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This is a limited-edition version of the Ferrari 812 Superfast, and it’s rumored to be called the Versione Speciale. Its V-12 engine produces 819 horsepower, 30 more than the standard 812, and it revs to 9500 rpm. Ferrari will reveal it in full on its social media channels at on May 5 at 8:30 a.m. ET.Ferrari is making the 812 Superfast, the successor to the F12, a little faster with this new limited-edition model that’s rumored to be called the Versione Speciale. It’s more powerful, revs higher, and looks even flashier than the standard front-engine V-12 grand tourer, and it’ll debut on Ferrari’s social media channels on May 5 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Its naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V-12 produces 819 horsepower, up 30 from the standard car’s 789 horses, and it revs to 9500 rpm. In our 2018 test, the 812’s V-12, which redlines at 9000 rpm, emitted 91 decibels at wide-open throttle and reached 60 mph in 2.7 seconds. Power is sent to the rear through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

The limited-edition cars will introduce the seventh iteration of Ferrari’s Side Slip Control (SSC) traction and stability control system, and like the standard 812 Superfast, they integrate rear-axle steering. Use of carbon fiber inside and out reduces overall weight compared with the 812, and a unique aero kit, which includes vortex generators on an aluminum rear window replacement, improves downforce—and makes it look wild. Inside, though, the limited-edition models are similar to the standard 812. The door panels are lighter, and carbon fiber is seen everywhere. We’re not sure if they’ll only be available in this silver with a yellow stripe spec with a black interior, or how many will be built, but we’ll know more when Ferrari debuts the limited-edition model next month.
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VW has announced pricing for the new 2022 Taos subcompact crossover.It starts at $24,190 and ranges up to above $35,000 for a fully loaded SEL Premium 4Motion model.The Taos will go on sale in the U.S. in June.Volkswagen’s new entry-level crossover, the 2022 Taos, carries a starting price of $24,190 for a front-wheel-drive model in its base S trim level. Not coincidentally, that’s the exact same starting price as the soon-to-be-discontinued 2021 Golf hatchback that it effectively replaces. We were also surprised to see that certain Taos models are close in price to the larger Tiguan SUV. The Taos SE, for instance, starts at $28,440, which is just $150 less than the more spacious, more powerful 2021 Tiguan SE.

All 2022 Taos models come standard with a 158-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four, front-wheel drive, and an eight-speed automatic transmission. 4Motion all-wheel drive is optional on all three trim levels and costs between $1450 and $2045 extra, and it necessitates a switch to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.The top SEL trim level starts at $32,685 and comes in at $35,440 with the boxes checked for all-wheel drive and a $1200 panoramic sunroof. Other options for the lower trim levels include a driver-assistance package called IQ.Drive that costs $995 for the S trim and $895 for the SE trim.VW says that the Taos will go on sale at U.S. dealerships starting in June.
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Strikingly similar to the concept revealed last year, the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq will arrive in the first half of 2022, priced starting just under $60,000. Reservations open in September.As part of the announcement, Cadillac vice-president Rory Harvey said we will not get another new Cadillac model with an internal-combustion engine. It’s all electric from now on, in North America at least.More than 300 miles of range on a full charge, a 19.2-kW onboard charger, Super Cruise, and a 33-inch screen put the Lyriq right in line with other upscale EVs being offered in the coming years.The 2023 Cadillac Lyriq won’t just be the brand’s first all-electric vehicle; it is also the Cadillac that most clearly signals a complete transition away from internal-combustion engines in favor of EVs. According to Rory Harvey, vice president of Global Cadillac, during an announcement for the Lyriq: “Every new Cadillac that we introduce from this point on in North America will be a state-of-the-art luxury electric vehicle.”While no one at the company is eager to talk about the low sales figures for Cadillac’s first plug-in vehicle, the short-lived ELR, it’s a different story when looking forward. The current Cadillac stable is “one of the freshest lineups in luxury,” Harvey said, and one that Cadillac thinks will give the brand time to make a complete powertrain switch here in the U.S.
The oldest vehicle in Cadillac’s lineup is the XT4, which was launched in August 2018, and the flagship Escalade just got a new, fifth generation for 2021. The current lineup of gasoline-powered Cadillacs will continue to get mid-cycle refreshes in the coming years, but don’t expect to see any new product announcements about ICE models. Instead, look for more launches like the Celestiq, which debuted at CES this year, and the new Lyriq.”It is public record that we said we would enter this decade as an ICE brand and we would leave this decade as an EV brand,” Harvey said.

