Autos
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Lifestyle – Autos
2021 Honda CR-V Touring First Test: Still the Best
Honda CR-V Full Overview They—whoever they are—say it is difficult to be humble when you’re the best at what you do, but apparently they forgot to tell that to the 2021 Honda CR-V, the family hauler that we rate number one among compact SUVs. It’s not hard to believe that Honda would make the best compact SUV in the segment—but what exactly makes it so good? We took a refresher drive in a top-of-the-line 2021 Honda CR-V Touring with all-wheel drive and were reminded of everything we love about the CR-V. Let’s take a tour, front to back. We’ll start with the engine, a 1.5-liter turbo-four that delivers 190 family-friendly horsepower and 179 lb-ft of torque. It’s an engine we waited quite a while for: While other automakers plunged headlong into small-displaceme...
2021 Ford F-250 vs. Ram 2500 HD, Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD: Gentler Giants
Ram 2500 Full Overview The heaviest loads and trailers demand a 1-ton diesel dually pickup. But those are unwieldy to maneuver, and their ride quality can be downright punishing when they’re not fully loaded. Plus, to tow more than half of those trucks’ max capacity you need a commercial driving license (CDL). Scale back your towing needs to “operator license” territory (26,000 pounds for the truck and trailer combined), and you’ll find a 3/4-ton diesel pickup with single rear wheels (SRWs) fits the bill much more comfortably. Our MotorTrend Ultimate Car Rankings already assess 1-ton diesel (350 or 3500) pickups and 3/4-ton gasoline-burners, so this 3/4-ton diesel truck comparison explores new territory. The heavy-duty Rams are currently our picks in both of t...
2022 Kia Carnival vs. 2021 Toyota Sienna: High-Spec Haulers
Kia Carnival Full Overview In theory, doing the right thing is easy. Want to lose weight? Eat fewer calories and exercise more, right? Similarly, you might be tempted to think creating the right minivan is easy, too. All you need is a big, blobby shape, lots of seats, and a couple of sliding doors, and the job’s done, right? Turns out, no. Just like dropping pounds, it’s a lot more difficult than it seems to create a well-engineered minivan. They need to handle approximately the same with one passenger as they do with seven or eight. They need to be incredibly safe (think of the children!) yet have nearly every body panel open to create a yawning portal. Plus, it would be good if the seats could go away when an owner wants to turn the soccer taxi into a Home Depot hauler. Getti...
The Ultimate BMW M4 Will Set You Back $530,000, and It’s Not Road Legal
If you have the scratch, and the skill, you can own the ultimate BMW driving machine: the latest M4 GT3. Based on a 2021 M4 Competition, the GT3 is just what it looks like: a pure race car, designed for competition. It joins a broad lineup of race-only BMWs, including the M8 GTE, M4 GT4, and M2 CS Racing—and replaces the M6 GT3. In North America, the M4 GT3 is eligible for several series: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the GT Daytona and GT Daytona Pro classes, SRO Fanatec GT World Challenge, and SRO GT America. See all 27 photos And it’s not lacking for firepower. Behind that massive grille—we’ll let you decide if it looks better on a full race car—is a highly modified version of the M4 road car’s S58 I-6, dubbed by BMW the “P58 M TwinPower Turbo.”...
2021 Kia Niro EV Adds More Features, Keeps Same Price
For 2021, Kia adds some new standard features to its late-arriving electric vehicle—and that’s pretty much it. The Niro isn’t exactly topping any sales charts, so a car that’s mostly a carryover makes sense. The new standard features include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (the previous car made do with a wired iteration of the system), standard rear-occupant alert, and a remote start function that allows you to preheat or pre-cool the vehicle. Kia also adds some new safety kit to the Niro EV for 2021. Now included is Kia’s DriveWise suite of driver assist systems, which includes leading vehicle departure alert, Level 2 driving assist, and navigation-based adaptive cruise control. Just as before, the standard Niro EV EX starts at $40,265, while the EX P...
Tesla Model 3 and Y Lose Adjustable Lumbar Due to “Almost no Usage”
But why would Tesla take out such a seemingly helpful feature? According to Tesla’s chief executive officer, Elon Musk, few folks used the lumbar adjustment in their Model 3 or Model Y EVs. In a tweet that addressed the feature’s removal, he said “logs showed almost no usage. Not worth cost/mass for everyone when almost never used.” Of course, most individuals don’t regularly adjust their seat’s lumbar—especially not passengers. After all, it’s the sort of thing an occupant sets once and rarely, if ever, fiddles with again (much like other seat adjustments). Musk also addressed rumors that Tesla’s Full Self Driving tech is set to get a price hike in the future. Right now, the FSD option costs $10,000, but it might increase to $14,000. To this...
