The sports car had a good run, but its days are numbered. Time and trends are callous in their disregard for nostalgia: drivers are voting with their wallets, and they're voting for super SUVs like the new 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S and GLS 63. With 603 horsepower to play with, can you really blame them?
You'd be forgiven for not realizing the 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid was, well, a hybrid, and that's by design. Side by side with the gas-only crossover, this freshly electrified version bears all the hallmarks of simply being a fancier trim. The Honda badge is now blue-edged, while the rear bumper is different and hides the tailpipe; Touring trim splashes on some extra chrome, too. It all begs the question: how loud does your hybrid really need to be?
Could Audi be the king of quiet sports sedans? The 2020 Audi S6 isn't short of a bark from its exhausts when the need arises, but when it comes to staying under the radar while still having horsepower on tap, this may well be the four-door to pick. After all, not everybody wants to shout about their performance.
You could call it folly, launching a new luxury sedan at a time when SUVs are swallowing sales, but Cadillac would argue the 2020 CT5 isn't short of potential customers. True, utilities are where the biggest growth is, but there's still a not-insignificant cohort - either the SUV-averse or simply sedan-lovers - who haven't given up on the traditional four-door. Cadillac hasn't given up on them, either, but is the new CT5 - and its hotter CT5-V range topper - worthy of their affections?
Mercedes-AMG and Cigarette Racing have a long history of creating high-performance racing boats, but few are as striking as this year’s Miami International Boat Show specials: the 59’ Tirranna AMG Edition, and its one-off Mercedes-AMG G 63 Cigarette Edition SUV cousin. From that point, I didn’t know where to look first: should I feast my eyes on Mercedes-AMG’s newest racing boat, or should I ogle at the newest G 63? Since the new 59’ Tirranna AMG Edition was still out on the first run giving journalists a test ride, I spent some time with the Mercedes-AMG G 63 first.
The Jaguar F-Type lives in a competitively niche market. Flanked by the Porsche 911 and BMW 8-Series, the F-Type is dedicated to purists, much in the same manner that a Mazda Miata MX-5 aims to thrill the enthusiast's senses. When the F-Type first launched in 2013, it instantly gained recognition as the evolution of the luscious E-Type from the 1960s. Those teardrop-shaped headlights, the classic sportscar proportions of bulbous rump and long hood... oh, and it behaved like a proper Jag as well. Gutsy engines, a standard manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive, and that iconic silhouette. When you're taking inspiration from the past, choosing a car so gorgeous that old man Ferrari thought it to be the most beautiful machine with four wheels isn't a bad place to begin.
Speed and noise. Far be it from me to tell you the reasons you should be opening your wallet or purse to extract $573,966 but, if raw pace and the soundtrack to match are your primary concerns, the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster has twelve cylinders and a removable roof to sell you.
Even before the arrival of Mercedes-Benz’s all-new compact 2020 GLB SUV, the German automaker has a full eight sport utility vehicles for the US market. The GLB takes it to nine SUVs in total, which is more than what I was expecting before I double-checked to compensate for my aging memory. That's a whole lot of options if you want a luxury truck, and a very broad range when it comes to size and abilities: the GLB happens to be the seventh car to utilize Mercedes’ new compact car platform, the same architecture as found under the A-Class and CLA coupe.
The 2020 BMW X6 excels in the very niche it created more than ten years ago. Back then, the first-gen X6 was polarizing, to say the least. But it found its way into garages of people who embraced the concept of a sportier type of SUV: in fact, the X6 has been one of BMW’s best sellers for the past decade or so, and hence the introduction of an all-new third-generation X6 to carry that torch.
There are electric cars, and there’s the Porsche Taycan. Make no mistake, the Taycan is a very big deal for Porsche and every other performance electric car released in the future. For the sake of simplicity, what started out as the Mission E concept around five years ago has morphed into what is really an electrified and elongated version of the Porsche 911, and that's all for the better. In the process, though, you can't miss the chatter around how the Taycan is around $50,000 more than a Tesla Model S Performance model, a car which goes faster to 60 mph, can accommodate five grown adults comfortably, and theoretically has a longer range.
The 2020 Volkswagen Passat is a value play for a shrinking segment, and when you're designing a new car that's probably not the criteria you want to hear. While VW's SUV range is growing - along with sales - it's all at the expense of sedan buyers. That sets the new Passat a precarious balancing act.
Pulling up to the curb at the airport, the 2020 Genesis G90 looks like CGI dropped into real life. Little prepares you for quite how unexpected, how outlandish the new luxury sedan's styling is, nor how dramatically it cuts through the swathes of regular traffic. This may only be a mid-model refresh for the G90, but it's the sort of refresh that left LA teens pointing and gawking.