Motor News

Reporting and photos by Rich Ceppos, K.C. Colwell, Drew Dorian, Ezra Dyer, Joe Lorio, Caleb Miller, Tony Quiroga, Elana Scherr, and Dave VanderWerpYou’ll never see more street-parked supercars, history-making race cars, and exquisite classic cars than during Monterey Car Week. It’s the year’s best car spotting, with I’ve-never-seen-one-of-those-before finds seemingly around every corner. The week is so jam-packed with overlapping events that it’s impossible to see them all, but we’re fortunate to have a group of editors heading to California for the festivities, and we’ll share as much as we can with you here. Check back often as we bring you all the updates. —Joe LorioWednesday, August 14Rich Ceppos|Car and DriverReady to drive some vintage Mercedes-Benz cars from LA to Monterey. The list includes a 1980 450SL, a 1969 280SL, a 2007 R63, a 1997 Renntech E60 RS, a 2017 Maybach S650 cabriolet, and a 2008 CLK63 Black Series coupe. I’m in the 280SL. Woo-hoo! Let’s go! —Rich CepposRich Ceppos|Car and DriverRich Ceppos|Car and DriverCaleb Miller|Car and DriverI’ve made it to California, and now Cadillac is shuttling me down to Carmel in the back seat of an electric Lyriq, but not before I made an important pit stop for some In-N-Out. —Caleb MillerUPDATE: I’m getting close! YouTuber Shmee150’s Ford GT just cruised past me around 30 minutes outside of Carmel. —CMCaleb Miller|Car and DriverTwo hours to Monterey! It’s my first time attending Car Week festivities and I couldn’t be more excited. Picked up this rad 2024 BMW M4 convertible in Velvet Orchid and am taking the scenic route down Highway 1. It’s chilly, but I can’t not have the top down, right? –Drew DorianDrew Dorian|Car and DriverStopped for lunch at the crazy Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. Three hours spent behind the wheel of the 1969 Mercedes-Benz 280SL reveal it to be comfortable, soft-riding, and easy to drive. For a 55-year-old car, it’s a sweetheart. And so great-looking! —Rich CepposRich Ceppos|Car and DriverEzra Dyer|Car and DriverI’m going to be heading to Monterey from Los Angeles in a caravan of vintage Porsche 911 Turbos, some more vintage than others. So far they’ve reprimanded me for drooling on this 993 out of the Porsche Museum. It’s not an S but does have the 450-hp GT2 engine, so it’ll probably get out of its own way. All the cars are running on Porsche’s synthetic biofuel that it makes in Chile, so I want to learn more about that too. Presumably we have a Cayenne somewhere towing a fuel trailer? I don’t know! I just got here. Time to head north. —Ezra Dyer Ezra Dyer|Car and DriverEzra Dyer|Car and Driver6:00 a.m: It was an early start for me as I had to get up to Monterey by noon for a scheduled interview. My ride was the special-edition Maserati GranTurismo PrimaSerie. You’ll have to fudge some math to understand how a 2024 car can be a 75th anniversary edition of the first Maserati grand tourer (1947), but I’ll happily accept a long birthday celebration from a car whose massive cargo area carried my “shoes only” suitcase along with rest of my luggage containing all the outfit changes required for Car Week. Car and DriverElana Scherr|Car and DriverElana Scherr|Car and DriverThe PrimaSerie uses the same twin-turbo Nettuno six-cylinder that powers regular GranTurismos, but it wraps it all in anniversary badging, contrast interior details, and matte silver metallic paint. I’ve received lots of compliments already, mostly from teens and drivers in work trucks—the most authentic sort. –Elana ScherrCar and DriverAfter checking into our hotels, Caleb and I met up in downtown Pacific Grove to walk through the Little Car Show. All of the vehicles here are tiny and cute. We met the owner of this Daihatsu Hijet, who bought it while stationed in Japan and then shipped it home to the States after his tour ended. He’s since painted it bright red and put in a rubber bedliner. It’s clear he’s very proud of his minitruck. –Drew Dorian Caleb Miller|Car and DriverCaleb Miller|Car and DriverAnother highlight of the Little Car Show was seeing this BMW Isetta with its front-hinged door open, exposing its itsy bitsy pedals and minuscule gear selector. We were also surprised to find a purple 1993 Geo Metro LSi convertible in mint condition, quite the stark contrast to the dozens of supercars we’ve already spotted. –Caleb Miller Car Week is no longer a secret to the California Highway Patrol, and the CHP was