Chevy’s 2023 Colorado Z71 vs. Trail Boss vs. ZR2

It goes without saying, though it's often mentioned, that it takes enormous courage to full throttle your way up Pikes Peak with its 156 turns surrounded by unforgiving borders. Even with a laundry list of safety equipment, capable tires, and almost cartoonish aero, pushing a high-powered vehicle to its limits while maintaining control is a big ask, but it's the sort of challenge that PZ Tuning's William Au-Yeung seems to relish in.We've been here before, unfortunately. In 2019, after having earned multiple wins and track records in the U.S., Australia, Japan, and perhaps his most prized win - the overall course record at Global Time Attack, besting RWD and AWD competition, William's 9th gen. Civic coupe was unstoppable. That is, until it threw a rod while traveling over 170mph at Road America. His tires would make contact with the rush of oil from the newfound window in the block and the car then made contact with the wall multiple times. Fortunately, William walked away, the car however, was done.On their way home from that fiery wreck, William's wife was already scouring the web for a new chassis to build and just a few years later, version 2.0 was completed, and a comeback established. The new build was performing well at Pikes Peak last year and getting comfortable behind the wheel, William and his team were on pace to capture the FWD record, but weather conditions demanded an early stop to the entire competition and that goal was cut short. Returning to Pikes Peak for the 100th running, William was fully prepared to pick up right where things left off the year prior. Conditions weren't ideal with low visibility and a wet surface to contend with, but competition continued and the PZ Tuning Civic was on a tear during the event, focused on grabbing that FWD record that seemed almost inevitable based on its pace.Blazing an impressive effort throughout sections 1-3, this was it - William was on his way to earn that record even with freakishly thick fog offering very little visibility. He was pushing the turbo K-series and gobbling up turns but in section 4, he went off course, sending the car into the air and flipping end-over-end. It's not the worst-case scenario, given the massive drops that surround the road, but it's right up there. Once again, William was uninjured and able to unbuckle himself and climb out of the car to survey the damage. Take a look at the video footage below, provided by our friends at Acuity Instruments.Pushing the car to its limits in heavy fog and on a slippery surface in search of a record might not make sense to some, but it's what makes William such a fierce competitor. "I was giving it my all racing up the mountain and it decided to humble me," William says. "Honestly, I don't think I could do it any other way. If I went 'half fast' in racing, then I shouldn't be on that starting line." He also noted that yes, his wife has already located a few potential 9th gen. Civic coupes, a chassis that he says is truly the fastest in his opinion, and yes, he will return with version 3.Based on his experience with the first chassis as compared to the second, I asked if there would be any major changes in store. "No, this car was almost perfect, it was dialed in. The biggest shame out of all of this is we could've just kept racing it forever just as it was. Not to say there won't be improvements in the new build, but definitely not a whole other level in it. I mean, the speeds we had this car at are simply unbelievable. To qualify between a V8 Hayabusa Wolf and an LMP3 would be unthinkable in a normal world."In terms of a timeline for PZ Tuning's return, William says, "There's no timeline honestly. We're one of the smallest race teams out there and our normal business is just a small auto shop comprised of my wife, one employee, and myself…that also comprises the bulk of our race team! I do almost all of my own fab work from the cage to the carbon fiber, and all of my mechanical work like the engine, gearbox, electrical, harness, etc."Photos Courtesy of Acuity Instruments and Larry ChenOne thing is for certain, the small team at PZ Tuning knows how to put a competitive car together and they don't skimp on safety details. Two serious crashes both resulted in its pilot walking away virtually unharmed. Will says, "There are parts of this chassis that were designed specifically for Pikes Peak and there was more weight to be saved if it was only for Time Attack. I'm a true believer that you can never build it safe enough, whether Pikes Peak or circuit. You always want to have the right scenario for all safety to work as intended."

