Acura’s Precision EV Concept Replaces the Grille as You Know It With Lights

The warning signs have been hard to ignore. For Stellantis' Dodge, Ram, Chrysler, and Jeep brands, the V-8's time is almost up, even for the headliner specialty items like the Hellcat-powered musclecars that define the Dodge brand's contemporary identity. But it appears there is at least a stepping stone along the way to Stellantis' wide-scale adoption of EVs, in the form of a turbocharged, 3.0-liter I-6 engine that enthusiasts have dubbed the Tornado—and, briefly, that Stellantis itself confirmed was in production at a facility in Mexico.It all started (as it so often does) when a member on the AllPar enthusiast forums spotted an otherwise snooze-inducing fact sheet on the Stellantis media site about the Saltillo Engine Plant in Mexico. It included a short list of the engines it assembles for Dodge, Ram, and Jeep, including 5.7, 6.2, and 6.4-liter V-8s. But, for a brief period of time, this document had a couple of other tidbits.In the list of products, it noted a "3.0-liter GMET6 HO" that was "launched on Nov. 22, 2021." Wait, what? Let's break down the name, because Mopar folks are probably already latching onto the "GME" part of the codename. That is the FCA/Stellantis Global Medium Engine family, which provides the "Hurricane" 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4 engine for the Giulia, Stelvio, Wrangler, Cherokee, and several Maserati products—and, notably, is the ICE component of the Wrangler 4Xe powertrain. Add two cylinders to a 2.0-liter I-4 and you get … yup, 3.0 liters.It's fairly common for companies to create modular engine families, and with increasing emissions and efficiency regulations, it's appealing to be able to scale an engine up or down. Jaguar's Ingenium engine family is one example of the trend, as is the heavy sharing of engineering between Mercedes' M256 I-6 and the company's other modern I-4 and diesel products. So it makes a lot of sense that Stellantis is able to leverage the engineering that's already gone into the GME engine and create something that can take the place of the aging, inefficient V-8 offerings.That makes the rest of the engine code somewhat self-explanatory. T6 is shorthand for turbocharged I-6, and "HO" stands for "high output"—leading us to believe that there's likely a low-output variant that'll be hopped up with some sort of electrification, like the Mercedes M256, perhaps taking the form of the company's existing eTorque motor-generator light hybrid system. But the HO Tornado seems, to us, to be a performance-oriented version whose most likely mission is to replace the V-8s used in some or all of the company's products, like Grand Cherokee, Charger, Challenger, and perhaps some Ram 1500 models.FCA patents from November 2019 show a twin-turbo arrangement, with each turbo feeding three cylinders. Inline-sixes can be good performers, offering smooth power delivery and a great sound. And Chrysler has some experience with high-performance I-6s, particularly the company's Australian division, which leaned hard into raw performance with the interesting Hemi-6 line of engines, particularly the hot Six-Pack variants.And the stout and seemingly economy oriented Slant Six has always had its fair share of interest from the hot rod community, and it's beefy enough to take some boost. The company's V-8 offerings have always overshadowed its I-6 history, but there's nothing inherently wrong with the layout. Add a couple of turbos and modern engine controls, and there are plenty of bone-stock I-6 engines today pushing 400 hp, and the contemporary BMW M3 Competition pumps out 503 horsepower without any electrification.With the engine's assembly line (at least) already running in Saltillo, one thing is for sure: We'll know more soon.

Sifting through 120 years of history of a brand like Cadillac is a delightful exercise in automotive archeology. Cadillac cars have spanned every era and in many ways have come to symbolize what American luxury and performance mean in the context of the automobile. Like every other American brand, Cadillac has experienced numerous ups and downs, has had its reputation burnished and tarnished. But through it all, Cadillac has persevered, and as the electrified vehicle era dawns, the marque once dubbed "the standard of the world" appears poised for yet another renaissance, thanks to EVs like the new Lyriq SUV and coming Celestiq ultra-luxury sedan.So in celebration of Cadillac's 120 years as a going concern (the Cadillac Automobile Company was formed on August 22, 1902 and named after the founder of the City of Detroit), we decided to pick 12 of what we think are the coolest and otherwise most significant cars Cadillac has produced. This is in no way an exhaustive list, and as a result we left numerous vehicles off that no doubt deserve to be on it. But that's what makes a brand like Cadillac special—there are so many to choose from. In order from oldest to newest, we hope you enjoy our 12-car trip through Cadillac's rich and storied history.

At last year's virtual CES, Cadillac introduced a number of virtual concept cars under its Halo Concept Portfolio series. This year CES is happening in real life (well, mostly), and Caddy has a real-life concept car to show called Inner Space. Forget about steering yokes that fold away: The Inner Space is a completely autonomous luxury car for two, more of a suite-on-wheels than a traditional vehicle.Inside the smooth, sleek shape—one we'd like to call an Eldorado of the future, if the rear half of the car didn't remind us so much of Chevrolet's 1990 CERV III concept—is what looks like a luxury cabin for two. Doors and the roof open to reveal a single bench seat that splits and separates for easy ingress, then comes together for…. Well that's the question. For what?Not for a drive, certainly; there are no driver input controls, and atop a piece which we might have once called a dashboard, the Inner Space has a giant wrap-around screen that, so far as we can tell, all but blocks the view out of the massive windshield. (That seems strange given that the top of the cabin is nearly encased in glass.) Instead of pedals, the concept has pillows—and blankets and a set of slippers all arranged neatly on a tray that slides out from under the screen. Hey, baby, it's a long, boring drive to Phoenix and we've got nothing better to do... GM touts the Inner Space's entertainment system, which includes Augmented Reality displays—we're assuming that means you get to see where you're going on the big screen, presumably with some degree of interactivity—and a "Wellness Recovery" theme. Cadillac says the car uses an AI-driven interface that uses biometric input. Perhaps that means it knows when to cut the outside view, dim the lights, bring up the fireplace screensaver and put Barry White on the stereo.Not much is said about the mechanical features of the Inner Space except that the battery modules are spread about the car and not just concentrated in the floor, which opens up more inner space. The tires, specially designed by Goodyear, are designed to provide a quieter ride and are made with renewable materials such as soybean oil and silica from rice husks rather than petroleum.As car fans, we probably should object to a car that completely removes the driver from driving, but we can appreciate having a rolling two-seat cocoon for those long, featureless, fatiguing drives. We won't insult your intelligence by talking about a production version, but we do expect many of the car's features to make it to reality; the augmented reality technology seems particularly engaging. That and the pillows and the blanket. After all, it's a long drive home from Las Vegas.