Car Reviews

Look past the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E’s tenuous connection to the brand’s traditional pony cars and you’ll find a very compelling electric vehicle—one good enough that it earned Car and Driver’s first ever EV of the Year award. But the Mustang badge that it wears conjures images of powerful, speed-addled thrills. The Mach-E simply struggles to deliver those in its lower states of tune, which top out at a mere 346 horsepower. For the Blue Oval’s electric SUV to approach the level of excitement expected from Ford’s galloping pony, you’ll need to step up to this Mach-E, the new performance-oriented GT model with its herd of additional horses.

An abundance of power has been a defining trait of Ford’s best Mustang models over the years. While the Mach-E GT’s all-wheel-drive layout means that tire-smoking burnouts are off the table, its combined pony count does climb to a stout 480 horsepower, thanks to a more powerful motor on its front axle (its rear unit is shared with lesser models). That’s more than enough grunt to startle unsuspecting passengers and draw the attention of roadside tax collectors. Aided by 600 pound-feet of torque, it’s also enough to get the GT to 60 mph in a claimed 3.8 seconds, which is more than a second quicker than we’ve recorded for a non-GT version and as rapid as the last 526-hp Mustang Shelby GT350R we tested. Opting for the GT Performance Edition—a $5000 package atop the $61,000 base GT—adds an extra 34 pound-feet of twist and drops the factory-stated zero-to-60 figure to 3.5 seconds. For reference, a 470-hp 2020 Tesla Model Y Dual Motor Performance, which starts at $62,400, needed 3.6 seconds to reach 60 mph in our testing.
Providing the electrons to the GT’s motors is the larger 88.0-kWh Extended Range battery, which is optional on non-GT models. For the 2022 model year, recalibrated energy management programming will increase the pack’s usable capacity by 3 percent, boosting its storage to 91.0 kWh. (Likewise, 2022 Mach-Es with the standard battery will sport 70.0 kWh of capacity, up from the current 68.0.) Ford says these gains will not alter the car’s quoted range, which is estimated at a respectable 270 miles for the regular GT and 260 for the GT Performance Edition. In addition to their increased outputs, both GT models sit 0.4 inch lower on a sportier suspension setup and feature wider 20-inch wheels with 245/45R-20 tires—all-seasons on the regular GT and Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect summer rubber for the Performance Edition, the latter being a first for any Mach-E. Performance models also bring a unique wheel design, larger front brake rotors, and adaptive magnetorheological dampers. You’ll be able to spot Mach-E GTs by their red-painted brake calipers (the fronts being four-piston Brembo units), plus GT badges on their rear liftgates, revised front and rear bumpers, and dark-finished grilles with illuminated pony emblems. Also included are front sport seats with larger bolsters. Performance models feature even more embracing Ford Performance units with grippy inserts.
Mat the accelerator and the GT delivers the instant, neck-snapping thrust that the Mach-E’s Mustang-inspired design promises, quickly erasing short straights on California’s Pacific Coast Highway north of San Francisco. It’s difficult to notice the Performance Edition’s extra torque over the standard GT’s, but its stickier tires and upgraded dampers reveal more of the Mach-E’s handling potential. Carry too much speed into a sharp corner and the girth of this relatively tall, heavy crossover is evident, but its overall balance is pleasantly neutral and provides impressive agility and body control. Although you can activate a one-pedal drive setting with maximum brake regeneration via a tap of the 15.5-inch center touchscreen, the more aggressive Unbridled drive mode (there also are tamer Whisper and Engaged settings) brings a decent amount of standard regen while also sharpening the drivetrain’s responses and upping the steering effort. Ride quality is taut but never harsh in this mode and downright comfy by default, even over the few broken sections of pavement we could find. The regular GT with its passive dampers manages most bumps with a similar smoothness, although we did notice some uncouth hobbyhorse motions over large frequency undulations, such as those you might encounter between pavement seams on the highway. As you’d expect, it’s far easier to overdrive the GT when it’s fitted with all-seasons, as those tires can quickly lose purchase when you abruptly unleash 600 pound-feet of torque accelerating out of a tight bend. Unique to GT models is a new Unbridled Extend mode, which is designed to provide sustained performance over longer runs by optimizing the battery’s thermal management and setting all of its chassis systems to full attack. In this mode, the brakes become more responsive and devoid of regen, the steering gets more linear, and the volume of the love-it-or-don’t powertrain synthesizer that plays through the stereo speakers increases slightly (it can be turned off if you prefer near silence). The front-to-rear power split also becomes rear biased, going from 50/50 to 40/60, and the thresholds for traction and stability control intervention are relaxed. More important, those driver aids can now be fully deactivated via a button next to the headlight controls—a feature that Mach-Es have previously lacked. It will be added to all models for the 2022 model year.

Aided by the GT’s precise steering, stable platform, and deep well of torque, Unbridled Extend made the Performance Edition a hoot to fling around a maze of cones set up in an abandoned parking lot. Ford prevented us from turning off the car’s safety nets and sliding around the course’s hairpins with abandon, but we still had enough fun that we didn’t mind the lack of fire and brimstone under the hood, at least for a moment. If anything, pushing the GT’s limits revealed that the Mach-E’s chassis could handle even more rubber underneath it, although larger tires surely would sap some of its range. There are caveats, though: Unbridled Extend prioritizes consistency over outright power, meaning straight-line thrust is less than in the normal Unbridled setting. And it has very strict activation requirements related to heat and current flowing in and out of the battery, so you’ll need to engage it on startup or after the car has sat and cooled off for a bit. We also learned that the Performance Edition’s seats, while otherwise nicely supportive, could work better still at holding the pilot in place during high-g maneuvers. Given the GT’s greater power and poise versus lesser Mach-Es, its upcharge—nearly $10K more than a Premium all-wheel-drive model with similar equipment and the same range—seems reasonable. Compared to the slightly more expensive Tesla Model Y Performance, it’s better built and far more engaging to operate. As a Mustang, the Mach-E is still earning its place among that nameplate’s storied history. But the GT does prove that, with enough horsepower and handling hardware, even a quiet, accommodating crossover can excite a pony car enthusiast’s grey matter.

