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2021 Hyundai Sonata vs. Kia K5 Comparison Test: Two Alternatives to Your Average Accord
Hyundai Sonata Full Overview Ask a MotorTrend staffer which midsize sedan is best, and the reply “Honda Accord” will come as quickly and reflexively as a leg kick follows a tap to the patellar tendon. The Honda leads our midsize sedan rankings, and for good reason. But for many buyers, an Accord or a Toyota Camry is just too obvious a choice, or too ubiquitous. For decades the corporately linked Korean automakers have offered more features and tech for the same or less money, and now they’re even offering bolder designs. Hyundai and Kia also still offer longer warranties than the Japanese nameplates, despite mounting evidence that you may never need it: Kia recently tied for the top spot in J.D. Power’s 2020 Initial Quality Study (Hyundai ranked ninth, Honda 19th, T...
2021 BMW 540i xDrive First Test: Quick, But Not Exactly Fun
BMW 5-Series Full Overview The seventh generation of the BMW 5 Series, coded “G30,” has not earned universal praise at MotorTrend as had some earlier models. When it competed in our 2018 Car of the Year contest, we chided its “numb handling and response” and lamented “an anodyne feel that permeates all of these 5 Series entries.” We attributed that largely to BMW’s decision to migrate the 5 to the architecture that underpins the larger, heavier 7 Series. In our luxury midsize category rankings, the 5 has trailed the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A6, and at times even the Lexus ES. Well, BMW has sharpened its pencils and rolled out a revamped G30 5 Series for 2021. This new 5 Series boasts loads of detail improvements, including a 48-volt mild hy...
Ski-Toting Mercury Cougar of James Bond 007 Movie Fame Could Top $200,000
Whatever you think of George Lazenby’s turn as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service—famously his first and only appearance on screen as 007—this 1969 Mercury Cougar XR-7 convertible deserves recognition as one of the coolest ski-equipped Bond cars in existence. Driven by the character played by Dame Diana Rigg, Contessa Tracy di Vicenzo, it was both an unlikely getaway car and an unexpected entrant in an ice racing event—leaving a lot of twisted metal, and frustrated SPECTRE henchmen in its wake. Now, this fascinating Bond car is for sale through Bonhams, and the high end of the auction estimate is a heady $200,000 when it crosses the auction block on December 16, 2020. It’s one of three used in the film, the seller claims, and apparently appeared in the scene in...
Tatiana Calderón Is Racing Toward F1, and Wants Other Women to Follow
Tatiana Calderón is probably the fastest woman on the planet right now, and the 27-year-old Columbian’s racing career has been punctuated by a number of firsts. She was the first woman to compete in both Japanese Super Formula and Formula 2, and was part of the first all-female LMP2 driver lineup in Le Mans history earlier this year. She’s also the first woman Alfa Romeo has ever signed as a test driver for their Formula 1 team, and that’s where she’s headed. “I want to be a full time Formula 1 driver, that’s my dream. It’s why I wake up in the morning,” Calderón told MotorTrend during a virtual roundtable event hosted by Alfa Romeo Racing. But getting a seat at the pinnacle of motorsport is a herculean task for even the most experienced and ...
2019 Toyota RAV4 After One Year: Did the SUV Live Up to Its Reputation for Reliability?
Toyota RAV4 Full Overview As America’s best-selling SUV, you can’t get any more bread-and-butter than the Toyota RAV4. Toyota sold more than 448,000 copies in the U.S. last year, far surpassing sales of the Honda CR-V and other rivals. We knew it wouldn’t be the most exciting vehicle to grace the MotorTrend Garage, but we had high expectations for our year with Toyota’s small SUV. Will its competency match its popularity? It won’t be an easy feat. Our RAV4 exuded a certain charm when it arrived at our headquarters in El Segundo, California. It showed up on our doorstep with an enigmatic Lunar Rock paint color. Is it blue, green, or gray? We’ll never be quite sure. While other small crossovers have comically rounded features, the RAV4 has a chiseled front...
Rolls-Royce Lights Up the Road With Neon Wraith, Dawn, and Cullinan
Rolls-Royce is taking a page from the ’80s by introducing neon-themed special-edition vehicles. The British automaker is rolling out a handful of Wraith, Dawn, and Cullinans in vibrant colors. Oddly enough, all vehicles are Black Badge variants with dark accents and increased performance. The special Wraith Black Badge gets a Lime Rock Green color, inspired by the Australian green tree frog. Inside, gray leather seats pair with green stitching. The Dawn convertibles are painted Eagle Rock Red after the flowers on an evergreen tree native to Hawaii. Grey leather with Koi Red stitching complete the look. Finally, the Cullinan features a Mirabeau Blue paint job that mimics the color of the Rhetus periander, a butterfly species found in Central and South America. Open the doors, and you&...
