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Car and Driver
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Lucid's New Hands-Free Driving Mode Will Change Lanes for You
Lucid Air sedans with DreamDrive Pro will be eligible for a free over-the-air update starting July 30. The update includes a hands-free driving mode with the ability to change lanes when the driver activates the turn signal The Lucid Gravity SUV will be eligible for the same OTA update sometime later this year. Lucid has announced a major update to its driver-assistance technology. Starting on July 30, anyone who owns an Air sedan with the optional DreamDrive Pro package can unlock a new hands-free driving mode via an over-the-air update. Along with the introduction of what Lucid calls Hands-Free Drive Assist, which uses the vehicle's LiDAR, radar, visible light cameras, surround-view cameras, and ultrasonic sensors to control the vehicle on compatible highways, the OTA update will also allow the car to change lanes for you. Of course, you'll have to tell it to do so by activating the turn signal. View Photos Michael Simari | Car and Driver "With our in-house software stack, a comprehensive suite of 32 sensors, and regular OTA updates, we have a road map to continue to deliver significantly more functionality to our owners in the future,' said Kai Stepper, vice president of ADAS and AD at Lucid. While the hands-free update is free, it requires that the Lucid Air is already equipped with DreamDrive Pro. The price of this option varies among 2025 models. On the entry-level rear-wheel-drive Pure model, which starts at $71,400, DreamDrive Pro costs $6750 and requires the $2500 Comfort and Convenience package, so it essentially costs $9250. The same handcuffing applies to the Air's all-wheel-drive Touring trim, which starts at $80,400; DreamDrive Pro and Co. costs $9750. The Grand Touring AWD starts at $112,400, and DreamDrive Pro is a $6750 standalone option. The top-of-the-line Sapphire has standard DreamDrive Pro, but it also starts at $250,500. View Photos Lucid Motors The Gravity SUV will also be eligible for the free over-the-air update, but Lucid hasn't yet announced a specific release date. However, the automaker said it will be available sometime later this year. Leslie Aviles Mendoza Editorial Intern Leslie is a recent graduate of Elon University in North Carolina and a summer intern at Car and Driver. She grew up in a family of mechanics, where the sound of tools clinking and the smell of motor oil were part of everyday life. With a background in Strategic Communications and a love for storytelling, Leslie is excited to be part of the editorial team.
Car and Driver
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Volvo Planning to Shift Some XC60, XC90 Production to U.S.
Volvo is planning to begin U.S. production of the XC60 and XC90 crossovers as a response to the Trump administration's auto tariffs, according to an Automotive News report. The outlet cites two anonymous sources who say Volvo will begin U.S. production of the XC60 in January 2027, with XC90 production following in October 2028. A Volvo spokesperson declined to comment on future production plans to Car and Driver, while reaffirming the brand's commitment to building where it sells. While the true brunt of the Trump administration's automotive tariffs hasn't been felt yet, automakers are still scrambling to find new ways to bring down costs. According to a new report from Automotive News, Volvo is planning to bring production of two of its most popular models stateside to evade the majority of the tariffs. View Exterior Photos Volvo The AN report cites two anonymous sources familiar with the plan who say Volvo will move production of the XC60 and XC90 crossovers to the United States. Production of the XC60 will start first, and will begin in January 2027 at the brand's facility near Charleston, South Carolina, the story says. Production of the XC90 would follow in October 2028. The moves line up with previous messaging from the automaker that it is considering adding production of another model to the South Carolina plant, which has been operating considerably under its maximum capacity. View Interior Photos Marc Urbano | Car and Driver In a statement to Car and Driver, a Volvo spokesperson declined to comment on future products or production plans but did reassert Volvo's commitment to building cars where it sells them. "Volvo Cars is committed to its long-held strategy of building where we sell—a principle that is more important now than ever," Volvo's spokesperson said. "As part of this strategy, Volvo Cars has previously communicated that it's considering adding production of another model at our U.S. plant, which has a capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year. We look forward to sharing more soon." Jack Fitzgerald Associate News Editor Jack Fitzgerald's love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn't afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. Read full bio