Specifications

Specifications
2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E GTVehicle Type: front- and mid-motor, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
$61,000; GT Performance Edition, $66,000
POWERTRAIN
Front Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous ACRear Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous ACCombined Power: 480 hpCombined Torque: 600 or 634 lb-ftBattery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 88.0 kWhOnboard Charger: 10.5 kWTransmissions: direct-drive
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 117.5 inLength: 186.7 inWidth: 74.1 inHeight: 63.5 inPassenger Volume: 101 ft3Cargo Volume: 34 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 5000 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 3.5–3.8 sec100 mph: 12.0–12.2 sec1/4-Mile: 12.3–12.5 secTop Speed: 124 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
Combined/City/Highway: 87–90/92–96/81–84 MPGeRange: 260–270 mi

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

After driving nearly every car for sale over the last 20 years, it’s natural for the cars of the past to enter into your thoughts when driving something new. Humans compare experiences to gain perspective, which explains why we were daydreaming about Rolls-Royces while driving Mercedes-Benz’s new electric luxury four-door, the EQS450+. Like a Rolls-Royce Phantom, the EQS is a capsule of luxury and silence that pours itself down the road with unerring grace. Unlike a hard-to-swallow Rolls, the EQS looks like an Advil Liqui-Gel. It’s a lozenge of a car with what Mercedes claims is the lowest drag coefficient—0.20—of any car on sale. That slick bod whips through the air, barely disturbing it, and leads to near silence at extra-legal highway speeds.

Mercredes-Benz

The 107.8-kWh battery sandwiched in the floor also helps keep road noise to a minimum. That big battery also allows the EQS450+ to go an estimated 350 miles between charges. While that range bests the other German electrics, Lucid and Tesla both have models that far surpass that number. Find a Level 3 DC hookup and the EQS can go from 10 percent charge to 80 percent in 31 minutes. On a typical Level 2 setup, the EQS take just over 11 hours to go from 10 percent to 100 percent.Moving the electrons around in the battery is a single motor driving the rear wheels that makes 329 horsepower and 419 pound-feet of torque. It’s not nearly as quick as the 516-hp EQS580, but it’ll shove you into the massaging seats. After the initial thrust from a stop the acceleration tapers off, but 60 mph is yours in a claimed 5.9 seconds. In more relaxed driving, the right-now torque affords the EQS the same sort of effortless waftability that Rolls-Royce has been touting for decades.

Mercredes-Benz

Yet what really reminds us of the Spirit of Ecstasy is the suppleness and silence of the suspension as it glides over the tarmac. Not much of the outside permeates the EQS’s cocoon. The long 126.4-inch wheelbase certainly helps attenuate bumps, but it’s the tuning of the standard air-spring suspension that maintains the serenity despite our test car’s 21-inch wheels wrapped in Goodyear summer rubber. Those sticky tires provide excellent grip despite the Benz’s estimated 5600-pound curb weight. Press it hard into a corner and it remains flat, and the low center of gravity born of the massive battery in the floor seemingly drills the car into the center of the Earth. Steering efforts are light and don’t pick up much even in Sport mode, but the easy efforts help mask the heft and size of this S-class-sized hatchback.

Mercredes-Benz

Four-wheel steering turns the rear wheels up to 10 degrees in opposition of the fronts at low speeds, helping to shrink the turning circle to 35.7 feet, making this very big Benz feel like an A-class. There’s an ease and luxury to the whole driving experience, that is only interrupted by the brakes. Hitting the brakes in the EQS starts with energy regeneration from the motors and then blends in the stopping power of the four massive brake rotors. Stepping into the brake pedal is an initially mushy experience that doesn’t slow the car much. Keep pushing and you reach a hard point where the pedal resists being moved further. Press harder and the deceleration finally hits, but it takes a lot of pedal pressure to get meaningful braking, and by then you’re sailing towards that burgundy Corolla at an alarming rate. Using those unnatural-feeling brakes can be largely avoided by pulling on the right paddle behind the steering wheel twice. Do so and you get the maximum regeneration (what Mercedes terms Recuperation) that largely eliminates the need to touch the brake pedal and allows one to speed up and slow down in traffic by using only the accelerator. That max regen mode won’t bring the car to a complete stop though. The system slows the car to about 5 mph and then continues to creep ahead. There is an additional regen mode that requires you to hold the right paddle called Intelligent Recuperation. It utilizes the adaptive cruise-control radar and camera systems to optimize regeneration based on the surrounding traffic, the topography, and the twistiness of the road. When engaged, it’ll bring the car to a stop provided the car in front of you has stopped. It certainly works, but it’s not smart enough to stop at a stop sign or red light and will only react to whatever the car ahead is doing.

Mercredes-Benz

Aside from this being Mercedes’s first car built on its new EV platform, the other big news is the so-called Hyperscreen. The Hyperscreen consists of three screens that are covered in a massive glass panel that spans the width of the dashboard. The three touchscreens control nearly every function in the car, from setting an interior temperature to a game of Tetris. As a new system, it takes a bit of getting used to, but after a few hours of experimentation we became comfortable with scrolling through radio stations, looking up the outside air quality, setting a destination on the native navigation system, and pairing a phone to the system. Once paired, we largely skipped Benz’s system for Apple CarPlay. There is also the option of talking to the EQS. Saying “Hey, Mercedes” wakes the EQS’s virtual assistant that can help with a number of controls from setting the temperature to making a phone call. It works surprisingly well, but talking to your car always seems just a little silly. The Hyperscreen certainly looks like the future, but the instrument display in front of the driver is set high. That elevated cowl is the exact opposite of the low and simple dashboard of a Tesla Model 3 or even a Model S. The brain adjusts to it, but without an engine ahead of you, why does the cowl need to be so high?

Mercredes-Benz

We also questioned the lack of a frunk. A cabin air filter and some other ancillaries live under the fixed hood, but the EQS makes up for that deficiency with an absolutely massive amount of cargo space under the hatch. And, if that’s not enough, the rear seats fold away.There’s also a lot of space in the rear seat—leg-crossing, stretch-out space. Sitting in the rear seat you realize that this car is a reimagining of the S-class. In addition to the S-class appointments, performance, technology, and space inside, the EQS comes with an S-class-like price. The least expensive EQS450+ starts at $103,360, moving up to the Exclusive Level adds $3400, and the appropriately named Pinnacle Level comes in at $109,560. Pricing for the more powerful EQS580 opens at $120,160, requires an additional $3400 for the Exclusive trim, and for those who want it all, the Pinnacle will wear a $126,360 window sticker. Aside from the acceleration, the smaller motor EQS450+ is the same luxurious experience as the EQS580. If you never floor it for more than a couple of seconds, you’ll never feel like you should have gone with the quicker car. The EQS450+ is just as quiet, just as refined, and just and lovely as the more expensive EQS580. So, for those who don’t think every car that’s next to you at a red light is competition, you’ll be just fine.

