Table of contents for October 2022 in Car and Driver

The road to Sweden climbs the Tehachapi Mountains and crosses the dry, golden plains of California’s Central Valley. Just south of Fresno, on Highway 99, a sign painted with a red Dala horse appears before the freeway exit. “Välkommen to Kingsburg,” it says. Established as a rail stop in the late 19th century, Kingsburg developed into a farming town with the state’s largest population of Swedish immigrants by the 1920s. In the 1960s, as freeway expansion sent travelers speeding past small towns, Kingsburg decided to try to capitalize on its heritage by highlighting Swedish architecture and holding themed festivals. This was the perfect destination for a Volvo painted in the colors of the Swedish flag, and the desert and mountain journey was a good test of the P1800 Cyan’s comfort,…

Not many cars that cost under $60K can race to 60 mph in nearly three seconds and rip through the quarter-mile in less than 12. The list shortens radically if we eliminate battery-powered vehicles. Filter those results to five-seaters, and there’s one hit: the $59,995 Audi RS3. After being sidelined for a year, the rambunctious RS3 returns to defend the iconoclastic way, starting with its turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five and the unmistakable thrum of five pistons playing. There’s 401 horsepower on tap—seven more than the previous version—and torque is up 15 pound-feet to 369. With launch control activated, the engine briefly charges to 4000 rpm before chirping the tires on its way to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds. The engine pulls long and strong to the 7000-rpm redline, and every trip…

Around here we like nothing better than to lean against a dusty wall, squint into the middle distance, and grumble short declarative sentences about pickup trucks. “Some new trucks out,” one of us might say, while spitting casually on the ground. “Sure are,” one or the other grizzled car wranglers would grumble, punctuating the idea by idly kicking away a scorpion. “Some of ’em even electrified, I reckon.” And then, after a minute or two of quiet self-reflection of our regrets, a third tester might say, “We should round up a Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, a Ford F-150 Lariat PowerBoost, and a Ram 1500 Limited eTorque and conduct a rigorous and thorough comparison test of hybridized full-size pickup trucks.” That’s about the time the office manager comes in and tells…

With U.S. sales accounting for almost three-quarters of global truck revenue, a shift has occurred at the bottom of the market. Today’s entry-level vehicle is the subcompact SUV. At Honda, that’s the HR-V. For 2023, a new HR-V will inherit this price-leader mantle, though in the usual fashion, it has grown in both size and refinement. Based partly on CR-V and Civic bits, the ’23 model grows 1.7 inches in wheelbase, nearly 9.4 inches in length, and around two inches in width. The expansion takes the HR-V from one of the smaller to one of the larger entries in the class. New sheetmetal looks more sleek and modern, with a honeycomb grille, LED lighting, and a higher, more trucklike nose. Inside, the dashboard sports the full-width, hexagonal trim that is…

Lucid hasn’t nailed down exact numbers, but even so, the Air Sapphire, the new performance version of the Air, will be the most powerful sedan in the world when it arrives next year. Even without a final horsepower number to tout, the company is confident of the claim because Lucid knocked its own car off the pedestal. With more than 1200 horsepower, the Air Sapphire pulls ahead of the 1111-hp Air Dream Edition Performance. The powertrain difference is the Sapphire’s new third motor. Lucid doubled up on its own compact motor, and now a two-motor setup bolts up into the existing rear subframe without modification to the car. Having two motors driving the rear wheels allows for torque vectoring, which Lucid claims helps aid responsiveness. Up front, the Performance’s 670-hp…

Forget canyon overlooks and coastal roads as a background for your car pics. There’s a new trend that’s all about convenience. As in, convenience store. As in, your nearest 7-Eleven. While many businesses discourage car meets, the Slurpee purveyor actively encourages them, in particular through its official Instagram account, which regularly reshares tagged car content. We spoke with Marissa Eddings, senior director of digital and content marketing for 7-Eleven, about the popularity of #carsof7eleven on Instagram and TikTok. C/D: When did you start noticing car photos featuring 7-Eleven? EDDINGS: We noticed people tagging us in their “carfies” in front of 7-Eleven stores a few years ago, and we began posting cars in our feed in 2020. Last year a TikTok user posted a video about 7-Eleven’s car Instagram content, which…

If BMW’s 7-series hasn’t electrified you in years, the new version’s all-electric variant, the i7, just might get your attention. Gas versions still offer an optional 536-hp V-8 and wear 760i badging. When the 375-hp turbocharged inline-six is under the hood, you get a 740i badge. Both combustion powertrains benefit from a 48-volt hybrid system. Sadly, the V-12 7-series is dead. We sampled 760i and i7 prototypes earlier this year near Munich and found the V-8 to be both smooth and powerful, with just enough muted engine burble seeping through to the cabin to remind you that you’re burning hydrocarbons, not electrons. The i7 xDrive60, which puts out the same 536 horsepower as the 760i xDrive, is whisper quiet at autobahn speeds with little wind or road noise penetrating the…

The Ferrari Daytona SP3 channels 1960s racers with the most powerful V-12 the company has ever put in a road car. Although it looks like the product of a space program, the Daytona SP3 is the latest entry in Ferrari’s Icona series of ultra-limited-production cars inspired by memorable moments in the brand’s history. Here, the milestone is the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, where Ferrari placed first, second, and third after having spent the previous year watching Ford GT40s take checkered flags. Taking cues from those late-’60s racers results in enlarged wheel arches, fender-placed side mirrors, a three-piece wraparound windshield, and a striking set of horizontal bars across the rear. It also means simplicity: There are no large or active wings, the steering is hydraulically assisted, and the V-12 is…