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz: Small Truck, Not Exactly Big Fuel Economy
The arrival of Hyundai’s funky and stylish compact pickup truck is quickly approaching, and we’re eager to get behind the wheel for a test drive. After the all-new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz broke cover this past spring, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finally released fuel economy estimates for it. So, what kind of mpg can you expect from the little Santa Cruz truck? See all 65 photos That depends on which of the first-ever Hyundai pickup truck’s two engine options you choose. The standard powerplant is a 2.5-liter I-4 generating a modest 191 hp and 181 lb-ft. For those buyers wanting more performance from their Santa Cruz, an optional turbocharged 2.5-liter I-4 producing 281 hp and 311 lb-ft is available. An eight-speed automatic transmission is coupled with ...
Japan First to Get Factory Right-Hand-Drive Chevy Corvette C8s
We got our first look at the mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette C8 back in July of 2019, and even at that early date, GM confirmed that the C8 would get factory-built right-hand-drive (RHD) versions for those associated markets: Australia, Japan, and the U.K. But it’s taken this long for these RHD Corvette C8s to debut, and Japan is—at last—the first market to receive them. See all 5 photos This is the first time a Corvette has had a factory RHD variant, which is great news for consumers in those countries but less great news for the cottage industry of LHD-to-RHD conversion outfits. And also not great for potential buyers in Japan who wanted to own one, since the allocation of 300 units apparently sold out almost immediately after it was announced early last year. Owners in Japan were i...
Should You Buy Your Dream Car? Top Gear America Says, Yes!
Everyone remembers them, you probably had one growing up (possibly still do)—a Lamborghini Countach poster circa the 1980s. The Countach is a dream car unlike any other, adorning more walls and inspiring generations of automotive enthusiasts all over the world. But everyone knows it’s a piece of crap. Never meet your heroes, kids, you’re often disappointed. Is that always the case? The Top Gear America hosts beg to differ and the producers aren’t going to make it easy on them, so they’re back at Thunderhill Raceway Park to find out if dream cars are more than just poster art. Dream cars aren’t always the flagship models of boutique Italian sports car makers. Take the Top Gear America hosts for example: Right off the bat, Rob Corddry has a polarizing vehi...
2022 Buick Enclave First Look: A Fresh Face for Buick’s Big SUV
If the 2022 Buick Enclave looks familiar to you, then that’s because Buick revealed the reworked exterior of its big SUV back in January. Now, the brand is looking to share more about its updated three-row model. Unfortunately, this is not a case where good things come to those who wait, as there are no surprises among the various other updates to the SUV. There are no powertrain or major interior design changes, save for a new steering wheel and a lightly reworked center stack that adopts a push-button selector for the transmission. Those buttons help direct the Enclave’s carryover nine-speed automatic gearbox that mates to a carryover 310-hp 3.6-liter V-6. It’s a fine powertrain combination, and a detail Buick did not need to hide from the media and consumers for months...
Apple CarPlay Head Unit Review: We Add the Sony XAV-AX7000 to Our 1998 Porsche Boxster
An entire industry has emerged around smartphone mounts for your car. Magnets clipped to an air conditioning vent, suction cups on the windshield, cheap plastic mounts meant to fit in the cupholder; we’ve seen it all. But if you’ve driven a new car in the past five years, you know there’s a more elegant solution. With the near-universal adoption of smartphone-mirroring software in the forms of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, we can now use familiar, up-to-date media and navigation apps like Spotify and Google Maps in-car on a large, integrated touch display. But what if your ride was built before the CarPlay era? Worry not. Many older cars use standardized head unit sizing that make it easy to source and install an aftermarket system. Although head units with Apple CarPla...
2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S First Test: Hoop, There It Is
Porsche 911 Full Overview There are some things that should be against the law when it comes to cars. You know, like driving a 2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S with the top up. OK, maybe we’ll allow it when driving in a thunderstorm or at temperatures below zero, but that’s about it. The reason is obvious: The Targa 4S is flat-out gorgeous when its soft top is safely stowed (after 19 seconds of mechanical gyrations). The Targa 4S is also flat-out fast when you want it to be. Simply hold down the brake, rev its twin-turbo flat-six to 5,000 rpm or so, then let off the brake and drop the hammer. Our test team was able to launch Porsche’s latest 992-series 911 Targa variant to a sizzling 3.0-second-flat 0-60-mph sprint and on to an 11.3-second quarter mile at 122.5 mph. (In case you...
