First Tests
2021 Toyota Corolla Hatchback Manual First Test: Don’t Call It Hot
Toyota Corolla Full Overview Hot hatchbacks get all the love. Rightfully so; hot hatches such as the venerable Volkswagen Golf GTI and Honda Civic Type R can deliver enthusiasts a driving experience that rivals “proper” sports cars, without sacrificing the usable versatility of a roomy hatchback. The GTI and Type R are excellent vehicles, but plenty of drivers are better served by a less expensive, more efficient hatch that offers both a comfortable ride and a fun driving experience. Enter the 2021 Toyota Corolla Hatchback. Not a hot hatch, a warm hatch. It rocks an available six-speed manual transmission (with a detail even Porsche doesn’t get right) and is only offered with the Corolla’s gutsier four-cylinder, plus a reasonable cargo area and styling like a retro-...
2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat First Test: This SUV Goes Like a Scalded Viper
Dodge Durango Full Overview Is it wrong that every time we fired up the 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, we got a vivid mental image of our entire family screaming while we attacked a decreasing radius off-ramp, a gleeful cackle on our lips as the Dodge’s rear end hung out wide? It takes serious restraint—restraint that we’re not sure we have—not to antagonize passengers with this 710-hp, SUV-shaped mass driver. Or perhaps it would thrill them—your passengers might be more amenable to physics experiments than some of ours. Either way, do everybody a favor and ask first. Whoever’s in the Durango Hellcat and whatever their interest level in testing the limits, there’s no denying it’s a formidable machine. Maybe absurd is more accurate. It’s not like th...
2021 Volvo V90 R-Design First Test: This Swede Indulges Our Big Wagon Love
Volvo V90 Full Overview As unabashed station wagon fans, we were pleased to learn that the Volvo V90 has proved to be more popular than Volvo anticipated. When Volvo introduced the V90 for the 2018 model year, it intended it as a special-order item, anticipating that North American buyers would prefer the plastic-clad Cross Country version or the big XC90 SUV instead. But demand for the S90 variant was higher than expected, and V90s are now regularly built for dealer stock. When Volvo announced an updated version for 2021, it seemed like a perfectly plausible excuse to get this old favorite in for testing. The Volvo V90 wagon is not an entirely unfamiliar face at MotorTrend. Our sister publication Automobile had a 2019 V90 Inscription in its long-term fleet, and we’d be lying if we s...
2021 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 PDK First Test: Sharp Numbers, Sharper Experience
Porsche 718 Cayman Full Overview Perked up yet, Porsche purists? It’s another game of PDK versus manual, with the former now offered in the 2021 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder for the first time. Pick one, pick both—you’re a winner either way. But how much of a winner are you? Let’s run down just how much quicker the dual-clutch is compared to the stick. Oops, spoiler alert. Well, both come with a rear spoiler, but that’s not important. As we said, the 718 Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder now get Porsche’s wicked-smaht and laser-quick seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission as a $3,210 option over the standard six-speed manual transmission. For the those unfamiliar with the GT4 and its lineage, this new optional gearbox is a bigger deal than it might ...
2021 Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition First Test: Real Deal
Honda Civic Type R Full Overview When we first drove the 2021 Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition, we reported that the seemingly small list of upgrades made a huge difference in how the car drove. Are the differences really big enough to quantify? We took the short-run special to the racetrack to find out, and the results speak for themselves. Most of the Civic Type R LE’s upgrade list actually looks like an exclusion list. Reducing weight pays big dividends in acceleration, braking, and handling, and the Type R LE loses 50 pounds compared to a standard Type R. About half the weight loss comes from removing things like sound deadening material in the roof, rear hatch, dashboard, and front fenders, as well as dumping the rear wiper and the cargo cover. The rest comes from fitting a se...
2021 Nissan Kicks First Test: Content Rich
Nissan Kicks Full Overview Consumer hunger for crossovers of all shapes and sizes has led automakers to respond to the demand by filling every niche imaginable with vehicles aimed to serve specific purposes. The Nissan Kicks is one such vehicle that does battle in the subcompact crossover segment, which contains nearly 20 vehicles. We spent two weeks testing a 2021 Nissan Kicks SR on the heels of a recent refresh that added more standard content across the various trim levels, including disc brakes and an 8.0-inch touch screen in addition to other touches. We then put it through our testing regimen to see if these improvements were enough to keep the spunky CUV fresh for a new model year. Slow Is the New Fun? See all 34 photos Our test car arrived in a two-tone paint job with the main body...
