Motor News

There are 1.9 million vehicles on the road today with incorrect numbers on their odometers, according to Carfax. That is up 7 percent from a year ago.While California has the most of these kinds of vehicles on the road today, the rate of increase was especially high in Texas, Florida, and Arizona.Digital odometers can make it easier to falsify a dashboard reading but also harder to get away with it if someone takes the time to investigate.Used-car prices continue to decline in the U.S., but that doesn’t mean everything on the secondhand market is running perfectly. One unfortunate, old-fashioned trend that’s making a bit of a comeback is odometer fraud. The digital age has, in some instances, made it easier than ever to roll back time.Almost 2 million vehicles on the road today have an odometer number that’s been reduced in some way, according to a new report from Carfax. The 1.9 million incorrect readings represent a 7 percent increase from last year, Carfax said. As the largest car market in the U.S., it’s not a surprise that California has the most affected vehicles—more than 437,000, Carfax said—but that number is only 2 percent higher than last year. There were three states in the top 10 with the most affected cars that saw double-digit growth in odometer fraud in the past 12 months: Texas (up 15 percent), Florida and Arizona (both up 12 percent). These rollbacks can have a real impact, causing buyers to lose an average of $4000 in value with their purchase, not counting any unexpected maintenance costs, Carfax said.Trouble in the Car MarketThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been tracking odometer fraud for decades. In 2002, it said there were around 450,000 cases of odometer fraud reported each year and that these misreported numbers ended up costing used-car buyers over a billion dollars a year. NHTSA said there is about a 3.5 percent chance that a car will have its odometer messed with in the first 11 years of its life. As we wrote in 2018, the digitization of vehicle odometers introduces a host of other factors to an odometer rollback, as so many other parts of the car use that number. This, plus increased data capture by auto repair shops and other sources, mean that even if the odometer is messed with, there are now more ways to confirm any changes. In 2021, NHTSA changed its rules for required ongoing odometer reporting so that any vehicle built in or after the 2011 model year now needs to be tracked for 20 years instead of just 10, as it was before. NHTSA said it made this change because the average age of the car on the road was increasing, and a change in the rules was required “to address an increase in odometer fraud involving older vehicles.”How to Protect YourselfIf you are looking to purchase an older vehicle with a mechanical odometer, there are some key things to look out for, NHTSA said. Ask for the title to see what the officially reported odometer reading is, and make sure that that detail is not difficult to read. If the car includes maintenance records, especially oil changes, they can be a good start to estimating accurate mileage. For relatively new vehicles (with under 20,000 miles), the tires should be original. NHTSA also recommends getting a vehicle history report, which Carfax (unsurprisingly) offers as an organization interested in selling information about used cars to buyers. The group’s Odometer Fraud Check compares your Vehicle Information Number (VIN) to information in state DMV databases of vehicles that have been reported as having their odometers falsely changed.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

After increasing pricing for the Ford F-150 Lightning in August and again in October, Ford has raised the bar for entry yet again, this time to $58,514.The price increases struck the more budget-oriented Pro and XLT trim levels, with the more expensive Lariat and Platinum trims being spared the increase. Destination charges were raised by $100 across the board.Ford issued a statement to Car and Driver saying customers waiting for delivery on current orders are not affected by the increase. The adjusted prices began with the new retail order bank on December 15 and will go into effect for the Q2 commercial order bank when that opens.Looking back now, the original 2022 F-150 Lightning was a bargain at the starting price of $41,669. When it reopened order banks for its electrified pickup, Ford quietly increased the price of the 2023 model for the third time since August, raising the base price to $58,514. The new price reflects an inflation of nearly $5000 since only the last round of adjustments, and it pushes the needle further out of reach for customers in search of a base electric truck. Unlike the price increases from August and October, which raised the price on each trim level, this most recent hike only seriously affects the cheaper trim levels. Apart from a $100 increase in destination charges (which happened across the board), the top two trim levels are unaffected by the recent changes. Earlier Price IncreasesC/D’s preferred model, the XLT, now starts at $66,014 when equipped with the standard range battery, while the XLT Extended Range moves up to $82,869. The more expensive Lariat and Platinum trims only move up with the $100 destination charge increase, to $76,369, and $97,819 respectively. FordAccording to a statement from a Ford representative to Car and Driver, the price increase is a standard business practice due to rising material costs, market factors, and ongoing supply-chain constraints. The updated pricing went into effect December 15, when order banks reopened for retail customers. Commercial pricing will increase when the Q2 order banks next open. Customers who ordered in a previous order bank and are still awaiting delivery will be unaffected by this increase. This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

