Cars

Aston Martin has a lot riding on the DBX SUV, and that might be the understatement of the year. The DBX marks the first time the British automaker is venturing into the land of SUVs. It’s no secret that, like most automakers, Aston wants to capitalize on the immensely popular crossover/SUV market that has already reeled in rivals like Lamborghini, Bentley, and Rolls-Royce. The DBX is the first salvo, and while it does look the part of a slick and sexy Aston Martin crossover, the big question is whether the DBX remains rooted in the DNA of Aston Martin. Carfection sought to answer that question, and what it discovered might surprise a lot of people.

BMW E39 is widely considered as the best BMW 5 Series ever built. The automaker produced it from 1998 to 2003. It isn’t just about the classic looks, but also the fact that it came through in a transition period wherein companies were adopting a lot of tech features. So, this was one of the last BMWs to have the mechanical-feel to it and arguably the best driver’s car that BMW has offered to date.

If you scout the pre-owned market for the E39, you’ll figure out that the model is getting harder to find with every passing year. But, here is one pristine example of 2001 BMW M5 E39 with a modest mileage in the Netherlands. Drool-worthy, isn’t it?

It hasn’t been long since we reported that the Lucid Air might beat out the best Tesla Model S with up to 442 miles of range. Considering that the Air starts out at just $60,000 this could put it in a position to effectively dethrone the Tesla Model S. Now, however, a new report from Ars Technica claims that independent testing has confirmed an estimated range of more than 500 miles on a single charge. If this report is true, and the EPA agrees, the Lucid Air could become the first production EV to cross that threshold. How likely is it that the EPA will give the air a similar rating? Well, the chances might actually be pretty good.

The enforced stoppage of any and all motorsports-related activities during the global lockdown earlier this year has prompted most high-profile drivers to slide their backsides in sim rigs and duke it out in online racing championships. Now, as real racing has resumed in many places, those drivers get back to work driving real cars and James Baldwin is quick to follow, only he never did this prior to the lockdown.

There’s a lot of argument today when it comes to picking the best RS car Audi ever produced. Old-school gearheads claim it’s the RS2 Avant because it was produced with help from Porsche, while others claim the old RS models are no match for the modern variants.

But people seem to forget that Audi also built performance versions of its full-size sedan, the A8. Granted, the S8 isn’t a full-fledged RS model, but it packs a big punch and it combines it with luxury features in a unique way. The S8 badge goes back to the first-generation D2, a sedan that doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

BMW is one of the most proactive automakers to advance towards electrification. The company has not just announced new electric models, but will also electrify the existing lineup. Recently, it revealed the iX3, which carries over all the shenanigans of the regular X3, but with an electric powertrain. Recently, the electric version of the 3 Series was spotted yet again and it seems to be on the same transformational path as the electric X3.

The Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Corvette are two of America’s most iconic cars. But they’re also two different animals. The Mustang spent most of its career in the pony and muscle car market, while the Corvette was aimed mostly at sports car and grand tourer buyers. With the Corvette transformed into a mid-engined car for the eighth generation, the gap between these nameplate is even bigger now. But which one is the fastest around a track? To find out, MotorTrend took the range-topping Shelby GT500 and the C8 Corvette Z51 to Virginia International Raceway and put 24 Hours of Daytona winner Randy Pobst behind the steering wheel.

The Fiat 500X is somewhat of a quirky vehicle. For starters, Fiat isn’t exactly the most popular brand here in the United States, and when you pair that with the fact that it’s really more of a jacked-up hatchback than a true crossover. As you’ll read a little later on in this in-depth review, the 500X, outside of its standard all-wheel-drive actually fails when it comes to doing a lot of usual crossover things – like carrying lots of cargo. But we’ll discuss that a little further down the page. For now, I want to want to talk to you about what it’s like to drive the 500X and a little more of that quirkiness that, honestly, intrigues me so much.

Land Rover brought back the 2020 Defender after a four-year hiatus and it is quite impressive. But, the new body and feel gave it more of an urban vibe than the classic off-roader pizzazz that the Defender is generally known for. So, to see how it weighs in the present scenario, the folks at TFL decided to take it off-roading along with the old Defender and the rugged Jeep Gladiator. Can it match its rivals as an off-roader, or has the new Defender become an urban commuter with a just little off-roading DNA left in it?

The Mini was conceived by Alec Issigonis to be the ultimate city car, small in proportions but featuring a groundbreaking platform that made it surprisingly spacious on the inside. It sold in over five million copies and is considered one of the most influential designs ever. So good was BMC’s biggest hit that it even made waves in the racing world, both on the rally stages and on the circuits of the world. It is, then, not that surprising that a latter-day Mini with enough mods is capable of putting 500 horsepower to the ground.

