Up and Atom: The Ariel innovators behind Britain's Best Driver's Car
Posted in CAR NEWS on June 12, 2021
Tags: News
Matt Childs - parts manager, nine years at Ariel “I have a set pattern,” Matt Childs, the parts manager, tells me. “We go around four times a day making sure the technicians have what they want for the builds. In the morning, any spare time is spent making sure orders go out. The courier comes about 1.30pm. And in the afternoon, it’s a case of packing away the day’s deliveries and making sure we make Read More »
Used car hero: Revisiting the E39 BMW M5
Posted in CAR NEWS on June 12, 2021
Tags: News
Unlike so many overblown modern equivalents, the M5’s chassis and steering work in most settings. It feels big but not huge; the suspension copes with narrower single carriageways with no little fluency, provided the surface doesn’t get too rough or the inputs too spiky. The steering, meanwhile, is pretty moderate and measured but wellweighted and consistent. There’s just a hint of squidginess to the take-up of the recirculating ball set-up that’s detectable as you load Read More »
Tackling the North East 250 in the five-star Porsche Taycan
Posted in CAR NEWS on June 12, 2021
Tags: News
Rain has started to fall as we continue onwards, the Taycan’s all-wheel drive system unflustered by increasingly wet conditions. We don’t stop at Braemar because we’re planning a break here on the way back, so we follow the River Dee towards the vast royal estate at Balmoral before slotting off towards Tomintoul on the A939 and another long stretch of moors and peaks, passing the smaller ski centre at Lecht. The scenery is fractionally less Read More »
New 2021 Lexus NX: firm's first plug-in hybrid brings 302bhp
Posted in CAR NEWS on June 12, 2021
Tags: News
Lexus has ushered in the second-generation version of its NX crossover, which has gained a 302bhp plug-in hybrid option along with a bold new cabin design and evolved exterior styling. The latest iteration of Lexus’s best-selling model in Europe arrives shortly after the brand’s announcement that it will ramp up its electrification efforts with 10 new hybrid, PHEV and pure-electric models by 2025. The new NX forms a key part of that assault, bringing with Read More »
VW says data breach exposed 3.3 million U.S. Audi customers or shoppers
Posted in REVIEWS on June 11, 2021
WASHINGTON — Volkswagen AG's U.S. unit said a data breach at a vendor impacted more than 3.3 million customers and prospective buyers in North America. Nearly all those impacted were current or potential customers of Audi, one of the German automaker's luxury brands. Volkswagen Group of America said on Friday an unauthorized third party obtained limited personal information about customers and interested buyers from a vendor that its Audi Volkswagen brands and some U.S. and Canadian dealers used for digital Read More »
Dodge's quickest-ever muscle car will allegedly be electric
Posted in REVIEWS on June 11, 2021
Dodge has repeatedly warned it will need to shift away from the V8 in order to comply with looming emissions regulations. Going electric isn't an excuse to stop making performance cars, however. The firm will reportedly leverage the instant torque of a battery-powered drivetrain to create the quickest car it has ever released. Part of the giant Stellantis group formed earlier in 2021, Dodge is following the rest of its sister companies towards electrification. Anonymous Read More »
2022 Ford Maverick is here, plus the next Toyota Land Cruiser | Autoblog Podcast #682
Posted in REVIEWS on June 11, 2021
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by News Editor Joel Stocksdale. This week they cover the hottest car news, particularly the 2022 Ford Maverick, plus the new Toyota Land Cruiser and Kia Sportage. They also discuss cars they've driven (the Kia Rio and Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid) and a car one of them rode in (the new Toyota GR 86). Finally, they reach into the mailbag and help Read More »
Maserati teases all-electric 2022 GranTurismo prototype
Posted in REVIEWS on June 11, 2021
Maserati trotted out an early prototype of the 2022 GranTurismo this week, teasing the all-electric replacement for its long-running luxury coupe. The spy-style photographs were shot around the streets of Modena, near the automaker's Innovation Lab, Maserati said in the announcement accompanying the shots. The previous-generation GranTurismo was in production for 12 years before finally retiring in 2019. The new GranTurismo and its drop-top counterpart, the GranCabrio, have been in development since 2019, but it Read More »
Forget cryptocurrency, to buy a Polestar you can use art
Posted in REVIEWS on June 11, 2021
We've seen some interesting ways of paying for cars come up in the past few years, from subscriptions to cryptocurrency. But Polestar is going to try something particularly unusual: accepting payment in the form of art. The program will run from now until August 15 in the U.S. and Europe, and it only applies to the Polestar 1 sports car. Almost any kind of art can be used to purchase a Polestar 1: "paintings, sculptures, Read More »
The Tesla paradox: It's the rocket, you're 'Spam in a can'
Posted in REVIEWS on June 11, 2021
Tags: Opinion
Elon Musk last night kicked off production of the Tesla Model S Plaid performance sedan, and as usual his standup routine was a flurry of superlatives: The car will do 0-to-60 in 1.99 seconds — being sure to edge out the 2-second mark out to the second decimal place. It will do the quarter-mile in 9.23 seconds. It can reach 200 mph. It makes over 1,000 horsepower, with 20 to spare. Each benchmark is checked Read More »