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Lexus has fully revealed the 2023 RZ450e, sharing new photos and confirming its official name.We can clearly see a “Direct4” badge on the back, which is Lexus’ new AWD electric drivetrain.The RZ will likely go on sale in the U.S. in mid-2022.Lexus is continuing the steady trickle of information about its new electric model, the 2023 RZ. We now have confirmation that it will be called the RZ450e and that it will offer the company’s new Direct4 all-wheel-drive dual-motor powertrain setup. These additional photos also show the RZ’s exterior design in full, although we still haven’t seen the interior.

What we know so far about the Direct4 drivetrain, as designated by a badge on the rear of the RZ, is that it will use front and rear electric motors that provide 200 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque each. The company hasn’t shared a total output figure, but this combination in the RZ should provide plenty more power than the Toyota bZ4X’s dual-motor powertrain with two 107-hp electric motors that makes just 215 horsepower in total.
The RZ450e otherwise looks to have a similar shape as the bZ4X and its sibling, the Subaru Solterra. Lexus will surely spruce up the interior to match its luxury billing with nicer materials, but it will otherwise be similarly sized inside and offer five seats. Competitors will include the Audi Q4 e-tron, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Nissan Ariya, and Tesla Model Y.We’re estimating the RZ450e’s base price at around $50,000, and it will arrive in the U.S. sometime in 2022. Look for more information to come early next year as we learn more about the RZ’s official specs, interior trimmings, EPA driving range, and price.
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Land Rover has shared more information about the 2023 Range Rover SV, which will sit at the top of the new model’s lineup.All SV models come with a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8 engine with 523 horsepower.It will be available in short- and long-wheelbase configurations and orders open in early 2022.In case you’re worried about your new Range Rover resembling your neighbor’s too closely, the range-topping SV trim level arriving for 2023 should alleviate your fears. It will offer numerous customization possibilities for the exterior and interior, so much so that Land Rover claims 1.6 million different configurations are possible. Available in short- and long-wheelbase forms, the 2023 Range Rover SV will be available to order starting in early 2022, and you’ll have plenty of choices for how to make it your own.

For starters, the SV has a different front grille and bumpers compared with the SE, HSE, and Autobiography models, plus a distinctive ceramic SV badge. It offers seven different wheel options and 14 colors in addition to the standard palette. You can even do a custom paint-to-sample of just about any hue imaginable for an extra charge.

Land Rover

Inside, you’ll have your choice of several different leather upholsteries along with a special fabric option. The shifter and many other knobs inside the cabin are ceramic, while a variety of wood veneers are also available. Two different interior “themes” include either Serenity or Intrepid. And the long-wheelbase model will offer an optional four-seat setup with a fold-down table and refrigerator. Now that’s decadence.The SV comes standard with the optional 523-hp twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8 engine that’s sourced from BMW. Range Rover hasn’t yet announced a price for the SV, but we think it could have a starting price approaching $200,000—and that’s before you start customizing it to fit your own tastes. It will be available to order starting in early 2022.
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Mazda dropped the automatic transmission from two of the Miata’s trim levels for the 2022 model year. The six-speed automatic is now only available on the top Grand Touring model. The Miata is powered by a 181-hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder, and pricing starts at $28,315.Mazda is showing that it’s on the enthusiast’s side by dropping the automatic transmission from two of the MX-5 Miata’s three trim levels for the 2022 model year. This is a big deal because it’s usually the other way around with new performance cars; the Chevy Corvette, for instance, recently dropped the manual gearbox altogether. Mazda continues to #SavetheManuals, and we appreciate it.

Mazda

Previously available on all trims, the six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters is now only available on the top-of-the-line Grand Touring model, which gets dark silver 17-inch wheels and newly available Terracotta leather seats. The Sport and Club models can only be equipped with the six-speed manual, which is the way you should buy a Miata anyway. And the Club model can be equipped with a Brembo BBS Recaro package that adds Brembo brakes, 17-inch forged BBS wheels, and heated Recaro seats for $4,500.

Mazda gave the Miata a revised 2.0-liter inline-four engine for 2019 that gave it 181 horsepower and helped the manual-equipped car zip to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds in our testing. In that test of the new car in 2019, we said that the six-speed manual, which was also tweaked for that model year, moved “through the H-pattern with a bit more finesse than before.” Available at dealerships in the coming months, the 2022 MX-5 Miata starts at $28,315 for the Sport and $31,815 for the Club, and we suggest you buy one of those models.
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Drift star Ken Block has teamed up with Audi to create the S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron, an all-electric bruiser that will feature in his next video.The Hoonitron is built on a carbon-fiber chassis and features two electric motors for all-wheel drive.Block began a partnership with Audi in September to focus on electric mobility.Ken Block has competed in more than 80 rallies and over 60 rallycross events, but he is best known for his viral Gymkhana Youtube series where he performs ludicrous driving stunts involving jumps, donuts, and drifts. Block parted ways with longtime partner Ford earlier this year—an alliance that helped create beasts like this 1400-hp Mustang—and announced in September that he will begin working with Audi “in the field of electric mobility.” While that phrase may call to mind e-scooters and robotaxis, Block and Audi’s first collaboration couldn’t be more different: The Audi S1 e-tron Quattro Hoonitron is a muscular, bewinged electric coupe that promises plenty of tire smoke.
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The Hoonitron draws inspiration from the Audi Sport Quattro S1, which conquered the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in the 1980s. Block’s newest ride features a long hood, chunky wheel arches, plenty of vents carved into the bodywork, and towering wings at the front and rear, just as on the original S1. Audi’s design team in Ingolstadt reportedly took the Hoonitron from initial sketches to final design in just four weeks, and development was conducted by Audi Sport at Neckarsulm, where the R8 and e-tron GT are produced.

