Overlanding has become a thing in America. Before the coronavirus pandemic tapped the brakes, people all over the country were jumping into their 4x4s and taking the road less traveled, turning away from the interstates and the neon-lit desolation of cheap hotels and fast food joints, journeying instead along the quiet back roads and trails

In the beginning, no cars had roofs. Then the newfangled machines gained folding canvas tops, some with clear side curtains. Then Cadillac became the first manufacturer to offer fully enclosed factory bodywork. Before long, folks were looking for something in-between. Europe answered the call with canvas- or metal-covered roof openings and the patented Pytchley sunroof

A man envisions a future of electric cars, starting with a high-powered, six-figure, midsize super sedan, followed by a platform-sharing SUV, then migrating to smaller, more affordable vehicles in mass quantities. Sales will mostly be handled online (thanks to a virtual reality app), with a scattering of factory-run boutique stores in tiny enclaves. Service will

As a Delta 2Million Miler, I’ve spent lots of flight time airborne dealing with dodgy Wi-Fi, watching progress bars stall and web pages time out. So my ears perked up when I learned about a revolutionary new satellite antenna that promises to provide robust, ubiquitous data transmission to and from any moving object—planes, trains, and

Small accidents can be the most frustrating. Whether it’s scraping a wheel on a curb, tapping a bumper on a pole, or opening a door into a wall, low-speed parking impacts can cause minor yet massively annoying damage. Backup cameras are now mandatory on new vehicles, but more visibility is always better. To that end,

“If the car was invented today and we said this consumer product will improve mobility and productivity, but … it will kill 33,000 people a year in America, do you think the government would approve it for sale?” Volvo senior safety engineer Thomas Broberg’s measured iconoclasm came as the automaker defended its decision to restrict

I admit that writing about this month’s subject makes me feel a bit like Charlie Brown running toward Lucy and her football. This particular football, as a general concept, is just so alluring: Take a problem (excessive atmospheric CO2) and turn it directly into a solution that lets us keep driving the vehicles we love—via

I’d love to know how many wheels are curbed and bumpers are tapped each year in attempts to parallel park. There’s a whole industry of rubber bumper guards built around how difficult parking alongside a curb can be; crowded cities like New York are full of them. You might catch yourself thinking, “If cars can

Imagine yourself perched atop a steep, snowy hill. If you’re rocking snow pants and a parka, and there’s a sled beneath your snow-insulated cheeks, you want to slide down that slope with as much speed and as little friction as possible. It’ll be fun! As fun as that might be, if you find yourself atop

Lynchpin? You bet. Yes, the big Bronco will carry the flag and soak up all the press. It will get the off-road and aftermarket communities irrepressibly excited. It’ll be in all the big commercials, conquering terrain only a Jeep could handle until now. The Bronco Sport? It’s a jacked-up Ford Escape with boxy styling. It’s

As cars get packed with more technology, the way information is delivered changes, too. Analog gauges are disappearing, and screens are taking over, showing everything from your speed to a full map right in front of you. Adding to the sea of change is the head-up display; once a tech feature exclusive to luxury brands,

Your car would be unbearable to drive without its suspension. You’d likely need a chiropractic appointment by the time you made it out of your neighborhood. Not only does a suspension support (or suspend) the weight of a vehicle, it keeps body movements under control when you hit a bump and improves ride quality by

In May 2019, online insurance aggregator NetQuote.com did a study swabbing vehicle interior touch points for bacteria in ride-hailing vehicles, rental cars, and taxis, then compared the findings against cultures from a toilet seat. (Hint: Maybe don’t read this while eating lunch.) The results predictably tracked the level of oversight each industry gets: Taxis were

“A mini car crash at every corner.” That’s how Mark Webber, nine-time grand prix winner, describes the battering a driver’s body takes at the wheel of a modern Formula 1 car. Why? Physics. Take Turn 13, the first part of the right-left flick onto pit straight, at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where Webber finished in

With MotorTrend’s help, finding a new car doesn’t need to feel overwhelming anymore. In fact, as we reveal the top-ranked cars in more than two dozen classes, the new-car buying process might just shift from dread to a little fun. Building on 70 years of experience testing and evaluating the latest new vehicles, the MotorTrend

