Fabulous Auto Club

2021 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid First Look: The Green-Leaning One

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 8, 2020

A compact hybrid without the typical hybrid hubris.

Look out, Honda Insight and Toyota Corolla Hybrid, because there’s a new hybrid compact sedan in town. The 2021 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid marries its equally new, gas-powered sibling’s svelte looks with a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain incorporating a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, an electric motor, and a 1.3-kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

The hybrid setup produces 139 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque, which are sent to the sedan’s front wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (rather than the more common-for-hybrids continuously variable automatic type). Compared to the standard Elantra’s 2.0-liter inline-four, the Elantra Hybrid is down 8 horses but up 63 lb-ft of twist, the latter of which is surely the result of the electric motor’s plentiful low-end grunt.

Tags 2021, hybrid, hyundai, hyundai-elantra, Reviews

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Can You Off-Road in a RAV4? Wheelin’ in the RAV4 TRD Off-Road

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 8, 2020

By Alex Leanse – MotorTrend

Straight to the trails in Toyota’s rally-inspired compact crossover.

You love exploring the great outdoors, but you need a proper vehicle to make it happen. Problem is, the overlanding rigs you see on Instagram are too big, too expensive, and too impractical for your everyday life. You’re in luck: The ruggedized compact crossover niche is blowing up like a campfire marshmallow. Entrants include the Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk, Jeep Compass Trailhawk, Jeep Renegade Trailhawk, the forthcoming Ford Bronco Sport, as well as two versions of the Toyota RAV4: the Adventure trim, and the TRD Off-Road. That’s right, two RAV4s.

The latest in Toyota’s range of trail-ready entries is based on its ultra-popular small SUV. The 2020 RAV4 TRD Off-Road shares its ride height, clearance angles, all-wheel-drive powertrain, and most features with the Adventure. Then what makes the TRD spec special? A “rally-inspired” suspension setup, wheels wrapped in proper off-road tires, and a few intention-signaling badges. Is it any more off-road ready than the Adventure? Even Toyota isn’t sure. So we made it our mission to find out.

Tags Reviews, Toyota, toyota-rav4

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Specs Check: Toyota RAV4 Prime vs. Ford Escape PHEV

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 8, 2020

By Miguel Cortina – MotorTrend

We take a look at two of the most anticipated plug-in hybrid SUVs of the market.

Hybrid crossovers are popular. The Ford Escape Hybrid arrived in 2004 and was the pioneer in a market packed with internal combustion engines. But as electrified vehicles started getting more attention and governments imposed harsher regulations to cut CO2 emissions, new hybrid SUVs arrived. In recent years, however, some automakers have taken further steps in the electrified scenario, developing plug-in hybrid SUVs.

The 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime and the 2020 Ford Escape PHEV are the two newest mainstream plug-in hybrid compact crossovers, offering more power and range than their regular hybrid variants. Here’s a look at some of their specs, including fuel economy, range, and recharging times.

Tags Comparison, ford, ford-escape, hybrid, Toyota, toyota-rav4

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2021 Hyundai Elantra: When a Compact Sedan Grows Up

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 4, 2020

By Alvin Reyes– Automoblog.net

Just when we thought conventional four-door sedans were afterthoughts, along comes the 2021 Hyundai Elantra. From the onset, the Elantra is a bigger, sleeker, and wider car, which is great if you want to lead the supersized compact segment dominated by the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic. I have an inkling for Elantras in general. I’ve driven lots of Elantras over the years, although I never had the chance of owning one.

And the introduction of the 2021 Hyundai Elantra makes me think I was missing out.

Tags 2021, hyundai, hyundai-elantra, Reviews, sedans

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Bentley Flying Spur vs Mercedes-Maybach S650

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 2, 2020

By Ollie Marriage – TopGear

Bentley’s new saloon takes on the biggest, baddest Merc S-Class.

Let’s get one thing straight – neither of these is the best car in the world. It’s been a long time since the luxury saloon was the highest point on the automotive landscape, the pinnacle to which we all aspired. Now it’s a cul de sac off the SUV highway. And the cars themselves have suffered as a result.

Let’s use Maybach to illustrate the point. A proud luxury brand before WW2, Mercedes brought it back in 2002 as a standalone brand, poured millions into the development of two limousines and predicted global sales of 2,000 cars per year. In fact only around 3,000 were sold in total before Merc pulled the plug ten years later. Now, Maybach is little more than a badge applied to the fanciest Merc S-Class.

Tags Bentley, bentley-flying-spur, Comparison, Mercedes, mercedes-maybach-s650

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This 380bhp Golf GTI is Madness

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 2, 2020

By Tom Harrison – TopGear

In case you missed the news, Mountune tunes Volkswagens now too. So only a few days after it revealed its 325bhp Focus ST, it’s showing off a Mk7.5 Golf GTI with a faintly terrifying 380bhp.

