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Unsheathed: The Corvette Grand Sport is back, badder than ever
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 27, 2026
GM, GM
The mid-engine Corvette didn’t forget about the Grand Sport.
Chevrolet’s eighth-generation supercar has broken the mold since the sheets were taken off the 2020 model year Stingray. First ‘Vette with the engine amidships. First electrified Corvette. First with all-wheel-drive. First 8,000-RPM, screaming, overhead-cam V-8 derived from the Z06 GT3.R race car. First $200,000-plus ZR1X hypercar with over 1,000 horsepower, a sub-2.0-second 0-60 mph run with U.S. production record 233 mph top speed.
Good lord. But in all the ferment, the hot-selling Corvette C8 didn’t forget its roots dating back to the early 1960s. Chevy introduced the Corvette Grand Sport model this week, the supercar’s entry-level, performance model harking back to the five original, 1963 race cars based on the second-generation Corvette (C2) and campaigned by legendary names like Roger Penske and AJ Foyt. Penske gave a sneak peak of the new Grand Sport (next to the first C2 race car) at the 12 Hours of Sebring last weekend.
Q&A: Subaru product lead explains how new EV trio meets buyer needs
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 25, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Laguna Beach, California — Subaru Corp. has established a loyal following in the United States making rugged, go-anywhere, dog-friendly, gas-powered hatchbacks and SUVs.
Though its wanderlusting customer base leans green, Subaru has struggled to sell electric vehicles because of range and charging limitations. For 2026, Subaru thinks it has cracked the code and is offering three EVs in its lineup.
Sharing a battery platform with similar Toyota EVs, the electron-powered Subies are made in Japan, while assembly of its gas-fired vehicles is split between Japan and Lafayette, Indiana. At the media test for the all-new Uncharted and Trailseeker EVs (which join the Solterra EV in the Subaru lineup), Detroit News Auto Critic Henry Payne sat down with Trailseeker product planning manager Garrick Goh.
Payne: Strapped into the insane, 700-horsepower Ford F-150 Super Lobo
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 19, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Richmond, Michigan — The compact Ford Maverick Lobo street truck is a treat. Lowered chassis, Turbofan wheels, four-wheel-drift mode. All that’s missing is a supercharged Coyote V-8 engine.
EEEEEEAHWWWRRGH! Say hello to big brother, Ford F-150 Lobo with Supercharger Kit.
The Dream Cruise is gonna freak over this beast. I exited Rapid Road in Pontiac onto Woodward in my Rapid Red Metallic-painted tester and nailed the throttle. Rapid Red, indeed. Like the bastard child of a coyote and Tasmanian Devil, the 700-horsepower, forced-induction, 5.0-liter V-8 shrieked like a banshee out of Hell. EEEEEEAHWWWRRGH!
Call it Super Lobo.
Rivian unveils R2, a lower‑cost SUV with rugged performance
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 16, 2026
Rivian, Rivian
Rivian Jr. is finally here.
Rivian Automotive Inc. introduced its entry-level, battery-powered R2 SUV this week aimed at the volume compact SUV segment. Prices range from $46,495 for the Standard rear-wheel-drive model to $59,485 for the high-performance, all-wheel-drive Launch edition that will be first to arrive this spring.
The R2, previewed at the 2025 Detroit Auto Show, follows the midsize R1T pickup and R1S SUV that established the Silicon-Valley-based startup as the Tesla of off-road EV makers.
True to its parent, R2 comes with signature vertical headlights, screen-centric interior, face-flattening acceleration, and plenty of ground clearance to go off-road. Like Tesla with the best-selling Model Y compact SUV before it, Rivian hope the R2 will open the luxury EV-maker to a broader sales base just as the Model Y/3 expanded the Model S/X DNA to more buyers last decade.
Payne: Chevy Bolt 2.0 is back ‘n’ better
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 16, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Westlake, California — My 2027 Chevrolet Bolt tester is a cutie. Dressed in Habanero Orange, it merged onto Highway 101. ZOT! I nailed the throttle and instant electric torque launched me like, well, a bolt into early morning traffic north of Los Angeles.
“Hey, Google,” I barked while looking at the 13% state of battery charge. “Take me to a charging station.”
A Tesla station four miles away in Agoura Hills popped up on the 11-inch infotainment screen. I punched the NAVIGATE TO button, then self-drive.
