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Automakers are slowly going back to what enthusiasts really want. Because performance has become so easy to achieve with electric motors, turbochargers, and automatic gearboxes, we’re seeing a return to form with manual gearboxes and driver enjoyment as a central focus. Audi’s halo supercar from the late 2000s is something of a high point for the German brand, and now, the V10-equipped R8 has fallen to prices lower than a standard Corvette. Even though it uses many Lamborghini parts, Audi’s focus was always on daily drivability and understated performance, making it even more desirable now than when it was new.…

Nowadays, if you’ve got a family and some stuff to haul around, you’re most likely going to spring for some sort of SUV or minivan. In some cases, you might even scoop yourself up a crew-cab pickup truck to handle the workload. However, if you were shopping for a family vehicle in the early to mid-1990s, you’d probably be considering something else, too. That “something else” would have been a Chevrolet Caprice Classic wagon. Its recipe was simple. Take the B-Body Caprice, slap a wagon body onto it, and keep the rear-drive, V8 powertrain intact. It took advantage of a…

The Drive 🤝 your inbox. Every weekday The Daily Brief wraps up the biggest stories and our exclusive reporting on the auto industry and car culture. I like machines. You probably do too. There’s lots of crossover between car people, train people, and plane people, not to mention watch people, and bike people. If it whirs, purrs, or putts along, chances are we’re into it. And as we’re further isolated from the nuts and bolts of the mechanical things we interact with on a daily basis, we believe something is being lost—a connection to how things actually work. It was…

Automotive McLaren is finally doing something that would have seemed almost unthinkable not all that long ago. The British supercar maker has confirmed plans for its first performance SUV as part of a massive £500 million, roughly $675 million, investment in its UK manufacturing and engineering operations. The high-riding McLaren is expected to arrive around 2028 and will use a hybrid powertrain from the start, giving the company a direct answer to highly profitable performance models such as the Ferrari Purosangue and Lamborghini Urus. According to Motor1, the SUV is known internally as the P47 and has already…

The Denza Z9S electric sedan, which offers a CLTC range of up to 1,100 kilometers. Credit: Denza Denza has described the Z9S as the world’s longest-range mass-produced battery electric vehicle. The 3 variants carry pre-sales prices of 319,800 yuan ($47,290) to 389,800 yuan and will compete with the Xiaomi SU7. BYD’s (HKEX: 1211) premium brand Denza will officially launch its Z9S electric sedan on September 23, about 7 weeks after pre-sales began. Local automotive media outlets, including Yiche and Auto Home, reported the plan on Wednesday. Denza has yet to announce the launch date on its official social media channels.…

My favorite part of wearing the Specs, Snap’s new augmented reality glasses, was playing dominoes. Sitting across the table from a Snap employee wearing the same pair of chunky glasses, I could select a virtual domino with a pinch and then move my hand to drop it in place, watching the tile snap down in front of us on a real table. It was unlike anything I’ve tried in other VR headsets or smart glasses — the ability to sit with another person and have a shared digital experience.Snap really believes in AR glasses. The company has spent more than…

Ausom made a name for itself with a growing lineup of electric scooters that offers everything from practical single-motor commuters to seriously quick dual-motor thrill rides without breaking the bank. This month, the brand’s awesome Fall Sale is making the Ausom brand’s high-performance value proposition even more compelling! From now thru September 30th, the Ausom e-scooter brand is offering great deals on six different models built to serve the the unique needs of six different kinds of rider, from everyday commuters to high-strung adrenaline junkies ready to push the limits of tiny, two-wheeled performance. Here’s the rundown: Ausom Gosoul 2…

Unlike most of its social media rivals, Snap hasn’t made many big bets on AI. The company has added a bunch of generative AI-powered features to Snapchat, but it hasn’t made the technology a central focus. Now, the company is introducing a new standalone AI assistant alongside its redesigned AR glasses. Called Specs Intelligence, the “anticipatory AI service” will feature prominently in Snap’s hardware, but will also have dedicated desktop and mobile apps for those who don’t have a pair of glasses. Snap doesn’t describe Specs Intelligence as an agent or assistant, but its description will sound familiar to anyone…

The Big Three German luxury brands, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, have had a grip on the luxury market for decades. However, rivals have upped their game by offering more affordable alternatives over the last few years. For example, Mazda has been on the border between the mainstream and luxury segments. Some models are more mainstream, such as the Mazda 3 sedan or hatchback’s lower trim levels, but the higher trims push what’s expected in the segment. Buyers might want an entry-level luxury SUV, so they look to the BMW X3. Not only does it cost more money in the long…

The bad news is that the scourge of AI-powered Flock cameras is just the start of the surveillance state we will enter if action is not taken. Proving that point is an NBC 5 Investigates report based on city records showing that Dallas homes are now being “blight scored” by AI-powered cameras. Let that sink in for a moment – the city is sending out cameras to record the state of your home, and take action if it is not satisfied. If that’s not enough, Dallas residents are actually paying for surveillance on their own homes through taxes. Garbage Trucks…