out in force on all the main roads leading up from Los Angeles. Our crew, law-abiding as we are, seem to have made it up unscathed. Our sympathies to those who did not. Blasting by with the A/C and stereo bumping and thinking, “Oh, he might be having even more fun.”Car and DriverIsn’t it embarrassing when someone shows up at the party in the same outfit? Or maybe this is a couples situation, one for each. Relationship goals. –Elana ScherrCar and DriverI stopped by the Gordon Murray encampment (stay tuned for a deeper dive into the GMA cars, and a ridealong with Dario Franchitti in the T.50), but while I was there, chief creative officer Kevin Richards—a designer who has worked with Murray since the McLaren F1 days—showed me his inspiration for the color on the prototype T.33 Spider. It’s a brassy metallic, not quite orange, not quite bronze. Elana Scherr|Car and Driver”It’s a kingfisher,” Richards said, pulling up a photo of a long-beaked bird with a bold copper chest and turquoise wings. “And the white bits in the interior are like the white feathers around its chin.” Inspiration comes from all around us. –Elana ScherrCar and Driver5:57 p.m. I am wounded that the Maserati Ghibli didn’t want to park right next to me and be besties. —Elana ScherrJoe Lorio has been obsessed with cars since his Matchbox days, and he got his first subscription to Car and Driver at age 11. Joe started his career at Automobile Magazine under David E. Davis Jr., and his work has also appeared on websites including Amazon Autos, Autoblog, AutoTrader, Hagerty, Hemmings, KBB, and TrueCar.Like a sleeper agent activated late in the game, Elana Scherr didn’t know her calling at a young age. Like many girls, she planned to be a vet-astronaut-artist, and came closest to that last one by attending UCLA art school. She painted images of cars, but did not own one. Elana reluctantly got a driver’s license at age 21 and discovered that she not only loved cars and wanted to drive them, but that other people loved cars and wanted to read about them, which meant somebody had to write about them. Since receiving activation codes, Elana has written for numerous car magazines and websites, covering classics, car culture, technology, motorsports, and new-car reviews. In 2020, she received a Best Feature award from the Motor Press Guild for the C/D story “A Drive through Classic Americana in a Polestar 2.”  In 2023, her Car and Driver feature story More

The 2025 Toyota Sequoia adds the 1794 Edition, joining the Tundra in offering the luxury-focused trim in its lineup.The Sequoia 1794 Edition has walnut wood inside, plus it has heated and ventilated leather front seats with available massage functions.For 2025, there’s a new wireless camera accessory that goes on the back of a trailer, which then streams a live view to the digital rearview mirror. The Toyota Sequoia lineup is growing and getting more luxurious with the addition of the 1794 Edition for 2025. Toyota’s full-size three-row SUV joins the Tundra pickup in offering the luxury-focused trim, which is fitting since they’re built on the same platform. The 1794 is situated between the upper-crust Platinum and Capstone trims and adds unique styling cues inside and out. ToyotaThe new Sequoia 1794 Edition has an upscale appearance featuring special badging and unique trim pieces scattered throughout. While the exterior looks almost identical to any other Sequoia, the interior adds more luxury flair. The standard cloth or leather seats are replaced with fancier leather finished in a beautiful brown tone. Plus, there’s real American walnut wood grain throughout the cabin, increasing the luxuriousness. The 1794’s front seats are heated, ventilated, and offer massaging cushions. The latter feature is a new option for 2025. The 1794 trim is also equipped with second-row captain’s chairs, and it rides on 20-inch wheels. Other changes for the Sequoia’s new model year include the addition of a wireless trailer camera. The unit can be attached to the back of a trailer and sends a live feed directly to the Sequoia’s digital rearview mirror using Wi-Fi. ToyotaUnlike the Tundra, Toyota doesn’t appear to be limiting production of the 2025 Sequoia 1794 Edition. When it goes on sale, we expect its starting price to fall somewhere in the $75,000 to $80,000 range between the Platinum and Capstone trims.More on the Sequoia and 1794Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. More

