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The 2023 Toyota Highlander is updated with a new 265-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter inline-four engine.The interior also gets updates including a larger infotainment screen and digital gauge cluster, both optional.Expect the 2023 Highlander to go on sale later this year with a slight price increase.It appears that Toyota has begun to phase out its tried-and-true 3.5-liter V-6 engine. The 2023 Highlander three-row SUV swaps out that naturally aspirated motor for a new turbocharged 2.4-liter inline-four that produces 265 horsepower and 309 pound-feet of torque—a drop of 30 hp from the V-6 but an increase of 46 pound-feet of torque. Toyota claims that the four-cylinder will achieve the same 24 mpg combined as the V-6 in terms of its EPA ratings.

Toyota

The new gas engine will again pair with an eight-speed automatic transmission and either front- or all-wheel drive. The Lexus NX350 also uses a version of this engine; in that application it makes 275 hp and 317 pound-feet of torque. Towing capacity for the Highlander will be unchanged at 5000 pounds. The Highlander’s hybrid powertrain won’t change for the new model year and should achieve the same EPA ratings of up to 36 mpg combined for the front-wheel-drive model.

Other updates include a newly optional 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster that’s offered on the Limited and Platinum trim levels. Power folding mirrors are newly standard on all models, and the XLE and XSE trims gain a power liftgate as standard. The wireless smartphone charger is moved to a more convenient spot on the dashboard, and there are some slight interior trim changes and a new exterior color called Cypress.

Toyota

Toyota

Toyota has yet to release pricing for the updated Highlander, but we think it will cost slightly more than the 2022 model that starts at $37,070 for the base L model and rises to $51,175 for the Platinum.
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The new electric version of Ford’s F-150 pickup recently started production, and we’ve just driven the Lightning. Now that it’s real, we decided to indulge the hypothetical and play around with the F-150 Lightning configurator to see which version of the truck we’d pick if it was our own money. It’s no surprise that we tended to gravitate to less expensive versions of the Lightning, as the value-oriented pricing of the Pro and XLT models makes more sense to us than the idea of spending $90,000-plus on the fully loaded Platinum trim.

Greg Fink’s $44,259 Lightning Pro

Ford

Ford

The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning proves that less is sometimes more, as the entry-level Pro offers more value than its higher-end and better-equipped XLT, Lariat, and Platinum kin. Though it’s limited to the smaller battery pack, the all-wheel-drive Pro still packs a plentiful 230 miles of manufacturer-targeted driving range. The two electric motors afford the truck north of 400 horsepower and close to 800 pound-feet of torque. That’s plenty for all but the most insecure individuals. The price for all of this? $41,769—$13,000 less than the next cheapest F-150 Lightning trim, the XLT.With all that available torque, it seems almost irresponsible of me not to equip my plain-jane Oxford White Lightning with the $825 Max Trailer Tow package, which includes additional cooling features to—hopefully—prevent the motors and battery pack from overheating under load. Opting for this package means my Lightning Pro’s standard 2.4-kW generator gets swapped for a more powerful 9.6-kW setup. Add in $595 worth of spray-in bedliner and I’m looking at an electric pickup truck with a sticker price $44,259. That’s $559 less than a bare-bones four-wheel-drive F-150 XL crew cab with spray-in bedliner and the base 290-hp 3.3-liter V-6. Less really is more. —Greg FinkDrew Dorian’s $75,094 Lightning XLT

Ford

Ford

If it were my money, I’d stick with the XLT trim and put all of my splurge money toward the larger battery pack. Adding it requires opting for the $9500 312A equipment group, for a total of $19,500 over the standard-range XLT, but it kicks the Lightning’s range up from 230 miles per charge to 320. For now, the Lightning is still eligible for the $7500 electric vehicle tax credit, so that offsets the cost of the upgrade somewhat. The XLT model is fairly basic but the extended-range model comes with plenty of convenience features such as a 360-degree exterior camera system, running boards, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, and Ford’s Co-Pilot360 driver-assistance bundle. I’m not usually a fan of gray vehicles, but on the XLT version of the Lightning the Carbonized Gray Metallic paint somehow works. I think it’s because the truck’s grille and 20-inch wheels are the same color and it sort of creates a grayscale effect that I find rather interesting. The only option I’d add is the Max Trailer Tow package for $825 which unlocks the Lightning’s maximum towing capacity of 10,000 pounds. As equipped, my F-150 Lightning rings in at a $75,094, which is a few thousand less than the starting price of the Rivian R1T. –Drew DorianK.C. Colwell’s $46,209 Lightning Pro

