First Drive

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.

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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 2015, 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The 2020 Audi RS Q8 is the new flagship in the German carmaker’s growing portfolio, and only the second Q-model to receive the RS badge. It's a badge that sets some seriously high standards, too: we've not long driven the magnificent RS7 Sportback and RS6 Avant, and each sets a tall bar for their bigger sibling to meet. If the RS Q8 is to hold its own, it needs to be a super-SUV.

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Lamborghini is on a roll. The Italian supercar maker known for creating beautiful poster cars is hitting new sales records, notably from selling mind-bending supercars rather than anything so mundane as pickup trucks or SUVs. Not least among that range is the Huracan, and the latest 2020 Huracan Evo Spyder is intended to drive the growth even further.

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Station wagons aren't meant to be cool these days, but nobody passed Audi Sport the memo. Then again, the 2020 Audi RS6 Avant is about as far away from the old family woodie as you can get: the German automaker may insist on branding its wagons "Avant" but that's only the smallest of the differences between the new RS6 Avant and the unfashionable cars of old. Audi fans in North America have long watched their European counterparts enjoying several generations of a model the automaker insisted just wouldn't sell on US shores. Now, though, Audi has relented.

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I’ve always been a huge fan of the Audi R8, particularly the V10 model. Sure, I too mourned the demise of the V8 in the second-generation Type 4S R8, and back when the R8 first launched in 2007, it was unlike anything I’ve seen before. The Audi Rosemeyer Concept from early 2000 and Audi Le Mans Quattro concept both surged into my mind as I watched six-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx drive the R8 for the first time. The R8 was Audi’s first-ever supercar, and boy was it revolutionary in terms of design. Whether Porsche was ready to accept it or not, it was time for the 911 to have some proper competition, and the Audi R8 was the answer.

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