Car and Driver
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
1985 Ferrari 288GTO Archive Road Test
From the September 1985 issue of Car and Driver. One rule in the hot-car business that must be trusted like a mother's promise is that lightning never strikes the same spot twice. With this in mind, we said yes first and asked questions later when a stranger called from Italy to offer Car and Driver the opportunity to test a Ferrari GTO. The man delivering this stroke of luck introduced himself as Jere Clark, the 47-year-old president of a Phoenix, Arizona, development and construction company. He was vacationing in Europe, visiting the Ferrari factory to take delivery of a new GTO, and hoping he might be able to pique some stateside editorial interest in his great fortune. Pique, indeed. Less than three weeks after our telephone conversation clicked off, Mr. Clark found himself shaking hands with an eager C/D test team. His rosso corsa runner had yet to turn a legal mile on American soil, yet here it was in Southern California: freshly air-freighted from Italy, trucked to a predawn rendezvous, fueled to the brim with Daeco racing gasoline, and primed to defend its honor on our secret high-desert test strip. Jere Clark is no stranger to speed, having raced both a 427SC Cobra and a Shelby GT350, but our fast footwork amazed him. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver For those of you who think a GTO is a Pontiac with a tiger in its tank, perhaps some backtracking is in order. Ferrari originally selected the three letters to adorn a series of 1962–64 GT racers and then resurrected the name a year ago to celebrate the birth of a new limited-edition, ultra-high-performance coupe that one day might also see duty on the world's racetracks and rally courses. Today's GTO is like a Ferrari 308 Quattrovalvole in some respects but vastly different in others. Both cars share a family resemblance (styled by Pininfarina) and a general mid-engined V-8, two-seater layout, but there the similarity ends. Essentially, the GTO is a 308 that benefits from the lessons learned in the ten years since that entry-level Ferrari was introduced. The fruits of this knowledge are a twin-turbocharged-and-intercooled induction system, electronic engine management, lightweight body materials, advanced aerodynamics, stickier tires, and larger brakes. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver Loading all this technology into one automobile is an expensive proposition, particularly in limited production, and some Ferrari executives worried that the world didn't contain enough well-heeled customers to pay for and drive away the 200 GTOs that would be necessary for Group B homologation. As it turned out, this fear was groundless: unsolicited deposits for the car started pouring in long before any official announcement of its existence was made. In fact, when Jere Clark first contacted a friend at Classic Ferrari in Richardson, Texas, no one there had knowledge of the GTO. The factory did, however, respond to his inquiry, and a deposit of fourteen million lira (roughly $7000) was accepted in exchange for a spot on the waiting list. About a year thereafter, the factory contacted Clark to arrange delivery. The price, including optional air conditioning and power windows, was $125,000, payable two weeks before the keys were handed over in Maranello. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver A few million lira over the dam later, all parties were poised and ready for test day on Mrs. Orcutt's hallowed 200-mph driveway. Jere Clark brought Nomex and a helmet in case our driving didn't measure up to his high standards, as well as his wife, Sandra, his cousin Chris Hayes, and two capable mechanics, Rodney Drew and Bert Wehr of Francorchamps of America, a Newport Beach outfit that specializes in Ferrari tuning and repair. We brought our test gear, ace lensman Aaron Kiley, and more than enough photographic equipment to document the Second Coming. As the full crew milled around a brilliantly red object in the hot sun, we must have looked like some bizarre form of pagan worship to the traffic passing by on the nearby Interstate, but the four police cruisers and one patrol plane that spotted us were kind enough to let us go about our business. But little did the CHP know that once the photographic preliminaries were finished, the business at hand was speed. Color in the can, we fired up the GTO, attached our fifth wheel, and dropped the green flag on our test procedures. