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2025 Bentley Continental GT Speed Review

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PROS:


  • Beautiful styling

  • Epic power

  • Plug-in practicality

CONS:


  • Cost

  • Clunky software experience

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The blend of performance and poise here is hard to beat, a large car that feels light and nimble yet offers effortless stability at any speed.

All automotive brands carry some amount of expectations, preconceived notions about their cars’ level of performance and comfort. Few, though, carry the kind of weight and expectation as a brand like Bentley. Established in 1919, the Crewe-based manufacturer is responsible for some of the world’s most refined cars. Every new addition to its lineup, therefore, must honor those that came before.

That’s a tricky proposition these days. Every car manufacturer is faced with greater and greater demands for technology and environmental sensitivity. That doesn’t always jibe with traditional demands for comfort and performance.

Those two worlds collide in the new Bentley Continental GT Speed. It carries the same immediately recognizable Bentley poise and style but with radical refinements. It has the same opulent interior but is riddled with more tech than ever before. Finally, it offers the same level of thrilling performance but delivers it in an entirely new way.

Plug-Powered

This is the first hybrid Continental, a plug-in at that, something of a transitional first step towards the brand’s all-electric future, once targeted for 2030 but now shifting a bit further down the road.

Considering its radical departure from the predecessor’s W12 powertrain, which we’ll delve into in just a moment, the new Continental GT offers a familiar look and feel at a distance, but step closer, and you can see just how refined the car’s new design is.

The silhouette is familiar, and the extended nose plus the rearward cabin and the powerful rear fenders all give it that same sophisticated promise of power as before. But changes abound, the most significant being a shift to a single headlight up front. Modern lighting technology enables the new Continental to throw more light from a smaller source, cleaning up the front end and giving a throwback to the Bentley S2 from the late ’50s.

But despite that simplification, look closer again, and you’ll see the amount of detail within those headlights. It’s the same story out back, where the compact, oval tail lights are framed in an ornate, jewel-like halo. Otherwise, the rear end is likewise somewhat more simple than before, with the pop-up spoiler replaced by a clean, integrated unit.

On the Inside

The interior is likewise less ornate than before, pared back slightly from the abundance of chrome and buttons found in the last generation car. It offers just about all the technology you could want, including a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, plus a wireless charger and a pair of USB-C ports.

The gauge cluster, too, is fully digital now, with a number of different views offering different levels of detail, more or less depending on your mood or style. The overall experience lacks the polish and feel of the higher-end systems from Mercedes-Benz or BMW, but it at least offers all the right features.

Otherwise, the interior offers a great blend of opulence and sophisticated style. The carbon fiber band sweeping across the doors and the dashboard catches the sunlight in distracting ways at times but has a clean, glossy depth that’s lacking in many in-dash composite applications.

Materials for the leathers and microfibers are great, as is the perfect stitching running everywhere. However, there’s a disappointing amount of plastic here, including the cluster of buttons surrounding the upright shifter. But, their layout at least is clean and easy to use, and they provide easy access to the functions you’ll want frequently, like toggling the comprehensively chill ventilated seats.

While the plastics are occasionally a bit underwhelming, the feel of the controls is top-notch. The mode selector, just aft of the shifter, spins with a wonderful weight, and even the turn signals move with a significant heft.

Plus-Sized Performance

The feeling of the controls is appropriate given the heft of this car. The new, plug-in Continental weighs over 5,400 pounds, thanks in large part to its 25.9-kilowatt-hour battery pack and the new hybrid system. The electric motor is paired with a 4.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V8.

The combined system power is 771 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque. Some souls may lament the lack of the outgoing Continental GT Speed’s W12, but that thing only made 626 hp. Plus, it only got 15 mpg.

That car took 3.9 seconds to get to 60. This one gets to 60 in 3.1 seconds and has a top speed of 208 mph. Bentley doesn’t have fuel economy numbers yet, but in my mixed testing, I scored 16.9 mpg, and as you can imagine I wasn’t exactly taking it easy.

More speed, better throttle response, and greater efficiency make for a pretty good mix.

It’s unlikely that many Bentley owners will be too concerned about fuel economy, but it’s good to see even ultra-luxury cars doing their part to reduce their impact on the environment. Likewise, everyone can appreciate the pleasant experience of driving in a fully electric mode.

Bentley says the new Continental GT can go up to 50 miles on a charge and can travel at up to 80 mph without recruiting the V8. In E Mode (available via a dedicated button), the big coupe is still nice to drive, totally silent, of course, and extra smooth but still reasonably peppy and perfectly capable of keeping up with traffic.

But I found it a little too easy to get the V8 to spin up. Even in this mode, if you dip past three-quarters throttle, the engine spins up quickly and smoothly, adding a substantial shove to the experience. That hand-off is crucial in hybrids, and Bentley has nailed it here, with power proportionally increasing as the engine spins up without the neck-snapping shock of torque you get in many lesser hybrids.

I just wish I could explicitly disable the V8 altogether and drive the car only on battery power.

In the default drive mode, dubbed “Bentley,” the Continental is properly quick when you do dip in the throttle but still calm and collected when you’re dawdling around town. For those who want a bit more composure, spin the knob to the right for the Comfort mode, which takes the edge off the throttle and the new dual-valve air suspension. There’s a custom mode all the way to the right, too, if that’s not to your fancy.

But the most fun mode is found all the way to the left, Sport, which firms up the suspension and sharpens the throttle response. In this mode, the V8 and hybrid system work together in closest harmony, the electric motor getting the car moving before the V8 roars into action and sends the car surging forward up to whatever speed you deem allowable.

The handling is unexpectedly good, too. Despite the extra weight, the GT Speed turns in eagerly, and the 48-volt Bentley Dynamic Ride anti-roll technology keeps everything from an excessive tilt.

Comfort at Speed

But even in Sport mode, the Continental is still nicely compliant over bad roads and effortlessly cosseting. The seats, despite their ornate stitching, are extremely comfortable, and though the massage is a bit on the subtle side for my tastes, the strength of the heating and ventilation cannot be denied.

Rear seats are predictably short on legroom, but there’s passable headroom, enough that you could wedge a human adult back there for a short run to dinner if you really needed to. Kids will fare better.

For the longer drives, you have a Naim sound system to enjoy, which is extremely powerful and a bit bass-forward by default but offers plenty of sliders and configurations for dialing it into your perfect tone.

You’ll also have a substantial trunk at your disposal, 13 cubic feet worth. That’s down a bit over before, thanks to the battery, which sits down beneath the floor below, but is still more generous than anything else in this class.

The Continental also offers a decent active safety package, something often lacking in top-trim luxury cars like this. The adaptive cruise worked well on the highway but was extremely conservative, leaving a big gap ahead even on the closest following distance, which didn’t work well in typical California gridlock. The active lane keep likewise was helpful, but occasionally struggled to keep sight of the lines on the road.

I should point out at this point that I was testing a pre-production model of the car, so hopefully, there’s time to improve this functionality a bit before the cars start showing up at dealerships.

Pricing and Options

At this point, we still don’t know exactly how much the 2025 Bentley Continental GT Speed is going to cost. Yes, it’s very much in the “if you have to ask” territory, but for the rest of us who are merely curious, you’ll want to have somewhere around $300,000 at your disposal before ringing up your local dealer.

Of course, part of the joy of a car like this is customization. Bentley will do pretty much anything your heart desires, but if you desire premium things, you’ll need to keep pushing that budget up a few digits.

Regardless of how much or how little you customize yours, you’re going to be spending a lot for one of these. Is it worth it? The blend of performance and poise here is hard to beat, a large car that feels light and nimble yet offers effortless stability at any speed. It’s a joy to drive for sure, with just a few rough edges to smooth out.

The post 2025 Bentley Continental GT Speed Review first appeared on Yanko Design.

2024 Toyota RAV4 Woodland Edition Review : A True Adventure Upgrade or Just a Facelift

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PROS:


  • Green and bronze looks great

  • Subtly improved off-road capability

  • Typical RAV4 utility

CONS:


  • Reduced fuel economy

  • Worse on-road manners

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The Woodland Edition adds a strong dose of rugged style and a bit of extra capability, but the return may not be worth the efficiency and financial cost.

The auto market is being flooded with semi-rugged, lightly off-road editions of everyday SUVs, and Toyota’s getting in on the game with this. It’s the RAV4 Woodland Edition, a version of its ubiquitous and perpetually popular SUV that looks a little more ready for adventure than its lesser versions.

But is it actually a functional upgrade, and is it worth the roughly $3,000 over a base RAV4 Hybrid LE? That’s what I aimed to find out in my week with this green and gold hybrid.

Design

Before we even get into the functional upgrades on the Woodland Edition, I’m tempted to say this flavor of Toyota’s RAV4 SUV is worth the extra cost for the color scheme alone. That color, which Toyota calls Army Green, works remarkably well on this car. It’s not quite a military olive drab in that it definitely has a glossy hue to it, but it’s certainly in the same chromatic family.

Pairing that with a set of satin bronze wheels is an act of genius, resulting in an SUV with far more presence than any of the dozen other RAV4s you’ll likely find in the average parking lot. This is the best color combination available in Toyota’s crossover at the moment, and you can only get it in the Woodland edition.

That said, even the base RAV4 is not a bad-looking machine. Though its facelift is getting a bit familiar at this point, its angular styling cues and the dramatic, downward sweep of the lines running from the rear fenders all the way to the front grille give it an active stance that works perfectly with the attitude of the Woodland Edition.

Pick the Woodland, and you get the roof rack with rails standard, plus those 18-inch wheels and the all-terrain tires they’re covered in.

Things are less dramatic on the inside. Where that green and cold combo dominates your view as you approach, the only special touches on the inside are on the floor: a set of all-weather floor mats with Woodland Edition embossed on them, plus a few pine trees emblems. Those mats provide a functional upgrade for sure, but hardly a striking one visually.

