Latest news with #carEnthusiasts
Car and Driver
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
View Interior Photos of the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Our test car was loaded with performance options, but its interior was the base 1LZ, which is bare-bones by the flashy standards of the C8.
Motor 1
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- Motor 1
2026 BMW M2 CS Revealed: More Power, Less Weight, and Rear-Drive Only
After showing, but not revealing any specifics on the 2026 M2 CS last week, BMW finally released all the juicy details on its hottest baby M Car to date. The story? More power, less weight, two driven wheels, and an MSRP of nearly $100,000. The typical formula for CS cars involves turning up the turbo boost, stripping weight, and stiffening the chassis. For the M2 CS , BMW bumped the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six's output to 523 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. That's 50 more hp over the standard, automatic-transmission M2, and an additional 36 lb-ft. As with the other CS models, BMW's eight-speed automatic transmission comes standard. Sorry, no manual. But unlike the M3 , M4, and M5 CS models, this is a pure rear-wheel drive affair. BMW claims a 97-pound weight savings for the M2 CS compared to the regular automatic model. That's thanks mainly to carbon-fiber body panels—including that excellent duck-tail trunk lid—standard forged wheels, and standard carbon-back bucket seats. The M2 CS has a curb weight of 3,770 pounds, which is lighter even than the regular 3,814-pound manual M2. Not exactly light, but BMW M is very good at making cars feel lighter than they actually are, and this is the lightest M car out today by a decent margin. Plus, you can make it lighter still with the optional $8,500 carbon-ceramic brakes. Photo by: BMW Photo by: BMW To accommodate the higher power and lower weight, BMW M increased spring stiffness and retuned the adaptive dampers, electric locking differential, ABS, and traction/stability control systems. Which seems like a good thing when you've got all that power and torque going to the rear wheels only. BMW says the M2 CS hits 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and runs up to a top speed of 188 miles per hour. Big numbers, as is the price, $99,775. While BMW hasn't yet released pricing for the 2026 M2, the 2025 M2 starts at $69,375, so the CS is basically a $30,000 upgrade. On the flip side, it's about $25,000 less than the 2025 M4 CS, which carries a $124,675 MSRP. Production is set to begin at BMW's San Luis Potosí, Mexico plant this August, with deliveries following shortly thereafter. 90 Source: BMW More on BMW- The 2025 BMW M3 Competition Is a German GT-R: Video Review Why BMW's B58 Is a True Successor to the Toyota 2JZ Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
Motor Trend
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
A Look Behind the Lens With Our 2025 Subaru Forester Sport
If our staff is any indication, the Venn diagram of automotive enthusiasts and photography/video nerds overlaps in a major way. Maybe it's the emphasis on design in the car industry, or that the same person who finds joy behind the wheel also finds a kind of mechanical satisfaction in using a good camera. Or maybe people just love cars and want to immortalize their memories and share them with others. 0:00 / 0:00 Whatever the reason, your author has spent his career as part of the visuals team, helping to deliver the outstanding photography and videos you've come to expect from MotorTrend. But how do we capture those epic visuals? And more important in the context of this story, how do vehicles like our yearlong review 2025 Subaru Forester Sport play a role in that process? How We Photograph Cars There's a lot that goes into the photography and video content you see across MotorTrend's websites, social platforms, and print magazines. Cars, after all, are one of the hardest subjects to capture. They're big, complex, shiny objects, covered in a mix of painted surfaces, chrome, matte and glossy plastics, raw and polished aluminum, clear headlight lenses, and satin black rubber. They bounce, lean, and change direction quickly. Even when parked, a pothole or bump can cause the suspension to droop or compress, making a shot look off. Automotive photography and videography are like combining all the most difficult aspects of action sports, landscape, and product photography into one job. And every car is different. Time of day, location, lens choices—and yes, the support vehicle the visuals team is driving can all impact how a shoot turns out. How the Subaru Forester Sport Helps It might sound odd to say that the vehicle the camera crew is driving affects the outcome of a shoot, but it does. A good support vehicle needs to offer a combination of space for equipment and crew, solid driving dynamics, and a little go-anywhere ability. Although our Forester is far more likely to be found in front of the lens rather than behind it, it shines when pressed into a support role. A small SUV like the 2025 Subaru Forester Sport is the most compact vehicle that'd be useful as a visual support vehicle. For the all-new 2025 Forester, Subaru expanded total cargo capacity slightly from 74.2 cubic feet to 74.4 cubic feet, and as small an amount as it may be, that welcomed 0.2-cubic-foot increase only improves the Forester's ability to transport photography and video gear while still leaving room for a person or two to use the equipment. In our long-term Forester Sport, we opted for the rear seat-back protector ($155) and the cargo sidewall protectors ($110). Most of our photo gear