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver All the standard Ferrari furniture is in place in the GTO's cockpit—the pleated-leather seats, the spindly shifter in a chromed gate, the orange-over-black instruments, the high, flat steering wheel—but special care has obviously been invested in the way things are arranged. The buckets' high side bolsters lock you in place laterally. A perfectly situated dead pedal braces your left leg when it's off duty, and the clutch and brake pedals each have one corner clipped off to clear the way for footwork. The Momo steering wheel is strictly-business black, and it offers you carefully molded, leather-covered spokes at the classic three, six, and nine o'clock positions, where God ordained that they should be. A classy black material covers the dash with a napped, glare-free surface, and all adornments are very discreet: three chromed GTO letters for the lucky passenger to ponder, a black stallion on a yellow field in the horn button, and a shiny ignition key that sparkles sunlight in your eye to say, "Let's go!" View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver The start-up and the prattle that follow are nothing at all like the 1962 Sounds of Sebring. A twist of the ignition key produces total silence; it takes this plus a poke at a nearby rubber-covered button to engage the fast-spinning starter motor. Two or three whoops later and the eight small but force-fed cylinders begin pumping pressure waves up and down the long runs of intake and exhaust tubing. The sound is hardly Ferrari-like in the classic twelve-cylinder, half-muffled, half-crazed-war-whelp sense. There are no clanking cam chains, the pistons that pump up and down in tight-fitting aluminum bores are modestly sized and few in number, the valve timing is calm and collected, and only the barest minimum of exhaust energy is squandered as atmospheric racket. Tickle the throttle and the small V-8 answers back with a forceful whisper. There is no braggadocio exhaust blat; instead, you hear filtered deep breathing on the intake side. The speak-softly voice seems sworn to keep the big stick a secret. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver The throttle response is linear and eager off the boost (far better than that of a GTO we drove briefly at Fiorano) but no more exciting than a Toyota's. This little Ferrari feels as if it would be perfectly comfortable delivering kids to school or picking up the shirts at the laundry, at least until you drop your right boot. Then a 747 rolls up from the rear and leans against the bumper with four engines' worth of takeoff thrust. The boost gauge rests peacefully at first, but as the tach touches 3500 rpm, the turbines reach full whine and both intake plenums are pressurized and ready. By limiting wheelspin, we catapulted the Ferrari GTO to 60 mph in five seconds flat and through the quarter in another 8.1 seconds. First gear is off the H, so a careful hand is necessary to hurry the shifter through its chromed maze. As in most Ferraris, the redline in first occurs a few mph before you reach 60, so the test-track figures are less impressive than the jet thrust in the small of your back whenever the boost is up. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver In top-gear testing, there's almost no boost to work with, and the GTO feels inhibited. A 30-to-50 sprint takes over ten seconds; 50 to 70 goes more quickly, but this is clearly a car that will depend heavily on its gearbox for fast moves. Fortunately, the shifter is a pleasure to use. The chromed gate and the heavy efforts are initially intimidating, but once you've ticked off a dozen or so shifts, the big ZF gears in back and the solid linkage between them and your hand start to feel about right. