Watch the 2023 Honda Civic Type R Go For a Little Rip Around Suzuka
The next-generation Honda Civic Type R is on the way. If you've kept up with the latest buzz, then you've seen the red, black. and white camouflaged prototypes several times now. The eagerly awaited hatchback will debut this year as a 2023 model and once again is offered with a manual transmission—an option fast disappearing from the Civic family here in America. But while we continue to wait for the hot hatch's official unveiling, Honda has released footage of the Type R-still under that red, white, and black wrap-zipping through the Suzuka Circuit in Japan. This is essentially video of the same car captured in still photography last month at the same track.
When the 2023 Honda Civic Type R finally arrives, it should feature a more powerful 2.0 turbo-four, somewhere in the ballpark of 315 to 335 hp. In keeping with its track duties and sportier appearance, the front-drive hatchback will come fitted with red-painted Brembo brake calipers as the previous model. As for the inside, it appears that Honda is installing an updated version of the cloth bucket seats in the intense Flamin' Hot Cheetos color.
The teaser video gives us a sense of the all-new Type R's feral capabilities. Listen to that turbocharged sound—okay, at least in this clip, it doesn't sound like much, but the drone-y engine at least seems quick. We can't wait to try out the grip provided by those sticky Michelin Pilot 4S tires or the pull of that turbo I-4 for ourselves, as we expect the less manic-looking hatchback to push performance limits even harder than the predecessor while upping its already surprising maturity even further.
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WHAT IT IS: Despite #vanlife completely dominating our Instagram algorithms for a spell, no automaker has yet delivered a factory-ready overlanding camper van. That'll change with the release of the Rivian Adventure Van, which our illustration attempts to bring to life. Basically conceived as the progeny of a Rivian R1T and a Sportsmobile Ford Econoline, the Rivian Adventure Van (the name may change; R1V has a nice ring to it, no?) aims to live up to Rivian's philosophy of "keeping the world adventurous forever." The Adventure Van will be an R1-based electric off-roader, with clever features like Rivian's camp kitchen, and likely the ability to convert its seats into beds—allowing for days of off-the-grid living.WHY IT MATTERS: With most automakers just now waking up to the amount of money to be made by investing in the overland craze, the Rivian Adventure Van would take things a step further by creating the only OEM off-road-capable adventure van on the market. The Adventure Van would harken back to the days when you could roll into your local Volkswagen or Toyota dealer and leave with a Westfalia or Chinook.PLATFORM AND POWERTRAIN: Although Rivian could conceivably build the Adventure Van from its commercial-oriented Prime Van or RCV, we believe it'll instead use the more off-road-capable platform under the R1T pickup and R1S SUV. Hard details from our sources are scarce, as it's still early days for the Adventure Van, but we believe it will be available with multiple battery and motor options and come standard with the company's trick hydropneumatic suspension. We suspect both dual- and quad-motor powertrains will be available, with as much as 1,200 hp and 1,200 lb-ft on tap, and Rivian's 180-kWh Max battery pack.ESTIMATED PRICE: $125,000EXPECTED ON-SALE DATE: Q4 2025 at the earliest—Rivian has a lot of irons in the fire; the niche Adventure Van is likely a lower priority.
porsche taycan Full OverviewLeave it to Porsche. Going into our 2022 SUV of the Year competition, no vehicle had more pre-shade thrown its way than the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo. We've enjoyed a mixed, ambiguous relationship with the Taycan sedan since we first drove it. On the one hand, kudos to Porsche for making a great-handling electric vehicle that emphasizes performance and feel over everything else. On the other, where's the range, bro?Yes, we like performance, but institutionally we just can't fully get behind the industry's least efficient EV. As for the "SUV" version, well, it's just a barely lifted station wagon, right? No different than the crass, "we're not that gullible" efforts from Audi (the A6 Allroad) and Mercedes-Benz (E450 All-Terrain) to pitch station wagons as some sort of off-roaders. But then we made the terrible mistake of actually taking the Cross Turismo in the dirt, and yeah, Porsche strikes again.Before we get to how it drives, let's talk about what the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo is. First off, it's a station wagon by all definitions of the term. Yes, the legal definition of an SUV has something to do with ride height, but as I'm so fond of saying, "Just look at it." Talk about obvious. The Cross Turismo is an incredibly handsome wagon, especially on the tough-looking five-spoke wheels Porsche bolted to our test subject. Tangentially speaking, Taycan wheel design is all over the map, ranging from goofy to horrible to "yeah, baby." These are the latter. Since we drove the Cross Turismo, Porsche went and confusingly launched an uncladded wagon version of the Taycan, the 2022 GTS Sport Turismo, which looks approximately 10 percent better. That's mostly due to the 0.8-inch drop in ride height, meaning the Sport Turismo is technically a car. More on that in a bit.Under the lovely, Chalk-colored metal you'll find two motors: one driving the wheels at the front axle, and the other driving those at the rear. Unlike all other EVs on the market save for its Audi twin, the E-Tron GT, the Taycan has a two-speed transmission that's only connected to the rear motor. As for power, this gets a bit confusing. Combined output from the two motors is 375 horsepower and 368 lb-ft of torque. However, activate launch control, and the two motors go into overboost and the output increases to 469 horsepower, a more than 20 percent increase. Hey, it's a brave, new EV world. The battery pack is large at 93.4 kWh, and the range is EPA-rated at 215 miles. That's down 