BMW M350 driven, $14,200 470-HP EV, Lambo's lost 4x4
PLUS: Feds audit Cybercab, 2.4s Corvette, $470K Elise
Releases & Reviews
2027 BMW M350 Prototype Drive: Neue Klasse Is a Gas
The M350 xDrive makes 437 horsepower from a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, with an electronic rear differential and adaptive suspension standard. A rear-drive Drift Moment mode arrives as an over-the-air update in 2027. Car and Driver drove prototypes and says it delivers most of an M3's performance without the hard edge.
2026 Mazda MX-5 RF Review: Is a Miata With a Heavy and Pricey Hardtop Still ‘the Answer’?
The RF Club makes 181 horsepower from a 2.0-liter four. The power hardtop adds about 100 pounds over the soft top and pushes the as-tested price to about $44,000. The Drive scores it 8 out of 10 and says the fixed roof makes the top-down experience closer to a T-top.
Technology, Market Data & Analysis
Audi’s new A2 E-tron is its most affordable and efficient EV yet
The rear-drive crossover starts at about £32,000 in the UK, roughly $45K, and claims up to 401 miles on Europe's WLTP cycle. Audi calls the 0.24 drag coefficient a first for the brand, helped by flush door handles and a fully enclosed underbody. The A2 stays in Europe for now.
Jaguar Land Rover Opens Voluntary Layoffs, Are 4,000 Jobs Really At Risk?
JLR has opened voluntary redundancies for salaried and management staff, chasing £1.7 billion (about $2.2B) in savings over two years. The Financial Times reports up to 4,000 of about 30,000 UK jobs could go, a number JLR has not confirmed. It targets a break-even point near 300,000 vehicles a year.
Car Culture
The Lamborghini Cheetah Is the Forgotten Prototype That Spawned the LM002
Lamborghini built the 1977 Cheetah for a US Army contract, with a 5.9-liter Chrysler V8 behind the rear axle making about 183 horsepower. FMC sued, claiming the design copied its XR311 prototype, and the development and legal costs pushed Lamborghini into bankruptcy in 1978. Two were built and one survives.
Jay Leno Drives the Rare 1953 Hudson Hornet Convertible Coupe | Jay Leno's Garage
Hudson's 308-cubic-inch flathead six made 145 horsepower, or 170 with the optional Twin H-Power carburetors. The step-down chassis dropped the floor between the frame rails, and Hornets won three straight NASCAR titles from 1951. Jay Leno's Garage drives one of the few convertibles built.
Miscellaneous
This Six-Wheeled Ford Ranger Is Built for Military Duty
Ford is bidding on the UK Ministry of Defence's Light Mobility Vehicle Program with Ricardo and General Dynamics, proposing six-wheeled crew cabs, troop carriers, and ambulances on the Ranger Super Duty. That truck is not sold in the United States, and its roughly 4,400-pound payload is nearly twice an F-150's.
I Bought A 470 Horsepower, 250 Mile Electric Car For $14,200 And You Can, Too
Autopian writer William Shoemaker paid $14,200 for a Long Range Dual Motor with 60,000 miles, a car that started near $60,000 new. Polestar's US exit has left more than 40 used Polestar 2s listed under $20K. He flags clicking rear axles and failing front strut mounts as the common faults.
Quick Links
NHTSA Opens Audit Into Tesla Cybercab Hours After Austin Ride Launch
NHTSA opened Audit Query AQ26002 on September 3, the day Tesla began charging fares in Austin, to review whether about 1,000 steering-wheel-free Cybercabs were properly certified under federal crash standards written for conventional cars.
Italy’s Police Get a 907-HP Lamborghini Temerario
The supercar joins the Italian State Police for urgent organ and medical-supply runs, extending a partnership that started with a Gallardo in 2004 and has covered more than 200 organ transport missions.
Bentley’s Torcal EV tries to balance authenticity with fake V8 sounds
Bentley's first electric vehicle is a 2027 SUV sharing its platform with the electric Porsche Cayenne, and The Verge rode in a camouflaged prototype ahead of a debut later this month.
BMW E36 M3 | Makes New BMWs Look Bad
Savagegeese traces the US-spec car's detuned engine and the enthusiast letter-writing campaign that brought it stateside, and puts a clean example with over 100,000 miles in the high teens to mid-$20,000s today.
This Elise Restomod Promises the Ultimate Lotus Experience for a Price
The Analogue Automotive VHPK strips the S1 Elise to 1,320 pounds with a single center-mounted seat, and just 35 will be built at about $470K each.
Hold Onto Your Butts! 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport and Grand Sport X 0–60 MPH and 1/4 Mile Tested
MotorTrend recorded 0-60 mph in 2.7 seconds for the Grand Sport and 2.4 seconds for the Grand Sport X hybrid, both powered by Chevrolet's new LS6 small-block V8.
Do Mudflaps Tank Your Truck’s MPG? This Super Scientific Aero Breakdown Has Answers
A Premier Aerodynamics simulation of a midsize pickup at highway speed found mud flaps raise the drag coefficient from 0.37 to 0.38, worth about $70 a year in fuel and well behind ride height as a drag source.