If you look closely at the ultra-pricey custom truck industry, you’ll notice a few trends. For one, money doesn’t always buy taste, and two, bespoke truck builders just can’t stop making six-wheeled monster pickups with obscene amounts of power. Southern California-based Rezvani has jumped on the dual rear-axle bandwagon with the apocalypse-ready Hercules 6×6. Picking up where the almost-as-bonkers Rezvani Tank SUV left off, the Hercules 6×6 adds a truck bed, a 1,300-hp supercharged 7.0-liter V-8 based on the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon crate engine, and, most importantly, another pair of wheels and on-demand six-wheel drive. Since the Rezvani Tank is a custom-bodied, highly modified Jeep Wrangler, it’s probably a safe guess that the Hercules starts life as a Jeep Gladiator pickup...
As a flagship luxury sedan, the Lexus LS should impress us more than any other passenger car in the brand’s lineup. But in some ways, it’s the more mainstream midsize ES and sometimes the even smaller IS sedan that commands more of our attention. With a mid-cycle update for the LS, Lexus aims to shove its full-size four-door to the front of your mind and remedy the key issues we have with the large luxury sedan, including its ride quality and interior usability. These changes were previewed earlier this year for Japan, but Lexus has finally released U.S.-specific information and confirmed that the 2021 Lexus LS hits dealerships in late November, with hybrid models arriving early next year. 2021 Lexus LS: Suspension Updates We’ve long complained that the LS sedan’s ride is rougher than it s...
A few months ago, we heard that Mazda was readying an inline-six engine for use in upcoming larger vehicles, including large sedans and crossover SUVs that could incorporate hybrid technology. We even found some patent filings that showed the inline-six’s notably compact design. Mounted longitudinally—so, pointed north and south in the car, front to back—this increased the potential for dynamically interesting, rear-drive (or rear-drive-based all-wheel drive) models in the BMW mold. A Mazda investor presentation provides some more details about what those vehicles will look like, and how this new large vehicle platform could spawn a hybrid SUV for America. The report was first spotted by the Japanese publication Car Watch and can be found here in PDF form. The good stuff is in the part of ...
Imagine a 1.2-liter Ducati L-twin, screaming its desmodromic song just inches behind your head—spinning 11,000 rpm, pushing something like 200 horsepower, and propelling your beautiful little carbon-fiber Porsche, which weighs a hair under a ton, through space. It’s a minimalist’s fantasy, the notion of a sports car reliant on a lack of weight rather than an abundance of horsepower to achieve remarkable performance. That’s a large part of the spirit of Porsche, and it was distilled into the 2013 904 Living Legend Concept. The car was light, lithe, and striking. For the first decade and a half of Porsche’s existence as a sports-car manufacturer, though, all of the company’s products fully embraced this philosophy. We think of Lotus as epitomizing the emphasis on weight reduction, but ...
You are looking at the Vision Race Service, a vehicle as delectably awesome as its name is lame. Created by Porsche‘s design team and built as a full-scale mockup in 2018, a real one of these would fit up to six people inside its sleek, Star Trek shuttlecraft–shaped body and, according to Porsche, slot into the family garage next to, say, a 911 or 718 Boxster. But this concept’s livery also nods to vans in Porsche’s past, namely the Volkswagen T1—that’s the Microbus—cargo vans and pickup trucks prominently used in the 1960s and ’70s as dealership parts shuttles and race-team support vehicles. The Renndeinst lettering on this concept’s flanks translates to “Race Service,” because of course, and is applied just below a debossed Porsche wordmark. Othe...
