Motor News

Eccentric German tuner Mansory gave the car world a shock back in June 2020 when it unveiled the Le Mansory, a questionable-looking custom supercar based on the Ford GT. Well, the company built a second example, and it’s just as, well, interesting.

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Mansory revealed on Friday the second iteration of its Le Mansory supercar, sporting all of the same design changes found on the first car revealed last year. There’s a full carbon-fiber body in place of the factory panels and an entirely new fascia with weird eyebrow-like headlights. There’s also a big wing out back, a neat tri-exit exhaust setup, and dual roof scoops. Instead of blue, Le Mansory #2 has been finished in black with red accents. Different? Yes. Better? We’re not so sure.

Mansory

The interior is just as customized, with retrimmed panels and seats to match the exterior color palette. Behind the cabin sits a modified version of the GT’s 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6, making a claimed 700 horsepower and 620 lb-ft of torque. Mansory says top speed is 220 mph, a slight bump from the stock GT’s 216 mph.

Mansory

If you want a Le Mansory of your own, you’re in luck. Back when the car was first unveiled, Mansory said it would make a total of three examples. While it’s not clear if this second one is up for grabs, we’re sure the third build slot is wide open for anyone with enough dough. But if you’d rather not wait for the company to build it, the first example is for sale right now.

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Now that the 14th running of our Lightning Lap track test at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) is behind us, we’ve had time to sit back and reflect on our annual stress test of some of the quickest sheetmetal available today.

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A Mini John Cooper Works GP set the quickest lap we’ve recorded by any front-wheel-drive car. The Porsche Taycan Turbo S is the first EV to have made it the 4.1 miles without overheating. The mid-engine Corvette proves why putting engines behind the seats is great for lap times. We also learned that a 760-hp Ford Mustang is scarier on the street than on the track.
And, not surprisingly, another Porsche 911 cracked the all-time top 10.
Join us as deputy editor for reviews and seasoned Lightning Lap pilot Tony Quiroga sits down with print director Eric Tingwall to talk about the Supra 2.0’s brakes–or lack thereof–and testing director Dave VanderWerp’s high-speed tank slapper in the Mercedes-AMG CLA45 exiting Turn 11.
Deputy testing director K.C. Colwell fills us in on why reading the McLaren 765LT’s owner’s manual is a must, while technical editor David Beard talks about what it’s like to wrangle the most powerful factory Mustang to ever roll off the production line.
Okay, we know it’s an hour long. But once we start talking about the best work week of the year, it’s hard to shut us up.
Swing By Our Lightning Lap Hub
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Kia has updated its recently announced plans and now says it will have 11 EVs by 2026. Seven of them will be built on the Hyundai Motor Group’s E-GMP architecture.
Just last month the automaker said it would achieve this goal in 2027.
The automaker is also planning on launching its own subscription service globally later this year.
After announcing to the world on Monday that it is no longer working with Apple on an autonomous electric car, Kia Motors president and CEO Ho Sung Song announced that the company would be accelerating its electrification roadmap. Speaking today during the automaker’s investor day event, the CEO announced that 11 EV models will be available by 2026. Of those, seven will be built on the Hyundai Motor Group’s E-GMP (electric vehicle platform) architecture. That’s a year earlier than what the automaker announced just last month.

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Kia currently offers two electric versions of gasoline-powered vehicles, the Soul EV and the Niro EV, and now plans to add four more vehicles derived from its existing lineup. Each will be a dedicated EVs using E-GMP as the underpinning. The first of these new dedicated electric vehicles (teased above) is code-named CV, and the automaker is targeting 300 miles of range and a partial recharge time of 20 minutes. More details will be revealed next month, Kia said.
Kia’s goal is that by 2030, EVs, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids will make up 40 percent of all its sales, with a target of 1.6 million vehicles sold. The company said it is hoping that 880,000 of those will be EVs.

