Motor News

Forza Motorsport comes to Xbox Series consoles and PC, it was announced at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase 2022 on Sunday.The new Forza Motorsport features new tracks such as the South African Kyalami Grand Prix circuit and a fictional Japanese high-speed course called Circuit Hakone. Fuel and tire management and increased car customization options are said to make this Forza the most in-depth and realistic experience yet. It’s expected out next spring.It’s been five years since the last iteration of Turn 10 Studio’s Forza Motorsport 7 launched, and that game was released a full gaming-console generation ago on Windows 10 and Xbox One. Time flies when you’re playing video games, and after watching the ray-traced gameplay of the new Forza Motorsport coming to Xbox Series consoles and PC—announced over the weekend—we kind of wish we could fast-forward to its launch next spring.

Players will be able to experience racing in extremely detailed 4K resolution. It’s not just the stones and cracked tarmac that add to the immersion; the trailer also showed insanely realistic-looking engine bays in amazing detail with heat wrap, carbon fiber, buckles, bolts, and linkages, even down to the backshells on the MIL-spec wire harness fittings. It looks great, but Turn 10 Studios promises the largest changes will be felt on the racetrack.

Turn 10 Studios

An updated damage engine allows cars to trade paint and wear battle wounds with added realism. Although it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to make bumpers tear away or convert DPi Prototypes into convertibles, the scratches and bruises appear far more in-depth in this new title than ever before.
This content is imported from YouTube. 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.

There’s also an overhauled driving physics engine. The new feel of Forza Motorsport should highlight added features such as fuel management and tire changes, as well as the ability to finally choose different tire compounds. Ambient temperature will also affect track surface temperatures, and Turn 10 Studios says that as more rubber is laid down, the car’s behavior will change.To add realism to its virtual stage, Forza Motorsport used photogrammetry and 3D material scans to render grass, rocks, weeds, and clouds into the game. While games like Gran Turismo 7 only offer the visual enhancement of ray-tracing during replays and in specific photo modes, Forza Motorsport can do it all the time—even when you’re using the car ahead of you as a brake in Turn 1.Forza Motorsport launched on Xbox Series consoles and PC sometime in spring 2023. Pricing and preorder bundles haven’t been announced yet, but it’s included with Xbox GamePass subscription and playable on launch.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 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 2023 Porsche 911 GTS cabriolet is available as a limited-production, specially designed America Edition.Its unique styling is highlighted by Azure Blue 356 paint, a black windshield surround, and Porsche’s first tri-finish wheels.Along with being limited to North America, all 115 copies are rear-drive, stick-shift convertibles—just like the original 356 America roadster.Back in the early ’50s, Max Hoffman was the first to import Porsches to the United States, and his success helped convince the German automaker to specially build a less expensive and lighter version of the 356 that was only for U.S. customers. It became the roofless, stripped-down 1953 Porsche 356 America roadster featuring a 70-hp flat-four engine. Only 16 examples were ever built, but it inspired the iconic 356 Speedster, and now—70 years later—its U.S.-bred formula was the inspiration for the 2023 Porsche 911 GTS cabriolet America Edition.
The America roadster model reemerged in 1992 and 1993 as a member of the 964 generation. It was a Carrera 2 cabriolet with the wider body, brakes, suspension, and 17-inch Porsche Cup wheels from the Turbo of the same vintage. Like the 964 America roadster, the ’23 911 GTS cabriolet America Edition shares some parts with the contemporary 911 Turbo. Its twin-turbo 3.0-liter flat-six is also the same heart as the Carrera S’s, except with 30 more horsepower (473 total) and an extra 30 pound-feet of torque (420 total).

