2020 Hyundai Sonata One-Year Review: The Verdict

porsche cayenne Full OverviewBack in 2003, sports car drivers had to get used to the idea of yielding to faster-moving Porsche Cayennes coming up from behind them. The age of the performance SUV was upon us. Over the ensuing decade and a half, Porsche and others have refined the formula, creating a new class of super SUVs that'll now surprise not just sports cars on a good back road but also the rare supercar. The new 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT takes that formula to the next level.What Makes the Cayenne Turbo GT Tick?At first glance, the Cayenne Turbo GT doesn't appear all that different than the Cayenne Turbo Coupe. Meaner-looking, sure, thanks to wider air intakes in the nose, black accents, a carbon-fiber roof, and not one but two spoilers (the lower one is active, to boot)—but overall not all that different. Look even closer, and perhaps you'll notice that the Cayenne Turbo GT sits about three-quarters of an inch lower than the Cayenne Turbo. It's a sleeper of sorts.Under the skin, things get even more interesting. For starters, the Cayenne Turbo's familiar 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 gets reworked, now breathing out of a titanium exhaust system. Power rises from 541 hp and 567 lb-ft in the standard Cayenne Turbo to a healthy 631 hp and 626 lb-ft of torque in the Cayenne Turbo GT—that's just 10 horsepower and 1 lb-ft shy of the Lamborghini Urus, which shares its platform and engine with the Porsche. Helping put that power down is a quicker-shifting eight-speed automatic and a water-cooled torque-vectoring all-wheel drive system that's beefier than the air-cooled unit on lesser Cayennes. Stiffer air springs, pizza-sized carbon-ceramic brakes, and a more aggressive four-wheel steering system round out the Turbo GT package.How Fast Is the Cayenne Turbo GT?The combo is good enough to make the Cayenne Turbo GT the second-quickest SUV MotorTrend has ever tested-with the competition so close we need to resort to a second decimal place to split the difference. The Porsche rips from 0 to 60 mph in 3.02 seconds and on through the quarter mile in 11.32 seconds at 120.93 mph. That just trails the last Urus we tested. It's 2.97-second 0-60 run, combined with its 11.31-second at 120.06 mph quarter-mile performance was enough to make it the quickest SUV we've ever tested.Still, the Porsche makes up some ground in braking and handling. The Cayenne Turbo GT stops from 60 mph in 105 feet (2 feet shorter than the Lamborghini), and it runs the figure eight in 23.2 seconds at 0.88 g average. That not only bests the Urus' 23.5 second at 0.87 g performance but also shames quite a few sport sedans (like the BMW M3 Competition xDrive and Cadillac CT4 and CT5-V Blackwing) and sports cars (including Porsche's own 911 Targa 4S and 718 Boxster and Cayman GTS 4.0).Out in the real world, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is more than just quick—it's incredibly fun, too. Despite the 5,000 pounds the engine is lugging around, the fastback SUV feels light on its feet and properly fast. The V-8 makes gobs of power, and the eight-speed auto acts like Porsche's famed PDK dual-clutch, backing up the V-8 bark with perfectly timed shifts each and every time. The fast, precise steering rack is "Porsche perfect with amazing feedback," road test editor Chris Walton says, and it combines with the retuned all-wheel-drive system and big brakes to allow you to dive hard into corners and rocket hard out of them as the torque vectoring and four-wheel steering system combine to laugh in the face of physics.Is there room for improvement? Sure. The stiffer suspension is, well, stiffer, on real-world pavement and can be borderline harsh. Some on staff also found the Cayenne to be so competent that it verged on boring. The Cayenne Turbo GT, in other words, feels a lot like an Urus for introverts—it's nowhere near as loud and showy as the related Lambo is.It's nowhere near as expensive, either.How Much Is a Cayenne Turbo GT?We wouldn't go so far as to call the 2022 Cayenne Turbo GT (which starts at $182,150 and as tested for $208,850) affordable, but it's a shockingly good value for a super SUV. Consider its only true competitor on the performance spectrum, the Urus—it starts at nearly $220,000. The Bentley Bentayga Speed, meanwhile, starts at about $240,000 and lost to a "regular" Cayenne Turbo in our last comparison test. The Aston Martin DBX is about $180,000 to start but is slower than a Cayenne Turbo. The DBX S might be able to hang with the Turbo GT, but it's likely to start north of $200,000. Meanwhile, neither BMW's M division nor Mercedes-AMG offers a vehicle (not the M6 Competition or the GLE 63 Black Edition) that