Ford

Ford

I like luxury items and I’m not afraid to spend money on the things I like. But value is a key component, which is why my Lightning spec is a Pro and has only three options necessary to do the work I need a truck to do: the Tow Technology ($1950) and Max Trailer Tow ($825) packages and a factory spray-in bed liner ($595). Wait, what? The Max Trailer Tow package, which bumps the tow rating from 5000 pounds to 7700 with the standard-range battery, forces the Pro Power Onboard option. I don’t really need that, but I suppose I might want to go to a tailgate. Maybe. Anyway, that’s $1070 of my $7500 tax credit I am never gonna see. I’m going with Oxford White because my ’91 Explorer was the same color. I don’t need the big battery because my duty cycle is just weekend-warrior stuff. I take my boat to a launch and return. I go to Lowe’s. Maybe a fishing trip in Northern Michigan. Never very far. I probably wouldn’t even pay to wire it up to my house because I already have a level 2 connection in my garage and a generator. And considering that my truck costs $46,209, I’ll have money left over to cover the vinyl seats with something soft with a 12-volt heating element. I’d even find a stitched leather cover for the plastic steering wheel. –K.C. ColwellEzra Dyer’s $75,839 Lightning XLT

Ford

Ford

My Lightning is the ideal Lightning, bereft of frippery but fitted with the most powerful motors, an homage to its tail-happy namesake. I started with an Atlas Blue $74,269 XLT with the extended range battery—not because I care about having 320 miles of range, necessarily, but because the upgraded battery brings 580 horsepower, versus 452 horsepower with the standard battery. And while it’s a big price jump over the standard-range XLT, the extended-range truck comes with Equipment Group 312A, which is otherwise a $9500 option and includes key features like the 9.6-kW generator (and OK, I’ll take the heated seats and steering wheel too). So your net spend over the base XLT is $10,000, but that also includes the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro, which both charges your truck faster than a standard Level 2 charger and is a prerequisite for the Lightning’s other neat trick—serving as backup power for your house. And that’s another circumstance in which you’d want the higher-capacity battery.So what else do I need? I’m going with the $825 max trailer tow package, which brings upgraded cooling for the battery and motors. I’ll want the spray-in bedliner for $595, and let’s throw on all-terrain tires for another $150. And that’s it. That will adequately meet my pickup-truck needs, inasmuch as my pickup-truck needs involve 580 horsepower, 775 lb-ft of torque and the ability to transform on demand into a local power utility. After the $7500 Federal tax credit (which probably won’t be around for long once Ford starts moving these things), I’m back under $70,000. Expensive, yeah. But also not a bad deal. –Ezra Dyer

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• The Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce is one of the quintessential Italian roadsters.• Collectors shunned third-series Spider models for decades due to their rubber-intensive design, but in many ways they’re better than some of the earlier cars—and considerably more affordable.• This well-kept convertible is for sale right now on Bring a Trailer, and the auction ends on May 12.Every time I see an Alfa Romeo Spider, I’m teleported back to my high-school days. This might sound odd, because this red 1988 example currently live with no reserve on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos) is exactly as old as I am. I met the Spider when it was too old to be considered a late-model car yet not old enough to earn the coveted classic status; it was just an aging European car.

Bring a Trailer

I’ve been obsessed with—”possessed by” might be more accurate—cars since before I could talk, and I had the good fortune of growing up largely in Salt Lake City, Utah. While the Beehive State may not sound like a mecca of classic European cars, and it wasn’t, you’d be shocked by the number of vintage Italian machines that were scattered throughout the state in the 2000s. Many were unloved: they were beached in industrial zones, left for dead at mom-and-pop junkyards, or forgotten behind a barn. They were also cheap. After landing a job in the kitchen of a local Italian deli at 16, I turned leaving a friendly “I’d like to buy your car” note into a form of science and began buying, selling, fixing up, parting out, trading, and hoarding. I started the Italian Motor Club of Utah to meet like-minded enthusiasts.