Audi

Not many specifics were given about the Hoonitron’s powertrain, but Audi says the two electric motors provide “power galore” to all four wheels. The car is built around a carbon-fiber chassis and is constructed to the safety standards of the FIA, which governs Formula 1 and the World Rally Championship. The Hoonitron will appear in Block’s next video, titled Elektrikhana, which will be released within the next few months.
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Over 900 horsepower, lots of carbon fiber, and an extremely limited edition. Say hello to the new Ford Shelby GT500KR, nicknamed the King of the Road.Shelby will only built 180 GT500KRs—60 each from 2020, 2021, and 2022—as well as 45 for the international market. This is well below the two previous editions, which were built in 1968 and 2008–2009.Shelby will start building the new GT500KR in early 2022, with the first public unveiling scheduled for the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction in January.Shelby American is returning to the past for its latest street-legal, limited-run Mustang special edition: an updated version of the Ford Shelby GT500KR. The new GT500KR is part of Shelby American’s 60th-anniversary celebration, which takes place in 2022. Every 2022 model that Shelby will make next year will come with a 60th-anniversary badge, starting with the Shelby GT500KR, also known as the King of the Road.

Ford fanatics won’t need to see the badge to know what they’re looking at when they see the new GT500KR. This will only be the third time Shelby will release a King of the Road GT500—the others were in 1968 and 2008—and it will stand out thanks to a carbon-fiber hood as well as a carbon-fiber front splitter and rear diffuser. New performance-spec tires will ride on one-piece 6061-T6 forged aluminum wheels (20 x 11.0 front and 20 x 11.5 rear). Shelby rocker stripes and badges, a Shelby hood strut system, and leather seat re-covers are all part of the standard upgrade.

Shelby American

All of the GT500KR’s visual cues are backed up by an upgraded 5.2-liter V-8 powertrain that will offer more than 900 horsepower when using 93-octane fuel, thanks to a 3.8-liter supercharger with a high-volume intercooler and heat exchanger. The MagneRide suspension has been recalibrated, and there are Shelby adjustable front and rear springs, along with Ford Performance front and rear sway bars.On top of all of those standard features, optional components include a Shelby widebody kit, a polished supercharger, painted stripes, rear-seat delete with harness bar, and Le Mans–style over-the-top stripes. Shelby said it will only make 225 units of the 2020–2022 model year GT500KR, well below the numbers it made in previous years. Shelby said that 1570 units of the first GT500KR models were sold in 1968: 1053 fastbacks and 517 convertibles. Those models used a 428 Cobra Jet V-8 that was rated at 335 horsepower. When Shelby and Ford brought the GT500KR name back in 2008 and 2009—this time with 540 horsepower—it first made 1000 units, but then decided to make 712 more due to high demand, despite our 2008 assessment that the $80,000 vehicle was the “Most Ridiculously Overpriced Mustang Ever.” The price for the new edition? $127,895, or just $54,995 for the KR package if you bring your own 2020–2022 Shelby GT500 (only 60 packages will be available). The starting price for a 2022 Shelby GT500 is $72,900.Shelby will make 180 GT500KRs, 60 for each model year, to be sold in the U.S. That leaves 45 for overseas buyers. Production will start in the first quarter of 2022, but the new Shelby GT500KR will be revealed to the public at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale event in January, with the first production car being auctioned there January 29 to benefit charity.
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GMC has revealed the front end of the 2023 Sierra EV, an electric pickup truck.Like the gas-powered equivalents, the Sierra is likely to be mechanically identical to the upcoming Silverado EV.GMC will reveal the truck in full in 2022 and plans to build it in Michigan.GMC is looking to be the first automaker to sell not just one but two electric pickup trucks. The 2023 GMC Sierra EV is set to join the existing GMC Hummer EV soon, and we now know what its front end will look like thanks to this teaser photo. With a blocked-off grille and a futuristic lighting setup, the electric version of this pickup is likely to look far more futuristic than the gas-powered Sierra.