Specifications

Specifications
2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450+Vehicle Type: rear-motor, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback
PRICE
Base: $103,360
POWERTRAIN
Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC, 329 hp, 419 lb-ft Battery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 107.8 kWhOnboard Charger: 9.6 kWTransmission: direct-drive
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 126.4 inLength: 207.3 inWidth: 75.8 inHeight: 59.6 inCargo Volume: 22 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 5600 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 5.9 sec100 mph: 11.2 sec1/4-Mile: 14.5 secTop Speed: 130 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
Combined: 95 MPGeRange: 350 mi

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

A lucid dream is one in which you are aware you are dreaming and can exert some degree of control. That seems to describe the state of mind of those who brought the all-wheel-drive Lucid Air Dream Edition to life because, by all rights, it shouldn’t exist. The team that CEO Peter Rawlinson assembled not only was building the airplane while they were flying it, they were also hyping and financing the complicated endeavor at the same time.On paper, the results are just as jaw-dropping as they are easy to disbelieve. How could a first-time carmaker burst out of the gate with a stunner of an all-electric sedan that produces an eye-watering 1111 horsepower and 471 miles of EPA range in Performance spec and delivers an unprecedented EPA range of 520 miles in the 933-hp Range spec? The gracefully styled Air looks long, low, and wide, so it just has to be a portly sled that’s hiding a huge battery pack and a massive pair of motors, right?

Lucid Motors

Actually, no. Each of the two electric drive units has the capacity to produce 670 horsepower apiece, but each one weighs just 163 pounds and can fit into a carry-on suitcase. That’s a power density of 4.1 horsepower-per-pound, folks—about triple that of a 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V-8 without its requisite transmission, prop shaft, or rear differential. The Lucid figure, on the other hand, represents complete coaxial drive units that include the electric motor, power inverter, differential, final-drive reduction gear, and a pair of embedded axle drive flanges.What’s more, the battery pack that drives these electric machines is not an unspeakably large monstrosity. Lucid is getting that bonkers range out a 112.0-kWh battery because the Air’s EPA combined efficiency of 125 MPGe for the Dream and 131 MPGe for the Grand Touring are better than compact EVs like the Chevrolet Bolt EV (118) and Hyundai Kona Electric (120). The pack does weigh a smidge over 1500 pounds, but it can be forgiven because it is a stressed member of the body structure that represents some 40 percent of the car’s overall torsional stiffness.

Lucid Motors

According to a Lucid supply chain specialist we talked to, the secret sauce was the decision to design and build all of these powertrain components and the battery pack in-house. Off the shelf or even Tier-1 supplier-developed components would not allow for the design optimization that was necessary to pull off the kind of power, range, and packaging efficiency Lucid was after. Chief engineer Eric Bach summed up the unwavering clean-sheet philosophy by saying that the team started by “targeting the limits of physics, not other vehicles.”The desire for ultimate range and packaging efficiency led to a system that runs at as much as 924 volts instead of the typical 400 volts or the Porsche Taycan/Audi etron GT’s 800 volts. Doubling the voltage reduces the amount of current, and thus heat. That’s one of many reasons why so many of Lucid’s powertrain components are more heat-resistant and compact.The diminutive size of the motors adds up to a remarkable amount of interior space, trunk volume, and frunk volume. Front legroom is absolutely immense, and the only thing that gets in the way of an excellent driving position is the cumbersome touchscreen-based steering-column tilt-telescope and side-mirror adjustment scheme that’s admittedly better than Tesla’s, but not by much. Apart from that, the 34.0-inch floating 5k display screen makes a stunning centerpiece to an exceedingly well-trimmed and attractive cockpit.

Lucid Motors

Rear legroom is nearly as generous, but the posture is somewhat akin to a chaise lounge. The Dream and GT front seats are mounted low against the underfloor battery pack. While this helps facilitate the Air’s ultra-sleek roofline, it means back-seat passengers can’t tuck their feet under the front seats. The upcoming Touring and Pure models solve that with an 18-module battery instead of a 22-module pack, with the four absent ones right where rear passengers’ feet naturally rest. The trade-off will be 400-odd miles of range instead of over 500, but that hardly seems a problem.Underway, the Air Dream immediately impressed with a seemingly bottomless well of torque and ridiculously easy speed. The roads around Lucid’s Casa Grande, Arizona, assembly plant are no place to plumb the depths of this car’s potential, but we did stand on it hard enough to inadvertently test the headrests. Suffice it to say there’s no reason to doubt any of Lucid’s power figures, its 2.5-second 60-mph acceleration claim, or the 9.9-second quarter-mile estimate. Still, those are numbers for the sold-out Dream Performance model. We expect the 800-hp Grand Touring model to rip off a quarter-mile in 11.0 seconds. And the Dream Range model should fall in between.

Lucid Motors

We tried out all three driving modes: Smooth, Swift, and Sprint. Each offers differing levels of motor response, damper calibration, steering effort, and regenerative braking. Smooth offers more regen than Swift or Sprint, the theory being that drivers in a sporting mood want to control and feel the friction brakes. The two systems are not blended in any way, so the pedal feels predictable and authentic. Those who prefer a strong level of regen braking can select a High setting to conjure up 0.30 g in any mode, which we found highly entertaining when hustling through a tight, decreasing-radius freeway ramp. The front suspension is a multilink design with a virtual pivot steering axis that is a boon to steering precision and straight-line stability. The rear uses a different multilink design called integral link. Both make bushing tuning more straightforward when it comes to comfort and performance. Electrically assisted power steering produces consistent feel and a strong sense of straight ahead despite the disparate effects that came with power application, regen braking, and friction braking.

