First Drives

What a difference 15 years makes. When this author’s Audi S4 rolled off of the production line in February of 2005, efficiency, CO2 emissions, and miles per gallon were all secondary—or even tertiary—concerns to the big, naturally aspirated V-8 planted under its hood. In 2020, as we set off to drive a prototype version of the 2021 Volkswagen ID4, the opposite could not be more true, and that little black S4 seems all the more a relic. The electric future we’re waiting for isn’t the future at all—it’s right here, right now. There isn’t much doubt that Dieselgate put VW into a bit of a bind. It forced the company to clean up its act, to commit to a more honest future, and to build the very electric vehicle we drove for this review. An SUV version of the not...

Quick quiz: How many 400-plus-hp production cars has Volvo built? The 402-hp 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric P8 is one of the most significant cars the Swedish brand has launched, right up there with the P144 Amazon, the 760, and the S80. But that significance derives not from being one of the most powerful Volvos ever produced (along with the Polestar-tweaked XC90 T8 PHEV), but rather what produces that power. The XC40 Recharge Pure Electric P8 is Volvo’s first electric car. The headlines: The XC40 Recharge P8 is powered by a pair of 201-hp electric motors, one mounted at the front axle, the other at the rear, giving a total system output of 402 horsepower and 486 lb-ft of torque and, of course, all-wheel drive. The motors are fed by a 78-kWh lithium-ion battery pack tha...

Compared with many of today’s compact SUVs the 2020 Suzuki Jimny is slow, crude, and cramped. It drives a lot like a mid-’80s rear-drive Japanese car. But it’s also so honest and unpretentious, so full of character and charm, and so surprisingly capable at doing what it was designed to do that it makes you smile every time you slide behind the wheel, something that’s unlikely to ever happen getting into a Toyota RAV4 or Chevy Equinox. In today’s fast-paced, ultra-connected, digitally enhanced automotive world, the Suzuki Jimny is one of life’s simple pleasures. See all 45 photos The 2020 Jimny traces its roots back 50 years, to a tiny, Jeeplike 4×4 called the LJ10. Launched in April 1970, the Suzuki Jimny LJ10 had a ladder-frame chassis, leaf-sprung...

Sixth gear, nudging 170 mph, and Stowe Corner, Silverstone’s deceptively fast right-hander, is closing fast. Stay off the brakes … Stay off the brakes… Now! The steering wheel squirms slightly and the McLaren 765LT‘s nose dips sharply as the four 15.4-inch carbon-ceramic rotors are clamped by Brembo calipers. Flick the left paddle. Fifth gear. Flick it again. Fourth gear. Ease the pressure on the brake pedal just a touch and turn in. Feel the weight transfer keep the front axle planted all the way into the apex. Marvel at how faithfully the rear axle follows. Off the brake pedal completely and gently, oh so gently, squeeze the throttle and find the balance. Patience … Patience … The Trofeo Rs are nibbling, mouse-like, at the limits of adhesion. Clip the hungry curb that jumps o...

Not that long ago, if you wanted an AMG-massaged Mercedes E-Class that flew below the radar, you opted for the wagon. No one expected a family load lugger to have a big-horsepower engine and autobahn-crushing performance; it was the perfect stealth performance car. But as we stumble into the third decade of the 21st century, wagons are very much cars for the cognoscenti. Enthusiasts look twice at a wagon these days, and if they see wide tires, big brakes, and toothy grille and they hear the rumble from the quad exhaust, they’ll know. However, no one will look twice at the 2021 Mercedes-AMG E 63 S  sedan. The 2021 AMG E 63 S sedan is essentially a midcycle face-lift of the W213-based car launched in 2017, combining a mild cosmetic nip and tuck with the software and user...

