Motor News

Popular Twitch streamer Fuslie and 554,000 unique viewers crowdsourced customizations to this 2021 Lexus IS350 F Sport to transform it into a high-performance custom gaming PC.
Viewers on Twitch voted to choose the theme of the exterior, interior, gaming hardware, and even which refreshment to fill the six-drink center console cooler with.
Fabrication work was completed by SCPS in Southern California, the same production studio that built concepts and movie props for Spider-Man: Homecoming and costume pieces for Avengers: Endgame.
Over half a million Twitch viewers voted to decide how funky the internet should make a 311-hp Lexus IS F Sport. Popular Twitch streamer Leslie, better known as Fuslie to her 762,000 followers, chose between several themes and hardware options provided by Lexus to create an IS F Sport with a 27-inch 4K display in the passenger seat, connected to a high-performance gaming PC in the trunk.

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A team of 20 fabricators at the SCPS production studio used 3D printers, artists, structural engineers, and computer techs to bring this crowdsourced IS350 F Sport from concept to completion in five months. The outside of the IS350 F Sport is wrapped in vinyl, with a design that’s supposed to represent some Special Operations/Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six type of stuff. The dark colors and geometric shapes are meant to illustrate a stealthy first-person gaming experience. Below are other options viewers had to choose from.

MORE IS350 PHOTOS

Lexus

The guts of the car look a lot like the inside of most modern PC cases and other computer hardware. It’s been filled with a bunch of RGB LED lighting, including programmable ceiling tiles that are crazier than the starlight headliner Rolls-Royce put in its Ghost Zenith models. The 27-inch Samsung 4K curved display is big enough that Lexus told us it doesn’t suggest people drive this particular IS350 F Sport on the open road because its mass blocks forward visibility.
A retractable keyboard and mouse are also onboard, as well as a 3D-printed controller for less than serious gamers. The passenger seat uses haptic feedback technology that lets you feel the gameplay. There’s also Smart Tint film on the windows that can darken the cabin on command to cut back on glare while you game.

The added computer power is enough to handle everything from Goat Simulator to Call of Duty Warzone at 4K resolution. Viewers elected the hardware package that included an AMD Ryzen 9 590X processor, an MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card. That graphics card was out of stock during fabrication, so SCPS had to use an MSI GeForce RTX 2080 card instead. Unfortunately, the Lexus IS350 F Sport doesn’t power the system. Lexus explained that a wall outlet is required, because it’s obviously a giant waste of gasoline to sit in the driveway while the car idles just so you can rant on Twitter and watch Engineering Explained on YouTube until 3 a.m. every night.

Lexus

The Lexus IS received styling updates for 2021, with a better infotainment system and more driver-assistance features, but we’re glad they featured the rear-drive F Sport for this partnership, because it has bigger wheels, more aggressive styling, and a peppier V-6. When we tested the 2021 IS350 F Sport last year, we found its interior comfy but felt the powertrain could be more exciting with forced induction.
The trend of automakers partnering with Twitch has become popular recently. Honda debuted its 2022 Honda Civic concept live on Twitch in November 2020 just before jumping back into Esports gameplay from Rocket League.
According to TwitchTracker.com, the livestreaming platform reached 2.9 million average concurrent viewers this month, with total hours viewed reaching over 2.1 billion hours in January. In other words, it’s like a small Super Bowl every day in terms of viewership. Although this year’s Super Bowl caught 96.4 million viewers for its roughly four-hour football game, nearly 15 million people watch Twitch per day.
If you want to watch Fuslie and the Twitch community design the car step by step, you can find the stream below:
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This prototype of a Taycan Cross Turismo gives us a glimpse at the production version of this wagon variant.
The Cross Turismo was first shown in concept form in 2018.
It should share its electric drivetrain and basic components with the Taycan sedan, but with more cargo space and a raised suspension.
Porsche is nearly ready to take the SUV-inspired wagon trend into the electric sphere with the upcoming Taycan Cross Turismo. First shown in concept form years ago, the Cross Turismo is now in prototype stage, and these images give us a good indication of what the final product will look like.

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The Cross Turismo’s extended roofline is the biggest change compared with the Taycan sedan, and it should offer considerably more cargo space. There’s also extra wheel-arch cladding, and Porsche says that it has revised the air suspension to provide extra ground clearance. As such, we don’t expect the Cross Turismo to offer the Taycan’s new rear-wheel-drive base setup. Instead, it should come standard with all-wheel drive like the Panamera’s Sport Turismo wagon variant does.