The rest of the interior is standard stuff, thoughtfully laid out and featuring durable materials, but not much to look at. The RAV4 seats five maximum, with rear seats ample for two but only passable for three passengers. A separate heating vent plus a pair of USB-C ports are the only creature comforts available to those in the back.

The two front seats feature prodigious heating, toggled with chunky physical switches that stay in whatever position you left them last.So, if you’re the sort who wants a perpetually warm backside, you won’t have to reach for that button every time you start up this SUV. The steering wheel heating is less effective, but it too at least stays enabled between car starts.

Seat upholstery is of a basic fabric embossed with a geometric pattern that adds just a bit of visual appeal to an otherwise dark interior, though the light headliner helps. The dashboard, door cards, and center console are a mixture of leather-textured black vinyl and hard black plastics, with a few slashes and hints of matte silver plastic throughout.

Again, it’s not much to look at on the inside, but the numerous pockets and storage compartments leave ample opportunity for stashing stuff, while the cargo net out back in the hatch ensures that whatever you put in the 37.6 cubic feet of cargo space will stay put. The rear seats fold down with a 60/40 split, expanding that cargo volume to 69.8. 

Other than those seat heaters, tactile controls are limited to the HVAC system, which features some oversized, chunky knobs that are a pleasure to spin. There’s a smaller volume knob as well and a small knob for cycling between Eco and Sport modes, but that’s about it. 

Software and safety

Most interior controls are available through the eight-inch touchscreen running Toyota’s Drive Connect system, which offers integrated navigation and a voice assistant. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are also available, which I found to be a far more appealing option. 

The gauge cluster features a series of traditional analog gauges with a digital, virtual gauge system in the center. This display is customizable to cycle through a series of vehicle settings, parameters, or navigation prompts if you like. There’s nothing particularly notable here, but it’s all perfectly functional.

In terms of active safety, the Woodland Edition features Toyota’s Safety Sense 2.5 system, which includes features like automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, roadside sign detection, lane-keep assist, and adaptive cruise control. The adaptive cruise worked well, but the lane-keep assist was a little less reliable in my testing. It often struggled to detect road markings and only made very late, very indistinct corrections to keep the car centered.

On (and off) the road

The RAV4 is a simple, pleasant SUV to drive in most situations. The Woodland Edition doesn’t do much to change that formula, but it does add just a hint of additional capability. The suspension in this version has been retuned, slightly stiffer with up-rated bump stops, capable of handling the trails that Toyota apparently thinks people will be hitting in this thing.

Additionally, there’s a Trail drive mode, which Toyota says helps to maximize grip, but in my testing in slippery conditions, I couldn’t detect any difference. The front wheels always seemed to break loose first and most significantly before the rears got much in the way of power from the hybrid system out back.

The Woodland Edition’s biggest change, regardless, is what it rolls on. 18-inch Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail tires have been mounted on all four corners, far chunkier and more aggressive than the usual all-seasons found fitted on the RAV4.

Does any of it make a difference in terms of off-road performance? The suspension upgrade should make the Woodland Edition survive slightly harder stuff offroad, and there’s no doubt the tires will provide more grip on loose surfaces. 

On-road, the changes are definitely noticeable, with some increased road noise and a slight decrease in everyday ride quality. While far short of harsh, the Woodland Edition was less pleasant over the bumps and frost heaves that plague the roads near me as we come out of an extended winter season. Whether it’s the tires, suspension, or some combination of the two, I can’t say for sure, but if on-road poise and comfort is your priority, you might want to go for an XLE instead.

In terms of power, as in any other RAV4 hybrid, the 219 horsepower hybrid system in the Woodland Edition is more than adequate but far from breathtaking. The car accelerates cleanly and has plenty of power to keep up with traffic, plus reasonable throttle response, largely thanks to the hybrid system. However, when most people are shopping for Toyota Hybrids, their top priority is fuel economy, and I wasn’t blown away there. 

The Woodland Edition is rated for 38 mpg in the city, 35 on the highway, and 37 combined. In my mixed testing, I did substantially worse, coming in at 32.3 mpg. An XSE, meanwhile, is rated for 39 mpg combined. Those all-terrain tires here surely don’t help, nor does the roof rack up top.

Options and pricing

The 2024 Toyota RAV4 starts at $28,675 for a base LE edition. For a Woodland Edition, you’re looking at a minimum of $34,695. My model included the $925 Weather Package, which adds on heated seats and steering wheel, plus $500 for that exterior color, which brought the total price to $37,470 after a $1,350 destination charge. That compares favorably to its most direct competitor, a Subaru Forester Wilderness Edition, which starts at $34,920.  

Is it worth the extra $3,000 over a RAV4 LE hybrid? I don’t know if it is. While I appreciate the desire for something with more off-road capability and love the look and color scheme here, I can’t say that I’m convinced the on-road penalty combined with the extra cost is worthwhile. The mpg hit also doesn’t seem worthwhile unless you’re frequently going to be making use of those all-terrain tires or that roof rack.

In general, I’d recommend sticking with the RAV4 XLE hybrid, which is an excellent SUV and continues to be a value leader and saves. But, if you want something with a smidge more attitude and have a bit more to spend, I don’t blame you for being tempted by this green and bronze charmer.

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2024 Audi RS7 Performance: Unmatched Power and Luxury

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There are a lot of fine machines that you can get if you’re willing to spend over $100,000 these days. In fact, you can get multiple amazing cars for that amount of money, so if you’re going to choose just one car and pay over $150,000 for it, it had better be very, very good.

And that’s exactly what Audi’s RS7 promises to be. With 621 horsepower from a 4.0-liter V8 routed to all four wheels through an advanced all-wheel drive system with an active, torque-vectoring differential and an eight-speed automatic transmission, it certainly promises to be a powerhouse when it comes both to performance and all-season poise. But does it deliver, especially when optioned up to a final price of $151,840?

Design

First impressions are key with a car like this, and the RS7 doesn’t disappoint. While you can get this same basic silhouette for as little as $72,000 in the base A7, stepping up past the roughly $85,000 S7 into the RS7 you see here adds several model-specific customizations — some subtle, others less so.

To me, the most striking are those amazing 22-inch wheels. While I’m not generally a fan of black wheels, especially on a car like this, you could paint these any color you like, and they’d still be striking. The shape, which seems delicate as a spider’s web, is beautifully compelling, while the deep dish provided by that offset gives this sedan a concept-car stance.

That deep-dish profile helps fill the fenders on the RS7, which are substantially wider than those on the base A7. It’s the nose, though, that is most noticeable, with massive inlets featuring exposed carbon fiber slats. The color here, Florett Silver, is on the subtle side for a car this powerful, but it pairs beautifully with the black wheels and carbon highlights.

But what I like most about the RS7 is that, despite those details that enthusiasts will spot from a mile away, your average person out there on the streets won’t necessarily see this one coming. On a casual glance, the RS7 doesn’t shout its presence. The added bits aren’t so much flare as they are finesse, and that’s very much in line with what I want from a car.

Interior detailing

On the inside, the changes over the base A7 are similarly subtle, but there are differences. It starts with the deep-set sports seats with their distinctive hexagonal pattern. They look great, especially in Cognac leather, but if I’m honest, for a car with this much performance, I might have wanted something a bit sportier, like those offered by the $3,000 RS Design package with contrasting stitching.

The dash and doors in the RS7 receive slashes of carbon fiber, left matte, not sealed behind glossy resin like on most cars. This means it’s as lovely to touch as it is to see. Likewise, the steering wheel is Audi’s deep, thick sports shape that fits my hands like it was molded for them. A pair of discrete metal shift paddles on the back waiting for sportier drives.

Everything in here is high-quality, with the only aspects I don’t appreciate being the expanses of glossy piano black on the center console around the shifter and running across the center of the dashboard. But, from a materials and fit-and-finish standpoint, there’s nothing to complain about.

The same goes for front-seat comfort. There’s plenty of headroom and legroom, and the comprehensive heating and ventilation of those front seats will keep your posterior thermally managed. The rear seats are also heated but don’t offer anywhere near the space. As you can probably guess by that roofline, headroom out back is limited, as is legroom.

But those seats do at least fold out of the way easily, with a 40/20/40 split, meaning you can drop just the middle section should you want to seat four in here while also carrying some skis, snowboards, or the like. Just make sure the two rear passengers are somewhat short of stature.

The software experience

Audi’s MMI experience handles infotainment duties, a dual-screen system that’s comprehensive if occasionally confusing. The bottom screen is mostly used for the car’s climate control system, but occasionally, you’ll use the top screen for that.

Meanwhile, the top screen has the bulk of the infotainment experience, and you’ll find the integrated navigation system and media playback here. Connect your phone for wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay and either of those displays take over the top screen. Media is played through a 23-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, which offers a rich, broad sound but comes with quite an asking price: $4,900.

The gauge cluster is likewise fully digital, measuring 12.3 inches on the diagonal, and there’s a heads-up display as well, meaning you’ll not be lacking for information. All displays are thoroughly customizable and full of telemetry covering everything from maximum g-forces to tire pressures.

The most important control might just be on the steering wheel. It’s the RS button, which you can use to quickly toggle through two user-defined RS modes: RS1 and RS2. You can customize the engine response, suspension stiffness, steering resistance, engine sound, and differential setup.

Dig a little deeper, and you can also raise or lower the adaptive suspension, which I frequently had to do while driving the car.

Winter testing

My RS7 visit coincided with one of the worst ice storms we’ve experienced in New York in years. Heavy rains swept through, followed by a rapid temperature drop and a foot of heavy, wet snow. The resulting combination not only left the roads covered in ice and slick snow but also brought down trees and branches all over.