Hyundai’s first electric three-row SUV is set to debut later this year, and we’ve finally caught sight of the new model testing. We’re happy to report that the test mule is a faithful recreation of the Hyundai Seven concept, as it keeps the same overall shape and many styling cues. While the official name hasn’t yet been revealed, for now, we’re calling it the Ioniq 7 for simplicity’s sake. KGP PhotographyDespite the heavy camouflage, it’s pretty easy to make out the Ioniq 7’s large stature and long wheelbase. The brand’s unique Parametric Pixel lighting design can be seen peeking through the covering on the front of the car. The rear shows a similar arch-shaped lighting design to the concept, with lights wrapping up and around the rear end. Unsurprisingly, the coach doors and massive glass rear hatch first seen on the concept have been left on the cutting-room floor. The test model appears to have more traditional side doors and a standard rear hatch. KGP PhotographyInside of the test mule, the concept’s furniture-like seating is gone, though its interior still looks pretty airy. Otherwise, things look similar to Hyundai’s other EVs, with a column-mounted gear selector and a massive dual-screen setup covering the flat dashboard. As with most of Hyundai’s current lineup, the screens presumably use the same 12.3-inch displays under a single glass panel.KGP PhotographyThe new Ioniq 7 will be built on the E-GMP platform that underpins the rest of the Hyundai-Kia-Genesis EVs, including the three-row Kia EV9 SUV. That model comes with two battery sizes, a 76.1-kWh pack on the base model and a larger 99.8-kWh pack on all-wheel-drive and long-range versions. Range estimates for the EV9 currently span between 230 miles and 304 miles. The Ioniq 7 will likely feature similar variations, all of which will have an 800-volt electrical architecture that enables rapid DC fast-charging. We’ll have to wait a bit longer for Hyundai to reveal the full suite of details as well as the official name for the new EV, but the brand previously announced that the full reveal is slated for later this year. We expect pricing to be similar to the Kia, meaning the Hyundai will likely start somewhere in the $50,000 to $60,000 range.More on Hyundai’s New EVJack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. More

Ford has issued a stop-drive warning for vehicles involved in three past safety recalls related to Takata airbags. The recall includes certain 2004–11 Ford Ranger pickups; 2005–14 Mustangs; 2005–06 GTs; 2006–12 Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln MKZ/ Zephyr cars; and 2007–10 Edge and Lincoln MKX SUVs.According to Ford, roughly 375,000 vehicles were impacted by the recalls in the United States, with 95 percent having completed the fix. Ford released a new stop-drive order to nearly 19,000 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury owners due to three past safety recalls. All three recalls (15S21, 17S42, and 19S01) are related to the use of Takata airbags. The first recall was issued in 2015, with this being Ford’s second “do not drive” advisory pertaining to the matter.According to Ford, approximately 765,000 airbags in Ford vehicles were part of the global recall, of which 374,300 were in the United States. Following more than 121 million outreach attempts in the U.S. through letters, emails, phone calls, text messages, and more than one million canvassing visits to customers’ homes, Ford says 95 percent of impacted owners in the U.S. have completed the recall. That leaves 18,715 unfixed vehicles on the road. Affected vehicles include 2004–11 Ford Ranger pickups; 2005–14 Mustangs; 2005–06 GTs; 2006–12 Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln MKZ/ Zephyrs; and 2007–10 Edge and Lincoln MKX SUVs.To make the recall as easy on customers as possible, Ford said it has free loaner cars available if they are necessary. Customers also have the option of requesting a mobile service, or dealers will tow vehicles directly to the dealership to complete the free repair. Owners can check Ford’s recall website or use the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tool to see if their vehicle is involved. Related StoriesJack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. More