While the M330 Focus kit we wrote about last week is just a few lines of code and a new air filter, the GTI Stage 2 package is a bit more… involved. While Mountune will still quite happily send you the bits to fit yourself, we wouldn’t recommend it, given the £2,099 kit includes a whole new turbocharger.

Tags Volkswagen, volkswagen-golf

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Porsche Taycan Turbo Review: First UK Test

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 2, 2020

By Matt Master

The Taycan in Blighty. What’s new?Well, nothing and everything. This is Porsche’s first fully electric car, and as such the first proper production EV from a legacy manufacturer that puts performance first. This could revolutionise the way the UK regards e-mobility.

Is it going to?

Not overnight, no, because at £116K on the road for this ‘Turbo’, it’s too expensive for the most of us, but then, so is a 911 GT3 and that’s still part of the conversation. And the Taycan is doing that all-important missionary job of softening up the cynics and inducting the masses. You’ll be seeing enough of these around in the next few months to start accepting them as part of our motoring landscape. Which in this instance means a silent 680bhp and 0-124mph in 10.6 seconds is the new normal. Porsche’s normal at any rate.

Tags porsche, porsche-taycan, Reviews

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VW Atlas Basecamp Pack Makes the Big Seven-Seater More Rugged

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 2, 2020

By Nick Yekikian – MotorTrend

You probably still won’t be able to tackle the Rubicon, though.

The 2021 Volkswagen Atlas recently got a refresh that brought both better looks and some small interior upgrades, and the swoopier, five-seat Atlas Cross Sport was added to its model lineup. But VW has now added what it’s calling the Basecamp pack of accessories to its family hauler to make it more capable off-road. Even though the Atlas is far from our our first choice to take up a hard-core trail like the Rubicon, we’ll never say no to a little extra capability.

Originally slated to be unveiled at the now rescheduled New York International Auto Show, the Basecamp pack isn’t an extensive overhaul of the Atlas’s mechanicals. Instead it adds small touches like new, tougher door sills and side skirts; a two-tone bumper guard; fender flares to protect the body sides; and a satin silver rear valance that surrounds the exhaust tips. While all those upgrades sound cosmetic, they do at least offer additional protection against stones, dirt, and grime.

Tags 2021, Reviews, Volkswagen, volkswagen-atlas

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Chevrolet Blazer vs. Chevrolet Traverse: What’s the Difference?

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 2, 2020

By Nick Yekikian – Words – MotorTrend

We compare two sizes of $50,000 SUV from Chevrolet to see which is best for you.

We’ve tested the Chevrolet Blazer extensively since it was released in 2019. At our SUV of the Year competition, the RS trim impressed us with good road manners and a high-quality interior, but we were disappointed that those traits didn’t extend to the base offering. More recently, we had another go in the Blazer RS, and instead of comparing it to the competition, we thought it best to look within Chevrolet‘s own extensive lineup of SUVs to see how it stacks up against the larger but similarly priced 2019 Chevrolet Traverse Premier FWD (front-wheel drive).

The Blazer and Traverse are not direct competitors, and as such, this isn’t a classic MotorTrend comparison test. We typically try to match cars up within their segments. That’s why the Ford Mustang gets matched up with the Chevrolet Camaro, not the Alfa Romeo Giulia. But Chevy recently ditched sedans in the United States, meaning that, like Ford, it’s going to be filling our streets with SUVs of all shapes and sizes for the foreseeable future. As such, you might want to know which sub-$50,000 Bow Tie-badged SUV is right for you.

Tags chevrolet, chevrolet-blazer, chevrolet-traverse, Comparison

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2020 BMW 840i Gran Coupe: Pros And Cons

Post author By axelrin
Post date April 2, 2020

By: Brandon Turkus – Motor1

The Most BMW BMW You Can Buy.

Think of BMW’s best cars and what comes to mind? Stylish, fun-to-drive sedans that are both luxuriously appointed and a joy to live with. Look to the New Class of the 1960s and 1970s, the E30 3 Series of the 1980s, the E39 5 Series of the late 1990s, and the E46 3 Series of the early 2000s. We aren’t saying you should add the 2020 BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe to that list of legends, but it certainly possesses some of the traits that endeared those older cars to generations of fans.

The 840i Gran Coupe falls short of the heights set by its iconic predecessors in a few important ways, though. Like almost every BMW model on sale, this swoopy sedan doesn’t communicate with its driver. And while BMW’s tech is far more intuitive than it was 20 years ago, the company has fallen backward over the past several years and is building systems that have become harder to learn.

Tags 2020, BMW, bmw-840, Reviews