Comparisons

We’ve already seen the new Shelby GT500 for a while now, ever since those images from a Ford dealer meeting got leaked, but it’s always nice when everything is official including those ludicrous figures: over 700 horsepower from a 5.2-liter supercharged V-8 and a 0 to 62 mph time of just 3.5 seconds. Is it enough to topple the race-going Mustang GT4 based on the lesser GT350?

Ford stepped back in the GT4 arena late in 2016 with the Multimatic-built Mustang GT4 that was ready for the 2017 season. It sports everything you’d expect to see on a race car of its kind: a bigger splitter, canards around the corners of the nose, a bigger wing, lighter body parts, a race-tuned engine, and a stripped-out interior. The result is a championship-winning car, but it may get a run for its money from the freshly-unveiled GT500, the fastest road-going Mustang ever.

The Lexus RC has been around since 2014 and the Japanese luxury firm finally designed a track-prepped version. It’s called the RC F Track Edition and it’s more than an accessories package. But is it really a track-ready sports car, a coupe that can give the likes of the BMW M4 GTS a run for its money? Let’s find out in the quick comparo below.

The meanest and fastest production version of the Ford Mustang just made a comeback after a five year hiatus. Last discontinued in 2014, the Shelby GT500 signaled its return at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show with more aggressive looks, more power and... well... more everything. But does it live up to the hype?

Land Rover first introduced the Range Rover Evoque in 2011. A few years later, Mercedes-Benz revealed the GLA-Class in 2013. Both offer subcompact crossover practicality wrapped in a luxurious, high-end package. Both seat five passengers, and both come with a long list of options and features to help them stand out in a crowd. But the question remains - which is best? To find out, we dove headfirst into the spec sheets and put together the following comparison article.

The new, redesigned, Ford Explorer is here, and Ford touts it as an "adventure enabler." It’s got more room on the inside, more gizmos, and it can tow a heavier payload than before. But, as the mid-size crossover SUV segment gets busier and busier, the Explorer must execute to perfection in all areas to remain at the top of the pile. One of its competitors will be GMC’s Acadia.

Ford launched the new, sixth-generation, Explorer at an event at Ford Field in Detroit on Wednesday. The automaker says its focus has been on the customer 100%, trying to see what are the areas that the customers are most displeased with and then eliminating these "pain points." The result, Ford says, is a "reinvented" Explorer. Let’s see how well it stacks up against the soon-to-be 3-year-old GMC Acadia.

How can one compare the BMW 8 Series Convertible and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet? This is the furthest you can go with opulence and luxury before actually entering the realm of Aston Martin, Ferrari, or Bentley. It is the outermost edge of the space controlled by what one may call producers of conventional vehicles. But these two aren’t conventional. At all. They are luxurious, fast, opulent, and filled with technology both wonderful and eerie. Be aware, they are not for the timid. Comparing the two of these should give us much the same results as both are actually playing in the same field. However, they are trying to reach slightly different customers.

With the leak of the first picture of the all-new 2020 Toyota Supra A90, we are finally getting a proper look at the most anticipated Japanese car in years. While the photography posted on the SupraMKV.com forum does not do enough justice to the new car, one thing is certain - Toyota’s designers and its administration are courageous. Designers created a car that looks a lot like the Toyota FT-1 Concept from four years ago, and all the key people in bureaucracy offices said yes to it. Considering the fact that Toyota basically signed BMW to develop a whole new car, it is only logical to make a fast visual comparison between the new 2020 Toyota Supra A90 and the 2019 BMW Z4. While both of these do have basically the same drivetrain, their exterior visage seems to be completely different. Heck, one is a coupe, the other - a roadster.

The process of maturing from the Concept phase to the production phase usually entails a dramatic design transformation of a car. Not so in the case of the new 2020 Toyota Supra A90. With the design heavily based around the Toyota FT-1 Concept, I can clearly say that Toyota designers are brazen. Under the engineering hand of Tetsuya Tada, the Supra’s design team managed to capture all the important styling cues from the FT-1 and successfully translate them into the production car. At least judging by the one leaked photo that revealed the front end of the new Supra. Sure, the photo was captured in a transportation wagon, probably headed for Detroit, but it does reveal main cues rooted in the design of the FT-1 that was unveiled five years ago at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.

So, how does exactly the new 2020 Toyota Supra A90 compare with the Toyota FT-1 Concept?

The Toyota RAV4 just marked its fifth generation for the 2019 model year, and now comes with a fresh Adventure grade designed specifically for light off-roading duty. The question is - how does it fare against established competitors like the Jeep Cherokee and Subaru Forester?

The 2020 Range Rover Evoque and the 2020 Audi Q3 have both appeared in last six months. Not only do they compete in the same segment, but actually target exactly the same buyers - fashion-conscious buyers who live in urban areas but do an occasional adventurous stint. I do not want to sound like a chauvinist, but it seems that both of these machines do play a game to win women’s’ hearts. I am not making this up. Just at last years’ Los Angeles Auto Show, the Audi Q3 won the Womens’ Choice Awards. And, back in the day when Range Rover revealed its first Evoque, it employed Victoria Beckham to design some details of the interior. You may call me whatever you like, but this shows the obvious intentions of these two. They did it before and they are doing it now as well. Plus, when you see it on the road, note who is behind the wheel. A boy or a girl.