The Lyriq was first revealed in concept form last August. The production model will arrive in the first half of 2022 and, according to GM, it’s going to be awfully similar to the concept. The concept car used slightly bigger wheels than the production model, for example, and the door construction is slightly different, but other than that there aren’t many exterior changes, said Andrew Smith, executive director of Global Cadillac Design. There are two main differences in the interior: five seats in the production model instead of the four seen in the show car and, of course, more cupholders in the production model.
From the outside, though, the Lyriq keeps both the overall design as well as a choreographed lighting sequence presented by the slim-line LED headlamps. Since the black crystal grille didn’t need to focus on conducting airflow through an engine bay, designers used its futuristic look to cleverly hide the many sensors the car needs for its high-tech features, Smith said. Exterior colors include Satin Steel Metallic and Stellar Black Metallic, while the inside can be had in Sky Cool Gray or Noir. “We will also introduce the Juniper at some time in the near future, which is the color you saw in the show vehicle itself,” Smith said.
Cadillac said the 2023 Lyriq will have a range of over 300 miles from a 100.0-kWh battery pack. The rear-wheel-drive Ultium platform that the Lyriq will ride on will produce 340 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque, Cadillac said. A “performance” all-wheel-drive version is expected later as well. The new EV will offer an onboard charging module capable of up to 19.2 kW, which will allow up to 52 miles of range for each hour it’s connected to a compatible Level 2 charging station. The 19.2-kW onboard charger will be a standard feature on the First Release trim and an optional feature on other trims, said Lyriq chief engineer Jamie Brewer. DC fast charging will also be available, and at a 150-kW station, the Lyriq will fill up 76 miles of range in about 10 minutes. Once they’re back on the road, drivers will be able to control the way the EV slows down through variable regenerative braking levels that can offer one-pedal driving.

Other driver-focused technologies including Super Cruise, active noise cancellation, and KeyPass digital vehicle access will all be part of the Lyriq experience. A 33-inch-diagonal advanced LED display and a 19-speaker AKG Studio audio system with headrest speakers should handle infotainment requests. Twenty-inch alloy wheels will be standard, while 22-inch Reverse Rim alloy wheels will be optional.Cadillac will start taking Lyriq reservations in September, with the first vehicles going to customers in early 2022. The Lyriq is priced starting at $59,990 and will be built in Spring Hill, Tennessee. GM recently announced its Ultium Cells joint venture with LG Energy Solution will invest $2.3 billion in a new battery cell manufacturing plant in Spring Hill.
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Michael Simari/Car and Driver

In a crash and subsequent fire of a Tesla Model S near Houston, Texas, over the weekend, police say they are certain there was no one sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, implying it was using Autopilot at the time.Tesla CEO Elon Musk, however, said on Twitter that the car did not have the optional Full Self-Driving feature and that Autopilot could not have been engaged because the road did not have marked lane lines.Reuters reports that Harris County, Texas, police will subpoena Tesla for the car’s data to find out for certain.A crash and subsequent vehicle fire in Texas over the weekend has made major headlines for the fact that the 2019 Tesla Model S crashed at high speed with, police say, the two occupants sitting in the front and rear passenger seats with nobody at the wheel. Now police said they will subpoena the EV maker to get the car’s data and find out if its Autopilot feature was engaged.Tesla CEO Elon Musk insisted via Twitter that the car could not have been on Autopilot, saying it only can be engaged on a road with lane markings:
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An important note about Autopilot is that it is designed not to stay engaged without regular steering-wheel input, so the occupants of this Model S could not have climbed into the passenger seat or back seat for any significant period of time and continued using Autopilot even if it were engaged—unless they were purposely trying to fool the system by taping a weight to the steering wheel.Reuters reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will both investigate this accident. The crash occurred on Saturday when the vehicle, traveling at what police described as “a high speed” in the Houston area, missed a curve and crashed into a tree, then catching on fire. The bodies of the two occupants were in the vehicle’s two passenger seats, and the car’s owner was the person found in the back seat, according to Reuters.

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Hennessey has previously stated that its upcoming Venom F5 will surpass the Bugatti Chiron’s record for fastest production car in the world, by reaching 310 mph.The Venom F5, the company claims, will eventually make 1817 horsepower from its twin-turbo V-8 engine.The specialist’s chief engineer said progress looks good but that the company is also working on making it a more well-rounded performance car beyond top speed.We’ve previously told you about Hennessey’s ambition to prove that the forthcoming Venom F5 is the fastest production car in the world. That milestone is still a way off, presuming the Hennessey manages to beat the Bugatti Chiron’s 304-mph record. But the Texas company has announced that the F5 has already passed the 200-mph mark during testing, and with its 6.6-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 making just half of what will be its eventual 1817-hp output.