Bring a Trailer

Bring a Trailer

Several species of Spiders ended up in my driveway over the next few years, including Fiat 124s, Fiat 850s, and Alfa Romeos. Some were mine, while others were owned by friends and/or club members. As a side note, real spiders often swung by as well; Utah is home to three or four types of tarantulas. Nearly everyone preferred the Alfa, even when compared to the 124 (no one cast a ballot for the furry ones).It’s one of those “drive it and you’ll get it” cars, and it perfectly captures the essence of what this segment of the market was about. The Spider is a low car to begin with, and you sit low in it. Its driving position is one that only the Italians could dial in, and the shifter pokes out at you almost horizontally. There is no linkage, it goes straight into the transmission, so each movement is crisp and direct. The engine is a real gem: 115 horsepower isn’t a lot to ask from 2.0 liters, it’s eager to explore the upper echelons of its rev range, and it sounds phenomenal. Hearing the symphony of four pistons and two cams singing their hearts out is enough to convince you to get a convertible rather than a coupe. Alfa made several visual and mechanical changes to the Spider between 1966 and 1993. The third-series cars, like the one listed on Bring a Trailer, were maligned for many years because they look like they fell out of a rubber tree and hit every branch on the way down. Sure, they’re not quite as elegant as some of the earlier cars, but here’s a secret: they’re also better. By that point, the 2.0-liter had gained a Bosch electronic fuel injection system that was considerably less finicky than the SPICA mechanical system it replaced. I have no data to back this up, but in my experience the later cars feel better screwed together than the earlier ones, and they come from an era in which Alfa took rustproofing a little more seriously.

Bring a Trailer

In short, the Spider was a gateway drug to Italian car ownership: exciting, affordable, and easy-going. The creek of cheap examples listed in the classifieds ran dry at some point in the 2010s. Folks figured out what most of us already knew: this little roadster is tremendously fun to drive, it’s nowhere near as scandalously unreliable as many asseverate, it’s reasonably simple to work on, and reproduction parts are readily available from a number of vendors whose products are good enough that even the Italians buy them. Some older Alfas are difficult to own; that’s not a myth. Tracking down parts for the Milano Verde’s ABS system is an effective antidote to Italian-car ownership. The Spider is not one of them.Because it was relatively undervalued for so long, the Spider morphed into an unlikely paradox: a throwaway exotic. For many drivers it was appealing as a red convertible, but for many drivers it was also too obscure to pour any significant amount of money into. The example live on Bring a Trailer looks like it has been unusually well kept: it features around 63,000 miles and it’s offered with a clean Carfax report that shows it has been California-registered since 1994. It’s not entirely original. The steering wheel, shift knob, and CD player are aftermarket, but it wouldn’t take much to bring it back to stock if that’s what you’re after. You could also enjoy it as-is; these are minor changes, all things considered.Bidding stands at $9100 as of Tuesday, and the auction ends on Thursday, May 12. While $9100 would have bought you the nicest 1988 Spider around nearly 20 years ago when I was hoarding Alfas, I’d guess this one isn’t done climbing. Far from it. The seller didn’t set a reserve, so the highest bidder will take this Spider home when the hammer drops. I suggest holding on to it: these cars aren’t getting any more common. And, looking at how much the older Duetto models are now worth, they’re not going to get any cheaper.I wish someone had told me that in 2006!

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The all-new 2023 Range Rover Sport has more regal styling, a longer wheelbase, and various new features.Along with familiar six-cylinder engines, there’s a new 434-hp plug-in hybrid and a 523-hp twin-turbo V-8.The ’23 Range Rover Sport ranges from $84,350 for the base SE trim to $122,850 for the V-8–powered First Edition.The 2023 Range Rover Sport ushers in the third generation of the British brand’s most popular model. Well, its most popular model in the U.S. market, according to Land Rover. When it comes to prestige and price, the Sport is one step below the premier Range Rover, which also recently underwent a complete redesign. When it came to reinventing the Sport, Range Rover elected to design sleeker bodywork around a three-inch-longer wheelbase and, of course, add a host of new content to broaden its appeal.

Every Range Rover Sport sold in the U.S. will have all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission. The lineup is split into four trim levels—P360 SE, P400 SE Dynamic, P440e Autobiography, and P530 First Edition—each with a particular powertrain. The SE and SE Dynamic share a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six with a 48-volt hybrid system. However, the P360 has 355 horsepower and the P400 has 395. The P440e has a plug-in-hybrid setup that generates a combined 434 horses, and its 31.8-kWh battery provides an estimated electric-only range of 48 miles. The P530 has a 523-hp twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8 that’s sourced from BMW, and it can hit 60 mph in a claimed 4.3 seconds. Range Rover also says an electric variant will join the lineup next year.