Lucid Motors

We half-expected to see air springs under the Lucid Air, but it uses steel coils. That was fine because there’s no need for height adjustment here. Lucid sourced Bilstein DTSky dampers with independent control of rebound and compression, and the combination delivered an appropriately smooth ride in Smooth mode. Our main gripe was the road noise produced by the optional low-profile (35 series) 21-inch Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect tires on one particularly nasty stretch of asphalt. Back-seat occupants noticed it more, but we’re willing to chalk it up to coarse asphalt meeting the sportiest of three tire offerings. If you needed another reason to not go for the 21s, EPA range drops to 481 miles when they are spec’d. The Lucid Air Dream Edition is sold-out, but you can reserve a $139,000 Grand Touring and expect delivery in the early part of next year. You can also reserve a Touring or the $77,400 Pure, but those won’t be added to the production mix until the latter half of 2022.This was a short drive on unchallenging roads. There’s still a lot to learn about the Lucid Air, but what we gleaned from this encounter was huge. Lucid is the real deal and has seemingly redefined how efficient an electric powertrain can be. Others in the EV biz need to wake up.

Specifications

Specifications
2022 Lucid Air DreamVehicle Type: front- and mid-motor, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base: Air Dream, $169,000
POWERTRAIN
Motors: 2 permanent-magnet synchronous ACCombined Power: 933–1111 hpBattery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 112.0 kWhOnboard Charger: 19.2 kWTransmissions: direct-drive
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 116.5 inLength: 195.9 inWidth: 76.3 inHeight: 55.5 inPassenger Volume: 98 ft3Cargo Volume: 23 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 5200 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 2.5 sec100 mph: 5.5–5.9 sec1/4-Mile: 9.9–10.5 secTop Speed: 168 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 111–125/110–126/111–125 MPGeRange: 451–520 mi

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

A few years ago, as the world was questioning the announcement that Ford would cease selling cars in the U.S. (except for the Mustang), Ford’s executives must have been concealing a smirk. That’s because they knew that the about-to-be-announced Maverick small pickup would soon be ready to assume the entry-level slot in the lineup.The Maverick is roughly the size of the previous-gen Ranger that Ford dropped a decade ago. It has a very affordable starting price. It is available only as a four-door crew-cab model in three trim levels: XL, XLT, and Lariat. And its arrival is meaningful: With the Maverick, and also the new-for-2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, small trucks are back.

Walking up to the Maverick, the first impression is how low its roofline is. The new truck sits nearly five inches lower than the current Ranger and almost seven inches below the F-150. If you’re roughly five feet nine or taller, you’ll be able to see right over the top of the cab, an extremely rare occurrence for a pickup today.

The Maverick may be less of a mini-F-150 than an Escape in pickup-truck form, but its capabilities are plenty to convince that this is no mere costume. Based on the same C2 unibody platform, the chassis is largely shared with the Escape but has been beefed up to achieve a compelling 1500-pound payload capability, which betters that of the four-door Toyota Tacoma.The pricing is as big a surprise as the return to the small-truck segment. There’s no 1.5-liter three-cylinder as in its Escape and Bronco Sport platform mates; instead, the $21,490 entry-level Maverick is a front-wheel-drive four-cylinder hybrid. This is Ford’s well-sorted tech that dates back to the 2005 Escape hybrid. Combined output of its 2.5-liter inline-four and two electric motors is 191 horsepower, and the price of the Maverick hybrid is a whopping $7785 cheaper than an Escape with the same powertrain. The step-up option is a 250-hp turbo 2.0-liter inline-four that’s a $1085 upcharge on any trim level.
Morphing a compact SUV into a pickup brings an unusual amalgam of car and truck traits. For example, massive, anti-social levels of wheelspin, even from a rolling start with the front-drive 2.0T. We’d recommend opting for all-wheel drive ($2220) with the more powerful engine. In addition to the added traction, all-wheel drive brings with it an independent rear suspension, which replaces a torsion beam in the front drivers. Over the road, the Maverick has the resolute solidity of a unibody SUV with a firm ride that enables the lofty payload and benefits body control. A flourish is playful lift-throttle rotation at the limit, reminiscent of the compact hatchbacks that Ford no longer sells. But the stability control can’t be completely disabled, so it’s a short-lived thrill. The steering has a truckish imprecision, and efforts are on the high side, while the brake feel from the upsized brakes, relative to the Escape or Bronco Sport, is solid and confidence-inspiring. The 2.0T engine is muted. Wringing it out brings mostly flow noise from the exhaust system. But it’s quick; the sprint to 60 mph should come in at around six seconds flat.The front-drive-only hybrid has a power level better matched to powering only the front wheels. Its 2.5-liter emits more four-cylinder buzz than the quiet 2.0T, but it’s not obnoxious. In general, the Maverick is surprisingly hushed given its low price point. The brake pedal of the hybrid is a bit non-linear, as is the blended-brake norm. And in driving conditions that were light on the highway, but not light on the throttle, we saw an indicated average above Ford’s 40-mpg EPA city claim. Impressive.
With the low price comes a simplified lineup and carefully omitted features. For example, there’s no rear defroster available at all and cruise control is an option on base XL models. To get push-button start and get rid of the key cylinder—remember those?—you have to step all the way up to the top Lariat trim ($26,985). Heated seats and a heated steering wheel are only included with the $2345 Luxury package on XLTs or the $3340 Luxury package on Lariats. There are no interior trim or color options within a trim level, and there’s no leather. The 8.0-inch touchscreen isn’t as high-resolution as Ford’s best and excludes features such as built-in nav, although that’s no real loss with standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality.And yet, with interesting materials and clever flexibility, the interior is not at all cheap-feeling and is in fact one of the most inventive we’ve seen from Ford. The light trim on the front of the dash trim has scraps of carbon fiber blended into it to create a look like a quartz countertop, and there are splashes of color on the vents and console bin. The top of the dash is hard plastic, but there, too, the graining elevates its appearance substantially. The only typical cheap black-grained plastic is on the center of the parts-bin steering wheel. The door pockets are clever, too; cutting short the typical grab handle leaves a spot to stow tall water bottles. A bike tire can slide into those slots to fit across the rear-seat area. That rear seat is adult habitable, but not compact-SUV spacious—it’s about the same size as the Hyundai Santa Cruz.
There’s also a ton of customization opportunity. Ford accessories can plug into a spot at the back of the center console and in the under-seat storage cubbies, but the company is also going to release the math for that attachment so owners can 3D-print their own creations. The 4.5-foot bed has slots for lumber to divide up the available space horizontally and to create two-tiered storage. The tailgate has a middle position that puts it at the same level as the wheel wells for hauling sheets of four-by-eight-foot plywood. Customers can also tap into an electrical circuit on its own 20-amp fuse, plumbed into the rear of the bed, for whatever accessories they might want to install.The Tow package ($745), which raises the truck’s capability from 2000 to 4000 pounds, is only available with all-wheel drive. It includes upgraded engine cooling, a transmission oil cooler, and a shorter final-drive ratio. We towed 3650 pounds’ worth of ATVs with a 2.0T so equipped and hauled two Jet Skis (2000 pounds) with a hybrid, and in neither case did the truck feel overtaxed. Though front-drive on a boat launch can be a gamble. Will truck buyers—who have had nothing but derision for the clever but homely Honda Ridgeline—be okay with a unibody pickup from Ford? Based on more than 100,000 initial orders, it seems like Ford’s decision to walk away from cars was well founded.

