Ferrari's $209K stick, Tesla profit dives, Hammond's Z06
PLUS: Brundle's 860-HP 911, Durango Hellcat, Camaro rage
Releases & Reviews
Ferrari's 12Cilindri Manuale Reinvented the Transmission: Here’s Why It Matters. Jason Cammisa ICONS
The 12Cilindri Manuale's gated six-speed shifter and clutch pedal are by-wire controls for the regular car's eight-speed dual-clutch automatic. Ferrari will build 1,499, each $209,000 more than the standard model. Hagerty's Jason Cammisa finds two glitches and rates it above an early-2000s Ferrari manual and below a Mazda Miata's.
2027 Honda Passport TrailSport Off-Road Review: Not ‘Good for a Crossover.’ Just Plain Good
Honda lifted the 2027 Passport TrailSport roughly 1.4 inches and redesigned 28 suspension and chassis parts. It starts at about $52,000 with a 285-horsepower V6 and torque-vectoring all-wheel drive. After two days of trail driving, The Drive calls it nearly perfect for what it is.
Technology, Market Data & Analysis
GM Just Laid Out Its Entire Future. It Runs on AI, Eyes-Off Driving, and One Central Computer
GM's single central computer and its eyes-off driving system both debut on the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ. GM says AI will cut its four-to-five-year development cycle in half. A new OnStar app replaces the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC apps next year.
Tesla profits drop 43% in Q3
Net profit fell to $787 million on revenue of about $28 billion, essentially flat from a year earlier. Operating expenses rose nearly 40%, cutting the operating margin by more than half, to under 3%. Solar and storage revenue fell over 15%.
Car Culture
Richard Hammond Loves This American Car… But Wouldn’t Buy It
DriveTribe's Richard Hammond tests the 670-horsepower Corvette Z06, which reaches 60 mph in 2.7 seconds on a flat-plane-crank V8. In the UK, a right-hand-drive car costs more than twice the US price, level with a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Hammond says too much of that money pays for paperwork.
The Rotary Engine Should Be Everywhere. Why Isn't It?
Motor1 traces the rotary's poor fuel economy to its long, narrow combustion chamber, which sheds heat. Apex-seal wear, deliberate oil burning, and high hydrocarbon emissions add development cost. Mazda, which ended the RX-8 in 2012, now uses a rotary only as a generator in the MX-30 R-EV plug-in hybrid.
Miscellaneous
Some Car Companies Are Offering Cool Interior Accessories For Free, But There’s A Catch
Skoda posts free 3D-printable files for console trays, cupholder inserts, seat-back hooks, and scale models of its cars on its Printables page. Skoda does not sell cars in the US. The Autopian could not get the download links on Ford's similar page to work.
Ford Recalls 102,000 F-Series Trucks Over A Strange Gauge Issue
A faulty instrument-cluster module can freeze the analog speedometer and tachometer needles or swing them on their own. Nearly 92,000 of the recalled trucks are Super Duty models, and the rest are mostly 2026 F-150s. Dealers will replace the module free once parts arrive in December.
Quick Links
Ferrari Announces Luce Pricing, and It’s Less Than Initially Expected
Ferrari's first EV starts at $560,800, about $80,000 below Car and Driver's estimate, making it the most expensive five-seat production car on sale.
This Custom Gunther Werks Porsche Is An 860-HP Tribute To A Racing Legend
Charlie Brundle, Martin's daughter and a car designer, styled the five-car run, which pairs a turbocharged 4.0-liter flat-six with a six-speed manual.
An Italian Coachbuilder Wants to Build This Alfa Romeo Roadster
Castagna Milano says its carbon-fiber Giulia Quadrifoglio convertible would keep the 505-horsepower twin-turbo V6 and weigh about 700 pounds less than the sedan, and the firm will build one for a paying customer.
HELL YEAH! 2027 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat Review
TheStraightPipes weigh the Durango Hellcat, with 710 horsepower and 640 lb-ft from a supercharged 6.2-liter V8, against the Cadillac Escalade-V.
This Factory-Stretched 240 Wagon Is One of the Rarest Volvos
Sold as a taxi, ambulance, school bus, and hearse, the 245 Transfer measured about 220 inches, nearly the length of a Chevrolet Suburban, and only 280 were reportedly built.
Donut Lab Puts Its EV Battery Through a –22 Degree F Cold Test
Finnish research group VTT found an uninsulated module kept 97% of its capacity and just over 90% of its energy after five hours in the cold.
Someone Had The Audacity To Park Next To A Camaro And Now The Camaro Club On Facebook Is Losing Their Feces
The Facebook post showed a Chrysler Pacifica parked within the lines beside a member's Camaro, and commenters called it disrespectful, with one naming it their biggest pet peeve.