Motor News

Toyota announced details for the 2024 GR Corolla hot-hatch lineup, including the addition of a new trim level.The Premium trim will start at $41,015, filling the gap between the entry Core and returning Circuit trim levels.The Premium trim adds features from the Performance package including suede-trimmed seats, brake cooling ducts, and front and rear limited-slip differentials.The GR Corolla family is adding another member for the 2024 model year with the addition of a new trim level. The 200 Morizo editions for 2023 are done, and despite the Circuit model being originally planned as a limited-run model for the hot hatch’s first year, Toyota decided to bring it back for 2024. Now, Toyota has announced that a new Premium trim will fill both the price and amenity gap between the entry-level Core model and the more focused Circuit edition. Opting for the Premium trim brings everything from the Core, plus visual upgrades like Brin Naub suede-lined seats embossed with the GR logo and a set of red-painted GR brake calipers. The mid-range trim also adds performance upgrades from the Performance package, including front and rear Torsen limited-slip differentials, brake ducts, and front and rear parking sensors. There are also creature comforts including an upgraded JBL sound system, wireless phone charger, heated front seats, and a heated steering wheel.View Photos2024 GR Corolla Circuit Edition in Blue FlameToyotaWith the 200 stripped-down and focused Morizo Edition models limited to the 2023 model year, the Circuit Edition is the new top dog. Just like last year, the Circuit comes with flared nostrils on the hood, a forged carbon-fiber roof, rocker panels on the sides, and a gloss black spoiler at the back. For 2024, the Circuit nabs the forged aluminum 18-inch BBS wheels from the Morizo as standard equipment, shedding weight from the little Corolla. There’s also a new blue paint option called Blue Flame that includes matching interior stitching for the shift knob and seats185.4-HP Per LiterAll three trim levels produce 300 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque from the GR’s turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-three. That equates to a mind-altering 185.4 horsepower per liter of engine—from a Corolla. The team over at Gazoo Racing has made a few mechanical tweaks to the car for the new year. Upgrades include changes to the steering gear, rear suspension, and battery ground, as well as aero updates such as the addition of aluminum sheets to the front and rear bumpers to affect airflow.More on the GR CorollaToyota is also planning to expand the optional GR performance parts to allow for more customization later this year. Performance lowering springs and performance shocks top that list, while the rear sport wing will also be available for the Core and Premium trims.Pricing only moves a few hundred dollars, with the Core model now starting at $37,195—a $200 increase over last year. The new Premium model slots above the Core at $41,015, and the Circuit Edition sits at the top of the lineup with a new starting price of $45,835. Associate News EditorJack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. More

A new video posted on Toyota’s YouTube account shows a sketch of a new sedan model that looks like it could be the 2025 Camry.CarBuzz first spotted the potential leak, which is found in a video about leasing.We expect the 2025 Camry to be officially revealed by the end of the year.UPDATE 4:25 pm: The Camry image in the video is a rendering rather than the real thing, according to the artist Theottle on Instagram, who created an original rendering of a red Camry last year and spotted the similarities between his image and the sketch in the video. A Toyota representative told C/D that the video “was created by one of Toyota Financial Service’s vendors that mistakenly used an artist’s conceptual rendering of a Camry that was a meant as a placeholder during the production process. The vendor has no access to Toyota planned vehicle design images and the image is not a preview of a future Camry.”Whether it’s an intentional tease or not, Toyota has let slip what we think is a first glance at the new 2025 Camry mid-size sedan. A new video about leasing posted to Toyota’s YouTube account shows a sketch of a red four-door sedan that sure looks plausibly like the redesigned Camry, as it sports a face similar to the new Prius and features Camry-esque proportions.We first spotted the 2025 Camry in spy photos a few months ago, and this sketch aligns closely with what we saw from that camouflaged prototype. The side profile of the car mostly carries over, but the front and rear ends will wear new headlights and taillights, and the interior will likely be comprehensively updated.KGP Photography|Car and DriverThe leaked image doesn’t divulge any other information or specs about the new Camry, but we have some idea of what to expect based on the powertrains Toyota is installing in its other models. We wouldn’t be shocked to see an all-wheel-drive hybrid setup make its way into the four-door, and the automaker’s turbocharged 2.4-liter inline-four and Hybrid Max setup are also likely options for the mid-sizer.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.Look for more information to come soon about the 2025 Camry as Toyota prepares to launch this redesigned model in earnest. In the meantime, check out the image at 0:49 in this video.More on SedansThis content is imported from poll. 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.Senior EditorDespite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.   More