Unlike a regular 2023 GTS, the America Edition is only offered as a cabriolet with rear-wheel drive and a manual transmission. Those three ingredients have been at the core of every America roadster, from the 356 to the 964, and now with the America Edition of the 992 generation. While Porsche built 250 copies of the America-themed 964, the company says it will only build 115 of the 2023 iteration, with 100 allocated for the U.S. and the other 15 destined for Canada. Thanks to a unique appearance and special interior appointments, it should be easy to identify the new one.
The 2023 911 America was specially designed by Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur. It honors the original with Azure Blue 356 paint, which is reserved for this car for the 2023 model year. Accenting the exclusive hue are side decals in red and white with “America” written on them. On its butt is “911 Carrera” in white and “GTS” in red. Porsche says this is the first time it has used different-colored badges. It’s also the first time the windshield frame on the cabriolet has been wrapped in black, a design choice that was made to evoke the thin pillars on the original. Arguably the most striking detail on the new America Edition is its tri-finished wheels, another first for Porsche. While the regular GTS cabriolet can also be fitted with 20-inch front and 21-inch rear rims with the same RS Spyder design, they only come in satin black. The America Edition’s rollers feature white spokes with a silver face and a red pinstripe around the outer lip. It really helps the special car look, well, special. Porsche says it wanted the look of the America Edition to land somewhere between invisible and loud. And the company nailed it.
A similar aesthetic philosophy appears inside the car, with black leather as its foundation. The only pops of color come from the red-and-white contrast stitching on the upper dash and door panels. The same stitching appears on the armrest on the center console; “America” is also embossed in the leather. Finally, the doorsills feature an illuminated plate that commemorates the 70th anniversary of the 356 America roadster.

Porsche

Porsche

For an extra $7510, there’s an extended interior package that adds a lot more red accents. These extend to the 12-o’clock hash mark on the steering wheel as well as red-and-white stitching on the inside of the steering wheel, the floor mats, the shift boot, and parts of the seats. The gear pattern on the shift knob also turns red, as do the leather loops on the front seats that allow access to the rears. Plus, the key fob is painted to match the car and comes with a stitched and embossed leather pouch.When the 2023 Porsche 911 GTS cabriolet America Edition reaches U.S. dealers near the end of this year, it’ll carry a starting price of $186,370.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 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

Digital license plates offer a few benefits, like being able to track a vehicle if it gets stolen and the ability to display warnings such as Amber Alerts.Reviver, which has gotten approval to sell its high-tech plates in Arizona and California, can now add Michigan to its list and claims to have more than 10 states lined up to be next.Reviver’s digital plates have a subscription fee of between $20 and $25 a month to keep them connected, and dealers who sell them are promised “substantial revenue share opportunities” each time they sell a digital plate.It took a little longer than expected, but Michigan is now the third state where drivers can order a digital license plate for their cars. The digital plates, which are legal to use in all 50 states as well as Canada and Mexico, come with a monthly subscription fee of between $20 and $25, depending on the model.

Reviver

Reviver, the company behind these connected, electronic replacements for a simple piece of metal, touts a number of benefits of digital plates. Reviver calls them RPlates, and the digital plates make it possible to track the car if it gets stolen. The company also says it’s easier to renew and register a digital plate than it is to get a new sticker for your current plate. In fact, digital plates don’t display any registration expiration information since, when the registration expires, the plate simply reads “invalid” until the plate has been renewed. Thanks to their cellular data connection, digital plates can also be used to display warning messages, like Amber Alerts.

Reviver

Reviver

Choices: Hard Wired or Battery Powered A new-plate fee for a standard Michigan plate is currently as low as $5, but to offer these features, Reviver charges a monthly subscription of $19.95 a month for a battery-powered model that includes a replaceable battery that should last for five years or $24.95 a month for the professionally installed, hard-wired model. These are updated prices from when we spoke with Reviver founder Neville Boston in November 2020.

The Michigan Secretary of State has not yet updated its website to take digital license plates into account, but Arizona, where digital plates have been legal since January 2019, makes it clear that the state does not get any extra revenue from the sale of these plates. In March, Reviver announced that more than 100 car dealers had joined its Auto Dealership Partner Program, making it easier for car buyers at these locations to get digital license plates for their new cars. Reviver pitches the program to auto dealers with an opportunity for “substantial revenue share opportunities from each plate sale.”

Reviver

Reviver has been working on digital license plates since 2009, which are also available in California. In late 2020, the company said it would bring the new plates to Michigan in 2021, with Georgia and Texas up next. That timeline obviously shifted, but today Reviver says that there are “more than 10 additional U.S. states” in “various stages of adoption.” The state of Florida, for example, filed legislation to authorize Reviver’s plates in early 2021, and the Colorado House of Representatives is also working on approving the plates. Looking further ahead to a time when these kinds of plates can be used in every state and country, one could imagine a future use case where vehicle designers integrate the license plate into the vehicle itself.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 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