When a tire slides relative to the road surface, whether skidding or spinning, bad things can happen—like accidents and riveting dash-cam videos. The engineering community first tackled the skidding problem, with an initial antilock braking (ABS) patent being awarded to German engineer Karl Waessel in 1928. The 1966 Jensen FF premiered automotive ABS technology, but

In my April “Green Issue” column, I fearlessly predicted that the long-term carbon-neutral future of personal transportation would be electric vehicles powered by renewable energy. Projections by Deloitte and Bloomberg New Energy Finance Group peg global EV penetration at around 20 percent by 2030, rising to 57 percent by 2040. If accurate, we could have

You can probably think of a time when hitting the brakes earlier would have made a big difference. A split second or a few feet can turn an ordinary drive into a headache—or worse. Whether by unavoidable circumstances or momentary lapses in focus, collisions happen. To change that, automatic emergency braking (AEB) is proliferating across

In a recent interview with the London-based Sunday Times, vacuum-cleaner magnate Sir James Dyson admitted to spending £500 million of his personal fortune developing his electric SUV program before calling it quits last October. His proposed Dyson EV was as audacious as Elon Musk’s original Model S sedan back in 2012. With a planned range

The difference between traction control and stability control is like the difference between a GED and a master’s degree or PhD in vehicle safety. Stability control is just traction control with more vehicular education (computer programming) and better tools (a more powerful processor and more electronic sensors). Clearly the anti-lock brake system, or ABS as

The 2020 Hyundai Sonata burst onto the midsize sedan scene with a striking new design, exactly the kind of strategy that could stop a few Toyota- and Honda-loyalists from driving off in another new Camry or Accord. But to make any lasting impact, the Sonata’s gotta deliver substance, too, in a well-rounded package. We’ve already

I’ve always wanted to own an old car. Growing up, my dad and I would talk about buying a beater early 1970s Chevrolet Chevelle to repair and fix up ourselves. When I was older and shopping for my first car around 2009, I looked at countless ’80s Porsches, ’70s Mercedes, and unloved ’60s muscle cars

How headlights illuminate the road ahead isn’t always so simple. Besides using brighter and more efficient bulbs, many new headlights actively adapt to changing road conditions. Adaptive headlights let drivers see farther, around corners, and past traffic. But how exactly do they work? What Are Adaptive Headlights? Adaptive headlights are headlights that actively respond to

Some cars are born cool, some cars achieve coolness, and some have coolness thrust upon them. It’s a nebulous thing, shape-shifting with the zeitgeist, yet anchored by perspective and context. Thus, AMC Gremlins, Honda Preludes, and Subaru Brats are quietly bubbling up the coolness index, fueled no doubt by a heavy dose of post-modernist irony

When you boil it down, improving average fuel economy is super simple: Burn less fuel in the cylinder when cruising. Toward that end, engine developers have toiled to make lean mixtures work since way before Chrysler’s Electronic Lean-Burn System of the mid-’70s. But getting such mixtures to ignite via the spark plug (as in engines

Hang a hard right east out of Milan and zip past the Monza racetrack, and you will encounter the charming Italian hill town of Bergamo. The Citta Alta retains its ancient cobblestone streets and Venetian walls from the time of Julius Caesar; the upper district’s narrow alleys reveal a maze of storefronts and restaurants, each

If you’re shopping for a new car, chances are you’ve seen blind-spot monitoring as a standard feature or on the options list. If you’re not sure what to make of the safety tech, we can help. The feature can be a cool convenience, but is it worth getting? What Is Blind-Spot Monitoring? Blind-spot monitoring uses

Sitting in the cab of a pickup truck, looking down on the vehicles around you, there’s a sense of invincibility. King of the road. With trucks’ high perch and AWD or 4WD capability, you might think you’re in the safest vehicle on the road. So, pickup trucks are the safest vehicles out there, right? When

These are vexing days. As individuals, our No. 1 priority within a sprawling nation of 328 million is to stay safe. That’s the macro picture. On the micro side, here at MotorTrend it means delivering engaging and useful information to our readers—while also understanding that buying a new car is not necessarily atop your to-do

Something that people generally don’t realize is that the audio in the cabin of a car can often be superior to your home setup, as it has been tuned for the reflections and surface textures around you, and of course, the position of your two ears. That’s not so easy to replicate with a home