The Bentley Continental GT starts at over $220,000. It’s an expensive car that most of us can’t afford, so if you find yourself priced out of a Continental GT, there are ways to get one without having to spend an exorbitant amount of money. There is one catch, though: you can’t fit in any of them.

Bentley, in all its vexing might, has launched a series of Continental GT scale models, ranging from an affordable 1:64 scale model to a 1:8 scale model that’ll set you back around $10,000.

The 2020 Mercedes-AMG GLB 35 is a higher performance version of the Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class, a subcompact premium crossover that slots between the tiny GLA and the compact GLC. Unveiled in 2019 with a variety of gasoline and diesel engines, the GLB is now available in a performance-oriented trim and with an AMG badge. Since a full-fledged AMG 45 model is not yet available, the 2020 AMG GLB 35 is the range-topping model of the GLB-Class lineup. The performance crossover comes with a familiar AMG 35 package that includes some extras on the outside, better tech on the inside, and a powerful four-cylinder engine that generates a robust 302 horsepower. Let’s find out more about this hauler in the review below.

The Hyundai Elantra GT and GT N-Line, especially in regard to the most recent generation, had all the makings of a true hot hatch that could have competed with the likes of the Ford Focus ST, Honda Civic Type R, and even the Volkswagen Gold R. It has the looks, but Hyundai forgot one major ingredient – performance. Now, with a new Elantra GT N Line sedan on the horizon and the introduction of the Hyundai Venue, the Elantra GT hatchback is going to be killed off for the for the 2021 model year – at least in the United States, anyway.

As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, Hyundai is making good on its goal to keep pushing forward with its pre-COVID-19 plans. One of those plans involves the creation of a new sub-brand that will become the official home of the automaker’s all-electric vehicles. The sub-brand, called Ioniq, will serve as a complement to Hyundai’s other sub-brand, Genesis, and offer battery electric vehicles. Three new all-electric models will serve as the foundation of the new sub-brand. A mid-size crossover EV will arrive first in 2021, followed by a sedan model in 2022 and a large SUV in the early part of 2024. All of this is part of Hyundai’s long game for battery-electric vehicles, which primarily involves selling 560,000 EV models by 2025. If for nothing else, Hyundai’s best-laid plans before the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to its knees is still moving along, proving that resiliency is as much a part of Hyundai’s DNA as anything we’ve seen from the automaker in the past.

With more than a year’s worth of leaks and news about the next-gen Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ, we finally learned in early August that Subaru was ending production of the BRZ. Toyota hasn’t commented on its production timetable for the current-gen 86, but we’re pretty sure the current-gens end of production isn’t far off. That has become more than evident now that the first spy video and images of the 2022 Toyota GR86 has surfaced online. Much like the most recent rumors suggest, neither Subaru nor Toyota are changing very much as they shift into the next generation.

Earlier this year we drove the 2020 Nissan GT-R Nismo, and for the most part, every member of the Top Speed staff loved it. That doesn’t mean that the big elephant in the room, the fact that it’s essentially 13 years old, wasn’t painfully obvious. The car has aged better than most cars than have had such a long lifespan, but it’s beyond time for a new generation. For a while, it seemed like this would happen, but then in April 2020, Nissan argued that it won’t update the GT-R because it wants to keep it affordable, and a month later, we learned that Nissan’s cost-cutting plans could spell the end for the GT-R and it’s little brother the 370Z. Fortunately, that’s not the case, and in early August, we learned that the GT-R is due to be replaced in 2023, along with a happy little surprise.

We’ve seen a crazy number of performance trucks in the past, like the GMC Syclone and the Ram SRT-10. There was one offering from Ford as well that got all the enthusiasts pumped up – the SVT Lightning. The truck was sent into oblivion after two generations that spanned a little under 10 years, combined. It came with sedate looks and a powerful engine made to sprint.

Today, the F-150 Raptor covers up for it, but is it as good as the SVT Lightning? StangMode has uploaded a video of both these trucks going against each other on his YouTube channel, and it will answer this question for you.

In production since 2013, the current BMW 2 Series is a bit long in the tooth as of 2020. But we know that the German company is working on a new-generation version because we keep seeing it being tested in various locations. Our paparazzi just sent us a new batch of spy shots, and it seems that the upcoming 2 Series will look a lot more muscular than the outgoing model. But there’s more good news to consider.

Tesla cars have embarrassed some of the most loved supercars on drag strips for a long time now. With every new performance update, things just keep getting better. It’s funny how effortlessly these EVs receive a power bump, when internal combustion engine cars, on the other hand, have to spend a lot of time in the garage and get new parts and other upgrades.

Despite Tesla offering continuous updates, people are not content. Well, that’s the case with every enthusiast. We just can’t have enough. So, this new Tesla Model X went through some old-school faster-off-the-line techniques to breach the 11-second quarter-mile record to become the quickest production SUV in the world right now. How about that!