News

The Price Of Omission The automotive industry is littered with cautionary tales about corporate mistakes. The most common issues usually pertain to safety concerns, recalls, or, worse, to concerted efforts to keep certain things from the public. All corporate entities that sell products are held to a high standard for transparency, especially those that make and sell cars. Vehicle purchases rank among the biggest investments an individual will make in their lifetime, so when certain details abou

A Legacy Wagon, But Taller The idea of a wagon on stilts isn't exactly new. One just has to look at the AMG Eagle 4x4 Wagon to see where it all began. Still, Subaru was inspired by that, hence why it built the Outback. It made its home market debut in 1994, around the same time as the RAV4. The rest of the world followed in 1996. The formula was simple: take a Legacy Wagon, add a couple more inches of ground clearance, and give it more rugged styling. For the next six generations, Subaru didn't

If you didn’t sit through the entire live reveal of the new BMW i3, you might have missed the fact that BMW teased something pretty special. The company will be making a new-generation 3 Series Touring—unlike the M3 Touring racing wagon revealed earlier this week, this will be a BMW wagon that's actually for sale. When even Volvo has abandoned the wagon segment, this is great news for longroof fans.  BMW Keeps The Wagon Alive https://www.youtube.com/live/98qr4Z26mbA?si=mR5kpGra9DwYGQnl&t=15

A New Charge for Going Electric Last year, the current administration ended the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, which had been an important incentive for EV adoption in the U.S. Now, according to Reuters, the chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is pushing to impose a $250 annual fee on EVs to help fund repairs to U.S. highways – a move that could further discourage EV ownership, especially as critics call the fee “unfair.” This proposal comes as the current U.S. surface

Long Overdue After a decade of looking pretty much the same, the Chrysler Pacifica finally gets a massive facelift. It's for the 2027 model year, so it'll be a while before anyone can actually drive it off dealer lots. Okay, the rest of the body still looks identical to the decade-old version, but the face is totally new. On top of that, the lineup has received a bit of a shakeup. The Pacifica LX effectively replaces the Voyager, leaving Chrysler with just one model yet again. It also gets enhan

Forbidden Fruit I find it ironic that the Japanese market is now lusting after products from Toyota's North American lineup. How the tables have turned, am I right? The first-generation Toyota Highlander was also called the Toyota Kluger. It was a five-door SUV that shared bones with the Lexus RX and debuted in 2001 as a five-seater and then reconfigured as a seven-seater by 2004. It was offered in Japan, Australia, and North America, where it was sold with either a gasoline or a hybrid powertr

(Photos by David Whealon) – NHRA Drag Racing at the Gatornationals was off the hook yet again in 2026! The week started with new drivers, crew chiefs, and teams, plus record breaking performances in testing, and ended with big wins and happy fans. This is the start of a whole new year of NHRA Drag Racing and we know this season is going to be something special. We’ve got great action photos from Gainesville thanks to longtime contributor David Whealon. David was in Florida shooting all kinds of

Alpine, the sports car brand owned by France’s Renault Group, first announced plans to enter the US market in June 2023 with a duo of performance luxury EVs. As the EV market has changed dramatically since then in the United States, which canceled the EV federal tax credit last year and rolled back stricter fuel economy standards that favored EVs, Alpine was forced to rethink its strategy. While the initial plan was to start selling vehicles in the US from 2027, tariffs and regulatory hurdles ha

Seven Years Profitable, Still Under Pressure Bentley’s streak continues, with seven years of profits even as the luxury market cools off. For 2025, revenue landed at €2.6 billion (around $3 billion) – just a one percent dip – while operating profit came in at €216 million ($249 million). Profits are down compared to last year, but most of that comes from outside pressures. Tariffs, currency swings, and write-offs from cancelled EV projects all took a bite. Strip those away, and Bentley’s main bu

If you are like me, there have been a bunch of times when you wished you had a thermal imagine camera. I use my laser temperature gun all the time, and it’s very handy, but sometimes it would be nice to see more than just that pinpoint spot’s temp while checking on engines, transmissions, and rearends. And let’s face it, in the past you needed to spend real money to get a thermal imaging gun that did anything useful. So now that you can buy everything on Amazon, including cheaper tools than have

Nissan has announced that its Murano SUV, built right here in the United States, will be sold in Japan early in 2027. Nissan is one of a growing group of Japanese automakers taking advantage of new certification rules for U.S.-built vehicles, making it possible to sell left-hand-drive vehicles in Japan (a right-hand-drive market) without any changes. A boost in Japan sales will help to balance the strain of U.S. tariffs, but some industry analysts question how popular U.S.-spec models like the M

If you are fired up about the 2026 IHRA Outlaw Nitro season opener, you are not alone! And with this weekend’s season opener going on at Darana Motorsports Park, formerly GALOT, there is plenty of racing to watch. Teams are fired up and ready to rock and roll, but there are plenty of them that haven’t been on the track in months and that means there are plenty of teams that were interested in testing. Thankfully, our friend NC Promoder has been on hand all week long with testing highlights and l