Kia

Kia is also looking to increase its purpose-built-vehicle (PBV) business by expanding into autonomous delivery vehicles. Kia’s first electric PBV will be unveiled in 2022, and it hopes to sell one million of these types of vehicles by 2030 by working with other companies to develop platforms for them.
Finally, Kia announced that the Kia Flex subscription service, which has been out in Korea since 2019, will go global later this year. It will be renamed Kia Subscription and will be run by the Hyundai Motor Group’s Sixt Leasing division. It’s likely that insurance, maintenance, and the vehicle will be included in monthly payments, it’s unknown if the service that comes to the United States will allow monthly car swapping as Kia Flex does in Korea.
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A small pod with four wheels on extendable legs, the TIGER X-1 comes from Hyundai’s forward-thinking New Horizons Studio and could be used as a science or rescue vehicle someday.
The TIGER is based on Hyundai’s concept vehicle from CES 2019, which was a walking “ultimate mobility vehicle” that could carry people.
It’s just an outlandish concept today, but Hyundai could start building beta prototypes for partners to test as early as 2023.
Hyundai’s latest effort in its work to become less of a car company and more of a “smart mobility solution provider” has four legs, four wheels, and a friendly flying companion. Say hello to the TIGER X-1.

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TIGER stands for Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot, and the X-1 denotes its experimental status. This is without a doubt a conceptual experiment, for now, and if parts of the design look familiar, that’s because the TIGER’s modular platform has more than a few elements in common with Hyundai’s Elevate walking car concept from CES 2019. While Elevate was an “ultimate mobility vehicle” that was meant to be operated by a person inside the pod, the TIGER is smaller, self-driving, and can’t carry people. Like Elevate, the TIGER can extend its four legs and rotate its wheels to give it the ability to move in any direction and walk over complex terrain. This capability “[exceeds] the limits of even the most capable off-road vehicles,” said John Suh, vice president and founding director of New Horizons Studio.

Hyundai

New Horizons Studio started in 2020 as a way for Hyundai to explore unusual mobility efforts with a focus on providing options for customers who need to move in “unconventional and off-road terrain, including places where vehicles have never roamed before,” Hyundai said. Suh said the New Horizons Studio team, working in partnership with Autodesk and the Detroit-based studio Sundberg-Ferar, took the Elevate and adapted it to be used autonomously for carrying goods or sensors.
The potential uses for a vehicle like TIGER fit the New Horizons name incredibly well. Suh said a vehicle like this could be used on the moon or to explore other planets. On Earth, a vehicle like Tiger could be used to deliver products to people in cities, medicine, or food to people in remote areas after a disaster or simply as a mobile science platform in places that are difficult for humans to reach. If TIGER’s wheeled legs can’t get it all the way to its destination, the robot can be deployed from an unmanned aerial vehicle. This flying drone can even recharge TIGER’s batteries, or vice versa, depending upon what’s needed in any given situation.
While TIGER is wildly different from today’s vehicles and intended to be used on difficult terrain, Suh told Car and Driver that his team is thinking about ways to make TIGER a reliable, real vehicle. This starts by making the complex components as simple as possible. The non-pneumatic tires can’t get flat, for example, and the vehicle’s design is symmetric on two axes, meaning the four corners are repeated. Without a front or a back, manufacturing TIGER would mean building the same parts over and over, which will help with reliability and possible repairs.