can dance with this Porsche.The VerdictAlthough the jury's out on whether the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is better to drive than the Lamborghini Urus, fact is it may not matter. The Cayenne Turbo GT is one of the purest, most engaging, and most fun-to-drive SUVs to hit the road. Odds are as the super SUV segment evolves and grows, this will be remembered as one of the vehicles that first defined the segment.Looks good! More details?2022 Porsche Cayenne Coupe Turbo GT Specifications BASE PRICE $182,150 PRICE AS TESTED $208,850 VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, AWD, 4-pass, 4-door SUV ENGINE 4.0L Twin-turbo direct-injected DOHC 32-valve 90-degree V-8 POWER (SAE NET) 631 hp @ 6,000 rpm TORQUE (SAE NET) 626 lb-ft @ 2,300 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 4,967 lb (58/42%) WHEELBASE 113.9 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 194.6 x 78.0 x 64.4 in 0-60 MPH 3.0 sec QUARTER MILE 11.3 sec @ 121.0 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 105 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 1.07 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 23.2 sec @ 0.88 g (avg) EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 14/19/16 mpg EPA RANGE (COMB) 450 miles ON SALE Winter, 2022 Show All

hyundai ioniq-6 Full OverviewTo look at, sit in, and drive the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6, you'd think Hyundai was trying to push upmarket into the "premium" space between mainstream and luxury brands. Executives at the Korean automaker insist that's not what they're up to, they just want to bring a premium experience to the masses. Our quick jaunt in an Ioniq 6 prototype shows they've succeeded.To make the case, Hyundai turned us loose on a short closed course at its Namyang, South Korea, proving ground, before we went on a slightly longer drive around town. We were behind the wheel of a well-equipped dual-motor all-wheel-drive model riding on optional 20-inch wheels. Although it wasn't enough time for a full evaluation, the early returns are very promising.Getting Deep With the 6The first thing you notice behind the wheel of any EV is that seamless, delightfully linear acceleration. Tesla has made a good chunk of its reputation on its cars being ludicrously quick in a straight line, and although the Ioniq 6 isn't trying to take that crown—the upcoming Ioniq 6 N might—it's certainly quicker than most sedans in this size and price range.Officially, Hyundai quotes an estimated 0-60-mph time of 5.0 seconds, but we know that's wildly underrated. The equally powerful and considerably less aerodynamic dual-motor Ioniq 5 crossover does it in 4.4 seconds, and the slippery Ioniq 6 feels quicker. In fact, 4.0 seconds to 60 seems plausible. We jumped in a base, rear-drive Ioniq 6 for a quick acceleration run, and it felt comparable to the dual-motor Ioniq 5 and noticeably slower than the dual-motor Ioniq 6.Even more impressive is the way the 6 drives. Hyundai has successfully translated EVs' inherently large mass into the carved-from-granite heft and solidity the best Mercedes-Benz sport sedans are known for. Forget screwed together; the Ioniq 6 feels welded together. It translates to a confidence and unflappability driving down the road.Helping to achieve this is frankly remarkable wheel control. We deliberately aimed for every pothole, storm drain, and manhole cover we could find to test the Ioniq 6's ride quality and came away deeply impressed. Big impacts were heard more than they were felt, and they weren't loud. Critically, the 6 handled each bump in one fell swoop. The targeted wheel simply went up and over, no pitching or bouncing or engaging in other secondary motions. The suspension's ability to keep the body flat and undisturbed over nasty bumps is simply unparalleled in a mainstream brand.As a result, the car is planted and stable at all times. Unfortunately, the local roads weren't twisty enough for us to get serious handling impressions, but what few corners we could take moderately quickly bode well. The car's reactions are deliberate and measured, leaning into a corner and then straightening up—no wobbling around on its springs.The steering is direct and accurate, but its feel is muted. It's not an artificial feeling; rather, it's dulled in the way you might expect of a luxury car that's not trying to be sporty.The brake pedal is similar, as if it's been deliberately overboosted a bit to make it easier to press and the stopping force easier to modulate. The response is linear, and the car has ample stopping power, but here again the control inputs aren't trying to be aggressive. Meanwhile, the handoff from regenerative to mechanical braking is undetectable.The programming of