Lincoln has teased the 2025 Navigator in a new video before its debut on August 15.The video shows an illuminated badge and light-up bars in the grille.The cabin now features a squared-off wheel and a restyled dashboard.Cadillac recently revealed a refreshed Escalade SUV for 2025, and now Lincoln is ready to respond with its own updated Navigator. The American luxury brand released a teaser video today showing off several details on the 2025 Navigator and announcing that the revised SUV will be revealed on August 15.The 2025 Navigator isn’t expected to be a complete overhaul but appears to be a fairly thorough refresh of Lincoln’s biggest SUV. The video doesn’t provide a clear look just yet, but plenty of details are shown that allow us to piece together an idea of what to expect, and the Navigator looks to build on the design cues first seen on the smaller 2024 Nautilus.While the current Navigator is already offered with an illuminated badge in the grille, the 2025 model looks to take it a step further with new light-up bars extending outward from the logo across the grille. Inside, the 2025 Navigator will receive a squared-off steering wheel like the Nautilus has, while the piano-key shifter buttons have moved lower onto the center console. While it wasn’t shown in the video, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the 2025 model gain a full-width screen spanning the dashboard in a similar vein to the Nautilus’s 48.0-inch unit. The 2025 Escalade adopts a 55-inch display that stretches from pillar to pillar.It’s unclear if Lincoln is planning any changes to the Navigator’s powertrain, but the twin-turbocharged V-6 could receive a power increase. Still, the Navigator’s 440 horsepower already outdoes the 420 ponies produced by the Caddy’s 6.2-liter V-8, and we don’t expect Lincoln to take the fight to the 682-hp supercharged Escalade V. Either way, all details on the Navigator will be revealed in just two days’ time.More New LincolnsCaleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More

The 2025 Toyota Tundra introduces a new TRD Rally package with colorful badges and off-road-oriented upgrades.For 2025, the Tundra also adds new features to help with towing as well as massaging front seats on the fanciest trims.Toyota hasn’t yet released pricing for the 2025 Tundra or the new TRD Rally package.The Toyota Tundra is dropping the TRD Sport package for the 2025 model year, but a new Baja-inspired kit is taking its place. The introduction of the TRD Rally package brings some notable off-road upgrades as well as Toyota’s tri-colored badging inside and out.New TRD PackageThe Tundra’s new TRD Rally package is only available on the SR5 trim level, which also must be configured with the crew cab and four-wheel drive. It adds distinctive yellow-orange-red badges on the grille, the front doors, and the tailgate. The color scheme is also seen on the truck’s center caps, which are affixed to 18-inch TRD wheels wrapped with all-terrain tires. Inside, the colorful logos are found on the dashboard and the seats.ToyotaAlso included with the TRD Rally package is hardware that’s designed to help Toyota’s full-size truck survive rough terrain. The list includes Bilstein dampers, an electronically locking rear differential, and skid plates for underbody protection. The four paint options for the rally-spec Tundra are Ice Cap, Magnetic Gray, Midnight Black Metallic, and Celestial Silver. The SR5 comes with the Tundra’s nonhybrid powertrain, which consists of a 389-hp twin-turbo V-6 and a 10-speed automatic transmission.ToyotaFor 2025, the SR5 now comes standard with an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat; it has lumbar adjustment too. Customers can now order a wireless trailer camera system from the factory. All they have to do is attach the Wi-Fi camera to the back of their trailer and to see a rear view on the truck’s center screen. The Tundra’s side mirrors have also been revised with a taller profile and a different shape that Toyota says provides a better view. The 1794 Edition, the Platinum, and the Capstone are the Tundra’s fanciest trims, and they now have standard massaging front seats. Toyota hasn’t yet released pricing for the 2025 Tundra lineup, but we expect that information to be announced ahead of its on-sale date later this year.More Tundra ReadingEric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si. More