Specifications

Specifications
2022 Ford MaverickVehicle Type: front-engine or front-engine and front-motor, front- or all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup
PRICE
XL, $21,490; XLT, $23,775; Lariat, $26,985
POWERTRAINS
DOHC 16-valve 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle inline-4, 162 hp, 155 lb-ft + 2 AC motors, 105 and 126 hp, 48 and 173 lb-ft (combined output: 191 hp; 1.1-kWh lithium-ion battery pack); turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 250 hp, 277 lb-ftTransmissions: 8-speed automatic, continuously variable automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 121.1 inLength: 199.7 inWidth: 72.4 inHeight: 68.7 inPassenger Volume: 96–100 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 3600–3750 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 5.9–7.8 sec1/4-Mile: 14.5–16.2 secTop Speed: 120 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
Combined/City/Highway: 25–37/22–40/29–33 mpg

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Mazda has been slow to jump into the electric-vehicle pool, but now it’s here, albeit at the shallow end. The 2022 MX-30, a CX-30-sized all-electric SUV, offers much of what Mazda is good at—an artful interior, a stylish exterior, responsive steering and handling. All of which makes it more baffling that Mazda didn’t take advantage of electric-motor torque and power delivery to create a truly sporty compact people hauler, choosing instead to dial back the performance and range, resulting in an SUV that quickly runs out of zoom-zoom. The MX-30 starts out promising, with a very different look from the CX-30 it’s based on. Rather than its sibling’s big five-pointed grille and upright liftgate, the MX-30 has the high, small grille and smoothed fascia we’re starting to associate with EVs and a rounded rear almost like a hatchback. It continues to cosplay as a coupe by hiding the rear doors—which hinge at the back, like an early-’00s extended-cab pickup (or like Mazda’s RX-8). Swing those doors wide and admire the airy interior, available in a white-leatherette-and-gray-fabric combo or, in the Premium Plus trim, an optional darker interior in black and cocoa. Both are lovely, and both use a variety of recycled fabrics such as woolly felt on the door panels and sustainable natural materials like cork, which lines the floating console.
The cabin is well equipped, with even the starting trim getting a power moonroof, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, heated front seats, and multiple charging outlets. Phones connect quickly with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto supported and stow neatly beneath the console. The recycled felt on the doors and the tweedy seat materials not only are fashionable, but colors, material, and finish designer Simona Merker assured us that the plush textiles and the cork-lined door handles and trays are just as durable and easy to clean as more common automotive interior plastics and leathers. The seats are a little firm beneath their center racing stripe, but the seating position is good, and they offer eight-way adjustability with power lumbar support and seat-position memory. The back seats are a bit cramped due to the curve of the roof, and entry through the smaller doors is tight. But there is decent legroom for adults, and egress is easy thanks to powered front-seat position buttons on the seatbacks.
If you get the feeling that we’re lingering over the interior finishes to avoid taking the MX-30 on a drive, well, you’re right, because things get a little disappointing once you’re in motion. It’s not that the MX-30 is unpleasant to pilot—quite the opposite. It rides lightly over bumps and broken pavement, and it turns easily, aided by Mazda’s electric G-Vectoring Control Plus, which adjusts torque and braking at barely perceptible levels to control weight transfer and improve handling feel. This is technology that Mazda uses on its gas-engine cars, but the nature of electric-motor tuning makes for even more precise programming. As a result, the MX-30 takes corners with more poise than the CX-30, despite being claimed some 420 pounds heavier. We drove a CX-30 out to the MX-30 drive program, and while its handling remains a favorite among small SUVs, the new MX-30 feels even better. Braking, too, is excellent on the electric SUV, with regen levels easily adjusted on the fly via the steering-wheel paddles.

So what’s the problem? If your usage case for an EV is what Mazda predicts—30 miles of daily commuting on largely flat terrain, plugging in at work and at home—then there is no problem. But if you want to take advantage of the MX-30’s engaging driving dynamics in a hilly area or enjoy a weekend road trip in its cozy seats, you’ll run into a couple of complaints. Mazda’s EV is currently only available with a single motor making 143 hp and 200 lb-ft of torque. It’s zippy enough around town, but on the highway, or even some of the wider, meaner streets of Los Angeles County, you won’t be passing any Teslas—or even Chevy Bolts. The sluggishness is a surprise, especially since the MX-30’s $34,645 starting price is more than the Bolt’s. We tend to accept a certain lethargy in small gas engines in return for fuel economy or a low buy-in price, but electric motors need to make up for their lack of fun noises with fun acceleration. The drivetrain in the MX-30 feels detuned, maybe to stretch the range of its small battery pack, which leads us to our next performance demerit.

The argument can be made that the average owner doesn’t need more than 100 miles of range, but we aren’t going to make it. It’s 2022, we’re seeing 500 miles from electric cars, and 200 miles should be expected. The MX-30 offers an EPA rated 100 miles of range. Recharging at a Level 3 charger, it can get 80 percent topped up in 36 minutes; this takes 2 hours and 50 minutes at a Level 2. Our ride from home to the test-drive site and back wouldn’t have been a possible round trip in the MX-30. Mazda does offer 10 days of no-cost loans of other vehicles from its fleet for the first three years of ownership, but who wants to swap cars any time you want to leave your neighborhood?Some of the MX-30’s limitations might be explained by taking a bigger-picture view. Mazda is a small company, it’s offering the car in the global market, and the single motor and small battery offer the modularity to go hybrid or even back to a gas engine. There’s no frunk under the hood, which could easily be home to any powerplant combination. We already know there are plans for a plug-in hybrid with a rotary-engine component—maybe that will offer all-wheel drive and a little more zoom. In the meantime, plug it in and pet the seats while it charges.