Jeep could be preparing to drop the available V-8 engines from the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer full-size SUVs.The EPA and an order guide suggest that the twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six will be the only engine option for 2024.The Wagoneer previously offered a 5.7-liter V-8 and the Grand Wagoneer offered a 6.4-liter V-8.The recent arrival of the new Hurricane inline-six in the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer for 2023 appears to spell the end of the road for the Hemi V-8s previously available in this model. Jeep has yet to officially release 2024 model-year information, but we found documents suggesting that the 2024 Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will only be offered with the twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six, meaning that the previously available 5.7-liter and 6.4-liter V-8 engines will be dropped.A fleet order guide plus EPA ratings illustrate the changes for the standard 2024 Wagoneer, which previously offered the 392-hp 5.7-liter V-8 on the short-wheelbase version (the long-wheelbase Wagoneer L and Grand Wagoneer L were already inline-six-only). The Wagoneer will now be offered only with the 420-hp version of the Hurricane inline-six, with either rear- or four-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission.Wagoneer LStellantisChanges for the Grand Wagoneer aren’t quite as clear, as the EPA still lists the 6.4-liter V-8 for 2024. But a dealership pricing database shows all models equipped with the 3.0-liter six, meaning that inclusion could just be a holdover from last year. The high-output version of the Hurricane engine in the Grand Wagoneer produces 510 horsepower and 500 pound-feet, a useful upgrade over the V-8’s 471 hp and 455 pound-feet.We’ve reached out to Jeep representatives for confirmation and have yet to hear back, so we will update this story with official information once it’s available.More on the New Inline-SixThis content is imported from poll. 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.Senior EditorDespite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.   More

You have almost certainly seen it cross your Instagram or TikTok feed: a VW Beetle, sliding along the parking lot as if it’s half-submerged, roof like a shark fin in the shallows. What is it? Who built it? Why?”I wanted it to look like a car that was so low, it had basically just ground itself down into the pavement,” says Steve Lodi of Dallas, Texas, which answers the second and third questions at least. The former glass blower turned Volkswagen tuner tells us that he typically builds VWs with glossy paint jobs and trick air suspensions, but this time around he wanted to do something a little different. “I didn’t want it to look special or modified in any other way, and I think that’s why it works. When I first started posting pictures of it, people were saying that I must have poured concrete around it, or that it was in water. They didn’t quite understand what was going on.” Dubbed the “Half Ass,” the build blends Lodi’s interest in all things VW with his love of wild fabrication projects, the latter of which began in the early 2000s when he decided to turn a Honda Civic sedan into a pickup truck. “That project really got me into the idea of changing cars up rather than just modifying them, and turning them into what I wanted them to be.” Lodi’s stable also includes a meticulously restored ’58 Beetle on a ’67 chassis powered by a 1759cc stroker engine, and he says that a big part of his motivation to embark on the Half Ass project was to have a car that he didn’t have to worry about at shows. One of the shinier toys in Lodi’s garage. Steve Lodi”I wanted something that I didn’t have to watch like a hawk to make sure that it’s not getting fingerprints or door dings. If you bump into this thing, you’re going to improve it.” Inspired by a similarly vertically challenged Fiat Panda project by Italian YouTube channel Carmagheddon, Lodi started putting the feelers out for a cheap Beetle body earlier this summer and eventually secured a collection of rusty parts from a ’74 Standard. To determine just how far he could take things, he lay on the ground and measured how high his head would need to be in order to see out of the windshield. After using a laser level to ensure that he’d get a clean line all the way around the car, out came the Sawzall and cut-off wheel. “There was a big Volkswagen show coming up, Texas Versus the World, and I wanted to get it finished in time to bring it there,” he explains. “People would come by the shop while I was working on it, and I kept telling them not to take any pictures of it. I wanted it to be kind of a surprise.” Steve LodiUnderpinning the body is a chassis that Lodi hand-fabricated from one-inch square tubing, which