There is only one massive change compared with the cars of before - the Audi grew by quite a bit. The Evoque did not. At all. Nevertheless, both companies do look to cash in on the same virtues as before. They are zippy around town, astutely fast on the autobahn, look exceptionally well in traffic, and feature a host of technology to make even the sanest man go mad. Sorry, but that’s what it takes today to be a hit.

The 992-generation Porsche 911 is nearly upon us. Set to break cover at the2018 Los Angeles Auto Show, the new-generation 911 will bring a new yet still familiar design forward, new technology under the skin, and a crop of revised turbocharged engines. While the oily bits are still being kept under wraps, the exterior design is no longer a mystery. What has changed for the new generation styling-wise? Find out in the comparison below.

Aston Martin is going in. All in with an SUV. The DBX prototype it showed only weeks ago confirmed the company’s intention to build high-end luxury SUVs, now plastered with Aston Martin design cues, sophisticated overall looks, and technology to compete with novel entries such as the Lambo Urus and any of the Porsche Cayennes. The DBX prototype may not be fully revealed yet, but I have enough to go on to compare it with the DBX Concept that appeared in 2015. The SUV that will eventually reach the market in 2020 takes the conventional shape of a modern SUV but with a few curious touches that will make it somewhat special among a number of competitors. Interestingly enough, it did forgo all the cool touches we have seen on the DBX concept. It is a completely different beast.

With the impending introduction of the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator, I just have to look back at Jeep history and actually compare it with the 2005 Jeep Gladiator Concept. Normally, this would have to wait until its official debut, but thanks to leaked (and what we believe to be official) images, we can diving into comparing old and new straight away. The spiritual concept predecessor appeared in November 2004 and actually represented the then-new Wrangler JK. Of course, I am sure that by its unveiling Jeep wanted to research the market and gain potential customer feedback. Obviously, before a great return of one-ton trucks in the U.S. (like the Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado, for instance) the Jeep one-ton pickup wouldn’t be a logical option. Now, it is, and before the official introduction next week, I am giving you the first chance to see just how different the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator is compared with the Gladiator Concept from 2004.

We recently posted an article that argued that the 2019 Toyota RAV4 hybrid is the way forward for the compact crossover segment, lauding its combination of comfort, practicality, technology, and most critically, efficiency. However, Toyota isn’t the only automaker in this space, with both Nissan and Subaru offering competing models that could very well steal sales from the T-badge. But how do these three look in a direct comparison?

The BMW 8 Series Convertible has arrived, and with its arrival comes a lot of questions regarding how it compares to the model it’s effectively replacing: the departed 6 Series Convertible. To be clear, the 8 Series Convertible isn’t a direct-line successor to the 6 Series Convertible. It’s packaged as a true-born flagship, developed to compete against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet and, in some ways, the Aston Martin DB11 Volante. You can’t say the same thing about the 6 Series Cabriolet. Still, even if there’s no direct connection between the two, it’s hard not to think of one without thinking of the other. So, we lined them up together to see how the 8 Series Convertible and the 6 Series Convertible compare to each other.

The fact that BMW revived the 8 Series nameplate after almost two decades is definitely one of the headlines of 2018. But equally important is the fact that the Germans announced two brand-new versions of this car: there’s an M8 just around the corner, and BMW just introduced the 8 Series Convertible.

The first drop-top version of the 8 Series in history, the Convertible, is here to tackle the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet. However, the topless German is also an option against more expensive grand tourer, like the Aston Martin DB11 Volante. Let’s find out how it compares to the notably more expensive British convertible in the comparison below.

Mercedes-Benz is in the process of replacing almost all of its current-generation vehicles, including the compact cars. It’s been only a few months since the German firm unveiled the new-gen A-Class, and we saw the slightly bigger B-Class make its global debut at the 2018 Paris Motor Show.

Restyled to look sportier on the outside and more upscale on the inside, the new B-Class also shares lots of technology with bigger sedans such as the E-Class and S-Class. How does it compare to the outgoing model?

With Ford introducing the EcoBoost F-150 Raptor, we witnessed the end of an era. The end of the V-8 Raptor era. Some, however, weren’t exactly thrilled with it. At all. People wanted the Raptor V-8. Luckily, thanks to PaxPower, they’ve got it. The Houston-based company took the Ford F-150 V-8, slapped a supercharger to it, installed all OEM 2019 F-150 Raptor parts on it, and called it a deal. It is now up to me to compare the two, although, it seems that PaxPower did not leave me a lot to compare here. The PaxPower Raptor has all the bells and whistles as the real thing - only with far more power and better performance.

There are few things in this world as resolutely badass as a hugely capable off-roader pickup truck. These are the machines you want with you when there’s a forest, mountain, or desert between you and your destination. With a go-anywhere attitude and the right stuff to walk the walk, the street-legal off-roader used to be something cobbled together in a shed. Now, you can get one direct from the factory, be it the Colorado ZR2 Bison from Chevrolet, or the F-150 Raptor from Ford.

These purpose-built, highly specialized variants offer tons of good stuff for those who prefer the trail to the street. For example, the Bison was created in collaboration with American Expedition Vehicles (AEV), an aftermarket off-roader company that knows exactly what’s needed when the going gets rough. Then there’s the F-150 Raptor, which Ford developed into a full-blown Baja racer with a license plate. But how do these two stack up against one another? Read on to find out.