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver A firm grasp is the tip for shifting, but braking demands a lighter touch. With a huge vented disc and a muscular four-piston caliper providing the pinch at each corner, it's easy to slide all four tires with an imprudent foot on the pedal, even at very high velocities. We kept the Goodyear gatorbacks as close as possible to their skid point and registered 175-foot 70-to-0 stopping distances. This positions the GTO well ahead of the Testarossa in one important category and fender to fender with the best brakes in the production-car world. Top-speed runs were next on the agenda. We encouraged all personnel to clear the area, but the opportunity to see a ground-bound Halley's comet comes along so seldom that everyone stood at the verge in rapt attention. Jere Clark took his turn at the wheel while C/D's tester monitored the engine's life signs and operated the timing equipment from the right seat. The view from the cockpit was placid, with little more than light road turbulence (undulating pavement) and wind noise to contend with. As we rolled to a stop, though, every face looked as if we'd just broken the sound barrier. The small crowd was amazed by the eerie Indy-car shriek as we passed and shocked by the news that our maximum speed was "only" 175 mph. Faces lengthened when further trials failed to duplicate the factory's claimed 190-mph top speed, but after pondering the wall of air that was robbing us of 15 mph, a couple of plausible excuses came to mind. First of all, we saw 0.6 kgm/cm2 on the boost gauge, which equates to 8.5 psi, well below the factory's original rating of 11.6 psi. Second, the height-adjustable suspension was set in the higher of the two available positions, whereas the factory no doubt used the lower setting to reduce frontal area for its peak-speed measurements at Nardo, Italy. Finally, this particular factory's claims are almost always optimistic. For example, Ferrari statistics register the GTO's curb weight at 2550 pounds, contradicting the 2880 pounds we measured for Jere Clark's car. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver As if it were trying to make up for its inability to break through the three-miles-per-minute barrier, Jere Clark's red rocket saved its trump card for the last event. Factory drivers had previously demonstrated the GTO's ravenous hunger for power oversteer at Fiorano, but this in no way prepared us for limit cornering with our own hands on the wheel. Testing on our standard 300-foot asphalt skidpad, we found that the GTO's handling is delightfully near neutral. A twitch of either the wheel or the throttle can overcook one end or the other briefly, but when left to its own devices, this car will centrifuge its driver all day long at 0.88 g. The four fat tires hang on for dear life, the wheel effort is light, and the steering ratio is speedy enough to keep up with the predictable chassis. If there is such a thing as handling perfection, it comes as standard equipment with the GTO. Like all great days, this one eventually came to an end. The Clarks flew home to Phoenix smug in the knowledge that they own a true automotive treasure, one feisty Ferrari was loaded onto the transporter for the trip back to safe harbor, and we turned to the typewriter to log a memorable chapter in the performance record book. View Photos Aaron Kiley | Car and Driver Statistics worshipers in the audience may be disappointed by this first U.S.-soil report card, but our more circumspect view is that the GTO experiment is an unqualified success. Although it didn't meet all of the factory's heady claims, it has accomplished a more important mission: pointing the way to a very plausible future for this firm. Thanks to the GTO, Ferrari's past and present will never be as tantalizing as what's ahead. Specifications Specifications 1985 Ferrari 288GTO Vehicle Type: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door sedan coupe PRICE As Tested: $125,000 ENGINE twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection Displacement: 174 in3, 2855 cm3 Power: 394 hp @ 7000 rpm Torque: 366 lb-ft @ 3800 rpm TRANSMISSION 5-speed automatic CHASSIS Suspension, F/R: control arms/control arms Brakes, F/R: 12.2-in vented disc/12.2-in vented disc Tires: Goodyear Eagle VR50 F: 225/50VR-16 R: 255/50VR-16 DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 96.5 in Length: 168.9 in Width: 75.2 in Height: 44.1 in Curb Weight: 2880 lb C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 5.0 sec 100 mph: 11.0 sec 1/4-Mile: 13.1 sec @ 112 mph 130 mph: 19.9 sec Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 10.6 sec Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 8.6 sec Top Speed (mfr's claim): 175 mph Braking, 70–0 mph: 175 ft Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.88 g C/D TESTING EXPLAINED
Car and Driver
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Tested: 2025 Jeep Wagoneer Carries the Eight-Seater Torch
