First Tests
2021 Lexus UX200 F Sport First Test: Experience or Appliance?
Lexus UX Full Overview Your phone, laptop, smartwatch, heck, even your smart speakers are all a massive pain in the neck. Not for you, but for the people who made them. User experience and interface designers agonize over products for months or even years to deliver an intuitive user experience, and you always notice when they haven’t. It’s the same story for cars like the 2021 Lexus UX200 F Sport. Engineers spend countless hours working through endless permutations of designs so they can get the little things like the detent on that volume knob just right. It’s all part of an endless quest to satisfy the user. So when we see the letters “U” and “X” arrive emblazoned on the rump of a small subcompact luxury Lexus SUV, the expectation is a satisfyin...
2020 Porsche Cayenne Turbo Coupe First Test: The Sports Car of SUVs
Porsche Cayenne Full Overview The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio comes close. The BMW X6 M does, too, but no other SUV drives as “small” as the Porsche Cayenne Turbo Coupe does. More than one of our editors who whipped the Cayenne Coupe on sinuous mountain roads listed this as one of its defining qualities. Features editor Christian Seabaugh echoed our group sentiment when he said, “Every Porsche manages to drive similarly, from the 718 on up to the Cayenne Coupe, and it’s a remarkable achievement. This, as silly as it sounds, feels like a 911.” It’s not as if Porsche uses exclusive hardware to build the brilliant Cayenne Turbo Coupe. Its twin-turbo V-8, ZF-sourced eight-speed transmission, and torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system aren’t unique...
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 First Test: Are Vans Better Than Pickups?
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Full Overview I love a good pickup, but vans such as the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 have me convinced that what Americans really need is a good full-size van and not one of the hundreds of thousands of pickups our compatriots buy each year. While pickups have—for better or worse—become quicker, more luxurious, and more technologically advanced, vans such as the third-generation 2019 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 have remained laser-focused on one thing: work. Sprinting to Work I probably alienated five out of every four pickup buyers with my previous paragraph, but when it comes to actual work, the only thing a pickup can really do better than a van is tow a heavier load; when it comes to hauling, the van is king. You have the Sprinter to thank for that. Many ...
2020 Lamborghini Huracán Evo RWD Coupe and Spyder First Drive: Fun Redefined
Lamborghini Huracan Full Overview “Had this been a typical Lamborghini press drive, I’d be writing this 2020 Lamborghini Huracán Evo RWD review after blasting around a far-flung racetrack,” road test editor Chris Walton wrote in our Huracán Evo RWD First Drive a few months ago. Instead, thanks to 2020, he spent his time piloting the new “entry-level” Lamborghini alone around some of Southern California’s finest driving roads. Not long after his drive, however, Lamborghini offered us the chance to drive the new Huracán Evo RWD at “The Fastest Road in the West,” on Willow Springs International Raceway’s famous Big Willow circuit. As an added bonus, I also had a brief opportunity to sample the new 2020 Lamborghini Huracán Evo RWD Spyder on...
2021 Volkswagen Arteon First Test: Pajama Shorts Antidote
Volkswagen Arteon Full Overview I don’t know about you, but I haven’t left home as much as I’d like to over the past few months. The business-casual attire I used to don before reporting to MotorTrend HQ goes largely unworn. Instead, my casual-casual clothing—pajama shorts, soft tees, cozy hoodies, and the like—is on constant rotation. Part of me enjoys the lazy functionality of this new uniform, but another misses having reasons to get dressed up, to not sit inside looking like a schlub. Try on the Volkswagen Arteon, and you’ll find yourself in a peculiar balance between these modalities. The brand’s flagship sort-of-sedan makes you a point of fashionable focus while not asking for—or providing—any more involvement than pajama shorts or fuzzy slippers. Can th...
No Surprise: The Most Satisfying, Involving, and Purest 2020 Porsche 911 Is the One with Three Pedals
Porsche 911 Full Overview If you want a real sports car that you can comfortably drive every day that’s also a luggage-capable weekender and even a track day adrenaline supplier, then you pick a 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera. If you want the most satisfying, involving, and purest form of that 911, then you pick the one with three pedals. It won’t be the quickest version, but it gives you goose bumps while manually conducting the entire symphony. If You Know, You Know: Why the Porsche 911 Is Special Driving a Porsche 911 is a unique experience. Aside from the rear-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive, it’s also unlike others in the segment. It hardly gets noticed. We drive hundreds of cars a year and hear, “Is that the new Corvette?! Is that a McLaren, a Lamborghini, etc.?...