The 2025 Kia K4 will start at $23,145, a $2000 increase over the 2024 Kia Forte.The GT-Line Turbo is the only model with the 190-hp engine and will cost $29,245.The GT-Line gets most of the same goodies and sporty looks as the Turbo for $26,345.Kia’s compact sedan adopts a new name for 2025, with the outgoing Forte that ran for three generations replaced by the K4. The new K4 is larger than its predecessor and wears an assertive design with angular LED headlights, a wide lower grille, and a well-appointed cabin. Now Kia has announced pricing for the 2025 K4, and while its starting price is $2000 higher than the 2024 Forte, the K4 remains an affordable choice in an increasingly expensive new-car market.The price hike over the Forte means the base LX trim starts at $23,145, and it arrives with standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 12.3-inch touchscreen, and four USB-C ports. Stepping up to the LXS adds $1000 and sees the 16-inch steel wheels with dark gray covers replaced by dark gray alloy wheels in the same size. The LXS also includes standard rear cross-traffic collision avoidance.KiaThe K4 is now offered with an EX trim for $25,145, gaining 17-inch black alloy wheels and a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster in place of the 4.0-inch screen in the LX and LXS. There’s also nicer interior trim, a dual-zone automatic climate control system, and a wireless charger.The GT-Line adds sporty looks for $26,345 and replaces the torsion-beam rear axle with a multi-link suspension setup. The sport-tuned suspension is complemented by steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters. There are also standard 18-inch wheels, a 10-way power adjustable driver’s seat with power lumbar support, and standard heated front seats, adaptive cruise control, and Kia’s Highway Driving Assist system. The LX, LXS, EX, and GT-Line all come exclusively with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine sending 147 horsepower to the front wheels through a continuously variable transmission.KiaBuyers interested in the more potent 190-hp turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four will have to shell out at least $29,245 for the GT-Line Turbo. The GT-Line Turbo gets all of the same goodies as the 2.0-liter GT-Line—such as the suspension and the heated, powered driver’s seat—but also is the only K4 to wear full LED lights all around and feature standard faux leather seats. The Turbo also gains air vents for the rear passengers and a standard eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system.The Kia K4 is due to reach dealerships starting in September, with the GT-Line showing up in November of this year. The GT-Line Turbo won’t be available until early 2025.Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More

Bridgestone announced a new Dueler A/T Ascent as a successor to the Dueler A/T Revo 3.According to Bridgestone, the new Dueler is specifically designed for modern luxury vehicles, particularly 4×4 trucks and SUVs.It has a fully redesigned tread pattern with stone rejectors, widened notches to reduce noise, and interlocking sipes for improved traction in the snow, Bridgestone says.Bridgestone has launched a new all-terrain Dueler tire, a successor to the Dueler A/T Revo 3. The new tire, called the Dueler A/T Ascent, is specifically designed for modern luxury vehicles and 4×4 trucks and SUVs. BridgestoneAccording to Bridgestone, the new Dueler has a fully redesigned tread pattern. It’s got a square shoulder design with stone rejectors, widened tread slots, and notches tuned to reduce road noise and tearing. The new Dueler is also Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) rated, certifying that it has completed acceleration testing in medium-packed snow and achieved at least 110 percent of the traction of an all-season reference tire. Along with the 3PMSF rating, the new tire is Bridgestone’s first all-terrain tire built with the brand’s environmentally focused Enliten technology, which uses recycled materials to lower each tire’s environmental impact. BridgestoneBridgestone engineer Jeremy Norwood described the mission of the new tire as being “to develop a luxury truck tire that could tackle the trails on the weekends without sacrificing the comfort of the daily commute,” said Bridgestone engineer Jeremy Norwood.The new Dueler is on sale now, with sizes available in 35 fitments. Wheel sizes are focused on trucks and SUVs and come in diameters ranging from 17 to 22 inches. The new all-terrain comes with a 60,000-mile limited warranty. Pricing starts around $250 and varies based on size. Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. More