Car Comparison Tests

In an era where luxury midsize sedans are hitting the guillotine, Mercedes-Benz and Genesis are doubling down on the segment. Both automakers are bringing the best of their portfolios to make their midsize sedans—the E-Class and G80, respectively—more special. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class, known for its peaceful ride, elegant design, and comfortable cabin, has been a staple in the segment, and Mercedes has used its legacy to keep improving and raising the bar every time it has a chance. The new Genesis G80, on the other hand, is the rookie of the group. It arrives with confidence to enter a competitive segment that’s dominated by Germans, but the South Koreans have a master plan and brought the best engineers and designers from around the globe to build a proper luxury brand. Elegant mi...

The Briton (but Bavarian by DNA) is the most powerful Mini Cooper ever made. Its scoops, ducts, wings, lightweight forged wheels, and lack of a back seat immediately communicate its hard-core intent. Only 3,000 are being made, so you won’t see many around, either. These two little nutjobs represent completely different approaches to the hot-compact formula; upon closer examination, which philosophy wins out? See all 99 photos The AMG isn’t a hatch at all. It’s a swoopy compact sedan—even though Mercedes insists it’s a coupe—that weighs in at 3,700 pounds. But the weight doesn’t really matter when the hand-built 2.0-liter under the hood makes a frankly ridiculous 382 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque. The third iteration of the Mini John Cooper Works GP featur...

It’s no secret: Coupe and sedan sales are in decline, and sport utilities are keeping many automakers in the black. That doesn’t mean fun died. More SUVs are available with previously unheard of amounts of power, transmissions with multiple shift programs, and increasingly clever AWD systems. Intelligent and active suspensions enable physics-defying cornering poise and precision, plus ever-improving tire technology that makes it all work for the intended purpose: a sport utility—emphasis on sport—that’s fun to drive. These two examples, however, go beyond mere sport. With zero-to-60 mph acceleration in under four seconds, they’ll embarrass muscle cars and purebred sports cars alike. These are Super SUVs. In this Super SUV shootout, we pitted the visually stunning 20...

Hot-rod Euro SUVs are great fun and all, but what if you’re looking for three rows and to spend about half the average base price of, say, the super-utes in this recent comparison test? You can rule out smaller two-row European SUVs such as the Audi SQ5, BMW X3 M, or Mercedes-AMG GLC SUV. And among three-row options, Audi’s SQ7 starts at $85,795, BMW’s X7 M50i commands $100,595, and the 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 surely won’t be cheaper than the outgoing model, which stickered for $126,150. So you’ll be needing to buy American. May we suggest one of these two Yankee high-po utes, the Dodge Durango 4 SRT 392 or the Ford Explorer ST? See all 36 photos You should know that a Ford Explorer ST with all the boxes ticked just tops $65,000 (from a base of $55,...

For decades, Porsche has established the benchmark in many (if not all) vehicle classes that it competes in. From the 911 to the Macan, every Porsche is known for its superior handling, body control, and finesse. The Porsche Cayenne is no exception. Since its inception in 2003, the Cayenne has proven naysayers wrong, winning comparison tests and even MotorTrend SUV of the Year. Now, as a new generation emerges, the Cayenne is once again making some noise. The Mercedes-Benz GLE has had a lot of the same success as the Porsche (its predecessor, the Mercedes ML, won Truck of the Year in 1998), but it’s never been a segment standout like the Cayenne. That doesn’t mean it’s far behind, though. As the line’s highest performance variant, the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S‘ ma...

You want it all, don’t you? Easy to park, yet spacious inside. Efficient and lively. Docile, but also burly—just like a grown-up SUV. These are all likely reasons why you’re looking at subcompact crossovers. Oh, you want sporty and luxurious, too? If an SUV extant hits all those marks, we’ve yet to drive it. But between the 2021 BMW X1 and the redesigned 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA 250, there’s good news: You can have most of it. However, one gives you more—a lot more—in how it backs up the badge it wears. To decide which is better to live with every day, we drove city streets, bustling freeways, and curvy roads in between because when you want it all, you have to try a little bit of everything. See all 70 photos Small Outside, Big Inside Looking at the specs, you might ...

We love driving fast. We like SUVs. When you merge those two together, you get fast and powerful SUVs. Sounds like fun, no? BMW’s M division and Mercedes-AMG are both known for their performance coupes, but lately they’ve been crafting sporty SUVs with the aim of delivering the same go-fast experience you’d expect in one of their high-performance cars. Sure, SUVs are bigger, taller, and heavier, but when you add a powerful engine, retune the suspension, and add all-wheel drive, the result is a thrilling experience. The BMW X6 M Competition and the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S are two gripping SUVs whose job is simple yet difficult to achieve: enchant the driver. The two automakers share the same objective, but each goes about the execution in its own way. Which one does it best?...

They used to rule the road, these nimble, compact rear-drive sedans, ready to shred Angeles Crest upon request and zip across states with swift composure. But with SUVs now the first choice of the majority of Americans, a shrinking number of these performance-minded sedans reside in showrooms in hopes that someone might be smitten with a design that is more sleek than chunky. Comparing similar mainstream and luxury cars can’t get much closer than this. Kia and Genesis are both part of the Hyundai Motor Group. The two cars are built on the same platform. They share the same engines and transmissions and countless other bits and bobbles. In the industry’s distant past, lazy, cynical product planning would mean they’d be literally the same car with different badges. Today, t...