Porsche

The 522-hp dual-motor setup from the Taycan 4S is the most likely candidate for the Cross Turismo’s base powertrain, with 670-hp Turbo and 750-hp Turbo S models set to join the lineup as well. It will likely offer the same battery-pack options as the sedan, meaning either a 71.0-kWh pack as standard and an 83.7-kWh pack as optional. Due to the Cross Turismo’s extra weight, it may offer worse driving-range estimates than the sedan, which is rated at up to 227 miles by the EPA for the 2021 Taycan 4S with the upgraded battery pack.
Porsche doesn’t say exactly when it will reveal the Taycan Cross Turismo in full, but we think it will arrive within the next few months with a starting price around $110,000.
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The Morgan Plus 8 ended production back in 2018 with a limited run of 50th Anniversary edition cars. It was supposed to be a final sendoff for the flagship and its aging BMW-sourced 4.8-liter naturally aspirated V-8. But today, the low-volume British retro carmaker announced it will be putting the Plus 8 back into production for an extremely limited run of high-performance “GTR” models.

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Why? you ask. Well, Morgan says this special project was only possible because a number of Plus 8 rolling chassis, built by the automaker before 2018 for a third-party manufacturer, had recently become available for purchase. Morgan presumably bought them back and decided they’d be best used for developing an ultra-low-production special edition model. So the GTR was born.
The Plus 8 GTR, like all Aero-chassis Plus 8s, will be powered by BMW’s naturally aspirated N62 V-8 engine. While previous cars made 367 horsepower, Morgan has yet to release final outputs for these new GTR models, suggesting more power could be on the horizon. Torque will be sent to the rear wheels via the buyer’s choice of six-speed manual or ZF six-speed automatic transmission.

“Reviving a V-8-powered Morgan at the current time may not seem like the obvious choice for a manufacturer firmly focused on new platforms and powertrains,” head of design Jonathan Wells said in a statement. “However, when the opportunity presented itself to recommission a number of rolling chassis and create an exciting special project such as Plus 8 GTR, we embraced it fully. This project has allowed Morgan’s design and engineering teams to revisit some of their favorite elements of past Morgan models, as well as experiment with some features that we hope will appear on future Morgan cars.”
Morgan will build just nine examples of the Plus 8 GTR, with production starting in summer 2021. The company says buyers will have the opportunity to visit the factory to commission their cars, which is pretty cool considering how awesome the Morgan factory is.

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If you love the Shelby Cobra and have a ton of money to blow on cars, we have some good news. The most extreme factory-built Shelby Cobra in existence is coming up for auction.
CSX 3015 is the sole surviving Cobra 427 Super Snake assembled by Shelby American, according to Barrett-Jackson. The auction house is planning to sell the car during its Scottsdale, Arizona, event in March 2021. The only other example, CSX 3303, was destroyed when it was driven off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean, killing its owner.

Godzilla’s Ride

It’s easy to see why people consider the 427 Super Snake the ultimate Cobra. The normal 427-cubic-inch V-8, already a bit too powerful for the chassis, is equipped with not one but two Paxton superchargers in Super Snake spec. Sending power to the rear wheels is a three-speed automatic transmission. We’re certain this thing is a handful behind the wheel. It also looks menacing.

This particular Cobra started out as a factory 427 competition model—one of 23 built in 1965—before being turned into a Super Snake in 1967. It remains in good original condition, with its original engine block, body panels, brake calipers, rear end, and exhaust system.
The car was most recently sold at auction in 2015 for $5.1 million. Before that, it changed hands in 2007 for $5.5 million. So if you want to get your hands on it, be prepared to fork over a whole lot of cash.

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The Hyundai Santa Fe will soon have a plug-in-hybrid model, and it will join a hybrid model as well as two gasoline-powered Santa Fes.
The plug-in hybrid uses a turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired with a 13.0-kWh battery and electric motor for a total of 260 horsepower.
The Santa Fe PHEV will go on sale in the summer starting at around $35,000 with the standard hybrid arriving in the spring.

The new Hyundai Santa Fe SUV is more attractive for the 2021 model year, and it will come with two new gasoline engines as well as in a hybrid model (pictured above). A plug-in hybrid will also be joining the lineup for the 2022 model year, which will be the only one among its group of competitors that include the Honda Passport, Nissan Murano, and Ford Edge. The new plug-in will also join a list of other plug-in-hybrid SUV offerings from Audi, Mitsubishi, and Toyota when it goes on sale in the summer.

2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid engine bay.
Hyundai

The Santa Fe plug-in hybrid uses a 177-hp 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine paired with a 13.0-kW battery pack and an electric motor that makes 90 horsepower. Total output is 260 horsepower that’s sent to all four wheels. The hybrid model pairs the turbo 1.6-liter (pictured above) with a 60-hp electric motor for a total of 226 horsepower, and two gas-powered four-cylinders are also available. Hyundai estimates that the hybrid will achieve 34 mpg, while the plug-in will get 33 mpg and 30 miles of electric driving range.