is stored in soft-sided, padded cases, but things like ladders and heavy-duty metal stands for lighting can be loaded in without worry, as the cladding takes the brunt of any careless impacts. (This, as an aside, bodes well for those pressing their Forester into DIY hobby duties.) It also makes the cargo area more comfortable. Wait, what? One way we capture dramatic action photos of cars is by doing car-to-car shots, aka 'rollers,' for anyone who learned automotive photography from Instagram. OK, kids, this is the part where we say, 'Closed roads. Professional drivers. Do not attempt at home.' Car-to-car photography means sitting or lying in the back of the Forester and photographing the car behind it. Because the Subaru is traveling at the same speed as the subject, the background blurs and creates that feeling of speed; most of the shots that look like we're flying down the road are taken at a relaxed 25 to 40 mph. The Forester has enough space for me to position myself comfortably in the cargo area, and it offers excellent anchor points for a full-body harness—specifically the metal latch that holds the rear seat when it's not folded. These heavy-duty mounts, combined with a safety harness, allow us to do these kinds of shots safely. Driving dynamics of the support vehicle are also an important part of automotive photography. For 2025, Subaru increased the Forester's overall chassis rigidity by 10 percent. That added stiffness, combined with a compliant suspension, gives the Forester Sport a planted feel on the road. Even on rough surfaces, it feels solid and quickly resets itself after hitting a bump or uneven patch. We wouldn't call the Forester's handling perfect (a little more feel and feedback would go a long way), but it's kind of fun to hustle up a mountain road. It's confidence-inspiring in a way other vehicles in the class aren't. That feeling benefits the person in the cargo area holding a camera, as they're not being thrown around unnecessarily. Sure, it might get a bit bumpy sometimes, but the movement settles quickly, allowing the photographer to focus on the shoot. Some vehicles—like minivans and large SUVs especially—tend to wallow or stay in motion after a hit. The Forester doesn't do that. 'Go-anywhere ability' isn't a scientific term, but our Forester Sport ranks pretty well in this made-up category, too. The Forester Sport trim is road-focused with its 19-inch bronze wheels, but it still has 8.7 inches of ground clearance, all-wheel drive, and a decent sidewall on its tires. It's not the right tool for a shoot on the Rubicon Trail, but we often need to drive down mild trails or forest service roads to reach a photo spot. Sometimes it's just pulling off the road onto a dirt turnout with a big drop. Sometimes, there are no great options, and you just need to get where you need to get. The Forester can do that. So, Perfect? No. Good? Absolutely. In a pinch, when MT's dedicated support vehicles aren't available, the Forester handles its 'camera car' duties admirably. What Does This Mean for You? The Forester Sport is smooth, comfortable, and capable. Like many support vehicles before it, it helps us bring the visual side of our tests and reviews to life. And it turns out that a lot of the qualities that make it a good support vehicle—such as its great ride, spacious cabin, and soft-road capability—make it a great car to live with, too. Without it, MotorTrend would just be words. Who wants that? More on Our Long-Term 2025 Subaru Forester Sport:
Auto Express
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Express
Hardcore Porsche 911 GT2 RS spied with wild aero and track-ready looks
It's difficult to pin down what the ultimate variant of Porsche 911 is, but there's lots of evidence to suggest it might just be the GT2 RS. This low-volume and scarily expensive model has long been a sign-off of a 911 generation, pairing the most extreme chassis derived from a GT3 RS with an even more powerful variant of a turbocharged powertrain nicked from the Turbo. For the 992 generation, Porsche looks to be going even further on both counts – if the wild prototype spied testing at the Nurburgring is anything to go by. Advertisement - Article continues below First of all, the bodywork looks to be even wider than the one found on the GT3 RS, with cladding fitted on top of the standard rear haunches to hide a new set of prototype wheels that we've never before seen on previous Porsche test cars. This is matched at the front, with fat mocked-up arches that retain the arch vents and ducting from the GT3 RS, only much, much wider. The carbon-fibre bonnet with the vast openings that vent the radiator is fitted, as is the carbon roof with its longitudinal vanes. These channel air to the motorsport-sized rear wing and its DRS function. However, look closely at the back and you'll see a number of changes compared with the naturally-aspirated GT3 RS, because not only are new 992.2 rear lights fitted, but also a different lower bumper that evidently hides a new exhaust system. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below In place of the GT3 RS's twin central pipes are a pair of makeshift tips mounted on the inner part of the rear bumper. While the outlets don't represent the ones we'll see on the production car, their placement likely is, suggesting a brand-new rear end will be required to fit the Turbo's exhaust system. Advertisement - Article continues below Details are otherwise extremely thin, but until we see the new 922.2 Turbo coming later this year, we can only speculate on the extreme powertrain. It could integrate a similar hybrid system, such as the one fitted to the GTS, which incorporates a small e-motor mounted inside the dual-clutch transmission and another one inside a single large turbo. However, how the new Turbo will integrate this technology remains to be seen, by extension informing what we might see on this GT2 RS. In terms of power, Porsche could push the figure well beyond the 690bhp figure of the last GT2 RS that appeared in 2017. With the next 911 Turbo S likely to get close to that figure, we suspect the 992.2 GT2 RS will easily eclipse 700bhp, potentially treading closer to the 800bhp mark – something especially viable if Porsche wants to go the ultimate extreme before European emissions regulations render creating these figures impossible. Power will almost certainly be sent only to the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission – a manual option is not likely with such huge power and torque estimates. There's also no reason not to suggest that substantial aero and chassis upgrades will be part of the package, with Porsche certain to utilise carbon fibre for a majority of the body panels and interior. High-end elements found on cars such as Ferraris and McLarens, for example spool valve or hydraulically cross-linked dampers, are the next logical step when it comes to supercars of this nature, so it wouldn't be surprising to see Porsche using its flagship 911 as a test bed for future generations. Come and join our WhatsApp channel for the latest car news and reviews... Find a car with the experts Not bothered by MoT advisories? That may be about to change Not bothered by MoT advisories? That may be about to change The number of MoT failures caused by worn tyres is on the rise, and experts are calling for mandatory follow-ups on advisories Confirmed: New VW Golf GTI will be electric – and it's a 'monster' Confirmed: New VW Golf GTI will be electric – and it's a 'monster' VW is taking the iconic hot hatchback brand into the electric era with the new Golf GTI EV already in development… Mazda MX-5 goes electric: the iconic roadster's radical future Mazda MX-5 goes electric: the iconic roadster's radical future The next Mazda MX-5 roadster is set to be offered as a pure EV, and our exclusive images preview how it could look
Car and Driver
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
2026 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster Is a Hot Car Made Even Hotter
Any good linguist will tell you that language is a changeable thing, a river of tumbling words reshaped through time and use. It's called semantic drift—the movement of a word's definition over decades or centuries. "Awful" went from being used in reverence to being used negatively. "Awesome," originally a description of terror, became a compliment. "Roadster," initially used for windowless and roofless American two-seaters, now comes into play with any droptop when "convertible" doesn't sound tough enough. Prewar Ford purists may hate that last one, but based on modern definitions, it's clear that Aston Martin's 2026 Vantage is a pretty awesome roadster. The Vantage, never a design we'd describe as soft or weak, was made even more muscular and wide-mouthed when the coupe was redesigned for 2025. Now, the roadster joins its fixed-roof sibling with the same broad, squared-off stance and burly twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8. Historically, sporty models have suffered in convertible form, taking on weight and chassis flex while losing the purity of their design. Aston Martin avoided some of these pitfalls by designing coupe and convertible in parallel, which allowed the engineering and design teams to incorporate features to counteract the structural and aesthetic downsides of taking a little off the top. View Exterior Photos Aston Martin The Vantage's bowed lines and big shoulders leave it quivering with pent-up energy like a big savanna cat crouched over a herd of antelope. One can imagine it panting impatiently in a parking spot, waiting to spring into action. The redesign is less delicate than the previous Vantage—perhaps slightly less pretty—with heavy fenders and that gaping maw, but it's still a striking car from any angle. We turn plenty of heads on our drive and catch more than one mountain dweller along the forested curves of Idyllwild, California, mouthing "wow" as we drive past. The Vantage roadster is almost all hood, with just enough rear-quarter real estate to house a set of fat Michelin Pilot Sport S5 summer tires (275/35ZR-21s front, 325/30ZR-21s rear.) The design work on the roof is obvious from the side, where the so-called Z-fold top disappears behind the seats without the telltale lump seen on many other two-seat convertibles. Not only does this Z-fold setup allow for a smaller stow—as opposed to the commonly used K-fold convertible top, which stands straight up before folding—it's also incredibly fast. The roadster can drop or lift its cover in just under seven seconds at up to 31 mph. That's nearly as quick as an NHRA Pro Stock car runs a quarter-mile, and it's way quicker than we can list off the various ways you can customize your Vantage purchase. View Exterior Photos Aston Martin The Aston Martin configurator offers hours of entertainment, with 13 different shades of silver and white, five different reds, 15 different purples and blues, and 18 different greens, including our example's satin California Sage. There are five different colors for the roadster top, four different styles of 21-inch wheels in a variety of finishes, and seven different tones for the six-piston front and four-piston rear brake calipers that clamp optional carbon-ceramic rotors. That's just the exterior. With a roofless car, the interior needs to be