WHAT IT IS: The seventh generation of the icon that launched the pony-car genre will arrive in time for the Mustang brand's 60th anniversary. Expect it in coupe (as rendered here by our artist) and convertible forms with two powertrain offerings. Variants delivering greater performance and efficiency will follow in the years to come.  WHY IT MATTERS: The Mustang, along with the Bronco and F-150, is a pillar of the Ford brand that carries immense emotional appeal. It's Ford's sole North American car offering and also ranks as one of a shrinking number of affordable, fun-to-drive two-doors. Plus the droptops are all over rental fleets in tropical locations—what would we do if it disappeared? PLATFORM AND POWERTRAIN: The 2024 Mustang will get a new code name (S650), but we expect its D2C-derived architecture to largely carry over from its S550 predecessor. And based on numerous prototype spy photos and leaks, it will receive only mild evolutionary styling revisions, such as squintier three-element headlamps, a revised hexagonal grille, and new air intakes. New electrical architecture will enable new feature content at launch, like a fully digital instrument cluster and today's latest safety and driver assist features. It will also support over-the-air updates to an increasing number of software-enabled features, helping it stay as fresh as ever over its expected eight-year lifespan.Powertrain offerings will carry over at launch, including the 2.3-liter EcoBoost I-4 and 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 engines, as well as the six-speed manual and 10-speed automatic transmissions. Engine outputs may be adjusted—we hear base 2.3-liter power will increase from 310 to 320 hp, for example. And Ford officials have cautioned us that the six-speed could be phased out at some point during this model's lifetime.The 2021 Mustang Mach 1.One major powertrain addition expected in 2025 is conventional and/or plug-in hybridization. Leaked info suggests both engines will get an electric boost. This could be accomplished most easily by employing a version of Ford's Modular Hybrid Transmission (MHT) as found in the Explorer Hybrid, which should be adaptable to either engine.Among the electrification possibilities, enthusiasts will be most stoked by a unique V-8 hybrid powertrain revealed in patent drawings. It mounts a roughly alternator-sized electric motor on each side of the V-8, with their output shafts roughly aligned with the crankshaft centerline. It being patented makes sense, as we're not aware of any other vehicle employing such a setup. Plus, it's far simpler than trying to package a single electric motor somewhere and needing to run a shaft through the oil pan; that would likely require halfshaft angles that would overtax existing CV joints. Using dual motors also allows handling-enhancing torque-vectoring up front—might this system power the next Bullitt or Mach 1?The rumor mill has hinted at a plug-in version offering at least 10 or 20 miles of electric range, and this would undoubtedly boost efficiency and possibly contribute in some small way to achieving higher corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) ratings coming for 2026. But it would also add even more weight to a sports car that typically weighs more than 3,800 pounds today. So if there is to be an efficiency-focused Mustang hybrid, expect it to be an EcoBoost with rear drive. Of course, once there's a battery and an MHT to work with on this platform, it's not hard to imagine pairing them with the V-8 and front motors, juicing those Coyote V-8 and motor outputs, and creating a worthy Shelby GT500 successor with blistering torque-vectored AWD performance and respectable EPA numbers.Spy shots have also revealed a shift away from the retro-look dash with binnacles to a more streamlined interior dominated by big instrument and infotainment screens capable of displaying the latest Sync graphics in dazzlingly high resolution. It's unclear that the Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger as we know them will survive into the next decade, but we expect Ford to assume they will—and to sharpen the Mustang's chassis dynamics sufficiently so it once again outhandles the Camaro.ESTIMATED PRICE: Expect a modest price bump to an even $30,000 for a base EcoBoost coupe or $40,000 for a GT, with the ragtop adding roughly $5,500 to either.EXPECTED ON-SALE DATE: Could Ford possibly resist launching its 60th anniversary Mustang on Monday April 17, 2023—the 59th anniversary of its World's Fair debut?

lamborghini huracan Full OverviewAge has not wearied it, nor the years condemned. The 5.2-liter V-10 that powers the 2023 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica may trace its origins back to a time when the iPhone was an idea and Amazon a work in progress, but one full-throttle acceleration run, one hot lap of a racetrack, one flat-out blast along a challenging back road is enough to convince you: It's one of the all-time greats. An engine for the supercar gods.It roars and bellows and shrieks and snarls, this engine, performing a heroic horsepower opera that's neither muffled by turbos nor synthesized by electric motors, and it punches harder than Tyson Fury in a bad mood. It's the reason the Tecnica will be wistfully remembered when we're all whooshing around in mega-horsepower EVs.But it's not the sole reason.The genius of the Huracán Tecnica is simple, though its execution is rather more nuanced. The Tecnica combines the 631-hp and 417-lb-ft version of the V-10 from the edgy, track-focused Huracán STO with a rear-drive, rear-steer chassis that's been tuned for all-around road work. The cabin can be trimmed with the most luxurious materials in the Lamborghini catalogue and offers all the connectivity and functionality