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The hybrid models don’t see significant visual changes compared to the gas-powered versions. The plug-in hybrid will be available as two trim levels, SEL and Limited, with the SEL getting Hyundai’s digital key and Smart Sense safety features standard as well as a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and an 8.0-inch infotainment screen. Limited models get Hyundai’s Smart Park, a 360-degree camera, ventilated leather seats, and a 10.3-inch screen as standard.
The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid will arrive first, in the spring, and the plug-in-hybrid model will go on sale in the summer starting at around $35,000 for the SEL. The entry-level gasoline-powered Santa Fe SE starts at $28,025.
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The 2022 Maserati Grecale will be a new compact SUV model arriving later this year.
These photos show a prototype version of the crossover testing.
It will likely carry a starting price of under $50,000 and compete with the BMW X3 and Porsche Macan.
Maserati has shared a few new images of the upcoming 2022 Grecale in prototype form. This compact SUV will launch later this year and is expected to compete with cars such as the BMW X3 and Porsche Macan, fitting in below the mid-size Levante in Maserati’s SUV lineup.

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As you’d expect, the Grecale’s proportions look similar to its big sibling’s, with a long hood and a similar C-pillar treatment. Because the Grecale will be built in the same factory as the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, we can expect that the two models will share some components. Maserati has also said that it will offer a hybrid version of the Grecale, and eventually the company plans to offer a battery-electric version of all its models, too.
There may also be a high-performance Trofeo version of the Grecale in the cards. The Trofeo treatment for the Ghibli, Quattroporte, and Levante includes a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-8 built by Ferrari, but we don’t know if that engine will make its way into this smaller SUV or not.
Maserati says that it will reveal more details about the Grecale later in 2021. It’s likely to be the least expensive Maserati, possibly starting under $50,000 (the Ghibli currently holds that title, starting at $73,685.) We expect it to reach U.S. dealerships by the end of the year, or possibly in early 2022.
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Honda has revealed a new version of the HR-V subcompact crossover for Europe.
This Europe-spec version now comes standard with a hybrid powertrain.
A new 2022 Honda HR-V should be headed to the U.S. later this year, but it may be somewhat different from this version.
A new Honda HR-V has landed in Europe, and Honda has confirmed that the next generation of the U.S.-spec subcompact SUV is on its way as well. We’re not sure at this point how different our version will be, but we’re thinking that this Europe-spec model gives us a pretty good indication of our version’s basic look, if not its powertrain offerings.
Honda said in a statement, “The development of a successor to the Honda HR-V for the U.S. market is underway. This new HR-V will be designed to meet the distinct needs of U.S. customers, and will differ from the Honda Vezel/HR-V that will be revealed on February 18 for other regions.” We think this means that the 2022 Honda HR-V for the U.S. will have its own engine lineup and feature different front and rear fascias.

Honda

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The new HR-V for Europe looks charming and more modern than the current model, with a distinctive front grille and a sharply sloped rear hatch. It retains the same central fuel tank layout as the old model, which means it keeps its spacious rear seat and cargo area with the so-called “magic seats” that fold flat into the floor and also allow you to flip up the bottom cushion. The dashboard design is clean and simple, with a tablet-style infotainment screen in the center and three knobs for the climate controls below.
At this point, all Honda is saying about the HR-V’s hybrid drivetrain is that it’s the same two-motor setup seen in the company’s other hybrids including the Insight and the CR-V and Accord hybrids. We won’t be surprised to see an HR-V hybrid join the U.S. lineup as well, but it will likely come standard with a conventional gasoline engine in our market, like all of its competitors here. The turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four found in the Civic, CR-V, and Accord seems a likely choice, and front-wheel drive will likely be standard with all-wheel drive optional.

Honda hasn’t said when it plans to release details about the redesigned U.S. HR-V, but we expect to hear more possibly in the fall. It should go on sale here either by the end of 2021 or early in 2022.
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The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is the ultimate factory drag car. With an 840-hp supercharged V-8, drag slicks, and even a trans brake, it has all the hardware needed to smoke the competition. But as we can see from this latest drag race video, it can’t exactly perform at its best without a sticky, prepped drag surface.
The Carwow YouTube channel managed to get a Demon together with a brand-new Porsche 911 Turbo S for a few drag races on a damp runway in the United Kingdom. On paper, the Demon should be able to smoke the 911, but thanks to the conditions, it isn’t able to perform at its best. Even with some high-level throttle modulation, it’s not able to get off the line without at least some wheelspin.

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The 911, on the other hand, performs flawlessly despite the weather and the iffy surface. Thanks to its standard all-wheel drive and a massively capable launch control system, it takes no effort at all to get the car moving without any drama. And with 640 horsepower on tap, it sure moves.
Even through a roll race, the Challenger can’t find the grip, spinning its wheels at the start. To squeeze out a win, the host has to start in fourth gear to prevent the tires from spinning.
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