he outfitted with the steering shaft and spindles from a used go-kart that he found on Facebook Marketplace. “I had initially planned to use the go-kart chassis, but once I started taking measurements for everything that needed to go inside the body of the car, I realized that none of it was going to work. I actually had to shrink things down—it’s much narrower inside than you would think because the front wheels need to be able to turn inside of the body.”The running gear comes from an 80 cc Honda Elite scooter, which donated its engine, transmission, throttle controls, and fuel system to the project, along with its handlebars and brakes. The Beetle’s rear wheels were also borrowed from the scooter, while the fronts were sourced from Harbor Freight. Although the bodywork was completed in August, Lodi had to focus on customer projects until just a few days before the September 16th event. “The show was on a Saturday, and I started making everything and putting it all together on the Wednesday before that,” he recalls. “I was awake for about 40 hours between Friday morning and Saturday night. But if I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it, and I told people that the car was going to be there.” Judging by the response it received at Texas Versus the World, it seems to have been well worth the effort. “I think I collectively drove it about a mile at the show, and every time I took it out, everyone stopped in their tracks and got their phones out,” he says. “And that’s exactly what I built it for—something to have fun with at shows, something I didn’t need to baby.” 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.In the time since the event, footage of the Half Ass has amassed millions of views on social media, and Lodi says that a number of folks have reached out asking him to build something similar for them. Although he says that this particular project is essentially done, there are a few finishing touches that he’d like to add. “It’s tough to transport. You can’t really put it on a trailer because you’d need the world’s longest ramps, so I’m going to fabricate up some removable handles that go on the side, so you can kind of carry it into and out of a truck bed or something like that. And I should probably make an actual seat for it; right now it’s just a piece of wood strapped to the frame with a pillow on it.” More on Old Beetles More

By fitting an electric powertrain into an original Mini, David Brown Automotive’s Mini eMastered takes a 1960s classic into the futurePower comes from an 18.8-kWh battery pack with a 97-hp electric motor. Most importantly, this Mini restomod remains a featherweightThe cost is considerable, but a host of customization options make this little car special.Situated just a scone’s throw from the Silverstone racing curcuit, Northampton-based David Brown Automotive (DBA) is a specialist at coaxing out the best of 1960s Britain. Previous creations include the thoroughly modernized yet coachbuilt Aston Martin DB5–inspired Speedback GT and a variety of restomodded original Minis. The latest new model is called the Mini eMastered, and it brings the classic pint-sized urban terrier into the battery-electric era.The eMastered is fitted with an 18.8 kWh battery which is paired with an electric motor producing 97 horsepower and 129 pound-feet of torque. The torque’s a hefty dollop of grunt for a car this small, but the power rating isn’t far off what a decent tuner can get out of the 1275 cc combustion engine you got in later Cooper models. The real headline here is the 1410-pound curb weight, which is basically identical to the original.David Brown AutomotiveKeeping the battery pack small does limit the range to a still useful 110 miles, but what a cracking little London runabout this thing would be. It’d slip through the city’s Ultra Low Emssions Zone (ULEZ), scampering around corners and fitting into narrow parking bays. DBA claims a 60 mph time of under 8.5 seconds, but with that electric torque, this Mini could really scorch around the financial district on a Sunday morning. Then, pop down to your local pub while the eMastered recharges, which takes about three hours on a 6.6kW AC charger.David Brown AutomotiveWith endless options for customization to create a truly bespoke EV restomod Mini experience, the eMastered really does seem like a Cockney-accented delight. There is, however, the matter of the the cash required to buy it. The eMastered is sized like Piglet but priced like a Heffalump. At $155,000, converted from U.K. currency, you might need to pull your own gold bullion heist before ordering one.Still, as a thoroughly future-proofed and impeccably built version of one of the most charismatic cars ever made, the eMastered is charming. Sure, you could spend the same amount and get some 4000-pound EV crossover with more power, range, and performance. But with a proper Mini, less is more.David Brown AutomotiveMore about MiniContributing EditorBrendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. More