Specifications

Specifications
2022 Mazda MX-30Vehicle Type: front-motor, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback
PRICE
Base, $34,645; Premium Plus, $37,655
POWERTRAIN
Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous ACPower: 143 hp @ 4500 rpmTorque: 200 lb-ft @ 3243 rpmBattery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 30.0 kWh(C/D est)Onboard Charger: 6.6 kWTransmission: direct-drive
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 104.4 inLength: 173.3 inWidth: 70.7 inHeight: 61.5 inPassenger Volume: 86 ft3Cargo Volume: 21 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 3650 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 9.6 sec1/4-Mile: 16.9 secTop Speed: 90 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 92/98/85 MPGeRange: 100 mi

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

The Hummer’s chief engineer, Al Oppenheiser, sees a lot of trucks on his commute from the northern suburbs of Detroit. To get pickup buyers out of their trucks and into an EV, Oppenheiser knew that the new GMC Hummer EV needed to knock the socks off its would-be buyers. It would take a standout design and lights-out performance to convince folks who commute in V-8–powered pickups that an electric can be fun and something exciting. Fortunately, Oppenheiser knows about lights-out performance. He’s the engineer behind the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.We briefly drove his latest creation: a 9000-plus-pound, 1000-hp, three-motor, removable-roof pickup. Even without strapping our test gear to it, we’re pretty sure he nailed it the performance part. We weren’t allowed to sample the Watts to Freedom (WTF) launch-control mode—a name that deserves the eye roll you just gave it—from the driver’s seat. But we were able to experience it from the passenger seat. Just before feeling said WTF moment, we watched as another Hummer EV roasted its tires. GMC says it’ll take this Edition 1 pickup three seconds to reach 60 mph. Activating WTF vibrates the driver’s seat, a sort of warning of what’s to come. The Hummer can take its time preparing itself—upward of 18 seconds. The air springs slam the body to the ground, and the battery and electronics find their optimum temperatures. The Goodyear Wrangler tires are R-rated, which means they are good for up to 106 mph, a speed the Hummer should hit long before it crosses the line in a quarter-mile pass.
Launch control is just one of many parlor tricks the Hummer has to wow its buyers. Lesser models not optioned to 3M-24 spec—for three motor, 24-module Ultium battery—will have the highest tow rating, though Oppenheiser confirms that all models will be able to tow most weekend-warrior needs. Think wakeboard boat, or race-car trailer.

The second trick, which is bordering on YouTube infamy, is Crabwalk. Made possible by a system capable of turning the rear wheels 10 degrees, the crustacean dance is a side benefit to something even better. Provided you keep speeds below 15 mph, Crabwalk will turn the rear wheels in phase with the front wheels. Go faster than 15 mph and it’ll gently return the rear wheels to straight ahead. Normally when you see a GMC crabbing down the road, it’s been crashed, and Crabwalk is definitely more of a trick than actually useful.
GMC had to cook up a situation to show off the usefulness, so they parked a Hummer into a space blocked by the cars next to it and then placed an angled Jersey barrier behind it. Crabwalk to the rescue in that situation, but considering there are 18 views from numerous cameras including two on the underbelly, we think most competent drivers will be able to put a Hummer anywhere it’ll fit. If not, going over the obstacle is certainly an option. Extract mode increases ground clearance to 15.9 inches, giving the 35-inch-tired Hummer the ability to climb over vertical obstacles greater than 18 inches. As you’d expect of something weighing 9000 pounds, these pickups are big. They aren’t longer than a one-ton truck, but wider. And the flat A-pillar-to-A-pillar instrument panel makes it feel massive. Rear steer, however, helps it seem much smaller. Without the system, the SUT’s 37-foot turning circle would grow by more than seven feet (about the width of the pickup). And rear steer behaves differently in different modes. In Terrain mode, for example, the rear wheels will get to their steering limit quicker, making the Hummer maneuver more like a forklift. This flexibility is critical for the pickup because GMC intends to have people go off-road in these, and when you’re facing a two-track that was bushwhacked by a 12.9-inch-narrower Jeep Wrangler, every bit of maneuverability counts. Also, parking lots.
Five skidplates protect the underbody from trail damage. The giant, 200.0-kWh battery is a stressed member of the chassis, which is a sort of hybrid between body-on-frame and unibody; there is a frame and a body, but they aren’t isolated in the usual body-on-frame manner. Half-shafts are massive ball-spline units, necessary when an independent suspension with more than nine inches of travel is paired with three motors with the combined twist of 1200 pound-feet of torque. With two motors acting on the rear axle, no differential is necessary, but programming can virtually lock the axle so the motors turn each side at the same speed. Up front there is a locking diff for the third motor.

Inside there are only a few touches—window switchgear, seat adjusters—that are shared with other GM products. The center stack has buttons unique to the Hummer. GMC would love it if we said the truck drove smaller, but much like the original and very wide H1, it’s impossible to completely mask the size. Our on-road drive was limited, but we found a truck that went down the road with the purpose and confidence born of its mass and power. Not many corrections are required to keep it in a highway lane, and not a lot of feedback comes through the steering wheel when you have to turn. But we weren’t expecting much in terms of communication from the 305/70R-18 mud-terrain Goodyears. The ride, however, is downright sublime. Adaptive dampers and air springs bridle the mass with authoritative control.
Oppenheiser fitted his creation with standard Super Cruise, GM’s hands-free highway tech. The Hummer gets the latest version, which works on more than 200,000 miles of roads and will make automatic lane changes to allow you to passively pass traffic. GMC’s Edition 1 trucks are set to be delivered by the end of the year and will carry a price tag of $112,595 and a 350-mile range. If you haven’t already reserved one, you’re too late for the first year of production. The good news is that next year, an 830-hp lower-spec version will be available. Wait a little longer, until 2023, and there will be even lower-spec pickups and an SUV. Initial impressions are on the “wow” side of the spectrum, and we think the buyers this machine is seeking will be deeply wowed.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Eager to cast itself as a forward-thinking automaker, Volvo has stated that it will sell only EVs starting in 2030, which is sooner than most competitors. So far, the brand has two EVs in its stable: the XC40 Recharge and its mechanical twin, the C40 Recharge. Its other Recharge models, the XC60 T8 and the XC90 T8, are plug-in hybrids—which could be considered a half step toward a battery-powered future. Now, the two mainstream versions of the Volvo XC60 (the brand’s most popular model)—along with the S60 sedan, the S90 sedan, and the V90 Cross Country wagon—add hybridization to their powertrains, but it’s a 48-volt hybrid system, the tiniest baby step on the road to electrification. As before, the XC60’s powertrains all use a 2.0-liter inline-four. The arrival of the 48-volt hybrid system, however, brings with it a change in nomenclature. The base T5 is now known as B5, while the step-up T6 becomes the B6. (The unchanged plug-in-hybrid variants, which offer 19 miles of electric-only range, continue as the T8 with 400 total horsepower, or 415 in the Polestar Engineered model.) All models continue with an eight-speed automatic. The B5 has front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, with AWD standard elsewhere.

