Motor News

The 2023 Mazda CX-50 is a new crossover model that joins the lineup and looks to be similar in size to the CX-5.It will offer the same 2.5-liter and turbo 2.5-liter inline-four engine options as most other Mazda models, with a hybrid coming later.The CX-50 will be built in the U.S. and is set to go on sale in the spring of 2022.Mazda’s newest crossover, the 2023 CX-50, looks to capture the same successful formula as its existing SUVs: attractive looks, a luxurious interior, and—we hope—an engaging driving experience. While Mazda isn’t providing dimensions, it appears to be similar in size to the CX-5, giving Mazda yet another entrant in the popular compact-crossover segment. Although the two models will be sold alongside each other for the time being, we expect the CX-50 to eventually replace the CX-5, much like what happened with the smaller CX-30 and the CX-3.

Mazda is pitching the CX-50 as more of an off-road-oriented SUV with higher ground clearance than the CX-5 and available rugged-style accessories, but it is still a unibody crossover and based on the same transverse architecture as the Mazda 3 and CX-30. Mazda says it’s slightly longer than the CX-5 and claims that it has more room for rear-seat passengers. Mazda’s upcoming longitudinal architecture and inline-six engine won’t arrive until the larger CX-70 and CX-90 crossovers make their debut.
The CX-50’s styling plays up this rugged angle with lots of black plastic cladding around the wheel wells, front and rear bumper trim meant to look like skid plates, and black and silver wheels. It’s also available in a trendy tan exterior color called Zircon Sand, and the models pictured here feature accessories including a roof rack, hood graphics, and optional all-terrain tires. Apart from these add-ons, we like the handsome, squared-off shape and the modern-looking headlights and taillights and think the CX-50 looks even better than the already stylish CX-5.The familiar 2.5-liter inline-four will be under the hood, both in naturally aspirated and turbocharged forms that will likely produce around the same 187 hp and 250 hp as they do in the CX-5. All-wheel drive will be standard equipment, and a six-speed automatic transmission pairs with both engines. A hybrid model will join the lineup later, but Mazda isn’t yet sharing details on that powertrain other than saying it will feature a Toyota hybrid setup. Otherwise, Mazda claims that there are no parts shared between the CX-50 and the smaller Toyota Corolla Cross that’s built in the same factory.The CX-50 is a five-seater, and from what we can see of the interior it looks to feature a similar dashboard design as other Mazda models. A touchscreen mounted on the upper part of the dash is controlled by a knob on the center console. The more expensive trim levels feature plush materials such as leather upholstery, available in a nice shade of brown, and a panoramic sunroof will be optional. Like other Mazdas, we expect the CX-50’s cabin to trend closer to the luxury end of the spectrum than many of its mainstream competitors, including the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4.
The CX-50 will offer a new drive-mode selector that includes off-road and towing modes in addition to the Sport mode that is offered on most current Mazdas. These settings adjust features such as throttle response, steering feedback, and the tuning of Mazda’s G-vectoring control system.Mazda hasn’t yet released pricing for the CX-50, but we expect it to cost a bit more than the CX-5, which starts at $27,945 with all-wheel drive. It will be built at Mazda’s new factory in Alabama that is shared with Toyota and will start production in 2022, going on sale in the spring.
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 bestselling passenger car in the U.S. isn’t going anywhere. The Toyota Camry is now available with 18 distinct trim/powertrain combinations and new paint and trim options.This model year refresh adds the existing Nightshade trim to the hybrid powertrain and an exclusive color to the Camry TRD: two-tone Cavalry Blue with a Midnight Black Metallic roof.The 2022 Camry starts at $26,320 for the front-wheel-drive version and $28,405 for the hybrid.Toyota regularly sells more Camrys in the U.S. than it does of all Lexus models combined. In 2020, for example, it sold 294,348 Camrys and 275,041 Lexus vehicles, and the difference was even larger in 2019. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the automaker is sprucing up the decades-long bestselling passenger car for the 2022 model year.