Built as a homologation special for Group A rallying, the Lancia Delta Integrale could be considered the ultimate Italian hot hatchback.All-wheel drive and a turbocharged engine provide grip and go in all conditions.This example is a limited edition, of which 310 were built.Car and DriverQuick! What company has the most WRC championships? Subaru? Mitsubishi? Audi? Nope. The surprising answer is plucky little Lancia, an Italian automaker that punched above its weight for ages. And there’s no better expression of that rally-bred spirit than the boxy, brawny, turbocharged, all-wheel-drive Lancia Delta Integrale.Up for auction on Bring A Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of the Hearst Autos—is a limited edition Delta Integrale built to commemorate Lancia’s sixth WRC championship. It’s number 272 of a run of 310 versions called the Martini 6 Evoluzione and features a lovely Martini racing livery over white paint, and a stunning turquoise interior with red accents.Bring a TrailerThe ordinary Delta was introduced in 1979, and as you’ve probably guessed from its squared-off styling, it was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro—the designer behind the likes of the Volkswagen Golf and the DeLorean DMC-12. Lancia built a Group B version of the Delta that shared nothing with the road car; then, when Group B was canceled for being too dangerous, it produced a homologated road car to meet the rules of Group A rallying.Bring a TrailerThe first Delta Integrale arrived in 1988 and had the same recipe you see in modern WRC rally cars today. All-wheel drive was standard, and in this 1992 example, a Torsen limited-slip rear end is also present. Power comes from a turbocharged 2.0-liter twin-cam four-cylinder engine, which in this Evoluzione version makes 207 horsepower and 220 pound-feet of torque. The transmission is a five-speed manual.Bring a TrailerIf you’re thinking “Italian WRX,” you’re not far off. With its 15-inch Speedline wheels and adjustable rear spoiler that sticks straight up like the tail of a fox terrier, this pressurized shoebox is pure rally-car fun. The closest modern equivalent is probably the Toyota GR Corolla, and as a practical classic, a Delta Integrale is equally as useful every day. It’s a practical four-door hatchback for running to the grocery store, and then driving home like your pants are on fire. Whoops, broke all the eggs again. Mi scusa.Bring a TrailerDelta Integrales are quite collectible, and this limited edition Martini version is even more so. At this writing, the bidding is knocking on the door of $100,000. The auction ends September 26.Contributing EditorBrendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. 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.EA Sports WRC, from the developers at Codemasters, is the latest installment of video games based on the legendary World Rally Championship racing series.The new game features 200 different rally stages across 11 different locations and over 75 rally cars, new and old.EA Sports WRC will be available on Xbox Series S and Series X, PlayStation 5, and PC November 3.The World Rally Championship is about to embark on its 17th digital appropriation with EA Sports WRC, coming this fall. Using a different software engine created by Codemasters, a developer that’s built some incredibly fun rally video games in the past such as Colin McRae Rally, DiRT 4, and most recently DiRT Rally 2.0, EA Sports promises to deliver rally fans the most comprehensive digital rally experience ever, since the series started in 2001 on PlayStation 2.Oh the Games People PlayEA Sports WRC follows the 2023 WRC season, putting the most aggressive Rally1 cars such as the hybrid-powered Ford Puma, Hyundai i20, and Toyota GR Yaris, in the spotlight. Along with the less powerful offerings in WRC2 from Citroen, Skoda, and Volkswagen, EA Sports WRC gives players a chance to pilot over 75 cars, from as far back as the Alpine A110 1600S of the 1970s. Of course, favorites from rally’s storied Group B era, such as the Ford RS200, Lancia 037 Evo2, and Lancia Delta S4, are available too. A full list of the cars in EA Sports WRC can be found here, which features the very best from 60 years of rally. EA SportsEvery pixel of dirt, tarmac, snow, and gravel is recreated from real WRC events. 18 miles of Rally Mexico’s El Chocolate and the insane Fafe jump from Rally Portugal are in this game, to name a few of the some 372 miles of rally sector. An 18th location featuring the Central Europe Rally, a first in the series, is coming later as part of an update. Sadly, there hasn’t been a WRC event in the United States since 1988, but rumors suggest that could change.According to EA, its switch to the Unreal Engine development software has wrought better environments for rally’s toughest challenges. The stages also see changes in season, which are claimed to create their own unique obstacles to make rally cars react differently to the same sector on a hot summer than they would between the snowy ditches of winter.EA SportsPlayers who enjoyed the physics from Codemaster’s DiRT Rally 2.0 from 2019 might feel a familiar sensation in EA Sports WRC, as the devs used that previous rally game as a baseline to tune its physics model. We’re excited to sample this updated system, especially to experiment with strategy used in the hybrid powertrain found in the real WRC Rally1, which features regenerative braking and an