The Jetta Soldiering On While most of the market has moved on from sedans, the Volkswagen Jetta is still hanging on. It’s not breaking sales records these days, but it’s one of the last few options for buyers who want a traditional compact sedan instead of a crossover or SUV. Even so, the Jetta sticks around. It fills a gap as a practical, budget-friendly sedan – something that’s getting harder to find in Volkswagen’s lineup as the brand shifts toward bigger vehicles and electric models. That’s

I know there are some good reasons for Direct Injection in gasoline engines. But I also know that DI engines can be a giant pain in the butt and have some serious issues folks need to be aware of. With all that said, I also know that the folks at Brian Tooley Racing, along with hundreds of other engine builders and tuners, have tested DI combos and know that they can make more power than a Port Injection setup. But I also know engine builders and tuners who say otherwise. So who’s right? Will th

I know several professional engine builders, and several who think they are professional engine builders. Make no mistake, I’m not even remotely claiming to be an engine builder, and that’s because I know real ones and it would be an insult to them to claim to be in their league. But in recent years, I’ve known several people who spent real money on race engines from big name companies and got a crappy product. To be fair, I’ve also known folks that spent real money with not so well known engine

I’ve always wanted a car with a metal flake roof, panel paint, and the whole nine yards. It’s custom 101 to have metal flake, and when you go to shows that cater to old school customs, traditional hot rods, and lowriders you will see a lot of metal flake. That’s because it’s not just for bass boats! In the video below you’ll see a cool old classic hot rod getting the roof primed, and then black base coat going on, and then the metal flake and clear. If you aren’t aware, metal flake like is bei

A lawsuit for an alleged Honda Collision Mitigation Braking system failure is heading to trial after originally being filed eight years ago. In its current form, the lawsuit claims that the Collision Mitigation Braking System equipped to certain CR-V and Accord models detects hazards when there are none, leading to hard and unexpected braking. Some owners say the defect has left them afraid of driving their Hondas. Here’s everything we know about a case that has dragged on for many years. Honda

Every time there's a new BMW 3 Series, the world sits up and takes notice, and this time is no different. Munich's benchmark sports sedan has gone electric, adopting the i3 moniker previously used on the automaker's first mass-produced EV, the i3 supermini, but fear not, a combustion-powered 3er will come along soon enough. If you're not here because you're interested in EVs, it's because you want to critique the new Bimmer's styling, and that's okay, because every 3 Series' appearance is loved

Extreme Heat Warning: An Unprecedented March Event on Desert Highways The National Weather Service has issued Extreme Heat Warnings across wide portions of Arizona, California, and Nevada as a historic late-winter heat dome parks itself over the Desert Southwest and produces temperatures no one driving these roads has ever encountered this early in the year. This is not a typical hot spell. It is the first Extreme Heat Warning ever issued in March in Arizona's recorded history, beating the previ

A TeslaCybertruck owner from Houston, Texas is suing the automaker for $1 million after a terrifying incident that she claims put her and her infant’s lives in danger. The all-electric truck, which was allegedly operating on Full Self Driving (FSD) mode when the incident happened in August 2025, was caught on camera nearly going off an overpass barrier on Houston's 69 Eastex Freeway. As the footage shows, had the Cybertruck not hit a lighting pole that sent it ricocheting it back, it would have

EV Drivers Finally Get a Proper Nürburgring Setup Hyundai has installed 400 kW N Hyper Chargers at the entrance of the Nürburgring Tourist Drive. After its inauguration last year, Hyundai intends to remove the biggest barrier to EV track driving. Drivers can now charge right before entering the circuit, making the experience far more seamless. This is a major shift for electric performance cars. EVs have already proven their pace, with several models ranking among the fastest to lap the Nürburgr

The CX-5 Story So Far Since its debut in 2012, the Mazda CX-5 has been the brand’s cornerstone in the compact SUV segment. It was the first model to fully adopt Mazda’s SkyActiv technology. This approach focused on lightweight engineering, efficient powertrains, and driver-focused dynamics. It helped redefine expectations for mainstream crossovers. Over time, the CX-5 moved upmarket. It gained sharper styling, improved materials, and a more refined cabin. It also maintained strong driving dynami

Aiming High VinFast remains somewhat of an enigma despite being in the industry for quite some time now. The Vietnamese EV carmaker started off with intent by entering the U.S. market as early as 2017-2018, when EVs were just about to take off. It was a huge gamble for an unknown brand to enter a huge market. Now, in 2026, we can say that the gamble did and didn't work; it worked in the sense that VinFast remains a major EV player the world over, but it hasn't carved out a decent enough followin

Too Hard to Ignore So, this is the so-called 'timeline-wrecking' car that BMW teased a few days ago. While we were partially correct in calling it an M3 or M4, we didn't expect it to be a Touring, and it's a wild one, indeed. It's going to be BMW's entry in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring this year, and it'll fend off the likes of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Mercedes-AMG GT. The car started out as an April Fool's joke last year, but it's safe to say the public wanted it to be real. According to BMW,

Twisted Automotive, the UK-based Land Rover Defender restoration and customization specialist, has unveiled its first-ever Range Rover project, a restomod build based on the first-generation of the iconic luxury SUV. Called TRRC and recreated from memory by company founder Charles Fawcett using his father’s 1980s Range Rover as inspiration, the vehicle has undergone a high-performance luxury makeover courtesy of a GM-sourced LT1 V8 engine, full body restoration and upgraded interior. For their f