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Audi RS6-R Avant By ABT Is The Meanest Super Wagon Of Them All

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By Adrian Padeanu – Motor1

It was only last week when the German tuners at ABT unleashed an angry Audi RS7 Sportback and now they’re turning their attention towards its wagon counterpart. The new RS6-R was teased back in early December 2019 and it’s finally ready to show off its aggressive stance thanks to a new body kit with several add-ons made from carbon fiber to keep weight in check.

As if the standard RS6 Avant wasn’t already a menacing beast among wagons, ABT has slapped on a spoiler lip at the front and a redesigned diffuser at the back, along with fender inserts and side skirt attachments. There are no fewer than 10 new exterior parts for the Mercedes-AMG E63 Estate competitor, plus the tuner’s own 22-inch alloy wheels to round off the look. Optionally, those oddly intriguing aero wheels are available.

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2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S Coupe: An Interior Befitting AMG?

By Alisa Priddle – MotorTrend

When you aren’t getting your head pinned against the seat, check out the ambiance.

If you pay almost $100,000 for a 2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S Coupe, you’ll undoubtedly have certain expectations. Many of them are related to power. After all, this Mercedes compact “coupe” has a handmade AMG 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine. It leaps forward at the slightest touch of the pedal, unleashing 503 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque, channeled through an AMG-tuned nine-speed automatic transmission.

Driving the AMG, your neck snaps back when you accelerate, whether you want it to or not. This is far more fun on an open stretch of road, but not so much in stop-and-go traffic, which is made worse by an abrupt stop-start system. With such a powerful engine, the whole car shudders when its eight cylinders fall silent.

So does the interior of this so-called coupe—even though it has four doors—live up to its performance? We spent a few days in a loaded-up $96,425 (base price is $85,095) GLC 63 S to find out.

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2020 BMW M8 Competition Coupe First Test: Behind the Wheel of BMW’s Biggest M Car

By Scott Evans – Words, Brandon Lim – Photos – MotorTrend

617-hp GT is ready for the drift competition.

Formula Drift didn’t exist when BMW launched its M division, turning its sport coupes into competition-ready, street-legal race cars. But times have changed, and it’s nice to see the company expanding its motorsports interests with the 2020 BMW M8 Competition Coupe.

At least, I think that’s what’s going on here. BMW already races the M8 in sports car classes around the world, spawning the delightfully silly “Big M8 Meme” in which video editors make the already large race car three to 10 times the size of the other racers. Now, with the roadgoing version finally available (the race car’s been competing for almost three years), our instrumented testing reveals an apparent push into professional drift competition, as well.

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

By Greg Fink – MotorTrend

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. 

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

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.

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2021 Hyundai Elantra: When a Compact Sedan Grows Up

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.

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Porsche Taycan Turbo Review: First UK Test

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.

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

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.

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2020 BMW 840i Gran Coupe: Pros And Cons

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.

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2021 Chevy Corvette C8 First Details Emerge: Find Out What’s New

By: Adrian Padeanu – Motor1

The Magnetic Selective Ride Control will become a standalone option.

The GM-UAW strike had a negative impact on the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette as availability of the C8 was hampered by a delay in the start of production. Not only that, but the initial model year for the mid-engined ‘Vette took another hit because of the coronavirus pandemic, forcing General Motors to stop production at the Bowling Green factory at the worst possible time considering the immense demand the sports car is enjoying. Customers can no longer order a 2020MY Corvette, so all eyes are now on the 2021MY.

Aaron Bradlee Adams, a member of the C8 Corvette Owners forum on Facebook and salesperson at Simms Chevrolet in Clio, Michigan, has stumbled upon what appear to be some of the changes that are in tow for the 2021 Corvette. The following info was sourced from the Global Connect Order WorkBench, a software that dealers use to place orders for new cars.

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