Motor News

The 2021 Nissan Rogue will gain a new engine, a turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder.
Nissan says it’s part of a “small pilot program” to evaluate new technology.
According to the EPA, the new engine is significantly more efficient than the Rogue’s 2.5-liter inline-four.
The 2021 Nissan Rogue will soon add a small-displacement turbo engine, according to the EPA website. FuelEconomy.gov lists official ratings for a 2021 Rogue with a turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-three gasoline engine that provides a boost of between 2–4 mpg over the current naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four. Nissan told C/D that this new engine is part of a “small pilot program” to evaluate this potential new powertrain, and we think it will eventually become part of the lineup for good.

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The 1.5L engine in the front-wheel-drive Rogue is rated at up to 30 mpg in the city, 33 mpg combined, and 37 mpg on the highway. With all-wheel drive, the highway number drops by 1 mpg. The EPA also lists a separate, slightly lower rating for the three-cylinder Rogue in SL and Platinum trims, as it does for the 2.5L model. The three-cylinder is listed as having a continuously variable automatic transmission.
We don’t yet have any power or torque specifications for the new 1.5-liter engine and it’s the first we’ve heard of this new powertrain from Nissan. A spokesperson said that the company is planning a pilot program for this engine but did not share any more specifics on how it would be rolled out.
Look for more information to come in the near future about this new engine, which may eventually be found in other Nissan models as well.
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A discussion about massive data collection by cameras that can automatically read vehicle license plates (LPRs) has been going on for years, but the Wall Street Journal reports that this is one issue that politicians and the public are not talking about enough.
There are some laws about LPRs, but they’re often relegated to questions about how long law enforcement can keep the data, not if they should be vacuuming up all the information in the first place.
Both the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have been calling on the public to speak out against the practice, saying it can be used to determine much more than when a particular vehicle was in a particular place.
When you’re driving on a public road, your license plate is public information. You could legally sit on your front porch and write down the plate numbers of every car that drives by, then put all of that information into a spreadsheet and track when people leave for work and who gets pizza delivered every Tuesday. One question that isn’t being asked loudly enough, according to the Wall Street Journal, is whether it’s a good idea for the government to automate being such a nosy neighbor.

They’re known as license-plate readers, or LPRs, and it’s not like this technology has been flying completely under the radar. In fact, automatic LPRs have been a subject of contention for about a decade now, ranging from police in Washington, D.C. holding on to automatically collected license plate data in 2011 to the FBI wondering if such data collection was legal in 2012. The Post’s story noted that as long as 10 years ago, one private vendor of the scanners, Vigilant Solutions, already had a database of 450 million plate scans and was adding 35 million new plates per month.
Law enforcement, unsurprisingly, is generally in favor of automatic LPRs. Chicago police said in 2020 that LPRs could help them solve more expressway shootings. In 2018, a Florida sheriff’s office said it used LPRs to recover stolen cars and a person wanted for sex crimes in another state. In a more recent case, the Journal noted, LPRs were used to arrest “a number of suspected rioters” who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Cameras used as LPRs can be mounted on stationary infrastructure like traffic lights or on things that move, like police cars or garbage trucks. In 2019, we noted that most states do not have any explicit regulation on LPRs, which means their use was fairly wide open. Things haven’t changed much since then, but the National Conference of State Legislatures has collected a list of state-based laws regarding LPRs. What limits exist usually set maximum length on how long law enforcement agencies can keep LPR data, but not on the original collection. In 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asked for, and obtained, thousands of documents from local and state police departments related to how this technology is used around the country.
“The documents paint a startling picture of a technology deployed with too few rules that is becoming a tool for mass routine location tracking and surveillance,” the ACLU said on its website. “As the technology spreads, the ACLU calls for the adoption of legislation and law enforcement agency policies adhering to strict privacy principles to prevent the government from tracking our movements on a massive scale.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) takes a similar view, noting that drivers don’t have a choice here. The government requires vehicles to have license plates, and the government is now using that public information to track people.
“Taken in the aggregate, ALPR data can paint an intimate portrait of a driver’s life and even chill First Amendment protected activity,” the EFF said on its website. “ALPR technology can be used to target drivers who visit sensitive places such as health centers, immigration clinics, gun shops, union halls, protests, or centers of religious worship.”
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Putnam Leasing is offering a trio of Porsches in a lease deal that includes some highly revered models from the 1950s, 1970s, and 2010s.
The leasing company is located in one of America’s richest per-capita areas: Greenwich, Connecticut.
Why not just buy these cars? Two words: sales tax.
Putnam Leasing, a private loan company in Connecticut’s Fairfield County, bankrolls the new exotics and vintage icons that original manufacturers won’t finance. So, instead of forking over nearly a million for a Porsche 918 Spyder—and paying sales tax, unlike lots of rich car collectors who “live” in Montana—Putnam will lease one for $7925 per month for 60 months and $175,000 down. If that sounds just as expensive as buying a 918 outright, that’s because it is.
But think about it. At car meets, Porsches are like potting soil. They’re such an essential base to any sports car enthusiast’s garage that resale values continue to climb year after year—to the point where dirt-cheap throwaway 911s from the ’70s are now quarter-million-dollar investments. Suppose you’ve got play money and don’t know which classic models will get the most attention at the next Cars and Coffee. How about hedging your bets by getting three, on a lease?