And I had to drive three hours straight into the heart of it.

Virtually any other 600-horsepower, $151,000 car would have left me, at best, stranded or, at worst, halfway through a tree. The RS7 handled it all remarkably well. Though the RS7 is low, it’s not so terminally low that the aggressive front air dam turned into a plow when the snow started to pile up.

Meanwhile, Audi’s sportiest sedan did an excellent job of getting all that power to the ground. In the few times I dug deep into the throttle (purely for the sake of experimentation), the RS7 squirmed just a bit, making the most of the grip, then shot forward in a controlled, predictable way.

This was on some of the slickest, nastiest roads I’ve ever experienced. I saw many cars in ditches, yet I had no problem getting home. I even enjoyed myself. And, on those few times when I needed to clear some particularly deep snow, raising the car an extra 0.8 inches was a reassuring thing — even if it was only a maximum speed of about 20 mph.

Much of this performance must be attributed to the Continental WinterContact tires on the car, which, despite being incredibly wide and low-profile, delivered good and predictable grip. But the RS7’s advanced differential system ensured that the power got to those tires in a balanced way and ultimately ensured that I got home safe.

Once the weather cleared and the roads dried, I had a chance to sample the car’s speed and performance differently. Here the RS7 is brutal and fast. That twin-turbo V8 sounds fantastic as it roars up through your every acceleration and burbles gently as you lose that speed again. The transmission clips through ratios without hesitation but did have a tendency to make the car jerk and stumble a bit when coasting to a stop.

The steering is delightfully quick, if a bit numb, and the grip levels are, of course, huge. For a car of this size, it’s very, very good.

Switching back to Comfort mode, the car returns to being a calm and relaxing luxury sedan. It’s really only that occasionally jerky transmission that betrays this car’s performance capability, that and an excess of road noise, which would surely be lessened with summer or all-season tires rather than the chunky winter tire treads here.

The 17.4 mpg I saw during my testing also points to this car’s capabilities, which matches the car’s official combined rating. However, according to the EPA, you can get up to 22 mpg on the highway if you drive it gently.

Pricing and Options

The 2024 Audi RS7 Performance you see here had a starting MSRP of $127,800, but included a number of options, including $7,650 for the matte carbon fiber, $4,900 for the Bang & Olufsen sound system, and $2,250 for the driver assistance package. The total price came out to $151,840 after a $1,095 destination charge.

As a machine meant to mix both luxury and performance, the RS7 handles both categories well, not providing the posh experience of something like a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but lining up quite compellingly against something like a Mercedes-AMG GT Sedan or Porsche Panamera and with a price to match.

With its visual tweaks and hints of outrageous performance, the RS7 feels a bit more special than either of those two, a bit more rare. Still, with Porsche’s new Panamera coming, and Mercedes raising the bar with the AMG GT, Audi’s barnstormer might need some new moves to keep up.

 

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2024 Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato Review

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PROS:


  • Stellar all-weather performance

  • Dramatic styling

  • Amazing sound

CONS:


  • Terrible rearward visibility

  • No more Corsa mode

  • The cost

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

A beautiful all-weather supercar, a true joy in inclement conditions, and a hell of a lot of fun even when the roads are dry and smooth.

The Huracan is getting on a bit. Now entering its 10th year of production, it’s not quite as long in the tooth as the venerable Aventador became before it was finally replaced last year, but it’s getting there.

To keep things feeling fresh, the Huracan formula must keep tweaking and extending. Typically, Lamborghini does this by slapping letters like S, SV, and SVJ to its cars, dialing up the power and asking price all the while. The Sterrato, though, is something new, something different, and, as it turns out, something extraordinary.

The concept

The Huracan Sterrato is, quite simply, the ultimate off-road Lamborghini. Sure, the Urus has more ground clearance and would surely be better for climbing up a rocky trail, but the rest of the time it offers little in terms of Lamborghini feel and flare. There was also the LM002 SUV of the 1980s. That thing was a true off-road beast, but having piloted one around Northern Italy, I can tell you that when it comes to actual driving enjoyment, there’s not much to be had.

Meanwhile, the Sterrato looks and drives like a true Lamborghini, just one that’s had a few subtle additions and enhancements to ensure that the fun doesn’t stop when the asphalt does.

That starts with the suspension, which raises the car by 44 mm. Part of that lift is helped by the tread on a set of chunky Bridgestone Dueler AT002 tires mounted to 19-inch wheels. Five wheels, as it happens, with the car you see here outfitted with an optional spare mounted to the roof. That, though, is one option that I can’t recommend against strongly. The Sterrato, you see, doesn’t come with a jack, so even if you get a flat, you’ll have no way to change that wheel.

The engine, the Huracan’s brilliant 610-horsepower 5.2-liter V10, comes with top-mounted air intake, which not only looks fantastic but should help the engine suck in a little less grit on a dusty rally trail.

The rest of the changes are more on the lifestyle side, as ever, “style” being the most important part. The Sterrato comes with a pair of permanently affixed roof rails, to which you can mount crossbars and put whatever accessories you like. The car you see here came into my life with a top cargo basket of sorts, but given my wintery testing, a ski rack would have been more appropriate.

Chunky, bolted-on fender flares at every corner add stance and aggression, while some light underbody protection should keep gravel and the like from damaging that aluminum and composite chassis.

The overall shape and appearance of the Huracan isn’t much impacted. It looks essentially the same as it ever did, just slightly angrier and, most importantly, more ready for adventure.

Interior

On the inside, Sterrato-specific changes are few. Lamborghini offers a pair of all-weather, rubber floor mats that fit perfectly and extend up the sides of the Huracan’s microfiber-lined interior. They’re a must-have if you’ll be braving inclement conditions.

But otherwise, it’s much the same interior as we’ve seen elsewhere in the Huracan. Alcantara is the material of choice, feeling luxurious and looking great, especially with the contrasting yellow stitching and the lurid seatbelts to match. The attention to detail here is impressive, and while many will find the styling a bit excessive, it’s absolutely on-point for a Lamborghini.

The Huracan was recently updated with a new touchscreen interface that is simple but effective. Both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are on offer, but only wired. There’s also Alexa in here if you have an active Amazon account.

More importantly are the various telemetry screens on offer, including a new one for the Sterrato that shows off-road angle information, plus GPS coordinates, just perfect for when you’re really going out there. I found the differential display far more interesting, showing in real-time where the Huracan is sending its power, front-to-rear and side-to-side. As much of my testing was done in low-grip situations, it was a never-ending source of entertainment to see the flow of torque.

While entertaining to watch, you won’t need to spend much time stabbing at that touchscreen. Most of the essential driving controls are right on the steering wheel. Your left thumb controls the turn signals plus flashing or toggling the high beams. On the right, you’ll find the windshield wiper button.

The mode toggle is on the bottom, customized for the Sterrato. Strada is the default mode on top, followed by the racier Sport, and then Rally, a new dedicated, low-grip, high-performance mode that is the hallmark of this car. The final controls within reach are the column-mounted shift paddles, made of metal and standing proud behind the wheel.

While most inputs are on the wheel, the Huracan still has plenty of physical controls elsewhere, including a row of plastic toggles that run above the touchscreen and that iconic, crimson ENGINE START/STOP button in the center console lurking under a plastic protector. Flip that up, stab the button, and everything changes.

Ignition

The Sterrato’s V10 is situated just about a foot behind the driver’s right ear, so when it spins into life, you absolutely know it.

However, to enjoy the engine’s sound, you need to toggle to Sport mode, which opens up the exhaust and adds a fair bit of bass to the experience.

In fact, you’re better off avoiding Strada mode almost entirely. The Sterrato’s default drive mode is extremely, oddly tame. It’s always trying to run you a gear or two higher in the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission than you might like and feels quite reluctant to downshift. It also enables the somewhat annoying engine start/stop feature (which you can quickly disable if you like). Finally, it’s all too eager to drop the V10 down to an inline five-cylinder whenever you’re light on the throttle.

Driven in this way, I managed 15.1 mpg during my testing, which is quite reasonable for a 600-plus hp car. Indeed, that’s precisely why that mode exists. But if you want an engaging drive, step on up to Sport.

In Sport, everything just feels better. The shifts are rougher than before, but they’re lightning-quick and exactly where you want them to be. The exhaust sounds better, the engine is more responsive, and the Sterrato just feels ready to play.

However, it’s in Rally mode when things get wild. This new mode was designed to provide a much more playful experience in low-grip situations, allowing the Sterrato to spin up its wheels with more aggression than would normally be beneficial for a high-grip situation like the Corsa mode was designed for, which is found on other Huracans.

In Rally, the Sterrato is happy to let you let loose, not cutting power for me even when all four wheels were spinning wildly on an icy surface. It did cut power when I made larger steering inputs, being somewhat selective in how much counter-steering was allowed before it decided I needed some help. But it certainly didn’t ruin the fun.

I do, though, lament the loss of the Corsa mode. While the Rally mode is a good trade, it’s a shame you can’t have both. After all, though its suspension is softer, with a proper set of tires the Sterrato would still be a wonderful track day toy.

Regarding the tires, the Sterrato’s Dueler AT002s are rated for mud and snow, but certainly seem better suited for the former. While I wasn’t able to test that condition, I did spend lots of time amid wintery stuff with the Sterrato you see here. The tires didn’t provide the confidence offered by a dedicated snow tire, especially in more icy conditions, but they delivered plenty of grip to have fun. Most importantly, when they gave up that grip, they did so in a clean, predictable manner.

Options and pricing

The Huracan Sterrato starts at $273,177, plus a $3,695 destination charge and a $2,100 gas guzzler tax. The car you see here had a suite of mostly cosmetic options, including $9,800 for the lovely Giallo Inti paint and $7,600 for the sports seats.

