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Ford has revealed a new Edge L for the China market, but the new crossover is not expected to replace the aging Edge in America.The Edge L is powered by either a 248-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four or a hybrid setup pumping out a combined 271 horsepower.The interior features screens galore, with a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster sitting aside a 27.0-inch central display.Reports have suggested that the Ford Edge will be discontinued in the United States after the 2023 model year, ending a 15-year run for the nameplate. But over in China, the mid-size crossover is still going strong and a new Edge L was revealed yesterday, bringing sharp styling, three rows of seating, and an available hybrid powertrain. FordThe new Edge L doesn’t look anything like the Edge sold stateside, which has been languishing since 2015 with only a light facelift in 2019. The Edge L features a fresh look dominated by horizontal lines, with a wide grille bookended by L-shaped LED headlights. The blacked-out roof is a trendy look, as is the fin in the bodywork that rises at the C-pillar to give the bulky crossover a little pizzazz. The Edge L stretches 196.9 inches from nose to tail, about 8.0 inches longer than the U.S.-market Edge and only a couple of inches shy of an Explorer. The all-wheel-drive, seven-seat Edge L has two powertrain options, starting with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four producing 248-hp and 279 pound-feet of torque. Ford is also offering hybrid setup good for a combined 271 horsepower and 299 pound-feet of torque, and Ford claims this powertrain will be good for around 37 mpg.More New FordsThe cabin is decked out with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a gigantic 27.0-inch touchscreen that spans most of the dashboard, a feature we expect will migrate into U.S.-market Fords in the near future. The interior design is clean and modern, and lots of amenities are on offer, including a head-up display and ambient lighting. The China-built Edge L will go on sale in that market this spring, and we hope that Ford decides to offer it in the U.S. to bridge the gap between the Escape and Explorer and continue the Edge’s lineage.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 News EditorCaleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More

This 1996 Honda Acty Crawler fire truck was imported from Japan last year, and it still includes the equipment rack, flashing lights, and siren system.A tiny 656-cc three-cylinder engine sends 37.5 horsepower to 12-inch front wheels and rear tracks via a four-speed manual transaxle.With five days before the Bring a Trailer auction ends on Tuesday, February 28, bidding is currently at $11,500.Car and DriverIn America, fire trucks are gigantic beasts that can hold up to 1500 gallons of water and carry ladders that can stretch around 100 feet long. But Japan’s narrow streets require unique solutions, leading to cute rescue vehicles like this 1996 Honda Acty Crawler that is up for auction on Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos. Bring a TrailerThe Honda Acty is a long-running work truck sold in Japan’s kei class, a designation for miniature vehicles that fit within diminutive dimensions and are powered by engines with a maximum capacity of 660 cc. The Crawler was a quirky variation of the Acty with the rear wheels replaced by treads wrapped around two axles and was built on special order for five years in the 1990s.This Acty Crawler, modified for fire service, comes in red with gold graphics and a unique badge on the nose. The bed features bench seating, chrome handles, and racks for mounting firefighting equipment, while the siren and emergency lighting are still attached to the roof of the cabin. The 12-inch wheels are shod in narrow 145-width rubber up front, with a spare underneath the bed and four extra wheels included if you want to replace the rear tracks.Bring a TrailerThe tiny fire truck is motivated by a 656-cc inline-three mounted ahead of the rear axle. The 37.5 horsepower is routed through a four-speed manual transaxle with ultralow forward and reverse gears. A rear locking differential and a Real Time four-wheel-drive system help the little Crawler scoot around, and front disc and rear drum brakes are used to slow the Acty.More Quirky Auction VehiclesThe interior is simple, with gray cloth seats, rubber floor mats, a heater, and a factory stereo system, along with the controls for the siren and flashing lights. The selling dealer imported the vehicle into the U.S. in December 2022, and the odometer shows 3600 kilometers or approximately 2237 miles. You probably won’t be rushing to any emergencies in the Acty Crawler—and certainly won’t want to take it onto an American highway—but the adorable fire truck will definitely help you stand out at your local Cars and Coffee meet. Bidding currently sits at $11,500 with five days remaining on the auction.Associate News EditorCaleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More

GM has filed a patent with the USPTO for a self-cleaning touchscreen, as first reported by autoevolution.com.The patent for the self-cleaning display describes the use of a photocatalytic coating and violet light to remove blemishes.Neither the coating nor the light are visible to the human eye, so drivers could amaze their passengers with the “magic” glass.General Motors could have good news for greasy-fingered drivers. The automaker is developing a touchscreen that cleans itself, according to a patent GM filed last week with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).Fingerprint RemoverThe patent for the self-cleaning display was discovered by autoevolution.com. The system described in the patent uses a photocatalytic coating and violet light to remove oil residue, fingerprints, and other debris. As anyone with a touchscreen in their car knows all too well, these type of blemishes can quickly accumulate, resulting in a smudge-riddled surface.A closer reading of the patent explains that touchscreens with LED displays emit visible red, green, and blue light. The violet light in the proposed self-cleaning unit constitutes an invisible fourth LED. It reacts to the photocatalyst in the transparent coating on the touchscreen along with moisture in the air to clean the glass surface. GM’s patent states this process can be manually turned on or automatically activated based on the amount of sunlight exposure or under various other circumstances.The Cadillac Escalade’s huge screen has lots of real estate for fingerprints.Car and Driver”Magic” GlassWith the touchscreens in GM’s newest models getting bigger and bigger, it makes sense to devise an effortless way of keeping their expansive glass clean. Currently, the job requires a clean cloth and some elbow grease. In the future, it could be as easy as pushing a button. We think such a feature could be used to amaze passengers too, as neither the photocatalytic coating nor the violet light used to clean the screen are visible to our human eyes. We’d cosplay as our favorite Harry Potter character and call it “magic” glass. Of course, it still remains to be seen whether GM takes its proposed self-cleaning display from patent to production. Until then, storing some napkins in the glovebox is the simplest way to keep greasy fingerprints at bay. Other GM PatentsThis 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 EditorEric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si. 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.Dodge revealed an updated version of its simulated exhaust sound for EVs earlier this month at the Chicago auto show, giving potential buyers an idea of what to expect on the finished product once the company’s all-electric muscle cars go on sale in 2024. Called the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, the purely electric external sound system uses an amplifier near the rear of the car to produce a 126-decibel “exhaust” noise. It was first shown to the public in August 2022 to mixed reactions. “Did we crack the code on wide-open motors? Not yet. But we’ve got two years,” CEO Tim Kuniskis said in an interview following the event. “We have changed the sound of that car 1000 times and we will continue to.”Meanwhile . . .The video above is the latest iteration, then, and while we aren’t given any proper revs, we do get a good sense of what the “idle” will sound like while the car trundles around at a slow pace. It sounds way more like an actual V-8 than before, which we think is a step in the right direction. We won’t get a real sense of whether it’s worthy of replacing Dodge’s actual V-8s until we hear it in person, however. 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.Road & Track staff writer with a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing. More