MotorTrend November 2021

Senior Features Editor When retro goes wrong: Making a worthy Lamborghini Countach sequel is hard. The unveiling of the new Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 was the most controversial thing to happen during this year’s Monterey Car Week. Well, there was the rumor that Thurston Pillsbury III voted for Jack Kennedy, but we don’t talk about that. No, it was the new Countach—all 112 examples at about $3 million a pop—that had people talking, mostly not in a good way. At face value, the 2022 Countach LPI 800-4 is a rebodied Sián FKP 37 (itself a rebodied and hybridized Aventador), an 803-hp 50th anniversary homage to the world’s most definitive supercar. Lambo is building 112 of them, because the internal code name for the original concept Countach project was LP112. Logical, no? So what’s…

Hot damn—it’s a new Nissan Z! More specifically, it’s the Nissan Z. That’s right, the seventh generation of the famous sports car is the first to snip off the model designation’s numeric portion in favor of a simple “Z” badge. As you probably know, since the first 240Z rolled into U.S. Datsun dealerships in 1969, the three digits in any Z car’s moniker signified the displacement of its six-cylinder engine. This wouldn’t have held, however, if the new car adopted the long-rumored 400Z name: The 2023 Z packs a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6, marking the return of turbocharging to the line for the first time since the 300ZX Twin Turbo left our shores 25 years ago. Although the name is new, the V-6 is not, as it’s the same VR30DDTT found in the…

*Measured using premium fuel, not required With the midsize pickup segment fully revitalized, smaller trucks like the Maverick are splashing onto the scene, aimed at folks for whom a midsizer might still be too much vehicle. Like the rival 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, the Maverick is built on a crossover platform. The base 2.5-liter I-4/electric motor combo drives the front wheels through a CVT. Related to the Escape Hybrid’s powertrain (but with a new in-house-developed motor), it produces 191 total horsepower. Ford says the FWD-only Maverick Hybrid will offer 40/33/37 mpg city/highway/combined and can travel up to 500 miles on a single tank. An optional 2.0-liter turbocharged EcoBoost I-4 as seen in the Bronco Sport spins up 250 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque, and it pairs with an eight-speed auto. Ford offers…

Look elsewhere for a Tesla competitor. You may wonder if Mercedes’ new EQS electric luxury sedan is a Tesla wannabe with a three-pointed star on the nose. Nope. It’s not. See, Mercedes has existed in some form or another since 1883. Tesla was founded in 2003 and only started producing mainstream EVs about a decade ago. With that extra century under its belt, Mercedes’ reputation precedes it—one that doesn’t include gimmicks like horns that make fart noises or apologists ready to defend any missteps on Twitter. It’s old money versus new money, and the 2022 EQS puts this on stark display, masterfully leveraging its quiet, swift electric powertrain and technology to deliver a superior luxury experience to any Tesla. At launch, two versions are available: the AWD EQS 580 and the rear-drive EQS 450+.…

Mirza Grebovic’s eyes light up when he talks about brake pad compounds. He’s Cadillac’s performance variant manager, and his passion clearly goes beyond the paycheck. You see, this Blackwing is big and exceptionally powerful. Getting it stopped quickly, repeatably, and reliably on track is no small feat, yet it’s one Grebovic obviously relished, as he told us about the roughly 20 compounds his team tested before settling on one that met noise and temperature targets while surviving almost 800 laps during a marathon, 24-hour track testing session. The anecdote is important because it shows how hungry Cadillac was to get this Blackwing right. As the brand prepares to pivot fully toward EVs, this car is the last of its kind to feature a feral, screaming, torque-drunk 6.2-liter supercharged LT4 V-8, and Grebovic…

Test days that include a new Porsche 911 GT3 don’t come around often. Since 1999, when we tested the first 996-generation GT3 R race car, we’ve run numbers on 11 previous GT3s, including the even more track-focused RS models. We’ve now concluded our instrumented testing of the latest 992-series GT3, and if you wonder how its numbers measure up to its outstanding predecessors, hold on to your balaclava. You might not feel the acceleration differences between the 500-hp, 339-lb-ft 991.2 GT3 and the 502-hp, 346-lb-ft 2022 model, but they are there in our test data. One of the largest advancements seems to have come from Porsche’s further development of its benchmark launch control system. It now revs to a range of 6,000 to 6,200 rpm while still masterfully working the PDK automatic’s…