It may seem like a nascent startup to us Americans, but Lynk & Co is already well-established in China, reporting more than 300,000 overall sales since the first vehicle went on sale in 2018. That’s quite a bit. Its range in that market is heavy on small crossovers that share an architecture with its corporate sibling, Volvo. Lynk & Co’s next play is to move in on the lower rungs of the EV crossover space, a place that more established players such as Tesla and Volkswagen are making moves in. Meet the Link & Co Zero concept.
The Zero concept is a car-like crossover and a full-on EV, unlike the hybrids and PHEVs that Lynk & Co currently sells. It recalls the very first concept from the company, the CCC. The connection is more theoretical than literal, but the upright fascia and high-mounted running lamps are present—as they are on all Lynk & Co models. [...]
To say the looks of the new 2021 BMW M3 and its coupe sibling, the M4, are polarizing would be an understatement. The newest version of the iconic sports sedan features a schnoz that’s more akin to a pair of funky buck-teeth. It’s truly a tough face to love. The way the new M cars drive is going to be more important than the way either looks, but because we haven’t had the chance to get behind the wheel yet, all we can do is gaze on—wide-eyed and drop-jawed.
But if you think the looks of the M3 and M4 need even more fiddling with, BMW will happily sell you a set of performance parts that take the models’ looks to a whole new level. There is a slew of visual upgrades available—if you’re comfortable with calling them that. Carbon-fiber front canards, door sills, and mirror caps are just the start, as there’s also a [...]
No one these days designs a coupe without engineering the car to ensure it can also be built as a convertible. Well, almost no one—the Ferrari Portofino means there won’t be a convertible version of the gorgeous Roma coupe, although since 70 percent of the Roma’s platform is derived from the Portofino, you could argue Maranello simply did things the other way around.
The 2021 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster was baked into the Vantage coupe development program from day one. You can feel it in the first few miles. You can feel it in its bones.
The Vantage Roadster shares much of its hardware with its coupe sibling—the rumbling, AMG-sourced 503-hp 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8; the rear-mounted eight-speed ZF automatic transmission; the e-diff; the suspension; and the brakes. And it has the same tight, taut, focused feeling as the coupe when you point it at a winding road and punch the gas. The Vantage Roadster is [...]
We don’t completely agree with Nissan’s claim that the Maxima is a sport sedan—its too soft and lacks the ultimate agility that aligns with the best of that breed, but we will go along with the idea that it’s a sporty sedan. We appreciate its potent V-6 engine, well-tuned ride, and plush interior. For 2021, the Nissan Maxima gets a little but sweeter—but no sportier—thanks a new special edition celebrating the nameplate’s 40th anniversary in the U.S.
We know, right—can you believe the Maxima’s been around for four decades? It indeed has, launching as a trim of the Datsun 810 in 1981 and subsequently becoming Nissan’s longest-running nameplate in America, and this special version of the current, eighth-generation car features a variety of cosmetic updates. On the outside, the Maxima 40th Anniversary package snags unique Ruby Slate Gray paint with a contrasting black roof, as well as blacked-out exhaust finishers, trim, and badges. The 19-inch [...]
The 2020 Honda e and the original Acura NSX have a few things in common. They are both rear-wheel drive. They both roll on a staggered tire setup, the rears wider than the fronts. And they are both among the most desirable cars Japan’s most individualistic automaker has ever built.
The Honda e is not Honda’s first all-electric-powered vehicle—the company has been working on EV technology since the late 1980s and has released several production battery electric vehicles, including the EV Plus, a handful of which were made available on a lease-only basis in the U.S. in the late 1990s. But Honda has never truly embraced the EV, preferring instead to spend precious R&D time and money on fuel-cell powertrains that combine the zero tailpipe emissions of an electric motor with the refueling speed of a gasoline engine.
The 2020 Honda e changes all that. Honda’s dogged pursuit of fuel-cell technology is not going away. [...]