It doesn’t take long to add another six figures onto the price of your Sterrato, with this one costing $348,649 in total, but that’s the name of the game with a car like this.

The Sterrato’s performance, however, is anything but predictable. It’s a beautiful all-weather supercar, a true joy in inclement conditions, and a hell of a lot of fun even when the roads are dry and smooth. It’s even more comfortable to drive than a regular Huracan and much less likely to dig its nose into the slightest inclines, too.

It’s the complete package, and while you’ll certainly have to pay for it, it feels very much worth every penny.

The post 2024 Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato Review first appeared on Yanko Design.

2024 Audi Q8 E-Tron Review

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PROS:


  • Engaging handling

  • Comfort seating

  • Plenty of storage

CONS:


  • Range still a bit short

  • No hands-off tech

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

A refresh that moves Audi's E-Tron forward in all the right directions.

As far as EVs go, the E-Tron has been around long enough to have seen a few things. Debuting back in 2018, Audi’s first battery-powered ride was a great car in many ways, but it also felt lacking in others. Most notably, its range was on the middling side and its handling made it a pleasant drive but far from a memorable one. Finally, there was the name: E-Tron. It just didn’t really fit in with anything Audi had done before or since.

For 2024, it’s back, and now it’s called the Q8 E-Tron. Despite the new name, now fitting squarely within Audi’s model taxonomy, this is actually a subtle refresh. It’s so subtle that you’d be forgiven for not being able to identify the new car from the old were they sitting side-by-side. But, after having driven both quite extensively, I’m happy to say it’s a refresh that moves the car forward in all the right directions — though perhaps not far enough in some.

By the numbers

The Q8 E-Tron is, like before, a five-passenger SUV that, to my eye, looks more like a tall station wagon. Its height of 64.3 inches splits the difference quite handily between the regular Q8 SUV and the A8 sedan, so it really is its own thing.

It’s available in three trims, with starting prices in the U.S. just under $75,000 on the low end and $85,000 on the high end. The car tested here is a Prestige trim with just a few options added.

It has a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system offering a total system output of 402 horsepower and 490 pound-feet of torque. The range from the new and larger 114-kilowatt-hour battery is 285 miles per the EPA, while the maximum charging rate is 170 kW. In my testing, I didn’t come anywhere near that EPA rating, averaging 2.3 miles per kilowatt hour at best, for an estimated 243 miles from the 106 usable kWh in that new battery.

But don’t hold that against it. I did all my testing in the winter months, and that result is actually quite good given the low temperatures. Even the best EVs hate the cold. In the summer, I have no doubt that drivers will meet or exceed that EPA figure.

More importantly, the Q8 E-Tron did an excellent job of providing accurate, reliable range estimates based on weather conditions and terrain, something that many other EV makes still struggle with.

Deja-Q

Squint, and you’ll hardly be able to tell the difference between the Q8 and the E-Tron that came before. Put on your glasses, and the differences are still easy to miss. The highlights are definitely in the front facia, which is sharper, cleaner, and fresher than before. Revised lighting, too, makes the Q8 E-Tron have a subtly greater presence than before.

New 20-inch wheels also provide more visual intrigue from the side without compromising ride quality too much, but the overall visual aesthetic of the Q8 is still very much an understated one. That’s doubly so, thanks to a decidedly muted selection of colors. The shade you see here, Plasma Blue, is the most dramatic of the bunch, and yet it easily blends into your average parking lot palette.

Even less has changed on the inside, and that doesn’t bother me so much. The original E-Tron’s interior was a standout, and while it’s perhaps a bit familiar now, it still delivers in all the right ways. It also still bears the indentations in the door cars where the digital side-view mirrors would live in the American version of the Q8 E-Tron, were they legal. Five years after the original E-Tron’s launch, they’re still not.

Though mostly dark and dominated by soft-touch rubbers and plenty of harder, harsher stuff, the look is clean, and everything feels durable. The slash of open-pore wood across the dash, though desaturated and still not providing much visual flare, does at least add some organic appeal to what would otherwise be too cold a space. (Brown leather is also on offer, as well as off-white.)

The primary interface is a pair of touchscreens stacked vertically. The lower is primarily dedicated to HVAC controls and other features like smart home integration, charging, and toggling hill descent control.

The touchscreen above is the more significant of the two, where the bulk of Audi’s MMI lives and where either Apple CarPlay or Android Auto will be wirelessly displayed should you choose to enable it. To the left, there’s Audi’s Virtual Cockpit Plus, augmented further by a heads-up display.

That’s plenty of displays for sure. Though this version of MMI feels more than a little dated at this point, its voice recognition in particular offering little assistance compared to the more recent offerings from BMW or Mercedes-Benz. That said, it’s quick and easy to use, and the haptic pulse received when selecting touch controls is still a pleasant thing.

Interior comfort

At 193.5 inches long, the Q8 E-Tron is a big car, and it makes use of that volume by offering comfortable seating in the front or the rear. Out back, there’s plenty of legroom and headroom, plus a pair of USB-C ports and dedicated controls for rear HVAC, plus heating the rear seats.

Front seats add ventilation, and while the cooling isn’t particularly effective, the heating is certainly the more important part of the equation, and there they do not disappoint. The heated steering wheel, however, could use a few more watts.

Front seats are power-adjustable, with two memory settings, and visibility from the driver’s seat is quite good. The shaping of the A-pillars keeps them from blocking too much of your perspective, while the panoramic sunroof above helps keep things looking lighter and brighter than the dark materials otherwise would.

In practical terms, 28.5 cubic feet of cargo space make for a very livable machine. Fold the split rear seats, which flop down at the pull of a lever at the back of the cargo compartment, and you’re greeted with an expansive 56.4 cubic feet of space. Plenty for the most indulgent of trips to the big-box shops.

The drive

The outgoing E-Tron was pleasant to drive, calm and relaxed, quite nicely composed on the sorts of roads that will try the best of suspension systems. The revised Q8 E-Tron, I’m pleased to say, has lost none of that valuable, though ultimately forgettable demeanor.

What’s added is a surprising amount of engagement. The Q8 E-Tron, when pushed hard and toggled over to Sport mode, is quite fun to drive. No, we’re not coming close to the levels offered even by any member of Audi’s RS family. Still, revised steering and some subtle suspension tweaks help make for a car that’s eager when the road turns away from you.

It’s also eager when that road is straight and narrow. The new Q8 E-Tron feels even quicker than its 402 hp. To get maximum power, you need to be in Sport mode, where the throttle is sharpest. The Q8 E-Tron is genuinely eager, so eager that you’ll only want to deploy that mode when you’re by yourself, lest you threaten the patience — or the stomachs — of anyone else in the car.

They won’t have to worry about getting car sick from excessive regenerative braking, though. Like the old E-Tron, the Q8 doesn’t have much to offer. Tap the left paddle a few times to enable maximum regen, but the maximum is barely any. Audi’s dogged dislike of one-pedal driving continues, which continues to be a shame for any buyer who prefers not to step on the brake pedal so often.

Regarding safety systems, the Q8 E-Tron has a comprehensive stack, including automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alerts, and a lane departure warning system. It was enough to earn it an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award.

However, where more and more competitors offer hands-off highway driving, this SUV is still very much in the hands-on mode. Its lane-keep system also got a little confused when approaching exit ramps where the right painted lines split off to make room for the exit, resulting in an occasional, uncomfortable lurch. But the adaptive cruise worked well, always identifying and reacting to traffic early and smoothly.

Options and pricing

The 2024 Audi Q8 E-Tron you see here had a starting MSRP of $74,400, while the Prestige package added a further $10,400. Compared to the base Q8 E-Tron, Premium Plus adds on the better Bang & Olufsen sound system, ventilated front seats, and the 360 camera. Prestige steps that up further with a basic massaging system on those seats, which are now wrapped in higher-spec leather, with upgraded matrix lighting up front.

This car also blacked out much of the chrome with the $2,000 Black Optic Package, $400 for additional rear side airbags, and $595 for that Plasma Blue paint. Add on the $1,195 destination charge, and you have a final sticker price of $88,990.

That’s a comprehensively equipped and properly luxurious machine for that money. Really, it’s only the range that’s still a bit light compared to the competition, on par with something like the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV’s 279 miles, but short of BMW’s iX, which offers 311 miles for comparable money. But, most buyers will find the E-Tron’s 285 miles plenty enough, and they’ll also find the Q8 to be a comfortable, upscale, and now subtly engaging all-electric SUV.

The post 2024 Audi Q8 E-Tron Review first appeared on Yanko Design.

Hyundai Ioniq 6 Review

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PROS:


  • Stellar range

  • Compelling style

  • Good technology

CONS:


  • Tiny trunk

  • Limited headroom

  • Inaccurate range predictions

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

A comprehensively good car with striking looks and world-class efficiency.

The battle for aerodynamic performance has created some compelling shapes over the years, but it’s mandated far more that would be called boring. Amorphous machines like the Mercedes-Benz EQS and the Tesla Model S haven’t exactly won the hearts or minds of many buyers. But still, it’s an important fight. With buyers demanding ever more range and efficiency from their EVs, a car cheating the wind is even more important now than ever.

The Ioniq 6 is Hyundai’s most extreme aerodynamic experiment yet. With a drag coefficient of just 0.22, it’s the slipperiest car ever from the South Korean manufacturer. Impressively, it’s a figure that approaches or matches other, more boring shapes like the aforementioned Mercedes and Tesla.

Despite that, it’s a car that has a distinctive, fetching shape and a visual appeal all its own. That it looks like nothing else on the road is a good start, that it’s such a comprehensively good car and is available with 300 miles of range is even better.