For 2022, the Camry will get a Nightshade edition for the hybrid model as well as new exterior paints. In Toyota’s nomenclature, Nightshade refers to trims that feature black wheels, accents, and badging. For the Camry SE Hybrid Nightshade, that means 18-inch black wheels, a black shark-fin antenna, and black window trim, badging, door handles, and mirror caps. The Nightshade trim was previously available for nonhybrid Camrys.Toyota debuted the sporty Camry TRD version in 2020 and sold it with an exclusive color—Ice Edge—last year. For 2022, Ice Edge joins the lineup of available exterior colors for non-TRD trims while the Camry TRD gets a new exclusive color: two-tone Cavalry Blue with a Midnight Black Metallic roof. As before, the 2022 Camry TRD comes with a direct-injected, 301-hp DOHC 3.5-liter V-6 and an eight-speed automatic transmission inside a vehicle outfitted with an aerodynamic body kit and a gloss-black front grille. All powertrain options for the 2022 Camry match those available in the 2021 version.The addition of Ice Edge to the standard lineup of paint options means Galactic Aqua went away but XSE grades of the 2022 Camry can still be had with two-tone body and roof color combinations. Supersonic Red, Wind Chill Pearl, and Celestial Silver Metallic can be paired with a Midnight Black Metallic roof and a rear spoiler.

Toyota

All of the changes Toyota made for 2022 means that the Camry can now be purchased in 18 different trims. As before, there are three trims with the V-6 engine (XLE, XSE, TRD), five each with the four-cylinder in front- and all-wheel-drive versions (LE, XLE, SE, SE Nightshade, and XSE), and five hybrid trims (LE, XLE, SE, the new SE Nightshade option, and XSE). The different Camry trims feature distinctive front ends so that those in the know can tell them apart at a glance. The only way to tell from the outside that a 2022 Camry has a hybrid powertrain is from the simple hybrid badging on the trunklid.All 2022 Camrys will come standard with Toyota Safety Sense 2.5+,which includes a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection that also detects bicycles in daytime, as well as automated emergency braking. Available safety features include full-speed dynamic radar cruise control and intelligent clearance sonar with rear cross-traffic braking and blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert. Other convenience options include a cold-weather package (contents differ depending on trim level), a 7.0-inch multi-information display in the instrument cluster and a 10-inch color head-up display.For 2022, the Camry starts at $26,320 for the FWD LE trim while the AWD models start at $27,720 and the hybrid starts at $28,405.
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

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.

An increase in car break-ins and thefts in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana has alarmed citizens this fall.Officials in the area have blamed a supposedly organized gang of youthful car burglars that numbers at least 40 people across the tri-state area. Of note, however, is that most of the attacked vehicles were left unlocked, and/or in open garages, some with the keys and valuables visible inside, begging the question: Why don’t people lock their cars?One Monday evening this fall, Bridgetta Tomarchio was lounging inside her Cincinnati-area home, as the family’s Audi Q7 sat parked in the driveway. The next time she checked for the SUV, reported FOX 19 Now, it was gone. When she contacted police to report the theft, Tomarchio says they knew just whom to blame—the “Glacier Gang,” a crew of young car burglars that is said to run about 40 people deep. Authorities across the tri-state area not only held this youthful gang responsible for an uptick of area car thefts that dates to summer, they declared the group a public menace.

“They are aggressive and violent,” juvenile court Judge Joseph Kirby reportedly warned in an email to colleagues in the Warren County system a week earlier. “One youth who is alleged to have a terminal illness has vowed to ‘go out in a blaze of glory.’ Everybody needs to remain vigilant and exercise care.” This was after police in Northern Kentucky cautioned residents about a band of thieves targeting every town in the area, and a sheriff’s deputy was struck by a stolen SUV whose driver, a juvenile, was allegedly fleeing police.
This content is imported from Facebook. 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.

From there, the story quickly morphed into a social media sensation, with reports of six or more car thefts on a single night in one area. The only thing more alarming than these reported crimes was, well, the lack of tangible evidence for this so-called Glacier Gang—a name surely inspired by artist Gucci Mane, but somehow seeming more fit for a rogue band of radical environmentalists than a Fast and Furious crew.Consider: The Cincinnati Enquirer couldn’t verify the email attributed to Kirby through him or the Warren County court system, or match social claims about that night of six stolen cars with police records. “We have no known affiliation or title to this group,” said Lt. Philip Ridgell, who represents the same county sheriff’s department as the officer who was struck by the stolen car. (His injuries were non-life-threatening.) More likely, the thefts are symptom of a much bigger problem: owners leaving their keys inside their cars. A recent New York Times report found that car thefts, after a near four-decade drop-off, have jumped up in large part because owners are making it easier than ever for bored teens to go for illegal joyrides—leaving law enforcement struggling to keep up with a deluge of cases.Even Tomarchio herself admits to having left her keys in the car, telling Fox 19 that they “were in a jacket pocket that was hanging on the SUV’s mirror, which she had forgotten about.” It was recovered 24 hours later near downtown Cincinnati, with little out of place besides the overpowering stench of marijuana. “We got too comfortable,” she said. Evidently, the leap from complacency to conjuring a well-organized gang of teen car bandits isn’t long enough.
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