2021 GMC Yukon Denali First Test: Business or First?
GMC Yukon Full Overview 2021 GMC Yukon Denali: Mountainous Performance Short answer: effortlessly. Slightly longer answer: Our four-wheel-drive V-8 Denali was a smidge quicker than the last 2021 Cadillac Escalade we tested. (With the same powertrain, that Escalade Sport Platinum weighed just 56 pounds more than our Denali.) Both trucks zip to 60 mph in 6.1 seconds, but the GMC squeaks through the quarter first, in 14.5 seconds at 97.3 mph to the ‘Slade’s 14.6 ticks and 95.6 mph. The Lincoln Navigator’s twin-turbo V-6 packs more muscle at 450 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque to the 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of GM’s big 6.2-liter V-8, but laden with Black Label finery, our last four-wheel-drive ‘Gator weighed 126 and 182 pounds more than our Cadillac and GMC, respectively....
2020 Kia Niro First Test: Great if the Toyota Prius Is Just Too Ugly
Kia Niro Full Overview As hybrid powertrains make their way into everything from minivans to supercars, their core mission remains the same: making stops at the gas station—and associated openings of your wallet—fewer and farther between. The Kia Niro is a hybrid built to meet that end. After a year with a 2017 model in our long-term test fleet, we know the Niro well. A 2020 refresh aimed to keep it a viable alternative to hybrid heavy hitters like the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, and its own platform-mate, the Hyundai Ioniq. How do the Niro’s specs compare to those vehicles? And what else do you need to know about Kia’s dedicated hybrid? How Quick Is the Kia Niro? Combined output from the Niro’s electric motor and 1.6-liter gasoline I-4 measures 139 hp and 195 lb-ft of t...
2021 Lexus IS 350 F Sport First Test: Sporty Enough?
Lexus IS Full Overview Small changes sometimes bring big improvements. Just ask Lexus. The 2021 Lexus IS didn’t start from a blank piece of paper; instead, it continues on the same platform it’s been on since 2013 but receives small styling and mechanical upgrades to make the sedan better. The IS is the Japanese luxury brand’s most important sedan, and in an era where sedans are on a slow decline (and the GS is retiring), this revised sport sedan carries even more weight in the Lexus lineup. Standing out in a crowded segment (especially between sport sedans) is key for the 2021 Lexus IS. And for the last few years, the IS hasn’t really distinguished itself. Newcomers such as the Genesis G70 and Alfa Romeo Giulia gained attention thanks to their handling, o...
2021 Chevrolet Suburban Diesel First Test: The Most Efficient Full-Size SUV
Chevrolet Suburban Full Overview Efficient full-size SUVs are like cheap wagyu beef. They simply don’t exist. But when a punchy six-cylinder diesel engine is fitted under the hood, things change. The 2021 Chevrolet Suburban Diesel is rated at 20/26/22 mpg city/highway/combined, which makes it the most fuel-efficient four-wheel-drive full-size SUV in the market. Think about that for a sec. A diesel Suburban is not novel, but the SUV hasn’t been offered with an alternative type of engine for a long time. And although the diesel engine isn’t as quick as the 5.3-liter engine, there are more pros than cons. We drove a 2021 Chevrolet Suburban Diesel High Country and took it to the track to compare its handling and performance against a Suburban with the base engine. 2021 Chevro...
2021 Jeep Gladiator Mojave First Test: Kickin’ Trail
Jeep Gladiator Full Overview Off-road capability is a game of trade-offs. Long-travel suspension increases wheel articulation for better traction and stability but reduces payload and towing capacity. Low gears multiply engine torque applied to the wheels but limit your top speed and fuel efficiency. Making it even more complicated is the fact that different types of off-roading require different suspension designs and different gearing. You wouldn’t know it if you drove a 2021 Jeep Gladiator Mojave, though. The Gladiator Mojave is, if you haven’t heard, one of two top off-road trim levels of Jeep’s mid-size truck (the other being the Gladiator Rubicon). It starts with all the capability of a standard Gladiator and adds 2.5-inch-diameter internal bypass Fox Shox with remo...
2021 Honda Accord Hybrid First Test: Skip the Big Wheels, Bask In the Excellence
Honda Accord Hybrid Full Overview More power doesn’t always translate to superior performance. Take the 2021 Honda Accord Hybrid for instance; does its class-leading power lead to a meaningful advantage in acceleration compared to the Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata hybrids? We track-tested the Honda to find out. And after our First Drive review, we also discovered two minor faults in what remains one of our favorite midsize family sedans. If you’re on the fence between a 2020 and 2021 Accord Hybrid, we’d suggest picking the newer model—and this is coming from a particularly frugal-minded MotorTrend editor. It’s not because of newly available wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; it’s thanks to Honda’s adjustments to the way the car feels—and sounds—u...