the regenerative braking has improved in other ways, as well. Auto mode, which chooses the level of regenerative braking automatically depending on the situation, has improved on the Ioniq 5's programming and gotten good enough that even a picky EV driver will appreciate it. The Auto mode still doesn't incorporate full one-pedal driving, though, which needs to be chosen deliberately. For everything but stop-and-go driving, however, Auto is more pleasant.At their base levels, braking and handling are a function of tire performance, and the Hyundai-spec Pirelli P Zero Elect all-seasons fitted to our prototype are fine chunks of rubber. They're very quiet while cruising, with little road noise infiltrating the cabin even at high speeds. What sharp cornering we got to do revealed strong grip and zero squeals of protest from the tires. Not bad for a tire that's also optimized for maximum driving range.A Premium FeelIn fact, little noise makes it into the cabin, period. It's startlingly quiet inside, even for a mainstream EV. Usually, you have to pay extra for that. In the Ioniq 6, oncoming traffic one lane over is no louder than a light breeze in the forest. There's an artificial noise generator you can turn on if you miss engine sounds, but it wasn't active on our prototype. Neither was the ambient lighting that gets brighter the faster you go. The little lights on the steering wheel that change color when you change drive modes or use certain other features were working, though, and they're kind of neat.Because our drive was so short, we didn't get any sense of the car's ultimate driving range or its charging capabilities. Because it shares the E-GMP architecture with the Ioniq 5, though, we know it'll be among the fastest-charging EVs in the world, able to go from 0 to 80 percent battery in 18 minutes on a properly quick public fast charger.The car's most unusual feature, though, is its video door mirrors, which won't be coming to the U.S. because they're not legal here (yet). It's a strange feeling to look inside the cabin to see what's happening over your shoulder, but the adjustment wasn't as difficult as we expected. If and when U.S. law changes, Hyundai will offer them here, but for now, we get good old-fashioned mirrors. This also slightly alters the American-market dashboard design, with the video screens at either end deleted and leaving little stubby wingtips.An Interior So Nice …Elsewhere inside, the Ioniq 6 feels like a premium midsize sedan. The materials and build quality are as good as anything a "premium" automaker like Acura or Buick is doing, and in some ways better. The textured plastic on the center armrest and console feels all the world like fabric. It's both visually interesting and pleasant to touch.The long, flat center console is both a design statement and a functional bit of furniture. It makes for a large storage space underneath and, when you're not driving, a flat work surface where you can rest a laptop or tablet. It's also where the window switches are located.The dashboard, meanwhile, is more conventional and familiar. The twin rectangular screens are just like those in other Hyundai products, and we're happy to see real knobs and buttons for the radio and climate controls.We're also quite fond of the front seats, which Hyundai says are 30 percent thinner than its usual chairs. Both in shape and feel, they remind us of Volvo seats in the best way—comfortable and still very supportive.They also make for an enormous amount of rear legroom for a car this size, much more than you get in a Tesla Model 3. The Ioniq 6 also feels as though it has more rear headroom than the Tesla, though not by much, due to its sloping roofline.That plunging roof also means that although the trunk opening is reasonably large, it's more of a large slot you slide cargo into. The cargo area is plenty deep but not all that tall, so you can fit large suitcases, but they'll have to lie flat.Being an EV, there's also storage under the hood, but as with the Ioniq 5's, it's barely worth mentioning. The Ioniq 6's underhood space will fit maybe a bit more than a pair of shoes, or some mobile charging cables.The Dotted LineIoniq 6 production begins early next year for the U.S. market, and if the customer cars are at least as good as these prototypes, Hyundai has a winner on its hands. Pricing hasn't been announced, but if it matches or comes close to the Ioniq 5's $41,000 base price it'll be an absolute steal. Even if Hyundai ends up charging a few thousand dollars more, it'll still be cheaper than a Model 3 and a better all-around car. We find ourselves saying this a lot, but in this case we can't help ourselves: The EV market had better watch out, because Hyundai is coming.Looks good! More details?

