Autos

A new Volkswagen Golf GTI arrives in the United States for the 2022 model year—in fact, it and the Golf R are the only confirmed versions of the company’s compact hatchback coming to our shores. Before it arrives, Volkswagen is sending off the seventh generation 2021 Golf GTI with some new goodies for its final year on our shores. Once again offered in S, SE, and Autobahn trims, the 2021 Golf GTI adds visual zest across the board courtesy of new black-painted side mirror covers and rear spoiler. Higher-end SE and Autobahn models also benefit from fresh 18-inch wheel designs, as well as an improved infotainment system. See all 18 photos Dubbed MIB3, the new setup brings wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, as well as SiriusXM with 360L, into the hatch’...

We spotted a camouflaged 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz crossover-based pickup on a trailer in the middle of the SoCal desert, possibly en route to Death Valley for some real life testing in hotter-than-hot conditions. After all, we saw a temperature of 110 degrees at the location we saw the truck, suitable to give any vehicle a healthy workout. See all 11 photos Hyundai, recognizing the need to increase its presence in the truck and SUV market, hopes the compact unibody pickup will do the trick. Is it even a truck? To the disappointment of diehard body-on-frame truck enthusiasts, the 2022 Santa Cruz is going to be a unibody, crossover-type truck reportedly built on the compact SUV Hyundai Tucson’s platform. It’ll most resemble the Honda Ridgeline, but smaller, perhaps making it bette...

The Endurance, not yet on sale, has already endured some hardship in a sense. Lordstown Motors emerged from the ashes of GM’s Workhorse W-15 hybrid pickup situation, which flamed out, but gave a breath of life to a new and arguably more compelling project. But all that history, and any promises Lordstown has made about the upcoming EV pickup, aren’t worth a hill of beans if it can’t do real truck stuff in the way customers want. This promotional video aims to prove that the Endurance has the goods to do the job—and see for yourself if you think customers are ready to jump aboard. The Endurance is just one of a number of EV pickups on the radar, with varying degrees of profile and vastly different ideas of what an EV truck should be. From the retro-futuristic Tesla Cybertr...

It’s hard to pull off a Jeep Wrangler in pink, but designer Afzal Kahn managed to do just that. This special Wrangler, painted in “3D texture pink military paint,” is currently up for grabs. And it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. The pink Jeep features a special design package from the Chelsea Truck Company. Front and center is a carbon-fiber grille with four slots. The model also features a new front bumper, special front lighting, an Iron Man vented hood, and a set of electrically folding side steps. A suspension lift kit gives the SUV even more presence. In the rear, there is a quad exhaust system and a Chelsea Truck Company spare wheel cover. Finishing off the look are black, star-shaped 20-inch wheels. See all 20 photos Inside, the SUV sports quilted leathe...

The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is already a car worthy of the Shelby name, but for those who want a more conspicuous connection to racing legend and entrepreneur Carroll Shelby, Las Vegas-based Shelby American is offering a Carroll Shelby Signature Edition package that turns your stock Mustang GT500 into a GT500SE with more power and an official Shelby CSM number. Wondering why you’d want Shelby to tune and Shelby-fy a car that’s already a Shelby? The relationship between Ford and Shelby can be a little confusing, so here’s a quick breakdown: Ford licenses the Shelby name for the GT500 and GT350, which were developed 100-percent in-house at Ford. Shelby American is the company that Carroll Shelby founded, and still builds its own cars including continuation-series Cob...

GM and EVgo have identified 40 metropolitan areas across the country in need of better fast-charging infrastructure. EVgo has previously announced it will power its chargers with renewable energy. See all 5 photos “We are moving quickly to bring new EVs to market that customers will love,” GM chief executive officer Mary Barra said in a prepared statement. “We know how important the charging ecosystem is for drivers, one that includes access to convenient and reliable fast charging.” The first of the new stations will open in early 2021, with each station offering charging for at least four electric vehicles at once. The stations will be located in highly visible areas in both cities and suburbs, including access for renters and apartment dwellers who do not have at...