Our readers and viewers tend to have good ideas, so we went with a crowd-sourced challenge for this week’s episode of Window Shop. With the budget set at $200,000, the prompt was to find the best car that any given brand ever made—the epitome of the brand, if you will, although this salient point caused much debate throughout the various presentations.Miraculously, none of us picked the same brand, and our five choices included three General Motors divisions—Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Buick—plus Nissan and Lamborghini. Care to hazard a guess who picked which? Our tastes are probably getting predictable at this point, and for this episode the crew was made up of K.C. Colwell, John Pearley Huffman, Tony Quiroga, Jonathon Ramsey, and Joey Capparella.The cars themselves came from a wide range of decades including the 1980s, the 1990s, the 2000s, plus a car with a body from the 1950s but lots of newer parts underneath. This “restomod” created much consternation among our panelists about authenticity. Elsewhere, an Australian-built V-8 sedan prompted calls of hypocrisy, a V-12 supercar lead to questions about currency exchange rates, and two turbocharged V-6 coupes each incited discussions of exactly how impressive various acceleration numbers were for their time.See all this, and more, in the episode above. And please, keep the suggestions coming—we’re always looking for new ideas.

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 2023 Subaru Crosstrek lineup adds a new trim level called the Special Edition.Along with exclusive Desert Khaki paint, it has dark gray 17-inch wheels, black body trim, and a red-and-black interior.The Special Edition is basically a $600 design package that’s available on the $27,370 Premium trim fitted with the CVT.Khaki has long been a popular color of cargo pants and military garb. It’s also the exclusive paint job for the 2023 Subaru Crosstrek Special Edition, which is a new addition to the lineup. With the unique exterior color comes black body trim (badges, door handles, grille bar, and mirror caps) as well as dark grey 17-inch wheels that are shared with the pricier Sport model.

Officially called Desert Khaki, we think the Crosstrek wears the new hue well. However, while Subaru’s marketing team would like people to think the Special Edition is an overland-oriented model, it’s pretty obvious that it’s basically just a $600 appearance package that’s reserved for Premium models equipped with the 152-hp 2.0-liter flat-four and continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). They have a starting price of $27,370; the Special Edition costs $27,970. It’s simple subtraction, folks.As such, the Crosstrek Special Edition comes with all the same equipment as the Premium trim level. This list of standard features includes heated front seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a drive mode with hill-descent control, adaptive cruise control, and lane-keeping assist. The Special Edition also comes standard with the larger 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system that costs extra on the Premium.

Subaru

Among the special interior appointments in the new Special Edition is red-and-black cloth upholstery. Red contrast stitching also appers on myriad surfaces throughout the cabin. While Subaru didn’t release many images of the interior, you can catch a glimpse for yourself once the 2023 Crosstreks reach dealers starting this summer.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 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

• We chose this 1998 Chevrolet Corvette as today’s favorite Bring a Trailer auction.• It’s a particularly nice example with just 20,000 miles and a nice blue exterior color.• It’s currently bidding at just over $10,000 with six days left until the auction ends on Wednesday, June 15.Ask a group of car enthusiasts what they think about the C5 Corvette, and you’ll surely get a wide range of answers. We’re not sure exactly how this generation fits within the pantheon of Vettes, but this particularly nice example up for auction had us looking back at the C5 fondly. It’s a 1998 Corvette with the Z51 Performance package that’s finished in a beautiful shade of blue that Chevy called Nassau Blue Metallic, and it’s for sale on Bring a Trailer, which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos.

Bring a Trailer

It just so happens that a Corvette just like this one—in the same hue, no less—beat a 996-generation Porsche 911 in a comparison test from the May 1998 issue of Car and Driver. Back then, we called it a “truly great sports car” and awarded it the win largely based on its price advantage: it cost $42,959 as tested, compared to the Porsche’s $73,319. The C5 also boasted a significant power advantage, with its 5.7-liter V-8 engine producing 345 horsepower and the Porsche’s 3.4-liter flat-six making 296 hp.

We’re not sure exactly what this C5 will end up going for when the auction closes in six days, but we’d think it’ll still maintain a price advantage over equivalent 996 Porsches given what other Corvettes and other 911s have been selling for recently.

Bring a Trailer

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 2023 Nissan Altima receives a redesigned front end as well as new wheel designs and paint colors.The Altima is also now available with a bigger 12.3-inch touchscreen with crisper graphics and wireless Apple CarPlay.Nissan expands the sedan’s roster of standard active safety features, too.Thanks to a little nipping and tucking, the Nissan Altima receives an attractive facelift for 2023. The family sedan’s front end now wears a redesigned version of Nissan’s V-motion grille, which also bears the brand’s new logo. Along with the visual updates, the 2023 Altima improves its roster of features and technology offerings.