Like the Hummer EV and the closely related Chevy Silverado EV that’s also scheduled to debut in 2022, the electric Sierra will use GM’s Ultium battery packs that should provide up to 400 miles of range. Many of the tidbits about the Silverado EV that Chevy has shared—such as its fixed glass roof and rear-wheel-steering setup—should apply to the GMC model as well. Predictably enough, the GMC EV will offer a range-topping Denali trim level.We don’t have an exact reveal date for the Sierra EV yet, but look for it to debut within the first half of 2022. GMC plans to build it alongside the Hummer and Silverado at its Factory Zero plant in Michigan.
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The good news: The 2021 Ford Bronco four-door SUV achieved the top Good rating in five of the six crashworthiness tests administered by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the group announced today.The less-good news: The Bronco didn’t do well enough to earn IIHS Top Safety Pick honors because it got a Marginal rating for headlights and was only rated Acceptable in the head restraint test. Its major competitor, the 2021 Jeep Wrangler, likewise has no Top Safety Pick designation, although for different reasons.The 2021 Ford Bronco four-door SUV has completed the full set of crash and safety testing from the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). While the new Bronco achieved the top Good rating in five of six crashworthiness tests, it fell short of earning Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ honors. Its smaller stablemate, the Bronco Sport, did make the Top Safety Pick+ list for 2021 with Good ratings in all six evaluations.

IIHS

The Bronco lost points for its head restraints, which were only rated Acceptable (possible ratings are Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor). The IIHS measures the restraints based on an average male occupant’s height and the distance behind the person’s head, stating the restraint should be about 3.5 inches below the top of the person’s head and with as small a distance from the back of the head to the restraint as possible. In rear-end crash testing, the test dummy’s neck was “subject to moderate force” and the Bronco’s seat didn’t support the occupant’s head and neck well, indicating that occupants may not be protected well enough against whiplash injuries, the organization said in a statement.

IIHS

The Bronco is sold with a choice of two headlight systems, neither of which was rated above Marginal. The lights’ low-beams “do not illuminate the road to a far enough distance on curves,” says the IIHS. It’s worth noting that several automakers have upgraded their headlights—including Ford, on the F-150—since the 2020 model year, when the agency started including them as a criterion for Top Safety Pick.

The Bronco is not alone in the mid-size-SUV category without a Top Safety Pick rating. Its biggest competitor, the Jeep Wrangler, also did not achieve the honor. In the case of the Jeep, its head restraints were rated Good. But while the Bronco was rated Good in the driver’s-side small overlap crash test, the Jeep only got Marginal—”due to tipping onto its side” despite performing well otherwise, an IIHS spokesperson explained to Car and Driver. The Wrangler’s headlight choices were rated Marginal or Poor in the agency’s stringent evaluations, slightly worse than the Bronco’s Marginal ratings. The IIHS website states that only 29 percent of headlight systems tested on 2021 model vehicles achieved a Good rating, so these two SUVs are not alone. The Bronco also outdoes the Wrangler in crash-prevention equipment, the IIHS said. Both vehicle-to-vehicle and pedestrian front crash protection are standard equipment on the Bronco. On the Wrangler, there’s optional vehicle-to-vehicle front crash protection but no pedestrian protection technology available. On the IIHS’s mid-size-SUV list where the Wrangler and Bronco are placed, seven vehicles made the 2021 Top Safety Pick+ list: the Ford Explorer, Hyundai Palisade, Mazda CX-9, Nissan Murano, Subaru Ascent, Toyota Highlander, and Volkswagen ID.4. Another seven earned the 2021 Top Safety Pick designation: the Chevrolet Traverse, Ford Edge and Mustang, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento and Telluride, and Volkswagen Tiguan. (Check out the full list of 2021 Top Safety Pick winners on the IIHS website.)
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Honda’s Research Institute has started a pilot program to check for faded or missing highway lane markings, with the aim of making roads safer using its vehicles’ driver-assistance camera and GPS systems.The automaker will gather the information, analyze it, and pass it along to the state Department of Transportation to use in prioritizing road maintenance.The pilot program is currently operating only in Ohio with two Honda cars gathering information. They classify road markings on a scale that includes green (Ideal), yellow (Good), red (Needs Repair), and gray (no lane lines).Honda’s Research Institute USA has invented a system that uses Honda vehicles to evaluate the condition of roads they travel on. The system will monitor and grade lane markings on a scale from Ideal to Need Repair, using GPS coordinates and onboard cameras to collect information in real time. The two vehicles in the pilot program, initially only in the state of Ohio, will capture location coordinates (longitude and latitude), along with images and video clips of the roads. The system views and classifies lane lines to the left and right of the vehicle and color-codes them by condition: green (Ideal), yellow (Good), red (Needs Repair), and gray (no lane lines). The collected data will be anonymously sent to a secure platform where it can be analyzed and then shared with the state DOT.

Honda via YouTube

The automaker is collaborating with the Ohio Department of Transportation, using the anonymized data coming from the driver-assist systems of Honda vehicles that travel the roads there. The data will start being available in early 2022, Honda said, and will initially be used by the state of Ohio to improve its road maintenance. Later, Honda could use the data to adjust settings within Honda and Acura vehicles’ driver-assistance technology. For instance, in the future the vehicle could warn drivers in advance that there are faded lane markings or areas in need of repair on the road ahead.

Honda via YouTube

A Honda spokesperson told Car and Driver that although the program is small, with data coming from only two vehicles driven by research engineers, it is “the beginning of an effort to build out our road testing capabilities.” Later, the spokesperson said, they may expand the program with more vehicles. As for commercializing the technology, Honda is not yet disclosing any plans.
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