Oh, how the lords of the automotive industry have been generous with us mere ‘servants,’ this past week. And the novelties flowed like hot magma from an erupting volcano to the tune of Hyundai Sonata, Mazda2, Renegade and Compass, Demon 170, Mustang, Wildtrak X and Tremor, Renault Espace, Kia EV9, Porsche Cayenne, Easter Jeep Safari, Lamborghini Revuelto news!
Gearheads and auto enthusiasts alike might be inclined to agree with our humble assessment that, over the past few days, the automotive industry has been the true generalist that it was always intended, at least as far as new model announcements are concerned. It is also true that in my weekly review of novelties, I always select a true hero, or at least an antihero and maybe even a villain. So, let us get down to business, shall we?
Naturally, with such a tremendous influx of interesting additions throughout different sectors of the auto realm, we need to keep things tidy and in order of importance. So, the lesser – regional – news concerns stuff like Jeep debuting a trio of Renegade and Compass limited editions, aka the 4xe plug-in hybrid Uplands and High Altitude e-hybrid, which are only coming out on the Old Continent. Concurrently, the facelifted Mazda2 is gearing up for its market launch in Australia, where it will hit the dealerships sometime during the summer.
Hey, no worries, we also have stuff from back home in North America. Over in the United States, the new 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 ‘Last Call’ special edition order banks have opened, and good luck finding an allocation without a dealer trying to rip you off – aka gain enough greenbacks for a nice retirement purse somewhere in the Caribbeans. I know it’s not E85 with 1,025 horsepower and a sub-nine-second quarter-mile ET, but the 2024 Ford Mustang configurator also (finally) went live, and the $31k threshold is the lowest for the EcoBoost while the Dark Horse costs almost $60k.
As far as truly international novelties are concerned, there is a pair of interesting South Koreans to discuss. One of them is the affordable 2024 Hyundai Sonata, which has been revealed and properly detailed for its first public apparition at the Seoul Mobility Show, in Korea, running between March 30 and April 9. It’s just a facelift, but the changes are tremendous, indeed. Plus, Kia has also spilled most of the beans regarding the EV9 crossover – the mid-size EVSUV with swiveling middle seats and up to 380 hp plus 99.8 kWh long-range battery and 600 or 700 Nm (443 or 516 lb-ft), depending on whether or not you want to pay for a software upgrade.
Oh, speaking of America, the Blue Oval company keeps rubbing the all-new T6.2 Ford Ranger in our faces with Australia’s Wildtrak X or Europe’s Wildtrak X and Tremor (!), but it seems that even Toyota will wrap up the fourth-gen Tacoma teaser campaign and the Detroit automaker still won’t release its mid-size contender into the pickup truck fray. Frustrating, right? Anyway, the Old Continent also got to see the first images of the sixth iteration of Renault Espace, which used to be a pioneer of the minivan sector, but now is just respectfully trying to align to the crossover SUV lifestyle in hopes of surviving for at least another generation.
Photo: Lamborghini
Meanwhile, Porsche doesn’t care about tradition all that much, anymore, at least not when it comes to its crossover SUVs, so the 2024 Cayenne was presented from the inside to signal its new concept of the ‘Porsche Driver (and passenger) Experience.’ It’s not revolutionary – just trendy and in line with our new love for streaming capabilities being featured everywhere. Now, finally, I can talk about the two reveals that most impressed me – both positively and negatively – this past week.
The good one has to do with the 57th Easter Jeep Safari participation of the American brand, which includes no less than seven – three ICE and four electrified – concepts. I especially fell in love with the 1978 Jeep Cherokee 4xe restomod concept, perhaps because I’m currently at that age when a potential middle-age crisis is brewing, and I would love to pack my bags in that prototype and spend a week in Moab, Utah, howling like coyotes at the thought that I may be getting older, and fast. Anyway, I always loved the Cherokee, and the restomod ethos seems spot-on for this off-road-oriented SUV, as an alternate line of thought.
Now, the bad one. With a heavy heart, I must say that I do not like the Lamborghini Revuelto anymore. That was fast, right? Well, at first, I was quickly smitten by the evolutionary yet modern design, the interesting nameplate - dubbed after a Spanish (raging) bull of the 1880s or the technical specifications. The latter are pretty crazy, indeed, considering that just a decade and a half ago, the world was taken by storm by the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4, which imposed the new quad-turbo W16 hypercar standard at no less than 1,001 ps (987 hp).
Now, the electrified (three electric motors, wink, wink) V12 flagship has not only 13 driving modes (including AWD EV) but especially a bonkers combined rating for a ‘simple’ supercar: 1,015 ps, which finally and truly equates to 1,001 horsepower! And, according to Lambo, it can zip from zero to 62 mph (100 kph) in 2.5 seconds and narrowly trump its diehard rival, aka the Ferrari SF90 Stradale and Spider, which ‘only’ has 1,000 ps or 986 horsepower!
But, as always, there is a fine print to it all. In reality, I fell out of love with the Revuelto the moment I found out about its intended EV range rating. Not only the Lambo is limited to 180 ponies (as opposed to 217) in electric mode, but also it can only go for 10 km (6.2 miles!) with zero emissions. Meanwhile, the SF90s achieve a guaranteed FWD eDrive range of 25 kilometers, which is over 15 miles, probably also according to WLTP.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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