Learning to drive may be the biggest rite of passage for any young person, but it’s looking especially memorable for Ken Block’s daughter Lia. After receiving a drop-top Fox Body Mustang for her 14th birthday, she was brought by her father to Utah Motorsports Campus for a day of drifting in the ‘Stang.
Earlier this year, Lia Block made donuts look easy in a 355-hp Gymkhana Ford Escort, and that was less than a week after she learned to drive stick. So, this latest adventure must have seemed like a relative walk in the park for the teenager. Because it’s sometimes hard to learn from your parent, Block enlisted Formula Drift Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. to ride shotgun and show her the tricks of the trade.
While Ram has yet to announce a smaller pickup for the United States (although a rebirth of the Dakota has been long-rumored), the brand is moving forward with a new generation of its 700 compact pickup, which it sells in places such as Mexico. Why 700 and not 750 (exactly half of 1500)? We’re sure Ram has its reasons. Name aside, we wouldn’t mind seeing something like the little Ram 700 in the U.S.
Based on the Fiat Strada (another trucklet you’ve probably never heard of), the 700 is only 176 inches long and 69 inches wide, making it two inches shorter and one inch narrower than a BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe. Ram will sell the 700 in three trims, too: SLT, Bighorn, and Laramie.
SLT trimmed trucks will come in either a single or double cab body styles, while the Bighorn and Laramie models come exclusively with the largest four-door cab. It’s also [...]
We’ve been waiting years for Mazda to bring back its rotary engine, and now, it’s finally happening—albeit not in a sports car such as a revived RX-7 as we hoped. Instead, in an expected move, the first modern Mazda to get a rotary engine is the MX-30 electric crossover. In it, the smooth-running engine will act as a range extender (basically, a fuel-fed generator to extend the MX-30’s driving range between charging stations).
This head-rotating information comes directly from Mazda President and CEO Akira Marumoto. In the video below, Marumoto confirms that automaker will bring out early copies of the rotary assisted model next year. Expect the final MX-30 EV to hit Japan in 2022.
Mazda introduced its first production rotary engine in 1967, having licensed Wankel technology from a West German automaker in the early 1960s. (Instead of pistons pumping back and forth, spinning a crankshaft, rotaries use a rounded-off triangular rotor that [...]
Despite its Infiniti badging, the QX80 is, at its core, a Nissan Patrol. (Or, as we know it in the United States, a Nissan Armada.) While Infiniti waters its big SUV down with big wheels and all-season tires for the on-road adventures most American full-size luxury SUV buyers go on, the brand’s flagship model is still plenty capable off the beaten path. Infiniti wants to prove it, too, and it’s prepared a specially built QX80 for competition at this year’s Rebelle Rally.
The all-female rally follows a 1,200-mile route that begins near Lake Tahoe and ends at the Imperial Sand Dunes, just north of the border between the U.S. and Mexico. In order to ensure the QX80 offers just as much gumption as [...]
If you were doing research before buying the new Tesla Model Y electric crossover, chances are you would find owners sending up online warnings about quality issues. Uneven panel gaps, misaligned trim, and paint defects are the common ones to look for, according to owner complaints, and it is up to the new buyer to either tolerate the issues and let Tesla Service fix them afterwards or refuse delivery and wait for another car (which does not guarantee to be built better). If this sounds ominous, know that the reaction common amongst new Tesla Model Y owners is a love of their new EV offset by disappointing quality issues.
We’ve found the Model Y to be a pleasant adaptation of Tesla’s relatively affordable Model 3 sedan, albeit with far more interior room and a more useful cargo hold. Our experiences, however, have been brief—not like the day-in, day-out use Model Ys are subjected to by [...]