When Acura pulled the sheets off the new TLX sedan earlier this year, it revealed key specs for the regular-grade model—but left out a few details about the zestier Type S trim, namely, how much horsepower and torque its turbocharged V-6 kicks out. Well, Acura has finally come out with those numbers, and they’re much more competitive than anything put forth by the old TLX. The 2021 Acura TLX Type S’s 3.0-liter V-6 will make 355 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque. That horsepower figure edges the Audi S4’s 349, but falls shy of the BMW M340i’s 382 horsepower. Other sport-focused six-cylinder stalwarts in the entry-luxury segment are more powerful, too, including Infiniti’s Q50 Red Sport 400 and Mercedes-AMG’s C43. However, the TLX has taken a big step for...

We can finally start speculating about the sort of accessories the 2021 Ford Bronco will have at its disposal as the Blue Oval’s off-road SUV looks to one-up the legendary Jeep Wrangler. Admittedly, Ford hasn’t released much in the way of details regarding the sort of add-ons it plans to offer on the model, but that hasn’t stopped curious fans from digging in and trying to figure it out for themselves. One particularly motivated member of the Bronco6G forum recently dug up an image that shows a Bronco with a set of rad-looking tube doors. We previously published information on the Bronco’s removable doors, including the possibility of tube doors appearing on the model. This is the first time we’ve seen an image of the tube doors outside of a patent drawing, th...

Hyundai tore the wraps off of the updated 2021 Santa Fe crossover SUV in early June. But, that was the global model. Thanks to the sharp sights of a MotorTrend reader, though, we’re finally able to get our first look at the North American-spec version of the updated Hyundai model. Predictably, our version of the South Korean brand’s crossover SUV looks almost identical to the 2021 Santa Fe the company already unveiled abroad. This includes the model’s new mug, which sports a wide grille bookended by new headlights with integrated LED daytime running lights that appear to connect with a separate set of lamps located near the base of the crossover’s hood.  See all 30 photos Those with keen eyes, however, will notice a handful of small alterations to this preprodu...

The old-school body-on-frame SUV remains mostly unchanged, too. The only significant difference for 2021 is that the Heritage Edition now gets the option of a third row of seats and two new exterior colors: Classic Silver Metallic and Magnetic Gray Metallic join Midnight Black Metallic and Blizzard Pearl. All Heritage Edition cars come with a model-specific set of sweet-looking BBS-sourced 18-inch wheels. See all 37 photos The power plant for this mammoth SUV is the same 5.7-liter V-8 as before and it once again churns out 381 hp and 401 lb-ft of torque. Likewise, the Land Cruiser’s hydraulically controlled sway bars (known as Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System in Toyota-speak), hill-descent control, multi-terrain select, and the lockable Torsen center differential are still all ...

If Rod Hall ever had the opportunity to race a new, 2021 Ford Bronco, we think it just might resemble this rendering. And odds are he would have left the competition in the dust. Rod Hall dedicated his life to racing four-wheel-drive vehicles, accomplishing one of the most impressive racing resumes ever seen in the professional off-road racing world by winning over 160 major events and a variety of SCORE, HDRA, and BiTD championship titles. One of his coolest accomplishments was racing in every single one of the first fifty SCORE Baja 1000, one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world. From its inception in 1967 (then called the NORRA Mexican 1000 Rally) to his last start racing a Hummer in 2017 when he was nearly 80, Hall collected 25 class wins and thousands of memories. One o...

Like a cockroach in a nuclear wasteland, the Toyota 4Runner simply refuses to die. No surprise, then, that the 4Runner enters the 2021 model year as fundamentally the same SUV it was more than a decade ago. Despite this, Toyota continues to improve upon its aging mid-size model, and all 2021 4Runners benefit from the addition of LED low-beam headlights and fog lights. Step up to the more luxurious Limited, dark-hued Nightshade, or off-road-ready TRD Pro trims and the Japanese automaker tosses in LED high-beam headlights, too. Exterior lighting is far from the only change to the body-on-frame 4Runner, and the boxy Toyota looks to capitalize on its off-tarmac capabilities by way of a new (and previously unveiled) Trail special edition model that adds TRD wheels, a Yakima rooftop ca...