The Huracán Evo just doesn’t trip my trigger in photos. I read the rest of the magazine and set it to the side. My bride asked, “Are you done with this?” I snatched it back like it was the last print car mag in existence (some truth, there) and returned to my corner to extract the last few unread words. I should’ve read Scott Evans’ article days ago. He says nothing about the Lambo for four paragraphs yet had me hooked by the second. That was just the warm-up. Thanks for keeping me interested. Excellent work, Scott. Jim Streicher Marsing, Idaho Aloha! The outrigger mail…

Here we were worried about the future of performance at Lexus. The midsize GS sport sedan and its spicy GS F halo flatlined last year, and Lexus seems to have busied itself diluting the F hot-rod division’s name with flash-over-dash F Sport styling packages available even on its hybrids, crossovers, and hybrid crossovers. Only a single full-blown F model—the RC F coupe—is left, and an entire generation has grown up unaware that the shrieking V-10-powered LF-A sports car existed. No wonder the recently updated IS sedan, in particular the IS 350 F Sport model, feels like it’s the chest compressions keeping Lexus performance alive. The IS 350’s sporty ride and handing balance is satisfying and fun, though its 311-hp V-6 engine could use a jolt. But stand back, everyone, because…

One of the crazier, hard-to-swallow truths of the automotive industry: A whole lot of cars are fed to the Crusher. What’s the Crusher, you ask? It’s a dramatized catch-all phrase to gin up emotions when cars are seemingly destroyed needlessly. The cops pop you and your buddies for what they allege is street racing? Off to the Crusher your whips go. Dodge decides to destroy a whole bunch of what most people would call perfectly good Vipers? Off to the Crusher! The federal government attempts to pull the nation out of the 2008 recession by jump-starting the auto industry and filling roads with newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles via its Cash for Clunkers program? The Crusher it is. But seriously, why crush cars? Well, in the case of those Vipers, they…

The Wikipedia entry on the first-gen Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen says the truck needed 27 seconds to hit 62 mph. In my case, foot flat on the floor, hustling the long shifter as quickly as I could, I stopped counting after 15, because who cares at that point? This is a vehicle with a supposed top speed of 112 kph, or 70 mph, on flat ground at sea level; I got it up to 120 kph (75 mph) going down a big hill on the freeway. No, an ex-military G-Wagen redone by Expedition Motor Co. isn’t about speed whatsoever, and that’s half its charm. You don’t need to drive a 1990 Mercedes-Benz 250GD like this one with your foot quite on the floor constantly to keep up with modern traffic, but you…

“Designing cars is nothing more than applied futurology,” says Mercedes-Benz chief designer Bruno Sacco. But if the futurology of the ’50s had come true, our streets would be full of atomic-powered cars with joystick controls and radar guidance systems. In truth, the basic concept of the motor car has hardly changed in 70 years—four wheels, steering wheel, petrol engine up front, room aboard for between four and six passengers. On the eve of the 21st century, the car remains remarkably true to its origins. I wrote those words 30 years ago, for a cover story published in the August 27, 1991, edition of the Australian weekly news magazine, The Bulletin. The story attempted to bring together developments in automotive technology, emerging social and political trends, and environmental issues to predict…