1975 Honda Civic CVCC and ’79 CVCC Wagon Retro Review: The Civic’s Beginnings, Explained
In 1975 carmakers had a problem. Their products spewed too much noxious crud out of their tailpipes, and the EPA, by dint of the 1970 Muskie Bill—known as the Clean Air Act—said automakers had to clean up their act. Naturally, nearly every automaker cried foul, claiming that doing anything whatsoever to protect the environment or their customer base’s health would immediately bankrupt them and cost jobs. When no one listened to their sob story, they were forced en masse to innovate. Federal law mandated that unleaded fuel would be available at all gas stations on July 1, 1974, meaning that cars could be equipped with exhaust-scrubbing catalytic converters (lead poisons the catalysts inside the converters), allowing the 90 percent reduction in emissions the EPA regulated. People were ...
This 2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe Is Supercharged and Spotless
From the outside, this 2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe is as clean and simple as it gets, and to the average onlooker, probably doesn’t look like much more than a well-maintained, lowered car with nice wheels. To those who know a thing or two about cars, a little closer inspection reveals plenty of unique details and clever installs that give this build a split personality of sorts, which is exactly what owner Ray Prado was after. “The goal for my car was to make the G35 clean and simple with a twist,” he notes. “I wanted to leave the exterior as close to stock as possible but focus on mods in areas that were hardly looked upon – the engine bay, trunk and interior.” His and Hers—Vanished Well before his obsession with the fine details and his Infiniti build, Pra...
2020 Honda Civic Si Road-Trip Review: Comfortably Sporty
Honda Civic Full Overview A lot of folks who aren’t car enthusiasts tend to believe you’re making a lot of compromises when you buy the sporty version of a car. Miserable ride quality, useless rear seats (if any), equally useless trunk, terrible fuel economy, and more. In some rather extreme cases, that’s true. It’s not true at all for the Honda Civic Si. I grew up in a rural area on the other side of the mountain from Silicon Valley, but it was plenty close enough to see the wealth that lived high in those hills. Back then, though, it was stealth wealth. At least to me. Sure, these people owned Ferraris and such, but they only took them out on weekends for a quick drive, a wash, and then back in the garage for the rest of the week while the BMW or Mercedes did comm...
Elation Hypercars Freedom Is a 1,900 HP Hyper-EV Hopeful
Hyperbolically powerful EVs are sprouting all over the automotive landscape like weeds these days. The Porsche Taycan Turbo S makes an already frankly ludicrous 750 horsepower, but the Lotus Evija, Rimac C2, and Tesla Roadster all have it beat. Now there’s a new player in the game. Elation Hypercars, an American-based “hyper-EV” company, has just announced its first project, and it’s as wild as you’d expect for a new player in this space trying to make waves. According to Elation the Freedom, their first car, will be powered by a 100 kWh lithium ion battery and four electric motors that will make up to (approximately) 1,903 horsepower. The battery is a T-shaped unit that’s integrated into the car’s chassis. If customers so desire, they can spec a 1...
2021 Mercedes-Benz Metris First Look: The Van Still Exists, Now With More Tech
We recently spent some time in the comfortable and well-equipped Metris Weekender, a camper van that arrives this spring. It was cool, mostly because it was a reasonably sized, classy camper. The Mercedes-Benz Metris van on which it is based is a little less flashy and lower-profile than the larger Sprinter work van, although for 2021, it receives a much-needed update with plenty of new tech. Okay, that new tech has limits. Open the 2021 Metris‘s doors, and you won’t find a glamorous widescreen display like those found in Mercedes-Benz’s upper-crust sedans and SUVs. Instead, the new Metris trades in its old 5.8-inch central display for a new 7.0-inch touchscreen with smartphone integration. The face-lifted Metris also receives high gloss black trim for the center con...
2021 Dodge Durango Scores Big Black Friday Discounts—For Four Days
Dodge’s long-serving yet somehow still relevant (and satisfying) three-row SUV, the Durango, was just refreshed for 2021 with updated styling inside and out, additional towing capability, and upgraded infotainment and tech options. And now all that freshness will be available with a pile of cash on the hood courtesy of Dodge’s “Power Dollars” incentive program. Well, provided the Durango you want is laying around a dealership sometime between November 27 and 30. That’s right: This Black Friday deal for in-stock examples only runs through the 2020 Thanksgiving weekend. The special is the same $10-per-horsepower discount we’ve come to expect through the “Power Dollars” program, which was started in 2019. The following discounts are available on...