10 from the mechanically identical Taycan sedan, due a little to the increased weight of the wagon body but more so the increased ride height that also decreases aerodynamic efficiency and forces the halfshafts to sprout from the motor at an angle. Did I mention it weighs 5,134 pounds?The odd part about driving the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo only occurs when you realize there are three more powerful versions available: the 4S, the Turbo, and the Turbo S. There is a non-4, RWD sedan that makes less power (321 hp, 402 in overboost), but this particular version—$92,250 base, $109, 980 as tested—is pretty far down the Taycan lineup, which also includes the GTS sedan and Sport Turismo. Let me also point out that as far as the Taycan—cough—SUVs go, this is the entry-level Cross Turismo. The entry version that can hit 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, of course.The Taycan 4 Cross Turismo can also run the quarter mile in 12.7 seconds at 115.9 mph. That quarter mile is pretty quick, especially for an off-road-capable station wagon. But it's not that quick for an EV, as the Porsche barely edges out the 470-hp Jeep Wrangler 392 that does the quarter in 12.9. Hey we're talking SUVs, right? And remember, that using launch control this Taycan makes precisely 1 fewer horsepower than the double live-axle, brick-shaped Jeep.The Porsche's braking performance is good. Not so much as to stand out, but not bad, and there's nothing wrong with how the pedal feels. It takes 109 feet for the Cross Turismo to stop from 60 mph, 5 feet longer than the much more powerful, capable, expensive Taycan Turbo S with its 17.3-inch front rotors and super-sticky tires. Likewise, the Taycan 4's figure-eight time is good, at 25 seconds flat. I always say any car in the 24-second range is a sports car, and this slightly jacked-up wagon is oh, so close. To give you an idea of how well the Porsche did, remember the Mercedes E450 All-Terrain we discussed earlier? Another gussied-up station wagon pretending to be an SUV? It took 26.2 seconds to get around our figure-eight course. The Audi A6 Allroad? 26.5. Oh, and the Jeep 392? A frankly pathetic 29.3 run, which our test team chalked up to "aggressive ESC."Based on time spent with other Taycans we knew going in that this Porsche would be more fun to drive than the competition on the street. We wrongly assumed that since it's obviously only pretending to be an SUV, it would be weak sauce in dirt. We were totally wrong. Did we attempt any rock crawling? No, and you'd be insane to try. But we did try dirt, sand, and gravel, and, man, was the Cross Turismo not only competent and capable, it was a blast, as well. Especially in sand, where the EV loved kicking up giant rooster tails while simultaneously not even kinda getting stuck. Whatever off-road advantage there is from a 0.8-inch lift, Porsche fully exploited it.Unlike the aforementioned Audi and Mercedes "SUVs," I'd actually recommend the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo as both a driver's car and a light-duty off-roader. It's a genuine double-threat. At this stage in the game do we have the right to be surprised that a Porsche is fun to drive? Naw, probably not. Now, if the fine folks at Zuffenhausen could just do something about the meager driving range.Looks good! More details?2021 Porsche Taycan 4 Cross Turismo BASE PRICE $92,250 PRICE AS TESTED $109,980 VEHICLE LAYOUT Front and rear-motor, AWD, 5-pass, 4-door wagon MOTOR TYPE Permanent-magnet electric POWER (SAE NET) 469 hp TORQUE (SAE NET) 368 lb-ft TRANSMISSION 2-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 5,134 lb (49/51%) WHEELBASE 114.3 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 195.8 x 77.4 x 55.5 in 0-60 MPH 4.5 sec QUARTER MILE 12.7 sec @ 115.9 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 109 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.89 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 25.0 sec @ 0.76 g (avg) EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 75/81/77 mpg-e ON SALE Now Show All
Greg Cope of Holiday, Texas, has always been a big fan of classic American muscle, and he loves trying to find forgotten gems hidden around the state. Yeah, you would think all the really cool (code for: popular) cars have already been found and scooped up, but the truth is that there are still quite a few classics hidden in barns, buried in garages, or just languishing in fields. These "barn finds" are always cool and we love seeing the cars rescued so they can be put back on the road.Cope already had a 1968 Camaro he had bought off of the original owner back in 1992, but when he heard about this hidden-away 1967 Camaro he didn't hesitate to go check it out. The 1967 Camaro had been parked outside from 1974 to 2004, when it was acquired by the second owner in a trade for a diesel Mercedes then stuffed into a barn.At first, the '67 appeared to be a big-block car, as it came with a properly date-coded 375 hp 396ci engine said to have been removed from the car, as well as a four-speed trans that was still installed. But Cope knows the drill, so he ran the VIN tag and found the Camaro came from the factory with a straight-six and a three-on-the-tree. It was still a good find, and the price was right, so he rescued the Camaro from barn jail and hauled it home to keep his 1968 Camaro company. As it turns out, the '68 and the '67 were both sold new from the same Texas Chevy dealership.Cope's original plan was to clean up the '67 and flip it for a quick profit, but his 13-year-old daughter Kendall said she would love it as her first car—nice to see he's raising her right. Given that the Camaro isn't anything rare, the plan is to keep it stock-looking but give it an LS-swap and overdrive trans, along with a Vintage Air kit to tame the Texas heat.Photos By Greg CopeWatch! See a 1969 Camaro Built From Start to FinishLove Camaros and want to see more? Watch as the HOT ROD team builds a complete supercharged and LS-swapped 1969 Camaro in just one week—and finish it off with huge burnouts! For more on the build, here's the full story.
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