The wheel glowed green and I removed my hands while Habanero Bolt took over driving duties at 70 mph. I reached into my grocery bag (stored in the spacious console tray at my feet) and pulled out a Snapple. The wee Chevy automatically moved to the left lane to pass slower traffic, then methodically worked its way right across three lanes before handing the driving duties back to me at my freeway exit. Thanks, buddy.
How Cadillac F1 and Ford fared in chaotic Formula One opener
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 10, 2026
GM, GM
Amid chaos, mission accomplished.
The green flag waved on a new era of Motor City motorsports in Melbourne, Australia, last weekend as Cadillac and Ford flew American manufacturer flags in the world’s fastest, most-popular racing series, Formula One. One of two Cadillac F1 racers made it to the checkered flag and Ford’s partnership with Red Bull Racing produced a competitive hybrid power unit with ace Max Verstappen driving through the field Sunday to take sixth place after a qualifying crash.
But Verstappen’s struggles were an indication that Formula One’s new era of electrification is far from mission accomplished. “Chaos” was the word of the weekend as teams struggled with new regulations.
Honda exports to Japan with these U.S.-made models
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 9, 2026
The Acura Integra Type S shares the Honda Civic Type R’s sophisticated front suspension and manual transmission. The high-performance version of Acura’s smallest model will be exported for sale in Japan. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Honda will join other U.S. manufacturers Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Jeep in exporting vehicles to Japan.
Honda? Yes, Honda.
The Japan-based automaker produces over 1 million vehicles a year from its four U.S. assembly plants in Ohio, Indiana and Alabama. Honda announced this week that it will beginning exporting the performance-focused, Ohio-made Acura Integra Type S and Alabama-made Honda Passport TrailSport to Japan in the second half of 2026.
The exports come in the wake of Japan easing regulations to make U.S. imports more attractive. Under a bilateral agreement announced last month, Japan’s transport ministry simplified inspections giving fast-track approval for imports that already meet U.S. safety standards. The agreement voids additional, expensive local emissions and noise testing.
Read full article here.
Payne: Subaru Trailseeker is an eOutback
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 5, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Laguna Beach, California — The Subaru Outback SUV is an icon. Now it has an electric sibling.
While the 2026 Outback has zigged to a square, truck-like ute design, the 2026 Trailseeker has zagged to Outback’s traditional wagon wardrobe with a side of off-road cladding and an infusion of high tech. I slipped into the driver seat, toggled the steering wheel paddles to medium regenerative braking and nailed the throttle. Trailseeker’s twin electric motors drove like liquid silver.
Determined to satisfy the needs of 37% of its customers who would consider an EV for their next vehicle, the tree-hugging, all-wheel-drive, pet-friendly brand has birthed eSubaru triplets: subcompact Uncharted (Crosstrek brother), compact Solterra (Forester sister), and midsize Trailseeker.
The big Trailseeker is the most Subaru-like of the three.
Payne: Stylish Subaru Uncharted EV a hard sell next to Crosstrek ICE
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 5, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Orange County, California — You know the popular subcompact Subaru Crosstrek. Now meet its electric doppelganger, the Uncharted.
I entered Interstate 5 North at San Juan Capistrano into dense, midday California traffic. ZOT! I merged with authority despite wet pavement. ZOT! I shot the gap between two cars into the middle lane. ZOT! I was in the left lane, adaptive cruise control set at 75 mph. It’s good to have instant electric torque in a 338-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Subaru.
The much-ballyhooed electric revolution of the 2020s has fizzled to a niche market, with EVs settling in at about 5-8% of U.S. sales. But for niche makers like Subie, the EV niche is opportunity.
The Japanese company’s off-road green brand has attracted a core of all-season, off-road tree-huggers who crave EVs at higher rates than mainstream mega-brands. We’re talking 37% of customers interested in buying an EV versus, say, Chevrolet at 23%.
So Subaru has invested in three EVs that parallel the brand’s most popular gas models: the $41,445 Trailseeker (across from gas Outback), $39,945 Solterra (boxy, gas Forester sibling), and the $36,445 Uncharted (gas Crosstrek hatchback sibling).
Cadillac F1, Ford earn R-E-S-P-E-C-T ahead of Australia debut
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 4, 2026
GM, GM
As Detroit’s Cadillac and Ford brands prepare for their debut at Formula One’s Melbourne Grand Prix in Australia this weekend, their theme song might be Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.”