The Packaging

The shape of the Ioniq 6 is quite basic, just a simple front-to-rear arc that doesn’t by itself offer much in the way of intrigue. But within that low-drag profile is a series of details and highlights that make this sedan special.

The most interesting angle is the rear. Instead of simply tapering down to the ground, designers integrated a large spoiler into the back of the Hyundai. This definitely serves an aerodynamic purpose, but more importantly, it adds an air of sportiness to what could otherwise be a utilitarian profile.

Like the rest of the car, that spoiler is riddled with pixel lights and other details, creating a car that looks as interesting up close as it does from afar. Even the little fin antenna perched up on the roof contains some surprises, a transparent housing that exposes its circuitry when you get up there and really look at it. That is something you will want to do with the Ioniq 6.

Unfortunately, the car’s slippery profile does come with its compromises, starting with storage space. There’s effectively no storage space under the frunk, and the trunk is not much better. The opening to the boot of the Ioniq 6 is wide but low, exposing only 11.2 cubic feet of storage space. That’s about a third less even than the Sonata, a car of otherwise similar dimensions.

In fact, the Ioniq 6 is nine inches longer even than the Ioniq 5. That length does impart some advantages, like a copious amount of legroom in the rear seats. Headroom, though, is more limited. Passable, but far from generous. Rear seat occupants get a pair of USB-C ports and even a 250V three-prong outlet for juicing up more power-hungry devices.

Two more USB-C ports are lurking in the armrest, plus a USB-A port up front and a Qi wireless pad. You’ll need to use one of those ports if you want either Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, because neither is supported wirelessly.

Up front, headroom is acceptable but still not great. I’m six feet tall, and my hair just brushed the headliner with the driver’s seat situated as low as possible. Otherwise, seating is comfortable, power-adjustable and offering adjustable lumbar support plus heating and cooling. That heating is powerful, so much so that even on some very chilly mornings I found its highest setting too intense.

Interface

Like nearly everything else here, seat heater controls are buried in the touchscreen. There’s a small HVAC panel low on the center console where you can adjust temperatures and trigger the defrosters, but otherwise you’re left stabbing at that panel.

It’s a 12.3-inch unit, joined at the hip with another 12.3-inch panel that forms the gauge cluster. It’s the same basic layout as on the Ioniq 5 and it looks and works well here. The two displays are framed in matte silver, giving a clean, cohesive look.

Thumb controls on the wheel make adjusting things like cruise control and media volume easy, while a set of delightfully chunky and tactile stalks behind handle the usual duties for turn signals and wipers. A third stalk, situated low and on the right, is the gear selector. Twist it forward for D, rearward for R, and push in the button on the end for P.

At first, it’s a little easy to get the shifter confused for the wiper stalk, but otherwise, the control layout is intuitive, while the feel of all the controls is excellent.

As is the look of the interior. Though dominated by dark plastics on this particular car that have a bit of a harsh feel to them in places (white is also available), the Ioniq 6 manages to be even more interesting on the inside than on the outside. Subtle ripples on the door cars grow in amplitude from top to bottom, emerging like standing waves as you get close to the handles integrated into large arm rests that feature massive, bright speaker grilles.

Those speakers are from Bose and offer plenty of power to fill the cabin. There’s perhaps not an excess of finesse from the sound performance here, the prodigious bass coming from the trunk somewhat overshadowing the tweeters in the A-pillars and the speaker perched high on the dashboard.

Upturned edges visually dominate the dash itself, flourishes meant to highlight the integrated, digital side-view mirrors present in international markets but sadly lacking in the U.S.-specification car you see here. Still, it’s a compelling look, all of it punctuated by countless little squares, pixels found everywhere from the dashboard down to the generous storage space on the floor between the seats.

Four more pixels are embedded in the steering wheel, each backed by LEDs that sweep in color in response to drive mode and other features. The Ioniq 6’s ambient lighting can likewise be set to cycle as you tap the Drive Mode button on the steering wheel, with green for Eco, blue for Normal, and red for Sport.

If there’s one disappointing thing in the interior, it’s that Drive Mode dial on the steering wheel. The knurled edges make you want to spin it to cycle from one mode to the next. Sadly, it’s just a simple button, toggling slowly from one mode to the next.

Sport mode

While not as satisfying as a knob to twist, the resulting transformation is still very rewarding, the Ioniq 6 morphing from gentle cruiser to performance-minded hooligan machine with just two taps.

In Eco mode, the cool green ambient lighting matches the calm and quiet cabin. In this mode, the Ioniq 6 is a real pleasure to breeze your way through traffic or down to the shops. The suspension on the Ioniq 6 is tuned to the soft side, a feel that’s just short of floaty.

The priority was clearly on ride quality, which is generally good, though the low-profile 20-inch wheels and tires can be a bit harsh on sharp bumps, like broken concrete highways and separation joints. Those looking for the ultimate in cosseting will want to spec the 18-inch wheels and tires found on lesser trims.

Tap twice to cycle into Sport Mode, and things get rambunctious. Though the suspension doesn’t change, the throttle response is sharpened to a point where this dual-motor all-wheel-drive unit leaps forward. 320 horsepower and 446 pound-feet of torque are now readily and eagerly applied to your most subtle whim.

The power is easily enough to overcome the grip offered by the low-rolling-resistance tires here, and once the car’s traction control system detects a hint of spin it neutralizes the power output. Driving the Ioniq 6 hard, then, is a game of managing grip, not asking too much lest you draw the attention of the traction or stability control systems.

With that soft suspension and prodigious dimensions, the Ioniq 6 will never be a sports car. But its strong acceleration will leave nearly anything else on the road in its wake, and it’s a genuinely good time to dart through traffic circles and sling out of fast bends. And, with the regenerative braking set to maximum via the wheel-mounted paddles, there’s little need to remove your foot from the accelerator.

Flog it like this, and the Ioniq 6 won’t come close to its EPA rating of 270 miles on a charge from its 77.4 kWh battery pack. With a combination of hard driving and highway speeds in cold temperatures, I still averaged 2.9 miles per kWh for a theoretical maximum range of 225 miles.

That’s actually quite good, given it was flirting with freezing during my testing. And, because I wasn’t going easy on the accelerator. Driven in more temperate conditions and with a bit more frugality, I’m confident that 270 mile figure is achievable.

That said, I was disappointed by the car’s inaccurate range predictions. In one long, 120-mile highway stretch, the car initially estimated I’d have 80 miles of range remaining when I got to my destination. When I arrived, fewer than 30 miles were left on the clock. That’s despite my using the integrated navigation system, so it knew exactly where I was going and how I was going to get there.

That was a letdown, but Hyundai’s latest Highway Drive Assist system at least impressed. The Ioniq 6 stayed rock-solid, centered in its lane, slowing up or speeding down based on traffic in a casual, no-fuss way. The car will even change lanes on its own, only requiring that you, the driver, signal the change. It worked reliably but slowly, the car often pondering a full three seconds before making its move. That’s too long when there’s traffic about.

Pricing and Options

Hyundai Ioniq 6 pricing starts at $41,600 for a Standard Range, single-motor model. The model I tested here is a top-shelf Limited Long Range AWD with 20-inch wheels and a $56,100 MSRP. The lone accessory added was $210 for floor mats. Add the $1,115 destination charge, and you have a final asking price of $57,425.

As fun as the Ioniq 6 is with two motors and all the power they bring, to me, the Ioniq 6 is best when driven more casually and frugally. Given that, I’d spec it with the single-motor long-range SE version. That starts at just $45,500 and, though slower, is rated for a remarkable 361 miles on the EPA cycle.

You’d find me hypermiling my way to work, enjoying the kind of range generally only found in cars costing much more, cars that don’t look and feel anywhere near as interesting as this.

The post Hyundai Ioniq 6 Review first appeared on Yanko Design.

Zero DSR/X Long-Term Review

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PROS:


  • Capable in all conditions

  • Comfortable and easy to ride

  • Practical layout

CONS:


  • Lacking range

  • Expensive

  • Confusing interface

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

“In my initial review I called this bike a masterpiece, and now, at the end of this extended loan, I feel much the same way -- but with some important caveats.”

It’s been an up-and-down year for riding where I live on the East Coast of the United States. We’ve had good weather and bad, repeated wind storms and record-breaking amounts of rain. That’s the kind of unpredictability that keeps many motorcycles sitting inside the garage, sipping slowly from trickle chargers.

It’s also the kind of conditions that are absolutely perfect for the Zero DSR-X. I’ve now spent a full year living with this dual-sport electric motorcycle, covering miles through all seasons to find out just what this bike is all about. After the first few months, I called this bike a masterpiece, and now, at the end of this extended loan, I feel much the same way — but with some important caveats.

Design

It’s admittedly only been a year, but I find the look of the DSR-X just as appealing as I did 12 months ago. Maybe even more so. Its upright, organic shape is still a welcome sight to me as I approach it in a parking lot. Far from the razor-thin shapes most commonly seen on sportbikes, the somewhat bulbous fairing of the Zero gives it a more friendly appearance.

I still love the green, too, a somewhat muted hue that feels like a nod to the nature that this bike craves getting out and into.

Beyond the visual appeal, there’s a lot of practicality here, too. The generous front windscreen lacks power but is so easy to adjust with its pair of chunky knobs that you won’t mind the absence. At its maximum extent, the windscreen was a bit too short for me, causing buffetting on the top of my helmet, but I sit rather tall, so this won’t be an issue for most folks.

The saddle, at 32.6 inches in height, felt a bit tall at first, but I quickly got comfortable. It’s far wider and softer than most bikes with dual sport aspirations, making it a treat for longer days in the saddle. And, when you need to stretch those legs or get some extra airflow between them, wide and grippy pegs make it easy to stand up, even in the rain and the mud.