Hyundai

“Obviously, this vehicle is more complicated than a regular four-wheel-drive car,” Suh said. “Our ideal, and I don’t know if it’s possible, is to use a single type of electric motor so that every motor in the leg will be identical so we can minimize the complexities of engineering different types and we can really hone in on getting a robust and reliable actuator.”
Eye on a Production TIGER?
Planning for reliability shows Hyundai may actually build a TIGER-like vehicle in the future. Suh wouldn’t say exactly when that might happen but did say his team will spend the next two years working on solving some of the concept’s core technical problems, and Hyundai could build beta vehicles for partners to test in the real world in 2023 and 2024. An actual production version could follow in about five years, he said.
“Our vision and goal is to produce product, and therefore it’s much more than a science project,” Suh said. “I would not be offended if people call it that right now because, in fact, we are trying something new. It has the flavor of a science project, but our great desire right now is to make it a product one day.”
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Updated styling, more standard equipment, and a new infotainment system are all included in the upgrades to the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross SUV for 2022.
There’s also new standard driver-assistance features and revisions to the SUV’s suspension system.
Pricing starts at $24,590, and the updated Eclipse Cross should go on sale this spring.
Mitsubishi’s restyled 2022 Eclipse Cross, unveiled last fall, got many upgrades and an updated exterior. Still, the automaker announced today that its base price has increased by a mere $400, with a base price of $24,590. The Eclipse Cross is one of just four Mitsubishi models on sale in the U.S. right now and, until the redesigned Outlander SUV goes on sale, it’s the most modern offering from the Japanese automaker.

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Mitsubishi

The updated 2022 Eclipse Cross (Mitsubishi skipped the 2021 model year for this vehicle) ditches the awkward two-window rear hatchback design of the 2020 model and inherits a number of front-end styling enhancements. Mitsubishi has also upgraded the Eclipse Cross’s cabin by including a new 8.0-inch infotainment display on LE, SE, and SEL models. The center console has been tweaked, and the top-spec SEL trim can now be ordered with light-gray leather upholstery and a power-adjustable passenger seat.

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Although the wheelbase hasn’t changed, the 2022 Eclipse Cross is 5.0 inches longer overall than the previous model year. Passenger space has remained the same, but Mitsubishi says total interior cargo space has increased slightly to 50.1 cubic feet—an improvement of 1.2 cubic feet. All models now come standard with driver-assistance features such as forward-collision warning, automated emergency braking, pedestrian detection, and lane-departure warning. More advanced features, including automatic high-beam headlamps, are also available.
Changes to the SUV’s suspension are intended to improve ride quality and include retuned shocks and springs. What hasn’t changed is the Eclipse Cross’s powertrain, which consists of a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine, a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), and front-wheel drive. All-wheel drive is optional on all four of the Eclipse Cross’s trims for $1600.

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Mitsubishi

The base ES trim starts at $24,590, which makes it about $2000 cheaper to start than segment leaders such as the 10Best award-winning Mazda CX-5, the Honda CR-V, and the Volkswagen Tiguan. Midrange LE and SE models start at $25,940 and $27,340, respectively; a panoramic sunroof is optional on the SE for $1000 and is bundled with black-painted roof rails.
The topmost SEL model starts at $28,590 and comes fairly loaded, although a $2100 Touring package is available and adds heated rear seats, the panoramic sunroof, a head-up display, adaptive cruise control, and an eight-speaker stereo system, among other items. Expect to see the 2022 Eclipse Cross in Mitsubishi dealerships this spring.
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The quicker 2022 RS e-tron GT comes with 637 horsepower and 612 pound-feet of torque.
The RS variant also comes with a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic roof and rear-wheel steering as standard.
The 2022 RS e-tron GT will be on sale later this year starting at $140,945.
Adding an RS badge to the e-tron GT seemed like a no-brainer: take something quick and sporty and make it quicker and well, sportier. As we’ve come to expect from any Audi RS model, this high-performance version of the 2022 e-tron GT has more horsepower, more torque, and a whole lot of carbon fiber.

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The 637-hp RS e-tron GT has a 114-hp bump over the regular e-tron GT. All those extra horses come from the swapped-out rear motor that, in the RS, puts out 450 hp. The 235-hp front motor in the RS is the same as in the regular GT. The total output of 637 hp comes from the overboost feature that can deliver that peak output for 2.5 seconds at a time, helping to launch the electric sedan to 60 mph in a claimed 3.1 seconds and reach a top speed of 155 mph.