The Motown operations have gained a lot of R-E-S-P-E-C-T after a chaotic year of preparation and two closely watched preseason test sessions in Barcelona and Bahrain. It’s Cadillac’s maiden voyage into the globe’s premier motorsports series, while Ford’s partnership with the Oracle Red Bull team is Ford Racing’s first F1 powertrain partnership since 2004.
Expected to be a backmarker out of the gate, Cadillac nonetheless has won praise for methodically piecing together a world-class effort just one year after its approval by F1 Management as the 11th team on the grid. Ford, on the other hand, has brought its manufacturing know-how to help Red Bull and its elite Dutch driver, Max Verstappen, fight for a championship. Not to be overlooked, the third U.S.-vested team, North Carolina-based Haas, (with its partner Toyota, the best-selling auto brand in the United States), looks to be a podium points-contender this year.
Supercharge me: Ford kit boosts horsepower for F-150, Mustang V-8s
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 4, 2026
The Ford Mustang Dark Horse comes standard with 500 horsepower. Now you can add a dealer-delivered Supercharger Kit to reach 800 horsepower. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Ford Motor Co. is supercharging its F-150 and Mustang offerings for customers.
The Blue Oval joined the aftermarket horsepower wars this week by offering a factory-installed Whipple Supercharger Kit for purchase with a new pickup or muscle car.
That means a whopping power boost for the F-150’s 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 engine from 400 horsepower and 410 pound-feet of torque to a howling 700 horses and 590 pound-feet of torque. The earth-pawing, 480-horse/415-torque Mustang GT and 500-horsepower/418-torque Dark Horse 5.0-liter V-8s get even bigger gains — to 800 horsepower and 615 pound-feet of torque. For context, that’s more ponies than the last-generation, supercharged, 760-horsepower, 5.2-liter Predator engine in the Shelby GT-500 track beast and rivals the top-drawer, 815-horsepower Mustang GTD supercar.
King Corvette: ZR1 dethrones McLaren Senna at VIR Lightning Lap
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 28, 2026
U.S. feats of Olympian proportions are becoming a habit.
The U.S. hockey team upset Canada in Italy, and now the 2026 Chevy Corvette ZR1 has dethroned one of Europe’s premier supercars, the McLaren Senna, from Mt. Olympus with the fastest production car lap ever at legendary Virginia International Raceway. The Senna, introduced in 2019, held the record for seven years.
With 1,064 horsepower and tenacious downforce, the $216,380 ZR1 has cemented itself as one of the world’s premier supercars for a fraction of the price. The limited-production (only 500 were made) 789-horsepower Senna, for example, trades north of $1 million. Dubbed “America’s Nürburgring” for its challenging, undulating, 28-turn, 4.1-mile configuration, VIR’s Grand Course is the annual site for Car and Driver’s Lightning Lap — the U.S. benchmark for vehicle performance tests.
Chevrolet, Chevrolet
Read full article here.
Payne: Turbo Alfa Tonale proves less is more with Italian flair
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 26, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Oakland County — Unburdened of its mission as the standard-bearer of an electric Alfa Romeo brand, the subcompact Tonale SUV can finally live la dolce vita.
For 2026, Alfa’s tasty, turbocharged, gas-fired appetizer is lighter, cheaper, more fun. Less is more.
Gone is Alfa’s dream to be an Italian Tesla. Gone, too, is Tonale’s plug-in hybrid drivetrain with 30 miles of battery-only range that I flogged across Italy at the SUV’s introduction in 2023. I thought I might miss the hybrid’s electric motor and instant, 347 pound-feet of torque to complement a healthy 285 hp.
I was wrong.
Subaru’s parallel gas/electric SUV lines: ‘Still going hard on EVs’
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 26, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Laguna Beach, California — Automakers have collectively announced $50 billion in electric vehicles write-offs this year in North America from $26.5 billion by Stellantis NV to $1.7 billion from Honda Motor Co. Ford Motor Co. is dropping its once highly-anticipated F-150 Lighting EV entirely. The losses come in the wake of weak consumer demand and the rollback of government EV sales mandates.
But Subaru Corp. is forging ahead with two new electric SUVs for its 2026 lineup — the subcompact Uncharted and midsize Trailseeker — that join the compact Solterra EV.
Four years in planning, the Japanese brand’s EVs were intended to address curiosity among its core green customers (37% expressed interest in an EV) as well as looming California mandates that required 35% EV sales by this model year. With California’s regulatory authority derailed by Congress last year, automakers like Subaru have been given breathing room to determine market demand.