The high positioning of the grips, too, makes it easy to operate the bike while standing. It helps for keeping good posture while seated, too. My only complaint with the controls is the rocker switch on the left. It’s used for controlling so many functions — toggling drive modes, heated grips, resetting the trip meter, etc. — that it’s easy to forget what to tap or press and when. A four-way rocker would have been less confusing and more intuitive.

My favorite part of the design can’t even be seen. It’s the cavernous storage compartment built into the tank. Though sadly not quite big enough for a helmet (at least, not one my size), it easily swallows all sorts of things. In my time with it, I’ve used it to carry food and drinks for meals on the go, a gallon of almond milk home from the shops, even a flower bouquet.

It also makes for a great place to keep your rain gear when not needed or to toss your gloves when the bike is parked up waiting for you. I only wish the cubby featured the kind of central locking you find on the Honda Goldwing or other high-end touring bikes. It must be unlocked with the ignition key, which often left me shutting the bike down, using the key to open the storage compartment, and then powering the bike back up again.

On the road

While I only spent a little bit of time trail-hopping this Zero, it proved itself to be an compliant and capable ride on loose gravel and dirt. That’s despite a set of tires that offer little in the way of tread for that kind of terrain.

It’s also despite a prodigious weight but the refinement of the controls in the DSR-X are what make it so sweet to cruise up a trail. Without a clutch to slip or a gearbox to manage, you simply worry about throttle and brake. More importantly, you’re free to enjoy the ride a bit more.

I confess I’m not much of a trail rider, so I didn’t get into too much trouble on the Zero, but it always felt willing and able to go adventuring.

That continued as the temperatures dropped. The standard heated grips are a delight on chilly mornings, helped by the brush guards that keep most of the wind from your knuckles. Meanwhile, that windscreen and fairing do a great job of keeping the worst of the weather from the rest of you, such that riding through the rain isn’t as soaking an event as it might be on other bikes.

Even so, much of my riding was in the dry on asphalt in various states of disrepair, ideal conditions for this bike. I found the traction control system subtle enough not to be a restriction, yet it smoothly and reassuringly cut power when needed to mitigate unwanted wheelspin on the road.

Likewise, I only experienced the ABS a few times, but it too smoothly kept the wheels turning and kept me upright during a few panic stops over the year, avoiding wildlife and wild drivers.

Bumpy roads did little to unsettle the DSR-X. At least, they didn’t once I got the suspension dialed in properly. The bike came to me with too much compression damping at the rear, which left everything feeling a bit too nervous over every little bump. But, after a quick consultation with the online manual, I had the rear shock dialed in for my weight. Everything was smooth from there.

Smooth is when I had the most fun on the DSR-X. Yes, it’s excellent in rough conditions, but Zero’s biggest bike is still a great corner carver on a freshly paved, twisty piece of asphalt. In these conditions, the Canyon riding mode is easily my favorite. That mode not only gives you the maximum throttle response with your wrist, but the maximum regen too. This means that you rarely need to reach for the brake lever. You can just roll the throttle on and off and swing through the twists and turns.

There are five separate on-road modes and five more off-road modes, plus a custom mode, all editable through Zero’s app. There’s an absolute wealth of configurability here, plus data management, making this among the most intelligent, most connected bikes out there. Data fiends will love the ability to download details from every ride. Perfectionists, meanwhile, will love being able to create a custom layout on the five-inch LCD gauge cluster.

Range and charging

If there’s one fly in this ointment, it’s the range. Though the DSR-X is rated for a maximum of 180 miles in the city, you’d have to rely on the most economical riding modes and keep your speed very low to manage it. I tried and couldn’t quite get there myself, at least not without feeling like a rolling traffic obstruction. If you’re exclusively riding on low-speed urban streets or crawling over trails, you might be able to manage that.

Me? I more often saw range estimates around 140 miles, but when I was feeling sporty (which, let’s be honest, was most of the time), I struggled to manage 120 miles on a charge. That is not a lot. Even if you exclusively head out on sunny Sundays for an afternoon cruise to your favorite taco shop, you may find yourself sweating that remaining range indicator on the return trip.

I never had any particularly close calls, but neither did I feel like pushing things. While charging is reasonably quick, the bike usually takes fewer than two hours to top up, that’s still too long to reasonably ride somewhere, enjoy lunch near a charger, and head home. You’ll need to do some serious route planning and budget lots of time for activities near plugs if you want to road trip one of these.

Pricing and Options

The bike you see here was priced at $24,495, with no options, and seemingly none needed.

However, were I buying one now, knowing what I know, I’d be tempted by either the faster charger or the bigger battery pack. Being able to charge faster or go farther would open this bike up to be the truly comfortable touring bike it’s otherwise capable of being. The only problem is that selecting either of those options fills up that tank storage compartment that proved so useful, but with generous mounting points on the back of the saddle, fitting a set of boxes wouldn’t be much of a chore.

For the 2024 model, the DSR/X actually becomes more attainable, with a starting price of $22,995. But there’s an even more affordable version with a smaller, 15.6-kwh battery and a starting price of $19,995.

At the end of 12 months, I’m still left enamored of the DSR-X. Its range meant my adventures were limited to those close to home, but then I live where I live because it’s an area full of adventure, and this Zero was always ready.

The post Zero DSR/X Long-Term Review first appeared on Yanko Design.

Nothing Phone (2) Review – The Best Battery Life + Flagship Features on an Android Phone

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PROS:


  • Resilient Battery Life

  • Premium Design with more 'Functional' Glyphs

  • Beautifully clutter-free Nothing OS

CONS:


  • The sudden price bump

  • Camera still needs some tuning

  • Glass back is still highly slippery

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

Come for the Glyph Interface... Stay for the incredible Battery Life. The Phone (2) nails its basics well and then some. The price bump hurts a bit, but it's definitely worth it for the Mid-Range Flagship Killer.

This year’s Nothing Phone (2) is an even bigger deal than last year’s grand launch. You see, it’s easy to launch a company or a product range, but it’s incredibly difficult to sustain the momentum and energy a year after its launch. Pei shows that he’s still got that mojo, and even more so considering Nothing is rumored to be announcing new products under their CMF sub-brand. It’s been a hot minute since Nothing unveiled the Phone (2) and let’s just say, even with strenuous use, I’ve charged this device probably once every 2-3 days. Sure, one could argue that loading it with multiple apps, media, etc. does have its own effect on battery life, but even for first impressions, this phone’s battery seems to be the biggest standout… especially considering how companies are experimenting with dual-screen folding phones, much to the detriment of the overall battery life.

Click Here to Visit the Nothing Website

About the Phone

The Phone (2) is an iterative exercise in Nothing’s grand scheme of making technology more transparent and more fun. Last year’s Nothing Phone (1) laid the groundwork for the range, and this year, the Phone (2) hopes to carry the baton further with a design that just comes with subtle improvements. After all, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it, right?  The Phone (2) has better versions of everything, from the chipset and hardware to even the Glyph Interface and color (that grey color is just gorgeous to look at). It comes with a few unique accessories too, including a pretty neat-looking charging cable and a transparent SIM ejector tool. Moreover, this year’s Phone (2) also gets an improved Sustainability score over its predecessor thanks to the use of as many as 53 parts made from sustainable materials, including plastic-free packaging. The phone’s also designed to be repairable, using screws to assemble components rather than glue. All this comes at a price, though… and the Phone (2) sees a significant bump by $100, starting at $599 for the 128Gb model.

New and (Slightly) Improved Design

The Phone (2)’s design doesn’t see massive changes – in part because radically changing designs can be incredibly expensive with re-tooling and re-engineering costs really piling up, and also because the Phone (1) was already designed with a recognizable visual language. With the Phone (2), there are four stand-out differences. The first is the presence of a grey colorway over last year’s white. The grey arguably looks better because it provides the right amount of contrast between the transparent elements on the back. It doesn’t respond well to damage, however, as the grey paint scratches off the metal chassis pretty easily if you drop the phone. The second difference is the slightly curved back, which makes the phone look noticeably thinner, more premium, and easier to grip (even though that glass back is notoriously slippery). The third is a little less obvious, but it’s the central alignment of the front-facing camera, and the fourth… well, the fourth difference pretty much gets its own section in this article.

Glyph Interface Gets More Character

Last year’s Glyph Interface felt a bit like an unfinished project. This year’s Glyph Interface opens more avenues for functionality. Now with 11 different zones, the interface has the ability to ‘communicate more’ information, pretty much embodying the same logic of pixels. More pixels, more information. The 11 dedicated zones can be used in a multitude of ways, beyond just the flashy ringtone or camera light. You can assign glyph lights to apps, creating notification lights out of them so you know when you get a notification, and which app it’s from, even when the phone is face-down. The lowest glyph works as a status bar during charging, and now a glyph arc on the top right works as a countdown timer, with LEDs gradually turning off to make the light strip shorter as a visual indication of time. This feature, funnily, wouldn’t work unless the phone detected itself being kept face down. It required a bunch of tries, although when it worked, it worked flawlessly.

The NothingOS

The NothingOS 2.0 is by far the cleanest, most satisfyingly minimal launcher I’ve seen on any Android phone. It’s one of the things that doesn’t get mentioned often, but is perhaps the most important part of the phone’s entire experience. The Phone (2) comes with Nothing’s OS 2.0 bundled along with it, and the second you switch it on, you realize how unified it looks, how snappy it is, and how incredibly devoid of bloatware the phone is. In a world where smartphone companies still load their phone with apps you probably won’t ever use, the Phone (2) comes surprisingly light. It has JUST the essential apps, all with black-and-white icons, and widgets that fit beautifully into the phone’s home screen. While Nothing claims to make technology fun, the OS actually makes tech fun-ctional. There’s a fair amount of intent with which Nothing built out this OS, and I noticed a fair boost in my focus while using the app. I wasn’t distracted by tonnes of pixels and icons and colors. The OS made me feel rightfully clear-headed rather than distracted.