The new EV6 GT is the turned-up version of Kia’s mid-size electric crossover—make that turned way up. It cranks out 576 horses, should hit 60 mph in about 3.2 seconds, and is capable of 161 mph. Also, it has a Drift mode. Yet, the GT doesn’t shout its capabilities. On the surface, only 21-inch wheels (in tandem with larger brake discs and neon-green calipers), a liftgate spoiler, and restyled fascias distinguish it from the GT-Line trim level on lesser EV6s. Inside, it gets sport seats trimmed in microfiber, neon-green accents, and performance readouts in the touchscreen. And a GT mode joins the Eco, Normal, and Sport drive settings. The heart of the GT is its brawnier motors—a 214-hp front unit and a 362-hp rear—whose combined output tops the next-best EV6…

In lacking a grossly oversized rear wing, Toyota’s new GR Corolla almost looks reserved at first glance. But keen eyes partial to small and fun driver’s cars will quickly peg it as no ordinary Corolla—far from it. With flared nostrils, a tornado of an inline-three, and bulging fenders that make it 2.3 inches wider than its lesser kin, this hot hatchback is the clearest manifestation yet of Toyota president Akio Toyoda’s vision to inject more excitement into his company’s products. Developed by Toyota’s performance and motorsports arm, Gazoo Racing, and built in a dedicated area of the company’s factory in Motomachi, Japan, the GR Corolla is a rally-car-inspired thoroughbred that in top-range Morizo spec even bares the Toyota boss’s nickname [see “Triple Overtime,” page 74]. Drop into the familiar Corolla…

BMW is not the only company looking at waste to make parts. Here are a few other examples of automakers digging in the recycling bin: FLOORED Abandoned fishing nets and other trash are transformed into Econyl regenerated nylon, used in floor mats for vehicles, including the Mercedes-Benz S-class and the BMW iX. HOLD TIGHT Ocean rubbish is also turned into less visible pieces, such as the Ford Bronco Sport’s wiring-harness clips, which use plastics made from nylon fishing nets recovered from the Indian Ocean. COW-FREE Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a polymer in single-use items such as plastic bottles, shopping bags, and straws. Volvo derives its leather alternative, Nordico, from materials including recycled PET bottles and wine corks. LIT UP Hooked on McDonald’s coffee? You’re helping Ford make parts. Coffee chaff,…

First off, Alfa Romeo’s new model is not called “toenail.” The brand’s entry into the luxury-subcompact-SUV market is pronounced toh-NAH-lay. We’re expecting pricing for the Tonale to be just below $40,000 for base models—competitive with the BMW X1 and the Volvo XC40. Buyers choose from two powertrains: a 256-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder or a 272-hp plug-in hybrid that pairs a turbo 1.3-liter four with a 121-hp electric motor at the rear axle. A 15.5-kWh battery pack should give the plug-in around 30 miles of electric-only range. The Tonale features the same Sprint, Ti, and Veloce trim levels seen elsewhere in the Alfa lineup. Adaptive cruise control comes standard, and stop-and-go capability and steering assist are offered. The interior appears to draw inspiration from Mazda. While cabin space is generous up…

Call Cadillac the Dr. Frankenstein of automotive brands, because it’s created a monster that bears the name Escalade-V. With 682 horsepower from its supercharged V-8 engine, our 6290-pound test vehicle sprinted to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds—1.7 seconds quicker than the lesser 420-hp Escalade. At wide-open throttle, a NASCAR-worthy exhaust note contributes heartily to the 85 decibels of noise that enter the cabin—10 more decibels than you hear in an Escalade Sport Platinum. Yet at 70 mph, the V’s interior is just as quiet as the Sport Platinum’s. The most powerful Escalade trim benefits from tweaks to its air springs and adaptive dampers that improve handling without sacrificing ride quality. Even so, the Escalade-V feels far more unwieldy than competitors such as the BMW Alpina XB7 and the Mercedes-AMG GLS63.…

For 2023, Honda didn’t reinvent the CR-V because it didn’t need to. The outgoing version sat at the top of the class and has been the brand’s bestseller for years. Without a need to mess with success, Honda gave the new CR-V a more square-jawed look, a refined interior, more standard features—and that’s about it. The CR-V is a bit larger than before: The body is 2.7 inches longer, and the wheelbase grows 1.6 inches. This gives the already-spacious interior more rear legroom and luggage space—up to 77 cubic feet with the seatbacks folded. Ample glass gives the cabin a light, airy feel. The turbo 1.5-liter four makes the same 190 horsepower and 179 poundfeet, with peak torque arriving a few hundred rpm sooner. It remains married to a CVT…

The 2023 Lexus RX has been fully redesigned, but despite some changes to the underhood ingredients, it aims to bring drivers the same sense of luxury and comfort that defined its predecessors. The new SUV is available as a gas-powered RX350, an RX350h hybrid, and a higher-performing RX500h hybrid. (There’s also a plug-in-hybrid RX450h+ that will join the lineup later.) The most noticeable change in the SUV’s styling is to the spindle grille. This design element has always been polarizing, and the new one likely will be too. Particularly, the bulging transition from the more upright trapezoidal lower section of the grille to the hood throws us off. The wheelbase is 2.4 inches longer, and the rear overhang is shorter. The previously available three-row L version gets the sack. The…

It’s the sound that first gets you. EVs, even massively powerful ones, can feel synthetic, what with their eerie silence or space-commander theme music. Then there are the sounds coming from the Rimac Nevera’s four motors and their attendant reduction gears through the carbon-fiber conduit that is the one-piece chassis. They create the impression this thing is alive—connecting human and machine like no other EV has. The Nevera brings an almost preposterous 1813 horsepower to bear via four AC motors, one driving each wheel with its own direct-drive gearbox. At full whack, the total output is rear-biased, because while the front motors produce 295 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque apiece, the two rear units each kick out a monster 644 horses and 664 pound-feet. The result is a claimed…