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Audi

The RS gets the same three-chamber air suspension and rear-wheel-steering system found in the regular GT. But the ability to turn the rear wheels up to 2.8 degrees is standard on the RS, while buyers of the regular model have to pay extra for it. Like the e-tron GT, the RS has all-wheel drive and a two-speed transmission. The battery pack is the same and offers 85.0 kWh of usable battery capacity from a 93.0-kWh-gross pack. Audi estimates a range of 232 miles, compared with 238 miles for the standard model (official EPA estimates are not yet available).
The RS package also comes standard with a five-layer carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic roof, along with Matrix LED headlights with laser lights, 20-inch aero wheels, 14-way adjustable heated sport seats, RS-specific interior trim, and cast-iron brake discs with tungsten carbide coating. Audi claims the RS has a curb weigh of 5139 pounds, 79 pounds heavier than the standard model.

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Audi

There’s enough room in the back seats for adults thanks to the “foot garages” in the floor that place the rear passengers lower in the cabin to allow for more headroom even with a sloping roofline. A leather-free interior with an Alcantara steering wheel is standard, but a Nappa leather option is available. Behind the wheel sits a 12.3 digital dash cluster and Audi’s MMI infotainment system sits in a single 10.1-inch display in the center console. The automaker says it chose this single infotainment screen for the more driver-focused e-tron GT rather than carry over the dual-display setup found in other Audi models.
While the RS e-tron GT shares its platform with the Porsche Taycan, the design is clearly Audi. Its size and electric powertrain place it in direct competition with the Tesla Model S and, of course, the Porsche. While it can’t beat the Tesla in range, it does have the same battery management system that allows the Taycan to do acceleration runs again and again without the degradation we’ve found in other EVs.
The RS e-tron GT will start at $140,945 and will be in showrooms this summer.
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The 2022 Audi e-tron GT brings Audi’s design and style to a platform shared with the Porsche Taycan.
The e-tron GT will have 522 horsepower and Audi claims it will go from zero to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, plus there’s an RS version that makes 637 horsepower.
The 2022 e-tron GT will go on sale this summer starting just above $100,000.
According to Audi head of design Marc Lichte, the 2022 e-tron GT is the best-looking vehicle he’s ever designed. We tend to agree and would go so far as to say it’s one of the best-looking EVs out there. It’s a vehicle that, regardless of powertrain, would be welcome in the garage of the type of driver who wants to sit behind the wheel of something beautiful. One look and it’s clearly an Audi. Except that underneath, it’s also a Porsche.

Audi’s 2022 RS e-tron GT Adds More Speed to the GT

Audi RS e-tron GT Charges After the Taycan

The 2022 Audi e-tron GT joins the 2021 e-tron and e-tron Sportback SUVs in the automaker’s EV lineup. We all know that electrified SUVs would be likely to find more customers these days, so it’s good to know that Audi and Porsche still see the enthusiast sedan market as a viable business. The four-door gran turismo measures 198 inches long, 77 inches wide, and only 55 inches tall, giving it roughly the same dimensions as the 2021 BMW 8-series, Tesla Model S, and, of course, Porsche Taycan.

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Audi

The shared architecture means the all-wheel-drive Quattro e-tron GT has many overlapping features with the Taycan, including a two-speed transmission. First gear is for launching the vehicle, while the taller second gear is meant to optimize efficiency at highway speeds. There’s also optional rear-wheel steering, which can rotate the wheels up to 2.8 degrees.
The e-tron GT has two motors, producing 429 horsepower from the rear motor while the front motor outputs 235 hp. The combined power of the two motors is 469 hp with an overboost function in Launch mode that pushes the horsepower to 522 hp for 2.5 seconds. On the torque front, the vehicle produces a combined 464 pound-feet. (These are essentially the same specs as the Taycan 4S with the smaller of Porsche’s two battery packs.) The result for the GT is a claimed zero-to-60-mph time of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 152 mph. For those requiring more speed, there’s also the 637-hp RS e-tron GT, which has rear-wheel steering as a standard feature.