The Camera

Last year’s phone got a pass for having a fairly decent camera, but this year it seems that even though Nothing took notice, it wasn’t enough. Sure, as far as specs, go the Phone (2)’s camera measures up rather well, with the front camera now getting bumped up to 32 megapixels, and the rear cameras getting a few improvements with HDR, low-light photography, and blur removal. The camera still, however, saturates colors a little too much (sceneries look incredibly green and vivid to the point of looking a little artificial), and low-light photography doesn’t really hold a candle to Google, Samsung, or Apple’s tech. Optical stabilization is good during video, although it feels like the phone overcorrects a bit, and the Macro mode seems quite good at working with details up-close. On its own, the camera is decent, but it’s come a long way when compared to last year’s Phone (1) camera.

The Performance + Battery

If there’s a single area where the Phone (2) vastly exceeded its predecessor, it’s this. Last year’s smartphone had a pretty noticeable problem with heating up while charging or with heavy use, but this year the Phone (2) cruises through with no hiccups. Games work exceedingly well on the app and scrolling through sites is responsive and snappy. However, the one feature we were thoroughly impressed with was this year’s battery upgrade. With a 4700mAh battery, the Phone (2) lasts comfortably long with regular use, and even more on standby. With constant use, I managed to easily cruise through an entire day without needing to pull out the charger. In fact, I could go more than 24 hours without charging the phone. In idle mode, however, the phone comfortably lasted for half a week without needing a charge. If there’s one feature that thoroughly impressed me with this phone, it’s how reassuringly good the Phone (2)’s battery life was.

The Price

I want to say the price bump caught me by surprise but honestly, it didn’t. Ultimately, companies need to make money, and an affordable smartphone doesn’t pay for R&D. Last year’s $499 phone was purely priced to create a hype cycle, but this year’s $599 phone hopes to sustain Nothing’s growth. After all, Pei did the exact same thing with OnePlus, bumping up the price with each subsequent model before launching the OnePlus X (which was a low-range offering), which blossomed into the Nord series. It isn’t inconceivable that Nothing will probably launch a budget-friendly range of phones too, although that would most likely come under its CMF sub-brand. However, until then, the Phone (2) starts at $599 for the 128GB 8GB RAM variant, going up to $669 for the 256GB 12GB RAM model and a sizeably high $745 for the 512GB 12GB RAM variant.

The Verdict

The Phone (2) somewhat loses its title of being the flagship killer, because with an average price of $669, it’s pretty much in flagship territory. That being said, the Phone (2) somewhat makes a case for itself with its features and fundamentals. I don’t recommend it for content creators or people looking to own a phone with a measurably great camera… but for people looking to own a phone that’s exciting, has a great OS, works remarkably well, and stuns with its battery life, the Phone (2) is a solid pick. The Phone (2) stands out brilliantly against a sea of otherwise boring designs, and Nothing does a fairly good job on its promise of making technology fun.

Click Here to Visit the Nothing Website

Photo Credits: Pratik Dhamapurkar

The post Nothing Phone (2) Review – The Best Battery Life + Flagship Features on an Android Phone first appeared on Yanko Design.

Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro S Review

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PROS:


  • Good range and power

  • Wide open interior

  • Improved performance

CONS:


  • Over-reliance on touch surfaces

  • Monotone interior design

  • Overly conservative stability control

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The ID.4's second act proves Volkswagen means business when it comes to EVs

It’s always interesting to watch cars as they evolve on the market. Some stay stagnant before they eventually just sort of fade away. Others, usually products deemed to be of particular significance by their respective manufacturers, see significant updates and improvements over the course of their lives.

As part of the opening salvo of Volkswagen’s EV onslaught on the global market, the ID.4 is certainly a significant car, one that landed to satisfying but hardly glowing reviews. The next step, the Pro S, is here to add a little more: more range, specifically, but more performance and more responsiveness, too. Is it enough to elevate the perspective of this humble EV?

Design

Visually, not a lot has changed about the ID.4 from the initial version that premiered in late 2020, released to international markets in the following year. It’s the same, tall, upright, deceptively large shape — offering similar cargo capacity to the larger Tiguan SUV.

The biggest change is hidden in the floor of the thing: a larger, 82-kilowatt-hour battery pack that pushes the AWD Pro S flavor of the ID.4 a total of 255 miles on the EPA test cycle. That’s 46 more miles than the rear-wheel-drive ID.4 Standard model can manage.

The AWD PRo S quicker, too, much quicker, with 295 horsepower and an estimated 0 – 60 mph time of 5.8 seconds. That’s enough to make it feel like a completely different machine from the generally sedate and calm but comfortable and competent ID.4 Standard.

The overall body shape is still the same, still somewhat shapely but largely anonymous. However, on the Pro S, the creased flares on the rear fenders seem a little more purposeful, somehow. Perhaps it’s just the knowledge that this one has more power to fill them.

On the inside, the story hasn’t changed much. The AWD Pro S you see here was configured with the Galaxy interior (a.k.a. “black”), which adds a bit of a low-rent feel to things. I much prefer the look of the white interior, but that’s not going to fit into everyone’s lifestyle. It’s a shame there isn’t some in-between option that offers both personality and durability.

Only a splash of silver-painted plastic across the center of the dash breaks up the darkness in here, matched by silver handles and three lines of contrasting stitching on each door. Everything else just falls into a sea of dark and darker.

I don’t love the tones, but the materials are generally good, soft-touch plastics and vegan leathers feel good to the hand, and while there’s the obligatory glossy piano black section too, that’s limited, just surrounding the arm rest and generously sized center console.

In fact, everything feels generously sized in here. There’s plenty of legroom and headroom in either the front or rear seats, while the hatch offers a healthy 30.3 cubic feet of cargo space, 64.2 if you drop the 60/40 split rear seats.

That hatch’s upright shape just makes loading cargo all the easier, and the hands-free operation is quick and easy, crucial when your arms are full with heavy groceries.

Technology and Safety

That’s perhaps the smallest bit of convenience tech found on the ID.4, including a climate control system smart enough to know what to do if you tell it your feet are cold. There’s an LED strip integrated below the windscreen used for signaling upcoming turns or active safety warnings. Sadly, though the tiny gauge cluster behind the steering wheel will pull turn information from Android Auto or Apple CarPlay (wirelessly, even), you have to use the ID.4’s clunkier, integrated nav if you want to make use of that LED light show.

That little gauge cluster measures just 5.3 inches and feels cramped at first, but you’ll quickly realize it has plenty of information. It’s mildly customizable, able to provide slightly more room for notifications from the adaptive safety system or for the navigation section.

The bigger interface is the central, 12-inch display, running a user interface that feels a lot like an iPad rotated right 90 degrees. A home button sits on the left with two rows of icons on the right, through which you can swipe, tap, and drag. There are even simple widgets available, showing currently playing media and navigation information.

The interface is comprehensive and easy to use. It’s also a bit sluggish, but “a bit sluggish” is a noticeable improvement over the software that shipped initially on the ID.4.

Sadly, some other user experience aspects have not changed. The touch controls on the steering wheel ironically are still challenging to find by touch yet easy to find by accident. Likewise, there’s no volume knob to be found anywhere, which is a mark against by my book.

VW’s IQ.Drive safety system is present, including features like automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot-monitoring and even Emergency Assist, which can safely stop the car in the case of a medical emergency.

The advanced lane-keep-assist system, Travel Assist, did a great job of keeping the car centered on the highway, modulating speed to match traffic. It’ll even handle lane changes for you automatically when you signal, but the feature is frustratingly slow to actually make the move. In the end I usually just completed the change myself.

Punch It

While the ID.4 at launch was an easy car to like, its middling performance was something that made it a bit hard to love for many. The AWD Pro S fixes that with 295 hp and 339 pound-feet of torque, improvements of 94 and 100 respectively.

The base ID.4 feels quickish up to 30 and then sort of falls on its face at higher speeds. The AWD Pro S, however, pulls strongly up to 60 and has plenty of punch left even at highway speeds. Those with a heavy right foot will be chirping the tires when launching away from traffic lights and surging forward into gaps in traffic with ease.

The only real fly in this ointment is what happens when you do chirp those tires. It’s actually quite easy to overcome the grip of the all-season Scorpion Zero tires, triggering the ID.4’s traction control system to sweep in like a giant wet blanket. Heaven forbid you begin even the tiniest of slides and the car completely cuts power for a solid two-count before re-enabling the right pedal.

I’m aware that very few ID.4 drivers are going to push their cars this hard, but I’m also disappointed that, given the wondrous ability to create advanced traction and stability control systems afforded to modern engineers by the instantly responsive electric powertrains, Volkswagen didn’t do something just a bit more subtle here. The result is a car that is engaging and fun until it suddenly very much is not.

On the handling side, the ID.4 AWD Pro S is still tuned for comfort more so than cornering. Yes, it does just fine through twisty roads, even offering some surprisingly good steering feedback for a modern car, but the body roll and compliance are definite restrictions.

And that’s just fine. By prioritizing ride quality, ID.4 is able to soak up everything from road imperfections to railroad crossings without passing much of any disturbance into the cabin. It’s on another planet compared to the Tesla Model Y’s harsh, buzzy nature over bumps.

All the more reason to drive it calmly, when you’ll see the maximal range from your ID.4. The AWD Pro S is officially EPA-rated to do 255 miles on a charge. In my testing, I saw 3.4 miles per watt-hour, which works out to a theoretical maximum range of 262 miles from the 77 kWh of usable space in the battery.

Options and Pricing

In the U.S., the Volkswagen ID.4 Standard starts at $38,995. But, if you want the extra power, range, and features of the AWD Pro S you’re looking at a minimum of $51,295.