The 48-volt system does not boost the power output of either the B5 or the B6. The base powertrain, which is turbocharged, now makes 247 horsepower (down from 250) along with the same 258 pound-feet of torque as before. The turbocharged and supercharged version, which also swaps out its previous belt-driven supercharger for an electrically driven blower, slips from 316 horsepower to 295 horsepower but sees a torque increase from 295 pound-feet to 310. The hybrid system does help the XC60 eke out minor fuel-economy gains. EPA estimates for the front-wheel-drive base car improve by 1 mpg in both city and highway tests, to 23/30 mpg city/highway. The all-wheel-drive B5 and the B6 both add 1 mpg city compared to their 2021 predecessors, with estimates of 22/28 mpg (B5 AWD) and 21/27 mpg (B6).
In a long-term test of an XC60 T6, we averaged 23 mpg over 40,000 miles. We also recorded a 0–60 time of 5.4 seconds. Volvo estimates that the new B6 version will give up a few tenths but says it should feel more responsive at lower speeds because the 48-volt starter-generator bolsters horsepower and torque at lower engine speeds. Without driving the two powertrains back to back, it’s hard to confirm that, but the XC60 B6 we drove didn’t feel sluggish driving through Manhattan or out on the Palisades Parkway through New York and New Jersey. Moreover, the electric assists do a good job masking any turbo lag. Response to light throttle applications is now more linear and less surgy, whether calling for slightly more speed or moving off from a stop. Speaking of the latter, the starter-generator also makes for seamless auto restarts, which may keep more drivers from switching off the auto stop-start system. Also on the subject of stop-and-go driving, the switch to a brake-by-wire system, to maximize regenerative braking, is one that’s imperceptible from the driver’s seat, as the brake pedal modulation feels no different than a conventional brake system. And lastly, there’s a new alert to let an inattentive driver know when the vehicle ahead has begun moving, although it’s not as quick-acting as the NYC cabbie behind you.
The XC60’s suspension remains unaltered, and the R-Design car we drove was equipped with the optional 4C adaptive dampers. The adaptive dampers do a good job quelling body motions aside from some initial lean in corners. But riding on the optional 21-inch wheels, the XC60 still feels heavy-footed over broken pavement.The current XC60 has been around since the 2018 model year, and with 2022 marking the traditional mid-cycle refresh point, Volvo obliges with additional changes beyond the mechanicals. The midpoint makeover includes a subtle exterior nip-tuck consisting of a new grille texture, a restyled lower fascia, new wheel designs, and a new rear bumper that hides the tailpipes. The neatest exterior feature is one you can’t see: The logo at the center of the grille is now heated, to prevent ice buildup that would block the sensors contained therein.
Inside, there’s newly available wool blend upholstery, part of Volvo’s move toward more leather alternatives. (The company recently announced that its EVs would be leather-free.) It’s a no-cost option on the Inscription model. The spare, Scandinavian interior largely remains as before with adequate room for four adults, a cargo hold that falls midpack in this segment, and just a bare minimum of stowage space.The only significant in-cabin update is that Volvo’s infotainment system switches to a Google-based operating system. Google Maps is now your navigation system, Google Play runs the music, and the Siri-style Google Assistant is on hand to answer your queries. The 9.0-inch vertically oriented touchscreen is physically unchanged, and the homepage (reached via the system’s lone physical button) continues to feature four horizontal tiles, for navigation, audio, phone, and Google Assistant. The system can receive over-the-air updates, and it will need them, as the early-production cars we drove were missing satellite radio as well as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay—all set to become available via update.
The Google Maps navigation system runs Volvo-specific fonts, and the graphics look great, both on the screen and in the standard 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. As before, the latter offers a bimodal choice of display: with a map or without. There is no change to the (very) limited set of buttons below the screen, which means that for the audio system, there’s a volume knob, buttons to seek up/down, and not much else. A knob for tuning would be welcome, as it currently takes multiple presses of the Seek button or several swipes to go from, say, 93.9 WNYC to 107.1 WFUV.

One change to the screen layout is that at the very base of the display, there’s now a touchpoint to call up the surround-view camera, meaning you no longer have to go digging for it in menus. Even better, the camera now appears automatically when the car pulls up to the curb, just as it does when the car is shifted into reverse. Prices start at $43,745 for the front-wheel-drive XC60 B5 in Momentum trim. The B6 skips the base trim and starts off at the R-Design level for $56,195 with standard AWD. Things top out at $70,595 for the XC60 T8 Recharge Polestar Engineered.The XC60’s latest move toward electrification brings minor improvements in drivability and fuel economy for the mainstream models. That should help to keep the brand’s bestseller up to date until the brave, new, battery-powered future arrives.

