I used to tune idle by ear. You could hear a misfire in a V8 the way a watchmaker hears a tick out of step, feel a worn cam through the screwdriver pressed to the valve cover. Now half my diagnoses start with a laptop and end in a quiet test drive where the loudest sound is gravel in the wheel well. People ask me if I miss the smell of fuel. I do. But I’ve also learned the smell of hot dielectric grease, of coolant after a fast charge, and the click of a contactor that tells me a high-voltage pack just woke up. The road shifted under our feet, and I stayed on it, slow at first, then with both hands on the wheel.
We spent three days comparing three fresh-faced luxury sports coupes on the same loop of mountain switchbacks, a freeway commute, and a short circuit. The brief: blend speed with daily civility. Our contenders span hybrid-boosted precision (Porsche 911 Carrera GTS), all-wheel-drive muscle (Mercedes-AMG GT 63), and rear-drive theater (Aston Martin Vantage).
We spent two weeks evaluating a 2024 Subaru Forester Premium in sustained cold, from powder to refreeze glaze, to gauge snow traction, cabin heating, and cold-weather reliability in real-world commuting and unplowed backroads.
Ford reasserted its World Rally Championship presence through M-Sport, first by capitalizing on the 2017 rules reset with the Fiesta WRC and later by committing to the hybrid Rally1 era with the Puma. The program has delivered headline wins while fighting resource-rich rivals Toyota and Hyundai across changing technical landscapes.