Land Rover

Although the general shape of an SUV is hard to alter too drastically, the ’23 Range Rover Sport’s new look is decidely more dapper than its predecessor. Its overhangs are shorter in the front and longer in the rear, and the front-end height has been raised. Its headlights are slimmer, its grille openings are smaller, and the surfaces look smoother, especially on the sides with the flush-mounted door handles. The Sport’s tail has a more contemporary appearance with lighting elements that span the width of the rear hatch. The latest Rover is now available with larger, 23-inch rims (21s are standard), and the Dynamic model has special visual cues such as unique bumpers as well as graphite- and copper-colored exterior accents.

Land Rover

The new RR Sport’s platform is said to be 35 percent stiffer than before, and its wheelbase has been stretched by three inches. This helps add about an inch of rear-seat legroom in the cabin, which has also been restyled with new materials and features. Front passengers will enjoy 22-way power seats with heated and ventilated cushions and massage functions. Along with a 13.7-inch digital gauge cluster, every Sport has a curved 13.1-inch touchscreen that supports over-the-air updates and Amazon Alexa voice commands. Wireless charging and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability are standard, too. Top options include Meridian sound systems with as many as 29 speakers and up to 1430 watts of amplifier power.

Land Rover

Among the Range Rover Sport’s other new and improved features is rear-axle steering that can turn the back wheels up to 7.3 degrees, helping the big SUV be more manueverable at low speeds. The addition of adaptive off-road cruise control is intented to make the Sport easier to control on uneven terrain by automatically adjusting the vehicle speed, leaving the driver to only have to control the steering. All models come with a host of driver-assistance tech that includes a 360-degree camera system, front and rear parking sensors, and lane-keeping assist. For those who spring for the top-tier First Edition, this higher-performance model supplements the Sport’s standard air suspension and rear-wheel steering with electronically controlled anti-roll bars. Built on the same production line as the top Range Rover at the company’s Solihull factory in the U.K., the RR Sport is currently on sale. The entry-level P360 SE starts at $84,350, which is nearly $12,000 more than last year’s base price. The $91,350 P400 SE Dynamic and $105,550 plug-in-hybrid P440e Autobiography make up the middle of the lineup. The limited-production, V-8–powered P530 First Edition sits at the top and essentially replaces the old Supercharged model. The First Edition opens at $122,850, which is a whopping $32,200 more than last year’s least expensive V-8 RR Sport.
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Shelby American and Hertz have joined forces again to offer two new performance rental cars based on the Ford Mustang.The Shelby GT500-H takes the already-crazy 760-hp GT500 to the next level, fitting a Whipple supercharger and Borla cat-back exhaust to boost the car to over 900 horses.The GT-H is based on the 450-hp Mustang GT and both convertible and coupe versions will be available to rent.Tuner Shelby American and car-rental company Hertz first teamed up in 1966 with the Shelby GT350-H, a special performance Mustang for a program Hertz called “Rent-a-Racer.” The two companies have worked together several times since, and now are embarking on a new three-year partnership. The latest collaboration brings two new rental specials, the 2022 Mustang Shelby GT-H and 2022 Mustang Shelby GT500-H.

Shelby American

The GT500-H is based on the supercharged, 5.2-liter V-8-powered Shelby GT500, but instead of the stock car’s 760 horsepower, the Hertz version has been modified to churn out over 900 ponies, making it the most powerful Shelby rental car yet. To achieve this extra power, Shelby fitted a Whipple 3.8-liter supercharger, painted gold, and a Borla cat-back exhaust system. 19 of the GT500-Hs will be painted Shadow Black while six will come in Oxford White, to celebrate Shelby American’s 60th anniversary, all bearing gold racing stripes on the hood and stripes along the rocker panels. The GT500-H rides on aluminum monoblock wheels wrapped in “performance spec tires,” although Shelby didn’t specify the tire model. Shelby also says it saved 30 pounds with a vented, carbon-fiber hood.

Shelby American

The GT-H is tamer and appears to be based on the 450-hp V-8–powered Mustang GT. The GT-H will come as a convertible or a coupe, and will be painted red, white, gray, or black. Shelby has given the GT-H a Borla cat-back exhaust and a revised grille and hood. The 20-inch aluminum wheels wear Michelin all-season tires. The Shelby Hertz Mustangs will become available to rent this summer. The GT500-H will be found in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and four Florida locations: Tampa, Miami, Orlando, and Fort Myers. The GT-H, meanwhile, will available in Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix San Diego, San Francisco, and five Florida locations, adding Fort Lauderdale to the four aforementioned cities. The cars will all be completed at Shelby American’s Las Vegas assembly facility.
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