Ford Raptor T1, Red Bull F1 take over streets of San Francisco
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 20, 2026
Ford Racing’s global ambitions in 2026 take it to the deserts of Saudi Arabia for the World Rally Championship and epic race tracks like Italy’s Monza for the Formula One Championship.
But this week, the two series shared the streets of San Francisco.
Ford, Ford
The Ford Raptor T1 Ultimate off-road racer and Ford-partnered Red Bull F1 car danced an improbable duet Wednesday at the intersection of Broadway and Divisadero — the T1 vaulting over a spinning F1 car in a maneuver that would have made Olympic pair skaters proud. The F1-T1 due was a prelude to their dash Saturday down Marina Boulevard on San Francisco Bay.
The event is the first stop on the Red Bull Showrun’s national tour to showcase Ford’s racing efforts. The second stop is in Atlanta on March 28, with more stops to be announced.
Payne: Floggin’ the Nissan Versa, last of the $20k cars
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 19, 2026
Naples, Florida — And then there were none.
My subcompact 2025 Nissan Versa sedan tester was the last of its breed: a new car that starts under $20,000. The $18,350 Versa ceased production for sale in the United States at the end of 2025. The subcompact Kia Soul SUV takes over as the most affordable new 2026 vehicle on the market at $21,935.
The affordable end of the U.S. market has been squeezed for some time as strict federal emissions regulations were more difficult for small cars to make, while must-have technology like digital screens added cost, and safety regulations piled on new mandated features like backup cameras, anti-lock brakes, airbag safety systems. That, and cars have become so doggone reliable that high-mileage used cars are a serious alternative. Heck, Ford — which doesn’t sell a new vehicle under $29,990 (once you include destination, title and other fees) — axed its Versa competitor, the Fiesta, waaaay back in 2019.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Payne: Dodge Charger Sixpack is a hot hatch for all seasons
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 12, 2026
Detroit — In the midst of another Michigan snowstorm, I slid my 2026 550-horsepower Dodge Charger onto Woodard Avenue, toggled WET/SNOW mode and churned toward Huntington Place for the Detroit Auto Show, the adaptive-cruise control system helping maintain distance to traffic ahead.
Payne, have you gone mad? Driving a Charger muscle car in the snow?
Reset everything you know about the Charger. The 2025 Detroit News Vehicle of the Year picked up 2026 North American Car of the Year to open the Detroit Auto Show, and earned its praise as I flogged it all over town during show week.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Tesla 2.0: What customers think of Model S demise, Optimus robot rise
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 6, 2026
At the Detroit Auto Show in 2011, the Tesla stand was mobbed. With its 17-inch screen, staggering acceleration and sleek looks, the Model S sedan wowed a new generation of tech-savvy buyers and redefined electric vehicles as performance cars.
Just 15 years later and the Model S is finished, along with its equally dramatic, gull-wing-door SUV doppelganger, the Model X. Cue the Optimus robot.
In Tesla Inc.’s January earnings call, CEO Elon Musk shocked the auto world in announcing the wind-down of Model S/X production. Manufacturing capacity in Fremont, California, will be converted to robot assembly — consistent with the company’s trillion-dollar market valuation based on expectations it will transform the U.S. market with autonomous humanoid and auto robots.
The new guy. An Optimus robot at the Tesla store in the Somerset Collection in Troy shares floor space with Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Payne: Slinky Crown Signia is the cure for the common Toyota SUV
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 5, 2026
Oakland County — The station wagon is back. And from an unlikely source.
My Toyota Crown Signia is long, sleek and roomy. Remove the badge and you might mistake the profile for the Volvo V90 Cross Country or Audi A6 Allroad, European stalwarts in the midsize wagon business. While wagons are common across the Atlantic pond, we Yanks prefer boxy, lifted SUVs — thus the limited offerings from the likes of Volvo and Audi.
Now comes Signia, the midsize cure for the common Toyota SUV.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
How Stellantis got back into NASCAR truck, with an eye on the Cup
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 5, 2026
Motorsports mania has hit Detroit, and everyone is jumping in the pool.
Cadillac, Chevrolet and Ford are competing across the globe in everything from Formula One to Le Mans GT racing, and now here comes Ram. The Stellantis truck brand is back in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the first time since 2012 and is starting the season with a bang as racing legend (and current NHRA Top Fuel dragster racer) Tony Stewart takes the wheel at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13.
And American Brands chief and gearhead Tim Kuniskis is not ruling out a Dodge entry in the premier NASCAR Cup Series down the road.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News