Bob Bondurant, who went from winning races on the international stage to teaching others to win races at his famous driving school, has passed away at age 88.Bondurant had been in an assisted living facility for some time.In racing, Bondurant was part of a small cadre of American drivers who travelled to Europe in the early 1960s to take on the world’s best in sports cars and in Formula 1, after several years driving sports cars in the U.S. Bondurant started out in the burgeoning West Coast sports car racing scene, competing against the likes of Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby and Ritchie Ginther before any of those guys were famous. At first he raced Corvettes, winning the LA Times Grand Prix in 1962.From there he started racing for Carroll Shelby and switched to Cobras. After U.S. wins driving Cobras, Bondurant went to Europe for the 1964 season, where he competed in races that are now legend: Spa, Nurburgring and the Targa Florio. But it was his class victory driving the Cobra Daytona Coupe at Le Mans that year that may have been his crowning achievement on a race track. He won the GT class at Le Mans co-driving with fellow American Dan Gurney. The following year he helped bring home the FIA Manufacturer’s Championship for Shelby and Ford. He also drove a Ford GT40 MkI, Ferrari 365 P2 and a Corvette in sports cars in 1967.In Formula 1 Bondurant raced for Ferrari, BRM and Dan Gurney’s AAR team. His career-best finish was a fourth place at Monaco in 1966 piloting a BRM.

Bondurant won his class racing the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe at Le Mans, bringing the championship home to the U.S. in the process.
Bondurant School

A crash the following year at Watkins Glen spelled the end of his racing career. But when the driver’s side door closes, another door opens, and it lead to a second career as an instructor. He helped coach the actors in the 1966 John Frankenheimer film Grand Prix, and went on to start the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in 1968, after working for Carroll Shelby as an instructor. Two of the school’s first students were actors Robert Wagner and Paul Newman. The experience lead to a lifelong interest in racing from Newman, who remained friends with Bondurant throughout both mens’ lives. A press release for his school from about ten years ago sums up Bondurant’s switch to teaching people how to drive instead of just driving himself.“…he is better known as the leading authority on advanced driver training and has been at the forefront of professional driving instruction since the late ‘60s. Utilizing the Bondurant Method, over 250,000 students ranging from housewives, racers, and celebrities to teenagers, professionals, and police officers have learned from Bondurant’s expertise. “On Feb. 14, 1968, the doors opened at Orange County International Raceway, near Los Angeles, with three students. The next week there were two students, Paul Newman and Robert Wagner, training for the film ‘Winning.’ Bondurant was technical advisor, camera car driver and actor-instructor for the film. Ever since then, both Bondurant and his school have enjoyed success after success.”

Bondurant and actor Yves Montand during the filming of Grand Prix in 1966.
Getty Images

It was successful for almost 40 years. The school ultimately ran into problems, though, plagued with accusations of mismanagement, and it declared bankruptcy in 2019. Its assets were sold to new owners, who did not, apparently, buy the Bondurant name. Under the new owners the school is still going strong, with new asphalt and many of your favorite instructors, but it’s under the name, Radford Racing School.When it was still the Bondurant School, and Bob was there every day, those who worked for him loved him.“I knew Bob really well, he handpicked me to go work for his racing school right after I graduated high school and worked there for about four years,” said racing driver and instructor Tommy Boileau. “I spent almost every day with him for about four years. Bob was just, he was absolutely incredible. He was just a kind soul and to listen to him tell the stories of back when he was in his prime and racing in Formula One for Ferrari, doing all those cool things, and then just all the amazing actors and celebrities he worked with over the years of the racing school, he was just one of a kind for sure, he was a character.”

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

2021 is the fourth year of the Hot Wheels Legends competition, in which builders vie to have their car chosen to be re-created as a small-scale collectible Car and Driver was invited to join Jay Leno, Ted Wu, Bryan Benedict, Brendon Vetuskey, Henrik Fisker, Sara Choi, and Mad Mike to choose a winner. The judging will be livestreamed on Jay Leno’s Garage on YouTube or Hot Wheels Facebook Live at noon ET on Saturday, Nov 13.Hot Wheels started its Legends Tour in 2018, and each year since has hosted a traveling car show to choose regional winners, and finally, an all-out champion from car builders all over the world. We were on hand for the debut of the 2020 winner, Riley Stair’s 1970 Firebird, and now, this year, we have the pleasure of helping choose which of the 2021 finalists will get to see their big car made small and ready to go through the loop-de-loop.