extra electric boost. While we don’t have the full details about online play, EA Sports WRC will offer 32-player cross-platform multiplayer, with challenges and tournaments throughout the year. Another game mode, Moments, will be updated daily and give players a shot at recreating special events from the 2023 season and many of rally’s great moments from the past. A Builder game mode allows players to build, manage, and create their own rally car, with the freedom to create a wild livery of their own.WRC Standard EditionWRC Standard EditionEA Sports WRC launches on November 3, 2023, but as part of a preorder bonus, buying it before then means getting to play it three days early as a perk. Additional liveries and in-game equipment are also included with the preorder bonus. While EA Sports WRC is offered on Xbox Series S and Series X, PlayStation 5, and PC, it’s not available on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, or part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription. Instead, it will be included as part of the EA Play Pro subscription. PC players can purchase it from Steam or Epic Games Store.This content is imported from poll. 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.Associate EditorYes, he’s still working on the 1986 Nissan 300ZX Turbo project car he started in high school, and no, it’s not for sale yet. Austin Irwin was born and raised in Michigan, and, despite getting shelled by hockey pucks during a not-so-successful goaltending career through high school and college, still has all of his teeth. He loves cars from the 1980s and Bleu, his Great Pyrenees, and is an active member of the Buffalo Wild Wings community. When Austin isn’t working on his own cars, he’s likely on the side of the highway helping someone else fix theirs. More

Honda has built a new V-8 outboard engine for boats called the BF350.It’s a 5.0-liter V-8 that makes 350 horsepower at 5500 rpm.It’s intended for boats 25 feet and longer; pricing isn’t yet available but the BF350 will go on sale next year.Well, it finally happened: Honda built a V-8. Unfortunately, it won’t be showing up in a Ridgeline or a Pilot or an exceptionally boisterous Civic. No, the BF350 is an outboard engine, so if you want to rock Honda V-8 power, you’ll need a boat—and not a small one. Intended for boats 25 feet and longer, the BF350 makes an easy 350 horsepower at 5500 rpm. We’d guess that’s the least amount of power it’ll ever make, since that rating is on bunker-fuel 86 octane and the full throttle range extends to 6000 rpm. (Outboard manufacturers are allowed a 10 percent fudge factor on rated horsepower to account for production variances, which leads to some hilariously underrated motors like the Mercury 200 ProXS—a 4.6-liter V-8 that’s rated at 200 horsepower.)HondaHonda’s new V-8 will please Fox-body Mustang fans with its 302 cubic-inch displacement and rowdy Civic stans with its VTEC variable valve timing and lift (there’s a single cam running those 32 valves). The engine also includes the extremely cool-sounding BLAST system, which stands for Boosted Low Speed Torque and advances ignition timing when the throttle is rapidly opened. That throttle-by-wire system enables cruise control that holds speed regardless of load or sea conditions, and the BF350 is compatible with joystick controls that allow multi-engine boats to basically sidle up to a dock sideways. Honda says the BF350’s 30-degree offset crankshaft is built to the same specifications as the crank in the Acura NSX. HondaThe BF350 is a little bit chunky, weighing in at 765 pounds in its lightest guise. Mercury’s 350 Verado weighs in at 695 pounds, and that’s a 5.7-liter V-10. As for pricing, well . . . Honda says it won’t release pricing until next year, but an inadvertent leak indicated that around $46,000 might be a relevant base price. Outboard pricing is notoriously opaque, but that would make it about the same price as a pair of four-cylinder Yamaha 200s. Thus, as with most engines this size, it’s more likely that the BF350 will end up on big, multi-engine boats rather than on single-engine boats designed for 350 to 400 horsepower. If you dream of driving a V-8 Honda on terra firma, there is a precedent for Honda debuting street-bound technology on the water. In 2002, Honda was all-in on naturally aspirated engines for its cars, but its AquaTrax F12X personal watercraft was powered by a dry-sump, turbocharged 1.2-liter four-cylinder that cranked out 163 horsepower. Did the AquaTrax lead directly to today’s Civic Type R? We’d argue that it certainly didn’t hurt. But even if Honda never gives us a factory V-8 for the street, sooner or later a BF350 will undergo a dunking that results in an insurance write-off. And then, just imagine the Copart possibilities. There aren’t any Honda V-8s on the highway just yet, but if some day in the distant future you see an Insight wearing 5.0 badges, there’ll be an outside chance it’s not a joke.More on Boat EnginesSenior EditorEzra Dyer is a Car and Driver senior editor and columnist. He’s now based in North Carolina but still remembers how to turn right. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and once drove 206 mph. Those facts are mutually exclusive. More