Drew Dowdell

Rumor has it that Ford is working on a V8 powered version of their Ranger Raptor currently sold in overseas markets. Only available in other parts of the world, the current Ranger Raptor is powered by a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder diesel that produces 210 horsepower and 369 lb.-ft of torque, but a report in Wheels magazine says that Ford Australia is working with an external engineering company to swap the 2.0 diesel for a 5.0-liter V8 from the Mustang GT. The odd thing about this is that the Ranger Raptor 5.0 would be still built with the 2.0-liter diesel under the hood and then later converted to V8 gasoline power. Expect power to be about the same as it makes in the Australian spec Mustang GT, a healthy 455 horsepower and 410 lb.-ft of torque. If it all comes together, the Ranger Raptor 5.0 is expected to go on sale in Australia next year, sold by Ford dealers and backed by the full 5-year warranty. For now, the Ranger Raptor remains forbidden fruit to the U.S. no matter what engine is under the hood. View full article

Over the holiday, Genesis released some official images of the upcoming Genesis GV80 SUV. The Genesis GV80 originally leaked out with unauthorized pictures in early December, but now we have a clearer and more official view. The GV80 sports the large shield grille that the new 2020 Genesis G90 wears, but also includes new split headlight design. This motif is reflected in the taillight design as well. Inside the dashboard is wide and low, to emphasis width. Most of the controls are touch sensitive and a large, wide screen rises up out of the dash for the infotainment system. The drive selector is a jewel-like rotating dial in the center console. The GV80 rides on a Genesis-unique rear wheel drive platform and will likely be powered by a 3.3-liter turbocharged V6 making 365 horsepower or more with a possible power boost. There is also the possibility of the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder found in the Sonata N-Line that makes 290 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. The transmission will likely be the 8-speed automatic found in other Genesis vehicles. We will be seeing more of the GV80 as the month progresses. It goes on sale in it's home market of South Korea later this month. View full article

The adaptive cruise control till get you all the way down to zero and allow you to creep along at low speed in traffic. If it brings you to a full stop, you need to tap the gas pedal or the resume button to go again, but after that it will just follow the car in front. I got 36 on the way to Virginia and 34 on the way home (more uphill than down). The weather wasn't cold enough for the windshield to fog over, so I didn't get a chance to test what you are describing. The fixed first gear only really makes initial take off feel less rubbery than a traditional CVT, but you get out of that first gear pretty quickly.

Happy New Year All!

Merry Christmas everyone

I think the interior looks fantastic, and if they pull it off as well as they did the Telluride interior it very well could be a luxury car feel at a family car price point.

The EPA has officially released its assessment of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel. The EcoDiesel is only available as a 4-door with an 8-speed automatic and in that configuration, the EcoDiesel manages to get 29 mpg highway, 22 mpg city, and 25 combined. That is slightly better than a 4x4 Ram 1500 with the same powertrain. The next closest model in terms of fuel efficiency is the 2-door, 4-cylinder, manual transmission, rear-wheel drive Wrangler at 24 highway mpg, 22 city mpg, and 23 combined. The diesel engine is a $4,000 option though so you may not ultimately save money. Instead, Jeep believes the EcoDiesel option is best suited for those who need the gobs of torque generated by the V6 diesel when going off-road. With 260 horsepower and 442 lb.-ft of torque, the Wrangler EcoDiesel has torque in spades. To the dismay of many, the Ecodiesel does come standard with electronic stop/start. If diesel isn't your thing, there is the 2.0T 4-cylinder which produces 270 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft of torque or the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 which produces 285 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft of torque. Both engines also come with stop/start or can be upgraded to the eTorque system that smooths out the torque band and either engine is available with a manual transmission or 8-speed automatic. View full article

