Nissan’s Future Lineup of EV Sports Cars and Pickups Looks Incredibly Exciting

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.

Most people wouldn't associate the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive Subaru WRX with extraordinary fuel economy, though the four-door sedan caters to young buyers who care about fun driving dynamics as well as saving their money. That may soon change—albeit not because its fuel economy is extraordinarily good. The new 2022 Subaru WRX has just been rated by the EPA and its fuel economy numbers slide past mediocre and fall below those of the outgoing model, landing weirdly close those of a full-size, four-wheel-drive Ford F-150 pickup truck powered by the midrange 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine.Yep, you read that right. The WRX has been rated at 19/25/21 mpg on city/highway/combined with the CVT transmission, while Ford's much larger, heavier, and larger-engined truck delivers 19/24/21 mpg—just 1 mpg short of the Subaru on the highway. Even if you opt for the manual transmission (like you should), the Subie's EPA figures only improve to 19/26/22 mpg. There's no other way to put it—those numbers are pretty bad for a car of the WRX's size and power output.The 2022 WRX gets a new 2.4-liter turbo-four engine that makes 271 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. That's just three extra ponies and no more torque than the old WRX's 2.0-liter boxer engine. That extra displacement means fuel economy drops by 1 mpg across the board (except for the automatic's combined rating) compared to the previous model, which itself was no model for efficiency.Looking at the Subaru's direct competition, the story stays pretty bleak. A Honda Civic Type R makes more power and carries EPA estimates of 22/28/25 mpg; the also more powerful Hyundai Elantra N sedan with the manual is rated for 22/31/25 mpg; and the (you guessed it, also more powerful) Volkswagen Golf R six-speed gets 20/28/23 mpg (it also has AWD like the Subaru, while the Honda and Hyundai are front-drive). While some of those are hatchbacks, they still play in the same sporty compact segment, and all three at least deliver something close to or above 30 mpg on the highway. If you can deal with a little less power and front-drive, the 200-hp 2022 Honda Civic Si delivers 27 mpg city, 37 mpg highway, and 31 mpg combined.Subaru said the EPA tested the WRX in Sport mode, its most performance-oriented set up as default, which obviously doesn't maximize fuel efficiency. While the WRX has never been a fuel efficient car, the fact the competition is much more efficient is uneasy.We are very pleased with the way the 2022 Subaru WRX drives, which again is largely the point of a car like this. It's fun, sticky, and practical. It has all the right ingredients to stand out in the sport compact world—except wallet-friendly fuel economy. Although the WRX's pricing hasn't been announced, we don't think it will deviate much from the outgoing model, which starts at $28,420, when it arrives at dealerships this spring.We do not believe that customers view the WRX as an economy car. The WRX is designed as a performance vehicle first and foremost and does sacrifice some economy as a result. The automatic WRX did improve over the previous generation, even though it is EPA tested in Sport mode, its most performance oriented set up as a default, which doesn't maximize economy.