“We have been working up to the full output,” John Heinricy, Hennessey Performance’s chief engineer, explained. “It’s much easier to do the basics at a lower output to get the learnings in, and we can then build on that . . . But if you look at 900 horsepower and the [3053-pound] weight of the car, there’s no lack of performance.”

Hennessey

Development work has been done both at Hennessey’s HQ in Texas and also on a 2.2-mile runway of a one-time U.S. Air Force base in Arkansas. Last year John Hennessey told us the F5 will make top speed runs on the 3.2-mile runway of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, but also on public roads if this proves insufficiently long to validate the car’s aimed-for 311-mph top speed.Although working toward the same ultimate performance goal, Heinricy is equally determined that the finished F5 will perform at lower speeds, with development work set to include both roads and technical race courses including Circuit of the Americas near Austin.”Sure, we’re focusing on top speed and being the fastest on the racetrack, but we’re also looking at the whole balance,” he said. “If you just look at top speed, you’re not going to make a car that is capable of everyday driving, we’re not going after just a single area . . . and if you get the basics together it’s going to be a lot easier to get the ultimate performance.”When asked to nominate a rival he particularly wants to beat, Heinricy said, “All of them.” He elaborated: “Sure, we want to make a car that can be compared to a Bugatti or the Konigsegg, but not just on top speed. We want to create a decathlete.”Heinricy was previously development chief for the Chevrolet Corvette, and he told us the F5 will offer similar usability. “I’ve spent my career trying to make cars accessible for regular customers,” he said. “It’s very much my focus here to make sure the car has that capability.”We look forward to testing both sides of the Venom F5’s character.

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Ford unveiled a mid-size car called the Evos at the Shanghai auto show today.Although details are scarce, from the photos the Evos has an appearance with elements of a wagon, a sedan, and a crossover.This China-only model could signify what Ford’s long rumored Subaru Outback–inspired wagon for the U.S., the Fusion Active, might look like.Ford’s new mid-size car for China is the Evos, a name it used 10 years ago on a concept car that now signifies a possible replacement for our market’s Fusion sedan, perhaps in the form of the Fusion Active wagon that has been expected for a few years now.

Ford won’t say much about the Evos other than that it’s “aligned with Chinese aesthetics” and was specifically developed for that market. From the three photos Ford made available, one of which depicts it on the stand at the Shanghai auto show, the open-mesh grille and the rev counter on the instrument panel indicate the Evos is not a battery-electric car like the Mustang Mach-E. But the body proportions, from the car’s shoulder height and fastback profile to the interior’s door panels and center console, are reminiscent of that car.

Ford

As to whether you’d call it a sedan or a crossover, that’s difficult to say for certain, but it’s a good-looking vehicle. It’s not surprising that there’s quite a lot of resemblance to the concept Evos, which in 2011 previewed many styling elements of the 2013 Fusion. On the production Evos, the muscled stance and super-thin headlights from the concept look very natural on this higher-riding vehicle.

Ford

The Evos will feature Ford’s newly announced Level 2 self-driving feature called BlueCruise. Ford says it will activate on “prequalified sections of divided highways,” which is exactly how Cadillac’s Super Cruise is designed to function (by using laser-scanned 3D maps). Ford didn’t say how many miles of road in China are set up for hands-free driving. The same technology will be available in the U.S. on the Mach-E and the F-150 pickup later this year. The Evos also gets a new Ford Virtual Personal Assistant, which uses a human-machine interface to customize interior conditions. In contrast to the Mach-E’s 15.5-inch vertical display and teensy instrument panel, the Evos spans 43 inches of screens in one horizontal sweep. The VPA has a “co-driver” mode in which one side of the screen can be set up to show navigation, traffic signs, and road conditions while the passenger can look at entertainment on the other side. It also has a “relax” mode in which lighting, seat positions, and audio can be adjusted to taste. The software is modified by the Chinese tech giant Baidu and therefore unlikely to show up in other markets.Ford also hasn’t given any details about the powertrain, chassis, or anything as it relates to a potential U.S. or European version.
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The Lincoln Zephyr name is back on a concept sedan called the Zephyr Reflection Preview, which debuted at the Shanghai auto show today.Style points to notice include the fastback-style rear end and the wall-to-wall interior screens.This Zephyr could be a Continental replacement, or it could be an MKZ-size smaller sedan, but either way it’s very unlikely to come to the United States.Lincoln is bringing back the historic Zephyr name for a new concept car specifically for the China market. While the luxury brand recently canceled its MKZ and Continental models in the U.S. and now only sells SUVs here, customers in China are far more interested in the four-door-sedan body style.