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Compare this extreme lease to the average person’s car loan. Even if you can afford to buy something outright, it’s often smarter to make partial payments at low interest and invest the remainder elsewhere. Say you’d only like the 918 for a year. Putnam will make that happen—and you’ll pay a fraction of the tax and total cost of ownership. With a Democratic-controlled Congress eager to overturn the previous administration’s tax cuts, there may be no better time to add one or three of these cars as a monthly expense.
The dream lease also includes a 1958 356 Speedster ($3750/month and $67,000 down) and a 1973 911 2.7 RS ($5869/month and $110,000 down). Putnam says many of its customers buy the cars outright once their leases end, but the whole point of a lease is being noncommittal. All told with sales and property taxes, you’ll be easily spending 20 grand a month for three used cars after plopping down more than $350K at signing. To some wealthy car nut who’s fallen behind on the collector scene, this have-it-all lease might be like Mom making catch-up contributions to her IRA. No one wants to be left behind.
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Previously on Window Shopping with Car and Driver we looked at the fastest cars you can buy for less than $10,000. While we found some seriously powerful and quick cars, none of them have much a reputation for reliability. So, when a viewer suggested that we combine two challenges in one and wanted us to look at reliable cars that are also quick for less than $15,000, we thought, giving people what they want isYouTube gold.
Helping us mine the internet’s car listings this week is Window Shop rookie and C/D contributor, Ben Stewart. Stewart is a fan of muscle cars, burnouts, and horsepower, so his choice of a Dodge Charger Pursuit with the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 doesn’t surprise any of us. His selection does draw a few questions about reliability, what the former city-owned vehicle might smell like, and we dive into the other things the Charger’s seller has for sale. Unsatisfied with the quickness and horsepower of his stock Charger, Stewart leaves enough money in the budget for a Procharger supercharger.Valuing handling and driving fun, contributor Jonathon Ramsey picks a fifth-gen Volkswagen GTI. While we can’t fault the 10Best winning GTI’s dynamics, we do badger Ramsey about just how quick and reliable he expects a 13-year-old VW will be. Ramsey takes our barbs and then answers our complaints with a second, more powerful car in such a sad state that we really wish he hadn’t shown it to us.Senior editor Joey Capparella and contributor John Pearley Huffman select two very different Japanese cars. Capparella goes for the surprisingly quick and largely forgotten Infiniti FX50 S SUV that could hit 60 in 5.0-5.1 seconds. Huffman uncovers a V-6-powered Accord with a manual transmission, a 10Best winner that he hopes will resonate with the group. Finally, deputy editor and host of this fine show, Tony Quiroga puts forth a Lexus IS300 that nails the challenge so thoroughly that everyone, and possibly you, are left completely satisfied and in awe.

