First Drive Reviews

I didn’t kill the little orange traffic cone on purpose, but nor did I have much regret for its demise, which was in the name of science. Or at least, research. Lamborghini requested that I run my first laps in the new track-centric Aventador SVJ (Super Veloce Jota, a name borrowed from its...

The route south from Seattle to Yakima, Washington, winds through the Mount Rainier National Park. Streams and valleys bracket the road, the scenery changes from green to brown, and Mount Rainier stands majestically in the distance, snow-capped even in September. The 2019 Mercedes-Benz A-Class is a...

“Underway on nuclear power!” That was the message from the USS Nautilus following its 1954 launch as the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. From behind the wheel, the optional 335-horsepower, 380-pound-feet, 2.7-liter twin-turbo V-6 in the 2019 Lincoln Nautilus is silent and...

Fashionably late to the party, the 2019 Cadillac XT4 small crossover SUV doesn’t bother to shake hands at the door. It swaggers past competitors and waits for the party to come to it. Uncork the expensive stuff, you guys. The 2019 Cadillac XT4 is the girlfriend meme in automotive form, svelte...

Muscle cars of the 1960s generally did one thing well. They ground out tarmac-ripping power and torque, hurtling their body-on-frame selves straight down the road or the dragstrip with astonishing acceleration. But squiggly roads, braking zones, or enduring a track meet for longer than 15 minutes...

The new Mazda MX-5 Miata we got in the U.S. in 2016 wasn’t really the car it was supposed to be. According to Mazda North American Operations manager of vehicle dynamics Dave Coleman, Mazda wanted to use a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine worldwide. Pushback from the U.S. allowed installation of...

Horsepower Hill at Club Motorsports is a 14-percent grade at the scenic road course carved into the side of a mountain in Tamworth, New Hampshire. It’s a heartbreak climb uphill for most cars, but it’s child’s play for the 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye. One big number...

Ignore the flashy, high-tech vehicle wrap, a cross between pixelated camouflage and hunting orange. The 2019 Audi e-tron is a non-event from inside, and that’s just what its maker intended. When it goes on sale next year, the e-tron electric crossover SUV will be the anti-Tesla. Its...

I want to be a hero. A hero reminds me of the best versions of me, especially when I can hardly muster enough courage to get out of bed in the morning. The 1968 Ford Mustang fastback sprayed in Dark Highland Green wasn’t a hero when it rolled off the line in January 1968 and onto the screen...

Growing up in Sindelfingen, Germany, as the daughter of a Mercedes-Benz engineer who worked on three generations of the E-Class, Jennifer Schefczik heard the same thing over and over. “Child, the E-Class is always about style, safety, and comfort,” her dad told her. Some 20 years later...

Getting behind the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder is like knowing the secret handshake for an exclusive club. You have to be able to afford the price of entry, know the strange rituals to simply operate the car, and understand the dark art of the ALA active aerodynamics...

Chad was running late, and we were already pressed for time. This entire plan was rushed and slapped together via a phone call and a few text messages over the weekend. The Keen Project Safari 911 build No. 2 by former race car driver Lehman Keen was in Minneapolis for a short time to celebrate...

While I wait for my turn to attack the track at Tamworth, New Hampshire’s Club Motorsports in the 2019 Genesis G70, I notice some of the car’s details. The diamond-quilted nappa leather upholstery looks like it was sourced from a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. I shut off the traction control...

Like a pilot preparing for takeoff, I flick a few switches before heading out. I reach down to the base of the center stack and push up on the transmission, damper, and stability control switches to set them to Race mode. It’s time to see what Godzilla can do on the 11-turn, 2.14-mile...

In this SUV-crazy era, we don't see enough bankers’ hot rods anymore, but the mad scientists at AMG have a machine to feed the few who desire one. The 603-horsepower 2018 Mercedes-Benz E63 S sedan is bonkers in the best possible way, but it has a sibling that is even stranger while being more...

In the age of YouTube, an exotic carmaker needs exciting overhead tracking video of its latest automotive thunderbolt to thrill online fans. McLaren Automotive ran into unexpected difficulty getting that shot. The McLaren Senna’s extravagant wings, spoilers, splitters, vents, and ducts so...

If a Hollywood studio wanted to fake a Mars landing, I’d strongly suggest sending a film crew to the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The vast, empty stretches of reddish sand peppered with loose rocks form a convincing backdrop in which to embed UFO-related props. I’m not in an...

It’s clear that the path forward in the auto industry involves electrification. No market segment will be immune from it, though some will take longer to hop on the electrification train. Toyota is the current king of hybrids, with its Prius and Camry models. The Japanese automaker’s...

A web of country roads casts a romantic net between the alpha world cities of Paris and Frankfurt. Where maps pare down to two-lane roads, the Moselle Valley unfurls vast expanses of lush green carpet, sun-spotted by a yellow haze of wildflowers, lidded by a cobalt-blue sky. Lucky steers and...

There’s one place where you can get great fried chicken livers on a Sunday morning in Georgia, before church is out. It’s a low-ceiling kind of place, tacked on to a gas station, the hallmark of fine low-priced dining across the south. Over the first glorious spring weekend this year, I...