After revealing major updates for the 2019 Miata, Mazda has announced pricing information for the RF hardtop. Base prices start at $33,240, up $435 from last year.
The entry-level Club model comes with Bilstein dampers, a shock tower brace, and limited-slip differential when paired with the standard six-speed manual transmission. A Brembo/BBS package, costing $3,770, brings front Brembo rotors and calipers, red-painted brake calipers, a rear bumper skirt, functional side sill extensions, and other upgrades. One step up is the Brembo/BBS/Recaro package that adds Recaro bucket seats and a black-painted roof to the mix for $4,670. Club models with the six-speed automatic begin at $33,840. For $450, buyers can opt for a safety package that includes lane departure warning and a feature that helps avoid collisions at low speeds.
Grand Touring RF models start at $34,230, up from $33,645 from a year ago. This assumes drivers pick the standard manual transmission. This version is available [...]
Old cars get most of the attention during Monterey Car Week, but every year, automakers bring out a few concept cars, as well. This year, Audi plans to show off an electric supercar concept called the PB 18 e-tron. And in case you couldn’t figure out where the name came from, Audi made sure to explain in the release that it “refers to the Pebble Beach venue and the year of the debut.” So there you go.
But while the name isn’t particularly exciting, the car itself should be interesting. Audi says the design was inspired by the R18 e-tron Le Mans race car. Plus, it’s an electric supercar, so it’s probably safe to assume the PB 18’s spec sheet will be impressive. Unfortunately, we don’t have much information beyond that, and the teaser image does a good job of hiding most of the car.
After running the [...]
BMW is no stranger to slicing a pie into ever-thinner pieces, as evidenced by its prolific (some might say confusing) lineup of numerically inconsistent body styles, and its practice of applying coupe terminology to practically anything with four wheels.
Now, BMW has taken that power of multiplication to its performance lineup. M Competition is a new standalone model, slotting a notch above the entry-level M Performance and storied M models, and below the hardcore CS and GTS (soon to be CSL) performance rungs. That’s a total of five separate performance levels. Take that, Audi and Mercedes-AMG, with your piddling two offerings each.
But the differences only matter if they’re meaningful, and BMW believes it can carve out distinct niches for each of these levels. For 2019, BMW has taken the M2 and elevated it to the M2 Competition.
More than any other car in the BMW lineup, the [...]
Quick Stats: Darius Rucker, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter
Daily Driver: 2018 Mercedes G 550 (Darius’ rating: 9 on a scale of 1 to 10)
Other cars: See below
Favorite road trip: Columbia, SC to Key West
Car he learned to drive in: 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass
First car bought: 1995 Ford Explorer
Cars come and go, but Darius Rucker’s 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is the kind of car he plans on keeping forever. It’s also the car he drives when he feels like “having a lot of fun.”
“A Karmann Ghia has always been my dream car. Ever since I was a kid, I just thought they were the coolest things in the world. When my second single went to number one, my manager found one and had it redone and gave it to me and I just love that automobile,” the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter tells Motor Trend.
His manager gave it [...]
“It’s about bringing more power and more emotion to the Hyundai brand and making fun-to-drive cars,” said Albert Biermann when presenting the 2019 Hyundai Veloster N. And he would know. Biermann was the boss of BMW’s M division and is now president of the performance-oriented sub-brand at the Korean manufacturer. After introducing the N sub-brand at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, Hyundai now has two N models in its global lineup and is working on more. The first model to reach U.S. shores will be the Veloster N, and we drove it on one of the most challenging circuits on the planet: the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Launching a car like the Veloster N at such a legendary racetrack makes sense. The brand has been testing at the Nurburgring since 2011, and in 2013 it opened a technical center next to the track. That same year it quietly began testing [...]