You won’t need to spend much more than that, really. The car you see here had exactly one option: Aurora Red Metallic paint for a worthwhile $395. That’s one of just three real colors, the other two being shades of blue, along with two whites, a black, and a gray.

A somewhat lackluster palette for a genuinely impressive car. The ID.4’s second act proves Volkswagen means business when it comes to EVs, and with more range and power at a fair price, the ID.4 AWD Pro S is well worth including in your shopping list.

The post Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro S Review first appeared on Yanko Design.

2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Review

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PROS:


  • Long range

  • Quick acceleration

  • Big-truck practicality

CONS:


  • Gigantic proportions

  • Busy interior

  • Cost

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The F-150 Lightning is a superb truck and a wildly versatile EV. I only wish it were smaller.

Ford sold over 650,000 F-150s in the U.S. in 2022, 653,957 to be exact. That’s a remarkable number of vehicles of any sort — Toyota only sold less than half that many Camrys. It’s that volume that made the release of the F-150 Lightning in early 2022 so significant. This truck truly has the potential to be a game-changer, taking millions of the most environmentally unfriendly vehicles off the road and replacing them with emissions-free successors.

That was the promise, and with a sub-$40,000 initial asking price the Lightning was a very tempting release. Now, though, the scales have changed dramatically. As of this writing, the cheapest Lightning, the Pro, starts at $59,974 — $63,474 if you want anything other than the stripped, fleet special. The truck you see here, meanwhile, cost just over $100,000. Given that, is the Lightning still the world-changing uber-truck that it was supposed to be?

It is, but the financial equation is sadly a lot more complicated than before.

Exterior Design

The design of the F-150 Lightning doesn’t offer much in the way of nuance or progressive thinking. This thing looks, very much, just a truck. A big one at that. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as buyers in this segment don’t tend to want anything radical, but you’d certainly be forgiven for not picking a Lightning out of a crowd of F-Series trucks in a parking lot.

In motion it’s a little easier to spot thanks to the distinctive running lights front and back, which span up around the headlights on the nose and between the tail lights at the rear. Those details are far and away the biggest visual differentiator between Lightning and a more pedestrian F-Series. But, look a little closer and you can spot some other cues.

Where the grille should be is just a wide swath of black plastic. Instead of a fuel filler cap on the rear fender, there’s a charging port on the front fender, and a few Lightning badges are scattered here and there.

For every nuance that’s subtly different in the Lightning there are a dozen elements carried over wholesale from the regular F-150. The mirrors still stand out wide and proud, each with roughly the same aerodynamic finesse as a shoe box. Body and bed are still split by the same, vertical, inch-wide gap and there’s even the same number pad on the B-pillar for keyless entry of the old-school variety.

Most significantly: the F-150 Lightning is huge, just like a regular F-150. Trucks in this category have been putting on weight for generations now and this current implementation is positively obese. At 231.7 inches, the Lightning is a whopping 33 inches longer than a Tesla Model X SUV, 45 inches longer than the Mustang Mach-E. It’s 96 inches wide and 78.3-inches tall — too tall even to fit into my garage, as it turns out.

It’s hard to argue with the outright capabilities, and it makes sense for Ford to come out of the gate with a top-shelf electric truck instead of something a little smaller and more manageable (more expensive cars have higher profit margins, after all), but I can’t help wishing this were a little more Maverick and a lot less massive.

Interior Design

That size does create a truck with an expansive interior. Five adults, even those of a generous girth, will fit comfortably here with adequate headroom and shoulder room and every other kind of room, too. Rear-seating isn’t exactly luxurious, but it is perfectly acceptable, with heating, a pair of USB ports (one A and one C) plus a 12-volt outlet and even a straight-up, three-prong 120V outlet.

In the Platinum trim, the two seats up front add on ventilation plus the usual power adjustments including lumbar. The giant arm-rest flips up to reveal a chasm big enough to store a couple six packs of your favorite beverage. Or, you can fold out the cushioning on top to create a perfectly serviceable workspace. Another pair of storage cubbies cut in on the sides of what would be the transmission tunnel if this thing had a transmission, plus another compartment ahead of the shifter with wireless charging and a pair of USB ports.

The doors are similarly riddled with storage space and there’s not one but two glove boxes. Plenty of places to lose plenty of things, but also a generous place for working. The USB-C ports in the center will keep your laptop charged while you work if you forgot your adapter, and the truck’s integrated WiFi will ensure your kids in the back can keep on streaming on the way to school.

In terms of visual appeal, there’s a lot going on in the interior, contrasting and clashing patterns and subtly different dark shades. White wouldn’t be my first upholstery color for a work truck, but it does provide a bit of nice contrast when entering the Lightning.

Once seated, you’re confronted with a sea of black plastics, some gloss, some textured, some knurled, some embossed with a fake leather pattern, some with a faux brushed metal appearance, and some wrapped with pseudo woodgrain. This mix of materials is a bit jarring and a bit disappointing in any vehicle costing this much.

Technology

The best part of the interior is the massive, 15.5-inch, vertically oriented display sitting right in the middle of the dash. This gives plenty of real estate for everything from climate controls on the bottom to quick access to settings along the top, with numerous tiles slotting in through the middle depending on what you’re doing.

That said, I do wish it had a few of the more subtle tricks from the Mach-E’s implementation of SYNC, like a persistent button on the top for quickly getting back to Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, both of which work wirelessly here and both also serve turn instructions to the gauge cluster.

That cluster is 12 inches, massive compared to that on the Mach-E and is configurable, displaying everything from charge status to pitch and roll for off-roading. The 360 cameras are also useful when you’re hitting the trail, but they’re far more helpful when trying to slot this thing into a parking spot. That can be a bit of a challenge, but with self-parking the Lightning is happy to handle that for you – if you’re not in a hurry.

Other active features include adaptive cruise, lane-keep assist, and automatic emergency braking with evasion. The hallmark here, though, is BlueCruise. This is Ford’s hands-off driver assistance system, capable of handling steering and speed on highways. It’s only available on certain, mapped and divided roads. When you get to one, there’s nothing to do but let go of the wheel.

BlueCruise will do two things: pilot the Lightning and watch you. An infra-red camera built into the dashboard is always studying your eyes to ensure that you’re paying attention, because even if your hands are off the wheel you’re still responsible for taking over. Let those eyes wander too long on a curious roadside sign or a particularly cute dog frollicking in someone’s front yard and the truck will chime at you. Do it again and it’ll chime again, more insistently. Eventually, the system will disable itself and you’ll be on your own.

BlueCruise works well, but the one in the F-150 Lightning isn’t the most advanced flavor of this technology, unable to perform automated lane changes. You’ll still need to handle that yourself.

But the truck can handle itself in a number of other ways, like the recently released Dynamic Hitch Assist system. Just back the car up somewhere near the hitch on your trailer and the Lightning will use the rear-view camera to automatically identify where the ball on your hitch needs to be, then line back itself up perfectly.

Ride and Dynamics

The F-150 Lightning has a traditional look and that very definitely continues to the traditional feel. This thing drives like a truck through and through, but a very comfortable and compliant one. The Lightning is still built on the same ladder-frame design as the normal F-150, but with independent suspension here instead of the traditional live-axle.

That surely helps to increase the ride quality and comfort. The Lightning is compliant on broken roads and surfaces, soaking up railroad crossings and separation joints without complaint. That said, body control is a bit lacking, the big rig having a tendency to float and bob a few moments longer than you might like after a major compression.

Steering is relaxed but acceleration is not. This dual-motor Lightning with the Extended Battery gets to 60 mph in less than 4.0 seconds, which is quicker than many sports cars. It scrabbles off the line with only a bit of a whir and a massive amount of thrust. More importantly, it can tow up to 10,000 pounds in XLS or Lariat trim, which isn’t too far from the maximum 14,000 on a regular F-150. That said, payload is down from 3,325 to 1,952 if you get the larger battery, 2,235 without.

To test that, I loaded the truck up with a couple cubic yards of mulch, just short of the maximum payload, and the truck was still extremely easy to drive, accelerating strongly and braking just as well.

In terms of range, the F-150 Lightning with the larger battery pack is rated for an impressive 320 miles. This Platinum truck, with the bigger wheels and extra goodies, still rates 300 miles per the EPA.

Perhaps more importantly, the Lightning will serve up that battery capacity in many different ways, from the onboard USB-C ports to keep your laptop juiced to outlets in the bed and even more integrated in the frunk for charging tool batteries. Opt for the bidirectional Ford Charge Station Pro, and Ford estimates the Lightning can power an average home for three days.

Whether you use the Lightning as an emergency backup or a jobsite generator, the practicality is real. The one shame is charging. The Lightning tops out at 150 kW charging rate, which is undeniably slow considering the massive, 131 kWh battery pack here. That’s significantly slower than many other EVs that cost less and have far smaller packs.

Pricing and Options

The F-150 Lightning you see here is the top-shelf Platinum trim, outfitted with 22-inch wheels, $495 for the Rapid Red Metallic paint, and $595 for the spray-in bed liner. However, a few things were deleted due to supply constraints, like the onboard scale, which knocked the price down by $650.

Total price, after a $1,895 destination charge is $100,609. That is one expensive truck.

All those price hikes since the Lightning’s initial release are a shame. The Lightning was simply a compelling option for anybody looking to buy a truck. Now, buyers will have to do some math. For contractors, being able to power a job site without a generator rental will surely be compelling. For homeowners, using the truck as a whole-home power source helps make the price sting a little less.

And then of course there are the fuel savings over a traditional truck, which could be substantial.

The math is a little more complicated than before, but that doesn’t change the final result. The F-150 Lightning is a superb truck and a wildly versatile EV. I only wish it were smaller.

The post 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Review first appeared on Yanko Design.