Porsche has given its Panamera lineup a midcycle refresh, tweaking the exterior styling, changing up powertrains, and unlocking the electronic goody bag to add more standard features. We’ve already covered the upgrades in detail, but to quickly recap the major ones: The entry-level Panamera gets the newer Audi-developed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6 of the Panamera 4 instead of the old single turbo 3.0-liter engine; Porsche’s own 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 gets 20 more horses in GTS trim and makes 620 horsepower in the new Turbo S model; and the 4S E-Hybrid’s powertrain now makes 552 horsepower and will take the Panamera 33 miles on all-electric power alone thanks to a bigger battery. The 2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo S replaces the Turbo in the company’s luxury four-do...

As we noted in our first look of the 2021 Porsche Panamera, Zuffenhausen is worsening the “paradox of choice” customers face when trying to select their ideal powertrain, by dropping two engine offerings but adding three new ones. We’ve just driven the middle of these new engines—the plug-in electric-boosted twin-turbo V-6 Panamera 4S E-Hybrid that makes 552 hp and 553 lb-ft. That output rating has Porsche casting this new model as a greener proxy for the departed 550-hp/567-lb-ft twin-turbo-V-8-powered Panamera Turbo. Is it? 2021 Porsche Panamera 4S E-Hybrid: Performance We haven’t mounted our Vbox gear yet, but Porsche says trading two cylinders for an electric motor and battery only blunts the 4S E-Hybrid’s launch-controlled 0-60 mph time by 0.1 second rela...

Our $84,845 (as-tested) Aviator Grand Touring Reserve seems to tick all the boxes: a plug-in hybrid powertrain that delivers substantial power when asked and saves gas puttering around town, all packaged within the revitalized Lincoln interior design language that provides room for six. How Does the Aviator Grand Touring Drive? See all 32 photos The Aviator’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6, combined with the hybrid system’s 13.6-kWh battery and 75-kW motor, delivers 494 hp and 630 lb-ft of torque. As such, power delivery is strong and sure. This 5,700-pound beast delivers an estimated 0­-60 time in the 5.5-second range. That’s impressive, considering the Grand Touring weighs nearly 800 pounds more than a non-hybrid AWD Aviator. When you floor the accelerator in hybrid mode, you...

The 2021 Ferrari Roma is an emphatic celebration of the Italian gran turismo, a genre that in the 1950s and ’60s resulted in some of the most beautiful and desirable cars ever built in Maranello. But the Roma is not a carefully crafted homage to the past, a contrived pastiche of retro-whimsy wrapped around 21st century hardware. No, this Ferrari GT is in every way a thoroughly modern interpretation of a classic automotive concept, cleverly engineered and superbly executed. First things first: The Roma is not a replacement for the Portofino, Ferrari’s other V-8-powered front-engine GT. It is an addition to the lineup, and with a price tag of $222,620 it’s by a fraction the least expensive new Ferrari you can buy. In the rarified world of Ferrari-nomics, it’s a stone-...

The best thing about driving the Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger Continuation? No, it’s not just playing with the gadgets—the revolving license plates, the machine guns, the bulletproof shield, and the rest of the 007 arsenal. It’s the fact that you’re driving a genuine 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that’s brand new from its Avon cross-ply tires up. OK, the machine guns don’t fire real ammo, it sprays water out the rear rather than oil, and you can’t get rid of a tiresome passenger with an ejector seat. But the Goldfinger Continuation is still the real deal. It’s a real Aston Martin, built in the same shop in Newport Pagnell, England, where fewer than 900 DB5s were built between 1963 and 1965, with components manufactured using original drawings and digital da...

Look, we get it—image is important. If that’s why you want an SUV and not a minivan, so be it. Fashion is indeed arbitrary, and as we cruised the chic boulevards of Los Angeles in the 2021 Honda Odyssey, we couldn’t help but feel anonymous. But if you desire an SUV rather than a minivan because you believe the former to be more practical, check your math. Unlike style, things like space, versatility, and practicality can be measured. And in those areas, the Odyssey is brilliant. Amidst the sea of crossover SUVs on L.A. ‘s byways, we knew our van had life-simplifying features those vehicles could only dream of. So when it comes to choosing which family vehicle may be right for you, the hardest part just may be getting over yourself. What’s New for 2021 See all 56 pho...