The judging is taking place in Jay Leno’s garage in Burbank, California. Just being in Leno’s garage is already like falling into a car toybox, so it’s the perfect place to see some of the Legends contestants in person, and argue passionately for a winner. The judges, besides me (Elana, trying hard not to shame Car and Driver by being too excited about absolutely everything), include several designers from Hot Wheels, full-size car designer Henrik Fisker, customizer Mad Mike, and drifter Sara Choi.

2020 Lulu is among the finalists.
Mattel

We’ll be narrowing it down from 10 cars to only one, and it’s not an easy decision. All the entries would be excellent in miniature form. Some have incredible backstories, others show impeccable work, some have both! There’s also a wide variety of cars to choose from. American muscle, German luxury, Braaaaaaap-ready rotaries, and complete one-off, hand-built customs. Here’s a quickie list of what we’ll be looking at during the judging. 1991 Porsche 911 Baja from Sun Valley, California: This thing is so clean, it would win a purist over to the Safari 911 thing.Custom aluminum racer named “Lulu” from Santa Fe, New Mexico: Paul Kalenian built an Indy-inspired, polished aluminum car from scratch.1969 Daytona Charger Superbird “Scraptona” from Macomb, Michigan: With a NASCAR small-block under its patchwork fenders, the Scraptona is in the running for best-sounding for sure. 2003 Exoskeleton Nissan 350Z from San Mateo, California: What to do with half a 350Z? Make a tube-frame back end, and drive around looking like a render come to life. 1968 Mercedes Benz 250S from Penticton, British Columbia, Canada: Perfect patina and a surprising stance for a classy Merc. 1990 Volkswagen Beetle from Mexico: This is a neat little car. Chopped and stretched, it sits low and looks like a toy already. 1969 Volvo P1800 Gasser from the United Kingdom: This one isn’t just for show, it’s a family-owned race car that regularly runs Santa Pod dragstrip.Wittgenstein from Germany: What’s a Wittgenstein? We’ll all find out together. 1986 Daihatsu Mira from Malaysia: This tiny truck is all forehead. And green glitter. 1973 Mazda 616 Capella from New Zealand: Giving the Dodge some competition on the engine-noise front. Braaap. It’s going to be a real challenge to choose between them.

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

Ford is adding a Heritage Edition package to the 2022 Mustang Shelby GT5oo to celebrate its 55-year anniversary.It adds a Brittany Blue paint job with either Wimbledon White or Absolute Black racing stripes to the 760-hp muscle car. It will be available to order next week starting at $76,800.Ford sent off the beloved Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT supercar by giving them Heritage Edition models honoring the company’s history. Now it’s doing the same for its most powerful road car ever made, the GT500, but we hope we don’t have to soon say goodbye to another high-performance Mustang.
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.

The Mustang Shelby GT500’s Heritage Edition package is inspired by a livery from the original 1967 GT500. It’s finished in a gorgeous Brittany Blue, and customers have the option of two different stripes, either in Wimbledon White or Absolute Black. The hand-painted option costs $10,000, just like on the standard car, while the vinyl option is standard and includes a side stripe.

A supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 making 760 horsepower and 625 pound-feet of torque powers the Mustang Shelby GT500, and it’s paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. In Car and Driver testing, a GT500 equipped with its standard summer tires reached 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and hit the quarter mile in 11.3 seconds at 132 mph. When we tested the 1967 Mustang Shelby GT500, its 355-hp 7.0-liter V-8 propelled it to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds and through the quarter in 15.0-seconds at 95 mph.Additionally, Ford is adding Code Orange, available on the GT, F-150 Raptor, and upcoming Bronco Raptor, to the GT500’s list of color choices. And there’s a new Coastal Limited Edition available on the 310-hp Mustang EcoBoost Premium that includes unique 19-inch dark-finished wheels, a black grille, unique vinyl side stripes, and it’s exclusively available in Brittany Blue, Cyber Orange, or Rapid Red.
Orders for the 2022 Mustang, including the Shelby GT500 Heritage Edition and EcoBoost Premium Coastal Edition, open on Monday, November 15. The Heritage Edition package adds $2140 to the GT500’s price, increasing it to $76,800, and the Coastal Edition starts at $35,415. They’ll arrive at dealerships in the spring.
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 2022 Toyota RAV4 adds sleek new headlights on all trims except the base LE and LED fog lamps on the higher grades.There is a new SE Hybrid trim that will slot below the XSE on the sportier side of the RAV4 Hybrid’s lineup.The 2022 RAV4 goes on sale next month, and Toyota will reveal pricing details closer to its on-sale date.Besides the full-sized pickup trucks from the Big Three, the Toyota RAV4 is America’s best-selling vehicle, totaling 313,447 units sold through the third quarter of 2021. Now Toyota has announced a slew of updates for the 2022 RAV4, including new colors, redesigned headlights, and a new SE Hybrid trim.
The new SE Hybrid joins the sportier side of the RAV4 Hybrid’s lineup, positioned below the XSE and with a more athletic attitude than the XLE and Limited trims. Inside, the SE Hybrid features a 7.0-inch touchscreen, a six-speaker audio system, and cloth seats. Buyers can also opt for the Weather package, which adds a heated leather steering wheel, heated front seats, and rain-sensing windshield wipers with a de-icer function and the Convenience package, which includes a sunroof, a power tailgate, and a 9.0-inch touchscreen.

The SE Hybrid trim also brings a new color to the RAV4 range, Cavalry Blue, which can also be had on the XSE and the TRD Off-Road. The XLE Premium Hybrid, Limited Hybrid, and XSE Hybrid all get a new wheel design, while the LE Hybrid, XLE, and XLE Hybrid have a new wheel color. Sharper-looking headlights appear on all trims except the base LE, and Toyota added LED fog lamps for the XLE Premium, Limited, Adventure and TRD Off-Road. The XSE Hybrid also gains the vertical LED running lights seen on the 2021 XSE Prime. Inside there are minor updates including LED interior lighting and, on all trims besides the LE, illuminated switches.
Toyota has yet to reveal pricing for the 2022 RAV4, but we expect a slight increase over the 2021 model. The SE Hybrid should start in the low $30,000 range. Powertrains should carry over unchanged, meaning a 203-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder, which adds two electric motors for 219 hp in the hybrid models and three electric motors in the plug-in Prime, good for a combined 302 hp. Toyota says more details will be release in mid-December when the 2022 RAV4 goes on sale.
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

Acura has revealed a prototype of the new Integra, a historic nameplate making its return after a long absence.It shares a chassis and a powertrain with the latest Honda Civic.The 2023 Integra hatchback will go on sale in the U.S. starting sometime in 2022.When the Acura Integra departed the U.S. market in 2001, it was also the final model in the Acura lineup with a pronounceable name. Twenty years later, the Integra is also the first model to bring it back. Replacing the ILX in the Acura lineup, the Integra is primed to cater to both nostalgia buffs and young enthusiasts alike.

The 2023 Integra rides on the same platform found under the Civic Si, and shares its 1.5-liter turbocharged four along with its limited-slip differential. No power output was given, but we’re guessing it’ll make at least 200 hp. Also making a comeback is an available six-speed manual transmission—the first Acura to feature a stick since the 2015 ILX. There’s also the Civic Type R’s rev-matching feature on tap. An automatic transmission will also be offered, further differentiating it from the stick-only Civic Si.
The four-door hatchback configuration makes a return as well, last seen on the first-generation Integra. With no trunk to impede its progress, the roofline gently swoops completely rearward, kicked up right at the end by a subtle decklid spoiler. The rear styling is inspired by the second- and third-generation models, with a wide expanse of sheetmetal bisecting two swoopy taillights and punctuated with a prominent Acura logo. Unlike all three past generations, however, there will be no three-door version this time around. Indy Yellow Pearl paint adds punch to the overall silhouette. It’s unlikely that the color-matched tailpipes will make production.We wish Acura were equally as daring with the front end, which features Acura’s handsome familial grille. LED lighting front and rear adds some sparkle, and the embossed “INTEGRA” on the front and rear bumpers is a nice touch.
Acura is mum on further details, though they did reveal that the 2023 Integra will launch sometime next year with a starting price of roughly $30,000. While it’s several grand more expensive than the Civic Si and departing ILX, Acura is banking on the performance angle to woo the hearts of younger drivers.
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