mercedes-benz sl-class Full OverviewThe AMG gang in Affalterbach desperately wants you to know a few things about the 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL-Class. One, they designed it. From scratch and with little help from the Benz mothership. Two, it barely shares a screw or rivet with the AMG GT Roadster they also designed. Three, despite the new SL having grown a pair of vestigial back seats and adding a few inches in length, it promises to be the sportiest SL roadster since the racing-derived 300SL from 1957. And four, thanks to miracles of modern science, this new R232 SL also promises to deliver comfort on par with—if not exceeding—that of its Mercedes-developed R231 predecessor.Three months of engineering roundtable Zoom calls and even a low-speed ridealong event have sufficiently satisfied us on the first two points; it's the last two that we've been itching to verify. At long last we had the opportunity to flog both the SL55 and SL63 variants on a variety of highways and twisting roads. So, has AMG managed to channel the speed-record-setting, Mille Miglia-winning verve of the original W196 while making the car even more cosseting and comfy than the outgoing roadsters?Mercedes-AMG SL Performance in a Straight LineThe 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL63 will undoubtedly go down in our record books as the quickest SL we've tested. Mercedes claims this 577-hp, 590-lb-ft beast will dash from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds, thanks in large part to newly standard all-wheel-drive traction that guarantees none of those ponies or pound-feet gets squandered generating tire smoke or brake heat from traction-control intervention. Converting those estimates to account for MotorTrend launch-control test conditions and a 1-foot rollout will probably boil that number down to something much closer to 3.0 seconds flat. (The last two SL models we tested each beat Mercedes' conservative estimates by exactly half a second.) The SL55, running the exact same engine but with smaller turbos and slightly less aggressive tuning produces "just" 469 horsepower and 517 lb-ft. The AMG team reckons it'll give up three-tenths to the SL63.For some perspective, that performance should rank the SL models somewhere about even with the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S and GTS cabriolets, which is to say, ahead of the BMW M850i xDrive cab (3.9 seconds to 60 mph) and way out in front Lexus LC500 (4.7 seconds) in the bucks-up 2+2 cabrio set.Trust us, if you never drive an SL63, that SL55 will seem like it has more than enough power. However, we might counsel those prepared to settle for the SL55 to consider opting for its AMG Dynamic Plus package, which brings with it a Race mode. We don't typically prefer Race modes because they usually disable all the stability controls, increasing amateurs' risk considerably. This one does not.What it mostly does, in addition to heightening all the car's responses, is switch to a perfectly linear throttle response map. There's more gain earlier in the pedal travel in the Sport and Sport+ modes, which may make the car seem more eager and powerful, but at some cost to the predictability serious drivers prefer. The computer programming in Sport+ and Race modes devotes a bit of extra fuel to generating delightful pops and snorts on overrun. That feature is fun, but this mode also tends to deliver some harsher downshifts when slowing, which can feel like grabbing brakes (this never happened in Comfort mode).We only got the SL63 up to triple-digit speeds briefly, but with the optional AMG Aerodynamics package, an air dam in front of the engine lowers 1.6 inches at speeds above 50 mph to help induce a venturi effect that helps suck the car down to the ground and reduce front-axle lift.SL-Class Handling BehaviorThese are heavy cars, pushing two-and-a-quarter tons. But AMG Active Ride Control, which connects opposite corners of the car hydraulically to limit body roll (as on various McLaren cars and now Rivian trucks), truly makes them feel as agile as cars weighing a half-ton less. This is another feature that's standard on the SL63, and available to help make your SL55 cost almost as much as a 63.Clicking the steering-wheel-mounted drive mode selector clockwise relaxes the stability nannies somewhat, making the cars progressively more neutral in their handling demeanor, but there's no "drift mode," no option to bar torque from reaching the front axle. (That's right—unlike the AMG GT family, the SLs are all-wheel drive.) And hence, even an aggressive drive up Mount Palomar on a cool morning with slightly dewy road surface, we never once sensed Race mode allowing the tail to run wide. More than a little credit here is due the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires—265/40 front, 295/35 rear on the standard 20-inch rims, or 275/35 front and 305/30 on the optional 21s we mostly ran.The carbon-composite brakes deserve honorable mention for being equally adept at shedding heroic speeds upon approach to a tightening-radius corner—corner after corner—as they are at executing a limousine stop in town. Both models share this standard six-piston front, single-piston rear brake system.Steering feel changes as you switch modes, and we generally found the comfort mode to be a bit too light. The other modes don't heighten the driver's feel for the road, per se, but the firmer helm feels better. We were blissfully unaware of the four-wheel steering (standard on both models) doing its thing, except when executing exceptionally tight U-turns.The California roads between Newport Beach and Palm Springs are relatively smooth, but we aimed for the bumpiest patches we could find and were impressed by the suspension compliance afforded in Comfort mode. The Sport and Race modes firm things up noticeably enough that we took the time to program the Individual mode with everything set to its raciest option and the suspension set to Comfort. This was our Goldilocks "just right" setting, but we also appreciated that individual characteristics (steering, ride, exhaust noise, etc.) can be easily adjusted on the fly using the round selector and twin toggle switches at the lower left side of the wheel, just opposite the main mode-selector switch. The super-rigid multi-material structure never seemed to twist or jiggle in response to bumps.What's the Mercedes-AMG SL-Class Like to Live With?Mostly wonderful. The cabin seems as quiet with the soft top up as the previous model did with its folding hard top raised. The Z-fold fabric roof lowers in 15 seconds at the touch of a button, and a switch allows all four windows to be lowered simultaneously. Happily, the sun visors swivel out, unlike on some convertibles. Raise the windows and pull up the mesh-screen wind blocker that covers the rear "seat" to keep the cabin remarkably calm and quiet even at highway speeds. In cooler weather, switch on the Airscarf neck-warmer to extend the top-down season (the cockpit isn't long enough to need the E-Class convertible's Air Cap windshield header air-management screen).The center info screen adjusts between 12 and 32 degrees to prevent sun from reflecting directly into the driver's eyes, though the buttons for adjusting this (and for raising and lowering the top) can be hard to see when that glare prompts you to fix the screen. We're also not completely sold on a lot of the capacitive switchgear in use here. The mirror switch, for example, didn't seem to respond as expected. We have yet to experience capacitive switches we love.As with all new Mercedes products, the all-digital instrument cluster can be set to display any of several different themes and tons of information, the most pertinent of which is redundantly shown on the head-up display (standard on 63, optional on 55). Track Pace screens will help folks monitor and improve their performance on their car country club track, and the additional stowage space behind the front seats and in the trunk should make the new SL much more useful as a daily driver.We reckon the new car is comfortable enough to retain the SL faithful and sporty enough to pull some customers out of 911s, the BMW 8 Series, and Lexus LCs. Of those, the BMW's nearly 5 inches of added wheelbase gives it a slightly more usable rear seat (the SL's is only rated for passengers shorter than 5 feet tall). A lighter Porsche will always feel nimbler, and the Lexus design may turn more heads, but this Mercedes-AMG enjoys nearly seven decades of heritage, and this R232 pays legitimate homage to its very best SL progenitors.When and How Much?The 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL-Class will go on sale in the second quarter of 2022. Mercedes isn't talking pricing just yet, but it seems a safe bet to assume that since the new 2+2-seat SL is effectively replacing both the four-seat S-Class cabriolet and two-seat R231 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class, pricing should represent an average of these models. Let's figure $132K for the SL55 and $175K for the SL63. That prices the new SL right in the thick of the 2+2-passenger convertible crowd.Looks good! More details?2022 Mercedes-AMG SL-Class Specifications BASE PRICE $132,000-$175,000 (est) LAYOUT Front-engine, AWD, 2+2-pass, 2-door convertible ENGINE 4.0L/469-577-hp/516-590-lb-ft twin-turbo direct-injected DOHC 32-valve V-8 TRANSMISSION 9-speed auto CURB WEIGHT 4,300-4,400 lb (est) WHEELBASE 106.3 in L x W x H 185.2 x 75.4 x 53.5 in 0-60 MPH 3.5-3.8 sec (mfr est) EPA FUEL ECON 16/21/18 mpg (est) EPA RANGE (COMB) 350 miles (est) ON SALE 2nd Quarter 2022 Show All