equally ready for public viewing, and Aston went with standard 12-way heated seats wrapped in vibrant leather and accented with a choice of carbon fiber in colored tints or satin-metal finishes. Physical buttons pepper the console, but the Vantage has modern conveniences like a 10.3-inch touchscreen, phone mirroring, and an optional Bowers & Wilkins sound system designed specifically for the Roadster. View Interior Photos Aston Martin The interior design is not as baroque in the Vantage as it is in the larger DB12, which is embossed and embroidered like a Victorian dressing gown, but the simpler leatherwork and smooth dash match the car's focused, elegant exterior. The Vantage is a luxurious car, but it doesn't want to be mistaken for a luxury car. It would be a waste of nearly 700 horses and that stiffened-up suspension to use the Vantage as a mere cruise ship. The Vantage roadster shares its driveline with the coupe, starting with an AMG-sourced twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 tuned for Aston-specific performance. The droptop makes 656 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque (just like the coupe) and tops out at a claimed 202 mph (also like the coupe). A rear-mounted eight-speed automatic transaxle is the only gearbox Aston offers here, having dropped the dog-leg manual for the 2022 model year. The rear axle's power balance comes by way of an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. The roadster's mass sits neatly in a quoted 49:51 front-to-rear split, as opposed to the 50:50 distribution of the coupe, and 60 mph is claimed to arrive in just 3.5 seconds—a mere tenth of a second behind the hard top, the last of which we tested bettered its estimate with a 3.2-second dash. View Interior Photos Aston Martin The roadster is content to chug along sedately until you ask for more, at which point it leaps forward with exuberance and a hint of tire smoke. Like many automatic sports cars these days, the shifts in the standard dry-weather driving mode can fall behind the turns occasionally, but shift paddles and more aggressive shift maps liven things up significantly. We find the stability control unobtrusive for even enthusiastic street driving, but should you want to initiate more drift of the non-semantic kind, there are five drive modes (Wet, Sport, Sport Plus, Track, and Individual) and nine traction-control settings to play with. View Exterior Photos Aston Martin With traction settings dialed back, the Vantage slides like a dynamited fish—easily catchable. The brakes offer consistent stopping power, the steering is firm, and there's no sense of body flex, even with the top down. Simon Newton, Aston's director of vehicle performance and attributes, tells us the roadster's taut reactions are due to its adaptive dampers and updated undercarriage. Engineering for the roadster began when it was just a chassis, says Newton, with the droptop receiving a stiffer subframe than the coupe. But rather than adding material all over said subframe, Aston reinforced mounting points based on where the topless car would experience additional load. The result was better lateral and torsional stiffness without adding a ton of extra weight. Newton explains that they looked at the load paths and "put the material where it is needed best rather than applying it everywhere." In the end, Aston claims the roadster weighs only 132 pounds more than the hardtop. Aston Martin wants to seat the brand among the sporty performance set. The Vantage roadster offers a little more performance potential and a little less scarf-fluttering comfort than previous models, but it hasn't lost the link to old-world elegance that keeps Aston a favorite in spy movies and sports-car racing. And it brings more than enough style and attitude to stand out. It's the definition of a glamorous two-seater. That hasn't changed. View Exterior Photos Aston Martin Specifications Specifications 2026 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door convertible PRICE (C/D EST) Base: $200,000 ENGINE twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection Displacement: 243 in3, 3982 cm3 Power: 656 hp @ 6000 rpm Torque: 590 lb-ft @ 2750 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 106.5 in Length: 177.0 in Width: 78.0 in Height: 50.6 in Passenger Volume, F: 50 ft3 Cargo Volume: 7 ft3 Curb Weight (C/D est): 4050 lb PERFORMANCE (C/D EST) 60 mph: 3.3 sec 100 mph: 6.7 sec 1/4-Mile: 11.2 sec Top Speed: 202 mph EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST) Combined/City/Highway: 18/15/22 mpg Reviewed by Elana Scherr Senior Editor, Features Like a sleeper agent activated late in the game, Elana Scherr didn't know her calling at a young age. Like many girls, she planned to be a vet-astronaut-artist, and came closest to that last one by attending UCLA art school. She painted images of cars, but did not own one. Elana reluctantly got a driver's license at age 21 and discovered that she not only loved cars and wanted to drive them, but that other people loved cars and wanted to read about them, which meant somebody had to write about them. Since receiving activation codes, Elana has written for numerous car magazines and websites, covering classics, car culture, technology, motorsports, and new-car reviews. In 2020, she received a Best Feature award from the Motor Press Guild for the C/D story "A Drive through Classic Americana in a Polestar 2." In 2023, her Car and Driver feature story "In Washington, D.C.'s Secret Carpool Cabal, It's a Daily Slug Fest" was awarded 1st place in the 16th Annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards by the Los Angeles Press Club. Read full bio