The latest Jeep Wagoneer is the fourth go-around for Jeep's domestic three-row franchise. The 1946–1964 Willys Station Wagon was first in the series, available with a side-facing single seat in the cargo area behind two three-person benches. The Station Wagon wowed U.S. audiences with the wagon segment's first all-steel construction, and given the option of four-wheel drive in 1949 it also became what some consider the market's first SUV. The following year, it swapped the Go Devil four-cylinder for the brand's first Hurricane engine. The sequel didn't arrive until the 2006 model year, a box office bust called the Jeep Commander. This one at least had an entire third row that faced the direction of travel. However, it hit the market needing to overcome so many questionable decisions made during its development that our review compared it to General Custer at Little Big Horn. The 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L marked the third installment, a side plot to the real blockbuster, the 2022 Wagoneer, which rebooted a historic nameplate and soon after welcomed the return of a standard Hurricane engine. view exterior photos Michael Simari | Car and Driver The story of any third row begins with access—the literal climb up and through the back doors. The Wagoneer's running boards seem unduly wide when getting in the driver's seat, but steps get more important the farther back one sits. The Wagoneer's large rear door openings and ample footing make third-row access unexpectedly easy and reassuring. And kudos to the exterior designers who integrated the available retracting running boards into the clean, if overly boxy, design; when stowed, they look like contrasting-color rocker panels. HIGHS: Solid third-row space, functional boxy design, tech that's easy to use. In the underground labs where automakers devise ways to move the second-row seating, Jeep threw one button and one lever at the issue. Press the button on the second-row seatback shoulder, and the entire seat leans forward and slides. You can do this even with a baby seat secured to the chair. Pull the lever on the side of the base, and the seatback folds flat. Pull the lever again, and the folded seat flips up against the first-row seatbacks. Pick your method, then step on to a running board wide enough to do a musical number from Wicked and make your entry. view interior Photos Michael Simari | Car and Driver A third row, like football and prostate exams, is a game of inches. Jeep designers arranged the hash marks to give adults the desired outcomes. You won't be swinging cats back here, but the average adult won't bang their knees or head on the architecture either. At 83.6 inches wide and up to 79.3 inches high with its air springs fully raised, the Wagoneer is 2.5 inches wider than a Chevrolet Suburban and up to 3.7 inches taller. Those specs and smart design choices explain why the Wagoneer's third-row headroom beats the Suburban by 0.8 inch, shoulder room outdoes the Chevy by 1.6 inches, and the Jeep cedes just 0.1 inch of legroom to the much longer 'Burb. Compared to the Chevy Tahoe, the Wagoneer's 180 cubic feet of passenger space and 27 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row eke out two more fractional wins. Oddly, though, the Wagoneer's 117 cubic feet of cargo room behind the first row gives up just under six cubes to the Tahoe. LOWS: Eight-passenger arrangement requires small sacrifices, some low-rent cabin materials, light body-on-frame jiggle. Adults will be comfy in the gallery too. Bottoms slide naturally into the pocket of the canted bench with bolsters long enough to feel natural under the leg. The pads are flat, but the seats are comfortable. Stadium seating puts eyelines above the second-row headrests, allaying carsickness. A glass panel overhead and large side windows let light into a cabin otherwise designed for mammals that see better with their ears than their eyes. And, oh, the amenities! Cupholders and USB ports galore for the third row, even two coat hangers. view interior Photos Michael Simari | Car and Driver Wagoneer engineers aced the hardest part of the test of any full-size SUV, which is the third row. They fumbled some of the easy answers farther forward. The second-row bench in our tester, plenty wide for three adults, is a $595 option as part of the 8-Passenger Seating package; two captain's chairs come standard. This bench, a larger version of the third row—elevated, canted, and flat—could use more cushioning in the backrests, and the bolsters could stand to be longer. Choosing the bench eliminates two small cupholders at the back of the front-row console, leaving only two door pockets for beverages. And the containers better be sealed because the molded door pockets are angled. view interior Photos Michael Simari | Car and Driver The driver's seat is pleasant enough and well cushioned, although marred by another token attempt at contouring despite numerous