expected in a modern car—from Apple's CarPlay to Amazon's Alexa—controlled via a redesigned user interface that will also call up arcane nuggets of performance data on demand.All that is wrapped in bodywork massaged to give the Tecnica a longer, lower profile, a visually wider stance, and more sophistication to its menace. Think Tyson Fury in a Zegna suit.There's a new front bumper with the black Y-shaped graphic derived from the wild Terzo Millennio concept. The revised greenhouse riffs on that of the limited-edition, track-only Essenza SCV12. At the rear is a reshaped bumper and diffuser, and the lower edges of the rear fenders have been pulled inward to expose more of the rear tires. Two massive hexagonal exhaust outlets hint at the bellicose ferocity lurking in the engine bay.Both the front and rear hoods are carbon fiber, the latter with a clear section that exposes the top of the V-10, and both contributing to a 22-pound reduction in weight over the Huracán Evo RWD. A vertical rear window nestles between the flying buttresses that extend rearward over the air intakes.There's improved function in the new form, too. The new front bumper design incorporates an air curtain and directs air through the front wheel wells to increase downforce and improve brake cooling. The fixed rear wing is a major contributor to the 35 percent increase in rear downforce compared with the Huracán Evo RWD, along with a 20 percent reduction in drag.Compared with the manic STO, it only takes a mile or so behind the wheel to understand that the Tecnica is a kinder, gentler Huracán. The revised suspension means the ride won't shake the fillings from your teeth and it's nowhere near as noisy at cruising speeds on the freeway, especially with the car in the softest of its three drive modes, Strada, and the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission left in Auto. But that's just the velvet glove over the iron fist.Thumbing the little button at the base of the third spoke on the steering wheel into Sport mode gives the powertrain a triple shot of espresso. Throttle response is sharper, and shift times shorter. And the electronics that control the car's adaptive shocks and the rear-steer, traction control, and torque-vectoring systems get a revised set of orders from the Lamborghini Dinamica Viecolo Integrata (LDVI) system, with its accelerators and gyroscope sensors at the Tecnica's center of gravity that monitor lateral, longitudinal and vertical loads, as well as body roll, pitch, and yaw.The result is a car that feels more urgent, more focused, and yet more playful; willing to oversteer if you want to showboat on the track, but still possessed of terrific traction and stability when you need it.Corsa mode isn't quite the Spinal Tap experience it is in the Huracán STO, but the Tecnica with its race-face on is still a weapon on the track, especially when equipped, as our test cars were for the lapping sessions, with the optional Bridgestone Potenza Race tires, which are treaded and street-legal but, as Lamborghini engineers coyly put it, "are for dry roads."In Corsa, the powertrain is calibrated to provide optimized track-oriented throttle response and the fastest gearshifts, and the omniscient LDVI instructs its electronic minions to deliver maximum lateral and longitudinal grip. Part of the Corsa protocol includes locking the rear-steer system. Shutting down what is pitched as a dynamic driving aid might seem slightly counterintuitive, but it delivers purer, more precise handling at the limit.If you're good enough.That's not to say the Huracán Tecnica will throw you under the bus if you get things wrong. It won't; this is as sweet a Lambo at the limit as has ever been built. But as in the Huracán GT3 race car, nailing a truly quick lap time means finding the balance between the vivid front-end response and the rush of power and torque to the rear wheels when get on the gas.Yes, the LDVI is there, working furiously in the background to support you, and it's nowhere near as fine a balancing act as in the race car. But this subtly analog element to taming the Tecnica; the sense that extracting the last little bit of the car's performance is down to you, is a big part of this Lambo's appeal.You can use Corsa mode on the road, of course, but Sport is the best all-round setup for a blast through the twisties. There's a little more support from the traction and stability control—useful when you can't see that greasy patch around the next corner—and the rear-steer system delivers both agility and stability. The direct ratio steering, uncorrupted by a driven front axle, is a joy; precise and communicative, with just the right amount of weighting.Priced at $239,000, the Tecnica is the sweet spot of the Huracán lineup. It gives you nearly all the thrills of the borderline silly STO in a mature, grown-up supercar you can realistically drive every day. This Huracán is a feel-good Lamborghini, one that makes you smile every time you hit the gas.It's also a Lamborghini that feels like the end of an era.An all-new Huracán replacement is scheduled to appear at the end of 2024. It's rumored to be powered by a mild-hybrid twin-turbo V-8. Oh, it will undoubtedly be better supercar than the Tecnica by any objective measure; quicker, with even more confidence-inspiring handling. But we'll miss the 5.2-liter V-10's sound and fury. Especially the sound.Looks good! More details? 2023 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica Specifications PRICE $239,000 LAYOUT Mid-engine, RWD, 2-pass, 2-door coupe ENGINE 5.2L/631-hp/417-lb-ft DOHC 40-valve V-10 TRANSMISSION 7 -speed dual-clutch auto CURB WEIGHT 3500 lb (MT est) WHEELBASE 103.2 in L x W x H 179.8 x 76.1 x45.9 in 0-60 MPH 3.2 sec (mfr est) EPA FUEL ECON, CITY/HWY/COMB N/A ON SALE Now Show All