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Hindenburg Research, a short seller—an investor that profits from a stock’s drop in value—released a report today stating that Lordstown Motors has misled investors about the progress of its truck, the Endurance, and the amount of interest in it.
Hindenburg says many orders for the Endurance are “fictitious” and that the electric startup paid outside groups to generate pre-orders.
Hindenburg released a report in fall 2020 on electric startup Nikola, leading to the chairman resigning and the launching of federal probes into the company.
Hindenburg Research, a short seller that previously targeted Nikola in the fall of last year, has released a report on Lordstown Motors today saying that the startup has misled investors about the capabilities of its pickup, the Endurance, and about pre-orders for the truck, which have been widely publicized. Lordstown Motors bought the Lordstown, Ohio, plant from General Motors in 2019 and unveiled the Endurance last summer.

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Featured prominently in Hindenburg’s report are the 100,000 pre-orders for the Endurance which Lordstown CEO Steve Burns has touted. Hindenburg’s report says that in addition to those pre-orders being nonbinding, many of them are simply “fictitious.” Hindenburg claims that in some cases, Lordstown paid for the orders to be placed.
Lordstown did not respond to Car and Driver’s request for comment, but Burns gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal following the release of the report. Burns said in the interview that while the orders were nonbinding, they still accurately represent the demand for the trucks. He also said that the report contains “half-truths and lies” and looks to serve the financial interests of Hindenburg, which, as a short seller, stands to benefit from the fall of Lordstown’s stock. In fact, following the release of the Hindenburg report, Lordstown’s stock fell 16 percent.
The claims made by Hindenburg in the report have not been verified by C/D or any other independent publications.
Lordstown went public last year in a blank-check merger, or SPAC, a method of going public that has become increasingly popular among automotive startups. Fisker, Nikola, and Workhorse are other companies that have gone such a route.
Hindenburg said a former employee told the research firm that while Lordstown has said it will begin production in September of this year, it is still “three or four years” from actually beginning production. Former employees also told Hindenburg that the company hasn’t completed any of the necessary testing, such as cold-weather and durability testing. The report says that Lordstown’s first test on public roads resulted in the truck combusting.
In the fall of last year, Hindenburg released a similar report on the automotive startup Nikola, a company that had gone public a few months prior to the report. The report led to Nikola’s stock tanking, the executive chairman and founder stepping down, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice launching inquiries into the company.
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This is our best look yet at the 2022 Ford Maverick small pickup truck.
It’s a crew-cab model with a unibody construction, and it’ll likely be around the same size as the Bronco Sport but with a pickup bed.
Expect to hear more about the Maverick later this year, as it’s expected to arrive for the 2022 model year.
Now that we know Ford has already begun production of a new small pickup truck, we’re starting to learn a lot more about what will likely become the 2022 Ford Maverick. These spy photos show off the new model from various angles, and we can see that it will be a crew-cab pickup with a friendly-looking face.

KGP Photography

The photos also appear to confirm that the Maverick shares its underpinnings with the Escape and Bronco Sport crossovers. An independent rear suspension setup is clearly visible. This prototype also has the same 17-inch Falken Wildpeak all-terrain tires that are available on the Bronco Sport Badlands. It is also being built in the same factory in Mexico as the Bronco Sport.

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The Maverick’s short bed is attached to the cab, as this truck features a unibody construction like the Honda Ridgeline and upcoming Hyundai Santa Cruz. But those models are both based on mid-size SUVs, whereas the Bronco Sport is a compact SUV, so the Maverick will be smaller.