The Volkswagen brand is on track to introduce 34 models globally in 2020. While some, like the ID.3, will be new to the portfolio, others are variants of familiar faces with many of those being electrified. Much stricter emissions rules come into effect in Europe starting January 1st and will force every company that sells on the continent to rethink their lineups. For Volkswagen, that means that most of their internal combustion powered vehicles will gain an available hybrid powertrain. Volkswagen says they will be introducing hybrid versions from the Golf to the Tiguan, to the Touareg. There will also be a number of cars coming that aren't hybrids or EVs. The next generation Golf is coming to Europe in 2020 with GTI, GTD, R, and Wagon variants to follow, though not all will make it to the U.S.. The Atlas will receive a refresh and the Atlas Cross Sport goes into production soon. Over in Europe, VW will be launching the T-Roc Cabriolet, the Arteon Shooting Brake, and Tiguan R. Plus there will be other announcements coming for the brand. With that in mind, these 34 vehicles are just for the VW brand and don't count what Audi, SEAT, Skoda, are up to. So there is likely to be even more in the pipeline. This whole push is to help get the Volkswagen brand to a 4 percent to 5 percent operating profit for 2020. View full article

New European carbon emissions rules are coming into effect soon and that will have a negative effect on models from a number of manufacturers. Mercedes-AMG is known for its high-output vehicles, but that also generally makes them more polluting as well. Mercedes wants to cut its CO2 emissions from the current 138 grams per kilometer to 100 grams per kilometer. This would hit its most powerful models the hardest. In the overall European market, 35 percent of new vehicles sold are sport utility vehicles which generally have higher emissions than cars. Customers' appetite for SUVs could force Mercedes to cut their AMG variants offered by up to 75%. AMG will attempt to get around some of these cuts by introducing electrification in more of its vehicles, however, engine downsizing seems to be in play here as well. View full article

The Kia K5 was unveiled in South Korea last month, but now we have some technical details to go with it. It sounds like Kia will ditch the Optima name in the U.S. and go with the K5 name used in South Korea going forward. The engine selection is similar to that of the Hyundai Sonata. There will be a 1.6-liter turbo 4-cylinder with 178 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft of torque. There will also be a 2.5 liter naturally aspirated and direct injected 4-cylinder that produces 191 hp and 181 lb.-ft of torque. The bigger news is that the Kia K5 GT will also get the 2.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder going into the Sonata N-Line, that motor produces 286 hp and 311 lb.-ft of torque. That final engine is paired with an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission and should get the sedan from 0-60 in 6.6 seconds. Sometime in the future, a hybrid version of the car will be released, but Kia isn't going into detail on that just yet. Probably the biggest news for the K5 is that it will gain an all-wheel drive system that can shift power to the rear axle based on road conditions and driver input. It should be noted that the Sonata doesn't get an all-wheel drive option, so this gives the Kia a point of distinction over its cousin. The K5 has a sporty exterior with a wide tiger nose grille running the entire width of the vehicle. New headlights with a 'heart beat' daytime running light feature flank both sides. The stance of the K5 is said to lean forward with a rakish windshield and sloping roof. In the rear is a dual exhaust system and integrated spoiler along with a LED light bar. Wheels start at 16-inches and range up to 19-inches on the GT. The K5 is 193.1 inches long, longer than its predecessor, it's also lower and wider. Wheelbase grows by 1.8-inches. The cabin is all new with fancy new seats and a flat bottom steering wheel. There is an availabe infotainment system that sports a 10.25-inch screen while an available gauge cluster is fully digital and 12.3 inches complimented by an 8.0-inch heads up display. Some models of K5 will get a rotary gear selector while others get a more traditional T-Shifter. The K5 will have a bunch of driver assistance technologies including forward collision avoidance assist, blind-spot monitoring and assist, smart cruise control, driver attention warning, and highway driving assist. Also available is a Level 2 semi-autonomous driving system and a remote park assist that will allow users to move their vehicle forwards or backwards with a key fob in order to get into or out of a tight parking spot. The 2021 Kia K5 goes on sale in the first half of 2020. View full article