Specifications

Specifications
2022 Volvo XC60Vehicle Type: front-engine, front- or all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base: B5, $43,745; B5 AWD, $46,045; B6, $56,195
ENGINES
Turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 247 hp, 258 lb-ft; turbocharged, supercharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 295 hp, 310 lb-ft
TRANSMISSION
8-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 112.8 inLength: 185.4 inWidth: 74.9–76.3 inHeight: 65.3 inPassenger Volume: 100–104 ft3Cargo Volume: 26 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 4050–4350 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 5.7–6.4 sec1/4-Mile: 14.2–15.1 secTop Speed: 112 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 24–26/21–23/27–30 mpg

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Is this it? Are we approaching peak engine? Carmakers are winding down their development of internal-combustion engines and switching to hybrid and electric power to propel their most extreme models. So along with a couple of other Bugattis with the same 1578-hp engine, there’s a good chance that the Chiron Super Sport we’ve just driven will be the most powerful combustion-engine production car from a major manufacturer ever. Much might still happen. New cars from Koenigsegg, SSC, and Hennessey all claim equal or greater power, but not all have yet been homologated for road use and all require E85 fuel. The Bugatti makes its 1578 horsepower on 93 octane premium, and deliveries start early next year. When the history of the automotive internal-combustion engine is written, this might be the last word.
How many superlatives would you like for your $3,825,000? The Chiron also claims to be the world’s fastest production car, after British Le Mans winner and Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace hit 304.8 mph in a Super Sport at Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien track in August 2019. That claim isn’t without controversy: The car was a prototype, and the speed was a peak, set one way. Plenty of others are taking aim at the record, and Bugatti says it won’t defend it.

Still, to celebrate, it first announced the Super Sport 300+ with the same uprated engine as the record-breaking car. Only 30 will be made, all in the record breaker’s black and orange livery. Owners will be able to have their 273-mph speed limiter removed by the factory should they wish to propel themselves beyond 300 mph. Those cars are all sold, deliveries have just begun, and we’re unlikely to get one to test. Now comes this plain old Super Sport, which Bugatti says is also mechanically and aerodynamically identical to the record car but can be specified however you like and whose numbers are limited only by the fact that fewer than 50 of the 500 total Chiron build slots remain. Its top speed, however, is permanently limited to just 273 mph.
We’ve driven it. It’s insane. But if you can wait a beat to find out what it’s like to drive a car of such transcendent power, it’s worth running through the modifications that were made to break that barrier. For all its potential GOAT (greatest of all time) status, the changes made to the 8.0-liter W-16 engine are probably the least impressive. There are a bunch of detailed mods, but the bulk of the extra 99 horsepower was bought cheap with four bigger, more efficient turbos and a 300-rpm increase in the redline to 7100 rpm, with peak torque of 1180 pound-feet now available between 2250 and 7000 rpm, rather than 6000. Top gear (seventh) is now 3.6 percent taller. The suspension has been stiffened slightly, and the adaptive damping, electronic stability control, and steering have all been tweaked for better high-speed stability. Michelin has developed bespoke Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires for the car, which are rated to 310 mph (another record) and were run on the rig created to test Space Shuttle tires to be sure they could withstand the 5300 g generated at that speed. Each one is X-rayed for imperfections before delivery. The aero package is arguably the most artful change, tasked with getting this big car through the air at beyond race-car speeds with Volkswagen levels of stability. The front end features tiny, hard-to-spot fins and holes designed to create a perfect laminar flow along the body of the car. The nine that puncture the top of each fender relieve pressure in the wheel wells that might otherwise lift the front end. They also reference the EB110 Super Sport.
The more obvious change is at the back, with the Super Sport gaining an extra 7.4 inches of length with an exuberantly shaped carbon molding that cuts drag by keeping the air attached for longer and reducing by 44 percent the “tear off” area where it finally departs the car and goes turbulent. The exhaust pipes are now stacked atop each other, two on each side to increase the surface area of the diffuser. The latter is a long, gorgeous single carbon piece that starts amidships and rises rearward, keeping the rear end stuck down at V-max with just one degree of wing angle.None of these changes affects the Chiron’s remarkable docility at low speeds or its ability to jink into corners like a car of two-thirds its mass on the tight, two-lane French country roads near the Circuit Paul Ricard. Its good visibility, prodigious grip, and its quick and almost tactile steering soon make you forget the value, size, and power of what you’re driving. This isn’t just a dragster, it’s meant to be driven. It retains both the handling required for these mountain roads and the refinement to get a steely-eyed industrialist from Munich to Monaco in complete luxury and before his Brioni suit pants have time to crease. Bugatti intended this car as a sort of ur-Chiron, with all the qualities of the original, but near-unanswerable speed and power. They might have succeeded.
Ah yes, that speed and power. You’d need to be a neurological marvel to detect the difference over a standard Chiron on the road. A Pur Sport with its mere 1479 hp but 15 percent shorter gearing feels more feral, and Bugatti says it’s marginally quicker up to 124 mph. It’s only by its next acceleration metric of 186 mph that the Super Sport starts to pull away, taking 12.1 seconds to the Pur Sport’s 12.4 and the standard car’s 13.1.But when do you ever get to witness that? On an autobahn? Maybe, but briefly and very rarely. You can on Paul Ricard’s 1.1-mile Mistral straight. In a wholly unscientific test, we exited Turn 7 at broadly similar speeds in both a Pur Sport and a Super Sport and went flat down the Mistral straight, braking early and in approximately the same place. The Chiron’s configurable displays in the middle of the rotary HVAC controls showed that we’d used all of the power and all of the revs in each car. Neither was remotely done after less than a mile, but the Pur Sport showed 206 mph at the braking point to the Super Sport’s 217 mph. And there it is: For a few fleeting seconds you actually feel that marginal, usually academic difference that manufacturers fight over and geeks obsess over and customers pay for but seldom witness. The quicker car’s speed swells noticeably faster as it heads into the stratosphere of race-car speed and the exhaust note—a little muted in normal use—bellows like a god in anguish. The animal fear at what is being done to you is counteracted by the conscious knowledge that your car is tracking utterly straight and true and that the stuffy old Volkswagen Group has approved this seeming insanity. When you want it to stop, the rear wing springs up into its 39-degree air-brake stance, shifts the center of pressure rearward and lets you hoof the brakes, knowing you’ve experienced something few if any purely gasoline-powered road cars will ever be able to equal.

Specifications

Specifications
2021 Bugatti Chiron Super SportVehicle Type: mid-engine, all-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base: $3,825,000
ENGINE
quad-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 64-valve W-16, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 488 in3, 7993 cm3Power: 1578 hp @ 7050 rpmTorque: 1180 lb-ft @ 2250 rpm
TRANSMISSION
7-speed dual-clutch automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 106.7 inLength: 186.3 inWidth: 80.2 inHeight: 47.7 inPassenger Volume: 54 ft3Trunk Volume: 2 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 4550 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 2.3 sec100 mph: 4.3 sec1/4-Mile: 9.1 secTop Speed: 273 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 9/8/11 mpg

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More