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Audi RS e-tron GT.
Audi

As with the Taycan, the e-tron GT prioritizes coasting over aggressive regenerative braking when the driver lifts their foot off the accelerator. Most regenerative braking waits for the application of the brake pedal. The e-tron GT also has a battery management system that enables something we appreciated from the Taycan: the ability to do acceleration runs over and over again without the performance degradations we’ve come to expect from EVs.
Connecting all of this to the road are standard 20-inch five-spoke alloy wheels with gray accents. Performance package models come with the same wheels but with black accents. The RS variant is available with 20- or 21-inch aero five-spoke wheels. A three-chamber air suspension makes tweaks to accompany mode selections and can adjust body height 0.9 inch downward and 0.8 inch upward.
For added sportiness and increased downforce, the e-tron GT is outfitted with an active rear spoiler. The height adjustment has helped Audi secure a claimed 0.24 drag coefficient. That’s not as sleek as the Taycan’s 0.22 but still rather slippery, which is exactly what you want from an EV to enhance its mid- and high-speed range.

Audi

Audi now claims a U.S. range number of 238 miles, although EPA estimates are not yet available. That’s based on 85.0 kWh of usable battery capacity from a 93.0-kWh-gross battery pack. It’s a bit more than the 83.7 kWh usable (93.4 kWh gross) capacity found on the 2021 Taycan 4S with Performance Battery Plus, which has an EPA-estimated 227 miles of range.
As with the Taycan, the e-tron GT’s 800-volt electrical architecture supports DC fast charging up to 270 kW, and Audi says it can be charged from 5 to 80 percent in under 23 minutes.
Inside is a non-leather interior made from recycled materials along with an Alcantara-wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel. Nappa leather is available.
A 12.3-inch digital dash cluster sits behind the wheel, while a single 10.1-inch infotainment system houses the latest MMI system. Audi says it opted for the single infotainment system display as opposed to the dual display found in the e-tron to make the vehicle more driver focused. The dash is available in graphite gray or optional open-pore walnut or matte carbon. Eight-way adjustable sport seats are standard, and 18-way adjustable seats with a massage function are available.
The e-tron GT will come in three trim levels, although Audi didn’t share specifics on how they’re differentiated. The Quattro Premium Plus will start at $100,945, the Quattro Prestige will start at $108,145, and, for those needing all the speed Audi can—or is allowed to—squeeze out of the platform, the RS e-tron GT will start at $140,945. The 2022 Audi e-tron GT will arrive in dealerships this summer.
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Ford dealers can now install five accessory bundles on the 2021 Bronco Sport for customers who want to haul their outdoor equipment.
The bundles include ski, bike, and kayak racks from Yakima, plus the option of a rooftop tent or cargo box.
The 2021 Bronco Sport is on sale now, starting at $28,315.
Ford’s Bronco outdoor lifestyle brand is in full force even though the 2021 Bronco SUV is delayed until the summer. However, the Bronco Sport is available now, and Ford will offer five dealer accessory bundles to tailor to Bronco Sport buyers’ adventure needs. Whether it’s biking, kayaking, skiing, or camping, Bronco Sport owners can get their Ford dealers to equip all sorts of goodies from Yakima.

All five bundles feature roof rails from Yakima and Ford’s all-weather floor mats. The Bike bundle adds on a hitch-mounted bike rack and a roof basket with a net. The Water bundle is for shoppers who want to haul a kayak. It includes a locking kayak carrier and a pull-out awning. The Camping bundle also adds the awning as well as a Yakima two-person rooftop tent. The Snow bundle adds a ski rack up top and the Cargo bundle throws a Yakima 16-cubic-foot cargo box up top.

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The Bronco Sport is built on the same platform as the Ford Escape, and it shares its powertrains as well: a 181-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder is standard, while a 245-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder is optional. An eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive are both standard on all models, and the top-of-the-line Badlands model, much like Jeep’s Trailhawk models, comes equipped with all-terrain tires and a unique suspension tune with a 1.0-inch lift.
The 2021 Ford Bronco Sport is on sale now starting at $28,315 and can cost up to $39,655 for the fully loaded Badlands model. Ford hasn’t yet announced prices for these dealer-installed packages.
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