MotorTrend February 2022

Editorial Digital Director Erik Johnson Executive Editor Mac Morrison @Mac_Morrison Deputy Editor, Daily Content Alex Stoklosa Daily Content Team Justin Banner, Greg Fink, Monica Gonderman, Alex Kierstein, Matt Rodriguez International Bureau Chief Angus MacKenzie @Angus_Mack Senior Features Editor Jonny Lieberman @MT_Loverman Detroit Editor Alisa Priddle @alisapriddle Mexico Editor Miguel Cortina @CortinaMiguel Features Editors Scott Evans @MT_Evans, Christian Seabaugh @C_Seabaugh Editor-at-Large Edward Loh @EdLoh Senior Editors Aaron Gold, Conner Golden Associate Editor Eleonor Segura Manager, Visual Assets Brian Vance Photography Asset Editor William Walker @MT_dubdub Associate Photographers Renz Dimaandal, Brandon Lim, Darren Martin Managing Editor Rusty Kurtz Senior Copy Editor Jesse Bishop @thejessebishop Copy Editor Claire Crowley Technical Technical Director Frank Markus @MT_Markus Road Test Editor Chris Walton Associate Road Test Editor Erick Ayapana @Erkayapana Road Test Analyst Alan Lau Art Creative Director Alan J Muir Digital Design Manager Ryan Lugo Editorial Operations Director of Editorial Operations Mike Floyd Buyer's Guide Director Zach Gale @ZachGale Buyer's Guide Team Duncan Brady, Bob…

Rarely in truck history have we had much reason to question the word’s definition. Indeed, for much of that time, trucks have been tools, simple machines. Occasionally, though, we’ve been forced to reconsider the breadth of their genotype. This is one of those times, and it’s directly related to the annual arrival of MotorTrend’s Truck of the Year award. From the first horse-drawn wagon fitted with an engine, the entire truck concept has been relatively anodyne: a sturdy frame and stout suspension propelled by contained and exploited explosions meant to move heavy loads from one point to another, more quickly and for longer durations than any animal could achieve. It wasn’t until the 1950s that vehicles like the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino asked us to consider whether a car…

America’s Sports Car is all grown up. It turned up in 2020 in C8 Stingray form and took home the MotorTrend Car of the Year Calipers, and now comes a major upgrade. Meet the 2023 Z06, which arrives with more power, panache, sound, swagger, downforce, grip, luxury, and customization. It’s utterly free of turbos and electrification, and we’re told it’s the best-performing Corvette ever. Swifter, more powerful models are on the horizon, but this fully analog one seems poised to remain our favorite. Here’s why. POWERTRAIN In order to go toe to toe with Ferrari and Lamborghini, Chevy developed a racing and road engine that has powered a class win at the most recent Rolex 24 at Daytona and somehow conforms to all foreseeable emissions regulations. The resulting LT6 shares nothing but…

Ferrari sounds, Lambo acceleration, and Porsche responsiveness—is this America’s 911 GT3? Of course, we didn’t just get up close and personal with the Z06 in a design studio—we went for a ride in development cars, one in standard trim and one fitted with the Z07 package. They represented roughly 99 percent of the final state of tune as the car marches toward production in the second quarter of 2022. The development team was keenly aware of the respect the C8 Stingray has earned in the sports car community and knew it had to deliver a Z06 that inspired Lambo or Ferrari owners to snap one up simply because of how desirable and how great to drive it is, not merely because—ahem—MotorTrend got better numbers from the ’Vette. We got a sense how this…

Not only is the 2023 Z06’s LT6 engine the largest flat-plane-crankshaft V-8 in the world, but it’s also the world’s most powerful naturally aspirated production V-8. Here’s how it was done. Airflow Uber Alles Two huge 87mm throttle bodies feed a separate intake plenum for each cylinder bank of the Z06 engine. Altogether it holds 11 liters of air—twice the cylinder displacement. Resonance Supercharging In a flat-plane-crankshaft V-8, the firing order always swaps from one bank to the other, lacking the syncopation cross-plane engines get from successive firing on a single bank (that’s what makes them burble). Here, valves connecting the intake plenums open in different combinations to vary pressure waves within or between the plenums; sometimes these waves reflect back down a runner while its intake valve is open to help…

Damn you, Honda. How dare you make the 2022 Honda Civic hatchback so enjoyable to drive with a manual transmission? We all know the clutch pedal is an endangered species, and the looming electrification of our cars is sure to seal its doom. What do you do in response? You make a stick-shift Civic that’s the best we’ve driven in years. We realize this is a bit of a frog-and-scorpion situation (and yes, you’re the scorpion—sorry, Fiat). Good manual transmissions are in your blood. Some of the finest stick-shifts we’ve driven have been in Honda cars, but it’s not like you don’t know how to screw them up. Remember the fourth-generation Accord? Now that was a lousy manual transmission. The kind thing would have been to give us another turkey like…