Nissan has only shared images of the sporty SR model that, unlike other Altimas, is said to have a different grille design and black chrome trim. The rest of the lineup benefits from newly standard LED headlights, with turn signals sharing space with the daytime running lights. The car’s paint palette expands to include Gray Sky Pearl and Garnett Pearl metallic. Among the four new wheel options, which range in size from 17 to 19 inches, is a snazzy set of 15-spoke 19-inch rollers that appear on the Altima SR pictured here.
Inside, the 2023 Altima looks mostly the same except for the new finish around the gauge cluster and the new dual-stitch fabric that’s reserved for the SR trim. A larger 12.3-inch touchscreen also joins the party (an 8.0-inch unit is still standard). The bigger screen brings what looks like a prettier interface with crisper graphics and the introduction of wireless Apple CarPlay; Android Auto still requires plugging in. The upgraded infotainment system is available as an option on the SV model and is standard on the SL and SR with the optional turbocharged engine.
Nissan’s driver-assistance suite, called ProPilot Assist, is still standard on the SL and continues to be available on the SR and SV models. However, the bottom half of the Altima lineup now comes standard with active safety features that were previously optional. The list includes automatic high-beams, blind-spot monitoring, rear automated emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert, and lane-departure warning.The 2023 Nissan Altima doesn’t get any powertrain alterations. The standard engine is still a 188-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder, and it pairs with either front- or all-wheel drive. The 248-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with a variable compression ratio (a.k.a. VC-Turbo) remains the more powerful option, but it’s reserved for front-wheel-drive SR models. Both engines use a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).Nissan hasn’t yet released pricing for the 2023 Altima, but we expect that announcement to come sometime before the updated sedan goes on sale this fall. The 2022 lineup ranged from $25,925 for the base S model up to $35,625 for the top-of-the-line trim, but we don’t expect a significant uptick in price for the new model year.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 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

NHTSA opened up an investigation into potential “phantom braking” problems with Tesla Model 3 and Model Y EVs in February because it has heard complaints from 350 drivers about the issue.In May, NHTSA told Tesla it has now heard from over 750 people about problems with its automated emergency braking system, so it wants detailed information from the automaker.Tesla has until June 20 to respond to NHTSA’s request or face fines for not responding.Phantom braking—the strange feeling of a car’s driver assistance features applying the brakes when there’s no obstacle in the way—is not a problem limited to Tesla vehicles, but it does seem to be a bigger problem for Teslas than other models. In fact, increased reports of the problem coming in from Tesla drivers has given the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) a reason to follow up on the investigation it opened up into Tesla earlier this year.

In February, NHTSA opened an investigation into more than 400,000 2021 and 2022 model year Tesla Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles to investigate potential problems with the EV’s automated emergency braking (AEB) systems. AEB systems obviously need to be able to brake hard when there’s a dangerous situation in the road, but more than 350 Tesla drivers reported to the NHTSA that their cars sometimes saw rapid deceleration “without warning, at random, and often repeatedly in a single drive cycle.”For example, one 2021 Tesla Model Y owner told NHTSA in October that “the car braked hard and decelerated from 80 mph to 69 mph in less than a second. The braking was so violent, my head snapped forward and I almost lost control of the car,” according to Reuters. As we noted in February, one possible explanation for problems like these could be the fact that Tesla removed radar sensors from its U.S.-bound vehicles starting in May 2021, opting for a camera-only Tesla Vision system instead.In early May, NHTSA sent Tesla a letter saying that it has since heard from over 750 Tesla owners about this issue and asked the company to answer detailed questions about these incidents. NHTSA is requiring Tesla to submit a database that includes details on each of the 758 incidents, including when the cars were built, when they had their software updated, and information on any consumer complaints, crashes or lawsuits relating to these vehicles, among dozens of other bits of information. The letter was only recently made public, and Tesla has until June 20 to answer NHTSA’s questions about this issue, and NHTSA could fine the company $24,423 a day if it does not respond. A recall could follow.Tesla, which no longer has a media relations department, did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters and has not released any statements to the public about NHTSA’s request. Previously, Tesla has said that it considers its AEB systems to be operating normally.

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