German tuner Mansory has whipped up another bizarre automotive creation, this time modifying a Bentley Continental GTC with an outlandish two-tone paint job.The black-and-yellow paint isn’t symmetrical, with the yellow taking over more of the exterior bodywork before spreading to the quilted leather cabin.The engine has been tuned to extract 740 horsepower and 752 pound-feet of torque.With its daring two-tone paint job, this one-off concoction from German tuner Mansory, called the Vitesse, looks like it should be the official car of Pittsburgh’s pro sports teams. The unique style, which nearly divides the Bentley Continental GTC donor car in half but sees the yellow paint take up slightly more real estate, is a first for Mansory. The color scheme makes the one-of-a-kind Bentley look like a rolling mascot for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pirates, or Steelers. MansoryStatement-Making Style and PowerWhile the 2010 Wiz Khalifa banger “Black and Yellow” is a certified classic, we’re not sure the color scheme works quite as well on the Vitesse, but the Continental GT convertible’s motor should still produce a sonorous noise. Mansory doesn’t specify whether it uses the twin-turbo V-8 or the twin-turbo W-12, but the hexagonal exhaust tips match the look seen by Mansory’s previous 12-cylinder Continental monstrosities. MansoryEither way, the engine has been fiddled with by Mansory, now producing a whopping 740 horsepower and 752 pound-feet of torque. This is a substantial increase over any factory Continental, even blowing the 650-hp Speed model out of the water. The Vitesse sprints to 62 mph in a claimed 3.3 seconds, a slight improvement over the 3.6-second 60-mph sprint that Bentley quotes for the GTC Speed. Meanwhile, Mansory’s 206-mph top-speed claim is actually 2 mph down on what Bentley estimates for the standard car.More Wild Mansory CreationsWild Outside and Wild InsideDetails are otherwise sparse, but the main draw of the Vitesse is the wild color combo. Along with the exterior bodywork, the interior has received the same polarizing asymmetric treatment, with the left-side seats upholstered in yellow leather and the right colored in black. The quilted leather extends to nearly every surface inside the car, including the dashboard, the floor mats, and the transmission tunnel. A plaque on the center console declares the Vitesse’s unique nature. There’s currently no word on how much it’ll cost, but we’re sure Mansory will be able to find a buyer who has more money than taste to add the Vitesse to their collection.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

Having made a name for itself building beautifully imagined Broncos, Florida-based Velocity Restorations is moving into the pickup truck business.Like the company’s Broncos, this 1970 F-250 is powered by a Ford Performance Coyote V-8, matched with a four-speed automatic transmission.The top-of-the-line Heritage package is no farm truck, fitted out with a full leather interior and high-end stereo.In Miami, nobody raises an eyebrow at a Lamborghini. You might as well be driving a Golf for all the attention a Huracán will get you, and unless you’re one of the lucky few to have nailed down a preorder for Lamborghini’s safari-inspired Sterrato, you’re going to spend a lot more time worrying about scraping the nose than enjoying that V-10 screaming to redline. Besides, for the same money you could have a truck.That’s a capital-T Truck, specifically a 1970 F-250 hand-built from the ground up to provide the kind of experience you don’t get from a factory. The Velocity Restorations F-250 is eye-wateringly expensive—$285,000 to start, $325,000 for this blue-and-white commission-built Heritage package—but it’s a no-detail-spared masterpiece.We drove a 1969 Ford Bronco reworked by Velocity Restorations back in 2019, and came away both bewildered and beguiled. The Bronco was the easily coolest thing on the streets of Florida, but also seemed like a “more money than brains” option. We desperately wanted one anyway.More RestomodsThe company’s take on the F-250 is possibly even cooler. Any child who ever picked up a Tonka truck can’t help but be charmed by the stance of this pickup’s chunky 33-inch Toyo off-road tires and exposed suspension and axles. Trucks were simpler in 1970, less about the ornamentation than the purpose. Velocity’s trick here is taking that early simplicity and adorning it with flawless two-tone paint and billet accessories—subtle details you don’t notice at first.The powertrain, on the other hand, is not so subtle. Building on the lessons learned in crafting its Broncos and Harvesters, Velocity here pairs a Ford Performance crate Coyote 5.0L V8 with a stout 4R70 four-speed automatic transmission. Brakes are Baer discs at all four corners, the underpinning chassis is from the well-respected Roadstershop in Illinois, and the F-250 now rides on custom-valved Fox dampers. Velocity’s in-house custom exhaust and Dana axles complete the package. This blue-and-white two-tone model is a built to order special called “High Roller.” It marks the start of a new line for Velocity, which will start taking orders in 2023. Turnaround time is estimated to be 14 weeks, but it should be noted that wait times for the company’s Broncos stretched out to over a year. The order books for this thing will likely fill up fast. There’s also a plan to release a similar build based on the classic F-100 series pickup next year, though no concrete details are yet available.Throw in a full leather interior, air conditioning (not an available luxury for a Kansas corn farmer in 1970, totally necessary for a Miami beach cruiser), and a powerful Morel sound system to belt out your latest hit, “Only my dog’s been true to me.” You can keep your high-strung Italian exotica. Everybody loves a pickup truck, and Velocity Restorations is currently taking orders for one of the best.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