Porsche’s original Boxster sports car was presaged by the silver 1993 Boxster concept car that carried a strong whiff of the original 1955–56 550 Spyder. You know, the car that actor and cool-guy James Dean nicknamed the “Little Bastard” before meeting his early demise in it? Porsche wasn’t finished flirting with a 550 revival, however; after the Boxster came out in 1997, the German automaker rolled out a Boxster 550 Anniversary Edition celebrating the original sports car’s 50th birthday. Later, the Boxster Spyder models kept the 550’s idea of a stripped-down, lightweight mid-engine sports car alive. And just last year, there was this: The Vision Spyder concept. You probably didn’t see it, because it’s one of a trove of concept cars and desig...
Genesis G80 Full Overview Pro Great back seat Luxe features without the price Cool interior details Con Engine refinement issues Subpar ride/handling Quicker/more efficient competition 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 2021 G80, the Acura RLX, Lexus GS, and Lincoln Continental were discontinued, leaving the luxury sedan world three cars the poorer. You don’t get a prize just for showing up, though. Genesis attempts to earn its place...
Peter Salzmann is an Austrian daredevil. As a base jumper, he takes his life into his own hands on a regular basis, but apparently, the rush of falling from a helicopter and soaring downward through clouds and beautiful landscapes wasn’t cutting it anymore. Salzmann wanted a way to prolong his jumps. In essence, he wanted to fly. That’s where BMW came in. Salzmann worked with BMW’s i division to create a set of impellers for his wingsuit. The theory was that if the impellers create enough thrust, they would allow him to prolong his jumps. Think of Salzmann as sort of a human kite. It took three years for the electrified wingsuit to go from concept to completion. During that time, the suit was tested in a number of wind tunnels specifically designed to work out t...
The 2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo S‘s reign as the fastest executive car around the Nürburgring is over, as Mercedes-AMG reclaims the crown with its 2021 GT 63 S 4-Door. While the three-pointed star’s slinky sedan continues to rely on the same 630-hp twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 as before, the top-of-the-line trim benefits from a handful of chassis and suspension tweaks for the new model year, the combination of which helped the mighty Mercedes achieve a lap time of seven minutes and 27.8 seconds around the nearly 13-mile long track. That’s approximately two seconds quicker than the time logged by the 620-hp Panamera Turbo S, which knocked the GT 63 S 4-Door from the podium position earlier in the year. See all 7 photos In order to achieve this time, the GT 63 S 4-D...
BMW 4-Series Full Overview Pro Great engine Great handling Great ride Con That face Same old interior Gesture control There is a well-traveled rumor that the 2021 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 BMW 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 BMW M440i xDrive coupe is a blast. See all 23 photos But first, we must discuss design. BMW’s signature kidney grilles are suffering from hydronephrosis. Ma...
The Ram Power Wagon is the original four-by pickup, descended from the WC-series trucks that helped the United States military in World War II. As was the case with the Jeep CJ, these trucks‘ war-proven hardware adapted well to rugged civilian use. The Power Wagons were built to do work, and they did, no matter the terrain or conditions. Ram’s 75th Anniversary Edition is a tribute to the original, with plenty of aesthetic callouts and special badging to set it apart. See all 14 photos The 2021 Ram 2500 Power Wagon 75th Anniversary Edition‘s hardware is essentially the same as any other, but that’s no dig. The broader Ram HD range was our 2020 Truck of the Year, and the prior-generation, off-road-oriented 2500 Power Wagon earned a place in our hearts after a yea...
Land Rover’s Discovery may not seem all that exciting parked next to the new Defender SUV, its smaller and more off-road-focused sibling (and MotorTrend‘s 2021 SUV of the Year), but it’s not forgotten. For 2021, Land Rover has gone through the Discovery with a fine-tooth comb, uncovering a smattering of tiny opportunities for improvement. A few more USB ports here, a new shift lever there, and—biggest of all—a new touchscreen infotainment system named Pivi Pro. For an idea of just how small Land Rover thought when tackling its updates for the Discovery, take a look at this rig’s face. It looks pretty much the same as before, right? Almost. The LEDs in the headlights are lowered for a more purposeful appearance, the grille is new, and so are those straked vertical in...