Lincoln

This concept appears to be an indicator of what a new Lincoln luxury sedan for China could look like. We doubt it means much for the U.S., but it’s interesting to envision an alternate trajectory for Lincoln. We don’t know many details about the Zephyr concept, so it’s hard to know if it’s sized like a replacement for the Continental or if it’s a smaller entry similar to the now defunct Fusion-based MKZ. Its styling is reminiscent of what we’ve seen on the Aviator and Corsair SUVs and has a fastback-like greenhouse in the rear. Inside, it has wall-to-wall screens, as is the current trend.

Lincoln

Lincoln also has given no indication of the Zephyr concept car’s underpinnings or powertrain. We’d guess that the eventual production car will use some sort of plug-in-hybrid or electric drivetrain. We discovered a few years ago that Lincoln still held the trademark for the Zephyr name in the U.S. and speculated that a new rear-wheel-drive sedan model bearing that name could eventually arrive to replace the MKZ. At this point that seems like an unlikely scenario given that Ford has dropped all passenger-car models and is focusing only on trucks and SUVs going forward. So we doubt that we’ll ever see anything like this Zephyr for the U.S. market.

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Subaru has announced that the 2022 Legacy sedan is priced starting at $23,955, a $150 increase from last year, and the 2022 Outback wagon starts at $28,070, up $150 from 2021. Most trim levels’ prices are unchanged or rise no more than $100.The newly introduced 2022 Outback Wilderness model (pictured above) starts at $38,120.The 2022 Legacy and Outback will arrive in dealers this summer.Subaru has announced a full price list for the 2022 Legacy and Outback, which are getting a few new features with prices that remain the same or have increased by $100 or less, depending on trim level. In 2021, Subaru added steering-responsive LED headlights, and this year it also gives every Outback standard LED fog lights. On the Legacy, it makes 17-inch black-finished aluminum wheels standard on the base model. In 2021, they were a $350 option. Both 2022 models will arrive at dealerships this summer, Subaru said.

The 2022 Legacy sedan comes in six trim levels, all with EyeSight driver-assist technology and all-wheel drive as standard. The base, Premium, Sport, and Limited models have a 182-hp 2.5-liter boxer-four engine teamed with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) and all-wheel drive. Their prices range from $23,955 for the base model to $30,905 for the Limited. The more energetic Limited XT ($35,455) and Touring XT ($37,155) have a 260-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter engine, also paired with a CVT.

2022 Subaru Legacy Touring XT.
Subaru

There are only three option packages on the 2022 Legacy. The first adds blind-spot detection with rear cross-traffic alert, push-button start, keyless entry, and LED fog lights ($1000), while a second adds a power sunroof and an 11.6-inch touchscreen with navigation, an improvement over the standard 7.0-inch touchscreen ($2595). The third package, which is also available on the Outback, includes a heated steering wheel, Subaru’s Driver Focus distraction alert system, the nav screen, and the sunroof ($2045). The 2022 Outback is interesting because of the newly revealed upper trim level called the Wilderness, which is priced at $38,120. Its features are based on those of the Onyx Edition XT ($36,270), which includes a hands-free power tailgate, a 180-degree front-view camera, and a full-size spare matching the Wilderness’s Yokohama Geolandar all-terrain tires, and Subaru’s dual-function X-mode with hill-descent control. The Wilderness differs with its higher ground clearance, at 9.5 inches versus the regular Outback’s 8.7 inches, plus special suspension tuning to make it more rugged and model-specific cosmetic touches inside and out.The Outback comes with a 2.5-liter boxer-four making 182 horsepower, with a 260-hp turbo on the Wilderness and the top Limited XT and Touring XT models. There are now eight trim levels from the base Outback at $28,070 through the Touring XT at $41,070. The base model has Subaru’s EyeSight driver-asssist technology with adaptive cruise control, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability with the standard 7.0-inch touchscreen, and a rearview camera as standard. Four option packages range from $1400 to $2045 and add features including blind-spot detection with rear cross-traffic alert, rear automated emergency braking, a hands-free power tailgate, keyless access with push-button start, an 11.6-inch navigation screen, and a power moonroof.Subaru said the two 2022 models will be available at dealerships this summer.

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