My first car was a Mini, a 1968 Australian-built Mini Deluxe. Its previous owner(s) had added chrome wide wheels, a rorty sports muffler, and a Saas wood-rimmed three-spoke steering wheel, all of which delivered plenty of street cred in the high school parking lot. But the 2021 DBA Mini Remastered Oselli Edition (phew!) is a Mini beyond anything 16-year-old me could have imagined.
My Mini packed 38 hp and 52 lb-ft of torque, courtesy of the 998cc version of the BMC A-series four-banger under the hood. The DBA Oselli Edition punches out 125 hp at 6,200 rpm and 113 lb-ft of torque at 4,500 rpm from a 1,450cc, near-race version of the venerable A-series (an engine introduced in 1951 in the Austin A30 that stayed in production until the last of the original, pre-BMW-era Minis rolled off the line in 2000).
My Mini took about 20 seconds to struggle to 60 mph and had a [...]
A strange thought lingered briefly in my mind the other day for about the same 9.34 seconds it takes the new Tesla Model S Plaid to clear the quarter mile: Is the Model S Plaid essentially just an electric Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye? The electric Jekyll to the Charger’s internal combustion Hyde?
Initially it sounds ridiculous to compare the Model S Plaid and Charger—and maybe it’s the g forces talking—but they have a lot more in common than you probably think (aside from the fact we’ve actually compared them before). For starters, both are full-size American four-door sedans. The Charger went into production in 2011, the Model S in 2012. Both were only offered out of the gate with rear-wheel drive, but all-wheel drive is available today. Both were also relatively pedestrian compared to their 2022 counterparts when they first hit the market: The Tesla made 416 horsepower in its most potent trim, and the [...]
The 2022 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class S680 4Matic is a glittery thing. The grille and the front intakes, the trim down the middle of the hood and across its broad rump, the frame around the greenhouse, the exhaust pipes, and the wheels all sparkle as brightly as a diamond-encrusted Rolex in a Miami nightclub. Subtle it ain’t. But, as Mercedes-Benz has learned, when it comes to Maybach, all that glitters is gold.
It didn’t start that way. Panicked by Volkswagen’s purchase of Bentley and BMW’s audacious acquisition of Rolls-Royce in the 1990s, Mercedes-Benz decided that it, too, needed an über-luxury limousine. The car it built on the W140 S-Class platform and launched to much fanfare in 2003 was as technically competent and lavishly finished as its rivals, but management decided the Mercedes-Benz name didn’t have the gravitas needed to compete with the gilded British brands. Instead of being badged Mercedes-Benz Maybach, it became, simply, Maybach.
Wilhelm Maybach [...]
Maserati is glamming up its lineup for the 2022 model year by introducing three new trims: GT, Modena, and Trofeo. Complementing innovation, performance, and design, the new trims will be available on the Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans, as well as the Levante SUV.
Let’s start with the base GT trim level. So-equipped Ghibli and Quattroporte models get 19-inch wheels, while the Levante GT comes fitted with 20-inch wheels. GT models also receive special interior treatments. The Ghibli features what the brand calls “Dark Mirror” trim, whereas the Quattroporte sports “Radica” wood. Meanwhile, the Levante GT includes piano black bits. All GT models come to our shores with a 345-hp twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 engine underhood. Although this engine was previously offered in the Ghibli and Levante, it now finds a home under the hood of the entry-level Quattroporte for 2022.
Fiorano. The word, let alone the actual place, bursts with visions of Michael Schumacher obsessively knocking off lap after lap of Formula 1 testing; of Ferrari 288 GTO and F40 prototypes finessing the ragged edges of their track chops; of Big Ideas pressure-tested under il Commendatore’s watchful gaze before he spirited away to the great paddock in the sky in 1988. If old man Enzo could today magically materialize and size up the new, staggeringly special Ferrari SF90 Stradale Assetto Fiorano, the $567,490 (to start) wedge would probably trigger a cascade of questions.
What Is It?For instance, why is the mighty LaFerrari’s spiritual successor not production-limited like Maranello’s past halo cars? Should a hypercar from the Prancing Horse send its power—some of it electric, as it is a plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle—to all four wheels? And how on god’s green earth does this latest range-topper deserve the “Assetto Fiorano” moniker if it can also [...]