ram 1500-trx Full OverviewWe beat up our long-term RAM 1500 TRX good. I mean real good. How, you ask? Well, you might remember that little Rivian R1T on the Trans-America Trail story we did? You know, the one that took over 40 days because we covered 7,700 miles off-road? Well, our support vehicle for the trip was our 2021 Ram 1500 TRX. Did we beat it like a rented mule? Yes. But for various reasons now lost to the winds of time (or is that an archived Slack channel?) we decided that a not-so-quick, totally hardcore cross-country off-road journey was the proper way to welcome the mighty TRX—our 2021 Truck of the Year—into MotorTrend's long-term fleet. Little did we know that due to the supply chain crisis, fixing our TRX meant it was out of commission for about four months. Please read on.The first ouchie that occurred was a flat tire on the first wave of the Trans-America Trail, somewhere in Virginia. Hey, those things happen. We'd brought several spares along, so that wasn't too much of an issue. In a separate incident, now in North Carolina, the driver's side running board got dented just behind the front wheel. Expected when you travel off-road.The second wave, running from Georgia to Oklahoma was the only wave where the TRX didn't suffer any tire drama (nice driving, Renz), but the Ram did sustain a few injuries. We wound up putting a nice dent in the passenger side rear fender while trying our damndest to maneuver through some dense trees. Eventually we had to break out the chain saw. We also obliterated the windshield.We had a list of numerous pieces of content we wanted to produce based on the various adventures we got up to on the trip. And on that sheet was a bullet point that said, "Rivian R1T vs. TRX Drag Race. " One thing we really liked about the Ram when we named it our Truck of the Year was how it put its massive power down, hitting 60 mph in 4.0 seconds flat, making it the quickest truck MotorTrend had ever tested up until that point. At that point in time, we had yet to test the Rivian R1T, our eventual 2022 Truck of the Year, with a 0-60-mph time of 3.1 seconds. But again, we didn't know. A drag between the two super trucks seemed like a natural, brilliant idea.Full disclosure time: The white R1T we drove on the TAT was a pre-production truck that had some software in it that was never intended for production. We were shown an Engineering Mode that featured something called "Max Power mode". What did Max Power do exactly? Dunno, other than it played a 30-second Simpsons clip where Homer changes his name to Max Power, and it makes the Rivian even quicker. Did the driver of the Rivian surreptitiously sneak it into Max Power mode? Who's to say (hi, Mom!)? The trucks were lined up on a gravel road (this whole thing really wasn't well thought out), someone yelled "go" over a walkie-talkie, and the Rivian humiliated the poor Ram in a straight line, literally leaving it in a cloud of dust and cracking its windshield in three places. Should probably wait a while before telling the folks back in the office what happened, yeah?Wave 3 took possession of the TRX in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, (eat at Murphy Burger!), and tech editor Frank Markus (weirdly) decided to wash the truck to photograph it next to a Frank Lloyd Wright skyscraper. Why was that weird? Well, if you spend five minutes on the TAT, you're well aware of the Sisyphean nature of trying to keep a vehicle clean. It's just not going to happen. Wave 3 admitted to one flat tire but actually got two flats; poor Wave 4, which snaked through Utah, had to change a flat as soon as they saw the Ram parked in an airport parking lot. Then, once underway, a wheel nearly fell off the TRX. I'll let Scott Evans explain."We changed the left rear tire at the airport on arrival as it was flat. There were bad vibrations while driving, which we chalked up to the bucketloads of mud caked in all the wheels. Roughly an hour later, at 80 mph, I noticed the left rear wheel wobbling like crazy in my door mirror. I pulled off the road quickly and safely before it came off. Three of the wheel studs had sheared off, and the other three's lug nuts were very loose. It was moments away from breaking off the truck entirely. We had it towed into town, where a local shop recommended by Nina Barlow replaced all six wheel studs and lug nuts that night and got us back on the road. We junked the rim as the lug holes were no longer round. Other than that, two more flat tires. But no further damage."You've seen Rashômon, right? Because that was Scott's version of the Wave 4 damage report. William Walker's is quite different, "Lots of rock strikes on Leg 4. By the end, the windshield was more cracked than not, and you could feel the cracks on the inside of the windshield. I also "squared off" the exhaust pipes in Moab." This poor truck. William continues, "By Wave 5 [from Utah to Oregon], the brake rotors were warped badly and the vibration under braking was disturbing. There was a leak into the passenger compartment, and it tends to be damp underneath the rubber floormats. And we noticed the sunroof got damaged because of mud and dust." Man, that's pretty bad.We almost forgot there was a third driver on Wave 4, Alexander Stoklosa, who had his own damage report, "By Leg 4, with the fan speed set to 'high' or max, the airflow through the interior vents was akin to me opening my mouth and talking (no hot air jokes, please). Wouldn't blow cold air, just lukewarm air. Air velocity was similar with the heat on. My guess is that the system had either lost some refrigerant, suffered debilitating blockage, possibly damage to the blower, or all three. I believe someone had shaken out the cabin filters around that time, and it made no difference."No one owned up to it, and the damage no doubt occurred while rock crawling in Moab, but the front bumper had to be replaced. It was that repair, more than any others, that really held up the truck. A few months after the truck came back, Walker noticed that at low speeds he could hear a noise coming from the rear driver's side wheel if he had the window down. We investigated, and it was a failed bearing that was attached to the rear axle shaft, and the entire thing was replaced as a unit. We think this repair is related to the busted lugs way back on Wave 4, but we have no way to prove it. Moral of this story? Sometimes it's more than consumables you need to worry about if you plan on overlanding across a continent.Looks good! More details?For more on our long-term Ram 1500 TRX:The Ram 1500 TRX joins the MT GarageWhich is quicker—a Charger SRT 392 Scat Pack or the TRX that towed it to the track?…And what about a Ram 1500 TRX or a Rivian R1T?The TRX isn't a great forest service truckBut it is a good mudderHuge power saves this ship