The ARX-05 competed in the 2022 IMSA championship, powered by a 600-hp twin-turbo V-6 mounted to a carbon-fiber monocoque and sending the power exclusively to the rear wheels. Finding a recent race winner up for sale so soon after its competitive career has ended is a rare occurrence, especially since the car is offered directly by Honda Performance Development.The ARX-05 is up for sale on Bring a Trailer, with the online auction ending on December 23.The 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship will kick off an exciting new chapter in American endurance racing. A new set of rules for the top class, now called GTP, has brought increased interest from major manufacturers, with Cadillac, Porsche, Acura, and BMW all set to compete in iconic events including the 24 Hours of Daytona. Only a few dozen of the world’s top drivers will have the chance to pilot one of the new GTP race cars, but now there is the opportunity to get the next best thing: a 2022 Acura ARX-05. This prototype ran in the predecessor to the GTP class, called DPi, and is now up for auction on Bring a Trailer, which—like Car and Driver—is part of Hearst Autos.Bring a TrailerThe Acura ARX-05 DPi was introduced for the 2018 season and is based around an Oreca 07 LMP2-class carbon-fiber monocoque. Power comes courtesy of a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 that is based on the J35 production-car engine, variations of which appear in vehicles including the Acura MDX and the Honda Odyssey. Unlike those family haulers, however, the ARX-05’s V-6 churns out 600 horsepower at 6500 rpm and sends that shove to the rear wheels through an Xtrac six-speed sequential transaxle. Bring a TrailerBring a TrailerThe black 18-inch Rotiform forged aluminum wheels, shod in Michelin Pilot Sport P2L tires, are mounted onto an unequal-length control arm pushrod suspension. Brembo six-piston calipers combine with carbon brake rotors haul the ARX-05 down from a top speed of around 200 mph. The car also has a built-in air-jack system for rapid pitstops. Open the butterfly doors and you’ll find a stripped-out, focused cockpit with an abundance of buttons, a yoke-style steering wheel, a fire suppression system, and a six-point harness. Meet the 2023 GTP Race CarsThis particular ARX-05, chassis number seven, was built by Wayne Taylor Racing in December 2021 and competed in the 2022 season, securing pole positions at Daytona, Laguna Seca, and Road America and notching victories at Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, and Road America. Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor, who have each won the 24 Hours of Daytona twice, were the car’s full-time drivers, while Indy 500 winner Alex Rossi, three-time Le Mans winner Brendon Hartley, and former F1 driver Will Stevens also spent time behind the wheel. The car still wears the blue, black, and silver #10 Konica Minolta livery. It’s being offered for sale by Honda Performance Development, which works closely with privateer teams such as Wayne Taylor Racing to run top-class endurance racers. While old race cars occasionally come up for auction, it’s unusual to see one available for sale so soon after its final race, and even rarer to find one that collected so many trophies. This unique piece of history would make for a head-turning track day. With a week remaining until the auction ends on December 23, bidding is currently at $320,000.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