2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV GT First Test: It’s All Right
Mitsubishi Outlander Full Overview It happened. We finally tested a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, a model that entered the U.S. market in late 2017 and which has become the world’s best-selling plug-in hybrid SUV thanks to a strong European following. While we missed out on putting the pre-refresh version through its paces, the 2021 model-year Mitsubishi Outlander brings several updates and a new trim, and we recently saddled up for a weeklong stint in a GT model. It’s worth mentioning the plug-in Outlander is the only one you can buy right now; the gasoline-only model is on a one-year hiatus for 2021—a version based on the Nissan Rogue arrives for 2022—leaving the PHEV to hold the line. The base Outlander PHEV starts at $37,490 and the newly added mid-grade LE at $39,190, wh...
2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy 2.5T First Test: When Looks Can Be Deceiving
Hyundai Santa Fe Full Overview Until recently, it wasn’t clear what the Santa Fe signified in Hyundai’s lineup. Before the larger Palisade entered the picture for 2020, the Santa Fe XL was Hyundai’s three-row SUV while Santa Fe referred to a two-row midsize SUV. One year before that, the three-row model was just known as the Santa Fe, and a five-seat model was called Santa Fe Sport. From that confusing past, the updated 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe emerges with a clearer identity, a completely new powertrain, and a reimagined interior. If you think this new one looks just like the old one, understand that there’s way more here than meets the eye. Performance from the Santa Fe’s upgrade engine underwhelmed us in the past, but the 2021 model changes all that. With a ne...
2021 Mazda 3 2.5 Turbo Hatchback Review: Big Heart, Could Use More Soul
Mazda Mazda3 Full Overview The 2021 Mazda 3 2.5 Turbo is a tricky car to wrap the old noggin around. Not because it produces brain-melting acceleration and cornering figures or because it’ll set your hair on fire at the local autocross. That’s not necessarily the case. Rather, the new Mazda 3 2.5 Turbo is so perfectly adequate in so many areas that, viewed as a car that gets you from point A to point B in comfort and with no drama, it’s a fine device. Still, you can’t help but feel like it needs something more. See all 31 photos Beautiful on the Inside … As we’ve said before, the Mazda 3’s cabin is the best in its class—by quite some margin, too. The dashboard is cleanly designed, while a set of mostly analog dials and a head-up display present imp...
2021 Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye First Test: Committing All Seven Deadly Sins
Dodge Charger Full Overview The Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye is not my kind of car. My tastes lean toward agile canyon carvers over brute-force muscle machines, and I could be the only person to ever pick up a Hellcat wearing Birkenstocks and tie-dye wool socks. I pride myself on preferring a holistic approach to performance versus adding great gobs of power: humbly engined Mazda Miata-type cars that provide speed with less chest-thumping, or even electric super sedans like the Porsche Taycan Turbo S that provide face-warping acceleration while easing environmental guilt. But the devil is a powerful temptress. Spending 10 days and 1,670 miles with the four-door Hellcat Redeye has me thinking more of garden serpents than flaming felines. I was presented with SRT’s apple and relished i...
2021 Audi Q5 First Test: The Popular Kid Gets a Fresh Wardrobe
Audi Q5 Full Overview Just before 2020 ended, we had the chance to drive the 2021 Audi SQ5, the sportier variant of the Q5 powered by a punchy V-6 engine. Like we noted back then, the SQ5 delivers the best of both worlds. It’s a comfortable SUV that’s great for everyday driving, but also more dynamic when the road turns twisty. Now, we’ve driven and tested the 2021 Audi Q5, the toned-down normal version that competes in the compact-luxury-SUV segment, one of today’s most popular. As you’d expect, then, the Q5 is indeed Audi’s most popular model, making up 25 percent of the brand’s sales, with the conventionally powered, non-S version responsible for most of that chunk (the balance includes not just SQ5s, but also Q5 PHEVs). In order to be a po...
2021 BMW X6 M Competition First Test: M2 CS Too Small? Buy This Instead
BMW X6 Full Overview “I like the X6 M because it’s so silly,” is how senior features editor Jonny Lieberman put it. “Nothing so large should be able to do what this thing does.” MotorTrend en Español managing editor Miguel Cortina summed his impression of the 2021 BMW X6 M Competition with, “The driving characteristics that it blends and delivers are ridiculous. It’s just pure fun.” Indeed, a luxury midsize fastback SUV weighing 5,200 pounds should not be able take a corner at nearly 1.00 g, run to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds, or stop from 60 mph in 102 feet. Yet, here it is. With driver-selectable settings for engine, chassis, steering, brakes, and all-wheel drive, there may not be a paved road the X6 M Competition can’t bend to its formidab...