cross-stitched panels. The puzzling bits are elsewhere, like the pebbled plastic dash topper. It's an insult to pebbles and can't even match the meager pretensions of the plain black plastic covering the lower dash. Being fair to Jeep, the brand isn't alone in subbing economy-car materials into luxury price points. The Wagoneer's instrument panel may be representative of an SUV that starts at $62,040, though not one that in flagship Series III Super 4X4 trim totaled $86,120 with options. But the domestic competition is doing it too. At least the aluminum strip separating the upper and lower dash is nice. A 10.1-inch infotainment screen is the literal bright spot in the somber, black interior (the other interior color choice is light gray). Smaller than its bezel would suggest, its dark flanks contain rows of buttons that can be hard to see in strong daylight. view exterior photos Michael Simari | Car and Driver The driving experience averages out to a happy medium between extremes. At the suboptimal end, our Wagoneer rode on 22-inch wheels (20-inchers are standard on lesser trims) wearing Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season tires. When we tested the Wagoneer on launch, also on 22s, we noted that "a little residual body-on-frame jiggle runs through the structure after abrupt inputs or bumps." This jiggle remains. The result is a minor massage of frequencies delivered to the driver's seat as the wheels jitterbug over American roads that haven't gotten any smoother. view interior Photos Michael Simari | Car and Driver At the delightful end, outstanding body control makes this massive SUV surprisingly composed through the twisties. Today's Hurricane engine is a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six making 420 horsepower and 468 pound-feet of torque in baseline trim, enough guts to hustle the Wagoneer's 6129 pounds to 60 in 5.3 seconds. Combined with fairly direct steering, fine brake modulation, and a sufficient-if-not-outstanding 0.75 g of lateral grip, Jeep's biggest boxcar is more capable on twisty B roads than you might think. Everyday driving in the daily commute or weekend errand duty finds a satisfying mean. A digital gauge display requires no familiarization, and it's easy to find and operate all the knobs and buttons (again, if it's not too bright out) and the touchscreen. Passing comes easy, the spurt from 30 to 50 mph needing 3.0 seconds, while going from 50 to 70 mph takes 3.6 seconds. At that latter highway speed, a modest 67 decibels of cabin noise makes for a soothing environment—or cue up the crisp, punchy McIntosh audio system and flood the byways with sound. Stopping from 70 mph takes an extra-long 207 feet, though, 10 feet beyond the last Wagoneer we tested. view exterior photos Michael Simari | Car and Driver Some details: We're glad Jeep continues to offer standard and adaptive cruise control on the same vehicle, because there are situations where one is more useful than the other. The sunshade over the third row is manual, so if it's open, a solo driver has to make a trip back to the bleachers to close it. A shame there's no button for the task, but a motor mechanism might have cut into headroom, and we'd rather have the headroom. On the other hand, one can lower the second- and third-row headrests from the driver's seat. VERDICT: Fourth time's the charm. More than one successful Hollywood screenwriter will tell you that good movies start with great endings. The Jeep Wagoneer lives up to the maxim on both counts, its third row one of the best endings in the business, the rest of the show well worth the steep but competitive price of admission. Specifications Specifications 2025 Jeep Wagoneer Series III Super 4X4 Vehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 8-passenger, 4-door wagon PRICE Base/As Tested: $82,535/$86,120 Options: Rear Seat Video Group 1 (video USB port, Amazon Fire TV built-in, dual 10.1-inch second-row video screens), $2595; 8-Passenger Seating package (40/40/40-split tilt-and-slide second-row bench seat with manual recline, first-row floor console, 7650-pound gross vehicle weight rating), $595; Mopar Interior Protection package (all-season floor mats and cargo tray), $395 ENGINE twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve inline-6, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection Displacement: 183 in3, 2993 cm3 Power: 420 hp @ 5200 rpm Torque: 468 lb-ft @ 3500 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic CHASSIS Suspension, F/R: control arms/multilink Brakes, F/R: 14.9-in vented disc/14.8-in vented disc Tires: Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season 285/45R-22 114H M+S DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 123.0 in Length: 214.7 in Width: 83.6 in Height: 76.7–79.3 in Passenger Volume, F/M/R: 65/65/50 ft3 Cargo Volume, Behind F/M/R: 117/71/27 ft3 Curb Weight: 6129 lb C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 5.3 sec 1/4-Mile: 13.9 sec @ 98 mph 100 mph: 14.4 sec Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec. Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 6.1 sec Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 3.0 sec Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 3.6 sec Top Speed (gov ltd): 114 mph Braking, 70–0 mph: 207 ft Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.75 g C/D FUEL ECONOMY Observed: 18 mpg 75-mph Highway Driving: 22 mpg 75-mph Highway Range: 580 mi EPA FUEL ECONOMY Combined/City/Highway: 19/16/23 mpg C/D TESTING EXPLAINED
Car and Driver
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Rivian's New Tri-Motor Models Are Quicker Than Old Quads: Tested
The 2025 Rivian R1S Tri-Motor Max and R1T Tri-Motor Max are quicker than their Quad-Motor predecessors. At our test track, the R1S and R1T Tri-Motor were three-tenths quicker to 60 mph than their old Quad-Motor counterparts. The advantage comes from Rivian's new in-house electric motors, which give the Tri-Motor models an extra 15 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque versus the outgoing Quads. Welcome to Car and Driver's Testing Hub, where we zoom in on the test numbers. We've been pushing vehicles to their limits since 1956 to provide objective data to bolster our subjective impressions (you can see how we test here). When it comes to EVs, more electric motors typically translate to more power and quicker acceleration. Makes sense, right? That's not the case with Rivian's new triple-motor R1S and R1T models, at least when comparing them with their quadruple-motor predecessors. Three Greater Than Four? What's not immediately obvious is that the Rivian R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck have entered their second generation for the 2025 model year. All models have improved batteries, and all electric motors are now built in-house by Rivian, with the Tri- and Quad-Motor configurations no longer supplied by Bosch. The newer motors bring various improvements—namely, they're more power-dense. That's partly why the new R1S and R1T with the available Tri-Motor Max configuration (Max referring to the battery size) are quicker in a straight line than their pre-2025 Quad-Motor counterparts. Now, let's look at the numbers. View Exterior Photos Andi Hendrick | Car and Driver At our test track, the 2025 R1S and R1T Tri-Motor models both managed zero-to-60-mph times that were three-tenths quicker than the first-gen R1S and R1T Quad-Motors. The new R1S Tri posted a 60-mph sprint of 2.8 seconds compared with the old R1S Quad's 3.1-second run. The new R1T Tri ripped to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds, whereas the previous R1T Launch Edition Quad-Motor took three seconds flat. Take a peek at the tech specs for the 2025 R1S and R1T, and you'll see the Rivian-built Tri-Motor setup is good for 850 horsepower and 1103 pound-feet of torque. While that's only 15 more ponies than the previous 835-hp Quad-Motor models, there's a lot more stump-pulling torque, 195 pound-feet to be exact (up from 908). View Exterior Photos Michael Simari | Car and Driver While the extra power is the most significant factor in the improved 60-mph times, it's not the only force at play. The new Tri-Motor siblings also weighed less than the first-gen Quads, with the R1T losing 168 pounds and the R1S dropping 57 pounds based on our scales. Some of that weight loss can be attributed to the Max battery pack's reengineered die-cast carrier, which Rivian said helps reduce mass. There's also a new Launch Control mode that puts the 2025 Tri models into a prepared squat before shooting them down the line. The New Quads Will Be Even Quicker Of course, the new Quad-Motor R1S and R1T will be even mightier and quicker, summoning a combined 1025 horses and 1198 pound-feet. While we've driven these almighty new EVs, we haven't yet strapped our testing equipment to either the R1S or R1T Quad-Motors. They're set to go on sale this month. By Rivian's own account, the updated Quads should hit 60 mph in 2.5 and 2.6 seconds, respectively. So, stay tuned for another testing-hub story to see if we can meet or beat those claims. Jack Fitzgerald Associate News Editor Jack Fitzgerald's love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn't afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. Read full bio