The new Toyota Prius is one of the most transformational redesigns in recent automotive history. In one year, it’s gone from one of the ugliest cars on sale to one of the slickest-looking Toyotas ever. The stunning new model is also more efficient, an order of magnitude better to drive, a stunning value, and already fetching interest from a younger, broader crowd. Dealers are already talking about five-figure markups. Toyota, though, still doesn’t expect much sales growth.Everything about the New PriusToyota U.S. Vice President of Marketing Lisa Materazzo told Road & Track that the company is expecting annual sales of around 35,000 units for the non-Prime, standard Prius. That’s an improvement over the last full-year figure, but only barely. Toyota sold 33,968 Prius hybrids in 2021, despite the product’s age and Toyota’s considerable supply-chain constraints. With long-term gas price concerns at an all-time high, recession fears in the water, and a far more compelling product, the time seems right for a Prius resurgence. A 1000-unit improvement over one of the marque’s worst years in history sounds remarkably conservative. That’s especially true when you look at the Prius’s two best years, 2012 and 2013, which both saw sales top 230,000 units. “There could definitely be an upside on that 35,000 estimate that we have, and we will make all that we can if the demand is there,” Materazzo told R&T. That figure, then, isn’t the result of expected supply issues so much as a real look at the market. “We don’t have a crystal ball, so it’s hard to say what supply chain interruptions we could have in the short term . . . We’ve been dealing with that for a while and we’ll continue to manage through that. I do think it’s reasonable that there could be upside potential, but ultimately the market will decide that.”Even in the best-case scenario, though, Toyota doesn’t expect to ever come close to the high-water mark for Prius sales. While stronger-than-predicted demand could materialize—and reported dealer markups for first allocations suggest it may—the six-figure sales volumes of 2005–2017 era are likely gone for good. “I do think it’s important to keep in mind that we have more hybrids and more electrified vehicles across our lineup. So there are simply more options for buyers than there were back in 2011, associated with that sales plan,” Materazzo said. Back then, customers looking for a fuel-efficient hybrid were mostly stuck with the Camry or Prius. Today, they can get a RAV4 Hybrid, RAV4 Prime, Prius Prime, hybrid Tundra, or an all-electric BZ4x. A pie cut into that many pieces leaves little room for such a sales standout. Add in the stunning number of hybrid, plug-in, and battery-electric options from rivals—almost none of which existed in 2012—and it’s hard to see how any hybrid could recapture the second- and third-generation Prius’s chart-topping success. A fantastic design and a newfound focus on performance are both huge improvements, but even Toyota knows they won’t be enough to change the way the wind is blowing. This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

Ford has announced official power figures for the new 2024 Mustang.The base 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder makes 315 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque.The optional 5.0-liter V-8 ranges from 480 hp in the base GT up to 500 hp in the Dark Horse performance model.Ford is turning up the wick on the Coyote V-8 in the new 2024 Mustang, with the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter engine set to produce between 480 hp and 500 hp in the redesigned pony car. The 500-hp figure is for the top Dark Horse performance model, but even the base 480-hp 2024 Mustang GT will make more power than the previous Mach 1, which was rated at 470 hp for 2023 (it was initially rated at 480 hp for 2021).View PhotosMustang Dark HorseRoy Ritchie|Car and DriverThe revised V-8 makes 480 horsepower and 415 pound-feet in the base Mustang GT, a healthy upgrade compared with 450 hp for the previous base GT. Adding the optional performance exhaust increases those figures to 486 hp and 418 pound-feet. The V-8 in the Dark Horse benefits from a different crankshaft and forged piston connecting rods, and its output sits at 500 hp and 418 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed manual transmission will be standard on the GT, with a ten-speed automatic optional.More on the MustangMeanwhile, the base EcoBoost four-cylinder engine doesn’t change much from before. It now produces 315 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. That’s 5 hp more than the previous base Mustang, but less power than the previous EcoBoost Performance Package’s 330 hp. Disappointingly, the EcoBoost Mustang also won’t be available with a manual transmission, meaning the four-cylinder car will come only with the ten-speed auto.We still don’t yet know pricing for the 2024 Mustang, but production for both coupe and convertible models will start in the summer of 2023.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

It’s been a long time coming, but Tesla has finally made good on its promise to make Steam video games playable on some of its vehicles. The addition of Steam, which is an online store and library consisting of thousands of games, is part of Tesla’s “Holiday Update.” It also includes Apple Music, a new in-cabin camera view, updated light-show features, and more.Tesla recently announced on Twitter details of the update, specifying that owners of “new” Model S and Model X vehicles will now be able to play thousands of games through Steam. The company wasn’t exactly clear on what “new” means, but it likely refers to Plaid models released last year, which utilize AMD RDNA 2 GPUs in their infotainment systems. The hardware is powerful enough to run taxing games like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, two games the company has mentioned in the past. This content is imported from twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Tesla’s system is also compatible with wireless controllers, allowing owners to use the Bluetooth controllers from their home systems in their vehicles. Having the ability to boot up your favorite PC games in your Tesla will likely help negate some possible boredom during longer charging stints at public chargers. Certainly loading up Forza Motorsport is more fun than people watching in the grocery store parking lot. TeslaTesla wasn’t entirely clear in its Twitter thread about the boundaries surrounding when owners can actually play video games in their vehicles, but we expect they’ll only be operable while the vehicle is parked. Still, the company came under fire last year for allowing games to be played in moving vehicles. Eventually, Tesla issued an over-the-air update to lock the function. Presumably, that lockout remains in place, keeping drivers and passengers alike from engaging in distracted driving habits while their vehicle is moving. This content is imported from twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More