Car and Driver February/March 2022

USE A COASTER I scanned through your supersedans test and see that you picked the Caddy over the Bimmer and Audi [“Ticket to Ride,” November 2021]. Are you going to do a 40,000-mile test on any of these cars? I would be very curious to see the costs of maintenance and repairs for the Blackwing. My scientific wild-ass guess is that it won’t stand up to hard driving over time. Just a guess. —Terry SottLitchfield Park, AZ We are looking to add a CT5-V Blackwing to our long-term fleet very soon—Ed. How much did BMW pay you for the M5 Competition to come in third? —Philip BrewerMill Valley, CA HORACIO’S MILLIONS I like how you felt the need to include the “.0” to tell us the price of the “$4.0 million” Pagani Huayra Roadster BC [“Masterpiece Theater,”…

Henrik Fisker’s most iconic designs were chic BMWs and Aston Martins, and the Fisker Karma was a sporty sedan. So it may seem like a leap to go from high-end toys to the Fisker Ocean, a forthcoming affordable electric SUV, but he says it’s a smart choice. “The world’s most sold segment is SUVs. I’ve already designed a lot of luxury cars. I don’t have to prove that we can design a sports car. Other companies [making EVs], they’re making $100,000 vehicles. That segment will look crowded.” The Austrian manufacturer Magna Steyr is building the Ocean in front-and all-wheel-drive configurations. The base Ocean uses a 275-hp motor and offers a range of around 250 miles; all-wheel-drive Ultra and Extreme trims have two motors good for a combined 540 and 550…

Once the exclusive province of luxury cars, today leather can be optioned even in economy cars such as the Nissan Sentra and Honda Civic, and its popularity is increasing. In a recent survey of new-car buyers by market-research firm Strategic Vision, 53 percent reported getting leather, up from 46 percent a decade earlier. Green cred, though, may become more important going forward. While automakers have offered synthetic leather for years, typically as a cheaper alternative to the real thing, the new trend is to pitch it as the sustainable choice, often in EVs. Prodded by PETA, Tesla ditched leather upholstery by 2017 (getting rid of leather-wrapped steering wheels took longer). Other EV makers are following suit. The new Rivian R1T [see “Your Move, Spaceboy,” page 58] uses “vegan leather” upholstery exclusively;…

So you lost Rochambeau and now the family vacation is in the desert city of Palm Springs, famous for midcentury-modern architecture and swimming pools under palm trees. Since it’s also a car-nerd paradise, we’ve got your activities covered. SHOPPING (FOR CARS): In addition to the famous McCormick’s auction, Palm Springs is full of classic-car dealers. What could possibly go wrong with a $19,000 Rolls-Royce bought on a whim? For those who fear commitment, there are several classic-and exotic-car rentals in the area. Forget Jeeping; tour nearby Joshua Tree National Park in a Huracán Spyder. PALMS TO PINES SCENIC BYWAY: Another thing to do with your rented Lamborghini. Some of Southern California’s best driving roads are near Palm Springs. Take State Route 74 up to Idyllwild for coffee—the mayor is a golden retriever named…

Get caught running a stop sign in California (which isn’t a thing you would do, but work with us on this) and you’ll get a $35 ticket. But that’s not what you’ll end up paying. A state penalty assessment adds $10 for every $10 of the base fine and rounds up, so tack on $40 for that. Then there’s a county penalty assessment ($7 for every $10) punching it up another $28. A court-construction penalty assessment is good for $20 more. The Proposition 69 DNA penalty assessment might not seem like much ($4), but coupled with the DNA Identification Fund penalty assessment ($16), there’s yet another $20. In total, 11 fees are added to the original $35 ticket, pushing it to $238. The math happens again and again, regardless of the…

My friend Louis needed a truck. After driving nothing but Toyota Tacomas for 20 years, he was temporarily truckless, ironically because the craze for Tacomas resulted in some household vehicular arbitrage that saw his dented and scratched 2017 Taco traded straight up for a new Ford Bronco Sport. But then what? How do you replace a vehicle that everyone wants without paying a concurrently stupid price? I advised him to embrace an old baseball maxim: Hit ’em where they ain’t. If everyone’s after a Tacoma, just get something else. You don’t always need the hot car. Take it from a guy who traded in his 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander for a 2010 Lincoln MKT EcoBoost. I counseled Louis to check out the redesigned 2022 Nissan Frontier, the Ford Ranger, and the Chevy…