KGP Photography

Because of its shared platform, we expect that the Bronco Sport’s powertrains will carry over to the Maverick, too. The optional 250-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four is a sure bet, with the 180-hp 1.5-liter inline-three possible for a cheaper base version of the Maverick. All-wheel drive will likely be standard, with a front-wheel-drive model possible.
The Maverick should be significantly smaller than the Ranger, and cheaper as well. Ford has previously talked about a sub-$20,000 starting price but we’re not sure if that’s still in the cards. We think a base price of around $25,000 is more likely.
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Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess tweeted that the automaker will have an event early on the morning of on Monday, March 15, which will appear on a livestream on Volkswagen’s media site and on its Twitter feed.
Called Power Day, the event will likely deal with the automaker’s battery technology, and the CEO was quick to point out that the event is not a car presentation.
Volkswagen might use the event to talk about its MEB platform and the technology behind the upcoming Trinity electric sedan.

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Turns out announcing news via Twitter is no longer exclusive to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess tweeted news that the Volkswagen Group will be holding an online event called Power Day on Monday, March 15, at 7:00 a.m. ET. The event sounds similar to Tesla’s vaunted Battery Day events. The tweet and accompanying video both note that no new vehicles will be announced during the event.
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Based on the name and accompanying video showing a battery, it’s likely the event will focus on Volkswagen’s battery technology and its MEB electric platform. The automaker has announced a bold plan to have 50 percent of its sales in the U.S. be electric by 2030 and recently announced an upcoming sedan called Trinity that it says will set new standards for charging times and battery range. How that actually plays out technologically may be the basis for the March 15 event.
The automaker recently launched its first electric MEB-based vehicle in the United States, the 2021 ID.4 compact SUV. The MEB platform is also the underlying technology of the 2021 ID.3 released in Europe and the upcoming 2022 Audi Q4 e-tron that will land in U.S. showrooms in early 2022.
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Mercedes has released new teaser photos of the next-generation SL.
This upcoming convertible will be more of a sports car than a cushy cruiser.
Expect AMG SL43 and SL53 models with an inline-six and an SL63 with a V-8.
Mercedes is planning a reset for its SL-class range and is attempting to whet our appetite with teaser shots of the new 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL, which is currently undergoing final winter testing in Sweden.
While the cars are still camouflaged, we can take away quite a bit of information. The retractable hard top which has been a hallmark of the SL for the last two decades makes way for a fabric top again. This helps to achieve a sleek roofline and a lower rear end; the previous model needed a relatively tall trunk to fit the folded roof. To enhance aerodynamics, there is a large, electrically raised rear spoiler, much like on the current AMG GT.

Mercedes

The proportions are tighter and more harmonious than before. The new one is shaping up to be a lot more pleasing to the eye than the awkward current generation. It’s a bit more practical, too, as there’s enough space behind the front seats for two tiny rear seats, meaning the new SL is likely to be offered as a a 2+2, like in the distant past.

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Mercedes isn’t talking about the powertrains yet but our best guess is that there will be AMG SL43 and SL53 models with inline-six engines and around 360 and 430 horsepower, as well as an AMG SL63 with a 4.0-liter V-8 and around 600 horsepower. There could even be an AMG SL73e with a plug-in-hybrid drivetrain and close to 800 horsepower, but that’s a model for the more distant future, and it could overlap too much with the AMG GT. The 43, 53 and 63 models will by hybridized as well, they will all come with a 9-speed automatic, and for the first time, the SL will be offered with a rear-biased all-wheel-drive system.

Mercedes

Every SL will be an AMG. The high-performance division in Affalterbach is responsible for the new model. And therefore we expect it to be a real sports car, not a boulevard cruiser. What’s gone is the V-12, as that’s henceforth a Maybach engine.
We expect the SL to come to market late in 2021. Competition will include the BMW 8-series cabriolet, the Lexus LC500 convertible, and the Porsche 911 cabrio.
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